E tipu e rea
Written by Mark Edgecombe; Photos by Joel Jackson.
According to the website of the New Zealand School Boards Association, the whakataukī E tipu e rea was first written by Sir Apirana Ngata for a schoolgirl in an autograph book in 1949. I've seen it translated in the past as "Grow, o young shoot!" When The Tribe Youth Group at Tawa Anglican Church came together one Friday night recently, Ngata's proverb was of the essence. Dave Sutherland, a youth group parent, Kura Māori teacher, and local church leader, led our young people in a group planting session.
Dave began with an introduction in which he reminded us that right now we're in the midst of the Season of Creation. He also reminded us that one of the Anglican Communion's Five Marks of Mission is about safeguarding the integrity of creation. To look after creation, he suggested, was part and parcel of being a disciple of Jesus. Next, he stepped us through the process of filling pottles with potting mix and planting fledgling flaxes in them. Others buried seeds in trays of potting mix to begin the germination process. With close to 20 young people present, we got through a fair bit of planting in the 30 or 40 minutes that we devoted to the task. At the end of the night, Dave had a new supply of potted plants ready to take back to Te Kura Māori o Porirua, where he uses the plants to involve students in the process of... safeguarding creation!
As usually happens at events like this, we found that sitting or kneeling side by side on a big blue tarp with a common task was an excellent catalyst for easy conversations. When the planting was done, it was time for supper (thanks to Amy Sutherland) and home.
