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Philip Garside Books
Mission in the City - eBooks.
Mission in the City - eBooks.
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Mission in the City: Hopes and Dreams – My story
By Shirley-Joy Barrow
Discover an inspiring journey of faith, service, and resilience as Deacon Shirley-Joy Barrow shares her transformative work with New Zealand's most vulnerable through the Whanganui City Mission.
Read this book to:
- Gain insights into compassionate, faith-based social service and leadership.
- Learn actionable lessons from a seasoned community leader's challenges and triumphs.
- Understand how to address poverty, homelessness, and mental health issues.
- Be inspired by real stories of resilience and transformation.
- Explore practical approaches for building stronger, more inclusive communities.
- Reflect on the intersection of governance, faith, and social justice.
- Support meaningful conversations about systemic change in humanitarian work.
Features
- A foreword by Rt Hon Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand.
- Real-life stories from individuals served by the Mission and its staff.
- Practical reflections on leadership and organizational dynamics in social services.
- A narrative blending personal faith with actionable community service insights.
- A comprehensive glossary and index for ease of reference.
You are buying a zipped file containing eBook editions of this 228 page book in PDF, ePub and Mobi formats. (2018) ISBNs: Mobi 9781927260937; ePub 9781927260944;
PDF 9781927260968.
Description
Immerse yourself in Mission in the City: Hopes and Dreams by Deacon Shirley-Joy Barrow—a moving account of her time as City Missioner in Whanganui, New Zealand, from 2004 to 2011. This compelling social history highlights how faith, determination, and collaboration can bring hope to those living on the margins of society.
Through real-life stories, Barrow showcases the Mission’s transformative work in providing shelter, food, budgeting assistance, and friendship meals to vulnerable individuals and families. From interacting with the homeless in bamboo groves to helping those crippled by debt, Shirley-Joy’s experiences shine a light on what it means to serve with humility and compassion.
The book also dives into the challenges of navigating governance and management, ultimately leading to the author’s controversial dismissal. Barrow’s reflections on leadership, faith, and the limits of corporate models in social services provide valuable lessons for anyone involved in ministry or community work.
Whether you're a church leader, lay preacher, or someone passionate about social justice, this book offers practical insights, inspiring stories, and profound reflections on service, faith, and resilience.
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Foreword by Rt Hon Helen Clark
I learned that Shirley-Joy’s early life had not been easy and that she had set about working for those who were disadvantaged. Her experiences made her an ideal person to be doing the work she was doing. Shirley-Joy had a big heart and a concern for people whom society would often rather not know about.
As Prime Minister and attending the Rātana annual celebrations, I met Shirley-Joy again and we chatted over a cup of tea. She was now the City Missioner in Wanganui. I was impressed with her tenacity and her sense of hope for the city and its people. As City Missioner, Shirley-Joy hoped to bring to people in need of the basics of life: shelter, food, hope, and love.
As the book reveals, with a team of caring people Shirley-Joy sought to establish safe accommodation, and to continue to provide food for those who needed it through the foodbank, including through Friendship meals and the Christmas Lunch. She spent time with homeless people in the bamboo by the Whanganui river and in the sand dunes, listening to the dreams and concerns of those who lived in those rough conditions. Shirley-Joy worked with those seeking freedom from crippling debt, helped sort out access issues with the courts, and assisted with many other complex issues facing people who were ill equipped to deal with them – the stories of the people she worked with in Whanganui, some shared in this book, make her dedication to them and meeting their needs abundantly clear.
I warmly recommend this book. It opens a window on what life is like for New Zealand’s most vulnerable people. From the safety of our warm, secure, and well stocked homes, it can be hard to imagine the lives some of our fellow citizens are living. In Whanganui itself, there is significant distance between the wealthy and the middle-income earners and the truly homeless.
Mission in the City writes about times when the City Mission was helping unprecedented numbers of people by providing emergency and permanent housing, by feeding individuals and whole whānau, by providing drop-in centres for those in need of a friendly and safe space, and by offering budgeting services – all under Shirley-Joy’s protective and fostering eye.
The book tells of how under a corporate model, the Mission’s focus began to shift. The humanitarian model which had been established began to erode. It ultimately disintegrated, culminating in Shirley-Joy’s dismissal at Christmas 2011. This is the story of that journey.”
Contents
Foreword
Prologue —The Author
Chapter 1 – A new journey begins
Chapter 2 — The prophetic predicts the future and dreams dreams
- The Interim Trust’s journey
- Rev David Day (City Missioner 1998–2004)
Chapter 3 - Knowing the history
- Rick’s Story
- A young man’s story
Chapter 4 — Following on
Chapter 5 — Beginning with an end in mind
- City Missioner Activites
- Ngareta’s Story
- Peter’s Story
Chapter 6 — Being feisty and hard edged
Chapter 7 — Core Services Continuing
- Community Christmas Lunch
- Mission Travel Club
- Anne’s Place
- Maria’s Story
- Our Space
- Gardens
- Murray’s Story
Chapter 8 — Do the necessary…food first
- Foodbank
- Sherylee’s Story
- Ezee meals
- Friendship Meals
Chapter 9 — Do the necessary clothing and furniture
- Mike and Sue
- George
- Trish and Maggie
- Jill
- Nourelle’s Story
Chapter 10 — Then the possible… Mission Possible Shop
- Mission Possible Shop
Chapter 11 — And suddenly we will be doing the impossible…Total Care Budget
- Total Care Budget (TCB)
- One Woman’s Story
Chapter 12 – And suddenly we will be doing the impossible… Emergency Housing
- “There’s no place like home
- Emergency Housing
- Some of their Stories
- Mike
Chapter 13 — A synchronistic orchestra of events
- Man falls in street
- The Lada’s Story
- “They called me Mumsy”
- The man-child
- Jason’s Story
- Appreciation for Volunteers
- Baby Jericho and his Mum.
- The Administrators
- Janice’s Story
- Students
- Nicola’s Story
- Hosting visitors
- “Thank you, Food Lady”
Chapter 14 — A family affair or favouritism
- Jason and Sarah’s Story
- Evan’s Story
Chapter 15 — From nostalgia into the unfamiliar
- Dick’s Story
- My Faith
Chapter 16 — Polarisation
- Covenant of trust
- Local poor taking brunt of economic downturn, says City Mission
Chapter 17 — Reflect, Review and Respond
- Review and Reflect
- Respond
Epilogue
Acknowledgements.
Glossary
Index
