Volunteers Help Hundreds in New Zealand Change Their Lives for the Better

A unique program created by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints combines career education with spiritual guidance in BYU-Pathway Worldwide courses, available across the Pacific.

Nearly three dozen people have been called as volunteer missionaries to lead the program in their congregations in the Auckland area.

Two of them are siblings who are serving second missions with their spouses. Another couple has enrolled themselves in the program and has involved every member of their family in furthering their education in the same way.

They all agree on one thing: BYU-Pathway Worldwide changes lives.

Peter Stone is a Pathway missionary in the Harbour Stake on Auckland’s north shore. For the past year, he and his wife Dolly have been working with more than a dozen people who are working to expand their opportunities in life through education.

Peter’s twin brother, Michael, is serving as a mission president with his wife Sharon in Perth, Australia; and their sister Barbara Brown and her husband Wayne, were called to be Pathway missionaries in Kaikohe, in New Zealand’s Northland.

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That means that three members of the Stone family and their spouses are serving missions at the same time, two of which are focused on the BYU-Pathway Worldwide program.

“The fact that we're all serving missions together is really quite special,” Barbara Brown said.

Before his calling to BYU-Pathway Worldwide, Peter managed a private education company that specialized in distance learning for “second chance” adult learners.

“The big difference between Pathway and the education system I was working in before is that Pathway includes a spiritual component along with learning about the world we live in.”

“As we work with students, they begin to realize that the two combined is far more powerful than just the worldly knowledge.”

Peter Stone added: “Education isn't just about gaining knowledge—it's about understanding your Father in Heaven’s plan for you. You can learn just like anyone else can, and as you gain worldly qualifications, you gain a godly insight into your own potential. I think God can see it, and we as Pathway missionaries can see it, but they often can't see it in themselves. We help them to open that door.”

Peter’s wife, Dolly, said, “We have students ranging from age 75 down to 18 and they are doing something they never thought they would ever get to do, and that is proving to themselves that they can learn.”

Barbara and Wayne Brown were asked to serve as volunteer missionaries for BYU-Pathway Worldwide in their region. They are both professional teachers. Barbara taught in primary school and has adult tutoring experience. She is retired, while Wayne teaches woodworking at Northland College in Kaikohe.

He had to leave school at age 15 and made his career in construction and carpentry. He always had a longing to go back and complete his education. After they were called, he decided to enroll as a Pathway student himself.

“I signed up so I could understand what people had to go through to be a student and what were their challenges. As I progressed, it changed the way I felt about myself, that I could finally get a real education.”

“That changed our lives,” says Barbara.

She recounted another one of their experiences in the nearby community of Otaua. Many people there are of Māori descent and have been looking for more diverse educational opportunities. Sandra MacDonald felt inspired to ask to be called as a Pathway missionary so that she could help three women in their small congregation. Two are in their senior years and one is younger, and they are all flourishing.

“It's been about helping them to have the self-confidence to want to be educated. It’s also giving them good social skills and building them up spiritually as well,” said Barbara.

The rewards of serving have been apparent to the Browns.

“We always wanted to serve a mission together but just couldn’t see how that could work. Now we are doing it, serving from our home, in our own community,” said Wayne.

“It's actually brought us much closer together as a couple, to be Elder and Sister Brown,” Barbara adds.

Roy and Margaret Staite began their involvement with BYU-Pathway Worldwide while they were living in Perth, Australia. After a career in the military and running a construction business, Roy enrolled in the program in January 2017. By the end of that year, he had finished Pathway and was working toward his first certificate.

In the meantime, Margaret was in the midst of a great career as an airport manager when COVID hit, causing a sudden halt to air travel all around the world. She found herself out of work. Serving as a pathway missionary at the time she was inspired to do the program as well which helped fill a void when she found herself out of work.

“I really caught a passion for learning,” she said.

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She completed the program in 2020 and moved imediately into online courses from Brigham Young University-Idaho last year. She just completed an Associate’s degree in business management and she plans to continue on for a Bachelor’s degree.

Margaret is the fourth member of their household to complete Pathway Connect, following Roy and their two daughters who completed the course in 2019. Their eldest daughter, Charlene, is in her last year of her nursing degree. Jordan, their second daughter, went on to serve a full time mission and is now doing an online Certificate in Marriage, Family and Human Relations with BYU-Idaho.

Three years ago, Roy and Margaret facilitated the program in their local area in Manukau, New Zealand. Now they are the leaders for the entire Auckland/Northland region with 13 missionary companionships serving under their direction. They meet with stake and ward leaders to help them understand the impact and blessings that Pathway can have among their members.

Roy says that many local Church leaders have enrolled in the program and have become advocates with their members. “It’s quite nice to go visit a ward and hear a bishop sharing what he's learned in Pathway.”

During their service, the Staites’ have seen more than 350 people complete their programs. “It’s been especially powerful for our Pacific Island communities because it’s about giving people a second chance.”

The Staites have the same feelings as the Stones and the Browns about the unique power of the Pathway program.

Margaret summarised their experiences by saying: “I think what I like most about getting into higher education through BYU-Pathway Worldwide is the spiritual content and how it's intertwined with the academic program all the way through. It has really brought the gospel alive for me.”

NOTE: A stake is a group of congregations called wards