Who is behind

Mahia te Aroha?

Mahia te Aroha comes in peace.


We are in service to four principles: Spread Peace, Share Kai, Reconnect, Reflect. We are in service to those who promote these values. 

 

It has been shaped by many people, including three main thought-leaders of the initiative who are members of the Muslim Community. 


Anthony Green, Rob Dewhirst, and Ben Gresham are Muslims who made the declaration of faith as adults. Because of this, and because of their Western backgrounds, they are well positioned to act as bridges between cultures and faiths in promoting the work. Anake Goodall – one of our advisors – summed up the approach to the mahi, the work: "We come in peace. We come in service. We're not in competition. And we will step aside." Meaning that, if others are offering something stronger, more fitting, then it's a blessing to encourage them.


Mahia te Aroha is a movement incubated by the charity Seed the Change | He Kākano Hāpai (CC55476).

Our team

Anthony Green - Co Founder

Anthony Green is a freelance writer based in Christchurch. He is a member of the Christchurch Muslim community and hosts the fortnightly podcast "Christchurch Invitation" (on Spotify and on Apple Podcasts).

Ben Gresham - Co Founder

Born in Christchurch and raised in Wellington Ben is a passionate educator and bridge builder.

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    Converting to Islam in Cairo in his early twenties Ben has travelled to learn from some of the foremost Islamic scholars of our time. He returned to Christchurch shortly after the March 15 attacks in 2019 to support the community recovery. He believes that in having faith a bridge exists is an essential part of the bridge building process but it requires us to first acknowledge there is a gap that needs to be bridged. We should be open to the possibility that those on the other side of the bridge may have pieces of the bridge you need and that you may have pieces they need for after all we are building ‘our’ bridge. 

Rob Dewhirst - Co Founder

Rob Dewhirst is a founding trustee and was chairperson of the Canterbury Muslim Community Trust from 2014 to 2019.

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    Rob reverted to Islam in 1986. He has a degree in agricultural engineering and a master’s in civil engineering. Rob worked on water related engineering projects in small towns and remote villages in Eastern Indonesia at first as a volunteer (1983 to 1987) and then as a consultant (much of 1987 to 1997). Rob returned with his Indonesian wife to Christchurch in 1997 to raise his family and work and became involved in the Muslim community. He was invited to be a member and then chairperson of the Canterbury Building Bridges Muslim Advisory Group (CBBMAG), which was established in 2008 as part of an initiative of the Office of Ethnic Affairs. CBBMAG became CMCT in 2014. Rob is keen to build bridges and break down barriers both between Muslims and Non-Muslims and between the more than 40 different ethnic groups in Canterbury that profess Islam as their faith. After the 15th of March 2019 attacks on the two mosques in Christchurch Rob worked to support the Muslim community. He was a key member of team that ran an Open Space Forum set up to allow the Christchurch Muslim Community to explore the state “Imagine a New Zealand where all Muslims are included and able to flourish”. Rob has been working with the Christchurch Invitation team since March 2020.