Labour Missionaries, Families and Friends to Gather in Hawke’s Bay

Latter-day Saint labour missionaries, their families and supporters will gather in Hawke’s Bay at the end of the month for a reunion.

The event will take place at Te Aranga Marae, Hastings, from 27 February to 1 March.

Hundreds of New Zealand men and women volunteered, some over multiple years, in the 1950’s and 1960’s to build The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ temple in Hamilton, Church College of New Zealand and several meetinghouses around the country.

Pacific Area Director of Public Affairs, Richard Hunter, said, “These men and women, and their families, deserve our deepest respect and gratitude. They helped build the Church in New Zealand with their willing hands, their creative minds and their abiding faith in Jesus Christ.”

Hawke's Bay is an important place in labour missionaries' history. Not only did many of the labour missionaries who served in Hamilton and elsewhere come from Hawke's Bay, but many Church members there also sent food by truck to support the labour missionaries.