My name is Neal Carter, I married my wife Carleen in 2003, and we have four children, three girls and one boy.
I left school at 15 years of age; let’s say school and I didn’t get on that well. I struggled to learn in a classroom, but one thing I did learn was how to eat lunch through English, so I could enhance my time playing sports during the break. I was, and still am, a passionate sportsperson. I played competitive football through my school days and into my late twenties.
My working career started at a Supermarket as I waited to start an apprenticeship as a furniture maker. A few years after the completion of my apprenticeship, I returned to school to study industrial design as an adult student. Once I finished studying, my life changed direction. I did a mission trip to China, which was then followed by a church plant to Doncaster in the UK. On returning home, I spent 12 months working as a cabinet maker on Super Yachts and then started an internship with LIFE, which led to working as a Pastor at LIFE in Auckland for 19 years. During this time, I had a number of roles, from New Christians pastor, a regional pastor working in South Auckland, facilities manager and overseeing security, to mention a few of my roles, but my primary role was pastoring people. I sat on a Women’s Refuge Board and also the board for the South Auckland Christian Food Bank.
I am passionate about seeing people reach their full potential. My early life was in a family of eight, one sister and four brothers. As a child, I moved around the country to different places with my Family, which included Christchurch, Timaru, Palmerston North and Auckland. Now I find myself with my family, back where it all started in Christchurch.