RIDE//SNAP
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Cycle & Photography Art Event

Hosted by Majestic – Source

Taking off from Black Betty Cafe at 11:00am, feel free to turn up earlier and enjoy a tasty beverage before we pedal off.
We will cruise around the CBD on our cycles with camera’s in hand taking snapshots of whatever is cool. We will finish off at Matt & Mark’s flat (24 Slater St) for a BBQ in the arvo.

Bring $2 to cover food & drinks after the ride.

Bikes & helmets are a must, cameras are optional.

The CD package for the newest album from Majestic Youth is now available for purchase. You can get a copy from the reception (Info Desk) at Majestic. You can ring reception if you want to place a phone order or email reception@majestic.org.nz to do the same online.

Included are the pack are audio CD and album art.

It costs only $25.

Majestic Youth Above The Noise is also available for purchase on iTunes. Go to the official album site my-abovethenoise.com or click on the image to download the album on iTunes.

Sy was with us for a couple of days in Christchurch, and we had a series of talks and events lined up. As it turned out, it was really an amazing weekend. Here are podcasts from what he shared with us:

RECORDINGS from all three sessions with him are available on Audio CD format for just $10 each. You may ring reception to order your copies or email reception@majestic.org.nz.

07 August 2011 11AM – HOME / Leo Hanssen & Mayor Bob Parker

Skies were clear but grey. The weather was moody.

At fifty-one minutes past noon, we discovered the earth was moody too.

Thirty seconds was all it took.

Thirty seconds for the earth to rumble and shake.

Thirty seconds for the city to crumble around us.

Thirty seconds for panic to kick in and fear to take…

Tracey is in her late 20s and works for Perpetual Trust. Her company was located on the second floor of the PGC Building. The following story that she shared with me gave me an idea of the horrifying ideal that she and her colleagues faced at 12:51pm and the hours that stretched out afterwards while they awaited rescue.

As we sit, talk, laugh, shed tears and sip, I am impacted by Tracey’s positivity and strength. She has just faced a very traumatic ordeal and stared death in the eye, yet she is determined to move forward and embrace all that life is offering each day. Her outlook is not bitter but full of hope. Her smile and the sparkle in her blue eyes radiate an inner peace that Tracey contains.

The day of February 22 started out quite normally for Tracey. She worked at her desk throughout the morning and then covered the reception desk while the receptionist took her lunch break. Once the receptionist returned and Tracey was relieved of that duty, she picked up her lunch, her Real Life paperback Bible and her cell phone and headed off to lunch. Usually Tracey would go for a walk outside and sit by the banks of the Avon during her break. That was not the case on this day as the weather was overcast and had rained all morning. Tracey decided that eating in the Lunch Room was the best option, so she headed to the centre of the second floor, where she joined four other colleagues who were also taking their breaks. Not long after sitting down, a loud jolting sound filled the room and the furniture, walls and ceiling started to move. Her colleagues, who were terrified, immediately leapt under the table and clung hold onto the table legs. Tracey stayed seated, not wanting to give into fear of “just another aftershock”. A moment later the lights went out and the room was filled with inky black. That was enough to motivate Tracey to join her colleagues under the protectiveness of the table. Sounds of debris falling soon clattered on top of the table and the room was filled with the choking fumes of dust. As she and her colleagues coughed, breathed in the putrid smell of rubble and clung onto the table legs, their first thoughts were that it was just the ceiling tiles that had fallen down. Never did they imagine in those first minutes that their whole building had collapsed into rubble and that they were buried in the dead centre of it.

Once the thick dust had cleared and the sound of falling building materials had rung to an eerie silence, Tracey noticed a glowing light beside her and realised that her cell phone was in reach. (Tracey shared with me that it was quite incredible that she had brought her cell phone with her to lunch as it usually just stays in her bag). Without hesitation, Tracey grabbed the phone and called her sister Angela, who was staying in Culverden, and told her that she was trapped in the PGC building with four others and gave her their location. Tracey knew that Ange’s fiancée Pete was a volunteer fire fighter and was hoping that he would know who to talk to about their rescue. After making this call Tracey held firmly onto the belief that she and the others would get out. For the next six hours she and her colleagues waited in darkness under the cover of the table for rescue. They tried yelling for help, but never heard a response. When Tracey stretched her hand out beyond the table, all she felt was concrete, wires and insulation. There was no room to crawl out and no light to reveal an escape route. One of her workmates under the table had had some heavy debris fall on his body. It had pinned him down and he couldn’t move. As time went on he grew more and more sleepy. Tracey kept talking to him and telling him to stay awake, and that she believed that they were going to get out and they were going to live. She also helped prevent the others from becoming hysterical in that small, cramped, dark space. Tracey says that although in a way her strength and the usefulness of her phone kept them from further harm, just being with others in that situation made her strong and stopped her giving in to fear of death. Although the four colleagues have all thanked her for what she did for them, she said she had to thank each of them for giving her a reason to remain calm and strong. It never once crossed Tracey’s mind that she might die. Her belief was always that she was going to get out.

After a few hours the group huddled under the table began to hear the barks of search and rescue dogs and the distant voices and footsteps of the USAR team outside the building. This confirmed for Tracey her belief that everything was going to be fine. Outside a crowd had gathered. Workers who had returned from lunch breaks, family members who wanted to be onsite for when their loved ones were rescued, Police, Paramedics and USAR members. Those who worked in the building were able to describe the layout of each floor and plans were being formed for how to search the building.

Unknown to Tracey, her sister Ange had driven straight into Christchurch and was waiting on the scene for her sister’s rescue. Ange was able to tell authorities the information Tracey had given her during their phone conversation and with that knowledge, the rescue workers began to dig a tunnel into the centre of the building. At 7pm, six and a half hours after their plight first began, light, voices and the form of rescuers reached Tracey and the others. Tracey was the first of the group to be carried out of the building. The first person Tracey saw when she got to the bottom of the ladder was Pete, Ange’s fiancé, who gave her a big hug. She remembers seeing debris everywhere. It was hard for her to comprehend why there was so much destruction to her work building when the buildings alongside it had absolutely no damage. She also remembers the road being filled with papers that had come out of the building. The roads were all torn up and there was debris everywhere. Tracey waited for the next person to be rescued out of the building and had to smile when she saw her emerge. While inside the collapsed building, Tracey had used the light from her cell phone to look around. She found a coffee cup belonging to this lady, and told her to hold onto it. When the lady appeared at the bottom of the ladder, she still had the cup in her hand. Tracey and all the onlookers gathered were joking that she was ready for a cup of tea. Tracey was then was taken around to the front of the PGC building and that is where she first saw her sister. Ange was barefoot, as she had given her shoes to a policewoman who needed them. Tracey was in time to see some of her workmates taken away in an ambulance.

Miraculously the whole group in the Lunch Room had no significant injuries.  In fact, Tracey came out with her high heels still on her feet and only a scratch on her finger.

She remembers sharing with her sister and onlookers that she believed God was involved in the miracle of her rescue. Tracey told numerous people that she had sensed the hand of God looking after her during the whole time of being trapped.

The days that have followed have been difficult. After flying up to Whangarei to spend some time with her Mum, Tracey returned a week later to Christchurch in time for staff meetings and the office re-opening two weeks after the earthquake in a temporary location in Hornby. It has been emotional to be back at work. As well as dealing with a backlog of work that built up during the time their company was closed, Tracey and her colleagues have had to deal with the grief of having lost ten of the forty-nine staff in their company.

Among the 10 who did not make it, some were good friends, some had desks next to hers, and one had stopped in the corridor just minutes before the earthquake to share a joke with her and the others in the lunch room, he was so happy as his wife was expecting a new baby in the next few weeks. He talked about how much he loved being a Dad and how much he was looking forward the to new baby. In the past weeks Tracey has attended multiple funerals for her colleagues, these are the first funerals she has attended since childhood. She has also had to cope with the news of serious injuries amongst colleagues who survived. There have been multiple amputees needing rehabilitation and one who has recently come out of ICU.

When asked what was helping her to cope with each day, Tracey’s response was that she is finding comfort in familiar surroundings and routines. She also says that there is strength in knowing that God was beside her during this ordeal and will always remain with her whatever each day brings along. She does not label the earthquake as God’s fault and stands by her belief that the hand of God was with her that day. She disagrees with non-believers whose response has been the argument that a loving God would never have placed her in that building in the first place. Tracey accepts that living on earth does not bring guarantees of a perfect life where we are always protected and safe from harm – we have to wait for Heaven to reach that kind of perfection. We just have the certainty that God will always be with us no matter what happens. Tracey told me that this experience has given her a new confidence in her faith, knowing that even when unseen, God is always at work, and always here with us. Right now there are still some days when she feels quite adrift, but Tracey is just taking it a day at a time. Talking with others about her experiences and just being in the company of others all helps with recovery. Her workplace has provided grief & loss counsellors to talk with, and Tracey is also looking forward to attending her weekly Majestic Life Group.

This experience has also given Tracey the courage to embrace dreams that she wasn’t ready to give a go before. She feels that facing a near death situation and coming out unharmed has given her a second chance at life. Right now Tracey is taking the time to figure out her next steps in life – this could involve travel or a career change. A trip to Fiji is on the cards for the end of the year – some much needed relaxation to look forward to.

Interview by Kimberly Mallinson.

What was once a place of colour
Life, vibrancy, a future hope
Now seems to be a mass of grey, cold dark stone,
I just want it to all go away

Rocks once so strong and staunch
Now crumbled and broken, destruction caused in its path
My heart feels like the cold grey stone
That’s tumbled down – is all alone

It’s broken, cracked and deeply cold
Makes me feel as though I’m suddenly old
The colour of youth seems to have passed
Replaced instead, by this cold, dark, grey mass

Deep in my heart I know I’m not “right”
Where is the joy?   The love?  The light?
I’m numb inside – the pain so real
When will all this pain inside be healed?

The emptiness inside I feel
Is scaring me – this can’t be real….
After a life time of knowing He’s right there
Now I can’t seem to find Him anywhere….

Life is so empty – so vain – so void
Been such a long time since I’ve even heard,
His voice in my ear, my heart, my soul
Where should I go to know He’s real?

This loneliness – this emptiness
Is so overwhelming
My cold, cold heart
Is uncompromising

All I want is to see His face.
To feel His Love, His Mercy and Grace
To know He’s there deep within my soul
So that once again, I can be made whole

Jesus, Jesus – don’t leave me now
I need you more than I can show you how
I need your touch, I need your grace
Jesus, I just need to see your face

That it may once again shine on me
So that, yes, I can again feel free
Free to be ME, not someone else
Freed by your love and given your grace

Hot tears streaming down my face
When will they stop and be replaced?
With sunshine and warmth and love and joy?
With your peace and life that I once enjoyed?

Life is such a changing thing….
One season all you want to do is sing…..
Next thing you know – everything’s changed
And it feels as though it’s all re-arranged

The song in my heart has disappeared
Replaced for some strange reason with this fear
Lord take my life and let it be
Consecrated – Lord to thee
Take this broken vessel, cold, cracked and dry
And form it again – as if a new clay

Mould me and make me – after your will
Help me to feel you, know you… when I’m still
Quieten my heart – calm my soul
Lord in You – I want to be whole

Soften the very core of my being
Remove the heavy, cold, dark feeling
Fill me afresh with your Holy Spirit
So I may soar and again be uplifted

The tears are drying leaving tracks on my face
I feel Jesus’ hand – removing the trace
With such gentleness, tenderness and care
I suddenly know that He is near

He’d never left me – not on my own
Although I’d wandered, started to roam
He was there in the background
Waiting to see – when I’d notice that it is HIM I need

Not security of the land once again being still
Nor the hope that working hard will fill
That null and void deep down in my soul
When it’s HIM in my life that makes me whole

Thank you Jesus for your love so tender
Of course, my life in You I remember
How did I let all these shattered ruins
Take me away from peace found in You?

Stephanie Fowler

It was wet and raining that morning, so there were lots of cars on the road.  I thought it would be quicker to drive over the Curletts Road motorway instead of down Riccarton Road.  It wasn’t though, and ended up in a lot of traffic, and even a train got in the way.  I remember that I had washed my hair that morning, and while sitting at the lights in traffic was playing with it to keep me slightly entertained.

I finally got to our work car park, up 9 levels and went to pay.  The stupid pay and display machine on the 9th floor was the only one in the building taking our tokens, and today there was a coin jam.  Oh well, if I got a ticket I’d just let Barry Jackson sort it out for me, and off I went to work.

Being the last to arrive, I joined the rest of the Majestic Staff who were all having an amazing farewell breakfast for Nick Wakerley, who was leaving his position as Graphic Designer to move to Sydney.  It was a fun morning, all laughing and talking.  Sharyn Hay made me giggle when she imagined what she would look like if she was a smoker – sneaking out for smoke breaks.  Still makes me giggle.  After breakfast, Ps Leo talked about service.  About delivering great service.  You can have all the other hype, but if you don’t have amazing service, the “hype” isn’t worth anything.  It was great and really made us all think about how we can serve others in our church community.  After breakfast, I went into my office and got my lesson plans all organized for the coming Sunday’s service.  I was really looking forward to sharing the message with the amazing Majestic children.

At 10.30am we had Creative Strategy meeting.  It was one of the most “creative” creative strategy meetings we had had for a while and came away from it buzzing with ideas.

After doing some admin work I decided to go out for lunch for once.  I usually don’t do lunch on Tuesdays because I have to leave to get the kids early, but decided today would be the day for a special treat.  On the way down from the 3rd floor of our work building, Majestic House, I rung  my husband Rob.  He didn’t answer, so I thought I would surprise him at work.  He works on the corner of Colombo and Hereford Sts.  I hung up, stepped out the door onto the road and I felt an aftershock.

My first thought was “gah, another one, so sick of these stupid after shocks”.  But it kept going, and it threw me to the ground.  I couldn’t stand up.  I saw the glass door to Majestic flying in and out.  Then the building right next to Majestic – which I was right out front of had its facade fall down.  Five little steps closer and I would have been crushed.  There was so much noise and I saw things falling everywhere.  Then dust covered everything.

I crawled to the Majestic building and when the shaking stopped started to run back inside. Outside was too scary.  Nate Phillips was the first person I saw and he said “get out!”.  Once outside, I remembered the taxi that was on the other side of the road.  It was strange seeing it rolling around during the earthquake.  I climbed over bricks to the car and opened the door.  The lady, Vicki, was shaking so hard.  ”Get out” I told her.  She got her things, got out and went into the middle of Lichfield and Manchester Sts.  Around me I saw people on the ground not moving.  Others were getting CPR.

Then I saw Rob.  He had run through all the falling buildings to me.  I gave him the biggest hug and didn’t want to let go.  He told me he had to go back.  He hadn’t checked on his building yet, just wanted to see me first.  I really didn’t want him to go, but knew I couldn’t convince him otherwise.

There were two buildings around us that had fallen and people were trying to dig people out.  No one knew if anyone was even in them, but they just dug. Brave I was not, I could not go over to help, buildings were the enemy right now. I gave Vicki a hug and together with the staff from Majestic, and the hundreds of other strangers on the road, we started walking out.  We weren’t sure where “out” was yet though.  We didn’t know how wide spread the destruction was.  My phone wouldn’t work.  I didn’t know if Dominick and Ashley were safe.

Then a text came through from my dad to see if I was ok.  He wasn’t too far away, but I couldn’t text or ring back.  We walked through the broken city, seeing things that you can’t even begin to imagine – but things that I keep seeing every time I close my eyes.  Crushed cars.  Was someone in them?  Fallen buildings.  Anyone in those?  We walked past Dundas Street and saw the Smith City car park that goes over the road, the top had fallen onto the bottom floor.  Car horns sounded.  Alarms.  People’s tears.  Those sounds will stay with me forever.

Ben Ezra’s phone was working, so asked if I could send messages to Rob to say we were at Pak n Save car park, and one to my mum saying I was ok.  I remember saying “I don’t like children having cell phones, but right now I would love my 6 year old to have one just so I can text him”.  Once Rob arrived we were able to ring my mum.  She had received a call from Ashley’s preschool saying that she was ok.  Mum was going to go get the kids for us.

We met a girl named Holly.  She had no shoes on, her leggings had rips all over them, she had cuts everywhere and was covered in dust.  She had fallen through the floor of the World store (historic ANZ building) into the basement.  She was lucky to be rescued and alive.  It was the second day at her new job.  Holly gave me hope as we heard news about a building that collapsed with 100s of people inside.

No one knew what to do.  We were all standing there just in shock.  We split up into small groups depending on where we lived, and started to walk home.  None of our Majestic staff had a car.  We still don’t know the fate of our cars.

Rob and I started walking down Moorehouse Ave.  We live out by the airport – a long walk away.  But mum said she would get the kids and take them to my sister’s house.  So we started walking there.  The grounds were covered in wet sandy slop.  It was hard walking through it.  I slipped a few times, my jandals got stuck quite a bit, and it was easier to just walk in bare feet.  We walked down the middle of the road for the most part.  There was no way I wanted to be close to a building.  When we got to the over bridge by Colombo St I had a huge panic attack.  The only way through was between the bridge – which had bits smashed on the road – and the big Harvey Norman building had damage too.  I walked with my head down.  Think it was more like sprinted, and I haven’t done that for a few years!

When we got to the Hunter Furniture building, we could see right under the building.  Water was flowing under it.  How could the building be there like that?

The roads were grid locked.  Everyone trying to get out, to get home, but the cars weren’t going anywhere.  We walked past them all.  People just looked at us.  Shock was on everyone’s faces.

Outside another building, I remember saying to Rob to keep away from buildings.  Then there was a big aftershock and the glass windows started to smash everywhere.  Rob just escaped that one.

Turning down Selwyn Street, cars were still going nowhere.  My feet were sore, but I just wanted to get to my sister’s house.  I wanted my children.

Randomly there was a dairy open.  It had no power, but still open for the people. Bless them too, we were so thirsty.  We got some water and continued on.  Once we got to Coronation St the silt got worse.  Houses had the biggest sand pits on their lawns that would make the ocean jealous.  And even better, water volcanoes in the middle of them!

We walked carefully around all the mess, not too sure where the holes were becauase you couldn’t see any.  Rob nearly got stuck in a big hole, and we kept slipping and sticking all down the road.  Near the end a lovely lady stopped and asked us if we needed a ride.  Rob and I said “yes” at the same time.  Tired, worn down, scared and sore we climbed into her car.  She was driving around just helping people get home.  She dropped us at my sisters and we walked in.  I crumpled in Jessica’s arms and cried.  They were not my first tears today, and they wouldn’t be my last.  I gave my nephew a huge hug and sat down.  My feet were grey, I had cuts and gashes on my arms and feet.  Jess got me some wet wipes for my face, and when I washed it and looked at the wipe, I couldn’t believe it had all come off my face.  I asked for a hairbrush and brushed my knotted hair that had dust all through it.

Then we waited while the ground kept shaking.  Their dog, Molly, was so scared.  She kept cuddling into us.  How do you tell a dog what happened?  Jess’ back yard was another fine example of DIY sand pits, and I think my nephew Mikey would have liked it if it had been able to stay like that.  We tried ringing mum a few times.  Sometimes you could get through, sometimes not.  She got Dominick from school first.  He was the last of 450 plus students to be picked up.  Then she got Ashley, who was also last to be picked up.  It took them over an hour to do a ten-minute drive, and I was so happy to have my children with me!  Mum was amazing to drive by herself to get the kids.  Dominick still hadn’t recovered from the last earthquake in September, so I knew he would be a distraction while trying to drive in busy traffic with lots of aftershocks.  But she did it.

Mum still had power at her house, so we all went over there and had some food.  We watched the TV and saw the devastation again.  It is hard to believe how close I was to it all.  Mum drove us home.  We didn’t have any keys to get in, so had to break in.  Lots of things were broken, and we had to clear some of it up straight away so the kids wouldn’t get hurt.  We were lucky though as we still had power and running water.

We got spare changes of clothes and our emergency kit set up by the front door, ready to get out fast if needed, and tried to calm the kids down.  They were both frightened.  In the end, Dominick and I had the big bed, Ashley was on a mattress on the floor, as was Rob.

Nearly a week on and people are trying to get back to a “normal” type of living.  Many people have fled Christchurch and quite a lot won’t come back.  We are still here.  This is my home.  I grew up here, and my children are going to grow up here too.  Life won’t be the same again.  People are dead, people are injured.

I needed to do my earthquake story, I hope it will start my healing.  It’s hard to be strong when I have two little ones that need me to be there for them. I encourage everyone to write down their own earth quake story, get it out.  Every time we tell our story, some of the pain and grief leaves us.  Keep telling it until it doesn’t hurt anymore.

Keep strong Christchurch. Xxx

Kirsty Montgomery