Kereopa and Manihera of Taranaki 	March 12
Martyrs at Turangi
Te Manihera and Kereopa were members of the Ngati Ruanui tribe from Hawera on the Taranaki coast. Te Manihera was an important chief and one of the first to become a Christian. Te Manihera was the name he took when he was baptised (after Robert Maunsell the CMS missionary). He was Poutama of the Tangahoe hapu of Ngati Ruanui. He was captured twice, first in a Waikato raid and taken to Tamaki, and then in a Nga Puhi raid on Tamaki. While he was being taken north, he was put on a ship taking the Wesleyan missionary Walter Lawry to Tonga. Lawry bought Poutama’s freedom and took him to Tonga. On the way, Poutama rescued the Lawry’s young son when he was washed overboard. Poutama was on Tonga for 18 months, but eventually returned to Waokena near Hawera. For many years he was the head teacher of his tribe at Waokena and Whareroa. The Revd Richard Taylor said of him: 
He was always conspicuous for piety and attention to his duties, and instead of his first love growing cold, his appeared to increase with time; indeed, his love of Christ was written upon his countenance.
This sense of commitment to the gospel led Te Manihera to offer to go to the traditional enemies of his tribe at Taupo to share the gospel of peace. There were significant and unresolved grievances between the tribes. Kereopa, who also lived at Waokena, offered to be his companion. Their decision was made on 24 December 1846 at a hui of more than two thousand from many tribes of that area. In a deeply moving whaikorero, Te Manihera spoke of the need for an indigenous missionary movement. Richard Taylor recorded that they were solemnly commended to the care of the Most High; all present appeared deeply affected by the scene.
Te Manihera and Kereopa were advised by Enau, who was the brother of Te Herekiekie, the chief of that part of Taupo, to delay their journey to Taupo. Enau felt it would be safer when he had returned and could accompany them. Te Manihera and Kereopa waited for some time, but eventually became impatient with Enau’s long absence. Taylor says they could not forget they were tapu, or devoted to the Lord.
On 6 February 1847 Te Manihera and Kereopa left Wanganui. They travelled first to Porou-ta-whao, the residence of Te Rangihaeata, then over to the East Coast, and on to Rotorua where they spent several days with Thomas Chapman the CMS missionary. They then went to Motutere where they were again advised to change their destination. It was on this final part of the journey that Te Manihera had a growing sense that he would not survive his mission. On the way he preached an impassioned sermon at Waiariki, and in the morning said he felt that his time was at hand, and that before the sun set he should be the inhabitant of another world.
The final stretch of their pilgrimage on 12 March took Te Manihera and Kereopa to Tokaanu, the residence of Te Herekiekie and the tribe they were going to visit. They were accompanied by a group of young men from Waiariki as support. On hearing of the travellers’ approach, some of the home people recognised the classical obligations of utu, and a small party was sent out, led by an elderly chief named Te Huiatahi. They waited in ambush, and as soon as the two came within range they were shot. Kereopa fell dead, and Te Manihera was wounded; he was blinded and did not die until sunset, praying for his adversaries and assuring his companions that all was light within. He died, having given his New Testament and his missionary journal to one of the young men who accompanied him. 
The companions of Te Manihera and Kereopa took the bodies to Waiariki and buried them with great solemnity near the pa. They wrote to Christian villages with the news and asked about what should be done. When Richard Taylor heard the news he likened the deaths of Te Manihera and Kereopa to the death of Stephen. Taylor wrote advocating no further bloodshed. Eventually, at a meeting on 1 April, various letters were read, and a discussion was held as to what retaliation might vindicate their deaths. However, the tenor of the letters “all breathed a very Christian spirit” and judgement was left with God. Wiremu Te Tauri (see 17 May), a Taupo chief and head mission teacher, was there and spoke on the gospel theme of life coming through death. The matter was finally left with Richard Taylor.
Through subsequent visits and discussions with Te Herekiekie’s people, peace was made with Ngati Ruanui, and eventually another young chief from Waokena, Piripi, went to Tokaanu as a teacher. When Taylor arrived there with Piripi, a service involving people from Tokaanu was held at Te Manihera’s and Kereopa’s graves at Waiariki. When the party returned to the pa, Te Huiatahi, who had led the attack, proposed that a missionary should be sent to his place at Rotoaira and stationed at Poutu where Te Huiatahi would give land and erect a church and a mission house. At that time many people also came forward as candidates for baptism. 
When the church was completed, Taylor was invited back and conducted thirty further baptisms, celebrated the eucharist, and appointed Hemapo, the brother of Te Herekiekie, as teacher for the new church. Taylor completed his notes of the saga by saying that the later developments at Tokaanu were “the fruits of Manihera’s death”. There is a memorial at Tokaanu, on which is written the following:

Hei Whakakororia tenei ki te
Atua hei whakamahara hoki
ki a Manihera raua ko Kereopa
o Ngatiruanui he karere na te
Karaiti ki Taupo nei i whakamatea
i te 12 o nga ra o Maehe 1847 i tanu-
mia ki Waiariki + kihai ratou i aroha
ki te ora mo ratou a mate noa +
Whkt XII:11
To the Glory of God, 
and in memory of
Manihera and Kereopa
of Ngati-ruanui,
messengers of Christ here in Taupo
died on the 12th day of March 1847,
and buried at Te Waiariki.
“They loved not their lives unto the death”
Revelation 12:11

Manihera Tangi Whakamutunga
E hora te marino			Everything is calm,
Horahia i waho ra.			and beyond is still also.
E pa ki oma 			My thoughts run to home,
Ko nga rere e teia			as the waters run 
Te awa ki Pakihi			in this stream named Pakihi,
Ko tai o Marouru.			to the coast at Marouru
E kino koutou			It is an evil thing for you2 
Ki te noho tahi mai.			that my journey went only one way.
Ka toriki ki tawhiti			Across the far distance
Ka nui au te aroha,			I send my love,
Te pae ki Harata,			back to where Harata3 dwells,
Naku ra ai huri atu.			whom I left behind me.
Whakawehia au			They tried to frighten me with 
Kia wehi nui au			stories about the stings of the nettle
I te taraongaonga.			so that I would be afraid.
Kei a koe ano ra			Now you people
Te tinana i mau ai;			have my body;
Ka tae te wairua			but my spirit
Ka hoki au ki te iwi.			will return to my own people.
For Liturgical Use
Te Manihera and Kereopa were martyred at Turangi in 1847. The story of their early missionary work in the Hawera area and their subsequent dedication to set out on a dangerous preaching mission has long been remembered. They died after being shot as they approached the village of a tribal enemy. No utu was sought, and later their former adversaries created a mission base where many became Christians. The blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church.
Sentence
Ka mea a Ihu, “Ki te whai hoki tetahi kia ora, ka mate ia: otira ki te mate tetahi, mona i whakaaro ki ahau, ka ora ia”. 	Ruka 9:24
Jesus said, “Those who want to save their life will lose it; and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.” 	Luke 9: 24
Collects
E te Ariki, e Ihu
i mate a Kereopa raua ko Te Manihera 
i a raua e kawe ana 
i te Rongopai o te maungarongo 
ki te iwi Maori, 
pera hoki to matou kaha 
ki te kauwhau i to ingoa 
ki nga iwi katoa o Aotearoa, 
hei whakakororia i te Atua Matua.	Amine.
Everloving God, 
your servants Kereopa and Te Manihera 
laid down their lives 
to bring the gospel to the Maori people; 
may we make you known 
to all the peoples of Aotearoa, 
whatever the cost;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Prince of peace,
you gave such great love to Kereopa and Te Manihera 
that they laid down their lives
to bring your gospel to their neighbours;
may your reconciling Spirit
embrace today all the peoples in our land.
Psalms	94: 12-19	98	
Readings
Isaiah 2:2-4	The ways of the Lord
Romans 5:1-5	Peace with God
Luke 9:23-26	Take up the cross
Post Communion Sentence
Ki ahau hoki ko te ora ko te Karaiti, ko te mate he taonga.	Piripai 1:21 
Living is Christ, and dying is gain		Philippians 1:21