In early 1970 the Pastor of a local denomination gave a series of messages which touched some of his congregation. When they asked about where he got the messages he gave the inquirers a copy of The Stream magazine. As they read they realized this was the source of his messages. Some of the believers decided to contact the publishers and were sent a series of recorded messages given by the author, Witness Lee.

These recordings were poor in quality, his voice was not that easy to understand, but his ministry deeply impressed those who gathered in a home each Wednesday to listen. For the first time in a number of us there was a deep "Amen" to his word. We discovered that "the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit," (1 Cor. 15:45b) and that we have a human spirit made to contain this life-giving Spirit. For the first time we heard of the ground of oneness-the ground of locality. God was one, so He should have only one expression in each locality. We also heard about calling on the name of the Lord, exercising our spirit, feeding our spirit and growing in life by using God's word as prayer.

By September 1970 there were about 20 regularly gathering together in homes. We realized we should not become just another free group but sensed by Lord's leading to stand as the church, to meet on this ground of oneness. On the last Saturday of September we stood together and prayed, consecrated ourselves to the Lord to take His way and meet as the church in Tauranga. Over the 30 years since then many believers have been added, but many have also migrated to other cities and countries, including Wellington, North Shore, Hamilton, Whangarei, Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast, and USA.

Today we stand as the Lord's testimony in our city, enjoying oneness and sweet fellowship with all the churches in this country and throughout the earth. We are taking and enjoying the rich supply of God's speaking from his word with all the churches.

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