Church Mission Society - The Call and Prayerlines combined

The Call ISSUE 17 | WINTER 2021

P10NEERS CMS celebrates a decade of imagination in pioneer education!

PRA YOU IS IYERLIR N N See SID ES pag E e2

THE C ALL IN AC TIO N

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CH URCH MI SSI O NSO CI E T Y. O RG

WELCOME TO THE CALL AND PRAYERLINES Once again, in this issue we have combined The Call and Prayerlines into one magazine, as we are still working remotely amid COVID-19 restrictions.

We know that some of you prefer a smaller format Prayerlines separately, so we have made that available online. You can download and print a separate Prayerlines A5 booklet at churchmissionsociety.org/prayerlines

The Call is a platform for global voices in mission. In these pages you will get to know people from around the world who are joining in God’s mission in a variety of ways. By sharing their stories, insights and reflections, our goal is to give you hope that God is still at work in our world and to inspire you to put your own mission call into action, if not with Church Mission Society then with someone – but preferably with Church Mission Society.

IN THIS EDITION 04. Mission news

What God is doing through your prayerful support

Church Mission Society Watlington Road, Oxford, OX4 6BZ T: +44 (0)1865 787400 E: info@churchmissionsociety.org churchmissionsociety.org

10. Looking forward, looking back Jonny Baker reflects on lessons and challenges from 10 years of pioneer training

12. The journey so far…

An overview of the first 10 years of pioneer training

18. First class adventure /churchmissionsociety @cmsmission

If you have any comments about The Call, please contact the editor: the.call@churchmissionsociety.org. Opinions expressed in The Call are those of the authors, not necessarily of Church Mission Society.

Church Mission Society is a mission community acknowledged by the Church of England Registered Company No. 6985330 and Registered Charity No.1131655 (England & Wales) and SC047163 (Scotland).

Also part of CMS: The South American Mission Society, Registered Company No. 65048 and Registered Charity No. 221328 (England & Wales); The Church Mission Society Trust, Registered Charity No. 1131655-1 (previously 220297). Registered and principal offices of all above entities: Watlington Road, Oxford, OX4 6BZ.

Andrea Campanale talks about pioneering, creativity and vulnerability

20. Imagination for education

Mission partners and local partners come together to imagine a new future for refugees

26. Opening homes in Manila

Read about how Jigsaw Kids Ministries have been connecting with families in lockdown

32. How to…

Paul Thaxter offers a guide to sharing your faith

Deaths: Thank you to those readers who have sent in corrections to information in our last issue. We are sorry for the errors and have updatedTHE our Crecords accordingly.

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1–5 FEBRUARY 2021

WELCOME

Prayerlines M 1 FEB // UGANDA

SPRING IS COMING ALASTAIR BATEMAN, CEO, CHURCH MISSION SOCIETY

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pring is my favourite time of year. The time of year I married Justine 15 years ago and a sign that my beloved cricket season isn’t far away. It reminds me of the verse in Isaiah: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”

Spring also signals the end of winter. Perhaps this winter feels more protracted than usual, with a sense of lament too – of losses experienced. Early last year, we were struck by how many people appreciated our focus on lament during Lent. It’s something we have perhaps learned during this pandemic season – coming to terms with grief, not being able to do what we once could, or the loss of a loved one. It’s hard to look forward without having the chance to look back.

We’re already missing Paul Thaxter, our international mission director, who left CMS in January after 25 years. We will miss his wisdom, passion for Jesus and international experience. Please continue to pray for Paul and his wife, Helen, as they adjust to life after full-time CMS. And pray for us to find the person called to lead the international team.

The Isaiah verse quoted earlier was foundational for CMS’s strategic

review and why we named it the Isaiah Project. Many of you will also have joined us in reflecting on Mark 4:35–5:3 – verses that have become central to us in the project. They have led us to consider how CMS could become more intentional about making disciples on the “other side of the lake” – in the places or cultures where it’s tough to be a Christian, or for church to thrive, or where Jesus’ name is rarely heard.

The sense of Jesus being with us in the boat during the storm has given us great assurance as we try to discern his direction of travel for us. It’s so good to root all we do in Scripture and the good news of Jesus, who is the reason for who we are at CMS and why we do what we do!

As a community we decided to move in 2021 to focus on Luke 4:14–22 as part of our annual practice of Dwelling.1 These verses follow on from Jesus’ time of testing in the wilderness, as he launches his ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit quoting those inspirational verses from Isaiah: to proclaim good news to the poor, freedom for prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

May we all also experience 2021 as a year of the Lord’s favour, trusting in him as we seek to share this good news in word and deed.

Dwelling in the Word is one of the practices in the Partnership for Missional Church journey. Find out more and try it at churchmissionsociety.org/dwelling

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Malcolm Pritchard promotes spiritual development and a faithful understanding of the gospel through his role at Archbishop Janani Luwum Theological College (AJLTC) in Gulu. As staff at AJLTC work to secure legal title to the land and government recognition of the college, pray for a path through bureaucracy to approval.

T 2 FEB // MADAGASCAR Mission partners Derek and Jane Waller are now resettling in the UK after their time making disciples in Toliara, Madagascar, and earlier service in South Sudan. Pray for them as they settle into a different life in the UK and for those they have said goodbye to in Toliara.

W 3 FEB // UGANDA Neil and Sue Browning arrived in Moyo in October last year and have begun their roles as a surgeon at the local government hospital (Neil) and as a lecturer at Kajo-Keji Christian College (Sue). Pray for them as they settle into the local community and learn the language.

Th 4 FEB // RWANDA Praise God for local partner Josias Nkusi’s news that CMS-Africa’s youth training programme manuals have been translated into Kinyarwanda, paving the way for effective ministry among the youth in this country. Pray for Josias as he seeks to launch the training in Kigali, starting with the parish that he leads.

F 5 FEB // AFRICA-WIDE/UK Mission partner Ann-Marie Wilson is founder and executive director of 28 Too Many, a charity working to end female genital mutilation (FGM). Pray for Ann-Marie and the team as they look to get 28 Too Many on a sustainable3 3 footing this year.

MISSION NEWS

WEEKEND FOCUS

A refurbished surgical ward at

Gahini Hospital in use

Saturday–Sunday 6–7 February

BLOOM WHERE YOU’RE PLANTED

By Garry Ion, who has now returned to the UK after spending 25 years helping churches in Africa to undertake building projects In Uganda, I had a fridge magnet which said, “Bloom where you’re planted!” I was reminded of this when a sunflower popped up unexpectedly in a garden urn I planted shortly after I returned from Uganda. At first, I thought the seedling, growing among the begonia plants that I had planted intentionally, was a weed. I nearly pulled it out, but thankfully my parents recognised it to be a sunflower, so we left it to grow.

Call it a sign, a gift from God, and probably a snack a frustrated bird dropped, it reminds me of God’s enduring love. As Bishop Francis de Sales put it over 450 years ago, “The love of God has been poured into our hearts by his Spirit dwelling in each one of us, calling us to a life of devotion and inviting us to bloom in the garden where he has planted and directing us to radiate the beauty and spread the fragrance of his providence.”

Pray for God’s guidance as PRAY Garry chooses to bloom where he is planted and considers his next steps.

Photo: Garry with a sunflower at his parents’ 4 home4in Penrith – both seeking to bloom where they are planted!

Patient care improved in Gahini Mission partners Catriona and Steve Bennett’s Improving Access to Safe Surgery project has been able to move forward by God’s grace throughout 2020, despite Catriona and Steve being on leave in the UK for six months.

While still in Rwanda in 2019, anaesthetist Catriona and general surgeon Steve began working to improve care for surgical patients through much-needed upgrades to Gahini Hospital’s surgery and orthopaedic wards.

Building work started at the end of 2019, and new equipment started to arrive in March 2020, but then

Prizes for pioneers Two students on CMS’s Pioneer Mission Leadership Training have won awards for initiatives launched during lockdown.

Rachel Summers, CMS MA student and graduate of the St Cedd Centre, was given a Lockdown London Tree Champion award for helping people notice trees. On her walks around Walthamstow, Rachel chalked the names and characteristics of local trees on the pavement. This grabbed the attention of social and traditional

Catriona and Steve returned to the UK for six months. In their absence, the hospital’s high dependency area was equipped and quickly received its first patients. Newly qualified doctors began to once again come to Gahini for surgical training. The hospital was also allocated intern doctors, bringing added teaching responsibilities to Catriona and Steve, who are both passionate about training.

Catriona and Steve are hoping to further improve access to surgery at the hospital through the addition of more specialist staff as well as training in critical care for current staff to enable them to make the best use of the facilities and maximise the benefit to patients.

media, and of the London Tree and Woodland Awards. They highlighted: “The fun and simple method of identification was eye-catching for people exploring their local area, possibly for the first time… raising the profile of the urban forest, giving some fun facts and helping us to appreciate the nature around us.”

Meanwhile pioneer vicar Adam Gompertz, who developed the REVS initiative for classic car enthusiasts while studying at CMS, launched REVS Limiter – a Facebook live event in May, which

Hope in Honduras A young member of the mentoring scheme run by mission partner Steve Poulson in Honduras was baptised recently, and is taking steps towards his dream job.

Street Kids Direct, the charity Steve works with, have known Ever and sponsored him through school since he was 13 or 14. Ever and his brother are the first in their family to graduate not only from secondary school but from primary school.

Ever, now 21, wants to be a mechanic in the police and needs basic police training. He was accepted into the

police academy during lockdown and Steve led him through discipleship ahead of his training. About a month before going to the academy, Ever decided to be baptised. The pastor, Dionilo, and Steve baptised him the day before he left for training.

After six weeks of training, Ever has been promoted to assistant to the head of the training programme and leads prayer and devotions for his friends most evenings. Steve comments, “It’s so encouraging to see a young person really growing and taking concrete steps, and naturally sharing [faith] with the people around him.”

Ever chose to be ba ptised ahead of starting police traini ng in Honduras

Jenny Green: from Kisoro to Carlisle

Jenny Green

grew to include further events REVS Restored and REVS Refuelled and Ready.

These attracted thousands of classic car enthusiasts around themes of restoration and hope – with Adam, the Rev, sharing a prayer and blessing to close the events.

REVS Limiter and the followup events won the Social Media Award for 2020 from the Classic and Sports Car Club and the Lockdown Initiative 2020 at the Historic Motoring Awards.

Jenny Green has now retired after 26 years as a CMS mission partner.

Having initially signed up for three years, Jenny ended up spending 20 years in Kisoro, Uganda. There, she founded Potter’s Village, a child health centre to rescue babies and children who have no other chance of survival. Mission partner Nicci Maxwell has since picked up the baton, providing paediatric and neonatal medical care at Potter’s Village.

After her time in Uganda, Jenny returned to the UK with her two adopted children, Joe and Hannah. God led her back to Bradford, where she lived when he had originally called her to mission, and she served in Bankfoot as a community chaplain for six years. She has now relocated to Carlisle with her son.

In Jenny’s own words: “No mission partner has had more loyal, faithful, generous, caring supporting churches than I had. Your love and support continue to humble me and I pray God rewards your loving hearts.”

Rachel Summers

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Adam Gompertz

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NEWS IN BRIEF

MISSION NEWS A fond (semi) farewell This month we bid a semi farewell to Church Mission Society international mission director Paul Thaxter, who moved on from his role but who will always remain a beloved part of the CMS Paul Thaxter family.

Paul worked as a CMS mission partner in Pakistan in the 1990s, with the Ibtida Drug Rehabilitation Project in the Diocese of Karachi. He then served as international mission director for 19 years and played a key role in helping establish CMS-Africa and Asia-CMS. “It has been an absolute privilege to work with such a dedicated mission community who particularly take risks for the Kingdom of God,” Paul said, adding that he rejoiced in the growth of CMS’s local partner programme over the years.

CMS’s CEO Alastair Bateman shared, “While I have only worked with Paul for 18 months of his 25 years with CMS, I count it such a privilege to know him and to serve with him. He has enormous breadth and depth of mission experience and he embodies the love of Jesus. As we’ve worked together to discern the way forward for CMS’s future, I have been so thankful for Paul’s knowledge, insight and wisdom. I know he will be praying for us, as we will for him.”

In autumn the search commenced for a new international director and the process is ongoing.

Ugandan children learn to use their voices In 2020, 40 children from 10 communities in Uganda were equipped to stand up for their human rights, through a creative programme mission partner Helen Kisakye helped lead called the Hope Project. In November, this culminated in a Hope Academy camp, where children learned about their rights through music, dance and ut Children in Uganda learned abo media – and had a lot of fun too. y dem their rights at Hope Aca Helen, who uses her dance instruction skills in mission, said, “From this experience the children will be more [able to face] the obstacles that come in life that try to rob them of their rights. They will also be able to share their knowledge with their peers.”

Children who attended the Hope Academy camp said they’d learned to be more confident and how to make sure their voices were heard.

Helen said she has enjoyed being part of this concerted effort to make sure children in Uganda understand they have a right to protection, participation, development and survival: “Children need more awareness to keep safe from harm.” In recent years, Christian leaders in Uganda have increasingly recognised the need to help children raise their voices more in church and society.

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Bishop Patrick Harris, former bishop of Northern Argentina and of Southwell and Nottingham, secretary of Partnership for World Mission for the Church of England and president of SAMS, died on 26 December. Pat was well known to the CMS family, having served as a SAMS missionary 1963–1980 and been heavily involved in promoting world mission. A tribute from mission partner Nick Drayson, current bishop of Northern Argentina, is at churchmissionsociety. org/patharris Mission partner Andy Roberts, founder with his wife Rose of ReVive International, has been awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours for services to vulnerable children in north east Brazil. ReVive runs safe houses for vulnerable children and is working with churches and government to promote fostering and adoption.

Walk the Way: Former mission partner and bishop of Northern Argentina Maurice Sinclair has developed a resource called Walk the Way: Intentional Discipleship. This course helps participants to deepen their relationship with Christ by entering into the experience of the first disciples. It is available at www.cofe.io/ IntentionalDiscipleship

For more news stories go to: churchmissionsociety.org/news

8–12 FEBRUARY 2021

“We are thankful, to you and to our God!”

FINANCE UPDATE Charlie Walker, director of finance and corporate services at Church Mission Society, looks back over a remarkable year.

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hat a year! Looking back over everything that has gone on this past year, no one could have forecast it, no one would have wanted it, and yet we continue to rejoice and be thankful.

We have rejoiced with AsiaCMS and CMS-Africa as they have re-engineered their work to serve the emergency needs in their regions. We rejoiced to see our partners in Beirut helping in the aftermath of the blast, and as we’ve seen some of our local partners opening up a school for Syrian refugees (see page 20). We’ve rejoiced as we’ve seen boxers in Romford getting baptised through a pioneer ministry. We’ve rejoiced as the Hope Up Close carol resource, Lament for Lent, a special edition of the Anvil journal about race, colonialism and mission, and so many of our other resources have

been used widely by individuals, churches and communities.

And we are thankful too, hugely thankful. Our supporters and their response to our appeals have blown us away, none more so than 94-year-old Canon John Harwood, who managed to raise £15,000 for his sponsored walk (see page 22).

I LOVE these stories, and there are many of them. We are constantly humbled by the desire and will of our CMS family and community to support God’s mission.

More broadly, given my very gloomy forecasts back in March around our income, I am delighted to say we are forecasting to come in close to break even on our general fund this year. Even as I share that news I am acutely aware of many other charities, small businesses and enterprises for whom the story is very different. So yes, we are thankful, to you and to our God!

Prayerlines M 8 FEB // THAILAND Jason and Tracy Day serve in Chiang Mai, where they are called to share the love of God in whatever situation they find themselves. They ask for prayer for the Thai people with regard to the loss of the tourism industry, which has had a massive impact on the livelihoods of so many.

T 9 FEB // SOUTH ASIA Mission partners fighting human trafficking have recently begun tutoring local children from abusive backgrounds. They ask for prayer that each child will continue to experience Jesus’ love and learn to walk with him, and for a part-time tutor to help with the work until schools open again.

W 10 FEB // SOUTH EAST ASIA Mission partners B and M are currently in the UK and trying to return to South East Asia, where B is a teacher and networker and M is a teacher.

Following the birth of their third child in September, pray for them as they settle into life as a family of five.

Th 11 FEB // TAIWAN Today is Chinese New Year’s Eve, the most important family reunion day of the whole year in Chinese culture. Catherine Lee, based at St John’s University in New Taipei City, asks for prayer for open hearts, open minds and for Christians to have courage to share the gospel.

F 12 FEB // SOUTH EAST ASIA Pray for mission partners A and L navigating family life during this strange time. Pray for those in A’s Celebrate Recovery groups to continue to make progress and for L to be able to make a real difference in her work of special 7 educational needs provision and counselling.

WORLD VIEWS

PRISON IN A PANDEMIC Mission partner Anna Sims paints a picture of prison ministry amid the restrictions of lockdown.

WEEKEND FOCUS Saturday–Sunday 13–14 February

CHOOSING THE RIGHT HOPE

By Jason and Tracy Day, called to share the gospel of Christ through their roles as OMF personnel manager (Jason) and child protection officer, housewife and mum (Tracy) in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Last year, I (Tracy) finally finished Level 1 of the Thai course I started the year before. I’m really pleased, but still have a very long way to go! I would love prayer for a new brain!

As I was finishing, I learned that the Thai word for “disappointment” is “pid wang”, which means “a wrong hope”. In many ways, disappointments are natural and to be expected in life, but the challenge for me was the realisation that in so many situations, my hope has been in the wrong place.

But as Robert Critchley’s song so beautifully reminds us: On Christ the solid rock I stand All other ground is sinking sand All other ground is sinking sand

Pray for Jason and Tracy as PRAY they place their hope in Christ and trust him for every aspect of the future.

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Photo: A lovely reminder of hope over Chiang Mai

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he felt like a rain-soaked scarecrow. The unidentified clear liquid seeped into her clothing as a prison guard in a khaki-coloured waterproof onesie continued to generously douse her and the plastic bags of provisions that were getting heavier by the second in her outstretched arms. Her feet were still wet from the murky foot bath she’d been made to stand in moments before and she was thankful that she’d worn an old pair of flip-flops, although she was somewhat regretting her choice of clothes as her skin and scalp started to itch from the drops of bleach? disinfectant? detergent?

She was ushered along to the next guard, sitting behind a makeshift desk and getting frustrated at the slowness as she spelled out the inmates’ unfamiliar names, her Spanish hampered by a British accent, the masks making it more difficult to understand and be understood. Finally, giving up and entering the four bags, destined for different inmates, under one name, the guard impatiently waved her on.

Arriving at the conveyor belt she placed the yellow bags on the end, by now dripping wet.

The inky blue of the letters was running down the bright yellow bags in small rivulets, distorting the name further with each escaping tear. She

watched the bags get swallowed up by the X-ray machine. A few items dislodged themselves as the heavy rubber curtain swiped packets of biscuits and teabags from their precarious positions. The guards impatiently tipped the remaining contents into a pile at the furthest end of the inspection area, checking for contraband. The items were sprayed again and then shoved back indiscriminately into the four bags.

She silently prayed that the items, carefully chosen and packed for each woman with handwritten notes, would arrive into the hands of the women for whom they were intended and would be a blessing.

She was used to the lack of control, always being at the mercy of the moods of the prison staff, but she knew it was worse for the inmates.

It was quicker getting out than in. She stepped out onto the street, the clanging of the heavy metal door being shut, bolted and padlocked as familiar to her as the sound of her own front door being closed.

GLIMPSES OF GRANDEUR Derek and Jane Waller, recently returned from Madagascar, reflect on how the baobab tree can point us to God. GRANDEUR

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hether looming up by the roadside, glimpsed from a plane as you come into land or when wandering through the famous Avenue de Baobabs, these are magnificent trees. Some soar upwards, dwarfing the surrounding trees and reaching 100 feet; others are so wide you could drive a bus through their trunks. And some are ancient.

There is a tree in Madagascar, known locally as Grandmother, which is 1,600 years old.

When we see baobabs, we glimpse the grandeur of God. They remind us of the greatness and majesty of the eternal God and put our lives into perspective. We need a big God to face a big crisis. We found that our God is big enough to hold us through many ups and downs of our times in South Sudan and Madagascar. He is big enough to hold his people in Toliara, Yei and Britain through these tough days.

Many in Britain have rediscovered the grandeur of creation during lockdown. Can we look beyond creation and point others to the God who created all things?

THE UPSIDE-DOWN TREE Once its leaves have dropped, the branches of a baobab look

rather like roots; hence the nickname the upside-down tree.

The upside-down tree speaks of the upside-down Kingdom of God. God’s ways are often surprising.

When we set out in January 2015 for South Sudan, we never imagined that we would be leaving 18 months later. But out of our heartbreak, the Lord gave us the opportunity to serve in Madagascar. God’s ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8).

In Yei, those most eager to learn and grow were often the young with no status, the humble in heart. In Toliara, our discipleship work has taught us that God’s Kingdom work starts small and grows slowly. Forming Christ in his people cannot be rushed.

The COVID-19 crisis has been terrifying but also clarifying. Have you noticed how the humble have come to the fore in this crisis? The carers, the nurses, those who have kept our world going, even at some risk to themselves? Here is surely a sign of God’s upside-down Kingdom.

None of this should surprise us.

Christmas shouted to us of the humility of our God who rejected the way of power and, in Christ, embraced the path of love.

amazingly fruitful, especially in the dry season. The baobab fruit is rich in minerals, vitamins and energy and is turned into a juice which the Malagasy love to drink. The leaves can be eaten as a vegetable, the seed oil used for cosmetics, the bark turned into rope and cloth. What an abundant harvest from one tree!

We have seen amazing fruitfulness in people’s lives. We recall the joy of worship at Bishop Allison Theological College in Yei and the faith of the South Sudanese through long years of exile in Uganda. We remember the young mother, Rofiny, attending Jane’s literacy class week after week with little progress – then suddenly it clicked and she could begin to read.

Then there was Rafael, who found the Bible verses he had just learned on the Rooted in Jesus course bringing him such comfort when his daughter died. And Zafy and Saintia, who have put past failures behind them and are growing into mature Christian disciples and leaders.

FRUITFULNESS The baobab is also known as the tree of life. Why? Because it is

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A CELEBRATION OF IMAGINATION

LOOKING FORWARD, LOOKING BACK Jonny Baker, director of mission education at Church Mission Society, reflects on lessons from our first 10 years of Pioneer Mission Leadership Training and identifies challenges for the next few years.

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he pioneers who have trained with CMS are incredible people with passionate faith, who see possibilities and make things happen, often against the odds and with very few resources. It’s been an absolute joy and privilege to work with them.

LESSONS LEARNED 1. Pioneering is a wonderful gift When students arrive, we ask them what pioneering is. Their answers group into these five areas, which are a really good summary that you can mix and match: finding a new way or path seeing and imagining different possibilities starting and building stuff responding to injustice to make a better world growing new forms of church where church isn’t 2. Mission is the treasure On a compass, true north orients or pulls in a particular direction. For pioneers, true

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north is God’s mission. They seek to align their lives with God’s mission, to participate in it and to call others to join in.

They reach people who haven’t heard the story of Jesus and particularly gravitate to the edges. The gospel is always culturally robed so sharing it requires a letting go of their own ways, a listening and discerning to discover afresh the gospel in new cultures. That is why CMS has been such a great home for pioneers over the last 10 years!

3. Be you Pioneering goes best when people find confidence to be the person God has made them to be. It’s easy to think that to be a pioneer is to copy some extreme entrepreneurial behaviours. But actually it is simply about being you, the person God has made you to

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Top: Learning in community: chatting at CMS house during a conversations day hosted by the pioneer team before lockdown.

Bottom: Jonny Baker, director of mission education at CMS

15–19 FEBRUARY 2021

Prayerlines be, and flourishing and finding freedom and confidence in that as you join in God’s mission.

4. It’s not just about the training People regularly ask me why we do academic training. As well as having great value in catalysing pioneering mission on the ground, the training is a brilliant way to help people grow as missional disciples. They are with us and together over, say, a threeyear period. There is a depth of formation that takes place and real community that gets built.

5. The journey to the new always goes through the desert It would be great if you could go from the old to the new in one sweet move, but our experience has been that invariably there is difficulty on the way. That difficulty can be many things. Navigating the Church’s culture and expectations is a part of that. So pioneers need resilience, to do soul work and put in place good practices, structures of support, and to have a community or network that gets what they are about. Because they will face difficulty as well as joy.

KEY CHALLENGES 1. Going beyond the edges The Church does well in reaching those close to its edges, but that is only part of the UK population. We also need pioneers who will go and make disciples among those who are beyond the edges.

2. Imagination The task of connecting with people outside the Church to share Christ is essentially an act of imagination. That is the greatest challenge facing the Church

today. It’s too easy to think in old ways and patterns.

3. Diversity Questions around mission in Britain in postmodern and secular contexts have been quite White British concerns. While we have had African, Brazilian, Spanish and Korean students, there is a challenge to do much better to connect with the world church that is here already and to liaise better internationally.

4. Low level innovation We are guilty of telling stories of dramatic pioneering (and we do love those!), but that risks making pioneering seem “out there” or just for the few. Lots of new things have been started in very ordinary ways – toddler groups, meeting round a meal table, working together on an allotment. So we need to shine a light on the kinds of practice that many are able to pick up on and be inspired by.

And find ways to enable and train those people around the country through a network of hubs.

5. Advocating for pioneering Post coronavirus there will be fewer resources in the Church.

This is a time if there ever was one when the insights of pioneers will be invaluable, but the Church will likely cut back in that area.

It will be a challenge to continue to advocate for that, requiring courage and determination. CMS will be more needed than ever. We need to stay true to who we are.

IMAGINE

Could God be calling you to pioneer mission?

Get involved with our pioneer training at pioneer.churchmissionsociety.org

M 15 FEB // LEBANON Mission partners Phil and Sylvie Good are working alongside churches in Beirut with refugees and helping to develop a school for refugee children. Pray for good relationships between Phil and Sylvie and the communities they serve, and for more opportunities to share the gospel message.

T 16 FEB // UK/MIDDLE EAST “Please pray that persecuted Christians’ steadfast faith in the face of adversity will be of positive witness to others and that the Body of Christ will thrive across the Middle East,” writes mission partner Ultan, who supports and advocates for persecuted Christians.

W 17 FEB // ASH WEDS EGYPT Mission partners Joe and Sarah are teaching English and training teachers in a local school, and Joe is now also responsible for leading a small international community group as well as the Sunday church meetings. Pray for peace and unity in these groups, which struggle with divisions and tensions.

Th 18 FEB // JORDAN Pray for Fiona and Joel Kelling to resolve baby Nora’s residency issues and return to Jordan this month to continue supporting the diverse Christian communities of the Middle East. Pray for ongoing church and community mobilisation work with the Diocese of Jerusalem and Tearfund.

F 19 FEB // SPAIN/NORTH AFRICA Pray for boldness for a mission partner couple sharing the gospel by inviting people to their home and reading and discussing the Bible together. Pray for more people to come (restrictions permitting) and for God to touch the heart of each person who visits. 11

THE JOURNEY SO FAR...

WEEKEND FOCUS Saturday–Sunday 20–21 February

Since 2010, Pioneer Mission Leadership Training has been equipping pioneers, contributing to conversations through publishing and connecting pioneers from the UK and further afield…

MAKING THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY By a couple working in Spain and North Africa who actively look for opportunities to share the gospel with others and run a charity which supports Arab Christian families across the Middle East God has been stirring up our hearts that as believers we are called to take the church out onto the streets to reach the lost. Do not be discouraged if people do not want to come to the church building. Let us focus on bringing them into the Kingdom of God. When someone truly becomes a born-again believer (John 3:3), they will want to fellowship with other believers.

We see this as new believers in certain locations take great risks just to attend a church service.

We are called to lovingly present to all people the full gospel message (God as both loving and holy) and yet it is God who works in their lives. God is the only one who can touch hearts. We do our part and he does his. As followers of Christ, we want to take this opportunity to humbly encourage you to really take to heart Ephesians 5:15–16: “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”

Pray for God to open up PRAY opportunities and lead this couple to the people whose lives he is working in as 12 they step out in faith.

2016 Starfish pioneer network set up

JUL 2015

NOV 2015 Pioneering Spirituality published

Admit first CMS pioneers as lay workers in Church of England through CMS

ANVIL

OCT 2016

NOV 2016

NOV 2016

First cohort starts at St Cedd Centre in Chelmsford diocese, the first pioneer hub

CMS becomes home of Anvil journal

Stepping into Grace published

FACTS AND FIGURES OVER 10 YEARS OF PIONEER TRAINING: 406 people studied at least one module 37 ordinands trained 60 students at six hubs 57 Masters students 91 undergraduates 4 doctoral students Largest intake: 2018 – 82 students

The icons used on these pages have been designed using resources from Flaticon.com

A CELEBRATION OF IMAGINATION NOV 2011 First missional entrepreneurship week at Pickwell Manor (now called Make Good)

SEPT 2010

SEPT 2012

NOV 2013

MA programme begins and first ordinands begin training

Pilot cohort of pioneer students begin training

JAN 2015 Mission on the Road to Emmaus published

First annual Conversations Day

AUG 2014

JUN–JUL 2014

The Pioneer Gift published

First CMS pioneer ordained and first graduation

MAY 2017

JUL 2018

OCT 2018

JAN 2019

JAN 2019

Partnership agreed for St Brendan’s Institute in South Korea

Future Present published

Missional Conversations published

London School of Pioneers welcomes first cohort

Korean version of The Pioneer Gift published

AUG 2020

MAR 2020

JUL 2019

Imagining Mission with John V. Taylor published

Coronavirus – pivot to teach online

Hui – international gathering to exchange ideas and learning on mission training

MAY 2019

FEB 2019

Holy Rumpus! hub in Home by Bath and Wells diocese Another Route welcomes first cohort published

ONWARDS

SEPT 2020

SEPT 2020

28 SEPT 2020

JAN 2021

First DTh students start – training now available from certificate to doctorate

Northern Mission Centre welcomes first trainees

CMS pioneer training celebrates 10th birthday

St Albans hub welcomes first cohort

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A CELEBRATION OF IMAGINATION

PROPER NORTHERN PIONEERING Left: Mountain Pilgrims explores church in the hills Right: Richard Passmore

Richard Passmore, director of mission, innovation and fresh expressions in the Diocese of Carlisle, introduces the Northern Mission Centre, a collaboration between Church Mission Society and the Diocese of Carlisle.

GOD ALREADY AT WORK Fresh expressions have been growing across Cumbria during the last five years, with over 3,000 people now involved, the majority of whom wouldn’t necessarily call themselves Christian. We’ve got fresh expressions connected to local churches or mission communities – Messy Churches, cafe churches, as well as one of my favourites, which the leader describes as a youth club for the over 70s.

There’s a huge Network Youth Church. There were only about 235 young people involved in church across the diocese five or so years ago. They invested heavily in Network Youth Church, appointing workers at deanery level. That’s grown significantly, with around 2,000 young people now involved in Network Youth Church, with about 800 at the core.

We have a charity shop called

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Restore – we’re developing a new monastic community around that, reaching out to people on the margins through the shops, community spaces, an allotment project and Men in Sheds, which seeks to create a space for men to come together, support each other and make things.

And there are more pioneering fresh expressions, such as Mountain Pilgrims (how do you do church in the hills?), Maranatha Yoga (a holistic practice infusing yoga postures with Christian spirituality and meditation) and the St Kentigern school (contemplation for spiritual nomads, reaching out to people on their spiritual journey).

CUMBRIAN COLLABORATION Cumbria is an ecumenical county working across Anglican, Methodist, URC and Salvation Army churches, with other denominations

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involved as companion churches, all under the God for All banner.

When I arrived at the end of 2015 the God for All vision was: “By 2020 every person in Cumbria of all ages and backgrounds will have an opportunity to discover more of God and God’s purpose for their lives, so that they will discover more of Jesus and the Good News and become followers of Jesus within a Christian community.” A bold vision!

The growth of pioneer projects necessitated thinking about how we resource, equip and build an ecosystem for pioneering. At the same time, we were beginning to be recognised as having a strong profile across the northern England and southern Scotland through our fresh expressions day events and weekends.

CMS was a really natural partner.

To start with we were focused on training people in pioneering settings, but quickly recognised

22–26 FEBRUARY 2021

Prayerlines that there was a broader role to build the mission ecosystem in time-honoured settings too.

DEPTH IN DIVERSITY We’ve set up the Northern Mission Centre with CMS to train people in a range of settings. The course is aimed across the north of England and Scotland. The majority of the population of the north of England can access Penrith within two hours and it has a mainline station. In our first cohort we’ve got 17 students, from Scotland, the north east, Sheffield, Halifax and Cumbria. One of the real strengths is pulling in that diversity. It helps learning as people rub up against each other and share experiences, from working in predominantly Muslim contexts to rural Cumbrian work. We’ve got some of the Network Youth Church team, as well as older people, children’s and family workers, and the chair of a deanery synod.

I’m encouraged by how CMS has developed a community of pioneers, and I hope we can build something similar through people involved with the Northern Mission Centre.

PIONEER SPIRIT One of the challenges is that sometimes people see pioneering as not for them. But there’s a real pioneer spirit across the north. I’d like to think we can help people in time-honoured settings recognise that the creative mission they’re doing can be supported as well.

We are looking for people who’ve had a taste of mission, and we help them develop a project. Some people come with a project in mind.

Some people have ideas that have started to quite quickly emerge as they reflected on their community.

Pioneers are often described as the

first to spot something, and we’ve got people on the course who have a sense of where they need to go.

The course is helping them build on that.

There are six modules and the first was on pioneering mission.

We looked at Jesus the pioneer: the students collaborated online to create an image of Jesus and his pioneering role. We’ve also considered culture, theological reflection and church and mission.

We were able to bring in some of our ecumenical partners: Simon Sutcliff, a Methodist pioneer, did the teaching alongside one of our local pioneers. We’ll also cover mission entrepreneurship and missional leadership.

CULTIVATING CREATIVITY, BEARING FRUIT The creative training we’re doing in the Northern Mission Centre has been encouraging. The more we model creativity, the more people feel they’ve got freedom to experiment. I’d really like to see innovation and experimentation trickling down into Sunday mornings.

I’m really encouraged about the fruit that’s coming. We’re seeing people’s lives transformed and we’re seeing people come to Christ in new and different ways, through Maranatha Yoga or Restore community. It’s great to have got the relationships going to such an extent that new communities emerging are deep and meaningful.

JOIN

To find out more about the Northern Mission Centre and upcoming taster days, go to pioneer.churchmissionsociety.org/north

M 22 FEB // ARGENTINA David and Shelley Stokes are expecting to return to the UK this month after serving for 10 years in Northern Argentina, mainly with Wichi-speaking congregations. Pray for them in this period of adjustment, and especially for assistant bishops Mateo and Crisanto as they continue to develop their ministries against the backdrop of COVID-19.

T 23 FEB // PERU Local partner and pastor Anderson Sanchez tragically lost his friend Don Cancho to coronavirus, but still saw God at work. As a result of the love the church showed Don’s family, they decided to follow Jesus. Pray for Don’s family in their grief.

W 24 FEB // GUATEMALA Working with young people at risk through Street Kids Direct, mission partner Azaria Spencer asks for prayer as she navigates connecting with link churches and supporters during her time in the UK over the next few months.

Pray for guidance as Azaria prepares for the next chapter in Guatemala.

Th 25 FEB // ECUADOR Sharon Wilcox comes alongside people with learning disabilities, teaching life skills and helping people work towards independence. She asks for prayer for the new president and government of Ecuador to tackle widespread corruption in the country as well as develop more support for people with disabilities.

F 26 FEB // PARAGUAY Pray for Bev Richardson to continue to listen, pray, hear God’s voice and be led by his Holy Spirit as she supports a local church leadership team, building relationships as she disciples and teaches in the chapel and at Colegio San Andres in Asuncion.

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Raise a glass to Candid Beer, a creative space started by Mark Bamping in Stafford

WEEKEND FOCUS Saturday–Sunday 27–28 February

OBSTACLES AS GIFTS?

By Ian Adams, mission spirituality adviser for Church Mission Society This weekend focus follows on from the article on page 24, Mission with Imagination: Seeking the Place of Prayer.

Life is challenging! And it can seem as if we are forever meeting new obstacles.

But could it be that those barriers can, in God’s imagination, become gifts opening up new possibilities?

As you enter prayer today, take paper and a pencil, and prayerfully make a note of the obstacles that you face at this time. Put that paper aside, or perhaps in the recycling. Now, take a new sheet of paper, and at the right time allow something new to be written....

Holy Spirit, Spirit of Jesus prevent me redirect me and open my imagination to follow your call.

Email: ian.adams@ 16 churchmissionsociety.org

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PIONEERING IN PICTURES A few snapshots of some of our favourite pioneering ventures from our first 10 years.

Field of dreams: Sue Steer began work on a housing estate in Leicester – even before it was built!

A CELEBRATION OF IMAGINATION

Ethical cleaning company Clean for Good are sweeping up accolades for their fair treatment of City cleaners

Erika Biscoe (left) uses beauty therapy to show people their true beauty in Christ

Leap of faith: 10 years ago Jonny Baker did a sponsored skydive to kickstart the course

“You have been participating in one of the most interesting and creative programmes of theological education in the world.”

David Harrigan started the Good Shepherd Boxing Community, even holding ringside baptisms

Steve Bevans, speaking to the 2020 pioneer graduates

Chalk it up to creativity: Rachel Summers guided city-dwellers to thoughts of God through describing trees

Jonny Baker and Bishop Emma Ineson row across a northern lake to launch the Northern Mission Centre

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A CELEBRATION OF IMAGINATION

FIRST CLASS ADVENTURE Andrea Campanale was part of the first CMS Pioneer Mission Leadership Training course cohort. Since then she’s taught on the course, helped set up pioneer learning hubs around the country and created an alumni network. But, as she tells Naomi Rose Steinberg, in pioneering you never really get comfortable.

And that’s a good thing.

Naomi: What was it like to be part of the first class of pioneer course students in 2010?

Andrea: It was brilliant being there at the start and helping shape the course as well as learn. I’d been working among spiritual seekers for five years – and it had been really tough because my passion was for a group that was viewed with suspicion by some in the Church. I kept having to convince people I wasn’t going off the rails, that I was trying to do what God was asking of me.

I got to CMS and they understood that I genuinely wanted the Church to be there for people exploring alternative spiritualities.

Once I realised I was in a safe

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place, it dawned on me how hard it had been working in isolation.

Being part of the course helped me heal.

Aside from your experience with spiritual seekers, what do you think you brought to this learning community?

Since I’d worked in PR, I became a natural advocate for the course and its aim to call the Church to the edges. And early on I’d become aware of discussions in the wider world around shame and vulnerability. I’d seen the connection between that and working in mission. So we explored Brene Brown’s material on having the courage to be vulnerable.

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Because to be creative is to be vulnerable, there’s a certain fragility in pioneering. And while it’s good to acknowledge and embrace vulnerability, it’s also important to exercise discernment and build resilience so you don’t fall apart when people question what you’re doing.

The pioneer course seems to have gone from strength to strength, but from the inside, has it felt fragile?

With pioneering, when you start out you think there’s going to come a point where you feel secure in what you’re doing because it’s grown successful enough that you can almost coast. But the longer

1–5 MARCH 2021

Prayerlines I’m involved, the more I think you never reach that point. Every year when we recruit new students, there’s this fear that no one will sign up and it’ll all fall apart. But that keeps us reliant on God. What have been some of your favourite things to come out of the course?

The Good Shepherd Boxing Community David Harrigan started: a group of guys who are finding that faith connects with their everyday lives. Also Jenny Allan who started Jenerous, an ethical clothing brand. She expected to do something within church – yet it became apparent that she was really passionate about fashion. She longed for it to be ethical, godly. Jenerous is a beacon of how to do business in an industry where there’s much to be critiqued. Pauline Randall, an older course student, created a missional presence at Billericay indoor market, taking drinks to stall holders, chatting, offering prayer.

I love that it doesn’t matter how old or “cutting edge” you are. The danger is tending to think of all the really “out there” stuff. Yet there are people doing things that get less fanfare making a real difference.

What are some challenges facing pioneering mission?

I think pioneers are sort of wanted and yet not wanted by the Church.

Pioneers can help renew the Church and take it into spaces it struggles to reach. But we have to be careful not to create a “them and us”. We love the Church; that's why it hurts when it doesn’t “get” us. Church history is full of pioneers and adaptation. It’s part of this adventure we go on with God in trying to make sense of the history, the heritage, the

tradition in the time and the place that we find ourselves. It should be invigorating, renewing.

I think pioneers have changed some of the culture in the Church around innovation and risk-taking for the gospel. But it’s hard for institutions to be disrupted. And with COVID-19, there can be more fear and resistance to change, even though we’ve seen it causing people to open up to faith in ways we’ve long prayed for.

What keeps you involved in the course and what are your hopes for its future?

I’d like to see us become more international and more accessible, particularly for people who aren’t academic. What’s great about the course is that it’s not just an academic exercise; it genuinely makes a difference. Someone said to me that CMS is the gold standard of pioneer training.

M 1 MAR // UGANDA “Please pray for SPLASH Dance Company to find somewhere new to meet to support each other and spread our message of inclusion,” writes Helen Kisakye, founder of the troupe, which works to change attitudes towards people with disabilities through their performances.

T 2 MAR // DR CONGO Local partner Jeff Sikabwe is involved in CMS-Africa’s training as well as mentoring and advocacy. Jeff writes that he and other Christians were able to demonstrate God’s love by sharing food with their neighbours during difficult times last year. Pray for this generosity to open people’s hearts to the gospel.

W 3 MAR // SOUTH AFRICA

The greatest joy is seeing people flourish into all that God has made them to be. I’ve just finished marking assignments and they were so full of creativity, grace and empathy I had tears streaming down my face. I thought, this is why I do this.

Last year, Caroline and Dick Seed, based at George Whitefield College, began offering training and qualifications through e-learning as they resource key theological institutions across Africa.

Pray for theology lecturers who are now implementing what they learned.

I love helping people see they are part of a bigger movement of God. So when things don’t go right, you can hang onto the fact that there are so many people wanting to share faith in creative ways and that faith can and does bring transformation in the world.

Th 4 MAR // KENYA

TRY

To start your own pioneer journey with CMS go to pioneer.churchmissionsociety.org

Over the past year, local partner and pastor Kenneth Ambani Buluku has been working with farmers, aiming to improve agricultural yields and incomes over three years through a seed sharing programme. Pray for the local community to catch the vision for working together and to all reap the rewards.

F 5 MAR // ETHIOPIA Chris and Suzy Wilson, working at a theological college in Gambella, write, “Please pray for lasting peace in Ethiopia and for an end to violence between different ethnic communities within the country. Pray for wisdom for those ministering in this complex, divided context.”

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IMAGINATION IN ACTION

WEEKEND FOCUS Saturday–Sunday 6–7 March

YOU BELONG HERE

By Tom and Verity Clare, in Arua, Uganda, where Tom practises medicine in the local Lugbara community and Verity currently focuses on looking after their four sons.

Like anyone, we have hard days and easier days. After a particularly stressful week of home-schooling the boys, I (Verity) was walking to the local market one evening. I had a few good chats with some of our shopkeeper friends along the way, and just had a feeling of affirmation from God saying, “You belong here.” The constant shouts of “Mundu!” (foreigner) remind us that we are different, and that won’t change, but we can still belong.

A few minutes later, in conversation in Lugbara with the market ladies, they told me they’d given me a Lugbara name – Ayikoru, meaning “joy”, because I’m apparently always happy when I buy from them. I was hugely humbled but also laughed a little inside as my behaviour over the week at home had been quite the opposite of joyful. God has his timings though and it was another affirmation of our belonging here.

In John 1:14 we read how “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us”. The combination of God’s majesty and humility always blows me away. It leaves me humbled that God, who made the whole world, has given us “the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). At the same time, I’m challenged that just as Jesus came to bring God’s love and light to a world in darkness, as his children, we are called to do the same.

Pray for Tom and Verity to continue PRAY to know that they belong as they share God’s love 20 20the people of Arua. with

IMAGINATION

FOR EDUCATION Despite the challenges of 2020, there were answered prayers for refugees in northern Lebanon.

L

ocal partners Emil and Reem Bourizk didn’t plan for their home to become a school for over 100 refugee children.

But they were open to God’s leading: “Returning to Lebanon in 2014 after time abroad, we found our house was surrounded

by Syrian families living in tents, with nobody to care for them.

We felt a call to help them.”

“SHE JUST WANTS TO DRAW” Reem explains, “We started a school because I found kids in the fields and people treating them like trash. This is not fair.

They are human beings. I wanted to sit with them and talk to them and show them how much God loves them. I visited one family and asked the oldest sister, who was 10, ‘If someone were to bring you something, what would you ask them to bring?’ She said, ‘I only need a pencil and paper to draw.’

“I went home and said, ‘All she needs is paper and a pencil. She didn’t say I need clothes and all these things. She just wants to draw.’ And this is how the school started, under the trees. We bought materials and I collected the kids, told them stories, talked to them, taught them some letters. The kids are traumatised.

They came from a war. When they first came, they would shrink back if you came near, because they are afraid. Just to say a good word,

to greet them, it’s a big thing.”

The couple began holding lessons in their home, before spilling over into their garage as more children joined. And numbers continued to grow.

Now the Good Shepherd School teaches maths, Arabic, science and civics, French and English as well as arts and crafts. The school also provides pastoral care and offers home visits to support the children and their families.

DREAMING BIG

Top left: Refugee pupils having their first lessons in a new school building Bottom: Reem and Emil Bourizk began a school for refugees in their home Top right: Phil and Sylvie Good moved from Beirut to support the school

Emil and Reem had a dream of space to expand and develop the school. Having closed during the spring coronavirus lockdown, they hoped to reopen in a new venue in the autumn – but there were financial and practical hurdles to overcome.

Mission partners Phil and Sylvie Good had been living in Beirut since spring 2018, providing support with administration, finance, project planning and communications to two churches working with refugees. Their passion is to demonstrate that the love of Jesus crosses all barriers through both their skills and their presence alongside those on the margins. As the spring lockdown ended, they travelled north to meet Emil and Reem and find out more about the school.

Emil and Reem’s vision caught their imagination. Having seen an unfinished house nearby with potential to become a school building for 140 children, they produced a project plan and helped with fundraising. But this wasn’t the end of the Goods’ involvement.

FROM INNER CITY TO OLIVE GROVE Through lockdown, more of Phil and Sylvie’s work had gone online.

In addition, some doors in Beirut seemed to have closed. Phil explains, “As we were in the unfinished house praying, we realised we could live here and be involved more directly.

Situated east of Tripoli, the school is close enough to Beirut to return once a week for meetings and to connect with our refugee friends.

We got quite excited.” They realised they could help the school become more established and sustainable.

Phil and Sylvie identified scope to create a bedroom and small living space on the rooftop, as well as eight classrooms in the building.. Phil stayed with Emil and Reem during a hectic summer of building work, getting the drains, windows and doors, bathrooms and kitchens all in working order, as well as having electricity and water connected.

Building work is now complete and Phil and Sylvie have moved from their home on the sixth floor in the slums of East Beirut to a house in the middle of an olive grove. Sylvie will work in the kindergarten and look after the accounting and Phil’s role will be in management, fundraising and facilities. Emil comments, “This new building is proof God really does move mountains and will bring hope to our community.”

The school welcomed pupils at the beginning of December, as an autumn lockdown came to an end.

“CHANGING THE FUTURE

BY THE GRACE OF GOD”

communities: the teachers and local villagers, who are Maronite Christians, and the children and their parents, who are Sunni Muslim and mostly from Syria.

Emil explains the school’s impact: “We are showing love, respect. And telling them clearly this is from the Lord. They don’t look at Christians as enemies anymore. They don’t look at Lebanese as enemies any more.

Lebanese and Syrians have been enemies since the [Lebanese] civil war in 1975. To have a Lebanese person in his homeland accepting a Syrian and treating them equal, that’s a real miracle. One head of tribe told me, ‘You are growing a seed, one day it will flourish.’ We are changing the future by the grace of God.” Lebanon has not had many good news stories in 2020, but Phil and Sylvie said, “This has been a great project: while the country has been falling apart, we have been building something new. We pray that this will be a great witness to God’s glory.”

GIVE

As well as providing education, this project builds bridges between

CMS people in mission rely on generous supporters like you. Join in at churchmissionsociety.org/give

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THANK YOU!

WHAT A YEAR! Catriona Brickel, individual fundraising team leader at Church Mission Society, reflects on 2020 – a year of exceptional generosity from our supporters.

C

MS is blessed by a large, loyal group of supporters.

You are fantastically knowledgeable and incredibly passionate about God’s mission.

I know that CMS holds a very special place in your heart.

But even so, it was hard not to worry last year. As we retreated inside our homes in March 2020, I wondered: will mission be high on people’s agendas? Will churches be able to give at the same levels as before? Will people understand that CMS people in mission still need their prayerful support?

The answer, of course, was YES!

EVEN A PANDEMIC CAN’T STOP CHURCHES GIVING Over the spring and summer last year, we heard from several churches who were expecting huge losses financially. Nevertheless, they

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were determined to keep up their giving!

True to their word, CMS supporting churches gave sacrificially to ensure their mission partners could continue to follow God’s call on their lives with CMS. One church, on hearing about their mission partner’s funding difficulties, asked members in their congregation to give a little extra.

As a result, they donated £6,000, making up the entire shortfall!

GOD PROVIDED THROUGH HIS PEOPLE In May, we launched an emergency appeal to protect the future of God’s mission through CMS. We prayed that God would bless this effort and inspire his people to give. Of course, he answered our prayers beyond our wildest expectations, as CMS supporters gave over £170,000.

This generosity of spirit continued throughout the year.

Many people gave for the first time

as they understood the unique ability of CMS people in mission to respond to the growing need.

INSPIRED EFFORTS INSPIRING OTHERS My reflection on 2020 wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Canon John Harwood. In addition to raising £15,000 for CMS through his sponsored walk in June, he also inspired others to use their own abilities to achieve additional impact.

Citing John’s example, in December, a generous supporter came forward and agreed to match donations to our Christmas appeal up to a total of £10,000. Key to this decision was their desire to encourage others in serving God, whether through giving, praying or doing.

2020 was an unforgettable year – it was the year I learned to never underestimate the sacrificial generosity of CMS supporters.

Thank you!

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Top left: Canon John Harwood’s sponsored walk inspired other supporters as well as raising money Top right: Anna and Chris Hembury received food donations from a supporting church for the breakfast club they run

8–12 MARCH 2021

Prayerlines M 8 MAR // ALDERSHOT Pioneer Jackie Maw has been building community on a new housing development in Aldershot for the past four years, but is now on the move as the grant funding has been cut. Give thanks that the mission will continue with volunteers and pray for God’s guidance.

T 9 MAR // BRITAIN As director of theology for global Christian environmental organisation A Rocha, Dave Bookless is helping God’s people bring the whole gospel to the whole of creation. Pray for wisdom for Dave in prioritising, in knowing when to say no and in finding co-workers to share the load.

W 10 MAR // ROMSEY Fiona Jenvey is an ordinand with Romsey Abbey, which has strong links with a retreat centre. Pray for Fiona’s work of ministering through online services alongside looking to develop contemplative services in Romsey Abbey and a ministry of Christian art, and one day run her own retreat centre.

Th 11 MAR // PLYMOUTH Church worker Ruth Sayers asks for prayer for the churches’ Restock Your Larder programme; for families to have the courage to come forward for help.

Pray, too, that the work club is able to fully open up so Ruth and others can support those who are looking for work.

F 12 MAR // WORCESTER Pioneer Sarah Jayne Hewitt is a fulltime lay missioner in the Deanery of Evesham alongside her research around engaging rural churches in missional entrepreneurship using their current resources and context. Please pray for peace and headspace to hold together ministry, studying and preparing for a bishops advisory panel this spring. 23

MISSION SPIRITUALITY

MISSION WITH IMAGINATION: SEEKING THE PLACE OF PRAYER

In demanding times, mission-asusual is not an option. Ian Adams, mission spirituality adviser at Church Mission Society, brings inspiration from Acts for challenging times.

WEEKEND FOCUS Saturday–Sunday 13–14 March

SEEKING THE PLACE OF PRAYER

By Ian Adams, mission spirituality adviser for Church Mission Society This weekend focus links to the article on the right.

You do not pray alone. As you pray, countless others are praying across the world. Many are praying near you today.

Prayers of praise, of thanksgiving and of yearning. Some will be praying with great confidence. Others will be praying in desperation.

Is it possible that part of your mission might be to pray alongside others, particularly those who doubt if their prayers are being heard?

Holy Spirit, Spirit of Jesus guide me to the places of prayer and to the people of prayer – that I might pray with them and that together we might find you waiting for us.

Email: ian.adams@ 24 churchmissionsociety.org

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T

hankfully, long before us, others have wrestled with the needs of mission in challenging circumstances. The story of Paul and Silas in Macedonia and their imaginative approach to mission, told in Acts 16, may be a particular gift to us in these times.

Their Macedonian adventure begins with some obstacles.

They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; so, passing

by Mysia, they went down to Troas. Acts 16:6–8 Paul and Silas are forbidden from speaking the word in Asia.

Then they are prevented from going into Bithynia. And it’s interesting that these obstacles

are pictured as being of God’s making. Paul and Silas’s good intentions are, for some reason, not allowed to take place by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus.

OBSTACLES AS GIFTS? Could it be that some of the obstacles we face are, if not at the instigation of God (although we cannot rule that out), at least utilised by God, to direct our attention to something else we are meant to be doing, or somewhere else we are called to be?

We tend, consciously or unconsciously, to turn things over in our minds at night.

Perhaps Paul is no different. And in the night he receives a vision: During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come

This is a profoundly imaginative mission question.

SEEKING THE PERSON OF PEACE

over to Macedonia and help us.”

When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. Acts 16:9–10

OPEN TO REDIRECTION? Not there, over here, says the man, come over to Macedonia.

Mission takes on a new and unplanned direction. Are we open to God’s redirection in the darkness of our unknowing?

So Paul and Silas change their plans and head for Macedonia.

We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony.

We remained in this city for some days. Acts 16:11–12 They come to Philippi. And, we are told, remain there for some days.

PRESENT, CURIOUS AND ALERT Could it be that our remaining in the place to which we are now

called will be an act of mission imagination? Simply being present, curious and alert?

And after a few days of this remaining, Paul and Silas take a simple but imaginative step. They go to where people pray. And they make themselves at home there, talking about prayer with those who pray.

On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. Acts 16:13

SEEKING THE PLACE OF PRAYER What a principle for imaginative mission. Start by engaging with those who are already on the prayer journey. Their prayer may look very different from ours. We are not told if Paul and Silas prayed with the women they met, but I like to think so. And they clearly respected the women who they met there.

Where are the places of prayer in our context? The places where, in words or actions, people are opening themselves up to the possibility of divine encounter?

As so often in the story of Christ’s mission, the transformation of a particular community begins to take shape in the life of one person. In Philippi this person of peace and prayer is Lydia. She appears to be the first person to be baptised across the Aegean sea in Europe. Her household follow her into baptism, and soon those bringing news of the hospitality of God become the ones receiving hospitality.

A certain woman named Lydia, a worshipper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptised, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us. Acts 16:14–15

SHINE LIKE STARS IN THE WORLD We don’t hear anything more about Lydia, but we know that the church of which she presumably was a founding member goes on to be a source of great joy to Paul, and to shine like stars in the world.* Let us give thanks for Lydia, for Paul and for Silas, and for the church in Philippi – and, inspired by them, seek to follow Jesus the Christ with renewed imagination and devotion ourselves.

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*Philippians 1:3 and 2:15

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FEATURE STORY

LOCKDOWN OPENING HOMES TO JESUS IN MANILA The pandemic and resulting lockdown have forced people all over the world to rethink how we do so many things – from school and work to the weekly food shop, keeping up with friends and more. In the Philippines, the team behind Jigsaw Kids Ministries were forced to reimagine their ministry, with surprising results.

Top: Local women are happy to receive food packages for their families Right: Providing necessities for families in Manila Bottom: Handing out food to a local community

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ission partners Kate and Tim Lee, together with members of a local church, founded Jigsaw Kids Ministries back in 2003 to share God’s love with vulnerable children in Manila. Former local partner Lendehl Sallidao was also involved with Jigsaw for six years before going on to serve with the Episcopal Diocese of Central Philippines.

Over the years Jigsaw has grown into a child, youth and family development organisation working with over 1,000 children a week

in four deprived areas of Manila.

These days, Kate and Tim support Jigsaw from Malaysia, helping it to grow into an independent, sustainable Filipino organisation.

CLOSED DOWN BY LOCKDOWN Early last year, lockdown forced some of Jigsaw Ministries’ core activities to be put on hold. Their kids’ clubs, where hundreds of children could come and play, hear Bible stories and learn to pray together in communities around

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Manila, had to stop for now.

Harsh lockdown impacted thousands of the poorest children and their families, resulting in malnutrition and near-starvation for many. In this initial phase of the pandemic, Jigsaw felt called to focus on emergency response. From March to June, God provided funds and opened door after door for Jigsaw to purchase groceries and pack thousands of life-saving food parcels

15–19 MARCH 2021

Prayerlines for more than 1,500 of the poorest families in Manila. These families were so grateful – community officials reported dancing and singing as food packs were distributed! Jigsaw was also able to hand out hygiene kits and baby formula and offer health support, hospital transportation and more.

In June, COVID-19 numbers in the Philippines started to rise. Jigsaw wanted to do something for local kids, but with so many restrictions still in place, what could they do?

They couldn’t reopen their kids’ clubs just yet. Jigsaw felt called to completely reimagine their community ministries and support services to continue to serve the 10 urban communities they are committed to.

A NEW VISION In prayer, the Jigsaw team sought a new vision from God for the ministry, keeping their eye on Jigsaw’s five main goals: community, creativity, boundaries, significance and security. “God graciously led us in his power to develop a ministry that developed these goals in ways we could never imagine,” says Tim. God led the team on an amazing journey to develop what they call Jigsaw at Home, individual activity packs which could be delivered to people’s homes. Alongside meal packs for children, soon the team were putting together weekly Bible, education and craft packs, mums’ sewing ministry bags, home therapy packs for children in their disabilities programme and more besides.

THE KEY TO WHOLE FAMILIES Now, more than 1,500 children, young people and families have hope as they wait eagerly for their Jigsaw at Home packs. Before lockdown hit, children had been coming to Jigsaw’s clubs and learning about Jesus on Jigsaw’s turf. Through the lockdown-inspired Jigsaw at Home packs, Jigsaw is now coming to them and bringing Jesus into hundreds of the most needy, vulnerable homes in the city. Mums are using the sewing ministry bags to teach their children to sew, parents and grandparents are sitting with their children and reading Bible stories together, and whole households are using Jigsaw’s at Home packs to do prayer times together.

Some of the families engaging with these packs are people Jigsaw staff have been trying to connect meaningfully with for 17 years. The team couldn’t have imagined how God would move during this time.

They are in wonder at how God has used lockdown to allow Jigsaw to minister to people’s physical, mental, social and spiritual needs and bring the Scriptures right into the heart of so many homes. The delivery of these packs by the Jigsaw staff has been a ministry in itself, with households grateful to spend a few minutes with someone who will offer a smile and listen to them, and even offer help to other individuals in need by referring them to Jigsaw’s support services. Jigsaw’s philosophy, “all are welcome”, is lived out each week as more households request assistance and are welcomed into the fold.

The Jigsaw team hope they will be able to welcome kids back to their kids’ clubs in June, and plan to continue and develop their Jigsaw at Home initiative in the meantime. “We praise God for the faith, hope, purpose, well-being and love that is growing despite the lockdown,” says Tim.

M 15 MAR // SPAIN Sarah and Felipe Yanez ask for prayer for the food banks they work with as they continue to provide essential food to families in Alhaurin de la Torre and Malaga. Pray for opportunities to share the hope that Christ gives us, especially in uncertain and economically challenging times.

T 16 MAR // NORTH AFRICA Mission partners who returned to their post in North Africa in October ask for prayer for God to lead them to the people and families he is already working with as they lead trekking groups, disciple local Christians, homeschool their children and teach healthcare and first aid.

W 17 MAR // LEBANON Pray for Nabil and Sarah Shehadi, developing Alpha courses online in the Middle East. In this context, where many do not have access to a physical church community, pray for churches, schools and prisons to make the most of this tool for the salvation and healing of many.

Th 18 MAR // SPAIN/N AFRICA Unable to support believers by visiting them due to the pandemic, local partner H has learned new ways of doing discipleship training for North Africans over the past year. Pray for a new Zoom community of Arabic speakers who meet weekly; for God to strengthen each one through the group.

F 19 MAR // MIDDLE EAST Mission partner R, working with a family of four churches, asks for prayer for local followers of Jesus to be ready, equipped and resourced to respond to pressing issues all around them and share God’s 27 love with the city.

REFLECTION

MISSION IN A DIFFERENT WORLD

WEEKEND FOCUS

Susann Haehnel, vocational recruitment manager at Church Mission Society, reflects on change and opportunities to explore our calling in mission.

Saturday–Sunday 20–21 March

“I BELIEVE IN YOU”

By R, who works with a family of four churches in the Middle East involved in church planting, outreach, youth and children’s work, discipleship training, prayer events and strengthening local Christian groups

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he world is no longer what it was a year ago. So much change and uncertainty makes us ask questions.

Questions about God, ourselves, the world and our role in it.

Some may understandably come from fear: “When can we return to normal?” Others from a desire for clarity: “When will I be able to hug my friends again?”

Or even sheer desperation: “When will this end?” “How long, oh Lord?”

We’ve been dealing with the reality of COVID-19 for almost a year. It’s been a process of sudden stop, adaptation and continual evolving. That’s the hard bit.

We’ve not been able to settle into one thing and then get on with it.

There is still no “new normal”.

I came across this quote from author and activist Sonya Renee Taylor a few months ago, which helped put my desire for a return to normal in a fresh perspective. I hope it does the same for you: “We will not go back to normal.

Normal never was. Our precorona existence was not normal, other than we normalized greed,

My time in England last year was very blessed and memorable, especially as we welcomed Baby Theo to the family. He is officially my grandnephew, but he really feels more like a grandson. My family was grateful to have been together and I was doubly grateful to unexpectedly be able to spend so much time at home.

Baby Theo struggles to find his thumb.

One day while looking for his thumb he looked so thoughtful. Of course, looking for a “lost” thumb is serious business!

While striving with this serious business, he heard his mum’s voice; saw her face.

She was saying, “Theo, you can do this, I believe in you, you can do this!” The joy on Theo’s face was priceless. He forgot his struggle and was just overjoyed to see the face of the one who unconditionally loves him. To me it was a picture of God’s love for us. In our day-to-day striving and struggling, as we deal with serious matters of life, may we be able to see the smile on our Heavenly Father’s face saying, “I believe in you, you can do this!”

Then we will have hearts full of joy and a renewed strength to deal with the serious matters and issues before us.

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Pray for R to remember God’s confidence in her when things are difficult.

inequity, exhaustion, depletion, extraction, disconnection, confusion, rage, hoarding, hate, and lack. We should not long to return, my friends. We are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment, one that fits all of humanity and nature.”1 This articulates where we’ve come from and the wrestling over what we’re asked to leave behind right now. Change is needed. Change takes courage, imagination, hope. Where do we start to imagine a different future? I was drawn to Luke 4 where Jesus articulates what could, should and will be: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, and he has anointed me to be hope for the poor, freedom for the brokenhearted, and new eyes for the blind, and to preach to prisoners, ‘You are set free!’ I have come to share the message of Jubilee, for the time of God’s great acceptance has begun.” Luke 4:18–19 (The Passion Translation) For us as Christians, Jesus needs to be the starting point for lasting change. I love how Luke 4:21 is interpreted in The Message:

Brene Brown with Sonya Renee Taylor on “The Body is Not an Apology” (podcast 16 September 2020). brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-sonya-renee-taylor-on-the-body-is-not-an-apology/

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“It’s time to discern where the doors open up. This season calls for innovative ways of doing things, living missionally and sharing Jesus with others.”

“This is God’s year to act!” This is God’s time to work and we’re invited to be a part of that. We are co-labourers with Christ. This is an invitation to be part of the change. What’s your part in it?

This process of recognising the need for change and accepting the invitation to be part of it will lead to hearing and articulating a personal call. The call to be part of God’s mission in our own unique ways. Ask God what your specific part is to be.

Sonya Renee Taylor invites us to let go of a nostalgic view of the past. There is an invitation to work towards a different future.

However, I believe there are also gifts in this current, in-between season.

It’s a time of preparation.

Releasing people in mission, especially overseas mission, takes preparation. Preparing our hearts in prayer, un-learning and re-learning, gathering people around us to journey with us and having our attitudes examined.

It’s a time for experimentation. Explore options locally and digitally. This unprecedented crisis does offer

new opportunities to connect with other people in mission, offers space to explore things from your own home, to try things out in our own contexts (government regulations permitting, of course). I recently heard of one of our gap year alumni who started an online Bible study group for her friends exploring faith. She said her friends would never have come to church or even a Christian Union event, but wanted to find out about Jesus and the Bible.

It’s a time for us to kneel at the feet of Jesus. Pray, pray, pray and then pray some more. Listen to what the Spirit is saying. Listen to prophetic voices who will start to help us imagine a different future.

It’s time to discern where the doors open up. This season calls for innovative ways of doing things, living missionally and sharing Jesus with others. It’s time for us to push new doors.

God’s call on our lives hasn’t changed. We need to continue to discern God’s call in the world and in our lives. How we engage in mission requires fresh ideas. That’s what makes it an adventure, following Jesus.

EXPLORE

If you feel a nudge to explore your sense of calling, check out our free resources at churchmissionsociety. org/explore and contact Susann to talk more at vro@churchmissionsociety.org

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FEATURE STORY

20 YEARS IN 2020 I

’ve been in Lima, in the shanty town area, just over 20 years. I lead Shalom, a church for people with disabilities and their families and a centre for children with disabilities and other special needs, providing a range of therapies.

Before lockdown, we had 108 children coming to the centre every week. They would come once or twice, depending on the therapies, their diagnosis, what their needs were and also, because we charge a nominal amount, what the parents were able to afford. We mainly cater for those who are not able to afford regular therapies or weren’t able to travel to the big hospitals. But working with people with disabilities was never part of my plan…

BEGINNINGS I came to Peru in 2000 at the invitation of the bishop to work with income-generating and social projects – a sewing project, schools, medical work – to try to help them become sustainable. I’m a teacher and also worked for Tearfund. I had some background in development.

I did a lot of project writing and training on how to write reports, how to be sustainable, how to develop income-generating small businesses.

When I arrived, I started attending and serving with Jesus

In August 2020, mission partner Pat Blanchard marked 20 years in mission in Peru. It’s been a journey full of surprises.

El Nazareno Church, who were looking for a woman to work with the women of the church. When there were changes and the deacons moved on, I took on leading the church in 2005 as a lay minister, before being ordained deacon in November 2006 (having previously studied at London Bible College).

We came across a young man with cerebral palsy and he needed a wheelchair. We found out where we could get one and continued working with the organisation that helped us, providing wheelchairs and support. People were trained and we started going out into the community, getting to know some of the mums with children with disabilities. And we saw a great need.

AN ACCESSIBLE CHURCH We started the therapies in 2005. People wanted to know more about faith, so we started a church in 2008. My first church was up in the hills, had lots of cobblestones and wasn’t accessible. We started somewhere with ramps, on the ground floor, meeting in somebody’s garage. The church community is

Top right: Pat and the team at Shalom helped families with food parcels in 2020 Bottom: Getting creative: children choose Bible story pictures from Shalom

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made up of families of children with disabilities, people with disabilities, those who have got wheelchairs from us. The therapy centre and church kind of blended together.

We’re always doing stuff with the mums while they’re waiting: showing videos, doing Bible studies, sharing faith.

Shalom is part of a network in our district. It’s been great to work with other NGOs, share resources and be involved in training local government officers in how to work with people with disabilities.

I didn’t intend to set up projects for people with disabilities. It’s not something I was involved in previously. It’s been an amazing opportunity, but very challenging.

It’s something God has put on my heart. We really enjoy being a community together, realising that

22–26 MARCH 2021

Prayerlines M 22 MAR // PERU Pat Blanchard serves in Lima with Shalom Ministries, ministering to over 100 children with disabilities and their families with therapies, workshops and pastoral care. Pray for wisdom for Pat and others as they consider the future of the therapy project.

we’re all loved by God and that we’ve all got a place and we can all do things.

For me, an important passage is 2 Samuel 9. David asks how he can show kindness to one of Saul’s descendants and Mephibosheth is carried to the king’s table and invited to eat there. We’re in that party. I think that’s what people with disabilities need to know, that they don’t just have to wait for heaven. They can enjoy life now.

Sitting at the king’s table starts now, once people know that God loves them and they are welcomed into community, not excluded.

WORSHIP TOGETHER Most of our church family have disabilities, but we all worship together, whether we have a disability or not. We try to be creative, using images in our liturgy and a lot of singing, which I try to promote in the diocese. They’ve kept that for Sunday school, but even adults engage better seeing an image, drawing or listening to music, so there’s a range of sensory approaches to incorporate.

I’d like to make sure all our churches are accessible, practically and spiritually. People with disabilities can engage and touch other people’s lives.

I remember an amazing time when we confirmed three young people with disabilities. The

bishop asked a question and their faces just lit up. And as they opened their mouths, the whole congregation were almost in tears. That’s probably one of the most amazing times, when I really felt that God was so present.

People can express themselves if you give them the opportunity.

We have an open prayer time in church. And Brenda, who’s 25 with learning difficulties, prays. We don’t always understand it, but she knows she’s talking to God, she knows he’s going to answer and we can all respond with amen.

LOOKING FORWARD The Shalom project has been paused since the end of September and Shalom church continues to meet virtually. So we look to the future when things can restart again, perhaps in an even better form to include many others. We’ve distributed food parcels to new contacts in the local community so we hope we can include them in a more positive way in faith and community.

GIVE

Pat has been prayerfully supported for over 20 years by people like you.

Join in the CMS mission journey at churchmissionsociety.org/give THE C A LL – W I NTE R 2 0 2 1

T 23 MAR // PARAGUAY Pray for Tim Curtis as he takes on more responsibility for the Anglican Centre in Rio Verde and as he continues to translate discipleship training materials into Spanish and Enxet as part of his work, alongside church leaders, of promoting use of the Scriptures in the Chaco region.

W 24 MAR // GUATEMALA Mark and Rosalie Balfour, providing pastoral support for Street Kids Direct workers in Central America, write: “We want our home, Betania, to be a place where people can encounter Jesus and experience his love for them. Please pray for us as we manage the home and host people.”

Th 25 MAR // BRAZIL Daniel and Sarah Brito Medeiros are working in Recife with ReVive, a safe house for children at risk. They ask for prayer for unity among churches locally and across the country. Pray for pastors to catch the vision of building the Kingdom of God in partnership.

F 26 MAR // ARGENTINA “A year on from the start of the pandemic, indigenous churches have been especially challenged by restrictions on meeting. Pray for a deepening of faith and commitment as bishops, pastors and lay leaders adapt to the new normal,” write Nick Drayson (diocesan bishop) and Catherine Le Tissier (who coordinates the Argentine branch of Mothers’ Union).

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HOW TO...

WEEKEND FOCUS Saturday–Palm Sunday 27–28 March

SEND US A PRAYER We invite you to write to us with a prayer request and we will count it our privilege to pray for you: info@churchmissionsociety.org

M 29 MAR // WESTONSUPER-MARE Pioneer Fiona Mayne, working on a new housing estate, asks for prayer for wisdom and discernment on the next steps in building a community cafe/church on donated land. Pray for more people to join her in this venture and for God to guide them clearly.

T 30 MAR // NORTH LONDON Jenny Robinson is an ordinand in her first year of training with CMS. Pray for direction and discernment for Jenny and her husband (a youth and family worker) as they determine whether their ministry should be within a traditional church setting or in the community.

W 31 MAR // UK A fresh batch of CMS’s pioneer students and lay pioneers graduated and were licensed in December last year. Pray for them as they continue in their various ministries and share God’s love in a wide range of communities throughout the32 UK.

HOW TO...

SHARE YOUR FAITH IN JESUS Paul Thaxter, until recently director of international mission at Church Mission Society, shares five handy disciplines developed over his 25 years in mission to help each of us to share good news in our contexts.

START WITH YOU – AND WITH JESUS The first person to be evangelised so often seems to be myself. I keep becoming convinced Jesus is the most ultimate significant person. He really is the USP of the Church, without whom we can neither do nor say anything worthwhile as Christians. I am constantly surprised by how people’s lives are transformed when they encounter him. I keep getting converted to the fact that Jesus is good news.

BE PLAYFUL In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus draws a large crowd as he shares about the vagaries of being a sower – an experience they would have all been aware of, directly or indirectly. Jesus was a terrific storyteller, sowing ideas, thoughts, riddles and mystery within everyday life. He made people think more, rather than

telling them what to think. Author Tom Thatcher, in his stimulating work Jesus the Riddler, even refers to Jesus as helping people think less clearly and less certainly – creating space for alternative possibilities.

Playfulness can be a good approach. When I worked in the City, I would return to work on a Monday and occasionally throw out the comment, “You won’t believe what happened to me this weekend…”. In an open plan office there was always someone who took the bait!

ASK QUESTIONS We do not have to have the answer to everything – what a relief! We can develop questioning that arouses curiosity, and emotional and intellectual searching, with a keen ear to listen to what people really think and believe. So learn to ask questions: What do you believe in? What do you consider to be true, beautiful

“We do not have to have the answer to everything – what a relief!”

or valuable? Do you think religion and atheism are often toxic?

Have you ever genuinely asked someone what would it take for them to consider following the way of Jesus Christ? Or done community research to see what it would take for communities to engage openly and not guardedly with a church initiative? Sharing faith is both a personal and corporate endeavour, but questions may be more important initially than answers.

TELL STORIES Telling stories is a favourite pastime of mine. I admit I am boring or completely left field at times, but you have to learn your craft somewhere and with someone! Most people who share their faith find stories convenient vehicles for imparting knowledge and faith. Most world religions advocate engaging in this process.

I was drinking coffee with a colleague one afternoon when he said, “When I hear the word story I think it is something that has just been made up.” Stimulated by the caffeine perhaps, I quipped back, “Story is often the safest vehicle to convey truth.” Eugene Peterson says stories are “verbal acts of hospitality”.

I agree: stories allow people to enter on their own terms. I was speaking in a Maori conference in New Zealand and shared what they already knew: “Stories invite you into the room but do not tell you where to sit!” So why

not share the message of Christ in story form?

When I have focused discerningly on aspects of the Bible’s big story, people of all faiths and none genuinely seem more receptive. At the centre of each person’s worldview is a mosaic of stories and the only way to dislodge some untrue or life-limiting stories is to replace them with better ones. As Tom Wright suggests, where better to look than in the biblical narratives of Jesus? So rather than using Bible verses like bullets in an evangelistic gun aimed at protecting ourselves and slaying our imagined enemy, why not tell stories?

BE A WITNESS We are called to be witnesses, to give testimony to God’s ongoing work in our lives. The early church saw and spoke of God at work and their lives being changed, both personally and in how they related to wider society. They did not have all the answers, there were discrepancies and confusion, but there was an effusion of hope. Their faith in Jesus changed how they treated the living, the dead

and their enemies. It is hard to make sense of it from an analytical point of view, especially as people made such incredible sacrifices for others and got nothing material in return.

Ultimately, sharing our faith is letting others know that we have each encountered a living God who brings pardon from guilt, freedom from lifedominating appetites, a more selfless perspective, prayers of forgiveness offered for enemies and a life of fullness. The witness has discovered that the secret of life is not grabbing what you can and holding on with clenched fists but opening our hands and losing our life for Jesus’ sake and the gospel. It is as we give ourselves away that we find ourselves and most importantly discover the power and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He ultimately is his own witness.

Maranatha.

LEARN

For more inspiring mission resources from Church Mission Society, go to churchmissionsociety.org/resources

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COMMUNITY NEWS CHURCH MISSION SOCIETY STAFF AND PEOPLE IN MISSION CHANGES CMS STAFF CHANGES FAREWELL TO:

PEOPLE IN MISSION CHANGES

Evy Prentice, junior graphic designer (September); Angus Crichton, assistant undergraduate programmes coordinator and lecturer (October); Emily Roux, church relations officer (November); Paul Bradbury, pioneer hub coordinator (December); Grace Jamieson, supporter care assistant (January); Paul Thaxter, director of international mission (January).

MPS ENDING SERVICE:

CHANGES:

Derek and Jane Waller have retired after six years serving in South Sudan and Madagascar, engaging in discipleship of young believers. They had earlier served in Sudan for three years in the 1980s.

Adina Lewis, legacy officer, began maternity leave (September); Gilberto Da Silva, vocational recruitment officer, took up additional role as church relations officer (November).

Jenny Green has retired after 26 years as a mission partner: 20 in Uganda, establishing children’s and youth ministry in the Diocese of Muhabura and setting up Potter’s Village for abandoned babies, and the last six in Bradford, where she engaged in outreach into the community in a deprived area.

MPS BEGINNING SERVICE:

Bev Richardson has returned longterm to Paraguay where she is

chaplain at the Colegio San Andres in Asuncion.

Neil and Sue Browning have gone to Moyo, Uganda, where they will serve both the local community and the refugee community from South Sudan. Neil, a surgeon, will work in the local hospital and Sue will teach at Kajo-Keji Bible College.

M and H have returned to North Africa where they run a business and reach out to local people.

CHANGING ROLE:

Garry Ion returned to Cumbria in March after 25 years in Uganda.

He’ll now be working with Restore, a community in Carlisle Diocese, particularly engaging in Men in Sheds, which seeks to create a safe space for men to come together, support each other and make things.

COMMUNITY COMMITMENT

Community mission enabler Marcio Ciechanovicz reflects on committing to mission this Lent.

M

embers of the CMS community will be familiar with our community affirmation, which we encourage them to renew each Lent. But you don’t have to be a community member for this to help you reflect on and engage in mission.

THE CMS COMMUNITY AFFIRMATION: I’m a member of the CMS mission community because: I believe God is still working in our world and I want to be part of this.

I want my life to be about mission and I know that mission isn’t someone else’s job – it’s mine.

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I want to live for Jesus daily and I realise I need fuel for this journey.

As a member of the CMS mission community, I desire to help my local Christian community keep mission a priority.

I also wish to join other CMS members in regularly renewing my mind and spirit and my commitment to mission.

And what is the best way to renew and keep this affirmation? I cannot imagine anything better than looking to Jesus and him alone. He is the only one who can renew our heart and the one who affirmed us in the love of the eternal Father once for all!

When we think about Lent and

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look towards Easter, what do we see?

Through the wilderness, the last supper, the agony of Gethsemane while the disciples slept, false accusations, Peter’s denial, the disciples fleeing, the mocking, scorn and brutal death? We see that Jesus is the only one who has power to remain faithful constantly. I am not always faithful. However, he died and rose again so we can count on his Spirit to lead us when we lack imagination or are held back as we get involved in mission.

Let’s take time this Lent to ask Jesus to help us to fulfil the Father’s will and to fulfil our community affirmation.

Find out more about the CMS community at churchmissionsociety.org

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churchmissionsociety.org/pim

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To find out more about our people in mission go to:

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PLACES WHERE WE ARE PUTTING OUR CALL INTO ACTION 1.

Argentina 2.

Belgium 3.

Bolivia 4.

Brazil 5.

Britain 6.

Burundi 7.

Cambodia 8.

Central African Republic 9.

Chile 10. Colombia 11. DR Congo 12. Ecuador 13. Egypt 14. Ethiopia 15. Germany 16. Guatemala 17. Honduras 18. India 19. Indonesia 20. Israel/Palestine 21. Jordan 22. Kenya 23. Lebanon 24. Malawi 25. Malaysia 26. Mozambique 27. Moldova 28. Nepal 29. Netherlands 30. Nigeria 31. Pakistan 32. Paraguay 33. Peru 34. Philippines 35. Romania 36. Rwanda 37. Serbia 38. South Africa 39. South Sudan 40. Spain 41. Sri Lanka 42. Sudan 43. Taiwan 44. Tanzania 45. Thailand 46. Uganda 47. Ukraine 48. Uruguay

r us from evil.

Lead us not into temptation, but delive

(Matthew 6:13)

THIS LENT, YOUNG PEOPLE IN HONDURAS NEED YOU.

Above: Young people find hope through mentoring programmes

Growing up in poverty and in difficult family situations, many young people are longing to be valued, to have a future and a place to belong.

Many are tempted to join gangs, which seem to offer them all these things. A gang will also take away their freedom and pull them into a life of crime, but many young people don’t know there’s an alternative.

We know Jesus loves each one of these children and wants to offer them freedom, a future and a place to belong.

Mission partner Steve Poulson and his colleagues mentor young people in Honduras, teaching them their true value in Jesus. They give them a place to belong at mentoring centres and after-school clubs. They encourage them in their education, giving them the best chance at a solid future and protecting them from the temptation to join a gang.

Give now and play your part in making vital work like this happen. Without you, people in mission like Steve may not be able to be there for the vulnerable people who need them most.

Steve Poulson and his colleag ues introduce young people to a different futu re

GIVE ONLINE:

churchmissionsociety.org/lent2021 36

The call in action

Call 01865 787489 or fill in the enclosed form and return it to us.