I love the image from Psalm 18:33: ‘He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights.’ I have heard that in the snowy mountains, a mother deer will make footprints in the snow so the baby deer can step into them and know the way to go.
As I take my first steps as editor, I am aware that I am walking in footprints much larger than my own. I am so grateful to Major Christina Tyson for her mentorship over the past six years. She is a person of mana, but has never sought status for herself. She has been a courageous, visionary and empowering leader. I believe that in her time, she made War Cry the best Christian magazine in New Zealand. I honour her legacy.
But, I know that Christina was also stepping into footprints larger than her own—as she sought to walk in the ways of God and serve his mission. As we move forward, our aim at War Cry is to follow the footprints of God—far larger and loftier than our own. They keep us safe, but they also challenge us to greater heights.
I was reminded, during commissioning weekend last year, that we must never stop learning. The outgoing principal Major Ian Gainsford told the cadets, ‘Don’t you dare settle for what you know now!’
As we look back, we know God and ourselves a bit better than we did a year ago. But as we look forward, we have yet so much more to learn. I pray War Cry will continue to encourage and challenge you as you journey with God this year.
Ingrid Barratt
Editor
Proverbs 19:21 (New International Version)
Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
Ngā Whakatauki 19:21
He maha ngā whakaaro i roto i te ngākau o te tangata; e tu tonu ana ia ta Ihowa tikanga.