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Pastor Geoff & Joanne Wiklund
Senior Pastor
Ps Geoff originally trained as a teacher and subsequent to qualifying, felt God calling him to 'teach spiritual things' in future. He applied to attend Faith Bible College in Tauranga, working three jobs - his teaching, housemaster at Dilworth College, and teaching dancing - to put himself through that year. During his Faith course, he ministered in Fiji for three months, preaching, healing, doing deliverance, for both Fijians and Fiji Indians, in cities and very out-of-the-way villages. He was married to Joanne early in 1985 and they both took up residence at Faith Bible College where he took on the Assistant Dean role, (to Ps Jim Hurn). This was to last three and a half years.
Even though Ps Geoff received calls to pastor three churches during 1987-88, he did not feel it appropriate to take up a senior role with no previous church experience, and so accepted a call as Assistant Pastor at Otumoetai Baptist Church from 1988 to 1991. He was officially on loan to the Baptist denomination from the Assemblies of God during this time. He gained considerable success in the area of youth, (with even the local Police referring 'young ones' to him), and in assisting the congregation to grow substantially during those years.
In late 1991 he came on staff, also in an assistant role, at Takapuna Assembly of God in Auckland. He told them from the beginning that he felt it would be a two-year appointment as from 1984, God had called him to plant a new congregation, and now he felt the time for that was near. They were in agreement with this and Geoff''s time with Takapuna proved very fruitful for the church, in youth, prison ministry, and congregational preaching. He and Joanne had three children by this time, the youngest requiring a lot of hospital care in her early years.
In October 1993, Ps Geoff and Joanne attended the Church Growth International conference at Ps Yongghi Cho's church in Korea and came back feeling strongly to take the pillars of Prayer and House Church into their own prospective church. They returned and with their three children and six others, committed to start a new work in the Mt Eden area and began Eden Assembly of God. Prayer was felt to be a key factor in relying on God for direction. Morning meetings started initially in the Radio Rhema premises, and later in the Mt Eden War Memorial Hall; night meetings were always held in a congregation member's home.
Ps Geoff's emphasis over the years has continued to be evangelism and mission. In early years the church members would take coffee, soup, chocolate Easter eggs with verses inside, to the night workers on Karangahape Road. Also, from the first, the church has supplied 'buddies' as helpers for the disabled folk at Christian Fellowship for Disabled camps. The first mission was to the Somalis in the refugee camps in northern Kenya. Apart from those mentioned, Ps Geoff has also gone to Ghana, Uganda, Burundi, Congo, Rwanda, South Africa, Egypt, Mauritius, India, Philippines, Solomon Islands, the USA (Los Angeles, Texas,Tennessee, the Navajo Indians at Four Corners). These have been in response to requests and in almost every case, he has taken either mission teams or a 'Timothy'. For the last fifteen years he has been heavily involved with Promise Keepers, New Zealand, and is a strong supporter of ministering to men.
Ps Geoff and Joanne know their 'flock' well and greatly appreciate the wealth of experience of the older members of their congregation, plus being able to fully include the disabled members, and continue a good, easy and growing relationship with all others. Joanne has previously looked after the Women's Ministry (now handed over to others), currently looks after the Children's Ministry (0-14yrs), and works in the church office part time. Their children have grown of course - one is married with three, nearly four, children; one is an auto-technician, currently at BMW, Newmarket, (also does the 'sound' at church) and their last has finished school and is working for the firm HRV in New Lynn.
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