David Hodgkinson

Waikato and Bay of Plenty Team Leader

I studied at Victoria University of Wellington in the 1990s, and was part of the Christian Union. Then I served as a graduate intern (now called Minty). I came to full faith in Jesus during my first year at university, and CU really helped me grapple with and start to make sense of what it mean to be a disciple of Jesus. It was a community of students eager to reach the university campus with the good news of Jesus Christ and it also provided me with some great, lifelong friendships. My main memories are being challenged to embrace whole-life discipleship and apply my faith to my studies, as well as the awesome mid-year conferences.

I later studied to become a high school teacher and worked at Tawa College in Wellington before moving to the UK. I worked as a project manager in a variety of public and private sector businesses, travelled extensively and met my wife, Wendy, who is from Tauranga. I kept a strong link with TSCF as I has such a positive experience as a student, and I believe in the strategic nature of what we are trying to achieve.

Wendy and I married in Tauranga in 2011 and returned to New Zealand in 2013. We now have three children: Hannah, William and Harvey. I worked at Bay of Plenty Polytechnic before joining TSCF in 2017.

Since my time as a graduate intern I have had a strong desire to serve in church or para-church ministry and that sense has been an ongoing, open prayer with God over all these years. My vision is to be part of a mission movement that seeks to impact New Zealand and the world with the outrageously good news of forgiveness and salvation that is found in Jesus Christ. It is a privilege to work closely with my staff colleagues Nadine Liddle and Nick Goodwin across the Waikato and Bay of Plenty. Together we seek to challenge and inspire students to serve Jesus wholeheartedly in mission and discipleship during (and beyond!) their study years.