Since the very beginnings of ICDF, conferences and international gatherings have played an important part in being inspired and upskilled through workshops, classes, presentations, discussions and creative worship.
These conferences also provide an opportunity for leaders to meet together, share their challenges, and make decisions. They create the ideal environment for the meeting of like-minded people, for making new friends and for continuing friendships.
ICDF gatherings are held every three to four years on different continents and in various countries to reach a variety of different people and cultures.
WELCOME TO NEW ZEALAND! –
AOTEAROA HAERE MAI
With prayerful consideration, Belinda Andrews and the ICDFANZ Aotearoa New Zealand leadership team have agreed to accept the challenge to host the next ICDF International Conference in 2025.
We are so excited to invite you to come to
Christchurch, New Zealand!
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karangatanga maha, tēnā koutou katoa
Greetings to people of all languages throughout the world
Haere mai, haere mai, haere mai
Welcome, welcome, welcome
Ki a koutou ngā tāngata auaha o te Karaiti, nau mai, haere mai
To you, the Christian creatives, welcome
Haere mai ki Aotearoa
Welcome to Aotearoa New Zealand
Haere mai ki te hui 2025 o te International Christian Dance Fellowship.
Welcome to the 2025 conference of the International Christian Dance Fellowship
Kia ora tātou katoa
Warmest acknowledgements to you all
New Zealand is in the Southern Hemisphere located in the South Pacific Ocean. The spirit of our nation is pioneering, and our mantle is JOY. As the International Christian Dance Fellowship was birthed in 1988, Aotearoa New Zealand was the first country to start a fellowship on 5 November of that year.
ICDF Aotearoa New Zealand founding scripture c.1988
‘Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs’ Isaiah 35:6-7a
ICDF Aotearoa New Zealand Vision
To be salt and light to our nation of Aotearoa New Zealand, and the world for the Glory of God,
as we gather to worship Him in spirit and in truth through the Creative Arts.
WELCOME TO NEW ZEALAND! –
AOTEAROA HAERE MAI
With prayerful consideration, Belinda Andrews and the ICDFANZ Aotearoa New Zealand leadership team have agreed to accept the challenge to host the next ICDF International Conference in 2025.
We are so excited to invite you to come to
Christchurch, New Zealand!
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karangatanga maha, tēnā koutou katoa
Greetings to people of all languages throughout the world
Haere mai, haere mai, haere mai
Welcome, welcome, welcome
Ki a koutou ngā tāngata auaha o te Karaiti, nau mai, haere mai
To you, the Christian creatives, welcome
Haere mai ki Aotearoa
Welcome to Aotearoa New Zealand
Haere mai ki te hui 2025 o te International Christian Dance Fellowship.
Welcome to the 2025 conference of the International Christian Dance Fellowship
Kia ora tātou katoa
Warmest acknowledgements to you all
New Zealand is in the Southern Hemisphere located in the South Pacific Ocean. The spirit of our nation is pioneering, and our mantle is JOY. As the International Christian Dance Fellowship was birthed in 1988, Aotearoa New Zealand was the first country to start a fellowship on 5 November of that year.
ICDF Aotearoa New Zealand founding scripture c.1988
‘Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs’ Isaiah 35:6-7a
ICDF Aotearoa New Zealand Vision
To be salt and light to our nation of Aotearoa New Zealand, and the world for the Glory of God,
as we gather to worship Him in spirit and in truth through the Creative Arts.
CHRISTIANITY IN AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND
Christianity in Aotearoa New Zealand dates to the arrival of missionaries from the Anglican Church Missionary Society, U.K. who were welcomed onto Oihi beach by Rangihoua Chief Ruatara, in the Bay of Islands, Northland in December 1814. Te Rongopai (The Good News) was first preached by Samuel Marsden on Christmas day 1814 from the book of Luke about the birth of a Saviour. An estimated 60% of Maori pledged allegiance to the Christian message within the first 35yrs and Christianity remains New Zealand’s largest religious group at 37% of the general population. However, today New Zealand is a mostly secular society with 48% of people professing no religion at all.
ABOUT AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main land masses; the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) and the South Island (Te Waipounamu) and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area. The country’s varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand’s capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland. The largest city in the South Island is Christchurch.
The islands of New Zealand were the last large habitable land to be settled by humans. Between about 1280 and 1350, Polynesians began to settle and develop a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight and record New Zealand. In 1840, representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which in its English version declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire. Subsequently, a series of conflicts between the colonial government and Māori tribes resulted in alienation and confiscation of large amounts of Māori land. New Zealand gained full statutory independence in 1947, retaining the U.K. monarch as its head of state.
Today, the majority of New Zealand’s population of 5.1 million is of European descent; the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealand’s culture is mainly derived from Māori and early British settlers, with recent broadening of culture arising from increased immigration. Languages are English, Māori, and New Zealand Sign Language, with the local dialect of English being dominant.
A developed country, New Zealand ranks highly in international comparisons such as quality of life, education, protection of civil liberties, government transparency, and economic freedom. The country was the first to introduce a minimum wage, and the first to give women the right to vote. New Zealand underwent major economic changes during the 1980s, which transformed it from a protectionist to a free-trade economy. Authority is vested in an elected Parliament, while political power is exercised by the Cabinet, led by the Prime Minister. King Charles III is the country’s official U.K. monarch and is represented in the nation by the governor-general, Dame Cindy Karo. The Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau (a dependent territory); the Cook Islands and Niue (self-governing states); and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealand’s territorial claim in Antarctica.
[/showhide]