Covered or Smothered? 

Waiomio is in Tai Tokerau – Northland New Zealand, in the district or rohe of Ngati Hine, some of who are said to retell their origins as being  from the Waipoua  amongst the Te Roroa people of the West Coast. 

Bella and Patrick Mahunga in their late seventies/ early eighties were blessed in part  to share in that heritage.  But more important to them was that  they had been born again during a revival in the 1950’s that God had outpoured by His Holy Spirit at their Marae in Waiomio. 

Their testimony was wonderful to hear.  God had caused the gospel to come amongst them again as it had at first in the previous century, with signs and wonders and healings through the Name of the Lord Jesus.  It was not through an organised denomination, but through prayer meetings that God Himself had raised up, through people, who others might think were nobodies. 

Bella excitedly told us of a miracle that they had witnessed a number of times whenever the local river was in flood and they had baptisms to do.  When the people were baptised under the water, when they came up sometimes they slipped out of the grip of the  people baptising them. Instead of rushing downstream in the flood waters — they just stayed floating without moving an inch.  It caused more people to believe in the Lord Jesus and be baptised! 

Then some pentecostal preachers came amongst them and told them that unless they came under their ‘spiritual covering’ and had meetings supervised by their denomination, they were not in order with God (read “in sin” here).  So under this compulsion reluctantly the locals let this pentecostal group take over. 

Bella says that the weekend of the first ‘covered’ meeting, the miracles that the Holy Spirit was bringing to pass stopped happening.