Heralds: Tracy from Taupо̄

‘Many, many women spread the Good News.’ - Psalm 68:11

Our brand new series ‘Heralds’ looks at God’s glory revealed in the everyday stories of women of The Salvation Army New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga. So come with us as we get to know Tracy from The Salvation Army Taupō​ Corps.​

We are giving away two copies of Tracy's incredible poetry book 'Poems From My Journey, From Heartache To Intimacy With God'- a collection of pieces that document her healing and freedom from trauma and abuse, into the hope God provides.

To win a copy, comment on the post shared on The Salvation Army WM's Facebook page.

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Tracy! Thanks for meeting with us. Tell us, what do you do with your day?

I homeschool my eleven year old son with the ACE curriculum while looking after my two year old granddaughter. I do all the household chores with the help of my seventeen year old son. I take my granddaughter go to Women's Fellowship on a Wednesday afternoon (1-3pm), and to Playgroup on Thursday mornings (9am-noon) at The Salvation Army Taupō.

What is your earliest memory of church (in any context)?

Sitting in a Presbyterian church pew with my parents and older sister, all in our Sunday best.

Where did you meet Jesus for the first time?

I heard about Jesus at church and Sunday school, where my parents went every Sunday.

I gave my heart to Jesus at Turangi Church of the Cross Streetkids Outreach. My sister and I helped every Thursday night serving hot drinks and sandwiches, while others shared God's Word with the youth. One Thursday night in 1984, one of the youth asked if we were all born again to which the kitchen ladies had replied, ‘Yes.’ Well, at the end of the evening, I asked what being born again was. It was that night that I gave my heart to the Lord, at the age of twelve.

What do you think discipleship means and looks like?

Someone in the church who has a Christlike character taking on someone young in the Lord, mentoring them and studying the Bible with them and describing how to apply it to their life.

What do you think is special about being a Christian who is also a woman?

I think as women, we are privileged - we are knowledgeable in how to reach out to God with the full force of our emotions and to love God as He deserves to be loved. That helps us love those who are lost, the children, the teens and the elderly.

Have you had any significant ‘recommitments’ in your faith journey?

It's been a steady journey of growth for me, with steady revelation of God's will for me.

 

What has been your most important expression of community?

Fellowship with brothers and sisters in the Lord, doing life together and ministering together. If there's no genuine caring, there's no feeling of community.

I feel connected to the main core of the church but there are fringe people that I have yet to make a connection with.

'I feel connected to the main core of the church but there are fringe people that I have yet to make a connection with.'

What have been some significant pictures, revelations or promises you have held on to during your Christian journey?

My unborn baby son (now seventeen) was prophesied over, that he would be an oak of righteousness. It has helped my faith that he, at least, would end up following God - even though for years he seemed uninterested in God and church and stayed home with his father on Sundays. But he was baptised this year and is a sound technician at a local church, so the prophecy has been fulfilled.

What has been a challenge to your faith recently?

I kind of brought it on myself, when I decided to deal with some issues in my past - the peer teasing and sexual abuse that happened when I was eleven years old. Major Kath (one of Taupo’s Corps Officers) helped me start dealing with feelings I had harboured deep within for years. And then I had to go get counselling. I had to deal with questions like: Where was God when this happened? Why did God let this happen? Does God really love me?

This challenge - though it was hard emotionally - has brought me closer to God, and so there is a benefit.

'Where was God when this happened? Why did God let this happen? Does God really love me? This challenge, though it was hard emotionally, has brought me closer to God, and so there is a benefit.'

 

How are you hoping or expecting God to use you to build his kingdom?

I am hoping my book of poems, 'Poems From My Journey, From Heartache To Intimacy With God' will reach women in their need and show them that there is a God who will help them heal.

I am also hoping God will use my writing for Women's Ministries, here, to touch hearts and maybe teach a little along the way.

What is something you have found hard to let go?

A fear of rejection – because teasing went on throughout my childhood, it was drilled into me that I wasn't good enough and that I was an outcast. I have found it hard to accept my worth, even as a child of God. I have found that I have been a people-pleaser most of my life because I have been afraid of being rejected. I have to memorise Scriptures that tell me who I am in Christ, and that He loves me and will never give up on me - even if others do.

What is your favorite type of juice?

Arano Orange Juice.

How and where do you encounter God the best?

Early mornings at the Corps mercy seat. I praise and worship God by singing at the top of my voice (no one's ever walked in on me at this time thankfully)! I'm usually moved to pray and have a Bible study, meditating on its application. I continue to pray and sometimes write my thoughts after the Bible study and turn them into poems. It's amazing how the times goes when you're focused on hearing God and blessing Him.

Please take a few minutes to pray and ask God: What is a word of hope you have for those who are reading this?

God is for us, not against us, and that everything we're going through is to develop a Godly character - readying us to be the Bride of Christ, together along with all who are saved through Christ.

Look forward to more Heralds women and search the tag #HeraldsWM as we gather momentum to see the stories! Please pray for this Heralds venture together with us, that we can see the Good News spread throughout New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga and now Samoa - because of the many, many women who proclaim Christ!

Tracy worships at The Salvation Army Taupō​ Corps, and has a husband named Gavin, three children - Amy (21), Isaac (17) and Johnathon (11) - and a granddaughter Seraphina (2).

We are giving away two copies of Tracy's incredible poetry book - a collection of pieces that document her healing and freedom from trauma and abuse, into the hope God provides. To win a copy, comment on the post shared on The Salvation Army WM's Facebook page.