Reach NZ Evangelism Network

My goal for the future is to make it an exciting adventure with God as I ‘Go and preach the gospel‘ (Mk 16v14-18)

And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.

"These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues... they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." This has been my experience. Glory to God!

I'm not connected to one particular denomination (although I am supported and encouraged by several), as the Lord directed me to Galatians 1:1. Paraphrased in my opening statement above.

In 2006 I was given a Vision to travel around New Zealand in a purpose built House-bus to Seek & Save the Lost & Equip Disciples to do the same.

I was born at a very young age in Gisborne and grew up in a middle class family and had great parents and family life. I have no excuses for the path I took, it was simply the bad choices that I made. I left home at about 17/18yrs old and very quickly drifted into the drug scene. By the age of about 20 I was a drug addict and soon became a dealer. Not a very good one I might add, because I kept getting caught.

I meet my wife Joanne (nee Raggett) when I was about 22 at a drug party, although Jo was never into the drugs, and hardly even drunk alcohol. Jo was a single mum when we met and fell in love, and we got married the following year in May 1982.

I adopted her daughter Dayna soon after we were married and our first son (Sharn) was born in 1983. Sharn's birth was a life changing experience for me. This was the beginning of my spiritual awakening. Unfortunately we lived a violent and dysfunctional lifestyle and I was unwittingly putting my wife and children through sheer hell.

I desperately wanted to be a good husband and father but I allowed drugs and violence to dominate my life. I had struggled with anger for most of my life and the drugs only fuelled it, hurting my family and those around me, especially our daughter.

In 1986 after hearing the phrase, "You must be born again.” from my friend Tussy Papuni, I couldn’t get it out of my head and began to ask him questions about the Bible. Eventually he invited me to a church service, and amazingly I went. It was during my second visit to the New Life Church in Gisborne that something in my mind clicked into place. I knew the life I had been leading just wasn’t worth living, but God was offering me a new life through the sacrifice of His Son, and I needed this more than anything!

It was there that I was able to admit to myself that not only was I a violent drug addict, I was also a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer at heart, and that was only four of the 10 commandments. I didn't need to look any further because I realised that if I had died that night I would stand in God's courtroom on Judgment day and He would find me guilty.

For the first time I got a hold of the full Gospel message of Sin, Righteousness, Judgment, Grace and Repentance for the forgiveness of sin and Trust in the Saviour... And it made sense.

The Bible was clear that if I was guilty of violating just one of God's commandments that I was a sinner; and my conscience told me this was true, and if I died in this condition God would have no choice but to give me justice and send me to Hell forever.

However, the good news was that it wasn't God's will for me (or anyone) to end up in Hell, and He had done something really amazing so that I could be forgiven and get right with Him before Judgment day, and receive everlasting life, starting here on earth and forever more.

All of a sudden in that meeting, I realised God loved me so much that He gave His own Son to die in my place. I deserved to go to Hell but Jesus took my punishment on Himself so that I could be forgiven and receive the free gift of everlasting life.

All I had to do was repent (or turn from my sin), and put my trust in Jesus Christ alone to save me. And God would forgive my sins, and grant me everlasting life and I would receive His Holy Spirit and a new life, heart and mind that would enable me to know God personally and internality.

So that's what I did when the preacher asked if anyone wanted to respond to the gospel message. I hated crowds, but there I was walking up to the front of the church before several hundred people. I now know what the Bible means that nobody can come to Christ unless the Father draws them. This is what I experienced, God drawing me to His Son. As soon as I repented of my sin and put my trust in the Saviour, the Holy Spirit came into my life and God became my spiritual Father and I was ‘Born Again’. I didn’t understand everything, but I knew something had changed in my heart. I wasn’t the same person anymore. Glory to God!

The morning after receiving Jesus Christ as my saviour I went to visit Jo and our new baby son (Jarrad) in hospital. I had experienced such a radical transformation that Jo couldn’t believe her ears or eyes and thought I had really flipped my lid.

My life was radically transformed; foul language had disappeared from my vocabulary without me even realizing it at first. And within a few weeks God set me totally free from my drug addiction!

Over the next year or so my whole family were saved. First, our seven year old daughter experienced such a radical transformation that she turned from a frightened introverted lonely little girl, to an excited extroverted follower of Christ. Then my parents, followed by my brother and sister and finally my wife Jo. She realised that this wasn't just another faze like the spiritualism I had tried. It was real and going to stick, and she realised she needed salvation as well.

Unfortunately shortly after this my wife Jo was diagnosed with an Auto Immune Disorder Syndrome. This is the opposite to AIDS which caused her immune system to over react when she got a virus. Her immune system would attack the virus as well as her organs etc. This started with insulin dependent diabetes. The diagnosis was bleak and the Doctors told us she may get about 10 years of reasonable health before complications would begin to affect her major organs.

Then in 1996 Jo had her first major health crash and almost died, (for the first time). Much to the doctors surprise, she pulled through but had developed a condition called a Control Pain Modular Disorder. This meant a light touch anywhere on her body felt like a hammer smashing her, and water from the shower felt like hot needles. This was so rare it took about 6 month for the doctors to figure out how to treat her & control the pain.

During this period Jo went almost totally blind and eventually went to have an operation to try and save what sight she had left. She was only able to see light and dark shapes out of one eye. While in hospital we got everyone we knew to pray for her. The result was an amazing miracle. When the bandages were removed she could actually read. Praise the Lord.

On Christmas day 2005, Jo’s health took another major dive and she ended up in the Acute Assessment ward in the Hastings Hospital. Over the next 12 months of her life Jo battled with 3 strokes, an aneurism, internal bleeding, severe heart failure, a heart attack, kidney & liver failure & auto neuropathy (nerve endings were dying around her organs) causing her to continuously vomit 24/7.

Even the hospital system seemed to turn on us, refusing to supply anti nausea drugs after releasing her from hospital. We even made the National headlines on both Radio and TV.

Joanne and Kevin Piper

Click here to view TVNZ News Link

Man takes drastic action for drugs

Apr 21, 2006 8:43 PM

A Hawk's Bay man says he was forced to take drastic action to ensure his ailing wife received the drugs she needed.

Kevin Piper claims the local DHB is trying to get his wife's anti-nausea drug only after he refused to take her home from hospital and went public with her plight.

God's Invitation to me to become a Disciple

As I said, I had been a believer since 1986, I had repented of my sin and put my trust in the Saviour and received His free gift of everlasting life, but I had never responded to the many calls I had from Jesus to become His disciple - until 2004 (although I understand it more now).

A believer will buckle at the knees and become faithless at the first hint of major trials, tribulations or persecution (although God remains faithful even when we are faithless). But a true disciple will endure trials, tribulations and persecutions, always.

In 2004 I heard God speak to me about becoming a disciple. I literally heard Him call my name, audibly. For several months I kept thinking I heard someone's voice calling my name, but thought I was losing the plot or something. Until one day I realised it was Jesus calling me and I immediately stopped and listened, and answered 'hear I am Lord, use me'.

I believe God was asking me if I was willing to really make Him Lord and become His disciple. Although I didn’t understand this as clearly as I do now, my answer was yes Lord. This marked a definite change in my thinking and in the way I walked with God, and also dramatically increased my concern for the lost. Little did I know the worst was yet to come?

This was the catalyst that got me motivated to answer the call from Jesus to becoming His disciple and do the work of an evangelist.

Discipleship had really begun in my life.

God then began to ask me if I really believed if a person died in their sin that they would wind up in Hell and be tormented day and night for all eternity. And if so, what was I doing about it? My answer was yes I did believe, but I had been doing very little about it.

For decades I had been preaching 'The false Gospel of the Modern Church'

Eventually I came to realise I really didn't understand how to share the gospel & for decades I had been preaching the false gospel of the modern church (which brings a curse Galatians 1: 6-10).

You know the one... 'come to Jesus and He will give you a wonderful life' - If that were true I surely had been ripped off as what I had been experiencing wasn't that wonderful.

Or 'there is a God shaped whole in your heart that only Jesus can fill'...

Or how about this, 'God has a wonderful plan for your life and all you have to do is invite Jesus into your heart'... without mentioning sin, righteousness, judgment, grace and repentance from sin for salvation.

I believe this also explained why I hadn't been able to bring many souls to the Saviour. I had been trying to bring sinners through another gate apart from the gateway of sin, righteousness, judgment, grace and repentance from sin for salvation.

I was so convicted that I had to repent.

Unfortunately the worst trial of my life was yet to come. It started in 2005 when our granddaughter died from cot death.

Then in January 2007 my beautiful wife Joanne died at only 46 years old, after 11 years of chronic illness, followed about a year later by our son-in-law who died from cancer at only 32 years old. Praise the Lord they have all gone to glory.

This experience has made me so thankful that I had truly become a disciple of Christ. It also made me painfully aware that nobody is guaranteed a tomorrow and we need to do all we can while it is still today, to proclaim the good news of the gospel to everyone we can, as soon as we can.

Our Vision

In 2006 God spoke to me about selling our home and buying a bus and converting it into a house-bus and office to travel around New Zealand to train and proclaim the gospel message.

This was shortly after the doctors told us Jo's medical condition was terminal and she would go to be with be with Lord sooner rather than later. Although the bus was in our future plans, I never thought she would agree to do it now considering our situation.

Our vision was to give up all that we had and follow Him. God called us to network with other Christians and organizations to help grow the Kingdom of God, utilizing our house-bus to seek and save the lost and equip disciples to do the same, to Glorify His name.

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation ... These signs will accompany those who have believed... in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues... they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover ...

And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. Jesus Himself through us has commissioned us (all of us) to preach the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.

For the previous 12 months or more when Jo wasn't in hospital she was mostly confined to home. In fact she spent her last 12 months or more vomiting almost 24/7 and her last two Christmases were spent in the Hastings Hospital ICU.

However Jo had an immediate witness from the Lord and after some prayer she said let’s do it. Our conclusion was that there were hospitals all over NZ or God may heal her, but even if He didn't we would obey Him no matter what.

Even through the worst of this Jo never complained or blamed God or anything like that. She told everyone that while she wanted God to heal her (and believed that was possible), because she wanted see her children and grandchildren grow up; but even if she never got healed she would love God with all her heart soul & mind. No matter what!

When it comes to Gods comfort and grace we really don't know the true meaning of the words until we have experienced them.

Until we have lived in desperate need of God's strength, comfort and grace, we hardly know their true reality or power.

God is Faithful

Unfortunately my beautiful Jo didn't make it to see our vision completed. Jo passed away into the hands of our loving heavenly Father on the 8th January 2007. I have to confess I never thought she would die and that God would heal her.

Things don't always turn out the way we think they should, but God absolutely turns untoward things into blessings. He comforts, strengthens & heals us from the most devastating circumstances.

As difficult as this has been, it has been the best experience of my life and God has done an amazing work of grace in my heart for which I am truly thankful, and now I'm committed to fulfil what the Lord has called me to do.

I believe the only reason I was able to endure these trials and tribulation was because by the grace of God I had answered His call to become a disciple. I thank and praise God every day for His amazing grace & mercy.

Have you answered God’s call for you to become His disciple?

Signs & Wonders Follow those Who Believe

Since becoming His disciple I have had the privilege of proclaiming the gospel and seeing many come to saving faith in Christ. I've seen the sick healed, demons delivered, and even prayed for a man who had been pronounced dead by paramedic's for an hour, and hearing God tell me to pray for him I saw God raise him to life again. They couldn’t explain what had happened but the official explanation was called ‘The Lazareth Syndrome’. Interesting yeah! Glory to His name!

I have seen Muslims get down on their knees in a public place and repent of their sin and put their trust in the Saviour. I've also witnessed people fall on their face under the anointing of the Holy Spirit in the main street and lay there for more than 10 minutes as God ministered to them. Glory to God!

In 2008 I completed the OAC Ministry School of Evangelism and have been working towards becoming a full time itinerant evangelist. I teamed up with my long time friend (20yrs+) Nigel Baker in Gisborne in October 2008 and we began to develop Outreach New Zealand.

Our Outreach New Zealand website was primarily established as an information and networking ministry. This has evolved into Reach NZ with Chris Dunstan, Gregg Burton, Ewan Hulse and many others. Reach NZ has become an Outreach & Training Network.

I had been introduced to the Flipchart presentation through OAC but we have really taken it to a new level after organizing an outreach music festival in Gisborne on Waitangi weekend 2009.

This was primarily funded by the Gisborne District Council. We had several bands from local Churches playing and the Salvation Army ran a free BBQ and hot & cold drinks to the public. The Hawks Bay OAC team came and put on a kids program which included a puppet show.

It was here that I met Greg Burton who first developed the Flipchart gospel presentation. This is based on Ray Comforts ‘The Way of the Master’ Good Person Test. Greg and Chris Dunstan, Ewan Hulse and Korky Davy (OAC UK Director) all came and ran a Flipchart Training seminar then took a bunch of us out on the street to do an outreach. My life has never been the same since.

Since then God has used us to help establish Witnessing Teams in Gisborne, Tauranga, TePuke, Morrinsville, Tokoroa, Turangi, Hamilton, Christchurch, Wanaka, Rotorua and many other places. Our Flipcharting teams have literally shared the gospel with thousands of people and we have seen dozens seriously impacted by the gospel message and many salvation's.

It’s a humbling experience when the people you share the gospel with regularly thank you, shake your hand, hug you and some even weep. I’ve even seen many get down on their knees on the main street in repentance before the Lord and put their trust in Jesus to save them.

The Pathway of Faith - Genesis 12

Faith is the foundation of our Christian lives. Hebrews 11:1 gives us the biblical definition of this term: "faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (NIV).

True belief is more than something we express verbally; it is a pathway you and I follow. Throughout life, our heavenly Father takes us on a journey, allowing us to experience a real relationship with Him as we encounter each circumstance.

This illustrates that God has a purpose for everything we encounter. The Lord promised Abraham descendants as numerous as the stars visible in the sky. (Gen. 15:5). Then He directed His servant to obey several commands, such as moving from home. Abraham was not told the details of this plan.

We now know that he was the father of the Jewish nation, and his lineage included Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind. Though the patriarch did not obey perfectly, he did step forward in faith, trusting in God's ultimate purpose.

We, too, can know with certainty that the Lord is weaving together a beautiful plan. He isn't obligated to explain His reasoning or reveal every detail. Instead, God shows us the next step (Ps. 119:105), and our job is to obey, even when it doesn't make sense.

If you want to know what God is doing in your life, obey Him. Often, you won't understand the intricacies of the plan, but you can trust the goodness of His heart. Rest assured that all He does is purposeful and for your benefit. So step forward in faith, and you will see His faithfulness

I am now a fulltime evangelist travelling NZ in my House-bus and my income is supplied by the faithful supporters of Reach NZ.

I believe now is the time to establish new Witnessing Teams in other cities and towns throughout NZ. Without doubt there is more to come...

The Harvest is Plentiful,

Grace b2u from,

Kevin Piper