Category Archives: NZ History

Stories from New Zealand

Honour a long way from home

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Ewen McQueen

We pulled into the supermarket in a coastal village in southern Greece just as it was closing for the evening. The grandfather of the family business inquired where we were from. New Zealand we said. He immediately informed the rest of … Continue reading →

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Rore Kahu – Soaring Eagle of the Spirit

Posted on December 20, 2014 by Ewen McQueen

This week on Christmas Day we come to the 200 year anniversary of the proclamation of Te Harinui in New Zealand.  A beautiful structure named Rore Kahu – soaring eagle – has been established on the hill top at Rangihoua … Continue reading →

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New Zealand’s lost Christian legacy

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Ewen McQueen

Many New Zealanders question if our nation ever had a strong heritage of Christian faith. Wiremu Tamihana is the answer to their doubts. As a young Ngati Haua chief, Tamihana found faith in the early 1830s under the teaching of … Continue reading →

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Kapiti Island – sanctuary of the Sprirt

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Ewen McQueen

Today Kapiti Island north of Wellington is a sanctuary for some of New Zealand’s precious rare birds. 180 years ago it provided sanctuary of a different sort. In 1837 a group of young men hungry for truth established what was … Continue reading →

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Christianity foundational to the Treaty

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Ewen McQueen

On this Waitangi Day in the 200th year since Te Harinui was first proclaimed in these islands, let us remember that the Treaty would never have been signed without the influence of Christianity. Read the Otago Daily Times, Foundations of … Continue reading →

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Rev Samuel Marsden – Till time shall be no more

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Ewen McQueen

200 years is a momentous milestone in a nation as young as New Zealand. But that is the milestone we celebrate this year of 2014. It is two centuries since the Rev Samuel Marsden came ashore at Rangihoua in the Bay … Continue reading →

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More than gold

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Ewen McQueen

In 1837 at Paihia in the Bay of Islands the first Maori New Testament was printed – Te Kawenata Hou. Shortly thereafter a messenger arrived at Paihia from Te Rarawa chief Nopera Panakareao. He had journeyed several days across country … Continue reading →

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