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www.ashburtoncourier.co.nz<br />
NEWS<br />
<strong>Ashburton</strong> <strong>Courier</strong>, <strong>February</strong> <strong>17</strong>, <strong>2022</strong><br />
13<br />
New pastor back on faith career path<br />
Rich Fox is settlinginto his new<br />
role as senior pastor at<br />
<strong>Ashburton</strong> BaptistChurch,and<br />
excited aboutthe opportunity.<br />
Fulltime church ministry<br />
wasn’tacareer path he saw<br />
opening up for him in his new<br />
Kiwilife, nor was it something<br />
he had considered.<br />
Rich, formerly of Zimbabwe,<br />
workedinthe ministry during<br />
his young adult years,<br />
completing athree year<br />
Diploma inPastoral<br />
Leadership.<br />
‘‘I didn’t see this door<br />
opening up again,’’ he said.<br />
He andhis wife, Delia,<br />
experienced the firsthand<br />
effects of landreforms in<br />
Zimbabwein2000 where<br />
families were forcedoff farms,<br />
causingfood, fuel shortages<br />
and disruption. Theymadethe<br />
decision to leave.<br />
They now live rurally, near<br />
Hinds. They joined the church<br />
just three and half years ago,<br />
after their churchatOrari<br />
closed.<br />
They havespent the past<br />
eight yearsexperiencing<br />
further ‘‘real character<br />
building’’ experiences trying to<br />
get residency applications<br />
approved.<br />
Changes in residency<br />
legislation requirements,<br />
capped numbers of<br />
applications andcovidhaveall<br />
played apart.<br />
But it’s put them in tune with<br />
many other immigrants in the<br />
<strong>Ashburton</strong> District facing<br />
New <strong>Ashburton</strong> Baptist Church senior pastor Rich Fox, and wife<br />
Delia, looking forward to opportunities ahead.<br />
PHOTO TONI WILLIAMS<br />
residency battles and with<br />
someofthe stress people are<br />
nowexperiencing due to covid.<br />
Food and fuel shortages, limits<br />
on products ... it’s aboutnot<br />
panicking and keeping calm,<br />
Mr Fox said.<br />
The couple, with British<br />
passports and higher<br />
education, arrived in New<br />
Zealandin2014 to attend the<br />
wedding of Mrs Fox’s brother to<br />
aKiwigal. The couplelive in<br />
Mid Canterbury.<br />
With otherfamily also here, it<br />
was to be afive to seven week<br />
explorationofthe district with<br />
aviewtosettling down.<br />
They arrived with their four<br />
childrenand just<strong>17</strong>pieces of<br />
luggage; they put their<br />
household goods into storage<br />
and left keys with family. They<br />
knew when they left Zimbabwe,<br />
theywould not return; England<br />
wasplan B.<br />
But they liked what they saw<br />
and had ‘‘fallen in love with<br />
<strong>Ashburton</strong>’’ Mr Foxsaid.<br />
He was keen to accept the<br />
churchleadership role and<br />
embracedtheir visiontobe<br />
more involved in the<br />
community.<br />
The churchalreadyruns a<br />
communitycafeand offers a<br />
freecommunity lunch each<br />
Monday but there were other<br />
opportunitiesbeing sought to<br />
meet the needs of the<br />
community, he said. They will<br />
be developedovertime.<br />
The Fox’s residency journey<br />
becamean eight yearprocess<br />
made all the betterby<br />
communitysupport including<br />
those at HindsSchool,<br />
Southern rugby, netballand the<br />
church, he said.<br />
DespiteBritish citizenship<br />
and Cambridge qualifications<br />
as well as careers in real estate<br />
managementand primary<br />
education they were unableto<br />
get residency as first thought,<br />
without furthereducationand<br />
cost.<br />
So Mr Fox, formerly in real<br />
estate management, tookup<br />
dairy farming in 2014 to aid his<br />
residency chances.Dairy<br />
farming was on New Zealand’s<br />
immediateshortskills list and<br />
considered atwo year pathway<br />
to residency. Then the rules<br />
changed.<br />
Dairy farming was movedto<br />
theskilledmigrantlist, with<br />
five yearsexperienceor<br />
relevantdegree andlevel five<br />
qualifications.<br />
Mr Foxstuck with it andgot a<br />
dairy farm manager position<br />
and completed Ag ITO<br />
qualifications.<br />
However by the timethey<br />
applied for residency in July<br />
2019, legislation had changed<br />
again and there was acap on<br />
the number of residency<br />
application processed peryear.<br />
When they joined the<br />
<strong>Ashburton</strong> BaptistChurch,Mrs<br />
Fox’s teaching background saw<br />
her asked to head the<br />
children’s ministry.<br />
Mr Fox’s experience in fulltime<br />
church ministry was also<br />
noticed.<br />
Early this year the couple<br />
were granted residency, which<br />
openedupthe door forRich to<br />
explore the senior pastor<br />
position further.<br />
It hasbeenalong journeyfor<br />
the couple.<br />
“This mountain has been<br />
incredibly challenging and has<br />
almost broken us at times but<br />
our faith and the overwhelming<br />
support of theincredible<br />
community in <strong>Ashburton</strong>,and<br />
the many friends we’ve made<br />
along the way have beenour<br />
anchorthrough someofthe<br />
toughest days we’ve faced as a<br />
family,” they said, at the time.<br />
‘‘It’s beenhard but amazing.’’<br />
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