Engage summer 2015

SUMMER

2015

JOANNA JEPSON, REVIEWS, TOP 10 BMS MISSION LOCATIONS

IS LEGAL WORK THE FUTURE OF MISSION? THE DAY I ENCOUNTERED A GENOCIDE

Restoring broken lives in Nepal Meet some of the world’s most courageous people

J JOHN ON PREACHING, EVANGELISM AND CHRISTIAN TV SHOULD WE TAKE THE DEVIL SERIOUSLY?

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

HIGHLIGHTS

Engage

Chris Hall

WELCOME “We are always telling stories to ourselves about the situation we are in and those stories become reality to us. And that’s the problem.” So said an expert on fear in a podcast I recently listened to.

It applies to more than just fear. We can be governed by the stories we tell ourselves and the ones we hear from others.

In this issue of Engage, we hear about people who were told the story that their lives were over because of their disability (see page 12) or believed a story that land could be taken away from them and they could do nothing about it (page 9). Thankfully, BMS World Mission workers have been able to prove these stories wrong and transform these people’s lives.

Let us be wary of the stories we tell ourselves and trust more in God’s story for our lives.

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: bmsworldmission.org General Director: David Kerrigan Managing Editor: Jonathan Langley Editor: Chris Hall Regular contributors: Vickey Casey, Fiona Castle OBE, David Kerrigan, Aidan Melville and Sarah Stone Guest columnists: Eric Bafende, Gill Francis and Yousvel Lormeus Design editors: pepperfish.co.uk, indigoninja.co.uk, Jason Huffadine, Ruth Povall and Jacob Barrell Printed by: Halcyon Print Management, Tunbridge Wells, TN3 9BD 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)

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LEGAL WORK: THE FUTURE OF MISSION?

CRACKS IN THE DARKNESS

Thousands of people worldwide need legal advice, but cannot afford lawyers.

Should mission agencies like BMS World Mission be providing legal help?

An accident can feel like a death sentence in Nepal.

A BMS supported clinic in the poorest part of the country, however, is bringing hope.

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THE DAY I ENCOUNTERED A GENOCIDE What Steve Sanderson saw in Rwanda would stir strong emotions in him and lead to his work at BMS.

THE BIG INTERVIEW: J JOHN Evangelist, author and TV presenter Canon J John talks to BMS about preaching, evangelism and Christian TV.

REGULARS 03 MISSION NEWS 06 LETTERS 07 KEEP ENGAGED 07 FIONA CASTLE 08 24 HOURS IN… BEIRA 16 TOP TEN: BMS MISSION LOCATIONS 22 OVERSEAS PARTNER: DIL BAHADUR CHHETRI 23 GO PRAY 24 GO SERVE 26 IDEAS FOR YOUR CHURCH 28 OPINION: SHOULD WE TAKE THE DEVIL SERIOUSLY? 30 FIVE MINUTES WITH JOANNA JEPSON 31 REVIEWS

© Copyright 2015 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

INDIA CHRISTIANS ATTACKED

Christians in India have been stunned by a number of attacks against them, including the rape of a 71-year-old nun in West Bengal.

UGANDA

COMBATING AN IMPENDING

WATER CRISIS One billion people do not have access to safe drinking water. BMS World Mission water sanitation engineer Tim Darby is trying to improve water access in Uganda.

For millions on the planet, water is scarce. The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change has predicted that during this century, things are going to get worse.

BMS water expert Tim Darby is working in northern Uganda, where almost 50 per cent of households do not have access to safe drinking water.

He believes that, while countries in the West will be able to cope with an impending water crisis, it is countries like Uganda that will suffer the most.

“Water is there underground – it’s just not safe for drinking,” says Tim. Most people drink water without boiling it, which can lead to diarrhoea, the second biggest cause of death worldwide amongst children under five years old.

Tim is now working on the early stages of a project to improve access to safe drinking water for households in northern Uganda. One way to do this is through making shallow wells where there are signs that water is close to the surface – these are relatively cheap to bore and can serve a community of 300 to 400 people.

A 71-year-old nun was raped by robbers at a convent school in Rhanaghat. The attack has been blamed on fanatical Hindus. This follows other incidents in India linked to Hindu hardline groups, including the demolition of a Catholic church, threats of sexual violence at a convent school and the vandalism of a 140-year-old cathedral.

“There are many people who have been really shaken,” says BMS church planter Ben Francis. “They can see they are no longer safe, they are being targeted as believers.”

You can help Christians in India to continue to share the gospel, in the face of persecution, by visiting bmsworldmission.org/sharethelight “If Share the Light was ever important in India, it is now,” says Ben.

A NEW PARTNERSHIP FOR CROSS-CULTURAL TRAINING

BMS announces a new partnership for training at the International Mission Centre (IMC).

BMS and Redcliffe College have announced an exciting training partnership to deliver the EQUIP for Mission programme from IMC in Birmingham.

Designed in consultation with several mission agencies and churches, this nine-month programme training Christians engaged in cross-cultural ministry was launched by Redcliffe last year, and this September it integrates with the highly successful IMC training course for mission workers.

UK

SUMMER 2015 | ENGAGE

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MISSION NEWS

/news

BMS NEWS IN BRIEF MARRIED:

Annet Ttendo to Damien Miller (Mozambique) 25 April 2015

FLYING OUT THIS SUMMER:

To Bangladesh: Cassandra and Luiz Marques, with Ulisses and Elena To Chad: Claire Bedford To Guinea: Lynne and Sitongua Laussu To India: Caroline and Stephen Diamond, with Lucy, Katherine and Lily To Nepal: Lindsay and Owen Davies, with Iona

GOODBYES:

(JAN TO JUNE 2015)

From Brazil: Mark and Suzana Greenwood, with Edward and Ana From Peru: Anjanette and Scott Williamson, with Jess and Sam From Uganda: Bethan and Gareth Shrubsole, with Samuel and Jonah From the UK: Lucy Vallance, PA to the General Director From the UK: Mary Hopper, Mission Personnel Co-ordinator

CHAD

A LITTLE MIRACLE IN CHAD From almost dead to very much alive ‒ a Chadian five-year-old has a future thanks to a BMS World Mission nurse.

When five-year-old Yousef arrived at Guinebor II Hospital (G2) in Chad he weighed just 6kg. He was a bag of bones.

Severely malnourished, Yousef hadn’t walked for two years; he was so weak he couldn’t even sit up. Listless and seemingly disconnected from everything around him, Yousef was dangerously close to death.

Seven weeks later, everything has changed. Yousef has been receiving malnutrition treatment and has begun to put on weight. And, thanks to the work of BMS nurse Rebecca North and the team at G2, Yousef can now walk with a frame.

“I had not quite let myself believe that Yousef would one day walk again,” says Rebecca. “It just seemed too fantastical, having seen where he had come from. He is an example of the people who come to us who will not live if they don’t get the care and the treatment that we offer. That’s why we’re here.”

CHRISTIAN BUSINESS FIGHTS

Credit: Calvina photography

PROSTITUTION IN KOLKATA Freeset is in the process of buying a building that has the potential to transform Kolkata’s most infamous red light district.

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More than 10,000 women currently work in the sex trade in Sonagacchi, Kolkata. Many of them were trafficked into prostitution.

Freeset, a BMS partner, now has the opportunity to buy a huge building right at the front door of the red light district. The new space will give Freeset the opportunity to employ more women in their bag and t-shirt business, and will house other new businesses that can free women from sexual slavery.

“The Gateway building is really exciting,” says Kerry Hilton, founder of Freeset. “We don’t want [it] to be turned into more brothels, where they could probably have 1,000 women working. We’re keen to turn that right around and say instead of more women, more opportunities for the kind of jobs that set women free.” [Christian Today] Could you become a 24:7 Justice Partner? bmsworldmission.org/justicepartners

NEPAL

HELPING NEPAL’S EARTHQUAKE SURVIVORS DISCRIMINATION AGAINST

CHRISTIANS ‘IGNORED’

The Council of Europe warns that Christians are subject to ‘intolerance and discrimination’ across the continent.

In the wake of a string of cases involving the rights of British workers to discuss their beliefs or wear crosses, the Parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe has said that discrimination against Christians is being ignored.

“Numerous acts of hostility, violence and vandalism have been recorded in recent years against Christians and their places of worship, but these acts are often overlooked by the national authorities,” states the Council’s formal declaration. [The Telegraph]

EUROPE

The injured and traumatised from Nepal’s earthquakes get emergency assistance from BMS World Mission.

BMS has quickly responded to the aftermath of two major earthquakes in Nepal that have claimed over 8,500 lives.

Within hours of the first tragedy, BMS supporters were donating to our Nepal earthquake appeal, with thousands of pounds being sent in. Soon afterwards, BMS sent three grants totalling £26,000 to our partners in Nepal to provide medical relief and emergency relief items like tents, food and hygiene packs for those desperately in need.

Many of the 21 BMS mission workers based in Nepal have been helping with the emergency effort. Over 4,000 of the injured were treated, the day after the first earthquake struck, by BMS doctor Katrina Butterworth and staff at Patan Hospital in Kathmandu. Jerry Clewett co-ordinated some of the relief effort through BMS partner United Mission to Nepal, with assistance from Martin Butterworth. Jenny Saunders was part of a team providing trauma counselling to help survivors overcome some of the horrific experiences they had been through.

Cynthia Chadwell, a BMS teacher trainer with the Early Childhood Education Centre has, with other trainers, been helping children to work through their trauma, while her husband Ian Chadwell, who works in hospital and medical co-ordination with BMS partner the International Nepal Fellowship, has been working on both short and long-term relief plans.

These are just some of the ways BMS mission workers in Nepal have been helping and continue to help individuals and communities following the devastating quakes.

SUMMER 2015 | ENGAGE

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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.

Dear Editor, I read the item Should Christians be pro-immigration? [Spring 2015]. There is concern that by taking doctors and nurses away from their own countries to work in the NHS we may be depriving countries who have a greater need for medical staff than the United Kingdom does. Many feel that not enough effort is put into training the over one million unemployed to learn the skills to enable them to do these jobs, as the British authorities may just find it easier to import labour. The Bible tells us to be kind and compassionate – but also to be wise.

Another concern is that because of Britain’s lax border controls, illegal immigrants are entering the UK ahead of people who have gone through the correct procedures and have a right to come to the United Kingdom. We also allow criminals to enter who have committed very serious crimes back in their own country, including rape and murder – yet surely we must try to ensure

Dear Sir, The article on sharing our faith with Muslims [Spring 2015] was excellent, and not just as a guide to sharing our faith with Muslims.

that we allow in people who would be good law-abiding citizens, who would not be a risk to the indigenous population.

The Bible says we have a duty to protect the weak and vulnerable, such as elderly people. Our roads, schools, hospitals and infrastructure are struggling to cope with a very large population increase, which means that in the future we may have trouble helping anybody.

Justice and fairness has to be at the heart of our immigration policy.

A. Wills

Most of what was said – getting to know Muslims, sharing our lives, respecting them, loving them – is a template for sharing our faith with anyone of any faith or none. The only thing I would have added is wishing them well when Muslims are celebrating a festival – a card, if possible, or just a word.

Too often Christians give the impression that we think that people are deliberately not being Christians in order to annoy God, even though consciously we know this is untrue, and this was a superb correction to that.

So, thank you for an excellent article, and an encouragement to those of us who have Muslim friends and neighbours to keep on having relationships, sharing our faith, often in small ways, and not being discouraged.

Frances Taylor

We do not have space to include all readers’ correspondence that we receive and letters that are printed may be edited for publication.

More letters are online at bmsworldmission.org/engage

Now is the time to take a stand Sign the Dignity Church Charter as a fellowship Become a 24:7 Justice Partner as an individual at bmsworldmission.org/justicepartners Download the full range of pastoral resources at bmsworldmission.org/dignity

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KEEP

Fiona Castle

ENGAGED

Speaker and writer

Find us on facebook

BE FRUITFUL!

BMS World Mission

KINDNESS IS NOT JUST FOR LENT.

Mark and Suzana Greenwood spent two decades serving with BMS in Brazil.

And they did so much good work.

See the highlights and some photos of the family through the years here: http://bit.ly/19ghgKD And encourage the Greenwoods by liking and commenting on this post!

Like · Comment · Share 88 people like this

David Baker God bless you as you resettle in the UK. Matthew Nott Well done good and faithful servants of God, BMS and South America. Praying for you as you resettle.

Ruth Elizabeth Hogan Wow! Great work and was a privilege to be on an AT placement with you 10 years ago!

BMS World Mission What’s it like to live at BMS’ International Mission Centre?

Mission trainee Claire Bedford gives ten insights into living and studying at IMC in her latest blog post http://bit.ly/1w2tJeO Like · Comment · Share 26 people like this

Carolyn Schofield What a lovely description of communal living! Our church has recently decided to support Claire as a BMS World Mission church partner, and her bubbly personality shines through everything she writes.

Malcolm Edge Excellent blog

YOUR TWEETS Trevor Neill @TrevorNeill1

As ever, @BMSWorldMission Catalyst doesn’t disappoint. Really helpful reflections on communion in local church, such a valuable resource

Richard Webb @RevRichWebb

Excited to be @BMSWorldMission Council hearing about all that God is doing worldwide.

E

arlier this year, people were challenged to do ‘40 Acts’ of kindness; one each day during Lent. It really challenged me to see if I could do just that!

However, I realised that kindness is only one flavour of the fruit of the Spirit. There is also love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

As an apple has many colours and flavours – red, green, sharp, sweet, soft, etc, so it is with the fruit of the Spirit – many beautiful qualities of the one gift of the Holy Spirit living within us.

If I was struggling to focus on just one of the results of the Holy Spirit in my life, what about all the others?

Does the nourishment JESUS CALLS of the Spirit US TO BE SALT produce patience AND LIGHT and goodness in me from day to TO THOSE day? And not just AROUND US. for forty days, but every day.

How do I respond when people irritate me or fail me? Are the people in my area of influence helped by the way I behave?

Jesus calls us to be salt and light to those around us, whether we work among the poorest in far-flung places, or at the checkout at the local supermarket, we are all missionaries to those who do not yet know the love of Jesus.

We might be successful in doing kindnesses for forty days, just as we can survive when we abstain from eating chocolate in Lent, but the fruit of the Spirit is for life. Maybe we can make a start today, to apply Paul’s commendations to the Galatians (chapter 5) to see if it can change our attitudes to our circumstances every day.

Francis of Assisi got it right, when he said, “Preach the Gospel with all of your lives and, if necessary, with words.”

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

Keep engaged at facebook.com/bmsworldmission twitter.com/bmsworldmission and @bmsworldmission SUMMER 2015 | ENGAGE

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24 hours in…

BEIRA

IF YOU VISITED THE SECOND LARGEST CITY IN MOZAMBIQUE, THIS IS WHERE THE BMS WORLD MISSION TEAM BASED THERE WOULD TAKE YOU. BEIRA CATHEDRAL A short walk from AMAC is the beautiful Beira Cathedral.

It was built in the early 1900s from the stones of San Caetano Fort.

LUNAMAR Stop for some delicious international food and then cool off with ice cream at Lunamar, a chic restaurant where patrons can enjoy plush seating and friendly service.

CAPULANA SHOPPING One of the first things you might notice is that most Mozambican women are wearing long, beautifully patterned skirts. These are called capulanas and are the traditional attire of the country. Wearing one is optional in the downtown area, but strongly encouraged outside of the city. Every shop and stall has hundreds of capulanas, so trying to choose the right one can be overwhelming.

ASSOCIATION OF MOZAMBICAN CHRISTIAN ADVOCATES (AMAC) The AMAC office isn’t the most glamourous building, but it is where those who need legal help can get it from BMS lawyers Annet Ttendo, Damien Miller, Isaque Bonga, Kathy Russell and others, for free.

AMAC goes above and beyond the call to treat its clients with care and understanding while advocating for their rights both in and out of court.

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FAROL DO MACUTI LIGHTHOUSE Walk off your lunch with a trip to the beach where the decommissioned Macuti Lighthouse towers over a beautiful stretch of sand.

Although no one can enter the lighthouse, it’s still a great place to relax and watch the ghost crabs scurry about.

PRESCHOOL EDUCATION PROGRAMME (PEPE) Visit PEPE Pequeninos da Paz with BMS’ Liz Vilela, who trains PEPE teachers in areas like nutrition, child protection and more. Here, three and four-yearolds learn the basics of reading and writing, good hygiene and about Jesus’ love.

Support our BMS mission workers in Mozambique by signing up to become a 24:7 Partner:

bmsworldmission.org/partners

LEGAL WORK the future of mission?

HOW CHRISTIANS ARE HELPING TO BRING JUSTICE OF ALL KINDS TO THE PEOPLE WHO NEED IT. Angella nearly lost 18,000 Mozambican meticals (approximately ÂŁ360), money that it took her years to save, when she tried to buy a piece of land. The original owner refused to give her the legal documents despite multiple requests for them. Eventually, she asked for her money back but he refused. Angella had no idea what her rights were or what to do, so she decided to drop the case and move on.

Thankfully, someone told her about a group of lawyers who help people for free. Through this group, mediation was undertaken and now the man who tried to cheat Angella is returning the money in instalments.

This would never have happened if she hadn’t heard about the Association of Mozambican Christian Lawyers (AMAC) operating out of an old church in Beira and set up by BMS World Mission.

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Angella’s story is not unique. Thousands of people all over the world are in similar situations – needing legal advice, advocacy, support – but cannot afford lawyers. Only those who can pay expensive fees benefit from the unjust system. Worse still, many people have no idea that there are laws in place to protect them. So who is responsible for righting this wrong and restoring balance to systems that are so heavily weighted against the poor and marginalised?

And what role should mission play? The Bible is full of verses calling Christians to help those around them.

To follow this call, should mission agencies and other charities be more focused on providing legal work?

KNOWING YOUR RIGHTS

Knowledge is power and that is certainly true when it comes to understanding your legal rights. In Mozambique, members of AMAC travel around the country to educate communities about the laws that govern their lives. “Educating people in their freedoms is absolutely fundamental to development,” says BMS legal worker in Mozambique, Damien Miller.

This knowledge serves as a source of empowerment and a stabiliser for a community, especially for those who fall along the margins of society.

Widows and orphans are some of the most vulnerable people in Mozambique. Once a husband or father dies, a male relative of his will often claim the land and force its former, rightful occupants off, leaving them few or no options. If victims of land grabs knew their rights and where they could go for help, not only would they be equipped to deal with this traumatic event but it probably would not happen at all. “Understanding the boundaries that the law sets within itself provides a freedom for the community to flourish,” says Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship and former BMS lawyer Mark Barrell.

In some places, once people become aware of their rights they develop a hunger to know more. Damien witnessed this in a church whose congregation was predominantly middle class. They were aware that their community had needs and Damien’s seminar provided the group with ways to address them. This village also became aware that there were lawyers, not too far away, who could provide advocacy in court, help with mediations and who were willing to handle smaller cases – family law, inheritance, land rights – without expecting a large payment. The way they see lawyers is beginning to change and AMAC’s free services may, as a consequence, become a very important influence.

Sadly, a thirst for knowledge of legal issues is not always how the training is received. In rural areas there is more resistance because villagers cannot see why legal education is needed. A village elder telling you to leave your land so that his family can move in (or pay him a large sum of money to stay), is a normal, accepted part of life. “Often, the frustration is that the people who need the information and assistance we’re providing the most are those that we need to be the most patient and persistent with,” says Damien.

In northern Uganda, the Ugandan Christian Lawyers Fraternity (UCLF) does similar education work in Gulu District. Many of the issues are the same: widows forced off land once their husbands die, inheritance rights and land disputes. After each seminar, there is one reaction that they get again and again. “Usually they are shocked because they never knew they had rights,” says BMS and UCLF lawyer Linda Darby. “Some women believed that they needed to bear a lot of boys so that they could stay on the land. They never knew girls could inherit.”

Knowledge really is power. And in this case it is providing the poor and voiceless with the strength they need to make themselves heard. “I think what’s specific about justice work, particularly access to justice work, is that it provides people with a voice,” says BMS Manager for Mission Projects Steve Sanderson.

“Justice work provides people with a voice”

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ACCESS AND IMPLEMENTATION

Telling people that they have rights is only half the battle. Making affordable legal services available is another challenge altogether. AMAC and UCLF are remarkable because everything they do for their clients is either free or at an affordable price. The highly educated lawyers working there could make a lot more money at other firms, but the desire to reconcile their professional lives with their faith steered them down a less financially profitable, but more spiritually fulfilling, path.

Legal systems are complex mazes for the average person. In Uganda and Mozambique, the poor struggle to find lawyers willing to help them at an affordable rate. This leads to regular people, with little to no understanding of the law and complicated court proceedings, trying to represent themselves. An imbalance of power is created. “If you’re living in a system where the law is dealt with arbitrarily and nobody understands or has access to the law, then those with greater power are more likely to abuse it,” says Mark Barrell. “The poor are left to the side and those with money, power and resources utilise that advantage.”

When such advantages are only reachable by the privileged few, justice cannot be served.

“Isaiah 1: 17 describes the kind of justice that God is expecting from us,” says BMS lawyer with AMAC, Annet Ttendo. “It says to speak up and judge fairly, defend the rights of the poor, defend the rights of the widows, the orphans and the oppressed.” This verse is the definition of biblical justice, the theology AMAC uses alongside the law as a guiding principle for all of its lawyers.

But that vision is hard to make a reality. AMAC and UCLF have worked hard to change the negative perceptions of lawyers and restore the balance of power in their societies. “Where you have imbalances of power you also have exploitation,” says Steve Sanderson. “And you also have, at a fundamental level, something which is not just abhorrent to God’s desire for his people and his creation, but a context which just doesn’t work.”

This is where biblical justice and mission can have the greatest impact.

Combining legal work with mission provides an opportunity to see a more transcendent form of law take hold. But one is not complete without the other.

From Mozambique to the UK, a holistic approach, where all areas of the human experience are cared for equally, is believed to be the way forward. Evangelism,

education and health ministries are important, and have been the main focus of mission in the past, but God’s ideal for his children is arguably unreachable without justice mission.

“To me it would be offensive to say that a certain person or a community have become Christians and therefore our mission work is done, while leaving them in a situation where their physical experience of living is blighted because of the injustices that the world has created,” says BMS General Director David Kerrigan.

Mission is more than telling people about Jesus.

By answering the call to serve others both overseas and at home, we can help more people live in dignity. BMS has joined the action/2015 campaign which seeks to promote the aspect of the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals which aims to make sure that everyone has access to justice and that there are effective, accountable and inclusive legal institutions at all levels.* Building a well for the thirsty is important; but if they are ignorant of the laws protecting their right to the land or have no one to fight in their corner if someone tries to take it away, they remain thirsty and progress is reversed. “This, for me, is simply a reflection of Jesus, who addressed the spiritual, physical and the societal influences that hampered people from experiencing life in all its wholeness,” says David. “That’s what we’re trying to do, simply emulate the mission of Christ.”

Legal work is clearly making a huge missional impact in some countries. But will it turn out as important to the future of mission as health and education work has been in the past? The jury, for the moment at least, is still out.

“They are shocked because they never knew they had rights”

Words: Vickey Casey

“Some women believed that they needed to bear a lot of boys so that they could stay on the land.

They never knew girls could inherit.”

*You can find out more about the Sustainable Development Goals, which have replaced the Millennium Development Goals at sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgsproposal SUMMER 2015 | ENGAGE

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Cracks in the darkness:

fractured spines and healing scars in Nepal

The tragic earthquake in Nepal will lead to an increased need for spinal rehabilitation like that provided at a BMS-supported clinic in Surkhet. Sarah Stone went there to meet some of the world’s most courageous people.

T

he dark scar runs across her wrist. About three inches, pointing towards her index finger from her forearm. She’s sitting at the table by the window, looking intently at something. The sun illuminates her in the otherwise shadowy room.

Set on the table in front of her is a board with many small pegs. Her right hand shakes as she attempts to unclip one and move it.

She’s so close, it seems certain that she has it, but then her hand fails to do what her mind is willing it to. It’s agonising to watch.

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Dhan Kumari Chaudary lost an arm to electricity

“Dhan was electrocuted” I ask what happened to her, and she drops the beautiful red and blue shawl that has been covering her upper body.

Then I see. Dhan Kumari Chaudary only has one arm. The left is a stump, cut-off well above her elbow.

As I catch my breath I realise that, for the patients at Surkhet clinic in Nepal, life is inexpressibly complex. For the past eight years, BMS World Mission’s occupational therapist, Megan Barker, has been running the spinal rehabilitation work here. The four days I spend with her, her team, and her remarkable patients are ones that will stay with me for a lifetime.

Dhan was electrocuted. She was on a roof doing building work when it happened, getting paid probably £2 a day. Somehow she lost her footing and was about to fall off. In a panic, she thrust out her arm for something secure to hold onto. Like anyone would. Her left hand found the exposed power lines strung above her head.

In a moment, Dhan lost the use of two good arms.

Falling from roofs is a common cause of spinal injuries in Nepal, Megan tells me.

Another is landslides, all too frequent in a country prone to natural disasters. The most common reason people turn to the clinic, however, is falling from trees.

On the three-hour drive from Nepalgunj airport to the clinic, where I’ll be part of a BMS film crew, I am acutely aware of just how easy it would be to fall. We quickly veer off a main road and onto the tracks circling the mountains. Our driver hoots and flashes

Surya Bucchamagar was paralysed after falling from a tree

“He’s 34 and was paralysed 13 years ago when he fell from a tree. He had a one-year-old baby and a second on the way”

his lights at every corner, but it’s not easy to prepare for an oncoming vehicle on the narrow, winding roads. At times, it feels like we are dangerously close to plunging off the edge.

I know that one of the men I am going to meet was a truck driver before he plummeted down the side a mountain like the one I am travelling on. As we pass a truck (a little too close, a little too fast), I wonder how it must have felt to fall and know that there was no one to catch you. How it must have felt not even to know if you would still be there when you hit the ground.

Everything is green. The hills in the distance, the sheer drop to my left – it’s beautiful. We occasionally pass what look like huge bundles of moving hay, and when I look back I see women under the minor mountains of yellow, carrying their harvest.

Megan and the team at Surkhet clinic who are transforming lives

Surkhet clinic is set at the top of a steep, dusty hill. It caters to all the Midwest region of Nepal, the poorest part of one of the poorest countries in the world. The clinic is a haven – whitewashed buildings, green open space, smiling staff in crisp uniforms. It’s run by BMS partner the International Nepal Fellowship and it started out working with leprosy patients.

That work continues but, since Megan joined the team, long-term rehabilitation for spinal cord injury and stroke patients is also a major part of the clinic’s work.

It’s helping patients like Surya Bucchamagar. I see Surya lying on his side in one of the inpatient dorms, beige baseball cap firmly fixed on his head, a smile on his face. He’s 34, and was paralysed from the waist down 13 years ago when he fell from a tree while collecting fodder for his animals.

At the time he had a one-year-old baby and

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Abisek and his dad Anipal Lohar.

Anipal had to be carried for two days to get to the clinic

a second on the way. Life has been incredibly difficult.

Surya recently came to the clinic because he had developed a very severe bed sore on his back. It turned out he also had five massive bladder stones and, if he hadn’t come when he did, his bladder would have burst.

Sat on the bed across the room from Surya is Anipal Lohar, a 41-year-old man who is forever etched in my memory for his quiet dignity and his silver-buttoned blazer. He is wearing his smart jacket every time I see him – sat on his bed, outside with the other patients eating breakfast, pedalling on the exercise bike in the rehabilitation room where I meet Dhan. Always smart and straight-backed. He looks steadily into the camera as Megan describes his condition to me in English. He is the first patient to come to the clinic with motor neurone disease (MND), an illness which has recently come to the fore in the UK with the ice bucket challenge going viral and the release of the Oscar-winning film The Theory of Everything which tells the story of MND sufferer Stephen Hawking. No-one is going to make a movie about Anipal, but his story is worthy of one.

Three years ago, Anipal began losing the strength in his legs. His 18-year-old son, Abisek, carried him much of the way to the clinic two months ago, seeking help. Their home is a two-day walk and a ten-hour bus ride away.

An advanced maths book lies on the bed by Anipal. It’s Abisek’s – he is studying it while he stays at the clinic to take care of his dad. The pair look alike. Both tall, similar features. It’s hard to think that the awful weakness Anipal feels in his legs now may one day become so much more severe, affecting everything.

Looking at this man – collected, patient, kind – and at his devoted son, I wonder how Megan can do it. How she can keep going and pushing and encouraging her patients to become as active as they can, as independent 14

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“They have to go back into a world that blames them for their disability”

Megan and Sukma, a patient who is recovering from a stroke

as possible, in the face of such suffering. When their lives are never going to be easy; when they have to go back into a world that believes they are to be blamed for their disability, a world that tells them their life is over.

But as she chats to her patients, I see how she lights up. It’s where she belongs. She and Alan, her husband, have given up their lives in the UK to come and serve these people, and the difference they are making is immense. Alan, doing the work behind the scenes to make the occupational therapy possible, and Megan in the wards, training up the staff, working with the patients. They are bringing hope to people who were told, again and again, that they were hopeless.

“I’ve seen people with a profound determination”

Sometimes hope doesn’t look like much. Sometimes it looks like clipping and unclipping a few pegs. But in a small clinic in Surkhet, I can feel it. Hope is alive.

It is teaching muscles people long ago gave up on to work again. It is building strength. And it is undeniably transforming lives.

Dhan is relearning to use her hand. Surya has been spared the further trauma of a burst bladder.

Anipal can walk much better with crutches now than he could before. And other patients leave the clinic unrecognisable – walking when other doctors told them it was impossible.

In the short moments I’ve spent with these patients and their families, I’ve seen something so powerful. I’ve seen people unwilling to be written off. People with a profound determination and a thankfulness that I can’t even begin to comprehend. Thankfulness that life is just a little less hopeless than it was before.

I ask Megan what the patients say to her about their experience of the clinic: “Most of them say, ‘coming here takes us from darkness to light,’” she answers. And as Dhan reaches out again and finally grasps one of the little pegs in front of her, still lit by the bright sunshine through the window, it’s clear – this clinic is a place where the darkness of despair can’t linger for long.

Words: Sarah Stone

Helping after the quake Thank you to all those who have given to the BMS Nepal earthquake appeal, which has provided essential relief following the disaster.

Help support long-term rehabilitation in Nepal with My Father’s House, a new resource for your church all about Megan’s work. My Father’s House focuses on Ramu, the man mentioned earlier who had a truck accident, and it is told by his ten-year-old daughter, Diya.

Let Diya tell you her story, and be inspired by amazing work and a remarkable family by ordering your copy of the DVD today.

Visit bmsworldmisison.org/myfathershouse Thank you.

SUMMER 2015 | ENGAGE

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Figures taken from Master list of BMS missionaries 1792 to present.

TOP TEN:

BMS MISSION LOCATIONS

FROM 1792 TO THE PRESENT DAY, WHICH COUNTRIES HAS BMS WORLD MISSION SENT THE MOST MISSION WORKERS TO? SOME COUNTRIES MAY SURPRISE YOU.

10 ANGOLA

9TRINIDAD

42 MISSION WORKERS

50 MISSION WORKERS

BMS first became involved in northern Angola in 1879. In 1899, missionary Sidney Bowskill unwittingly got involved in a serious uprising against Portugal and was consequently arrested and imprisoned. This led to questions being asked in Parliament and BMS becoming embroiled in a public controversy with Portugal over Angolan affairs. Fiona Welsh was the last mission worker based there, leaving in 2012.

George Cowen was the first missionary on this Caribbean island in 1843. There was a BMS presence there until 1892 and then again from 1946 to 1992.

BANGLADESH/ EAST PAKISTAN

121 MISSION WORKERS

8SRI LANKA 103 MISSION WORKERS Sri Lanka is one of BMS’ oldest mission locations, with our first mission worker (James Chater) arriving on the island in 1812. Roshan Mendis, BMS Regional Team Leader for South and Central Asia, is based there.

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BMS involvement in what is now Bangladesh began in 1793 with William Carey.

There was a significant presence of women missionaries from the 1980s including Christine Preston and Jacqui Wells. Today, we have a growing team that include Andrew and Gwen Millns and Gemma Leadley.

JAMAICA

6BRAZIL

137 MISSION WORKERS

122 MISSION WORKERS From 1953, BMS mission workers were involved in church planting, leadership training, theological teaching, creating PEPEs, rural development and social action across Brazil. Mark and Suzana Greenwood were the last to leave in 2014 after 22 years of service.

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The first BMS workers arrived on the island in 1814. William Knibb is possibly the most famous of our mission workers to go there, well-known for his stand against the slave trade. Although we have no workers there now, we have strong relations with the Jamaica Baptist Union and a BMS Action Team was there earlier this year.

4NEPAL

3CHINA

141 MISSION WORKERS

349 MISSION WORKERS

Until the 1950s, Nepal was a closed Hindu kingdom with no mission agencies allowed. The country then opened up and, since 1962, we have had over 140 mission workers serving with excellent partner organisations including the United Mission to Nepal, the International Nepal Fellowship and Nepal Baptist Church Council.

BMS workers went to China in 1860 and were involved in education and medical work as well as church planting.

Timothy Richard was hugely influential, both as a missionary and moderniser of China. With increasing pressures from the government, all BMS workers had left China by the end of 1952. Sixty years later, BMS returned to China. David and Jenny Mewes have been teaching English at a nursing vocational college since 2012.

2D R CONGO/ZAIRE

INDIA 1251 MISSION WORKERS

452 MISSION WORKERS BMS was involved in church planting, medical and educational work in D R Congo from the early 1870s. BMS mission workers who served there included Thomas Lewis, Andrew North and Lyn Lusi. George Grenfell established a chain of missions, as well as being an extremely important explorer of little-known rivers of the Congo basin.

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India is a special place to BMS, so this should come as no surprise. Since Dr John Thomas went there in 1793, we have sent over 1,200 mission workers including the ‘father of modern mission’ William Carey, Bible translator Joshua Marshman and William Ward, who together formed the Serampore College in Kolkata. Today our work there is headed up by Benjamin Francis.

SUMMER 2015 | ENGAGE

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BMS WORKER PROFILE Steve Sanderson

THE DAY I ENCOUNTERED A

GENOCIDE What Steve Sanderson saw in Rwanda in 2000, stirred strong emotions in him and led to his work at BMS World Mission.

Exhumed bones and skulls from genocide site at Murambi Technical School in Rwanda.

Above, some of the victims’ clothes.

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I

t was really my experiences in Rwanda that made me want to work for BMS in Uganda.

I used to work for the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship, who BMS still partners with at various levels. I played a role in some peace and reconciliation projects across East Africa and would take teams of young lawyers and law students to these projects so they could engage with the reality of doing justice and thinking justly.

We started to go to Rwanda in the late 90s. At that time, the powers that be were talking about a transitional justice process and were asking questions like how do we prevent the horror of what happened in the 1994 genocide from happening again? How do we keep this alive in the minds of everyone, enabling justice reconciliation and healing, while not glossing over the brutal realities of what happened?

There were sites across Rwanda where there were moments of frenzied killing that were orchestrated, where large numbers of people were systematically executed.

We went to one site at a school in south west Rwanda where the UN had recently exhumed a number of bodies from a mass grave. Tutsis had been crowded into the school and had been told they would be kept there for safe keeping. But the local authorities who told them to go there also contacted the Interahamwe (Hutu militia), who

My lingering memory was the horrible sickly smell of bodies

Above, skulls from another atrocity at Nyamata Church where Steve met Pastor Anistas (right).

came with rifles, grenades and machetes and systematically slaughtered over 45,000 people. They then dug a big hole and bulldozed all the bodies into it, threw a load of lime on top to stop the smell and therefore hopefully cover their tracks, covered over the top and off they went.

There was one remarkable chap who I met, Emmanuel, who had been shot in the head (he still had a hole in his forehead when we met him) and left for dead. He had revived through the night, found his way through the bush and escaped to D R Congo. After the war had finished, he made something of a partial recovery and came back to alert the authorities to what had happened and where the bodies had ended up.

Emmanuel gained employment at the school as a groundsman. His driving motivation was that he wanted people to know that in this small, rural, forgotten corner of Rwanda the most appalling crime had happened. I think he had lost 14 family members that day. You could see that every time somebody came to the school and he had to talk about it, he was reliving the most horrific scene in his mind.

We were there when the bodies had recently been pulled out. It was pretty horrible, walking through and seeing babies’ cracked skulls, because rather than waste bullets, the Interahamwe had simply picked them up by the legs and smacked their heads against the wall. My lingering memory was the smell – the horrible, sickly sweet smell of bodies decomposing in the African sun.

We travelled from there to have some lunch with the Burgermeister, the local civil official. They had arrested many of the local youths who were associated with participation with the Interahamwe in that area. Whilst being held on remand, they were released to do some work within this compound where the Burgermeister lived. They were all forced to wear pink pyjamas to identify them as remandees.

It was a very stark contrast going from seeing room after room after room of horribly mutilated women and children through to sitting and having a cup of tea and sandwiches with these guys in their pink uniforms being held on suspicion (though innocent until proven guilty) of having committed the atrocity we had just seen.

They were laughing, they were singing songs as they were working. I didn’t sense any great remorse.

It generated some horribly dark thoughts – frankly, at the time, I wanted to pick up an AK47 and shoot them.

Readdressing this wrong was not my responsibility, but at that moment I definitely understood why people resort to

vengeance, why people take up arms in response to such appalling injustice.

Growing up in Northern Ireland has probably helped with understanding where that sense of ethnic, religious and racial animosity comes from. In turn, over time, I worked out the reality that God is a just God and what justice means, both in terms of the need for a context where law and order, civil society and human rights are the norm, where wrong-doers are held to account and where truth is brought to bear.

Because God cares passionately about addressing injustice, he calls us to identify with him by exercising a similar passion.

I suppose for me (and for my wife in due course) the experience in Rwanda inspired our desire to do justice mission, because there was that sense that we were too late to do anything about Rwanda.

When we did go overseas with BMS, there was a war going on in northern Uganda. Consequently, there were human rights abuses happening and we felt that we needed to go there. I had an interesting chat with former Regional Team Leader for Africa, Andrew North and that was how we got involved with BMS!

The experience in Rwanda inspired our desire to do justice mission My lingering thought is not one of justice or vengeance, but of the power of the Holy Spirit, who is someone who both comforts and restores. The most powerful experience in Rwanda was meeting people who had watched their families being butchered and had reached a point of grace and forgiveness, whereby they could look the perpetrators in the eyes and forgive them, embrace them and call them brother. It was really the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit within their hearts. I would love to be at a point of grace to do that, I really would.

Steve and Caroline Sanderson were BMS lawyers in northern Uganda from 2008 to 2011.

Steve is now Manager for Mission Projects at BMS.

Steve Sanderson was talking to Chris Hall

SUMMER 2015 | ENGAGE

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Q&A

THE BIG INTERVIEW EVANGELIST, AUTHOR AND TELEVISION PRESENTER CANON J JOHN TALKS TO BMS ABOUT PREACHING, EVANGELISM AND CHRISTIAN TV.

J JOHN

Canon J John has preached the gospel to packed audiences in 69 countries and is best-known for his book on the Ten Commandments just10.

He now presents Praise the Lord UK on new Christian TV channel TBN UK.

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Q A

You became a Christian in February 1975 – that’s 40 years ago. Did you mark it this year in any way?

I did actually. I phoned my friend, Andy Economides, to thank him for telling me about Jesus. If he hadn’t told me, I don’t know what I would be doing now – probably running a Greek restaurant in London!

You once spoke at 32 carol services in a month. How did you keep that energy and passion up? A lot of people would get exhausted.

It’s a cycle. If your output exceeds your input, then your upkeep will be your downfall. I think we are all in danger of having too many irons in the fire. If we do, we will put the fire out. December is the best month to evangelise because people are the most receptive and the most responsive. But if you look at my November diary, it looks like I’m totally retired. Because I know my output in December is going to be of major significance, I don’t do much in November.

Do you have as much passion today to reach people with the gospel as you did when you started out as an evangelist?

I’m more passionate today. I was passionate then, but I’m more passionate now. I have been going up and down Britain for 35 years and I am really expectant. I feel it is more fertile and there is a sense of anticipation and expectation that maybe we’re moving towards a spiritual awakening.

You recently said that we may be entering a period of persecution as well. Are they linked then?

I think they are. Whenever there has been a revival of any kind, it’s normally that things are bad and then God breaks through. There certainly is a lot of persecution of Christians, I think there is a bias against Christians. And yet – for example my just10 mission – I’ve done it 36 times and attendance has exceeded one million. Not bad, is it? It is pretty encouraging!

Christian TV does not always have a great reputation. Do you think TBN UK is any different?

Yes. When people say Christian TV, they often think American TV. Culturally we are different to America. The problem that TBN UK has initially is that OFCOM demands that you put on 24 hours of TV, 365 days a year. In the first year they will have to draw on some things from the bank that may not be the ideal programming for a UK audience. But hopefully, within two or years, all the programmes will be far THE SAME three more suitable.

POWER THAT RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD LIVES IN HIS FOLLOWERS

If persecution comes, that could lead to some Christians becoming more reticent about sharing their faith. How can they overcome this?

The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in his followers. You think, come on! If that same power to raise Jesus from the dead lives in me, it ought to make a difference. A lighthouse doesn’t make any noise, but you can see it. Whether they hear it verbally or see it visually, they should be able to see it or hear it. That is the challenge really for us Christians and the Church.

You’ve had this series on UCB TV, Facing the Canon where you interview well-known Christians.

That is not evangelism – what inspired you to do that?

Well, it’s kind of indirect evangelism. I like it where it says in John 4 about the Samaritan woman: “They believed because of the woman’s testimony.” I think there is great power in story and people’s journeys.

You are now presenting Praise the Lord UK on TBN UK. Is that similar?

TBN invited me to do a monthly programme, a bit like the legendary Michael Parkinson and so we thought this was an open door – let’s give it a go. I’ve made a commitment to do it for one year and will see what happens. But already, having only done one programme, where I interviewed Canon Andrew White, Vicar of Baghdad – the response has been quite phenomenal. We can potentially reach people in their homes with fascinating, interesting Christians telling their stories. I think that’s great.

With new ways of sharing the gospel, do you think that preaching is still the best way of getting the gospel message across?

I do. Evangelism appears to have become a process and we’ve lost the crisis. Most churches would say that “you have to do a course”, and that’s all they seem to do – run a course. So if you don’t go on the course, how else are you going to hear about it? You may hear about it in conversation, but we have lost the crisis opportunities.

Years ago, most churches in Britain would have a guest service. Now very few churches would do that. There are not many places for people to hear the gospel.

But haven’t people lost confidence in the guest service? Isn’t inviting friends to go to a meal or something non-threatening an easier way of doing it?

Possibly. Most Christians seem to have taken literally what Jesus said to three disciples: “See that you tell no one.” We are not intentional as Christians in cultivating the web of relationships that we’ve already got.

So whether it is an inquirer’s course, whether it’s a carol service, whether it is some other event, the principle is exactly the same: people are going to get there because they’ve been invited. All I can say is, in these last ten years, in most places, we have had to have the largest auditoriums to accommodate the people. So what’s that about? People are coming, people are hearing preaching, people are responding – thousands are responding in our meetings. There is something happening and I do think we need more preachers and more evangelists.

J John was talking to Chris Hall

J John presents Praise the Lord UK on TBN UK (Freeview channel 65).

See tbn.org.uk for times.

SUMMER 2015 | ENGAGE

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OVERSEAS PARTNER

Dil Bahadur Chhetri

A PASSION FOR TEACHING A NEPALI TEACHER IS DRIVEN TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION IN HIS COUNTRY.

D

il Bahadur Chhetri is a man on a mission. He wants education to improve in Nepal and is doing something to achieve it.

He knows what it is like to receive a good education. “My schooling in Bhutan and India was way better than the schools in Nepal,” he says. Now he wants children in Nepal to get as good an education as he did.

So how can Nepali schools improve?

“One of the major problems is teachers,” says Dil. “They lack the skills in teaching.

They don’t make it fun and they don’t continually assess the students.”

Head of the Science department at Kathmandu International Study Centre (KISC), Dil is now part of KISC EQUIP which is taking some of the teaching expertise at KISC and sharing it with teachers, parents and students at other schools in Nepal. Supported by BMS World Mission, he is designing and delivering science training packages for EQUIP partner schools’ teachers, mentoring and monitoring their progress. He is also conducting parent workshops to help involve them in their children’s education.

“I want to see the children all over Nepal very happy, learning and having fun,” says Dil. “I also want teachers to take their profession seriously, valuing their profession.

That is my hope.”

Dil’s motivation is his faith. “Everything belongs to God,” he says. “Since God has placed me to do this ministry, through education I can make a difference. I can be the living witness of God’s love through education.”

Check out KIDS CARE Shalom: creating a healthy world is now available in full for use in holiday clubs and summer outreach.

Children’s leaders can subscribe to receive our 2015/16 quarterly resources free of charge by email or download.

bmsworldmission.org/KIDSCARE

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BE PERSISTENT IN PRAYER, AND KEEP ALERT AS YOU PRAY, GIVING THANKS TO GOD. (COLOSSIANS 4: 2 GNB) BMS encourages you to photocopy this page for your church or cut out the sections to use in your regular prayer times.

PLACES: Tunisia Tunisia was the birthplace of the 2010 Arab Spring. The revolution spawned a series of protests across the Middle East and North Africa. Unlike in other countries, the spirit of democracy and freedom has taken root in Tunisia. Since the revolution, there has been a fresh round of elections and a new government has taken over. However, there is still opposition to these reforms. In March this year, there was an attack at the Bardo museum in Tunis in which 21 people were killed.

It remains a fragile country, which needs your prayers.

Through a partner organisation, BMS has workers involved with palliative healthcare, social services and special needs education.

PRAY FOR: • The new government as it responds to long-standing economic and social problems and to violent extremists.

• The small community of Christian believers.

• Our partner organisation, as it ministers to the most vulnerable people in Tunisia.

PROJECTS: Project Cyrus Prayer changes nations. We’ve seen it happen many times before. The fall of Communism opened up Albania in the 1990s. Reforms in Nepal have led to significant change in more recent years. And already Project Cyrus, our prayer initiative for North Korea, has started to bear fruit. Recent reports suggest that life in North Korea is changing. We thank God for answering these prayers and for the work he has prepared for his people in North Korea.

PRAY FOR: • The people of North Korea, that their quality of life will improve as the country changes.

• Kim Jong-un and other government officials, that they would use their power and influence justly.

• More people to respond to God’s call to pray for North Korea.

PEOPLE: BMS regional team leaders PRAY FOR:

Whether it is looking after our workers or managing relationships with our partner agencies, BMS’ regional team leaders (RTLs) are always busy people. They are often travelling overseas meeting with church leaders, visiting mission projects and representing BMS on various committees and bodies. Mark Greenwood is RTL for Sub-Saharan Africa and South America.

Europe, the Middle East and North Africa are handled by Philip Halliday. Jeanie Herbert and Roshan Mendis look after East Asia and Central and South Asia respectively. Steve Sanderson oversees work in Chad and Haiti.

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

• Health and strength for travelling around the world.

• Wisdom in identifying new opportunities and areas of work for BMS. • Continued good relationships with partner organisations.

Aidan Melville is sub-editor for the BMS Prayer Guide

SUMMER 2015 | ENGAGE

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HOW BMS BMS IS REACHING THE MOST MARGINALISED AND LEAST EVANGELISED AROUND THE WORLD. IS GOD CALLING YOU TO JOIN US?

SUPPORT BMS cannot do anything without your support:

CHURCH PARTNERS 24:7 PARTNERS LEGACIES APPEALS DONATIONS

TRAINING

IMC

After successfully completing the interview process, mission workers are trained at our International Mission Centre before going overseas.

Mission workers serve God in one of six ministries:

SERVING Currently there are:

120 long-term

75

short-term

10

mid-term

It’s not just British mission workers we support. We have a large number of indigenous supported partner workers (SPW) and international mission workers (IMW).

190 10 SPWs

IMWs

LEADERSHIP MINISTRIES HEALTH MINISTRIES DEVELOPMENT MINISTRIES CHURCH MINISTRIES EDUCATION MINISTRIES JUSTICE MINISTRIES 24

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Mission workers are helping people in 30 countries across four continents.

S WORKS But WHY? The Highest Goal of all we do is to bring people to faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and an experience of the abundant life that only he can provide.

Get involved WE ARE CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR THE FOLLOWING TO SERVE OVERSEAS

Project managers/ Development workers

Doctors

People with a heart for cross-cultural mission

Church planters

Teachers

For more on our current mission opportunities go to

bmsworldmission.org/vacancies

SUMMER 2015 | ENGAGE

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IDEAS FOR

YOUR CHURCH ACTIVITIES

KIDS CARE:

Anika sees a doctor Meet Anika. She is a little girl from a rural village in India and is featured in the fourth issue of KIDS CARE. Join us as we learn about the healing power and love Jesus has for his people in Anika sees a doctor.

As the weather finally warms and the sun appears, we follow Anika and her family as they learn how to protect themselves from dangerous viruses, have their first check-ups and are introduced to some delicious fruits.

This issue has two cooking activities, both great for cooling down in the summer’s heat and raising money for BMS World Mission health ministries all over the world. To supplement the activities are some beautiful pictures of work at BMS partner the Good News Children’s Education Mission in Kolkata and some information about their ministry there.

Finally, craft, colouring and prayer are combined, allowing the children a chance to focus their creative energies while talking to God. So join us for the fourth instalment of this all-age resource and download this insightful fourth issue from bmsworldmission.org/kidscare

FUNDRAISING Fundraising activity Something amazing is happening in Nepal. People who were paralysed and told that their lives were over are learning that they still have hope.

We really hope you will consider using My Father’s House this harvest and will be inspired by the work at the Surkhet clinic. This heart-warming all-age DVD comes with a great fundraising challenge.

Journey to recovery challenge Time: four weeks You will need: A3 Journey to recovery challenge chart, empty jars or plastic tubs, collection jar labels.

Order your chart and labels by calling 01235 517617 or online at the web address opposite.

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You can do this with your church or in groups like Sunday schools. Hand out the empty jars or tubs and invite people to raise money over a four week period.

Ask people to bring what they have raised each week and, using the Journey to recovery challenge chart, you move through a four stage recovery journey that is typical for patients at the Surkhet clinic. You can mark your progress at each stage. Remember – every gift you make contributes to the journey to recovery.

In the final week, let people know how much you have raised in total to help restore broken lives in Nepal and around the world!

All these resources can be found on the My Father’s House DVD or downloaded from bmsworldmission.org/myfathershouse

Taking a stand: Whitley Bay Baptist Church

s g n i h t 10

The Dignity initiative against gender based violence (GBV) encouraged churches to ‘take a stand’ by signing the Dignity Church Charter.

We meet Rev Paul Newman, the minister of one church that did.

to remember when you meet a TCK

© Fotolia.com – WavebreakMediaMicro

A third culture kid (TCK) is a child who is growing up in a culture that is not their own.

You may have a TCK visit your church this summer if you have a home assignment visit booked.

We caught up with a group of TCKs at a recent BMS retreat and they shared 10 things you can do to support them overseas and during a visit to your church.

1. Please introduce yourself – I might not remember you from last time 2. Tell me about your life – I get quite bored talking about mine 3. Please let me help out – I’m not royalty 4. Remember that home for me is overseas – I feel like a visitor in the UK 5. Let’s do something together – just sitting talking can be a bit awkward – going out for an ice cream would be nice 6. Let me help out in the crèche or Sunday school – I’ve heard Mum and Dad’s presentation too many times already

7. If you’re going to send me something (which would be lovely) ask someone my age to choose it 8. When I come home, find someone to explain to me how things work – the UK changes so fast 9. Please send me some reminders of the UK – chocolate, cheese, mini eggs at Easter or an advent calendar 10. If you really want to know what it’s like for me coming back to the UK, watch the first few minutes of Mean Girls

How did your church find out about the Dignity initiative?

Through Engage magazine. The Dignity DVD (including all the theological resources) came with Mission Catalyst.

What made you want to get involved?

It served to remind us of the concern planted when we watched This Dark World (about BMS work in Thailand) some years back. We showed the Introducing Dignity video at our church members’ meeting and took a unanimous decision to endorse the Dignity Church Charter.

What attracted you to the Dignity Church Charter?

We can’t do anything in the wider world about GBV without acknowledging the problem in our neighbourhood and therefore, by a law of averages, within our church community. We believe providing a safe community for families is vital to who and what we are as a church. The Christian community is called to provide a model of community for wider society. This means facing up to the dark underbelly of life in many homes in our neighbourhoods.

What happens next?

We recognise the need to consider this material further. It may well be that a special group will emerge to consider the material and take on some responsibility for leading our thought and prayer in this area, as we discern what our response should be.

Has your church joined the Dignity coalition?

You can read the Dignity Church Charter, sign up and claim your certificate at bit.ly/1xunjAA The other resources mentioned by Rev Paul Newman are available to order or download at bmsworldmission.org/dignity

SUMMER 2015 | ENGAGE

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Opinion

SHOULD WE TAKE THE ONLY 29 PER CENT OF THE UK BELIEVE IN THE DEVIL. THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND’S UPDATED BAPTISMAL LITURGY DOESN’T REFER TO HIM. IS THE DEVIL NOW OBSOLETE? HERE ARE VIEWS FROM FOUR PARTS OF THE GLOBE.

UK: NOT MY FOCUS

M

aybe it’s an age thing, but I’m aware that my heart and mind have a limited capacity, so I have no choice but to limit the breadth of my concerns.

So, in the language of the question above, I am seeing the imbalances that affect women and girls in this world far more than I used to. This gets my serious attention.

So do the injustices imposed on the Palestinian people, the lack of fundamental freedoms in North Korea, and the grinding poverty in countries like Chad or India.

I am achingly concerned for what is happening within Islam. I see a great evil being perpetrated by a few, and I don’t know where this will end.

Gill Francis India

I

t is amazing how much the Bible says about the devil. He appears the first time in Genesis 3 and the last time in Revelation 20. Every New Testament writer mentions him. Jesus encountered him at the beginning and end of his ministry and spoke often of him.

There is much we do not know, but this much is certain: the devil is a real being. We live on a rebel planet controlled by the devil himself. As followers of Jesus Christ, we have been thrown into a spiritual conflict that rages all around us. In that conflict, every believer is on the front line. All have been called to active duty.

Satan’s greatest triumph has been for us not to take him seriously. If people don’t believe you exist, they won’t try to stop you. We have failed to

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I do need to take more seriously the fact that in countries like the UK, the gap between rich and poor is widening and rich people (like me) don’t care as much as Jesus cared.

I need to be more serious about the health of our planet and what kind of world my grandchildren will encounter when they’re older.

And I really do care, but I can always care more, for the fact that so few today have had a living-giving encounter with Jesus.

There’s more too but frankly, the devil isn’t on my list of serious concerns and I won’t pretend it’s otherwise. I see the reality of evil in the world, in the lives of individuals, but I also know it’s bigger than

David Kerrigan United Kingdom

that. Evil in my world view is also a supernatural thing – ‘principalities and powers’ are real in my understanding.

My priority? I need to take God more seriously, the God who has overcome evil and now looks to his Church to make that real by being witnesses, healers, peacemakers and peddlers of amazing grace, love and hope.

David Kerrigan is General Director of BMS World Mission

INDIA: SATAN IS REAL take the devil seriously and as a result we are ignorant of his strategy, his power and his plans. Although belief in the existence of demons is oldfashioned, to say the least, verses such

THE REAL BATTLEFIELD LIES WITHIN THE HUMAN HEART as 1 Peter 5: 8 and 2 Corinthians 2: 11 and 14 cannot be ignored and taken as mere childish bogus tales.

Satan is the initiator of evil, but we humans are responsible for spreading it into our world through sin and idolatry.

By misusing the freedom of choice that God has granted us, we have become the perpetrators of evil in our world.

Our greatest problems are spiritual, not financial, personal, intellectual or emotional. Our real enemies are unseen because the real battlefield lies within the human heart.

Should we take the devil seriously?

Yes – because God created man to find fulfillment in him and Satan wants to hold us back from receiving what God has for us.

Gill Francis works for BMS partner Big Life Ministries in India and is married to BMS Associate Team Leader for India, Benjamin Francis.

DEVIL SERIOUSLY? AFRICA: JESUS IS STRONGER

T

he devil is real to most Africans.

What someone in the West may see as bad luck, many in Africa would see as the devil’s hand in their life.

I have seen this in D R Congo and recently in Guinea.

A young man I knew who was in his last year of medical school died of severe leukaemia. For his family it was a sign that the devil doesn’t want them to do well in life. Similarly, a student who did badly in his exam blamed it on the devil, saying that Satan had stopped him from succeeding.

Yousvel Lormeus Haiti

A

s servants of Jesus Christ, we believe that the devil is the number one enemy of the Christian.

The Bible warns us about the devil who is constantly active. In James 4: 7 we read the following: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

In Haiti especially, where voodoo is considered one of the most important cultural elements, the Christian is called to be even more vigilant to the devil, due to all kinds of witchcraft that is present in voodoo.

There’s an evil practice called “zombification”. In the Haitian context, this is someone who “dies” at the hands of a voodoo priest, only to be brought back to life shortly afterwards

In the recent Ebola outbreak in Guinea, a man survived the virus but lost all the members of his family. He now believes that he did something wrong and that is why God gave the devil the power to destroy his family.

In Guinea, where I work, people have a strong belief in the devil and they think that their life is influenced by him and his demons.

The devil does exist, the Bible tells us so, and it is good that people recognise this. I think that people in the UK, including some

Eric Bafende

D R Congo/Guinea

Christians, who claim the devil is not real, can be blind to his influence and how badly he can damage their lives.

The downside of belief in the devil is that it can make us scared of him. I have seen this especially in D R Congo where even Christians are fearful of the devil. We should not live in fear, as Jesus has already won the victory on the cross. In Ephesians 6 we are given the armour of God so we can fight against the “devil’s schemes”. Jesus Christ is stronger than the devil. We should not be afraid.

Eric Bafende is a BMS mission worker from D R Congo serving in Guinea.

HAITI: CONTROLLING THE DEAD to then be owned by that priest as a zombie, a type of slave.

Ciliane is a young lady who “died” in 2005. Ciliane testified that she was killed by a voodoo priest. She was then resurrected by him and forced to work day and night as a slave in a field owned by this man. Other reports say this voodoo priest was the owner of about one thousand zombies. These people managed to flee after the death of that voodoo priest.

Ciliane was able to return home where she has two children, a husband and a mother who are able to see her and live with her again, three years after they buried her. She is currently living with her family near Cap-Haitian.

Zombies may sound like something out of a sci-fi novel, but the devil is

a master of disguise, and the reality of evils like this need to be taken seriously. If we don’t take the devil seriously, he will sooner or later take us seriously.

Yousvel Lormeus is a chaplain at BMS partner Haiti Hospital Appeal in Cap-Haitian, Haiti.

Read another perspective on the devil from a western missionary in Haiti on our website bmsworldmission.org/engage The views expressed are the writers’ own and do not necessarily reflect those endorsed by BMS World Mission.

SUMMER 2015 | ENGAGE

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Arts

5

Five minutes with...

JOANNA

JEPSON

REV JOANNA JEPSON SET UP THE FIRST CHAPLAINCY IN THE BRITISH FASHION INDUSTRY AND IS KNOWN FOR CAMPAIGNING AGAINST THE ABORTION OF A FOETUS WITH A CLEFT PALATE. SHE IS AN ANGLICAN PRIEST.

You grew up with a facial disfigurement that meant you were badly bullied at school. What would say to young Christian women who are really struggling with their body image?

I would say: it’s not always going to be like this. When you’re in your teenage years, you feel like life is going to be like this forever, and you feel pretty vulnerable and powerless. Give yourself time to grow into the person that you are becoming. Because you occupy a holy place in the world, and this space is yours and it’s vast and nobody else can rob you of it. And it’s just going to take time – you will find your way, you don’t have to imitate and copy and emulate the very narrow images of womanhood that are held up to you. It’s far more exciting than that.

Why have you decided to write a book about your life?

I always had a sense that it was something I wanted to write down. And I’d heard that if you don’t write your book before your 40 you’ll never do it, so I thought, right, I better get on with it!

Why is it an important book for people to read?

It covers so many subjects and aspects of life that other people struggle with too. Growing up with a very conservative, strict, evangelical background is something that a whole generation of people have experienced, and have not come through without a serious amount of hurt and anger. I wanted to put my story out there so that people could know that they’re not alone. And that it’s possible to come through it and still find faith.

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bmsworldmission.org

Does it surprise you that you did find faith?

It does slightly, yeah. Because I know so many people who have gone away from it. But I just had such a strong sense when I was in the middle of my face reconstruction that God was saying: ‘don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.’ I think I was having a conversation with God, without actually articulating it, which went: I don’t think what I’ve been taught, and how it’s landed in me, really speaks of a God who is God. It speaks too much of fear.

And yet that makes me think that if there is a God, then that God would be really loving and really cast out fear.

And so I wanted to find that God. And I had such a strong sense that God would know that I was seeking him.

You’ve been called Britain’s most glamorous vicar, but what role can Christians play in fashion?

Any role. It is something that is part of our spiritual DNA, to be creative and to call forth visions of beauty, in whatever medium and form we can. So I think fashion is a very holy vocation, very wonderful and very much blessed

by God. It is us getting to participate in what God is about – the original designer.

Joanna Jepson was talking to Sarah Stone

Joanna’s just published her memoir A Lot Like Eve: Fashion, Faith and Fig Leaves.

Find out more at joannajepson.com

Arts

REVIEWS

Paradoxology Krish Kandiah

Wounded:

By God’s People

Brother

TBN UK

The Brilliance

Christian TV station

Anne Graham-Lotz

Album

Freeview channel 65

Hodder & Stoughton

Book

Integrity Music

Rating:

Rating:

Hodder & Stoughton

Book

ISBN: 978-1444745344

The quirky and beautifully produced YouTube trailer for Paradoxology promises to take us away from the “easy, neatly packaged answers”, and teach us to wrestle at a deeper level because “it is in our doubts that we learn the meaning of a true relationship with God.” Lovely ideas. This book does no such thing. The big questions (suffering, genocide, atonement…) are left hanging for little more than a second before being battered away with even bigger answers. Far from teaching us to wrestle, Paradoxology provides the apologetic knock-out punch that means we don’t have to.

But don’t give up too quickly. Get over the initial disappointment and you’ll be treated to one of the most accessible and engaging apologetics books in a long time.

The old arguments are not simply retold or even refreshed, they’re given new life altogether. Krish shares stories, paints pictures and expertly communicates with a blend of humour, gentleness, depth and clarity that only he can deliver.

If you’re looking for a book on paradox, faith and doubt, try Velvet Elvis or Faith Unravelled.

But if you’re intimidated by the Goliath questions, and want answers, Paradoxology will put new pebbles in your sling.

Review by Ben Drabble, Short-term Programmes Organiser at BMS World Mission

ISBN: 978-0340908501

Rating:

Rating:

Why is it that so often those that inflict deep wounds are God’s people? In this book Anne (daughter of Billy) seeks to take the reader on a progressive journey moving them forward, one step at a time, from recognition to action in the form of forgiveness and reconciliation. Throughout, there is a strong emphasis on separating those that wound from God. The book is easy to read and the style is that of shared experience intertwined with the biblical story of Hagar.

Graham opens up and fleshes out the biblical account, but on occasion it can feel rather imaginative and perhaps slightly forced to complement her own experiences. Nevertheless, I liked the fact that Anne offered clear references throughout to support her use of the Bible.

I would place this book in an American motivational genre along with the likes of John Ortberg and Max Lucado.

Is this book for you? If you have been hurt by God’s people then it may help you on the journey to recovery. For those seeking to accompany others towards healing, the book offers insight and may be of value. The clear message is that you are not alone as wounded in God’s family.

Stadium worship this ain’t, but that’s its appeal, really.

Michael Gungor’s brother David (plus John Arndt and a host of cellists, violinists, percussionists and, by the sound of it, Trappists) present an album that is the antithesis of the big production pop that has come to dominate our churches and Christian airwaves. That’s not to say that this album is underproduced. Far from it. But Brother is subtle, gentle and soft. Music that whispers rather than shouts to make its point.

Not a million miles away from early Coldplay or more recent twentysomethingpleasers like Hozier, Brother resonates in its empty spaces and its comfort with silence.

Lyrically, The Brilliance are not afraid of lament, reflection on weakness and themes usually too dark for shallower purveyors of optimistic church anthems. And yet, nestled between the hipster-pleasing instrumentation and nods to downbeat electronic and classical vibes, there is hope.

There is a reverence in songs like Breathe that does not need to tell you how reverent it is – a righteousness on tracks like Brother and Make us one that never needs to use the word. Brother is a rare beast: intelligent, brave and likely to appeal to a broad range of people. Beautiful.

Review by Alice McDermott, Pastor at St James Road Baptist Church, Watford

Review by Jonathan Langley, Editorial Team Leader at BMS World Mission

Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) is the world’s largest religious television network, probably best known for the 700 Club presented by controversial host Pat Robertson. Since January, a UK version has been broadcasting on Freeview.

The schedule features wellknown US preachers like Joyce Meyer, Joseph Prince and Creflo Dollar. Those who grew up watching Veggietales and 3-2-1 Penguins can relive their childhood and introduce them to a new generation. H20 with Kyle Idleman is reminiscent of Rob Bell in his Nooma period and is quite watchable. If you fancy a worship fix, TBN Play has a good mix of videos from artists such as Stuart Townend and Rend Collective.

The most interesting thing about TBN UK is not what it looks like today, but what it could be in the future. They are keen to get as much UK programming on the channel as they can in the next two years. Canon J John is already presenting a show, Praise the Lord UK, which is filmed in London, and many more British-based programmes are in production. With the deep pockets of their American backers, TBN UK could become a major Christian brand here. One to watch.

Review by Chris Hall, Editor of Engage magazine

SUMMER 2015 | ENGAGE

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Me

My name is Diya.

I’m 10 and I live in Nepal.

Let me tell you my family's story...

Mum Dad

My dad was badly hurt in an accident and couldn’t move. He was told to wait to die, but the lady in the Christian clinic had other plans!

NEPAL EARTHQUAKE UPDATE

After the devastating earthquakes even mo re people will need therap y for spinal injuries.

We will need your hel p more than ever.

This harvest, find out how BMS World Mission is restoring broken lives in Nepal and around the world.

Order your DVD and hear Diya's heart-warming story at bmsworldmission.org/myfathershouse 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.