Engage Autumn 2013

AUTUMN

2013

ROB PARSONS, MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA, BMS IN YOUR CHURCH

TOP TEN TIPS FOR EVANGELISM SHARE YOUR FAITH SIMPLY AND CONFIDENTLY

NEARLY DROWNED IN AFGHANISTAN

WITCHCRAFT: OVERCOMING THE DARKNESS

MISSION WORKERS IN DANGER

SETTING PEOPLE FREE FROM FEAR

THE FREE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE FROM BMS WORLD MISSION MISSION STORIES / PRAYER / NEWS / OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE

Highlights

Engage

Chris Hall

welcome During my interview with Rob Parsons (page 18) he told me many great stories which sadly we didn’t have space to include.

One was of the time he spent in a scenic village on the Welsh coast. Admiring the scenery, he remarked to an elderly fisherman, “It’s idyllic isn’t it?” The fisherman replied, “You should see it in January.”

Rob now shares this brief exchange with couples as an illustration of “January love,” the tough times in marriages when love is not easy and you need to hold on “through the frost of a winter.” It is learning to hang on that will get us to the good times again.

This lesson doesn’t only apply to marriages but to all relationships, including those at church. It can relate to our calling and mission too. When the going gets tough, “January love” and God’s love will see us through.

BMS World Mission PO Box 49, 129 Broadway, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 8XA Tel: 01235 517700 Email (general): mail@bmsworldmission.org Email (editorial): magazine@bmsworldmission.org Website: www.bmsworldmission.org General director: David Kerrigan Managing editor: Jonathan Langley Editor: Chris Hall Regular contributors: Fiona Castle OBE, Nabil K Costa, David Kerrigan, Jonathan Langley, Aidan Melville, Sarah Stone, Bekah Swanson, Katherine Wagner Guest columnist: Margaret Gibbs Mission News contributor: Bethan Newland-Smith Design editors: indigoninja.co.uk and Pepperfish.co.uk Printed by: Halcyon Print Management, Tunbridge Wells, TN3 9BD

10 Fashion’s true cost

This year, pretty profits and poor planning crushed thousands of lives: why we should care about Bangladesh’s garment trade.

14 Witchcraft: Overcoming the darkness Across the world people are trapped in a culture of fearing witches and spirits. BMS workers and the Church are trying to set them free.

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nearly drowned in Afghanistan

The Big Interview: Rob Parsons

Stuck, submerged in an Afghan river, is an experience Catherine will never forget.

The Care for the Family founder on taking marriage seriously and being the best grandparent.

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Top Ten Tips for Evangelism

5 Minutes with Kate Bracks

Benjamin Francis shares his top tips on how to share your faith simply and confidently.

Masterchef Australia winner tells us how the show has allowed her to share her faith.

The views and opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of BMS World Mission.

Baptist Missionary Society Registered as a charity in England and Wales (number 233782) and in Scotland (number SC037767) © Copyright 2013 BMS World Mission ISSN 1756-2481 Printed on material from sustainable forests

Sign up to receive Engage magazine for free four times a year at bmsworldmission.org/engage

MISSION news /news–blogs

BRAZIL: © Alex Baker Photography

Protesters unite for change

UK/World:

The war against Brazil has spent billions on the 2014 FIFA World Cup yet its citizens still have poor public services with many hospitals closing.

This caused millions of people to take to the streets and campaign on the issues of better health spending, education, transport costs and to stop political corruption.

BMS mission workers, Mark, Suzana, Edward and Ana Greenwood have taken part in the marches, which have been mostly peaceful. “This doesn’t happen often in Brazil,” says Mark. “It’s refreshing and exciting to see so many people coming together.”

The united voices of Brazil’s people seem to be heard, as the President Dilma Rousseff announced reforms.

world hunger Thousands gathered for the Big IF rally, campaigning for world leaders to take action on world hunger at the G8 summit.

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MS is a partner in the Enough Food For Everyone IF campaign which aims to prevent world hunger and save lives. On the weekend of 8 June, the Big IF rally took place in London’s Hyde Park.

The campaigners, including many BMS workers and staff, came together in the morning for a service at Westminster’s Methodist Central Hall

EUROPE: Persecution – Hope from EU The protection and promotion of freedom of religion has been bolstered by the adoption of new guidelines by the European Union.

The guidelines, adopted at a meeting of 27 EU states in June in Luxembourg, will influence how the European Union understands, monitors and promotes freedom of religion and belief, and raise

awareness of this right in non-EU countries. Violations of religious freedom could lead to the EU suspending co-operation and financial assistance with the country involved.

Victims of religious persecution will also be in a stronger position to ask EU delegations and member state embassies to intervene on their behalf. (Christian Today)

before walking through London’s streets. The IF supporters arrived at Hyde Park where they watched videos and listened to inspirational speeches from the likes of Bill Gates, Myleene Klass, Eddie Izzard, David Beckham and Angelique Kidjo.

Meanwhile a minute’s silence for all those who had lost their lives needlessly from hunger brought a motivational reminder of what the IF rally was campaigning for.

The day’s finale was a mosaic created from 250,000 spinning paper flowers planted by supporters that formed an image of hands around a food bowl. Each petal represented a child’s life which has been lost to malnutrition.

AUTUMN 2013 | Engage

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MISSION news /news–blogs

UGANDA: Blankets for flood fleeing Ugandans After floods in a district of western Uganda, BMS World Mission workers leapt into action providing blankets to help homeless Ugandans.

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errible flooding in Kasese District caused the displacing of thousands and left the landscape unrecognisable. BMS mission workers, Bethan and Gareth Shrubsole, witnessed the damage after the floods and helped with the relief programme.

“Before, you’d see all sorts of things growing in this very fertile country – and all of that is completely wiped out,” Gareth explains.

Bethan and Gareth helped organise the relief effort with the help of their minister, Pastor Alfonse.

They identified the Congo Quarter, a cluster of around 300-400 people whose homes had been flooded. This area was likely to be overlooked by bigger relief agencies and was ideal for BMS. BMS was able to respond to the floods by giving £330, which provided 133 blankets for the Ugandans affected in the Congo Quarter. These made a huge difference as while bigger organisations provided food and water, many people had no bedding. The blankets provided comfortable bedding to those who were sleeping in public buildings such as school halls.

“They’ll be used to keep people warm, to comfort children who are afraid, and to get people off the dust and hardness of the concrete floor,” says Gareth.

Having helped with immediate relief, BMS is now planning a recovery project to support people in Kasese District as they rebuild their lives.

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USA:

Bible docudrama to get sequel The Bible, a docudrama miniseries on the holy book, has proved so popular it is going to have a sequel.

The producers, husband and wife team Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, say the sequel will chart early Christianity after the death and resurrection of Jesus. Burnett has a history in reality TV production, including the US versions of The Apprentice and The Voice.

In total, over 95 million viewers have seen the ten-part series that originally aired on US television in March. The Bible is due to be shown in the UK on Channel 5 this autumn.

NEPAL: Baptist College celebrates 15th anniversary

In a country which has only had theological colleges for the last 20 years, celebrating its 15th anniversary on 2 June was a huge event for the Nepal Baptist Bible College (NBBC). NBBC trains its students for ministry and youth work, and seven students graduated this year – most of whom are young and come from rural parts of Nepal.

BMS World Mission has been a partner with the college for about five years. We have been helping to build up the staff and improve their resources through growing relationships and sharing insights and experience from the Baptist world.

EUROPE: Study – Few Muslims know Christians A new report on global Christianity says that people of other faiths in northern Europe have less personal contact with Christians than agnostics and atheists.

Christianity in its Global Context 1970 – 2020, a report produced by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, says that 82 per cent of people in northern Europe have personal contact with a Christian. If you remove agnostics and atheists from the figures this drops to 21 per cent.

Globally the report found that Muslims have less contact with Christians than Jews.

EGYPT: Attacks on Christians increase Following the downfall of President Morsi, there have been reports of an increase of attacks on Christians in Egypt.

Four Christian men were murdered near Luxor on 5 July and a Coptic priest in the Sinai peninsula was killed the following day by unknown gunmen.

More than a dozen churches have been attacked and Coptic-owned businesses daubed with graffiti.

The head of the Coptic Church in the UK, Bishop Angaelos, is praying for peace and reconciliation.

“For the good of Egypt, it is imperative that all parties work towards a common future, realising that any lives taken are those of fellow Egyptians,” he said.

(Christian Today)

UK/LATIN AMERICA: New online Spanish theology course The Timothy Project in Portuguese went online in March 2011 to help train leaders primarily in Brazilian Baptist churches who were not in a position to attend a theological college.

On 14 May this year a Spanish translation of the Timothy Project was launched at Baptist House, Didcot. The project has twelve practical and interactive modules. An English version aimed especially at African countries is now in development and is hoped to be available in 2014.

Get more exciting stories every week online at

bmsworldmission.org

AUTUMN 2013 | Engage

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David Kerrigan

postcard from © Michael Foley

General Director, BMS

Chad

We have recently been to Chad’s equivalent of Ascot as we experienced a day at the races.

This was held at N’Djamena’s race track, a piece of scrubland behind the football stadium where a circular track has been marked out in the sand and a very basic shaded grandstand has been erected.

Ownership of race horses and horse racing is undertaken by a very select few wealthier families here in Chad and has proved to be a very popular spectator sport. With no evidence of gambling and each winner being given a cheque by Miss Chad, races were keenly supported. Apparently a good jockey can make as much as £2-3,000 a year so it is very competitive and a good living for a lucky few.

Between each race we were treated to local tribal dancing, camels and their riders in traditional costumes parading, plus traditional horse riding skill demonstrations. All very entertaining, well organised but completely unexpected and bizarre when looking at the surrounding area with poverty all around.

The races were interrupted and almost cancelled at one point as a strong wind built up and a sand storm engulfed the whole area. Not quite Ascot but a great insight into a different aspect of Chadian life.

With best wishes

Malc and Sue White BMS workers in Chad

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The Liberty

TREE A Jamaican tree speaks volumes of past and present injustice, says David Kerrigan.

On 1 August 1838, Jamaica witnessed an act of the greatest political significance. On that date, the slaves of Jamaica finally tasted freedom from the barbarity of those who trafficked human beings.

On that August day, a hole was dug outside Phillippo Baptist Church in Spanish Town, Jamaica. Others were dug elsewhere.

Onlookers might have wondered who this grave was for, but what was buried was not human flesh but human chains.

A sapling was planted over the chains, basking in the warmth of the Caribbean sun and stretching its branches to embrace all that life offers. This was a Liberty Tree and it still stands today.

Earlier this summer, standing outside Phillippo Baptist Church in Spanish Town, Jamaica, in the warm shadow of their Liberty Tree, the echoes of the gospel were almost audible.

For the good news we share speaks also of a grave into which the shackles that cause all of creation to groan were taken and buried deep. And new life burst into the sunshine of an Easter morning, a life still spreading its reach to the ends of the earth.

But such was the depravity of those who bought, sold, raped, tortured, killed and dehumanised that the legacy of those days is still evident. It lives on every time a racist remark is uttered, or a young black teenager fails to believe they can achieve.

The evil of slavery was personal and systemic. Men were guilty of wickedness, but their wickedness was tolerated in a system that thrived on slavery.

Today’s sins render us guilty before God but we too live in a world where economic and political structures tolerate injustice and condemn millions to poverty.

This is part of God’s mission, and it begs the question: what should we bury today that would allow us to plant a Liberty Tree?

David Kerrigan is General Director of BMS World Mission

Info

LETTERS

Have something to say about Engage magazine?

Email us at magazine@bmsworldmission.org or write to us using the address on page 2.

Hi guys,

Dear Sir

How gratifying it is to see Engage magazine addressing the issue of violence against women in such an honest and helpful way. As you argue in your article, it is important that we see this as “not just a women’s issue”.

Thank-you for a lot of the things you do. But I was most disappointed with some of the points in the article about ‘How to be a bad Christian’ (Spring 2013).

Carl Beech rightly points out that a woman is raped every 22 minute in India – however, the Department of Health reports that a woman is raped every 10 minutes in the UK. We would be naive to believe this wasn’t going on in our churches as well as ‘out there’ in the rest of society. Christian responses to domestic violence too often focus on forgiveness for the perpetrator without insisting on change, setting boundaries or helping the victim. It is vital that we address the issue from our pulpits and in our church conversations.

Engage did a fantastic job of bringing the issue into the spotlight – thank you!

Cheers,

David Bunce

Editor: Please note that Paul Holmes letter in the Summer 2013 issue was edited down from the original version.

I think the article could have been phrased more wisely and clearly. No-one is good enough for God. This is why Jesus came to die for us all. Out of a love and gratitude of what God has done for me, I want to love others for God’s glory. Yes, that may mean feeding the poor around me but it might also mean signing petitions against gay marriage.

The article should have been clearer and focused on the problem with “Christians” that are self-righteous. Obviously, these people do nothing to help the image of the Christian Church and they are not representing the gospel.

Ben Dewhirst

Dear Sir The article on ‘How to be a bad Christian’ was excellent, but we need more tolerant articles, showing respect to people of faiths other than our own.

Ron Clayton and Sid and Anne Gait (see Letters, Summer 2013) need to learn such respect and to realize that other faiths, Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims have led people spiritually for many centuries with powerful answers to prayer.

The God of all humanity, who looks after such numerous people in this world, will care for them in heaven. Christ referred to other sheep, not of this Christian fold who he will bring to heaven.

Brian G Phipps

Legacies – supporting new life through mission £1 million pounds can make a big difference. And thanks to legacies left to BMS, it does. Last year, we received about a million pounds from legacy income. That money enabled countless people around the world to hear the good news of Jesus Christ and, in times of sickness and disaster, receive medical treatment and life-giving aid.

Will you help bring life in its fullness beyond your own lifetime?

For more details call Julie on 01235 517628 or visit bmsworldmission.org/legacies

Sunderban villagers, India, receive the Bible

AUTUMN 2013 | Engage

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Sponsorship saving lives in rural Nepal

A BMS World Mission worker helping to train much needed doctors for rural communities is being sponsored

by Baptist Insurance Company.

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hen Katrina Butterworth saved the life of a mother and her new born twins in Butwal, Nepal, it taught her two things: God’s timing is perfect and there is a desperate need for better healthcare in rural Nepal.

Katrina, a BMS doctor, had visited the home of Jyoti, who attended her church, soon after she had delivered her twins.

The baby girls had not been wrapped up due to traditional Nepalese beliefs that the placenta must be removed from the mother beforehand. Newborns are susceptible to hypothermia if they are not dried and wrapped up well. The placenta was not coming out, and Jyoti was at risk of developing life-threatening internal bleeding when Katrina arrived. Her visit came at exactly the right time. She was able to remove the placenta saving all three.

Twelve years after that life-saving incident, Katrina is working with Nepali health professionals to increase the number of doctors and the level of training of those working in remote areas. Katrina believes this will save countless lives in the countryside. For the next year Katrina will be sponsored in this work by Baptist Insurance Company.

Malcolm Hayes, Chair of the Board at Baptist Insurance, is pleased that its customers are able to support the work of BMS in Nepal. “We often take for granted access to healthcare and being able to see a doctor when we or our family are ill,” he says. “However, for many people access to healthcare is something they simply do not have. We are proud to be able to sponsor the Rural Doctor training programme, led by Katrina Butterworth, which is improving health in rural Nepal through training doctors to work in isolated communities.”

The majority of doctors in Nepal are in urban practices due to limited resources and opportunities in many rural locations.

There is one doctor for 41,000 patients in rural areas. In urban centres there is one doctor for 1,000 patients. Five in every 100 children will die in Nepal before the age of five according to UNICEF. Three in every 1,000 women will die giving birth.

There are not enough Katrinas to go around.

To encourage more doctors to work in rural locations Katrina is helping to train up undergraduates at Patan

Academy of Health Sciences. Following graduation, they will work in the countryside for two to four years.

Katrina has also developed distance learning resources for GPs already working in rural hospitals to help improve the service they provide.

Over the next five years approximately 1.5 million patients will have a radically improved health service thanks to this training. But the benefits won’t just be in the future.

Katrina says that the programme is already saving lives. “When a GP goes to a remote hospital it makes a huge difference to the community. The number of patients can double. We had a letter from one of our student doctors a few days ago. Within three days of being at a remote hospital a woman in labour arrived who had walked two days to get there. He was able to perform an emergency caesarean saving both her and her child.”

Five in every 100 children will die in Nepal before the age of five according to UNICEF.

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This is one of the reasons Baptist Insurance Company is proud to support Katrina’s work, says Malcolm Hayes. “Choosing to protect ‘you and yours’ with our home insurance enables us to continue to support the wonderful work of BMS.”

For more on Baptist Insurance visit

baptistinsurance.co.uk

or call 0845 070 2223, quoting BMS13.

KEEP

Fiona Castle

ENGAGED

Speaker and writer

Servants’ entrance

BMS World Mission We had a great time at Big IF London, joining with thousands of others to stand against world hunger!

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© Alex Baker Photography

Find us on facebook

Malcolm Edge Excellent multitasking there – baby in one hand, banner in the other!

BMS World Mission If you had the chance to change one thing, to make the world or your life better, what would it be?

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Jonathan Langley Talking less and doing more.

Louise Proctor remove selfishness from everyone Jon Grant Jesus coming again, sorted.

Messages Ruth Montacute Really good 24/7 day at Didcot today, thanks to all involved.

your Tweets Hannah Hitchin

LOVING the @BMSWorldMission #ActionTeams re-commissioning.

So many beautiful testimonies of God’s goodness.

Sarah Crane

Love hearing about the work of @BMSWorldMission at #EBAassembly

David Kerrigan

24/7 Partners day at @BMSWorldMission today, for those within 50 miles radius. Full house! #inspirethetroops

David Bunce

The new @BMSWorldMission Catalyst and Engage magazines arrived on my doorstep this morning. Always a good time of the month

Keep engaged at facebook.com/BMSWorldMission

We should be sensitive but not silent in sharing our faith.

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ecently I was told about a church in Cologne which had a huge poster above the door through which all the congregation left. It said, “SERVANTS’ ENTRANCE.” This has really challenged me! We often leave church after a service, thinking about going home for a cosy family lunch or an early night before work the next day. How often, though, do we rise to the challenge of, as we go through the church doors, being God’s servants….of going where he calls us and spreading the gospel, not just with our words but with our lives?

How do others see us? Are we caring, loving, patient, faithful friends and colleagues? Would people want to find what we have found, by the way we treat them?

I remember a comment by Rosa Parks, the American Civil Rights activist, saying, “If our lives demonstrate that we are peaceful, humble and trusted, this is recognised by others.

If our lives demonstrate something else, that will be noticed too.”

Society is very different from what it was two or three decades ago and we must live within its framework, so we have to be sensitive to how people receive the fact that we are Christians. But this mustn’t silence us from being confident to share the good news. We need to build up trust with our neighbours, so that when an opportunity arises, maybe because of problems in their lives, we can be the ones to help and support and pray for them. I have met few people, who, when sharing a problem, have rejected my offer to pray for them. As the saying goes, you won’t find many atheists in a shipwreck!

So let us remember, we enter our world through the servants’ entrance, to be God’s messengers of his love for his world.

you won’t find many atheists in a shipwreck.

Fiona Castle OBE is an international Christian speaker and writer. Her late husband Roy was an entertainer and TV presenter.

twitter.com/BMSWorldMission and @bmsworldmission

AUTUMN 2013 | Engage

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This year, pretty profits and poor planning crushed thousands of lives: why we should care about Bangladesh’s garment trade.

Words: Sarah Stone bmsworldmission.org 10 bmsworldmission.org

“E

verywhere was dark. It was like laying down in the grave,” says Mona* a victim of the Rana Plaza collapse. “We thought it was the end of our lives and we prayed to God, ‘O God help us’.”

In April this year, 1,127 people went to work and never came back. The walls of their workplace literally crumbled away around them, trapping them beneath the ruins. “There was still the smell of death in the air a couple of days after the collapse,” says Robert*, BMS worker in Bangladesh.

The factory disaster made headline news around the world.

We know it was a tragedy, it shouldn’t have happened and it shouldn’t be allowed to happen again. And while it took place on another continent, it was as Western as a pair of skinny jeans.

The thousands caught in the catastrophe were working in garment factories housed in the Rana Plaza complex in Dhaka – factories supplying clothes to some major UK high street

but there are always exceptions. “Sometimes our guys are just glad to get out,” says Luke. “It may be extremely hot or extremely cramped, there may be mishandling of volatile chemicals – everything can be wrong.”

It’s easy to assume that, whilst terrible, the collapse is not our problem. But a little research shows that part of the blame must lie with us. Purchasing cheap clothes and buying into disposable fashion trends has consequences – but sadly they’re consequences we rarely see. So I’ve picked up an ethical shopping guide and I’m hesitantly flicking through it,

CHARITY SHOP CHALLENGE I invited some of my BMS colleagues to join me in a charity shop challenge. The rules: 40 days where clothes and accessories can ONLY be bought in charity shops.

Here’s how they got on:

CHANTELLE BAKER

Mission Volunteers Administrator I knew I wouldn’t find the challenge difficult because that’s my life – I’m a charity shop queen! I love seeing what other people have donated and thinking about their lives. It’s so intriguing. I try to find vintage stuff, or things I can alter as I sew.

Rana Plaza in Dhaka collapsed in April 2013 killing 1,127 people © IRIN

chains. The employees were ordered to work that PURCHASING day despite telltale cracks CHEAP CLOTHES in the walls. Those who AND BUYING INTO survived the ordeal are DISPOSABLE FASHION traumatised, many having been hopelessly trapped in TRENDS HAS darkness for hours.

CONSEQUENCES. Jyoti Ratna, a BMS partner in Bangladesh, visited some of the victims in the hospital: “They shared their terrible experiences with us,” she says. “Some had lost their hands or their legs. Most of them were women. I met one woman who lost her husband and sister. She has a little baby girl. She doesn’t know what to do.”

The collapse has driven major fashion chains to reassess the safety of their supply factories, and has forced the Bangladeshi government into talks about improving conditions for its garment workers. As Christians, called to love the poor and needy, we too need to be moved to act against injustices in the garment industry.

Robert and Luke* are BMS workers seeking to improve factory conditions in Bangladesh. Consulting for international brands, most of the factories they visit are top-of-the-range;

I think it’s the thrill of the chase. I love the fact that it’s a good cause, so it’s guilt-free in that sense. I got bored of Zara and Topshop. Charity shops are different every time and I know the chance of me turning up wearing the same thing as someone else is near enough impossible.

BEN DRABBLE

Short-term Programmes Organiser The challenge wasn’t really a problem because I don’t shop that much, but on the odd occasion when I needed something it was quite frustrating.

Some things I would have bought, but because I had to wait I’ve realised I don’t want them anymore, so that’s a positive.

I was pretty unsuccessful in charity shops – I found it difficult to find anything in my size, and in general there were large women’s sections and very small men’s sections. I bought a tie and some trousers.

The trousers were not good. The tie I will wear, but I wouldn’t be sorry if I lost it.

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squinting down at the pages almost afraid of what I’ll find.

Have I been buying clothes from companies that mistreat their employees? Should Bangladeshi blouses and boleros be banned from my wardrobe?

Robert believes the worst thing I can do is to stop buying things made in Bangladesh: “If the West stop buying things from here it will make a bad situation ten times worse. The garment industry has empowered millions of women,” he says. So if, while in the worst cases the garment industry is undeniably exploiting and endangering its workers, millions still depend on the garment industry for employment – what should we do?

These questions have led me to the Good Shopping Guide, the book I am now browsing, both keen and anxious to learn from.

From biscuits to washing machines, shampoo to jeans – in my hands I have a comprehensive guide to ethical retail. But will it really make a difference if we choose to avoid Tesco’s clothing range and shop at People Tree instead?

William Sankey, founder of the Ethical Company Organisation which produces the Good Shopping Guide, is convinced it does. “Our decisions absolutely make a difference,” he says. “Every single penny you spend is like a voting slip. Choosing to buy ethical goods and services whilst being noisy about brands you are choosing to boycott gets noticed.” William, Robert and Luke all agree that it is we in the West who can make the much-needed difference – by making conscious decisions to shop ethically, and by writing letters to CEOs of shops and to our MPs to let them know that we care about the conditions of garment workers.

“I think that if someone decides they want to buy a cheap pair of jeans,” says Robert, “and they look to be too cheap, they should ask themselves – ETHICAL how did this get SHOPPING GUIDE made? Somebody somewhere has been exploited.”

The BMS team in Bangladesh are making a For more information on ethical shopping and the garment industry visit: huge impact too.

“Although the only ethicalconsumer.org real answer is to ethical-company-organisation.org build everything anew using guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/page/ international ethicalfashiondirectory standards,” says waronwant.org/campaigns/loveLuke “our civil fashion-hate-sweatshops engineer knows that by doing some traidcraftshop.co.uk simple things we ethicalfashionforum.com can go from them being ten per cent oxfam.org.uk/shop safe to being 90 per cent safe. If he

EVERY SINGLE PENNY YOU SPEND IS LIKE A VOTING SLIP.

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CHARITY SHOP CHALLENGE LUCY VALLANCE

PA to the General Director Before I’d only ever go into charity shops to look for books – now I can’t walk by one without looking in the window, much to my husband’s annoyance! They are great for the unexpected bargain.

I needed bridesmaid’s shoes which I thought would be impossible to find (they were), but I was surprised by how many options there were. I did manage to get a summer skirt, a vintage blouse, a dress and flip flops (though the flip flops were a disaster as they rubbed my feet and gave me a rash! I won’t be wearing them again).

I will definitely continue to shop in charity shops… although maybe not for shoes!

In an online exclusive Judy White, BMS’ Mission Development Co-ordinator for Scotland, chronicles the highs and lows of her 40 day shopping fast.

Visit: bmsworldmission.org/engagecatalyst

can do that, why wouldn’t he?” By improving the standards of buildings, lives can be saved. And by coupling this with a concerted effort to advocate for garment workers, the face of the industry can be transformed, changing the lives of workers in the garment trade in Bangladesh and beyond.

BMS partner Freeset offers a powerful picture of the positive impact the garment industry can have. Instead of enslaving its employees, Freeset’s textile factory in Kolkata, India, brings freedom. The women employed have been rescued from prostitution in Kolkata’s largest red light district. Now they are treated with respect and are paid a fair wage for a fair day’s work. They no longer have to sell themselves.

In the UK, it seems like we are always rushing around, running from one appointment to the next – we often feel like we don’t have time to do all the things we need to do, let alone time to research the UK’s retail market. But William thinks that ethical guides like his (and there are many to choose from) hold the answer: “We try to make it easy for people so they don’t have to delve too deeply because they don’t have time,” he says. “We publish full information and let people make their own decisions, but we also provide an at a glance score.”

There’s no quick fix for the thousands whose lives were turned upside down by the Rana Plaza tragedy. But if our small acts can help prevent it happening again, I’m prepared to give it a try. Perhaps we really can find a way to be fashionable and fair trade. *names changed

Krismas ko subhakamana!

(Merry Christmas in Nepalese)

The attendance at the Christmas Day celebration of this church in Kathmandu, Nepal, has shot up from 200 to well over 500 people in the last five years.

In 2012 the church hired a ‘party palace’, a commercial venue used for weddings and big functions, so they could fit everyone in. People sang, danced, acted and showed other talents during the celebration, with a meal for everyone afterwards. “It’s a lot of fun and always well attended

by church members who often bring family and friends to experience the joy,” says BMS worker Martin Butterworth, who is heavily involved at the church. “It was a great day for everyone to demonstrate the freedom of life in Christ to ourselves and others – something that would have been unthinkable a decade ago.”

CHRISTMAS GIFT TAGS Supporting BMS children’s work Order from the Christmas catalogue or online at bmsworldmission.org/tags

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How Christians are overcoming the darkness Across the world people are trapped in a culture of fearing witches and spirits. BMS workers and the Church are trying to set them free.

C

aleb noticed Maria* would abruptly leave church every time there was a sermon, prayer time or testimony.

After fasting and praying for three days, he and two other members went to her house to talk to her about it. Caleb asked to pray for her but she refused. She finally confessed what they had suspected – she had been involved in witchcraft.

Witchcraft led to this woman’s death, Caleb says.

Horrifically she had taken part in the killing and eating of her great grandchild. The parents of the child sought revenge through a witchdoctor who poured a potion on a cola nut that *not her real name

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the woman ate and became ill. The whole church went to the woman’s house to confront her about the grandchild story but she laughed at them and refused to confess her sin. A week later she was dead.

Here in the West, witches and ghosts are seen mostly as a harmless bit of fun at Halloween time. Amongst Christians in the UK, some would be wary of attributing anything to the work of the Devil, witchcraft or evil spirits. But for many BMS mission workers and the Church worldwide, witchcraft and evil spirits are part of everyday life.

Guinea

The belief in witchcraft is pervasive in Guinea according to Sarah Harris Bafende who, along with her husband Eric, is a BMS mission worker there. People consult witchdoctors for various reasons including health problems, to curse or kill others and to make money. Most are afraid of fetishes, objects that are used in witchcraft.

“There’s no talk of good spirits locked in a battle against bad ones you might find in the West. Instead people usually dwell on a supernatural world of bad spirits,” says Sarah. “The spiritual world is very much part of reality.

“The longer I live in Africa, the more I see how the spiritual world dominates people’s existence in a very real way. I believe that the evil spirits invoked by witchdoctors are for two major purposes: to bring about fear and to dominate others. Often some local Christians can give too much ‘credit’ and power to these evil spirits, instead of feeling whole in Christ and protected by his blood. We are children of God so we have no need to live in fear.”

WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD SO WE HAVE NO NEED TO LIVE IN FEAR.

Nepal

As in Guinea, people consult with witchdoctors (known as dhami jhakris) for health reasons. For BMS doctor, Katrina Butterworth, half of her patients will have consulted with a dhami jhakri before coming to hospital. Does she ever see people affected by witchcraft?

“As a doctor I feel some of it is genuine psychiatric illness.

But there is some that is not psychiatric. I have had patients who have evil spirits’ influence. I remember a patient in Butwal where we lived. She would be able to tell you things that were happening at that time somewhere else, it turned out later. Her behaviour was really horrible (swearing, facial grimacing, and very aggressive). There was a complete change in personality after she had been prayed for and had received healing. She didn’t need ongoing medicine.”

Peru

In Peru people from indigenous ethnic groups go to shamans for spiritual guidance as they read their coca leaves. Twenty minutes from the clinic where BMS worker Anjanette Willamson works is a town where witches are known to be active. Her fellow BMS worker and husband, Scott, leads a church in the ancient Inca town of Cusco. He remembers

Intl Raymi (Festival of the Sun), an ancient Incan Ceremony, is recreated every June in Peru.

visiting the town before he knew of its associations.

“I remember the first time I went to the place where the witches are. I stopped to get a loaf of bread. I felt strange and uncomfortable. When you go through that community there is a sense of heaviness. It does not feel a safe place.”

Scott says that people find it hard to disconnect from the shamans as it is so ingrained in their lives. Some churches are also wary of welcoming people that have been previously involved in Incan spirituality.

Thailand

Witchcraft is not prevalent in Thai society but the animist tradition of appeasing spirits is. People do this by building a ‘spirit house’ on their property, a smaller replica of their building where the spirits ‘live’ so that they don’t go into their home or business. Each day you are supposed to give offerings to the spirits to keep them happy. From a small home to the Tesco superstore in Chiang Mai, all have spirit houses.

When a Christian asked for a spirit house to be removed from the house he was renting it proved to be a problem.

After much persuading the landlord reluctantly took the spirit house away. The next month there was a car accident outside the Christian’s house and somebody died. “The neighbourhood blamed our friend,” recalls BMS worker, Pete Maycock. “They said: ‘It is your fault as you removed the spirit house and annoyed the spirits in this area – you need to pay a fine to this family who have lost a child.’ It can be extremely difficult in those situations.”

Spirit houses also prevent people from becoming Christians, Pete thinks.

“The biggest problem is the barrier that it sets up with people receiving the gospel because it ties into the community and national identity that people have, where they are part of this whole hierarchy of beings in the country, and all these spirits are involved in that. For someone to come out of that and believe in Jesus feels like an enormous step for them to take.”

BMS mission workers, along with our partners, are sharing the hope and love of Christ in often broken and troubled places. Their work will often mean facing ‘the spiritual forces of evil’ and ‘powers of this dark world’ (Ephesians 6) with the truth that Jesus ultimately can break the darkness by which so many are bound. Pray that by the Holy Spirit, they will ‘destroy the devil’s work (1 John 3: 8) and help set people free from spiritual oppression.

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BMS worker profile Catherine*

Stuck, submerged in an Afghan river and in danger of drowning is an experience Catherine* will never forget.

nearly drowned in

Afghanistan I

’d crossed that river at least ten times.

It must have been April or May 2009, the spring rains had been particularly fierce that year. We’d cancelled the trip to the village the week before because there was so much flooding, so it was really time to go back and continue the course on maternal mortality. There was me, six of my colleagues – three women and three men – and a baby. I was the only foreigner. All of us were in the Land Cruiser – four women together in the back seat, three in blue burqas and one Westerner in a long black coat and a headscarf.

“Has anyone crossed yet today?” we shouted to the people in the car on the other side of the river.

“No, not yet, we’re waiting for you to cross first,” they said. So we set off.

We must have hit a patch of sand I guess, or something soft, because we got stuck. Then very, very

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slowly the car tipped onto its right side and began filling with water.

I think it was two thirds full within ten seconds.

I remember looking down to my two coworkers and seeing my friend up to her neck in muddy water. She was screaming. I remember thinking, we need to get out of here, fast.

I was quite calm actually.

I opened the side window and pulled myself about half way out, up onto the top of the car, which was of course actually the side of the car. My clothes were soaking wet from the neck down and I was struggling with their weight to heave myself out. I felt a pair of arms tug me from behind – it was a good job they pulled me.

I was the first one out.

There was a man from the other car standing waistdeep in the river; he had waded in to help us. The guy who pulled me out was also from that car. I was passed down to the man in the river and he carried me almost to the bank before he noticed that I was a foreigner – then he dropped me out of shock, which was really funny! He was very anxious that he’d done the wrong thing in manhandling me and kept saying, “sister forgive me, I never would have touched you if I’d known you were a foreigner.”

We would have been in trouble if our car had rolled right over onto its back – we would all have drowned. But thankfully it was on its side and there was an air pocket.

My team were screaming at the top of their voices and seriously panicking because they can’t swim and they’re very afraid of water, but I wasn’t at all panicked. I knew they’d be OK. Together, the two men proceeded to get the other three women out of the vehicle.

I was holding the one year old baby because his mother was so shocked. By the time we were all safe on the bank she wasn’t really functioning and I actually had to shake her to say to her we need to get dry, we need to get somewhere out of this area, you need to get up and walk.

Our handbags, our mobile phones, everything was lost in the water. We walked about three quarters of a mile in soaking wet clothes. It was very cold, and the whole time I had to carry her baby because she was struggling to hold herself together. When we arrived at the house of a distant relative of one of my team we looked like drowned rats, covered in mud.

They were very kind to us, but that was the last trip we made to the village because about two weeks later the Taliban came into another set of villages we work in and held our team hostage. One of the women and one of the men that had been in the Land Cruiser with me were held at gunpoint. After that we decided that it was no longer safe to work there.

© Peter Baer

I remember seeing my friend up to her neck in muddy water. She was screaming.

Living in Afghanistan we’ve experienced nearby rioting and machine gun fire, and twice I’ve had the experience of my husband being out and hearing an explosion. But I think transport is actually the most dangerous thing from my perspective. I still really don’t like the feeling of that tipping point the car has. Now I know that they can tip over it makes me quite anxious. Our kids know that we pray before every journey we take as a family. They have grown up here and they know there’s risk. They know that their dad and I don’t go into the village at the same time in case something happens to both of us.

That said, this country has a lot of upsides as well. It is very beautiful, the people are incredibly resourceful and strong, and if you’re working within development as we are, and you’re doing a good job, you see significant changes come into people’s lives.

I went to Afghanistan with a baby and a toddler, and if God had shown me that it was going to be like this I’m not sure I would have gone. But God gives you what you need to keep going. Our daughter was pretty sick in the first year, she had pneumonia twice, and it was really scary to know that Afghanistan had no medical facilities then of any nature, and that there was no way out for us. But you hold to the sovereignty of God. We feel called by God and we have experienced his protection and provision in a very real way from the beginning of our time here.

God gives you what you need to keep going.

*Not her real name

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Q&A

THE BIG INTERVIEW

Rob

PARSONS What’s the secret of a long and happy marriage?

What makes a good grandparent? Care for the Family founder Rob Parsons tells us.

From counselling couples with his wife Dianne in his spare time, Rob Parsons is now a worldwide speaker on all aspects of family life, well known for his Sixty Minute books on parenthood.

Rob Parsons talks exclusively to Engage magazine about changes to family life, how we can learn from different cultures and the importance of being a good grandparent.

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Q A

It’s been 25 years since you founded Care for the Family. Did you ever envisage reaching this milestone when you started?

I honestly didn’t. It was just me and a part-time secretary. I’d just left the law firm practice. I was in one room, in an office that one of the law practice branches let me have. I just had no idea; it was literally a day at a time. And now we have the best part of a hundred staff and are running 40 programmes. As my kids used to say, I’m a bit gobsmacked by it all.

Have attitudes to family life changed in the last 25 years?

When Care for the Family began in 1988 many people in the media and sometimes in government really ridiculed marriage. They just couldn’t see what the point of marriage was – that doesn’t happen now. Pretty much all sections of the media, academia and certainly

government have realised that it is a very important foundation stone for society and the most stable way to bring up children.

So would you say people getting married take it more seriously now than they did in the past?

I think many people spend a fortune on the wedding and not enough time thinking about the marriage. The proportion of couples who actually go through the trouble of having some pre-marriage counselling is still very small, but the research shows that whatever happens it makes a real difference. We’ve launched this brand new one day marriage preparation course and that’s been used all over the country and couples seem to find that really helpful.

incredibly close family life. And they so often honour those who are older. I think we often dishonour those who are older in Western society.

many people spend a fortune on the wedding and not enough thinking about the marriage.

You have been married to Dianne for 42 years now. What is the secret to a long marriage like that?

I don’t know about a secret. Being in a marriage ministry doesn’t preclude you going through all the things that hit other couples.

We have been married for 42 years now and I thank God for Dianne. But there have been times where I have felt it’s been really hard and difficult and we have had to push through it. I think you need to be prepared to hold onto each other and love not just with the heart but with the will.

Do you think that sometimes churches put too much emphasis on family life at the expense of excluding singles or those without children?

It’s very easy to make people feel excluded. The Bible says that God has put the lonely in families (Psalm 68: 6) and if we don’t feel welcome and accepted in our local church then it would be hard to find somewhere else that will make us feel valued. I think it can be a difficulty.

Your latest book is on becoming the best grandparent you can be. Why is this so important?

Being a good grandparent is very important as for lots of practical reasons grandparents are involved in a massive amount of child care, especially in the United Kingdom. Many grandparents see more of the children then the actual parents do in daylight hours, but it’s much more than that. Grandparents can give children a sense of roots and memory, and be a lovely bulwark of truly unconditional love to a child.

Do you feel same sex couples will become more of a norm in the future and that it will be something the church will have to respond to?

Well we will have to respond to that without doubt. It’s an issue which is in all our lives, it is part of our society and we will have to wisely respond in every situation.

Are you optimistic about the family in the future?

I am. Family is God’s idea and I believe family is the bulwark of society. More and more I think we are going to need each other in the future. I believe if we are prepared to be vulnerable then we will help each other and have an enormous effect on society.

Rob Parsons was talking to Chris Hall

We are a global mission organisation. Do you think that Christians in the UK could do more to help families overseas?

I think it is easy to get tied up in your own family, your own house, your own nation sometimes. If people knew more about families overseas then perhaps they would. Personally we go to South Africa and one of the other African countries if we can, at least once a year. I have been humbled by how much difference we can make with so little in people’s lives overseas.

Can we learn anything about how different cultures approach family life?

Enormously. I think we can learn a lot from other family structures even in our own nation. As I travel abroad I often meet people who have very little in material goods but an

We have three copies of Rob Parsons’ latest book The Sixty Minute Grandparent: Becoming the best grandparent you can be, published by Hodder & Stoughton, to give away.

To win answer the following question: What is the title of the first book Rob Parsons wrote?

Email your answer along with your name and postal address to magazine@bmsworldmission.org

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10

TOP Tips for Evangelism

O

One vision, 13 years, 10,500 churches planted.

Benjamin Francis shares ideas.

n a mission to share Jesus with one of the most unreached people groups in the world, Ben Francis and his team have planted an unbelievable 10,500 churches.

Journeying to rural north Indian villages to share the gospel message with people who have never heard of Jesus before is a daily occurrence for Ben, BMS Associate Team Leader for India. He’s encountered many dangers, witnessed amazing miracles and seen countless lives transformed by grace – so he has a story or two to tell of God’s power and provision.

We asked this gospel-sharing, churchplanter extraordinaire for ten tips to turn us into top evangelists. Here’s what he said:

01

Pray

02

Make contact

03

Deepen relationships

First, before you do anything: pray.

You have to get people’s attention before you present them with hope; we call this an ‘entry strategy’. In the villages we do sports, or set up a medical camp, or tell stories.

In the UK you may do something different – like asking people if their kids would like to do some arts and crafts, or hosting a neighbourhood BBQ. It could be as simple as saying, ‘hi, how are you?’ to your neighbours, so they are no longer strangers to you.

Use the relationships you already have, with people whose paths you regularly cross. That is your circle of influence. Slowly sow in the truth and show that that truth is applied in your life – because if you tell them something that is not showing in your life, people won’t listen to you.

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04

Share the simple gospel message

Once we have made a connection we ask, if people are interested, ‘will you open your home so we can come in and tell you more about Jesus?’ We go to their houses, where they are comfortable, and start sharing the gospel: who Jesus is: the Son of God; what Jesus did: the miracles of Jesus that people really love to listen to; and what Jesus taught: the parables of Jesus.

05

Renew your confidence in the gospel

I think that UK Christians, with all due respect, have to renew their confidence in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel still has the power to save, to heal, to restore and to give hope for eternity. Sometimes we forget that. I think, as believers, we have lost confidence in the gospel and that’s why we don’t share it with anyone else.

06

Share your story

Start gossiping Jesus wherever you go. Start sharing your story and there will be a change. And the best bit about it is that it is your story, no one can refute it.

Some days you won’t feel like sharing. It sounds crazy, a guy whose job is church planting sometimes gets up and doesn’t want to talk to anybody. But then I think, oh my goodness, every time my heart beats two people die and go into a Christ-less eternity in my part of the world. How can I keep quiet?

07

Practise

Our story has three parts – life before knowing Jesus, when we came to know Jesus and how we are living today. Practise.

Write it down. No one wants to hear a long story. You just need a minute for each section. It’s very simple actually. When I started practising I thought, oh, this is not that tough.

08

Wait for God to show up

No evangelism is complete without a supernatural element: there may be a dream, there may be an answer to prayer.

You and I can be blue in the face talking about this, but if God doesn’t show up that deal is not complete.

09

Expect miracles

Seven to eight out of every ten village churches we start come out of a miracle – God starts doing things and people say wow, this is a real God. Miracles are not only for India, but for everywhere God’s people are called.

Miracles don’t happen where they are needed, they happen where they are expected.

10

K I S S – Keep It Simple, Stupid

Keep sharing your story and keep it simple.

If something’s working, keep at it!

What can the UK learn from the world Church?

Part of the role of the UK Field leader is to ask and to research the question ‘What can the UK learn from the world Church’. I love reading mini summaries like the one Benjamin has written on 10 tips for evangelism. It helps stretch your imagination and increase your faith.

I have had the opportunity to talk to some church leaders from the world Church who are familiar with the United Kingdom. I have asked them what they think the UK can learn from the world Church and a few of them have made the same observation. We can learn from the confidence in the gospel that those Christians beyond the Western Church have.

I think there are many other ways we can learn as well. In many areas of the world fully funded ministry is not the norm. We are involved in business; development work; defending the poor, the marginalised and the persecuted and educating future ministers. In each of these areas there is something that we can reflect on and use to influence our effectiveness in ministry in the UK. Graham Doel, UK Field Leader, BMS World Mission

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Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful (Colossians 4: 2) We would encourage you to photocopy this page, or to cut out the sections and use in your regular prayer times.

Places: Albania Albania’s hidden secrets include its crystal clear lakes, beautiful coastlines and historical sights. It’s more commonly known, however, for being one of the poorest countries in Europe. In the 20 years since the fall of communism Albania has enjoyed unprecedented freedom, but it comes at a price.

An estimated 25 per cent of the people live in poverty, with five per cent in extreme poverty.

For Christians, life is probably like living in the times of the early Church: young, fragile yet filled with the Spirit and growing in both numbers and maturity. The last ten years has seen a steady transition of leadership within the Baptist Church from overseas mission workers to national pastors.

Projects: Project Cyrus

Pray for: • Wisdom for national and civic leaders as they respond to inequality and poverty within Albania.

• The training of new church leaders.

Pray that they would grow in faith and maturity.

• The work of GDQ School, looking after and teaching the children of mission workers.

bmsworldmission.org/cyrus

Back in February we launched Project Cyrus, our prayer initiative for North Korea. Nearly 400 individuals and over 260 churches have committed to pray for the nation, to see an end of persecution of Christians and for peace, prosperity and an outpouring of God’s love on a people who are in desperate need of the gospel.

In the intervening months, North Korea has been back in the news. Its already strained relations with bordering South Korea are in a constant state of flux and its provocative stance towards the West has drawn the attention of the United States and others. Throughout all of this, people are still living in desperate situations, with little or no opportunity to break out of poverty.

Pray for: • Pray for improved relations between North and South Korea and lasting peace between the two countries.

• Pray that believers will continue to stand firm and grow in the face government persecution.

• Pray for continued wisdom for Kim Jong-un and his government.

People: James and Julia Henley James and Julia have been church planters in Peru since 2010 and were on home assignment earlier in the year. In between visiting churches and being debriefed at BMS’ head office, Julia gave birth to their first child, Katie.

They returned to Peru in March and are now adapting to life in a new town. They are continuing their outreach work into the community in Yucay and Calca. In recent weeks they have been holding children’s meetings, teaching them about creation care and reading Bible stories. It’s hoped that through this work they can make more contacts and open up some more doors for ministry.

Get regular prayer points and resources from BMS at bmsworldmission.org/prayer

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please pray for: • Good health for Katie and strength for James and Julia.

• New opportunities to share God’s love.

• Wisdom in how to proceed with each aspect of their work.

Aidan Melville is sub-editor for the BMS Prayer Guide

P

your church

Proof The Word

How can we prove to others that our faith is real and that Jesus is alive?

Jesus came into contact with people’s tendency to be critical and slow to believe. In a crowded room, a paralysed man was dramatically presented to him, lowered from a dismantled ceiling. Jesus knew both the man’s physical and spiritual needs, and offered forgiveness of sins.

However, in response to the thoughts of the religious people he said, “But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Mark 2: 10), and heals the man as well. Jesus proves his power to forgive sins by a physical act of healing.

Jesus used the same pattern when the Jews challenged him to prove his authority to clear the temple of traders. Jesus’ response, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days” (John 2: 19), may not have satisfied the Jews, but this physical proof – his very own bodily resurrection – gave solid evidence for his disciples to later become convinced of all his teachings.

We can be evidence of God’s power by the very changes in our lives and the answers to our prayers. To pray effectively and receive healing, James teaches us to confess our sins to each other and pray for each other (James 5: 16).

Verse Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

James 5: 16

Prayer Holy God, show yourself to be true and holy through your power in me.

Please give me confidence to confess my sins and encouragement to pray boldly with others. Thank you for your righteousness. May my prayers be powerful and effective, for your sake Amen.

© nestonik - Fotolia.com

Stuff for

Margaret Gibbs Former BMS Regional Team Leader for East Asia

What have we got in common with

North Korea? could there be lessons for us if we look at it more closely?

W

hen I was serving with BMS in Albania a few years ago a book called The Tears of my Spirit was translated into Albanian. It was the true story of a North Korean spy who, brainwashed by propaganda, blew up a plane in the hope of disrupting the Seoul Olympics in 1988, and who later became a Christian. In the context of a brand new church in Albania which hardly had a Bible commentary in the Albanian language at the time, why was it a priority to translate this story? In fact the isolationist, atheistic and propaganda-heavy Communist regime which prevailed in Albania for 40 years was remarkably similar to the system which controls North Korea today. The experience of former North Korean spy Kim Hyun Hee and the influences she lived with would resonate with many Albanians who were now experiencing their first taste of political and religious freedom and the joys and challenges they bring.

But surely there is no similarity between North Korea and the UK? Well what about the North Korean principal of Juche or self-reliance?

North Korean leaders have for 60 years enforced Juche-worship in North Korean society, teaching that humankind is superior to all things and has every resource needed for flourishing life within itself. Have we not also sometimes espoused independence as a virtue for our churches and even in individual spirituality, to the extent that we often forfeit the blessings as well as the lessons of interdependence and even of unity in Christ? Baptists believe in a biblical autonomy for the local church, but is pure independence healthy in any aspect of individual or corporate Christian life? Consider North Korea and see where excessive self-reliance can lead!

Albania for 40 years was similar to North Korea today.

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Stuff for

your church

Using your skills for

mission Eric Bafende gave up a prominent medical role in the Democratic Republic of Congo to use his skills for mission in Guinea.

Eric Bafende is the director of the Mission Hospital in Macenta, Guinea which is a regional reference hospital for the management of leprosy and tuberculosis. He manages the hospital so that local people with leprosy, tuberculosis and HIV can receive better medical care as well as spiritual care despite the minimum of resources.

The mission hospital receives an average of 180 patients per week in the outpatient clinic. The 30 hospital staff are mostly Guinean but they have specialist doctors from Europe and Africa.

Eric is also the mission team leader of a multicultural group of mission workers who are carrying out outreach and development projects in the Muslim majority community that the hospital serves. “This is a new role for me and I am learning to manage relationships with other mission worker colleagues, the local church and our Guinean colleagues,” says Eric.

Eric and his team are trying to build friendships with Muslims and to give them opportunities to be in touch with the gospel. “They need on average to hear the gospel 35 times before deciding to follow Jesus,” Eric says.

Before working for BMS World Mission Eric was working as the Vice General Director of the Evangelical Medical Institute of Kimpese and the Director of a hospital in D R Congo. He was also the head of internal medicine at the hospital and a World Health Organisation expert on Buruli ulcer. Eric was seconded to BMS to work in Guinea in 2005. After marrying his wife, Sarah, Eric successfully applied to be a long-term mission worker and has been working for BMS since 2009.

“When I responded to the call of God to serve him inside the 10-40 (least evangelised) window, I needed a greater commitment, otherwise I would not be serving the Lord according to my call,” says Eric. “It was necessary for me to sacrifice my previous career in the D R Congo to be free to serve God in the mission field.”

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Education skills: Albania Jill Morrow has been teaching at GDQ, an international Christian school in Tirana, Albania for BMS for the last four years. Previously, she was a teacher for 17 years in the UK. During her four years at GDQ, Jill has taught children of over 21 nationalities. Three quarters of the children in her class have parents that come from the mission community. Those children are very aware of what their parents are doing: from helping Roma people in the countryside to doing Bible studies with children.

The main difference Jill has found teaching in a Christian school to a secular one is that you are able to connect what you are teaching your class with the Bible. Through the history, geography, literature and science topics you can connect and explain to the children something in light of their understanding of their relationship with God. It is also possible to have prayer times at any point during the day.

Together they study the Bible curriculum but in a way that is “personal and not just head knowledge,” says Jill.

“Working for BMS you definitely need more than skills,” thinks Jill. “I can share my skills with people, with teachers from other countries but I definitely feel it is a calling. I never envisaged that I would work overseas but God has made it very clear that it is a calling. I am there to engage, primarily with the school as a full-time teacher but also with local Albanians. It is a much wider experience.”

Theology skills: Nepal

Current Opportunities 1. English teachers for China An exciting new opportunity to teach English as a foreign language in north eastern China, with chances to share through your work.

Teachers must be fluent in English, and any TEFL/ IELTS qualifications or teaching experience is an advantage, though not necessary. They should also have a strong desire to build friendships with the local community.

2. B usiness /company directors in Bangladesh Bristol Baptist College organises a mission trip ever year to raise awareness of what God is doing in other countries and how he is using the church and mission agencies there. Back in March Maki Miço, associate minister at Cairns Road Baptist Church in Bristol, went with a group of seven from the college to Nepal with BMS World Mission.

The group were in Kathmandu for three weeks. During the first week they had an introduction to the missionary community, especially BMS mission workers and their involvement. “There are some amazing people there who really are skilful. They’ve given up time and made sacrifices to be there and are really doing the utmost to get things rolling in a community as diverse as the Nepalese,” says Maki.

In the second week the tutor and team leader, Ken Stuart, led some interactive classroom teaching at Nepal Baptist College with the rest of the group part of the discussions. “It was a shock to the Nepalese students because they are not used to that style of teaching, but I think it was a valuable time,” says Maki. “We got to have good conversations that you would not have otherwise about the way they came to faith and how hard it is for people to embrace Christianity there.”

Other highlights of the trip were visiting two Christian schools, including KISC, and going to the site in Kathmandu where bodies are prepared to be cremated.

They also visited an underground leprosy hospital – Maki found it “a mind blowing experience to see the love and care patients get there.”

“Going to Nepal, meeting people and mission workers and experiencing the Nepalese church was very encouraging to us,” says Maki. I think we need to be aware that God is using his church everywhere in the world in a different way.

The trip helped us see that first hand.”

We are looking for someone to take on the role of managing director in a consultancy business, and also for engineers to work in an exciting corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative. Time commitment of 5+ years.

3. Doctor for Chad Short, mid or long-term placement working as a surgeon in a hospital near the capital N’Djamena providing frontline medical care in a marginalised community.

4. M ission trainers for local mission workers and ministers in Peru We are looking for people to work alongside the Peruvian Evangelical Baptist Convention in training local mission workers and/or ministers.

Previous experience in evangelism and community development are essential.

5. Church planters in Thailand We are looking for ministers or mature Christians to work alongside local church planters in Thailand helping to plant churches and disciple local believers.

Time commitment of 5+ years to enable language acquisition and integration into the local community.

To find out more go to bmsworldmission.org/opportunities

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ideas for Stuff for

your church

your church

African Christmas carol An activity to celebrate Christmas with Christians in Africa You will need: A computer to connect to YouTube, a song sheet downloaded from bmsworldmission.org/face O come, all ye faithful is a great carol, but why not add an African flavour to it? A few weeks before Christmas, invite Bible studies, home groups, youth groups and children’s groups to spend a little time learning a Swahili version of O come, all ye faithful when meeting together. Swahili is spoken

There are many ways to engage your church with world mission, coffee mornings and all-age activities included. However, if your church would like a long-term and strategic partnership with BMS World Mission, please can we encourage you to sign up to BMS Church Partners.

This is our new programme that enables churches to develop their mission focus and strengthen their partnership with BMS. You can support specific people, a region of the world or a particular type of ministry. You will receive news and resources from partner workers on your chosen interest.

If you are already part of BMS Church Partners, there are new options open to you. You can add to your existing partnership and you can also find new resources like videos, blogs and prayer cards for your existing partner workers.

Don’t just take our word for it though. We asked some of our Church Partner contacts why they joined the new programme:

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in Uganda, D R Congo and Mozambique, where BMS works. Use the video made by BMS staff (bmsworldmission.org/face) for inspiration and pronunciation guidance, and use the song sheet from the website for the words. On Christmas Day, sing the song together and remember to pray for the Church in Africa. Pray also for BMS work in some of the toughest places on earth.

For a more advanced activity, find an indigenous Christmas song from another part of the world online (YouTube is a good place to start) and perform that song.

interest in we have maintained an “For a number of years helped us yer Pra of y Da e last BMS BMS work in Albania. Th olved in and range of work BMS is inv to appreciate the wide ld a special he our horizons. We have we wanted to broaden tners.” par on uce our new missi prayer meeting to introd ddesley Baptist Church Keith Hawton – North Ba

“We decided on the Middle East and North Africa region because it is an area we have not been involved with before. So far it is early days but on a personal level, I am finding it quite rewarding to have direct contact with our new workers.”

Gustav Copeland – The Vine, Sevenoaks

“We were in a rut with very little sharing with our previous missionary. We wanted to be partnered with families and hope we can become more intera ctive especially amongst our young people. I have shown the latest videos, given out copies of the prayer letter s and displayed details on our mission notice board .”

Barbara Farthing – West Cliff Baptist Church

For more information visit

bmsworldmission.org/churchpartners

Laptop: © karandaev - Fotolia.com

All-age activity

BMS Action Teams and your church They danced in Indian dress, they quizzed us about Uganda, they cooked Brazilian food and they had us singing in Nepali… who are they? They are BMS Action Teams!

Fundraising

Clothes swap for BMS Have you been inspired by the ethical shopping article (see page 10-12) in this issue of Engage? A great way to inspire your church and also fundraise for BMS is to hold a clothes swap. This could be an event at your church or a reason to invite some friends round. Here are some helpful tips: © Hemeroskopion - Fotolia.com

Action Teams

The UK Tour is part of the Action Team programme and runs from late April to late June. Each team visits eight churches, spending a week with each church, doing all sorts of things!

They lead services, visit schools, lead home groups, work with children and young people and help with holiday Bible clubs.

They sing, dance, act, tell stories, preach and cook. You name it, they’ll give it a go!

Why not consider hosting a team at your church? A limited number of teams are available each year, but it’s certainly worth asking! Contact Rev Edwin Penman by email: epenman@bmsworldmission.org Why not encourage any young people in your church (ages 18-23) to think about doing a gap year with BMS? For more information, see the BMS website:

bmsworldmission.org/actionteams

1 I nvite a good mix of people and give them plenty of notice.

2 S et out some rules like how many items of clothing or accessories each guest should bring. At the event you can give out a token for every item to keep things fair.

Coffee Morning

3 A sk everyone to pre-sort their clothes by size or category.

When, in 1953, BMS missionaries Vaughan and Mair Walters had to return to the UK from India due to their son’s ill health, Vaughan took up the pastorate at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, Blackwood. Mair and a group of ladies in the church decided to start a coffee morning to raise funds for BMS. Sixty years later the coffee morning is still going strong. To mark this special occasion, the church held celebrations and BMS sent greetings and an engraved glass ‘flame’.

4 T ry and be creative in setting out the room.

You will need tables, mirrors and hanging rails if you have them. You might also want to find an area to use as a fitting room.

In the last 10 years alone the coffee morning has raised around £20,000. But the coffee morning is more than just an opportunity for a nice cup of coffee. It is a time for fellowship and friendship, and this is what makes the coffee morning special.

Our thanks and congratulations go to the dedicated team that ‘make it happen’: Pat, Christine, Edna, Beryl, Janet, Diane, Barbara, Mavis, Eileen, Rosamond, May, Tegwen and Arthur.

BMS has produced a Coffee Morning Resource to support our work among children from impoverished communities. This will be available in the autumn and can be ordered from the website at bmsworldmission.org/coffee or by phoning 01235 517617.

5 H ave some browsing time at the start of the event then let the swapping begin.

There are lots of ways to fundraise for BMS at the same time, like selling cakes and refreshments at the event or even charging a small entrance fee.

For information here are some useful websites: www.moneycrashers.com/clothingswap-party-exchange www.wikihow.com/Host-a-ClothingSwap-Party

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Arts

Reviews

CS Lewis: A Life Alister McGrath

Graham Kendrick

Book

Album

ISBN: 978-1444745528

Hodder & Stoughton, £20.00 (Hardcover)

Rating: Alister McGrath’s recently published biography of CS Lewis was a delightful read for someone, like me, who’d spent much of his childhood in the magical kingdom of Narnia.

McGrath admirably captures the enigmatic essence of this bestselling children’s author, Christian writer, apologist, literary critic and distinguished and popular university don.

McGrath weaves together, sensitively and yet not uncritically, these three ‘worlds’ that Lewis inhabited. And he closes the book with a chapter assessing Lewis’ continuing influence.

McGrath has used as his sources not only the huge amount of scholarly material now available but also the recently published collected letters of Lewis, letters which offer fresh insights into his character and thought.

There is much in the book to captivate the reader: Lewis’ relationship with his family, especially his father; the influence of the Inklings; and the drama of his marriage to Joy Davidman. I wholeheartedly recommend it to you.

Review by David Lewis who is minister of Hutton and Shenfield Union Church, Brentwood, Essex

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Worship Duets

bmsworldmission.org

Integrity Music Rating:

The Good Shopping Guide: Certifying the UK’s Most Ethical Companies and Brands Book

ISBN: 978-0955290787

Often seen as the father of modern worship, Graham Kendrick needs no introduction.

His 38th album, Worship Duets, sees influential songwriters from all over the global Church stepping into his studio. The result is a diverse fusion of songs that tip the cap respectfully to old-style hymns, whilst achieving a tangible creativity of the modern.

The album bursts to life with Hymn of the Ages, a catchy collaboration with Matt Redman that captures the unique vision behind the project. One or two of the tracks are fairly similar, but Jon Egan’s What You Started offers a refreshing ballad of unexpected chords and thoughtprovoking lyrics.

It is encouraging that Kendrick hasn’t pursued the latest technological sound, but instead allowed space for the distinctive vocals to create their own blend of textures. The album boasts an impressive list of duet partners, including Stuart Townend, Matt Redman, Paul Baloche, Martin Smith and the Rend Collective Experiment, whose folky flavour adds a contemporary twist to a remodelled classic.

It is disappointing, however, that besides Darlene Zschech, there are no other female artists featured on the album. Despite this, Duets achieves something many modern worship albums fail to do – it translates its quality from the studio to the congregation.

Ethical Marketing Group, £14.95

Review by Lucy Vallance, PA to the General Director at BMS World Mission

Review by Jeanie Herbert,

Rating: With headline news from places like Dhaka about deaths in garment factories or debates about large companies in the UK finding tax avoidance loopholes, we can be left with ethical questions about the choices we make when shopping and the companies we support.

Often issues look too big or we can feel our part won’t make a significant difference – although something niggles inside us, often questioning how a T-shirt can cost £3 or leaving us wondering what difference we could make.

The Good Shopping Guide provides the average ‘want-tobe thoughtful shopper’ with an informed, practical starting point, without flooding us with too much detail. Consumer brands are rated according to various ethical criteria and products grouped for easy reference.

Whether your concern is the environment, human rights or corporate corruption, this guide (or the downloadable phone app) provides a starting point to inform our future purchasing. When we find our favourite brands rate low ethically, our intentions are put to the test and choices need to be made. I recommend this book as part of a practical response to issues we can no longer ignore.

Long and Mid-term Mission Co-ordinator, BMS World Mission

Gospel Sharing Apps Share your Faith, Two Ways to Live, Gospel in 7 IOS and Android Rating: I can’t remember the last time I read a copy of the Bible on paper.

I always read the Bible on a screen whether it be my Kindle, tablet, phone or computer. I am an early adopter when it comes to technology.

Imagine my delight when I was asked to review some gospel sharing apps. However, when I began to look at them, I felt a strange feeling in the depths of my stomach (and it was not the curry I ate last night). Each one of the apps reduced the gospel to a formula that missed the breadth of the life transforming work of Jesus Christ.

I am passionate about the gospel and am enthusiastic about the way the Bible presents it. After Jesus came from being tested in the desert, Mark says that he came proclaiming the gospel: “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Imagine if our gospel sharing started with the same premise as Jesus. We have the opportunity to start by demonstrating that God is closer than you think. Our gospel sharing would include the death and resurrection of Jesus but as part of a much bigger gospel telling.

Review by Graham Doel, UK Field Leader at BMS World Mission

5

Arts

Five minutes with...

Kate

Bracks

Masterchef Australia is a hugely

popular reality TV show shown in over 35 countries including the UK. Kate Bracks, who won in 2011, tells Chris Hall about the opportunities Masterchef has provided to share her love of cooking and her faith.

You said in an interview that your faith helped keep you sane during the show. How did it do that?

I think with a faith in God you see the world from a different perspective. When you are in Masterchef and you are living it and breathing it and everyone is telling you that it is the most important thing in your life right now, it is very easy to get sucked in by that. I guess that as a Christian, in my head I was going, ‘No, it’s just TV, it’s just food. We’re not saving lives. Life is bigger than this’.

One challenge was to serve lunch to the Dalai Lama. I understand that you called him ‘Dalai Lama’ instead of ‘your holiness’ which got picked up by the Australian media and proved controversial. Was he happy about that?

He was absolutely fine. I was quite surprised that people noticed that I had called him something different. I stick by what I did. My understanding of what holiness means is totally right with God. So he’s not holy, I’m not holy, you’re not holy. Jesus is the only one that is holy.

Are you recognised outside Australia?

Masterchef Australia is very big in India, probably bigger than it is here in Australia, which is a little bizarre. When I went over there it was fairly busy. We did one cooking demonstration and a thousand people showed up. That wasn’t quite what I was expecting!

You regularly visit churches to do evangelistic cooking events. What is it like being in a position where you can share your faith and be an ambassador for Christ as well as being a public celebrity?

I see it as an incredible privilege. I’ve loved cooking for my entire life and I went through a period of time when I actually questioned God a lot about why I was passionate about something that to me seemed so futile. You can show hospitality with cheese on toast, it doesn’t have to be an intricate meal, why do I like doing this, I thought. I think the biggest thing I’ve learnt is that God uses people in every field of life and he can use your passions for his own purposes.

So do you think cooking can be worship? That it can bring glory to God? I never used to, I used to see them as two very separate things but I have been completely rebuked in that. God is a creative God, he is in the creativity of so many different facets of life. I absolutely believe that we can worship God through food and cooking.

Kate Bracks was talking to Chris Hall

Sweet Life: Basics and Beyond by Kate Bracks is available from UK bookshops priced £24.99.

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overseas partner

Julio Gonzales

A light in the darkness Despite near blindness, Pastor Julio Gonzales’ vision for his neighbourhood and his students is bright and unwavering.

P

astor Julio is Principal of the Lima Evangelical Baptist Seminary (SEBAL) which lies in the middle of a red light district in Lima, Peru. BMS supports his ministry through a Partnership Grant, as he endeavours to prepare his students both for ministry and mission.

In addition to prostitution, drug dealing, drug use and under-age clubbing were major problems in the area around SEBAL until last year – the two clubs responsible have now been closed down, improving the tranquillity of the neighbourhood. But the community is still in need.

The SEBAL students are encouraged to run Bible studies with the families living in the area and to teach music at a local school. Pastor Julio has also set up a monthly all-night prayer vigil so that the seminary students can intercede for God’s work in the community.

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Training students in theology and having an impact in a struggling neighbourhood would be a challenge for anyone, let alone for a man with severe vision impairments in a community with limited resources. So how does Pastor Julio manage to press on with his ministry?

“I teach from memory, with all the relevant Bible quotations,” he says. “Sometimes I ask for the help of a student to write some important notations on the board.

This has the effect of encouraging them when faced with adversities, so that they do not have an attitude of resignation; but that, on the contrary, they are confident and grateful to God for his blessings to us, despite our limitations.”

From the

Nabil K Costa

Archives

Lebanese Baptist leader

50 years ago

The gnawing pain of

1963

HUNGER

Syrian Refugees…

Challenge after challenge ‘Lebanon’s nightmare’ is how some are describing the thousands of Syrians streaming into the country.

A

The challenge for every generation: can we ensure enough food for everyone around the world so that no one goes hungry?

“C

an we as Christians forget the gnawing pain of hunger which daily attacks nearly two-thirds of the world’s peoples? The Hindu peasant was a typical sufferer, but he is only one of millions in India and Pakistan alone. They daily scrape an existence from the soil and in a bad year, when floods have devastated their land or drought has shrivelled up their crops, they die of starvation.

Continual malnutrition makes them a prey to every conceivable disease. For many like them there is no escape, no future save an early grave. Our world is one in which the population is rapidly growing. We are told that there

are three thousand million people today. There will be at least four thousand million by 1980.

Practically every time your clock ticks there will be another mouth to feed.

Yet, and this is the heart of the problem, one third of the world (our third) possesses the majority of the world’s wealth and a great deal of the know-how. If the Western World set its mind to it, the running sore of hunger could be healed.”

This is an extract from an article written by BMS worker GPR Prosser, which first appeared in Missionary Herald, May 1963 (p66).

few days ago we received news of the tragic death of eight-year old Ayham, the son of a Syrian refugee family, one of 600 that are currently being supported by LSESD in the Lebanese Bekaa valley. Ayham was the casualty of a hit and run that left his family devastated – as were the Sunday school community of Zahle Baptist Church, where Ayham, a non-Christian, was a regular since his family arrived from Syria. Our hearts were broken.

Tragedies do happen, yes. But when one is a refugee, the death of a family member opens up a Pandora’s box adding to their challenges The plight new ones that are specific to the host of Syrian country. For instance, not even for a penniless refugees refugee family is beyond would the hospital words. release Ayham’s body without first receiving US$2,000. Struggling to deal with their loss, they had to run around trying to raise the amount that they may give their child a decent burial place. The latter was the other hurdle that they had to face: being ‘strangers’ it was difficult to get a religious leader or even a cemetery to accept having the child buried on their premises. How tragic!

The plight of Syrian refugees is beyond words.

The Lebanese government estimates that the number of Syrian refugees in the country is one million, 75 per cent of them are said to be women and children. While organisations such as LSESD strive to reach out with a helping hand providing food, healthcare and education, the volume of the crisis is by far greater than NGOs can address on their own. The global Church has an important role to play in communicating the voice of the voiceless, without any bias, drawing attention to the humanitarian crisis and standing up against all kinds of atrocities including sending arms to Syria. Ours is a message of peace, and the messenger needs to be mindful that the end does not justify the means.

Nabil K Costa is the executive director of BMS partner LSESD, a vice president of the Baptist World Alliance and a trustee of BMS World Mission.

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Our 18-23s gap year programme is characterised by discipleship, mission experience and community.

We’re recruiting now for 2014-15, when we expect to send teams to Europe, Asia, Africa and South America.

We’re seeking Christians with a flexible attitude and a willingness to work as part of a team.

Know someone who might be interested?

Send them to facebook. com/actionteams or

As a Christian mission organisation we aim to share life in all its fullness with the world’s peoples by: enabling them to know Christ, alleviating suffering and injustice, improving the quality of life with people as our primary agents of change – motivating, training, sending and resourcing them.