jared waipouri

Thanks for stopping by!

I’ve always had an interest in things with mechanical functions. At 3 years old, I succeeded in starting my uncle’s huge combine harvester. At 5, a collapsing stainless colander had me intrigued for hours at a time.  At 15, I dreamed of driving a tractor to school through suburban Christchurch.

It’s little wonder that I took up work as a mechanic in my late teens, or that I constantly took work home: fiddling around with my own van, my friend’s cars, and occasionally something more interesting like a grossly over powered wood splitter.

Life took an interesting twist in my mid 20’s, when I got the unshakeable idea that I should be going off to join an organisation called Marine Reach. This outfit, who used ships to reach remote islands with medical aid, required that I first participate in a Discipleship Training School, or DTS.

The DTS soon led to a staff opportunity. It wasn’t far off my dream job: mowing an old paddock with a tractor, chopping down trees with chainsaws, and fixing broken gear. The surprise came when I discovered a penchant for developing systems of administration to support a programme. The first was our fleet of 4 ageing vans. Which soon grew to be 7 vans.

I had grand plans to leave Marine Reach, learn to drive heavy trucks and set up an aid organisation using those trucks to reach remote land locked areas. Instead, I found myself moving to Vanuatu (a tiny little nation in the south pacific) to establish an office, a national coordination presence, and a hospitality centre. I discovered an ability to create hearty meals for multitudes, plan community development outreaches, and learn a foreign language. Not to mention clean toilets, fix broken printers, learn how an immigration department works, and plan a medical ship outreach or three.

A few years on, I developed a team of amazing adventurers to coordinate outreaches of all shapes and sizes. I learned that the most valuable things in life don’t come from a factory, and that you get as much out of life as you put into it. Imagine my shock when the ship I’d helped establish outreaches for was relocated to the Caribbean! While the delivery from Vanuatu to Bocas del Toro was one of the most amazing journeys I’ve been on, it was full of mixed emotions. Though I gave a year to establish the vessel in the Caribbean, Vanuatu was under my skin and soon I was jetting back to Melanesia with remote community outreach on my mind again. 

These days I’m found up a muddy road at a community school helping with all manner of building projects, farming, administration, and the occasional yacht outreach when boats are available. You would never call my life normal!

If you’re not living an adventure, you’re not living.

Me? I prefer doing it with eyes fixed on the radical revolutionary who offends, welcomes and renews anyone who will give Him the time of day.