Tuhoe Isaac was born in Wairoa, New Zealand in 1954. By the age of 18 he had moved to the city, shifted to Australia, been imprisoned in jail and joined one of New Zealand’s most notorious gangs — The Mongrel Mob. Entering the mob world where the bull dog wearing a German helmet was their insignia and the lawlessness or anarchy ruled, Tuhoe took on the name ‘Bruno’ after the German helmet worn by the dog. Here he found true brotherhood and comradeship in the ‘house of the dog’ at a crucial time in his life. Amidst a raft of crimes and a number of lags in New Zealand maximum and minimum security prisons, Tuhoe emerged to become the leader of the King Country Mongrel Mob chapter. Shifting to Auckland as the President he presided over the infamous Ambury Park Convention of 1986 where a vicious rape occurred, despite a moratorium on violence. This incident led to the laying down of his presidency and his patch, but more than that it destroyed Tuhoe’s dream of a new and unified Mongrel Mob.
Tired of fighting, beer, drugs and a life in and out of prison he tried to find a new life. However, no matter what he did to change, his life always reverted back to the way of the mongrel.
In 1992 he joined Te Whare Amorangi Bible School at Pukekohe. After two years training he moved into full-time mission work from 1994 to 1999 traveling to Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Samoa, Australia, Finland and throughout New Zealand as an evangelist. In 1997 he ran a successful gang reconciliation hui.
In 2000 Tuhoe created a trust to support the unloved of society, visiting the prisons and motivational speaking at schools. In 2003 he started a Diploma of Counseling and pastoral care. He worked alongside a qualified team in the counseling arena until 2007. Still involved in community work he runs a men’s group and visits the prisons to facilitate a prisoner’s mentoring program.
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