MISSION WORK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 35, 11 February 1937, Page 9

MISSION WORK.

TE KOPUA STATION. JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS. CENTEKABT IV 1040 ? (From Our Own Correspondent.) TE AWAMUTU, this day. ~~"In connection with the golden jubilee of the Te Kopua Native School, and the intention also to celebrate the centenary of the Te Kopua mission station, it is interesting to note that the actual centenary does not occur until 1940 or probably 1941. Just where the Waipa mission station was located is not certain, but it appears to hare been somewhere near Whatawhata. It may be explained that in 1833 the Rev. John Whiteley had newly arrived to take charge of the Wesleyan mission work in New Zealand, succeeding the Rev. John Hobbs, who went on 1 to supervise mission work in Tonga. In November, 1834, a missioner, Mr.J Woon, came from Hokianga, and in ! 1835 Messrs. Whiteley and \Vallis followed Mr. Woon to the Kawhia district. Maoris Not Pleased. Apparently mission enterprise was developed steadily with stations at Whaingaroa (now Raglan), Aotoa andj Kawhia. Te Kopua was an out-station of Kawhia, but it was not established for some time after Kawhia was established. It is stated in an old journal, that trouble had developed at the Waipa station, due to some of the Maoris being not at all pleased with the location chosen for it, and following a visit by Mr. Whiteley in 1841 to Waipa he| decided' to transfer activities to Te Kopua. Therefore, the actual date of the establishment of the Te Kopua station was probably 1842. Confirmation of this is. to some extent, given in the journal of the Rev. Walter Lawry, which accompanied a letter writ-.

ten from Auckland on December 18, 1844. The first part of the journal, dealing with a trip from Auckland to Hokianga, via Russell, and return to Auckland, gives a wealth of detail about conditions in the North. Then an entry under the date of August 19 reads: "The Rev. Thomas Buddie and I started with six natives for tlie south, each man loaded with a full burden, carrying tent, food, blankets and changes of clothes. On August 22 I entered the fine Waikato River, and in a canoe proceeded up its powerful stream, a journey of four days. The native villages were more numerous on the banks of the river than in ti«e inland districts. On the river banks the many thousands of acres of rich alluvial) soil invite the hand of industry, and promise an ample bounty." The Art of Governing. The writer makes reference to his companions on the journey, and pro-

eeeds: "I must not omit one circumstance in connection with these people, and my journey with them for eight or nine days. Mr. Buddie was their pastor; and, by his general expertness in native affairs, and great readiness in speaking their language, besides oeing their spiritual father, had acquired corresponding influence with thein, and indeed could do anything he desired; for 'the art of governing,' we know, 'is governing by love.' On August 24 we landed at Wakapaku for our first meal, and our arrival cheered our people there. We had now entered the waters of the Waipa, and were nearing our mission station on that river. "Having spent the Sabbath (August "26) at Watawata, and held five services with the natives, we came, late on Monday evening, to Mr. Buddie's station at Kopua, and found ourselves thoroughly at home, after travelling eight days in the bush or on the rivers, through bogs and swamps, sleeping on a bed of ferns each night. But there is not so much suffered as some might suppose, the climate being very agreea^ e * The natives here showed that I they had been well instructed in Gospel j truths. Mr. Buddie has succeeded in making a deep impression during the three years of his stay here. Almost all the natives keep the Sabbath-dav liolv; | possess the Xew Testament, which tliev read and study very attentivelv; and some of them are consistent teachers of j their less-instructed brethren." j