Kei te whakanui te Hāhi Ratana i te ngaru hou o ngā kaiārahi rangatahi whai muri i te kōpounga o Te Arawa Ratana hei Apotoro Rehita, e 22 noa iho ōna tau.
“Tērā tangata i a Te Arawa Ratana, hoki taku mahara ki tēnā tamaiti ki Te Kura o Ratana, me te kōhanga reo o Wharemarama, e kaha ana ia ki te hāpai, ki te tautoko i ngā kaupapa katoa o te Hahi,” e ai ki te Hekeretari o te Hāhi a Piriwiritua Rurawhe.
“Ka kite ana i te iwi Mōrehu e tū tēnei rangatahi hei Apotoro Rehita, e harikoa ana te motu whānui hei tohu ki ngā rangatahi pērā ai, haramai ki tēnei tūranga,” hei tā Rurawhe anō.
Ko Te Arawa Ratana, nō Te Arawa, Ngāpuhi, me Ngāi Tūhoe, e mahi ana i tōna hapori ki Marton i Rangitīkei, ā, i kitea tōna ngākau nui ki te whakapono i ōna tau hei tauira hoki mo tōna reanga ki te whakawhirinaki atu ki te iwi morehu ki te hāhi anō hoki.
Youngest Apotoro Rehita, Te Arawa Ratana, heralds a new era for the Rātana Church
The Rātana Church has broken with tradition by appointing 22-year-old Te Arawa Ratana as its newest Apotoro Rehita, a position rarely attained by a member of his age.
“It’s a blessing, a lot of people see someone so young, don’t realise I’m only twenty two but they see someone so young and they’re like “wow,’” says Te Arawa Ratana.
“I think of Nanny Dawn, Dawn Rapana, every time I saw Nanny Dawn, you know even as a kid, she’d always say “got your robes yet?”, you know, Nan, he tamaiti tonu au, and she’d be like “I don’t care, the tūranga is waiting for you,” and so I thought I took that for granted every time she asked,” Ratana says.
“To be a servant first and foremost, carry the kaupapa of Ihoa, to carry the teachings of Tahupōtiki Wiremu Ratana, to our Morehu.”
This rapid ascent is, for Te Arawa, the culmination of a lifelong commitment that began in his early years.