Stan & Ronnie
Stan was born in Mosgiel just out of Dunedin. His parents were Salvation Army ministers, and the first 31 years of his life were spent in The Salvation Army. He met Jesus when he was 8, and met the second love of his life at a church Easter camp when he was 16.
Veronica (Ronnie) was born in New Plymouth. She began attending a small Sunday School class run in a neighbour’s house near her home, and was introduced to Jesus when she was 10.
They were married in 1971 in New Plymouth and have 3 boys and 7 grandchildren. Ronnie says, “If I knew how much fun it is having grandies, I would have started there!!!”
In 1982 their church home became Majestic House and, following 9 years living in Auckland, they returned to Christchurch in 2002 and began attending Living Waters Christian Centre.
Over the next 6 or 7 years they began ministering to married couples and in 2012 lead their first Alpha Marriage Course at LWCC. Since then, they have run The Marriage course or the Alpha Pre-Marriage course on more than 25 occasions.
In 2014 they also became Prepare/Enrich Facilitators and have mentored many couples who have completed the Prepare/Enrich Assessment.
John & Karen
John was born in Gore and moved to Waimate with his family. He spent the first 18 years of his working life in the motor trade, and then shifted to fire protection. He met Jesus when he was 10.
Karen was born in England and migrated to NZ with her family when she was 11. She met the Lord soon after, when she was 12. The first part of her working life was as a florist, and then she became a full time mum.
John and Karen met one another in a church youth group in Timaru. John would travel through from Waimate regularly to those youth activities. They were married in 1982, and have an adult daughter and son.
In church life they have both served in worship teams - John on PA systems and Karen singing, and they also spent 25+ years working with young adults, in churches in both Christchurch and Timaru.
They moved to Christchurch in 1996 and have been part of Living Waters since 2000. Since leaving the Youth ministry at Living Waters in 2019, they have been a valuable part of the Marriage ministry team assisting Stan and Ronnie, including becoming Prepare/Enrich Facilitators, as well as mentoring couples and regularly assisting in running The Alpha Marriage Course at LWCC.