Welcome to Monavale
Our North Island centre in Monavale, near Cambridge, serves as both a residential Bible School and a Conference Centre.
The Waikato region is famous for it's role in the making of the Lord of the Rings and specifically "The Shire" (Hobbiton where "Bag End" was located) also for it's winding rivers, lakes and limestone caves, and some of the best farming production in the world. Cambridge is well known for it's horse studs, and it's beautiful trees from all over the world.
Monavale is a well-known beautiful, historic homestead in the centre of the Waikato. This beautiful property is set in 14 acres in the Waikato heartland, five minutes drive south of Cambridge, “town of trees”, well known for its many antique shops, coffee houses and gardens. Also within easy access is the city of Hamilton (25 mins) famous for its shops, river walks or paddle-boat rides. In the other direction is Lake Karapiro (20 mins) with its water and picnic spots.
It's the largest of our campuses with purpose built accommodation blocks and lecture facilities. In the purpose built conference centre we offer great modern facilities to enrich your student experience. A student Lounge and kitchen with games room and Mac computer lab along with a coffee shop and internet Hotspot.
With warmly designed bedrooms, having their own en-suite bathroom, which open onto a covered veranda at ground floor level. We have facilities for those who have disabilities.
The Basics
The course offered at Monavale has been designed to have a practical ministry content, an intentional discipleship aspect, as well as the foundational teaching common to all Capernwray (Torchbearer) Bible Schools.
The basic course summary:
- Approximately 14 class hours per week of Bible teaching
- A weekly ministry programme
- A discipleship group programme
- Times of community prayer, worship, and devotions
- Weekly assignments
- 2 nine day weeks of Ministry
- Sunday fellowship nights
- 2 day break-through ministry assignment
- A weekly ‘work afternoon’ in & around the property
- Daily duties and responsibilities
- ‘Quiet days’
- Family fun nights
The program is designed to let students interact more closely with teachers and with fellow students in classes. Students are encouraged and challenged in these courses and will be given personal counsel in their studies for practical application.
Ministry Expectations
Weekly
Our weekly ministry programme is a vital part of the course and offers the most unique training experience. Each student is placed in a different ministry each semester, gaining a range of experience from teaching prepared Bible lessons, to sharing a testimony, engaging with children, or simply by ‘hanging out’ with the youth. More importantly, these ministries provide opportunities for students to give away and apply the truth they are learning - making a real impact in real lives!! Learning to “go and make disciples” themselves!
Ministry weeks
Another unique aspect of the ministry programme each term is completing Ministry week as a team. The students are sent in teams all over the North Island and being guided by the staff, students will learn all the aspects of ministry working alongside a local church. This will mean having a ‘prep week’ in which the team plan the ministry week in conjunction with the local church they are assigned to. This can take on many forms from running a kids club to leading services, leading Bible studies, Bible in schools and teams to serve in very practical ways in a community.
Part of this is training and equipping students and for them to see what they may be gifted in, in a ministry environment. There are many surprises over that week so our sending phrase is “RFA’ (Ready for anything)!
Missions
Campus Based
In the second semester there is a campus based mission called ‘Breakthrough’. Again teams are set up and have to be very creative in setting up a theme and sharing the gospel in a way that spring boards off our contemporary culture. The Campus turns itself into Pharaoh’s court, a Pirate fortress, Narnia’s Forest’s or Middle Earth. Students are challenged to articulate their faith and share the hope that is within them to a young target audience.
Overseas Missions
Each semester there is one overseas mission trip opportunity available. These are voluntary trips offered for to up to twelve students. The ministry includes a combination of practical service projects to be done as well as opportunities to put on youth and children’s programmes for remote tribal communities. There is an additional cost for this (POA) and students are accepted for these on an application basis.
In every part of life here at Monavale, from personal devotions to the lectures, from weekly ministries to mission trips, and from discipleship groups to the benefits of life in a small community is designed to nurture spiritual growth in your life so that you become a person whose life continually points others to Christ. You will realize that you have a LIFE that matters:
