Kirstie Macdonald, TEAR Fund Regional Coordinator for
Wellington, New Zealand, and
Cathy Ross, Director of the School of Global Mission, Bible College of New
Zealand.
E-mail: cathyr@bcnz.ac.nz
Read full paper in PDF-format (up-dated 29-06-2004)
Abstract
Tangata Whenua or Manuhiri? Aotearoa/New Zealand’s
Contribution to Cross-Cultural Mission in a Globalized World
Traditionally Aotearoa/New Zealand has sent the
highest number of mission partners overseas, per head of population, of any
country in the Western world. What are the characteristics of this small South
Pacific nation of 4 million people that have made this possible? This paper
explores our unique history and bi-cultural context as well as our current
multi-cultural context to see what New Zealanders can offer to a globalized
world in the 21st century.
New Zealand historian, Dr Michael King claims that “New Zealand history
sometimes seems extraordinarily compressed and close at hand.” (The
Penguin History of
New Zealand.
Auckland:
Penguin,
2003, 9)
Our history, contemporary issues surrounding the 19th century Treaty of Waitangi
signed by Maori, the tangata whenua, in good faith with the Crown, and peculiar
issues of national identity arising from our particular cultural and ethnic
context as well as from our geographical isolation will be considered. The paper
will also discuss the impact of postmodernity, emerging youth culture, the rise
of technoculture, the role and place of women and our attitude to the
environment with the aim of discovering how our context shapes our particular
contribution in mission to this globalized world.