The story of us - Part 1

Once upon a time, in the late 1970s, a little boy was born in Middlemore Hospital. He was the fifth child born to his Samoan born mum. They lived in a suburb in South Auckland called Otara and he grew up happily there, surrounded by his three sisters and two brothers.

His family were a church going family and they attended a traditional Samoan church. He went to a high school in South Auckland but left school when he was 16 to start work. He did various jobs over the years, working in warehouses and courier driving.  

One day, when he was 18 years old, he saw a brochure advertising a Bible College at a church in the city. Wanting more for his life, he decided to enrol and for the next two years he studied there, and began attending that church. He got involved in the youth ministry and made some great friends.

Far, far away, in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, a little girl with fiery red hair and lily white skin was born in the early 1980s. She was the third daughter born to her mother and she grew up very happily there. She loved school and sports and dance and all sorts of things.

One day, her eldest sister asked her to come on a date with her to meet her boyfriend. She was about 13 years old by then and her sister took her to a pizza restaurent to meet her new boyfriend. She couldn't understand a word he said! He was from this country she had never heard of called New Zealand.

Her eldest sister fell in love with him and they got married when the, now not so little, girl was 14, and then they moved away to NZ. At the end of that year, the girl and her family went to visit her eldest sister and her new husband, and they all loved NZ. So the plans to immigrate began.

By the time the plans were all sorted, the girl was now 18 years old and decided to spend a year in Australia at a Bible College before joining her parents in her new home: Auckland, New Zealand.

Her eldest sister was already attending a church in the city and so she went along, and liked it there. A year or so later, she got involved in the dance and the youth ministry at the church.

Part 2 coming soon....