Jack Guerin - Enjoying the Adventure of the Long Haul: The Faith-Adventure of an Ordinary Kiwi

Copyright 2016 Jack Guerin

All rights reserved.

Jack Guerin, Kapiti Coast, New Zealand

Email: jackguerin777@gmail.com

Cover Design: Kaisa Goss

E-book formatting: Kate Lattey, Precise Print,Wellington, New Zealand

To our special children, grandchildren

and our descendants yet to be born.

My special thanks to the followingpeople:

First and foremost my wife Averil for herinteresting written contributions to the book, her insightfulcomments, and putting up with my long hours in isolation, alonewith my computer.

Mark Toomer who spent countless hours workingwith me on the book, asking the hard questions when my writing wasdifficult (at times impossible) to understand - and giving meperceptive corrections.

Carol Hawke who also spent many hourshighlighting my grammatical and other errors and also encouragingme by pointing out the occasional good turn-of-phrase.

Chris Guerin who in her busy life gave me frank(sometimes blunt!) astute and helpful comments. A daughtersprivilege!

Kaisa Goss (Sydney) for her creativity indesigning the attractive book cover.

Irene Frost who did wonderful work on someancient photos. So good in fact that they made me look young!

Trevor Hosking for his romantic back-coverphoto.

Also to my Kapiti friends Margaret Corner, PaulMitchener, Carolyn Hosking, Gill Tousoon and Trev Mason who tookthe time to review lots of the chapters and offer much helpfuladvice. Also thanks to Sean & Kim from Precise Print for theirvaluable second mile help.

In spite of all this magnificent assistance,theres still the possibility of some errors. I must take fullresponsibility for these.

The pen is mightier than the sword, thats whyIve got more pens than swords.

I see you signed yourself off as YoungJack when asking me to write your Foreword. We-ell okaaay, butyoure older than me and even though weve journeyed fairlyparallel paths youve always been a little further down the track.We met at a Christmas youth camp where you told me to delayswimming in the pool where youd just been baptised. Wait until myold man has washed over the dam before you dive in! Well afteryour old man left, young Jack sure accelerated headfirst into alife of radical, extraordinary service, integrating natural quirkyhumour with supernatural transforming ministry.

I trailed after you to the Apostolic ChurchsBible college in Hamilton, then into Christian ministry; both of usin our 20s. We each served half a dozen churches. You wereinvolved with Maori congregations, church planting and missions. Wehad occasional touch points. While in Palmerston North, afterseeing encouraging attendance from regular visits to nearbyWanganui, I appealed for help and you came to lead the growingchurch. Later you looked after Christchurch church while Irene andI were away on sabbatical leave. Then I followed you into trainingministry candidates at Te Nikau Bible Training Centre and we sharedin denominational commissions, training seminars and ministering atchurch camps. And we always enjoyed keeping up to date with eachothers family yarns and events.

We both appreciated the wider church andcultivated interdenominational ministry. Our church movementblessed us with international assignments and we saw the world. Weboth puffed missions and eventually went to serve in Asia at thesame time. After we returned from Asia we were part of a MissionsGinger Group led by you and you generated and managed a missionssupport ministry. Do you remember how people kept confusing the twoof us, and because of that, how Irene was sometimes greeted asAveril? Well it was flattering to think that people mistook me foryou.

Its so refreshing to read an autobiographyknowing theres nothing to hide. No scandal, no disgrace.Throughout your life youve demonstrated integrity andfaithfulness. And discerning readers will sense that you have a lotmore to say about maintaining a clean heart and a sweet spirit inadversity. Those are life skills we need to hear about more fromyou both.

Youve always been writing for magazines andtraining manuals. I used your Foundations of Faith and our churchhelped produce your Evangelism Course. Youre a regular internetblogger and now we have your autobiography. I trust thats not theend.

So Young Jack; radical pioneer, propheticseer, able teacher, fervent evangelist, gracious pastor, devotedhusband, proud parent. I admire and appreciate you and its aprivilege to recommend your autobiography. May it inspire the nextgeneration. Youve written the way it is; believable and down toearth, and many will identify with and enjoy your journey. I trustit will become popular reading.

Rex Meehan

HAMILTON

Im grateful for what I do know of myparents history, but I dont know how many times I have kickedmyself for not asking them about the details of their individuallife stories. Why did my mother, aged 19 or 20, leave her familyand travel alone, halfway round the world to live in a country sheknew practically nothing about, and where she knew no one? And myfather? What was his strongly Catholic family life like? What wasit like assembling new American cars at a car company in Seaview,near the Wellington town of Petone? And how did he manage tosurvive his first business venture washing, polishing and greasingcars in his two old rented sheds in Balance Street, Wellington? ButI didnt ask the questions too young to be interested I guess.The one positive from all this is that it has spurred me on towrite my story in the hope that our descendants (Averils and mine)will be interested enough to read it.

Why the young Jack? A good question when atthe time of writing Im in my 84th Year! I think the young Jackname must have started at age 26 when I was sent to New Plymouth tobegin my church pastoral ministry. This was considered young forsuch a responsibility and for some years I was known as one of theyoung pastors. Then when age began to show itself, some long termfriends used it occasionally as a term of (I hope!) endearment.Once at a pastors seminar, the worship leader said, Were goingto sing, O Ancient of Days. A mischievous pastor named Ianwhispered to me, Jack, theyre singing about you!

So, heres my story.

I was born on Sept. 27, 1933 to Gertrude(Gerty or Mickey) and Gerald William Guerin (Gerry). My mother cameto New Zealand from Hull, in Yorkshire in 1929. She was one of fivechildren and her maiden name was Featherstone. My Mothers motherwas Elizabeth (nee Wadlove) who ...worked in a hospital... Shewas born in 1887. Mums father was Ernest, born 1879 and startedwork as a billposter at the age of 11. Mothers siblings wereErnie, Tom, Alice and Edgar.

My father Geralds parents were Joseph and Lena(nee Cheevers), and his siblings were Genevieve, Eileen andKathleen (twins) and Brendan. Their family home was 79 NottinghamStreet, Karori, Wellington. My grandfather Joseph worked on theeditorial staff of the Wellington Evening Post newspaper.

My mum and dad had seven children, spread over20 years. Their names in order of birth are, Dorothy, Edgar (Jack),Mavis, Brian (Barney), Irene, Elizabeth and Joy.

Averils and my family members are: Christineand Philip (twins), Ruth, Aroha (Judith) and Andrew.

Our grandchildren are:

Jasmine

Leon

Jacob

Sabina

Joel

Sam