Today the Church in this country remembers the story of Tarore.

 

Today the Church in this country remembers the story of Tarore.

She was a 12-year-old Māori girl whose tragic death on this day in 1836 became a catalyst for forgiveness and the spread of Christianity across New Zealand.

Tarore was the daughter of Wiremu Ngākuku, a chief. She had learned to read from missionaries and carried a treasured Māori translation of Saint Luke’s Gospel. She recited it to large gatherings – she was a young lay evangelist among her people.

While travelling with her mission school, Tarore was killed during a raid by members of a rival iwi (tribe). Her Gospel book was stolen by one of the warriors. Māori custom demanded utu (revenge), but at her tangi (funeral), her father publicly forgave the attackers, saying he would leave justice to God.

Tarore’s stolen Gospel According to St Luke was later read by the warrior who had taken it, and its message changed him. He sought forgiveness from Ngākuku, and reconciliation followed. That same copy of Luke’s Gospel travelled south, sparking evangelism among other iwi and contributing to the conversion of many Māori to faith in Christ.