Loving our neighbours in Manurewa
Our MADE to Lead whānau are all about “making a difference everyday” - looking for the needs in our community and finding ways to meet them; joining up to support each other’s ideas.
A beautiful example of this recently was Melissa, one of our Phase Two whānau, who leads an amazing charity called Pro Love, which has a haven home for mums and bubs in Manurewa.
Recently, Melissa watched from her upstairs office window as the Police cordoned off her street, after finding two people deceased in one of the neigbouring properties. The whole area was in lockdown for hours, and it was all over the News.
Left to right: Lucy, Journey, Melissa, Simone, Kasalina and Mark
Not too many weeks later, Melissa messaged our Phase Two group chat:
“For most of you, you may be aware that we recently had a homicide of two deaths on my Pro Love street, just three doors down from my home. It has really been on my heart to reach out to the neighbours, give them a little chocolate, check in on how everyone is doing, and offer prayer and support. It was such a traumatising event for the community.
Rox, Lucy and I were talking about this and I thought it would be beautiful for us to come together and be a light in the community.
I’ll open up the Pro Love Haven, and we can meet there for a time of prayer before we head out… If you’re available, let’s meet at the Haven around 5pm on Tuesday and then head out to door knock, check in with our neighbours and let them know they’re not alone…”
On the appointed day, a group of volunteers packed 38 goodie bags, complete with chocolates, some toiletries, handwritten cards, and even some home-baked treats. (It was beautiful to watch Lucy’s five-year-old son, Journey, labouring over his card, drawing a rainbow and spelling out his message. He loves to help when his mum and dad do stuff like this).
After a karakia together, the team headed out, knocking on each door in the street to deliver the goodies and ask if everyone was OK.
They were quickly trailed by a bunch of neighbourhood kids who were keen to tag along.
Once all the goodies were given out, we returned to the haven for some pizza and a debrief.
In the days and weeks that followed we started hearing from people:
“Hi everyone, just had a email from a family from when we done the outreach from last week. They were blown away about the kindness and the small packs. They are going through so much (father n law passed away and now mother diagnosed with cancer). Their words ‘small help matters a lot’. Just a little encouragement to you all who took part in this, whether prayers or action, it all matters.”
Then a few days later, this beautiful post appeared on the local community page →
It was amazing to see how a spark of concern for her neighbours took Melissa from a conversation into love in action, with everyone coming together to make it happen - from Alisha, who baked brownie, to our team and whānau donating chocolates, cards, and pizza, to our volunteers who came and knocked on doors with Melissa and gave out care packs… to the people who backed us up with their prayers.
We hope you are inspired and encouraged by Melissa’s story to find ways to shine your light where you are, and MAKE A DIFFERENCE EVERYDAY.