Keith and Cathy Bio

INTRODUCING KEITH & CATHY WAGENER

Keith and Cathy Wagener live in Auckland, New Zealand, were married in January 1975 and have two children Michael (30) and Julie (28).

Both Keith and Cathy have been active Christians since discovering Jesus as Saviour and Lord in their teenage years. Michael and Julie are also committed Christians - Julie is currently in Lausanne, Switzerland leading a YWAM* Summer sports DTS*  and Michael (who is a mathematics teacher in South Auckland) is being led into a  developing healing ministry and recently spent his holidays on outreach in Vanuatu with Storm the Nations.

Keith initially trained as a teacher and worked primarily with "at risk" students before becoming a school counsellor. He spent 17 years in education but now has several business interests. He recently sold his main business (a newspaper) so that he could focus on the ministry that God appeared to be leading him into. Cathy is also a trained teacher and has B.Ed from Auckland University. She currently teaches at a non-state school established for boys who, were it not for the intervention of the school, would be hindered from achieving their potential by extra-ordinary (and often traumatic) circumstances and/or home environments.

In addition to being successful in their secular lives the family are all active in the church - In his youth Keith spent thousands of hours on the streets of inner-city Auckland working with teenage alcoholics, drug addicts, and gang members in association with several groups but primarily Teen Challenge and the Church Army. He was ordained as an elder in 1979, is recognised as a gifted communicator and successfully led a large youth ministry. In her younger years Cathy led church worship but of more recent times has led a team providing weekly meals for a group of 50-70 socially dysfunctional people.  

Keith would see himself primarily as an evangelist but has ministered to Christians with the Fatherheart team both in New Zealand and overseas (the USA, the Ukraine, South Africa, South Korea, Malaysia and most recently Myanmar). He is particularly keen to see the church move into a greater place of living and ministering in the authority that we have as heirs in the Kingdom.

Keith and Cathy are active members of Hillside Community Church in Glen Innes, Auckland, NZ where Keith also serves as an elder.

Over the years the family have particularly enjoyed times together skiing, travelling, boating, or holidaying together in the Far North of New Zealand. They all love people and the Wagener home is legendary for its never ending cups of coffee and large numbers of young people who wander in and out at all hours!   

New Year's Eve 2008 was the official hand over of Keith's major business enterprise to its new owners. Keith felt strongly that he should be more available to God to take the Fatherheart teaching to the nations - particularly to those places that would not normally be reached by itinerant teachers so he sold his newspaper The Northland Age to the large newspaper group APN.

• YWAM - Youth with a mission - a global short-term missionary organisation
• DTS - Discipleship training school