How Moving Led Me to My New Church Family

Back in October, we dedicated our Children’s Day service to celebrating the youngest members of our church family. Instead of offering my own reflection, I wanted to give one of our kids a chance to share their perspective! So, I reached out to 11-year-old Talei (via her mum) and asked if she would write a piece for the blog about her faith journey and what being a part of our church community really means to her.

In 2022, my Nana and Papa moved from Samoa to New Zealand and in 2023 Nana, Papa, my mum and I moved to Upper Hutt. I loved our old church in Tawa but mum said we needed to find a new church that was closer to our new home and spoke Samoan to help Papa and Nana. That same year we became a part of The Carpenter's House church.

I can’t really remember my first time at TCH, it has just been over two years and it feels like we have been there forever. Everytime I walk through TCH doors, I feel like I am a part of something bigger than a Church community. It feels like family.

The people at TCH are some of the kindest, most welcoming people you will ever meet.TCH has taught me so much about God.

Being at TCH has made my relationship with Jesus so much stronger. One of my favourite things at church is praise and worship. We always sing such good songs about God’s love and glory and we also have really good singers. When we first started going there, I would see everybody around me sing and I felt the Spirit when everyone was praising the Lord and thought to myself, “Maybe I can try that?”. So I closed my eyes and sang and I felt so happy after. I like worship and praise because it’s fun and joyful and you get to praise and worship God with everyone!

Another one of my favourite things at Church is the Journey Hub. The Journey Hub is where you can connect with God through activities with other kids. At the Journey Hub we do worksheets about what Pastor is sharing on Sunday and you can take notes or draw what you hear. After that, you get activities about the scriptures or Pastor’s message. It is usually on paper that repeats what Pastor has said in a simpler form to help us understand the message better. When we finish all our work, we get to play a game and it’s always lots of fun.

My most favourite thing about TCH are the people. TCH has given me a family I never knew I needed. A family who love Jesus and help us to be more like him.

BY: Talei Fonoti