WEBVTT

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Hello, my name is Don Berry.

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For the last 30 odd years I've been the
senior leader of Gateway Church here in

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Hamilton,
but my roots go back to my times in

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Martin.

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I have many memories of that time and I
want to share some of them with you.

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I want to begin by extending my
congratulations and greetings to you and

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I trust that your celebration is is going
well.

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Karen and I began attending Wanganui
Assembly of God back in 1972.

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There were a number of people who are
coming across from Martin to join those

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services,
and we heard that there was going to be

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potentially a church plant in what was
their hometown.

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Both Karen and I were born and raised in
Martin,

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and obviously we're very interested in
the fact that there might be a

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Pentecostal church in our in our town.

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So we began to find out about that group
and attended the first inaugural

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inaugural Home group,
I think it was in 1972 in Ahura St.

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which is of course just off Station Road
where you guys are now.

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I remember it being in a school,
teachers home and probably 17 or 18 of us

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were there in that first inaugural
meeting.

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Things developed,
the Home group carried on and there came

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a point in time where Dan House was
appointed to be the pastor of what was

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going to be a small church,
a small group of enthusiastic Saints.

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Our first meetings were in the Friendship
Club Hall and Morris St.

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and I have a vivid memories of,
I think it was Clark Taylor who came

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across from Australia and spoke at I
think what was the inaugural meeting

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there.

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From there we moved to Follett St.,
a little further up the Main St.

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It was an amazing season.

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It was the season that we look back on
and call the Charismatic Renewal and God

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was doing truly some amazing things.

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The church grew very quickly and it
wasn't long before 80 to 100 people were

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gathering and we saw some significant
times of visitation.

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I remember 1 particular period of six
weeks where we saw 60 people make

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decisions for Jesus.

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In the midst of that,
I have a vivid memory of one particular

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meeting where the Spirit of God was
moving in remarkable ways.

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A couple of young ladies must have heard
what was going on at Follett St.

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and came up,
looked in through the through the doors

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and saw us all worshiping.

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And one of them decided that they were
going to come in and see what was going

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on.

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The other, not so brave,
turned away and said,

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I'll come back and get you.

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That young lady came in and the Spirit of
God really touched her,

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and she fell to the ground speaking in
tongues.

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And at that particular point,
it seemed quite normal for us that God

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did these kinds of things.

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But I remember her friend coming back
sometime later,

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peering in the door and not seeing her
friend,

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and then suddenly catching sight of her
lying on the ground up the front of the

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church.

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She naturally was shocked and and began
to rush up the front to see if a friend

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was OK.

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She got halfway up the aisle and fell
down on the ground speaking in tongues.

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I remember thinking, Lord,
I don't think things are supposed to

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happen that way.

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I think you're supposed to give them the
four spiritual laws before they get

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filled with the Spirit.

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But here she was on the ground speaking
in tongues.

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So who's going to argue with the Spirit
of the Lord?

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So we had,
we truly had some remarkable times in in

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1977,
Dan asked if I would come on staff as the

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assistant pastor.

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The church was probably at that time
about 120 people.

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And so Karen and I accepted that call and
we stayed in the church in that role from

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1977 to 1980.

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In 1980, in June,
we moved up to Cambridge,

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accepting a call to pastor the the church
in Cambridge.

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We stayed in Cambridge for about 12 years
and then moved in 1992 to Hamilton,

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where we've remained.

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Those years in Martin were very,
very formative for me,

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foundational in many ways,
both positive and and negative.

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Some of the lessons that I learned in
that season I have taken.

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They've they've formed a foundation for
me for all of my life.

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And I've literally taken some of the
lessons I've learned around the wheel and

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shared them with pastors.

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So I'm incredibly grateful for all that
God did in my life during that time.

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I'm grateful for the things that we saw
in regards the supernatural and the way

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God worked.

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And again, during perhaps leaner times,
I look back on those periods in Martin

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was in with gratitude and and I guess
some nostalgia,

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longing to see those kinds of things
happen again in our day.

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So I want to just say thank you to the
Lord essentially for my season in that in

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that church.

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I am grateful for the lessons I learned.

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I want to take the opportunity just to
wish you well and your celebrations and

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to trust that God will really bless you
as you share the memories of God's

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faithfulness.

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And Martin AOG, God bless you all.