Jay Matenga

Jay Matenga (1967 - ) was born in Porirua, Aotearoa New Zealand to an unwed mother. His early years were spent in the low socio-economic suburb of Cannons Creek, renown for social welfare housing and gang violence. Jay's biological father is half-caste Māori and, in spite of growing up in a working-class Anglo-Kiwi context, Jay's Maori heritage continues to have a significant impact on his worldview and theological perspectives.

Since leaving mainstream employment in 1992, Jay has been entirely dedicated to cross-cultural Christian mission. Developing his contribution to mission has led Jay to complete undergraduate and post-graduate mission studies. He earned his Master's degree under (among others) Christopher J. H. Wright [The Mission of God] at All Nations Christian College in the UK in 1998 and in 2017 will complete his Doctorate of Intercultural Studies at Fuller School of Graduate Studies under Professor R. Daniel Shaw [Communicating God's Word in a Complex World].

Jay serves as the Executive Officer of Missions Interlink in Aotearoa New Zealand, the national association of missions. Jay also serves on the World Evangelical Alliance Mission Commission where he leads the Mission Mobilization Task Force and is being mentored into leadership of the WEA MC's Publications Program by Dr. William D. Taylor [Global Missiology for the 21st Century].

Jay's first book, "Mission In Motion:Speaking Frankly of Mobilization", co-authored with sociologist Dr Malcolm Gold is now available from Amazon.com in both hardcopy and Kindle formats.