In our weekly chapel services at Carey, we’ve been focusing on the invitation in Scripture to ‘come and see’. Often in Scripture we’re invited to “Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds among mortals” (Psalm 66:5).
In November 2019, Māori students, together with their whānau, Carey staff and the Manatū Iriiri Māori strategic team, came together to see and celebrate what God is doing among Māori at our theological college. God has been doing something amazing:
- In 2019 the number of Māori enrolling at Carey increased significantly, reaching the highest level on record.
- These Māori students achieved a 100% pass rate in semester one, with a 96% pass rate for the year, an extraordinary result in a tertiary context.
- The quality of their work has also been outstanding, with Māori students achieving A grades in 36% of their assignments.
- In 2020 we expect to have 10 or more Māori students in our postgraduate programme, with our first Māori doctoral student. With Carey’s integrative approach to theological enquiry, these students will be producing research that will make a very real gospel difference in the communities they serve.
It has been very exciting to watch the development of Ngā Pou Amorangi, a Māori leadership programme designed to equip Christians for gospel service in te ao Māori and bicultural contexts.
Perhaps the greatest highlight at November 2019’s Māori Achievement Dinner was to hear Māori students say that Carey has become a safe place for Māori to learn and grow in their faith. Their growth at Carey has deeply enriched the entire college.
As the Bible says, it is “together with all the Lord’s holy people”—Jew, Gentile, Māori, Pākehā, Chinese, Samoan, Burmese, Eritrean—that we grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ (Ephesians 3:18).
Is the Lord nudging you towards theological study? Come and see what God has done, and is doing, at Carey!
Contributor: John Tucker
Principal, Carey
