Bridge leads to new life for Rose and whānau

The transformation of Rose Hotene is nothing short of inspirational.

Six years ago the single mother of two was addicted to methamphetamine, on the verge of homelessness and desperate for a way out.

Not only did she find a way out, she found a way forward to a healthier and happier future, thanks largely to the programmes and people within Te Ope Whakaora and her own determination.

And that way forward has been so rapid that just three years after leaving rehab, she was accepted into Booth College of Mission as part of the Keepers of the Covenant Session—Ngā Kaipupuru i te Kawenata and six months ago, graduated and took up her new role as Lieutenant Rose Hotene, Mission Officer Flat Bush plant and Chaplain, Kaitiakitanga social housing in Tāmaki Makaurau.

She acknowledges the path she’s taken has been an extraordinary one.

“Anyone who knows me before I went to rehab knows how much of a mess my life was,” she says.

“When you look at the journey, I can only credit it to the presence and the love of God. This year I celebrate six years clean. Six years of sobriety and that’s not a small thing. I know people that have fought so hard, they’ve done so much hard stuff to just get another day clean.”

Rose’s transformation began when she got herself to the Bridge Programme in Ngāmotu and spent nine weeks in the recovery programme.

“I wasn’t even recovering then because I was still in addiction with meth and, you know, other addictions on top of that but I was desperate for a different way of life,” she says.

At the end of her time with the Bridge Programme, the easy option would have been to go back to the same old places and same old ways doing the same old things.

“That’s generally what happens, and I thought this originally too. I thought I’ll learn how to be better at it and not be addicted to it, that was totally my frame of mind. But God had a different plan for me.”

That plan manifested through these first encounters within the Salvation Army.

“I didn’t have any role models or safe people in my life but the Salvation Army, they just awhi’d me so much and supported me so much.”

In particular, she says former Ngāmotu Corps officer Karl Foreman played a pivotal role.

“When I finished rehab, I was desperate so it was one of those miraculous things that happened,” she says.

“It was a week before I was meant to get out and I had applied for a private rental, but I had zero credibility. No one would give me a house but I applied thinking I’ve just got to apply for anything and everything. Karl prayed for me, this beautiful prayer, and God answered the prayer and it changed my life. The day I got out of rehab, I got put in this house. A four-bedroom house in Fitzroy. Even now, it blows my mind. It was that encounter that changed my life.”

That prompted Rose to begin volunteering at the foodbank as a way of keeping busy, and safe.

“It kept me clean, kept me safe, kept me away from that crowd. It was a real safe space for me and through that I began building relationships with people.”

Religion had never been part of Rose’s life but increasingly, she found the presence of God hard to deny.

“I wasn’t really a believer, but I had encounters with God and I couldn’t deny that presence that was coming about in my life,” she says.

“It’s like you experience something and you can’t deny it and that was that happened for me and so I followed it. I could have said nah, but my whole life had been like that and I was desperate for a better way of life. So slowly but surely, I started going to church and getting involved there and I loved it.”

“I guess God just had a hand on me and started opening doors for me. I began serving in Recovery Church and became a Recovery Church leader.”

Her next step was to become an adherent – unwilling to take the step to soldiership until she quit cigarettes and vaping.

“I didn’t want to say yes to soldiership because I didn’t want to make an oath that I’m not going to smoke when I’m out there smoking. I’d just be lying to God and myself and I’m not doing that.”

A year later and finally smoke free, Rose became a soldier.

“So within three years I’d cut out meth, weed, alcohol and cigarettes.”

Still, officership wasn’t on the radar.

“There’s no part of me that got out of rehab and thought, you know what, I’m going to be a pastor. Not in my wildest dreams. I didn’t think it, and I didn’t want it, but God was doing such amazing work in my life.”

Then Karl’s wife Christine gave Rose something to consider.

“She just said I’m going to give you these papers and I want you to just have a look at them. They sat on my table for about three months, then one day I went, okay, I’ll just try. What’s the worst that can happen? So I did the paperwork and they said hey, we really love your story.”

“I hadn’t grown up in the church, had no church background and I got accepted for officership. It was the wildest thing ever because my journey’s been so different and again I can only credit it to the presence and the love of God who had an incredible plan for my life. So I’ve spent three years in the church, two years in training, and here we are.”

The year before entering officer training, Rose had completed a diploma in theology to understand what was happening in her life.

“I was doing it because I was having experiences and encounters with God and I wanted to understand. I wanted someone to teach me deeper than what I could teach myself.”

Her time at BCM was an enjoyable one, she says.

“It was like a space just for me to be me and for me to do a bit more healing in my heart around my whānau and all the stuff and just be a parent and to get things in perspective.”

For a woman who descends from Taranaki iwi and is more at home in the bush or at the beach than in the city, her first posting to Flatbush was something of a surprise, as was her role as a Planting Officer (pastor).

“Of course, planting a church is about building the church up but how do you do that? So I guess what I’m learning in this appointment is that everything has to be overridden by the heart. All I can do is honestly follow God, otherwise I’m lost and I don’t know what the heck I’m doing,” she says.

“In the standard way of church life, there’s a church and the people come in, so you build up your people and they all come and we do Sunday church, hallelujah. But that’s not typically what God is asking of us to do, it’s just what we’ve always done.

“I guess the journey that I’m on is like, what does church look like on Monday or Friday?  And it doesn’t even have to be called church. What does doing life with God look like every day?

“Now we’re talking about an actual relationship, which is what God is about. Being honest and having real relationships with people and noticing God in those spaces. It’s so weird to say these things because I haven’t grown up in the church.”

Being a new officer and a single parent comes with its own challenges and Rose is the first to admit it’s not always easy.

“The singleness is quite hard. It’s not that it’s lonely as such but you just want to have that companionship to offload to or to share or just pray with you. Nothing really prepares you for how hard It is, but it’s good hard, not bad hard. It’s the expectations from other people and from yourself and the mental load that comes with it. There are constantly 1000 things going on.”

She recognises the importance of taking time for herself and is enjoying discovering parts of the region with a bit of bush or beach not far away. Getting back to nature helps recharge and prepare for the challenges ahead.

“I feel that God is probably encouraging me to know when to rest, when to shut off. I’m learning how to be better at that for myself. If you’re not looking after yourself first, then we can’t look after other people.”

Taking time to reconnect with the environment also reinforces her connection with Te Ao Māori, she says.

“My love for nature, my love for everything like that comes from te Ao Māori, without a doubt.”

“I didn’t grow up knowing anything about myself as Māori, so that’s been another journey and there’s been lots of mamae, lots of space for healing, all that kind of stuff but I’ve had incredible encounters with God who has healed a lot of that part of my heart for me,” she says.

“There’re parts of me that are just completely Māori and that’s who I am. I believe I’m a good person today and I’m a good role model to my kids and that’s all that really matters.”

And she encourages others living in challenging circumstances not to give up hope.

“If you want better, you can have better. We get hooked on things and stuck in all that kind of stuff but you don’t have to stay stuck in it. We have the power to change and it’s hard work but it’s worth it.”

“God has been good and he’s given such healing to us as a family, me and my two kids and I’m so grateful. Grateful every day.”

Bridge leads to new life for Rose and whānau

The transformation of Rose Hotene is nothing short of inspirational.

Six years ago the single mother of two was addicted to methamphetamine, on the verge of homelessness and desperate for a way out.

Not only did she find a way out, she found a way forward to a healthier and happier future, thanks largely to the programmes and people within Te Ope Whakaora and her own determination.

And that way forward has been so rapid that just three years after leaving rehab, she was accepted into Booth College of Mission as part of the Keepers of the Covenant Session—Ngā Kaipupuru i te Kawenata and six months ago, graduated and took up her new role as Lieutenant Rose Hotene, Mission Officer Flat Bush plant and Chaplain, Kaitiakitanga social housing in Tāmaki Makaurau.

She acknowledges the path she’s taken has been an extraordinary one.

“Anyone who knows me before I went to rehab knows how much of a mess my life was,” she says.

“When you look at the journey, I can only credit it to the presence and the love of God. This year I celebrate six years clean. Six years of sobriety and that’s not a small thing. I know people that have fought so hard, they’ve done so much hard stuff to just get another day clean.”

Rose’s transformation began when she got herself to the Bridge Programme in Ngāmotu and spent nine weeks in the recovery programme.

“I wasn’t even recovering then because I was still in addiction with meth and, you know, other addictions on top of that but I was desperate for a different way of life,” she says.

At the end of her time with the Bridge Programme, the easy option would have been to go back to the same old places and same old ways doing the same old things.

“That’s generally what happens, and I thought this originally too. I thought I’ll learn how to be better at it and not be addicted to it, that was totally my frame of mind. But God had a different plan for me.”

That plan manifested through these first encounters within the Salvation Army.

“I didn’t have any role models or safe people in my life but the Salvation Army, they just awhi’d me so much and supported me so much.”

In particular, she says former Ngāmotu Corps officer Karl Foreman played a pivotal role.

“When I finished rehab, I was desperate so it was one of those miraculous things that happened,” she says.

“It was a week before I was meant to get out and I had applied for a private rental, but I had zero credibility. No one would give me a house but I applied thinking I’ve just got to apply for anything and everything. Karl prayed for me, this beautiful prayer, and God answered the prayer and it changed my life. The day I got out of rehab, I got put in this house. A four-bedroom house in Fitzroy. Even now, it blows my mind. It was that encounter that changed my life.”

That prompted Rose to begin volunteering at the foodbank as a way of keeping busy, and safe.

“It kept me clean, kept me safe, kept me away from that crowd. It was a real safe space for me and through that I began building relationships with people.”

Religion had never been part of Rose’s life but increasingly, she found the presence of God hard to deny.

“I wasn’t really a believer, but I had encounters with God and I couldn’t deny that presence that was coming about in my life,” she says.

“It’s like you experience something and you can’t deny it and that was that happened for me and so I followed it. I could have said nah, but my whole life had been like that and I was desperate for a better way of life. So slowly but surely, I started going to church and getting involved there and I loved it.”

“I guess God just had a hand on me and started opening doors for me. I began serving in Recovery Church and became a Recovery Church leader.”

Her next step was to become an adherent – unwilling to take the step to soldiership until she quit cigarettes and vaping.

“I didn’t want to say yes to soldiership because I didn’t want to make an oath that I’m not going to smoke when I’m out there smoking. I’d just be lying to God and myself and I’m not doing that.”

A year later and finally smoke free, Rose became a soldier.

“So within three years I’d cut out meth, weed, alcohol and cigarettes.”

Still, officership wasn’t on the radar.

“There’s no part of me that got out of rehab and thought, you know what, I’m going to be a pastor. Not in my wildest dreams. I didn’t think it, and I didn’t want it, but God was doing such amazing work in my life.”

Then Karl’s wife Christine gave Rose something to consider.

“She just said I’m going to give you these papers and I want you to just have a look at them. They sat on my table for about three months, then one day I went, okay, I’ll just try. What’s the worst that can happen? So I did the paperwork and they said hey, we really love your story.”

“I hadn’t grown up in the church, had no church background and I got accepted for officership. It was the wildest thing ever because my journey’s been so different and again I can only credit it to the presence and the love of God who had an incredible plan for my life. So I’ve spent three years in the church, two years in training, and here we are.”

The year before entering officer training, Rose had completed a diploma in theology to understand what was happening in her life.

“I was doing it because I was having experiences and encounters with God and I wanted to understand. I wanted someone to teach me deeper than what I could teach myself.”

Her time at BCM was an enjoyable one, she says.

“It was like a space just for me to be me and for me to do a bit more healing in my heart around my whānau and all the stuff and just be a parent and to get things in perspective.”

For a woman who descends from Taranaki iwi and is more at home in the bush or at the beach than in the city, her first posting to Flatbush was something of a surprise, as was her role as a Planting Officer (pastor).

“Of course, planting a church is about building the church up but how do you do that? So I guess what I’m learning in this appointment is that everything has to be overridden by the heart. All I can do is honestly follow God, otherwise I’m lost and I don’t know what the heck I’m doing,” she says.

“In the standard way of church life, there’s a church and the people come in, so you build up your people and they all come and we do Sunday church, hallelujah. But that’s not typically what God is asking of us to do, it’s just what we’ve always done.

“I guess the journey that I’m on is like, what does church look like on Monday or Friday?  And it doesn’t even have to be called church. What does doing life with God look like every day?

“Now we’re talking about an actual relationship, which is what God is about. Being honest and having real relationships with people and noticing God in those spaces. It’s so weird to say these things because I haven’t grown up in the church.”

Being a new officer and a single parent comes with its own challenges and Rose is the first to admit it’s not always easy.

“The singleness is quite hard. It’s not that it’s lonely as such but you just want to have that companionship to offload to or to share or just pray with you. Nothing really prepares you for how hard It is, but it’s good hard, not bad hard. It’s the expectations from other people and from yourself and the mental load that comes with it. There are constantly 1000 things going on.”

She recognises the importance of taking time for herself and is enjoying discovering parts of the region with a bit of bush or beach not far away. Getting back to nature helps recharge and prepare for the challenges ahead.

“I feel that God is probably encouraging me to know when to rest, when to shut off. I’m learning how to be better at that for myself. If you’re not looking after yourself first, then we can’t look after other people.”

Taking time to reconnect with the environment also reinforces her connection with Te Ao Māori, she says.

“My love for nature, my love for everything like that comes from te Ao Māori, without a doubt.”

“I didn’t grow up knowing anything about myself as Māori, so that’s been another journey and there’s been lots of mamae, lots of space for healing, all that kind of stuff but I’ve had incredible encounters with God who has healed a lot of that part of my heart for me,” she says.

“There’re parts of me that are just completely Māori and that’s who I am. I believe I’m a good person today and I’m a good role model to my kids and that’s all that really matters.”

And she encourages others living in challenging circumstances not to give up hope.

“If you want better, you can have better. We get hooked on things and stuck in all that kind of stuff but you don’t have to stay stuck in it. We have the power to change and it’s hard work but it’s worth it.”

“God has been good and he’s given such healing to us as a family, me and my two kids and I’m so grateful. Grateful every day.”