Mountain ministry

When Andrew Higgins looks out his bedroom window in the morning, he sees a background of glorious mountains covered in a blanket of pure white snow.

It brings a huge smile to his face—not just because of the magnificent view, but because Andrew believes those mountains are where many amazing things are about to happen.
 
For the past two ski seasons, the Queenstown Central Business District’s Community Chaplain has been making his way up the world-renowned Remarkables and Coronet Peak ski fields each week to support their 800-plus workers through life’s difficulties. Grief, loneliness, depression, money and accommodation problems, as well as homesickness, are just some of the issues Andrew frequently encounters on his trips up the slopes.

He admits it hasn’t been the easiest of tasks, but Andrew has been able to help numerous ski field workers through their hard times with emotional support and encouragement, relationship, budgeting and spiritual advice, as well as by providing food parcels from The Salvation Army’s food bank supply. Andrew’s ministry has made a huge impact, with more and more staff putting their trust in the Kiwi-born, Australian-raised chaplain’s advice and support.

Problems on the ski field

For years, Andrew says many ski field workers, particularly ones from overseas, have been facing problems without knowing how to solve them. ‘With some workers coming from foreign nations, language has always tended to be a bit of a barrier for them, in addition to feeling lonely, being so far away from home,’ he says.

‘At times, some have struggled to put food on the table, as the majority of their wage goes to paying rent and bills. Some even literally get left out in the cold with accommodation issues.’

These issues caused problems for NZSki management (the company that runs the ski fields). Not only were these matters having negative effects on their staff, but also on their business. ‘NZSki has gone through some tough times,’ says Andrew. ‘They didn’t know who to call or where to send their staff for help off the mountain. For a few years, they found that some staff were falling through the gaps after going through hard times or becoming sick, or something may have happened back home and they found themselves in grief. [NZSki] also started to notice that staff were dropping off—disappearing and going home—which left quite a hole. They basically didn’t know what to do.’

That is how Andrew’s mountain ministry came about. In an attempt to resolve these matters, NZSki started looking beyond the snow for ways to help overcome staff troubles. They approached The Salvation Army in Queenstown about how it could assist.

Andrew was more than happy to put his hand up to do help on the snow in addition to his Queenstown CBD chaplaincy role. However, when NZSki first requested The Salvation Army’s help, Andrew had just gone through his third dose of surgery for acute ulcerative colitis, an illness he had been suffering for more than 15 years and that limited his ability to work.

‘We actually didn’t have anyone [else] here who was able to do the work, as at the time I was still quite ill,’ he explains. ‘The opportunity was there and I really wanted to do it, but simply wasn’t able to.’

As time went by, the issues continued on the ski fields and the urge to help the troubled ski-field workers kept growing within Andrew. As soon as he felt his health was up to the challenge, he expanded his role to become the ski areas fields’ chaplain, too.

Big walk up the mountain

Whenever Andrew is at work on the ski fields, he starts his day by introducing himself and talking about the partnership The Salvation Army and NZSki have developed in staff support. He explains that he is a resource available to all staff.

‘It’s really fast,’ Andrew explains. ‘I’ll be up there for hours, walking around the facilities and dropping in to all the heads of departments to say “gidday” and remind them I’m there. Then I wander around talking to the staff about whatever it is they need or are struggling with, and look at what resources The Salvation Army has to help them with that need or to set them in the right direction.’

One of his key approaches is encouraging referrals from other people rather than expecting staff to pick up the phone for help for themselves. He regularly receives referrals from heads of departments and other staff. ‘I often say to people, “Look, if you see one of your friends or colleagues doing it tough and you know that they need to talk to someone, ask them if they would like to talk to the chaplain.” ’ This is where much of his caseload comes from.

Despite everything currently going well, Andrew admits it didn’t start off that way. There was initially a lukewarm response to the service. Some believed it was too good to be true; others expressed reservations.

‘There was a lot of suspicion last year when we started out because we were The Salvation Army and we’re a religious group and [people thought] we must have only one agenda, of wanting to convert people,’ Andrew recalls. ‘Many thought [the service] was strictly religious and that if they talked to me they would just get an ear full of the Bible,’ he laughs. ‘But we were very open from the onset that we had no financial or religious agenda—we were there to care for people.’

In time, after many exchanges with people from different departments, staff began to realise that Andrew was true to his word and that the service provided by The Salvation Army was actually there simply to help people. As a result, this year Andrew was able to return to the snow with a lot more hope and trust in the bank.

‘I was able to build credibility and confidence [last year] and we ended up getting well used, so we were invited to come back,’ he says. ‘Also, because staff and management were a lot more familiar with who we were, what we were doing, and what we would and wouldn’t do, they were a lot more accepting.’ This year’s ministry has been particularly effective, he adds.

NZSki human resources manager Leanne Kafrda says having Andrew on board again has been a real blessing and that he’s done an exceptional job with their staff. ‘He’s been great!’ she says. ‘Originally, it was a new concept that took a bit of time, but he’s really respected around here. I’ve been told that his ministry not only gives out great advice but also [connects people with] a range of great services. We have a lot of international staff that don’t have that normal support network so he’s been awesome.’

Because the service is 100 per cent confidential, Leanne doesn’t know specifically what Andrew speaks to people about, but she knows everyone he’s dealt with is happy. ‘He’s offered support in so many different ways,’ she says. ‘He has a lifetime job here with us!’

Spiritual peak

While Andrew isn’t focused on converting people, he does recognise that his actions of simply listening to and caring for people have opened the door for him to speak on spiritual matters and pray for people, something he’s frequently asked to do.

‘I had a referral which ended in spending an hour with a young guy who had been struggling with some anger, frustration and depression issues. At the end of our meeting, he asked me if this “chaplain thing” was like a “priest/minister thing”. I said yes, it was. He then said there was something else he needed to talk to me about. He said, “I think God has been talking to me and I really feel like I need to talk to someone about God and help me understand what that is.” I said, “Well, I’m your man, and I’d be glad to meet with you again and talk to you about spiritual matters.” So that guy opened the door for that.’

Andrew has had staff asking him for prayer for injuries, personal matters and sometimes even for snow! ‘Sometimes it’s tongue in cheek, but other times it’s quite serious. The management are very happy for me to respond to calls for that kind of request, so there are opportunities there.’

He recalls an encounter with a girl who had injured her leg while skiing. On the bus ride down to town, which Andrew happened to be on, she saw he was from The Salvation Army and said, ‘You’re who I need! I’ll get you to pray for me because I need quick healing.’ Everyone on the bus laughed, but when Andrew got a moment he asked if she was serious. She was, so Andrew prayed for her leg. After he had finished praying, she became very emotional, which Andrew believes was the Holy Spirit ‘doing something’ within her.

Four days later, a group of women from another church were strolling around the town when they suddenly felt God wanted them to speak to a young girl they saw limping and tell her that Jesus loved her. They approached the girl, told her what God had put on their hearts and asked if she would allow them to pray for her. The girl became shocked, started weeping and allowed them to pray. After they had finished, she said, ‘This is really weird, just a few days ago the chaplain from the ski field laid hands on me for healing. I don’t know what’s going on but I think God is trying to tell me something.’ After hearing that, the women went straight to Andrew and explained what had happened.

‘So here is a situation where the Spirit of God is certainly moving. It was just one of those amazing divine moments,’ he says. This is something that excites Andrew about his role—he sees himself as just one piece of God’s ministry to people’s lives, but he doesn’t want to be the missing piece! Whenever God gives him an opportunity, Andrew intends to take it.

In his 28 years of working as a chaplain in other locations, including Australia and Belgium, Andrew says he has never felt as fulfilled as he does now that he is working as Queenstown’s Community Chaplain, especially now that his role takes him beyond the town’s CBD boundaries. Helping people through their troubles as well as having the chance to talk about his faith is his dream job.

‘The greatest joy I have comes when I am asked by my “ski field” or “CBD” friends to tell them about my faith,’ he says. ‘Each day I go into this not knowing what on earth is going to happen, but totally trusting that the Holy Spirit is going to meet me at the precise time—and that happens every time I go away from a meeting or a referral with someone. I am really just amazed at how the Spirit of God connects with people and meets their needs’

By John Lazo-Ron (abridged from War Cry, 20 August, p5-7)

* If you want to know more about what Andrew Higgins is doing in Queenstown, go to www.qtchap.org