The Call - issue 3 - Winter 2016-17

Mission from the margins ‘From’ – not ‘to’

Olympic opportunity Carrying the torch for the gospel in Brazil

When calls in action... ...change a life in Libya

WHEN CULTURES

CONVERGE The African Church’s unexpected chance to reach thousands of Chinese people

THE CALL IN ACTIO N

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THE CALL - WINTER 2017

ISSUE 3 | WINTER 2017

The Call

The call in action

Welcome to The Call, produced quarterly

by Church Mission Society.

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 NEWS

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MISSION MEANS...

04 10

CULTURES CONVERGE

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COMMUNITY NEWS

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OLYMPIC OPPORTUNITY

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SPREADING ANTI-GOSPEL

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MISSION ISSUES

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HOW TO...

What God is doing through your prayers and gifts

The African Church’s chance to reach thousands of Chinese people

This summer, our mission team in Brazil carried a torch for the gospel

Mission from – not just to – the margins: two perspectives

...doing as little as possible, according to Eluned and Mat

A “mission experiment”, a sponsored walk and important updates

A candid reflection on the global need for deep discipleship

...be a change-maker: three aspects of transformation to look out for

... and much more churchmissionsociety.org 2

CHURCH MISSIO N SO CIETY

WELCOME

Jesus Christ THE HEART OF GOD’S MISSION

PHILIP MOUNSTEPHEN, EXECUTIVE LEADER

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

/churchmissionsociety @cmsmission Church Mission Society is a mission community acknowledged by the Church of England Registered Company No.6985330 and Registered Charity No.1131655 (England & Wales). 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 number 1131655-1 (previously 220297).

Registered and principal offices of all above entities: Watlington Road, Oxford, OX4 6BZ.

hat would you say is the main difference between the Old and New Testaments? You could answer in all kinds of ways. You could point out that the former is written (mainly) in Hebrew and the latter (mainly) in Greek.

You could emphasise that while one deals principally with one nation and one people, the focus of the other is increasingly on all nations and all people. You might stress that one is considerably longer than the other.

But if you wanted to sum up the difference in one word, or rather in one name, surely we should just say, “Jesus”. Jesus is the big difference between the Old and New Testaments.

Lest you have any fear in this regard, I don’t mean to denigrate the Old Testament in any way. I have long felt that you cannot claim to be a student of the New Testament without first being a student of the Old. The Old Testament clearly paves the way for the New, and you cannot fully understand one without the other.

But what is first hinted at and then promised in the Old is only revealed in the New. “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets,” says the writer to the Hebrews “but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2 RSV). The fullest revelation of the nature, character and heart of God only comes in the New Testament through the advent of his Son. Why make that point, about the difference between the two Testaments? It’s simply to emphasise that Jesus Christ is the absolute culmination of all God’s purposes through the whole of Scripture and through all of history.

He is the point to which it all leads.

He alone completes the picture. He

is indeed the Alpha and the Omega (Revelation 1:8): he is before all things and will outlast all things.

There’s been a healthy recovery in recent years of an understanding of mission as missio Dei, the mission of God. As I said in the last edition of The Call, this perspective emphasises that mission is God’s business before it is ours. The Church of God does not set the agenda for mission.

Mission sets the agenda for the Church of God.

“Our motivation is the conviction that Jesus is Lord of all and there is nothing that he does not care for and nothing he cannot transform.”

But there is perhaps a danger in so emphasising missio Dei that we assume that the mission of God is a nebulous concept: an expression of some vague, divine goodwill towards the whole world. The mission of God is in fact sharply focused, focused specifically on his Son, Jesus Christ. Indeed God has no mission apart from Jesus.

As Paul writes to the Colossians: “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:19-20 NRSV).

Everything of significance our God has done, in creation and in redemption, he has done in and

THE CALL - WINTER 2017

through Jesus.

This means that our mission, Church Mission Society’s mission, must in turn be sharply focused on Jesus, and in particular on the proclamation that “Jesus is Lord”.

In saying this, we proclaim that he has no rivals and everything in heaven and on earth must be brought under his just, gentle and generous rule.

CMS talks much about “holistic” mission: mission that expresses concern for the whole person, for whole communities and for all of creation. Our motivation for this, however, is not that we believe in vague, divine goodwill towards the whole world. Rather our motivation is the conviction that Jesus is Lord of all and there is nothing that he does not care for and nothing he cannot transform.

So we will never buy into any sacred/secular divide. We will insist that Jesus is Lord of all and that his lordship must be seen in every area of life. It was that same conviction that drove our founders to campaign tirelessly not only for world mission but also for the abolition of slavery.

Advent, the season we are entering, is one of the richest in the Church’s year, though sadly it is often misunderstood. Of course there are elements in it of preparing to celebrate Jesus’ first coming. But overwhelmingly its purpose is to focus our minds on his second coming, when he will come to judge the earth, when his lordship over all will be fully revealed.

The work of mission is to prepare here and now for what will be: to proclaim what will one day become clear to all – that Jesus Christ is Lord. This Advent let’s lift our heads and hearts to Jesus as the one in whom all the purposes of God culminate. Let’s proclaim that he alone is Lord and let us seek his honour and glory above all.

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MISSION NEWS FREE.IN.DEED at festivals: campaign update Christian festivalgoers this summer were delighted by the Church Mission Society FREE.IN.DEED stand, which proved to be one of our most engaging ever.

Staff and volunteers who represented CMS at five Christian festivals, including Big Church Day Out, New Wine and Greenbelt reported a marked lack of reluctance as they invited people to have their ‘mugshot’ taken as if in a police line-up. But rather than ‘putting them away’, we invited them to be ‘set free’ to pursue their own mission call. Participants were initially asked to select a preferred location, area of focus and skill from a list of options.

“It was a pleasure to feel people really did want to find their calling and think about their passion,” reported one volunteer, who added: “It was certainly unique and more often than not, caught people off guard – they were not used to being asked about themselves

and having to go on a journey of selfdiscovery.”

The positive vibes were borne out by the numbers. The total of 1,781 people who took part in FREE.IN.DEED easily surpassed the goal of 1,000. They received followup emails tailored to their interests, with links to a personalised FREE.IN.DEED web page. The recruitment team are following up carefully selected participants by phone.

Thomas Fowler, church mission manager at CMS, said, “It is too early to map the impact on recruitment, fundraising and community membership but we hope to build on the impact of The Mission Experiment, our 2015 festival stand, which has already been a contributor to a 100 per cent increase in recruitment enquiries from the previous year.”

Part of the FREE.IN.DEED summer festival team

Celebrating 30 years of vital support for vulnerable women The Birmingham-based Anawim women’s centre is celebrating its 30th anniversary with new housing in the city for women ex-offenders.

Commenting on this important milestone, Joy Doal, director of the charity, said: “In a new and exciting phase, our women’s centre is building its very own accommodation on site for up to six women at a time who have been released from prison. Our prison in-reach and street outreach team, creche and money advice service will be housed downstairs.”

Joy reports that Anawim has secured more than £1.1 million to cover the construction of the building, already under way.

“As far as we are aware this is the first accommodation of its kind in England,” she added.

Anawim is an Aramaic word meaning the poorest, the outcast, the persecuted – those with no voice. The service was started

by Catholic sisters concerned for women caught in prostitution.

It has expanded to provide much-needed support to hundreds of vulnerable women in and around Birmingham by providing practical help such as counselling, financial advice and rehabilitation.

Joy is a mission associate with Church Mission Society, which means she works independently and connects to CMS for prayer and relational support.

High demand for marriage course in Lebanon

Joy Doal, far left, at Anawim

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A year into their role as Alpha Course coordinators for the Levant, Nabil and Sarah Shehadi – based in Lebanon – report a “very encouraging start, with many new courses and possibilities” in their patch (comprising Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel and Palestine).

The Shehadis were particularly surprised by high demand for Alpha’s Marriage Course.

“On the surface, traditional family values are generally held in high regard,” explains Nabil. “But the stress of living with constant economic and security pressures has caused a lack of resilience in relationships on the one hand, and consumerist/hedonistic lifestyles on the other.”

Divorce rates can be as high as in the West in some communities. Church leaders have expressed the urgent need to support marriages.

The Shehadis are working with several denominations in Lebanon, including GreekCatholic (two dioceses); Maronite (one diocese and contact with two more);

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Above: two marriage course groups

Baptist; Greek Orthodox; Armenian Orthodox and Church Missionary Alliance.

Altogether, Nabil and Sarah have overseen 15 marriage courses this year. These include two courses with Syrian refugees in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, one with a mountain Druze community and one in English with people from Europe. Participants have expressed appreciation for the practical nature of the course, which provides helpful tools for marriage such as good listening skills, conflict resolution and “love languages”. The leaders of the courses with refugees said it was a revolutionary thing in their context, where women are often not listened to or treated as equals.

They hope to develop similar work in the Bekaa Valley with Lebanese churches and with Syrian refugees, who now make up half the population there. The Shehadis sent course material to a church in Aleppo, Syria, and are following up on a request for material from a church in Amman, Jordan.

Meanwhile, six Alpha courses have been run in Arabic and English in parishes, prisons and a school.

MISSION NEWS

NEWS IN BRIEF

The 2016 Pioneer Mission Leadership Training course intake

Record numbers embark on pioneer training This academic year has seen a record number of students enrol on Church Mission Society’s Pioneer Mission Leadership Training course – with a total of 28 new people signing up to train as mission pioneers, mission ordinands and lay pioneers. This represents a significant increase from previous years.

Jonny Baker, director of mission education at Church Mission Society and pioneer training programme leader, said: “This year’s intake is a fabulous endorsement of the quality of the training that Church Mission Society provides and a recognition of the effectiveness of pioneering as an authentic mission route.”

The course – designed by pioneers for pioneers – aims to equip Christians for ground-breaking, transformational and sustainable mission both in the UK and around the world.

This year’s intake is an eclectic bunch – including Will, who is developing a mission community house on a new estate, and Anita, who leads a town centre chaplaincy team. Tracey works with children and families in a semi-rural context and Jo is considering how to blend mission and business on a Derbyshire housing estate. Nick ran a ‘pantomime church’ for 11 years and has now set up an arts centre. There are also three African-born students on the MA programme; they are exploring how to do mission in a multicultural UK context.

Since the course began in 2010 it has seen a steady increase in numbers, reflecting a surge of popularity for pioneer ministry. The Pioneer Mission Leadership Training course offers a full suite of academic options for pioneers – including training for lay and ordained pioneer ministry, a diploma and an MA. To learn more: pioneer.churchmissionsociety.org

New pioneer learning hub opens in Essex In October, the UK’s newest pioneer learning hub opened its doors to receive its first intake of students, who are embarking on a journey to become mission pioneers.

The St Cedd Centre for Pioneer Mission is a joint initiative between Church Mission Society and Chelmsford Diocese. Based at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Romford, it will train locally-based mission pioneers and entrepreneurs.

There are 14 students doing this 18-month training programme, which has been developed by Church Mission Society and an implementation group from St Cedd’s. The programme is divided into six modules, covering a range of topics, including the Bible and mission theology, mission entrepreneurship and spirituality. Alongside classroom studies, students will also work on a pioneering mission initiative of their choice. David Harrigan, a pioneer ordinand for Chelmsford Diocese and part of the leadership team at St Cedd’s, explained how his experience of setting up local community projects could help budding pioneers: “Being involved with a project to transform a plot of wasteland so that it can produce organic

You don’t have to commute to Oxford to do pioneer training

food and participating in a boxercise class where men can meet and explore spirituality, has taught me the importance of building relationships with the people you are trying to help, really getting to know them and their stories.”

The bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Rev Stephen Cottrell, said that establishing St Cedd’s reflected the strategic need to shift more resources towards mission pioneers, whose focus is “the world as it could be” rather than “the church as it is”.

Opening this centre is a key element of Church Mission Society’s long-term plan to equip a new generation of mission pioneers. Future hubs similar to St Cedd’s are being explored in other parts of the country.

THE CALL - WINTER 2017

A Church Mission Society local partner working in the Middle East and North Africa has helped produce an evangelistic film depicting the life of famous fourth century Christian theologian and philosopher St Augustine. Son of Her Tears was filmed in North Africa and released in October. Plans for distribution throughout North Africa are going forward.

An idea for a week-long street mission for children in Flaxfleet, Bradford came to life at the end of August, thanks to the efforts of Church Mission Society’s Jenny Green, who works as a community chaplain, and a number of volunteers. “We had a grand mix of kids, faiths, ages and helpers from all over the place,” says Jenny, adding: “We had fun... and preached the love of God and the saving power of Jesus to young and old.... Thank you everyone who helped and contributed!”

Church Mission Society is now home to Anvil: Journal of Theology and Mission, which will be published online three times a year. The first new-look edition, which was launched in early November, is available at churchmissionsociety.org/anvil to read and to download. The theme is Learn, Pray and Participate in Mission. Anvil’s editorial team includes Cathy Ross, Jonny Baker, Craig Holmes and Tom Wilson as book reviews editor.

A much-needed extension has been built at the ReVive safe house for abused and exploited girls in Olinda, Brazil, thanks to generous donations. Andy and Rose Roberts, who founded and lead ReVive, report: “The dance studio is being used nearly every day; the girls love the sessions. The space will also be used for cinema nights, drumming lessons, self-defence courses and judo classes. The extension is also providing us with a room which our psychologist and social worker can use to meet privately with the girls.” There are currently eight girls, ages 11-17, staying at the safe house; all are recovering from abuse and trauma. Andy and Rose are considering how to use the new extension for work with nonresident girls.

Deaf and disabled artisans at Neema Crafts (Iringa, Tanzania) have become homeowners, which would have been considered impossible just a decade ago. Since Neema was established in 2003, dozens of men and women have gone from begging on the streets to being family breadwinners. Now Neema is helping them purchase land and build their own houses. Ben and Katy Ray, who head up Neema, explained: “We have funds to build 45 homes. A team of local builders have built two homes so far this year.” One of these homes was for a woman called Edda. “We’ve visited her twice since she moved into her new home and she was hardly able to contain her excitement about having her own place.”

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MISSION NEWS Stopping trafficking in post-earthquake Nepal Families in remote areas of Nepal have been shown how to keep children and young women safe from human traffickers, thanks to B and his team, who visited the Kavre, Sindhupalchok and Makawanpur districts earlier this year to raise awareness of the issue.

“Human trafficking is one of the major social problems to have emerged from the devastating earthquake in Nepal last year,” said B. In the disaster’s aftermath “news of children disappearing from earthquake-hit areas in remote parts of the country has become common. Poor and helpless victims were compelled to accept the proposals of strangers who often lured them with the prospect of good jobs, better life and marriage.”

B’s team conducted door-to-door visits, family counselling sessions and meetings with local leaders to educate them about the danger of human trafficking.

“The local people paid attention and were keen to learn more about the root causes and consequences of trafficking,” said B. “One district leader said, ‘We will be very careful and make others be careful.’”

B is from Nepal and is jointly supported by Church Mission Society and Asia CMS.

Promoting peace after terror In the wake of the April 2015 terror attacks on Christian students at Garissa University in Kenya, many were fearful and angry. “There was talk of retaliation, even among some church leaders,” said Duncan Olumbe, the Kenyan leader of Mission Together Africa (MTA).

Among the 142 students killed at the university were a number of Christian Union members who were at a prayer meeting. Duncan and his team visited several Christian Unions to support and encourage them. “We wanted to promote a different message than the prevailing angry rhetoric,” said Duncan. “Our message was that we need to love our enemies while at the same time preparing adequately so we can increase security and understand how to respond after terror if it happens.”

Duncan and his colleagues took this message to approximately 10 Christian Unions and various FOCUS (Fellowship of Christian Unions) Kenya events. “Many of the Christian students who were so traumatised started being encouraged to reflect deeply on these matters. As we approached the first anniversary of the attacks, it was encouraging to see the slow but sure healing progress that a number of Christian students and parents affected are experiencing. It is humbling to have been a part of this process.”

MTA, which connects African Christians with opportunities and resources for cross-cultural mission, continues, in partnership with FOCUS Kenya, to work towards the development of a A time to mourn: the first anniversary “Christian Security of the Garissa attacks Handbook and Response Mechanism to Terror”. Duncan says, “We are committed to helping raise an appropriate biblical response to terrorism in colleges and churches.” Duncan is jointly supported by CMS and CMS-Africa.

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Thousands respond to Jesus during summer outreach in Burundi An estimated 24,000 Burundians heard the gospel and 3,345 people decided to follow Jesus during a massive mission outreach held in Burundi this summer. More than 700 local Burundian missionaries worked tirelessly for two weeks in 22 hospitals across the country.

The outreach was organised by Simon Guillebaud, founder and international director of Great Lakes Outreach International (GLO).

GLO aims to bring hope to thousands of Burundians through outstanding local leaders.

Its work includes peace-building, education, social enterprise and community outreach.

Both the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Health formally approved the summer outreach – “amazing considering the current tensions and suspicions in the country because of rebel movements,” according to Simon.

He continued: “The hospital authorities were mostly very receptive [to our volunteer teams], although there was some opposition.

Sometimes the opposition was overcome by the team’s willingness to donate blood. The 701 folks spent their time washing seeping wounds and soiled patients...and loving them in practical ways like doing their cooking, laundry and general cleaning. They prayed for them, encouraged them and listened to them. Just under 7,000 in-patients were ministered to, along with many more family members and staff.”

Mission associate Simon Guillebaud

GLO has been organising similar summer outreaches every year for the past decade.

Every year amazing stories emerge and this summer was no exception. Simon tells one of a mother at a hospital in Nyanza Lac, who was about to give birth: “She had previously had six stillborn babies and was in total distress. So our team prayed for her. Others told them to leave her alone, but she rebuked them, saying she needed God’s help. Shortly thereafter she gave birth to her first living baby (who is still alive and well), and gave her life to the Lord.”

Another patient at another hospital, 17-yearold Aristide was pronounced dead by the doctor, who withdrew the drip and covered his body with a sheet. The mother started weeping and her cries drew the attention of the GLO team nearby. Simon reports: “One of the volunteers came rushing in and began praying over the corpse. Aristide started breathing again and he and his mother promptly gave their lives to the Lord, along with 41 other people who witnessed or heard about what happened.”

Raising an anti-FGM generation in Kenya A year after being trained about the dangers of female genital mutilation (FGM), girls in Laikipia, Kenya are standing up for their right to not be cut, according to Ann-Marie Wilson, founder and leader of anti-FGM charity 28 Too Many. Her colleague Esther re-visited the rural area in June. “We were encouraged to note that the FGM message was well remembered by the students in all the schools that were visited in the previous year. Some schools have started using school protection orders for girls who are reported as being at risk of FGM. This is supported by providing the girls with boarding facilities.... As a result of the project last year, more girls have been reported to local authorities such as the police and rescue centre One More Day to seek help.”

The initial training was a joint initiative between 28 Too Many, sports charity Cricket Without Boundaries and the renowned

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Renowned cricket team is helping to com’bat’ FGM

Maasai Cricket Warriors team. It used cricket as a vehicle to promote gender equality and help end FGM in the region. More than 1,750 schoolchildren were educated and 24 local teachers and health workers were trained to continue the work. “This year 880 students were trained in just the first two days at four schools and another five schools were trained in the remaining five days,” said Ann-Marie, adding, “We were able to train around 15 girls to be trainers on anti-FGM to their peers.”

FGM affects around 28 per cent of Kenyan women and girls. Esther commented: “Our efforts are creating ripples whose effect we are starting to see, and we believe that this wave of change will bring about the end of FGM and the end to disregarding women’s rights within the next generation.”

WORLD VIEWS

TO BE A TRUE SISTER It was a sad goodbye, but also an answer to prayer.

Lebanon

By Amy Roche in Lebanon

A

few years ago, we met and gradually became friends with a woman called Anna, a single mother from Sri Lanka who came to Lebanon to be a domestic worker. She suffered a terrible ordeal, which is far too common for migrant domestic workers here: abusive work conditions and then forced separation from her son Andy.

Andy used to play with our boys, but his visa to stay here was declined and so a couple of years ago, he went to live with some family members in Sri Lanka while Anna continued to work and send money to support his education in the hope of

Top: David and Amy Roche Bottom: Andy and Anna, now reunited after years of separation

a better future for him. There were times when we met Anna in terrible distress, to the point of her saying that she would end her life if it were not for having to send the finances.

But amazingly, Jesus met her in her darkness.

One day, Anna recounted to me that she had often heard Andy praying to Jesus, even though Anna comes from a Buddhist background – Andy had told her that it’s Jesus who is listening. He had heard about Jesus through friends.

She started reading a Sri Lankan Bible.

Over the next year, she began praying to Jesus herself. One day she told me she knew for the first time that someone was listening to her prayers and she began to wear a necklace with a picture of Jesus around her neck. I will never forget her face as she tried to explain – on more than one occasion – that something was now profoundly different in her life. The pain of being separated from Andy was not gone, but the bleakness was being replaced by the light of hope in Christ. She knew God was close and that he cared for her. “I know that Jesus loves me,” she said, holding her hands to her heart. It struck me how we can over-complicate the wonderful truth of simple faith in Christ.

Anna is one of the most courageous, kind and selfless people I’ve ever met. It has been very humbling to know her, to see how little she complained about the hardships in her life – cheated by Andy’s father, her house fraudulently sold without

THE CALL - WINTER 2017

her permission and struggling with single parenthood in a place where her vulnerability was often taken advantage of, sometimes cruelly. I often felt helpless about what little we could do for her, yet Anna knew we listened and that we cared.

When the opportunity to work back in Sri Lanka came, it was a great answer to prayer. Anna asked me to speak to her new employer and negotiate the best terms. She recently left Lebanon and is now reunited with Andy. After nearly two years apart, they are starting their new life together. I am in regular contact with her; please continue to pray for them both, that Anna will find favour at her place of work, that her employers will be kind and fair and that she and Andy will find a church to belong to. I am asking God to show me how I might be a true sister to more people like Anna.

PRAY Please pray for people from foreign countries living in Lebanon. Pray that God will enable us to reach and support people who need someone to listen and to care.

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WORLD VIEWS

Paradise lost and found in Hull

Hull, UK

By Anna and Chris Hembury

The community garden we helped start was a bit of a struggle this summer. Summer camp and time away have meant that we were not around as much to keep our eye on the ball or enable others to muck in, and when we have been around to check on things we have been a little dismayed and rather too tired to tackle much.

The place has been frequented by a few addicts, not a problem in itself of course, but it has meant a daily check for needles and other paraphernalia.

Another group, bored and restless, have taken to setting fire to the bin, the seating and a raised bed, and burning the milk bottle tiling with which we have been painstakingly roofing the “prayer pagoda” shelter. All par for the course, but a bit of a grind nonetheless.

This summer the garden felt decidedly somewhere east of Eden.

Early in September we rallied and had a potato harvesting and general garden

sorting day with some of the families from the community and our happy, helpful tribe from Matt’s House, our new local mission house.

The kids jumped in the raised beds and enjoyed treasure hunting for spuds, parents helped with weeding, Chris fired up the BBQ and we rewarded our joint efforts with burgers and ice cream on our happy patch of lawn. As evening fell, families went home with goodie bags of harvested produce, including potatoes, beetroot, fennel, rhubarb and other random edibles. The “summer of our discontent” was soothed into a season of “mellow fruitfulness”.

A couple of days later, Orts (the sewing collective) took place and we paused at midday for our usual shared lunch. A woman who had been at the

gardening day brought a Sierra Leonian dish she created using the produce she had taken home from the garden.

And there it is – the kingdom of heaven glimpsed, the transformation of humble harvest into shared communion, the foretaste of a new creation and a new Eden in Hull.

Top photo: The Hembury family have lived in Hull for over a decade Bottom photo: Neighbours of all ages helped clean up the community garden

Simple gestures in Spain

Spain

By Felipe and Sarah Yanez

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Tourists who visit Malaga praise its luxurious hotels and beautiful landscapes, its open markets and spectacular new marina and they admire the great cultural capital of Andalucia. These sightseers may not see people look for food in the rubbish bins, take time to listen to refugees or hear people’s stories of losing their properties and trying unsuccessfully to find a job. That side of Malaga is not so impressive.

Poverty and pain are not tourist attractions.

They are an overwhelming social blight, and difficult to cope with. So many close their eyes to it. The world of the poor and needy is a world all by itself.

The gospel for the poor, however, is about justice and liberation from all those things, personal and social, that enslave us. And it is not about status or the colour of someone’s skin; it is a gospel given to all of us, to give us dignity and, most importantly, a sense of meaning to life when we surrender at the foot of the cross.

Antonio, who is 40, receives help from Centro Luz, one of the food banks we work with. He is kept busy looking after his mum who has terminal cancer. It’s

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a 24/7 job, but he doesn’t receive any help from the government. This month, he has not been able to pay his rent, and has no relatives or close friends to help him. He is alone. He once told Felipe how he managed his budget to meet financial commitments of rent, water and electricity on 300 euros a month. Antonio deserves a masters degree in economy. This is Antonio’s reality but joy still shows on his face when the van from Centro Luz arrives with food and supplies. There is still hope, there is still a smile.

Lives like Antonio’s, and many others, are touched by this simple gesture, that we do care. It’s these little things that make the world a better place and where God’s kingdom is built. In May, we completed nine years here in Spain. As we have endeavoured to walk in obedience, we have, time and again, experienced God’s grace and provision. When we first came, we expected to change the world here in Spain. We now realise that it is only through God’s grace at work within us and through us, that we have made any difference at all in the lives of those around us. We are proof that God really does use ordinary people.

Top left: The Yanez family Middle: Centro Luz food bank Bottom: God’s provision: local people receive food

WORLD VIEWS

SANCTUARY IN SOUTH SUDAN

East Africa

By Garry Ion, a building engineer/ consultant

Top right: Garry and Rev Alex Below: Rev Alex at Wudu Primary School

Last month I drove from Uganda to South Sudan to visit some construction projects. It was sad to see UN tented camps with their distinctive white tarpaulin roofs scattered for miles as I approached the border. Fighting broke out in the South Sudanese capital Juba in July and quickly spread to other populated areas, leading to insecurity and displacement.

Crossing the Nile on a car ferry, I chatted with an elderly South Sudanese gentleman called John Atcheng. With excellent English, he told me he was heading back to South Sudan to look for family members. His wife died in the previous war in the 1990s and now his six adult children and their families were displaced across the region. He had just received news that his brother was injured in a recent attack near Juba and so was rushing home. With a prayer, we disembarked the ferry and said goodbye.

That short meeting gave me unexpected insight into what is a common story in South Sudan with over 100,000 refugees crossing the border into Uganda in the last few months.

With a night curfew at the border, it was too late to drive into South Sudan that evening, so I slept at the nearby Ugandan Catholic Mission. It felt like coming home as this church community has made me very welcome several times. I recall back in 2003 I was given refuge there when I lived over the border in the “old” Sudan. Before independence, the north and south were

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caught up in a very long and bloody civil war. From the sanctuary of this guesthouse I remember watching televised scenes of Saddam Hussein’s statue toppling in Baghdad.

Despite “liberation” and “independence” respectively, Iraq and the new South Sudan continue to endure much hardship. Before retiring to bed I attended evening devotions where Psalm 119 was read. Despite many struggles the psalmist clings to his faith, like many of my South Sudanese friends at the moment.

May his word continue to be a lamp to our feet.

Early the next morning, after a good night’s rest and hearty breakfast of spaghetti and omelette, I drove to the border where I was warmly met by the Rev Alex Aciga, operations and resource director for the diocese of Kajo-Keji. We trundled down an unkempt road into South Sudan. I didn’t know what to expect.

Alex reassured me that everything was okay in “K-K” and it wasn’t long before we reached the first building site at Wudu Primary School. I was surprised to see the school teeming with children in smart blue uniforms. Apparently more than a thousand children are squeezed into classrooms and overflow under the mango trees nearby. Even the new buildings we are currently constructing don’t seem big enough to accommodate all these children. After I looked around the building site and greeted the teachers and pupils, Alex and I continued our journey to the diocesan centre. Alex explained that insecurity elsewhere in the country was forcing displaced people towards the Uganda border and with the population swelling, this inevitably creates tensions. During my short stay, nearby security forces clashed with a community, resulting in two deaths.

With little support from authorities the church is

THE CALL - WINTER 2017

playing a vital role in ministering to both local and displaced populations. At the diocesan headquarters, Bishop Anthony Poggo shared several testimonies of how the church had become sanctuary for displaced people who were feeling threatened. Currently the church is busy trying to construct several buildings to help the community, including a health centre which is almost complete and built to a high standard, ready to be kitted out with equipment and qualified staff. At the nearby secondary school I inspected two large dormitories hastily being built to accommodate students who are currently sleeping on classroom floors.

Please pray for the many projects scattered around South Sudan and Uganda. Despite the weakening of the British pound, most construction is proceeding, though there may be a shortfall when it comes to furniture. This seems trivial when I think of the refugees (at best) sleeping under plastic and tarpaulin in South Sudan and northern Uganda.

PRAY Please pray for peace to prevail in South Sudan and for all Church Mission Society people in mission serving in the area.

9

WHEN CULTURES CONVERGE

Photo: Chinese taxi driver in Ghana From: Wikimedia Commons via oneVillage Initiative at http://flickr.com/photos/10411029@N08/2974183513

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WHEN CULTURES CONVERGE

WHEN CULTURES

CONVERGE

In an extraordinary example of everywhere-to-everywhere mission, Serah Wambua, one of the founding leaders of CMS-Africa and Wayne Wong, a team leader with OMF who moved to Kenya in 2014, are in the early stages of a joint strategy to help the African Church grasp the opportunity to share the gospel with the ever-growing Chinese population on their doorstep.

CAN YOU BRIEFLY SUMMARISE THE HISTORY OF CHINESE MIGRATION TO AFRICA? WHAT BRINGS THEM THERE? Wayne: About 100 years ago small numbers of Chinese people began moving to South Africa, mostly from the Southern provinces. In the 1960s Chinese people from Taiwan and Hong Kong also began moving to South Africa. The biggest movements have occurred in the last 10 years, from mainland China. This is due to vast Chinese business investment throughout Africa. We are talking about 1.5–2 million Chinese people living in Africa now. In Zambia and DR Congo there are a lot of Chinese miners and small traders. In Kenya, Chinese people are often executives, engineers, technicians, skilled professionals and entrepreneurs. The Kenyan government will largely only permit entry to those with professional skills. There are 50-100,000 Chinese people in Kenya alone.

Serah: In Kenya there are huge construction projects happening due to Chinese investment and large infrastructure changes, including the building of a huge railway. This requires thousands of technicians and engineers. So we see Chinese people everywhere. If you walk around Nairobi, you can’t not bump into Chinese

people. One of the conditions of them being here is that they work alongside Kenyans; the idea is that there will be a transfer of skills and knowledge.

FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVES, WHAT ARE RELATIONSHIPS LIKE BETWEEN CHINESE AND AFRICAN PEOPLE? Serah: There is a bit of a love-hate relationship. While Chinese industries have created vast employment opportunities for thousands of Kenyans, sometimes they are accused of taking jobs Kenyans can do.

Wayne: I think there was a journalist who said that the African-Chinese relationship is business-oriented, but there is little cultural and personal relationship outside of business. Many of the Chinese employees live on a separate campus. It’s self contained; food and entertainment are provided so they don’t have to mix with Africans much if they don’t want to. The camps are largely for a perceived security need. Chinese executives can choose to live in different places. In Kenya Chinese people are concentrating in certain upmarket areas.

I’d say there is a certain amount of fear, suspicion, misunderstanding and prejudice. Few Chinese people have African friends. I recently spoke to a Chinese person who has been here for

THE CALL - WINTER 2017

15 years and doesn’t have any African friends. Why is this? I think there has been a lack of effort both ways.

There can be a Chinese-centric worldview. Some come to Africa feeling a bit superior, as China has become a superpower. Many Chinese see themselves as benefactors or contributors to Africa. They come to Africa as employers, managers, leaders; they become the ones in charge so this can add to a sense of superiority and some tension.

BEFORE THIS MASSIVE MIGRATION TO AFRICA, DID AFRICAN CHRISTIANS TRY DOING MISSION IN CHINA? TO WHAT EFFECT? Serah: There have been limited efforts by African Christians to reach Chinese people in China. About four or five years ago my church in Nairobi sent some short-term missionaries to China. They returned with little to report. Chinese people historically have been so far removed from Africa geographically, linguistically and culturally. These are big barriers.

African churches have had an interest in mission to Chinese people; we have prayed for them, but they have been so far away until now. With the geographical barrier removed, we can address challenges of language and culture.

Continues next page 11

WHEN CULTURES CONVERGE Wayne: There are few African missionaries reaching Chinese people in China. There are a good number of African students in China, many of whom are Christian. These students could be mobilised but they are constrained by their foreign student status. They are monitored by authorities. There are African Christian fellowships in China and there are African pastors in China that lead Chinese churches (not house churches). There are Africans in the business community in China but they don’t tend to stay long-term. I don’t know of much intentional outreach.

SERAH, WHAT WERE SOME OF THE STRUGGLES DESCRIBED?

HOW DID YOU MEET EACH OTHER?

Wayne: Interestingly, at the conference, a Kenyan Christian stood up and said he had never thought about Chinese people needing God because, he said, “They can do so many things. They are so capable.”

It really highlighted the need for awareness that we were trying to address.

And it showed that there is a need for African Christians, especially in business circles, to engage with Chinese people.

Serah: Many of their struggles revolve around being mistreated by police.

They are often looked at as people who have money and corrupt police target them; they are stopped and questioned more often and taken advantage of.

Some Kenyans take advantage of the language barrier and try to con them. I realised I had never thought about this.

I never thought of Chinese people as struggling at all.

Serah: CMS-Africa and Asia CMS recognised that there is a great cross-cultural mission opportunity here. Because of my interest and work with CMS-Africa in cross-cultural mission, Kang San Tan (Asia CMS director) introduced me to Wayne and we started planning the Chinese Awareness Forum for African church leaders, which took place in September 2015 in Nairobi.

The conference was an eye-opener to me. I started looking at Chinese people in a different light. I had previously seen them as business people coming to Africa to make money and I wasn’t sure how to react or respond. After the conference, because I had heard about some of their struggles from Chinese leaders (not all were Christians) I felt a burden and love for them. I was praying about what I could do and Dennis Tongoi, CMS-Africa international director, asked me to work with Wayne and champion this area of mission. I know that one-by-one we can reach Chinese people with the love of Jesus. Even though I am officially retired, I have entered a new phase of work and together we are working on strategies.

Through Wayne I am making more Chinese contacts. They have been lovely and friendly.

Wayne and his wife Irene are committed to the Kenyan church and it is a joy to work with them.

SO WHAT IS BEING DONE TO REACH CHINESE PEOPLE IN AFRICA? Wayne: For the past few years OMF has worked closely with Parklands Baptist Church in Nairobi. We have formed a Chinese Ministry team and this core team puts on outreach activities like outings, Chinese cultural celebrations and festivals. In February we started a bilingual church service. There is an emerging congregation of Chinese and African people worshipping and learning together. The core team has about eight people; the service has about four Chinese believers and some seekers who are not yet consistent in their attendance. We haven’t promoted it much yet.

We are trying to develop a model that specifically works with and through African churches that can be replicated elsewhere in Africa. This strategy might

Top left: a bilingual Chinese-African church service in Nairobi Top right: Serah Bottom left: Chinese and African people on a retreat together Bottom right: Wayne

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be difficult for some Chinese Christians to understand or embrace because it’s slower.

Having Chinese Christians plant Chinese churches might seem more expedient. But we really want to come alongside the African Church and work together. And we do see Chinese people coming to faith. Hopefully we will see more African partners like CMS-Africa join in.

I’ll share a story of a couple: L and J. L left his job as a departmental head of a large stateowned company in China and moved to Nairobi in August 2014 to be close to J, who has worked in Nairobi since early 2014. They both joined a bilingual Bible study at our flat together with Kenyan Christians. Initially, L was wary of the Kenyans because of misconceptions he had developed. In the first two months, he regretted his decision to move to Kenya.

But they kept coming to the Bible study and later the bilingual service and they became believers. Their relationship with Kenyans also started to blossom. Early this year, L told me, “The Kenyans in the Bible study group are good people.” He even started embracing them. He recently told us that he and J pray now by name for their Kenyan brothers and sisters. What a

WHEN CULTURES CONVERGE years. For this, they have trained Kenyans to speak Mandarin. This is just beginning for us. It might be a good idea to look out for African Christians returning from spending time in China, as they would be good at building bridges after their crosscultural exposure.

DO YOU THINK THERE IS SOMETHING INHERENT IN CHINESE AND AFRICAN CULTURES WHEREBY AFRICANS MIGHT BE MORE SUITED TO MISSION AMONG CHINESE PEOPLE THAN WESTERNERS?

joy to know that the wall of hostility between him and the Kenyans is breaking because of Christ.

WAYNE, WHAT DO YOU THINK SERAH AND CMSAFRICA CAN CONTRIBUTE? Wayne: CMS-Africa can be a great mobiliser and they have a wide network so they can help bring awareness. Together, with their experience we can explore new models. CMS-Africa’s commitment to “business as mission” is particularly relevant to this context. [See article on page 14.] For example, we have talked about an idea of a recruitment service that will place faithful Kenyan Christians in Chinese companies so they can be a witness.

Serah: Chinese people are so involved in the marketplace, that if Kenyan Christian businesspeople could be discipled to see and use this opportunity to demonstrate their faith to Chinese people – listening and responding to their struggles, demonstrating a lack of corruption – this could be a powerful entry point for the gospel. My nephew is a Christian working for a Chinese company and he is so appreciated because he lives and works like a Christian; he is faithful and reliable. It’s a wonderful witness.

WAYNE, CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE RELIGIOUS VIEWS OF CHINESE PEOPLE IN AFRICA? ARE ANY OTHER FAITH GROUPS ACTIVELY TRYING TO REACH THEM? Wayne: Most of the Chinese people I have encountered are atheist. The Jehovah’s Witnessess have been doing outreach in Kenya for the last 10

Wayne: Well for example Kenyans are very hospitable and welcoming. Most Chinese people here are in the position of being strangers. If African churches can actively express their cultural value of hospitality and welcome the stranger, they can provide a sense of community in a different land. This is a key strength.

Many Chinese people have gone south of the Sahara in Africa and south of the Sahara more than half the population is Christian. We believe that God will not by-pass African channels to share the gospel with Chinese people. God has sent Chinese people here so Africans can reach them.

DO YOU BOTH SENSE GOD’S TIMING IN THIS, IN THAT IF THIS MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE HAD HAPPENED, SAY, 50 YEARS AGO, DO YOU THINK THE AFRICAN CHURCH WOULD HAVE BEEN READY? Serah: God’s timing is best. The continent has grown economically and the church has grown and matured in seeing its place in God’s mission. If this had happened at another point in history, some Africans might have been asking Chinese people for money, become dependent. The continent is now full of business people and many are members of our churches. Chinese and African people are interacting through the platform of business. So it’s good timing economically and spiritually. This can be a revolution.

My hope is that the global church prays for Chinese people in Africa. The numbers are growing by the day. And many seem like they are coming to stay.

The opportunity is so great. It is growing. It is real.

God is in control. We need to position ourselves to be empowered by him for mission. Pray that the church will be awakened to this new movement of God. Wayne: This is a special season. The African missionary movement is growing and cross-cultural mission is on their doorstep. We want to see African and Chinese Christians working hard to reach Chinese people together. And some day reaching beyond to other cultures. Together.

SERAH, AS YOU TALK TO AFRICAN CHRISTIANS ABOUT GROWING THIS AREA OF MISSION, DO YOU ENCOUNTER ANY RESISTANCE? Serah: There isn’t resistance; in fact the opposite.

They are eager, but many don’t know where to begin. Churches need to be mobilised. It is now a question of following up. We need to bring churches together to understand the Chinese story in Africa.

We must mobilise the churches through giving them information. We need to do surveys and research.

We must overcome barriers of language and culture, which from experience, I can tell you is not easy, particularly the language. We need to work with statistics and mapping. I believe the church in Africa is ready for this challenge. To do this and to do it well. These are our brothers and sisters that God has brought to our doorstep. I travel a lot with and I have seen Chinese people in Ethiopia, Rwanda, everywhere. God must be speaking to us as Africans.

This is a miracle.

PRAY

1 Pray for Serah and

Wayne as they continue to work together in cross-cultural mission.

2 Pray for CMS-Africa

in their role in this emerging mission context: cms-africa.org

“We believe that God will not by-pass African channels to share the gospel with Chinese people.” – Wayne

THE CALL - WINTER 2017

3 Pray for Christians in

Africa to be mobilised to share the gospel with Chinese people.

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BUSINESS AS MISSION

BUSINESS AS MISSION

BUSINESS AS MISSION Combatting corruption through deep discipleship

BY SERAH WAMBUA, WHO SERVED AS MISSION NETWORK MANAGER FOR CMS-AFRICA FOR SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE SHE “RETIRED”

G

rowing up in central and eastern Kenya, the face of mission was white. My parents found the Lord in a CMS mission station in Kabete in Central Kenya. Through loving, godly missionaries working in our rural Anglican church in Ukambani area 120km from Nairobi, I came to love Jesus as my saviour.

When I went to high school and university and got involved with the

Christian Union, mission became about going to evangelistic rallies, giving testimonies in schools, helping younger girls grow in faith. There were lots of picnics and fun activities. I knew as a Christian I needed to share Christ with others.

I have worked with the Church in Africa most of my life, starting in development for the National Council of Churches in Kenya.

Ten years ago I reconnected with Church Mission Society. When CMS-Africa was formed, I became part of the initial staff team.

When I first joined CMS, the first thing Dennis Tongoi (then director for mission in Africa) talked to me about was something called “business as mission”. He told me, “This is going to be your project.” In my mind I said, “What does business have to do with mission?” It didn’t make sense to me then; now it does.

Today, having travelled throughout most of Africa, I know that mission is far broader than proclamation. Mission is about the whole of our lives. All of us are called by God to make an impact where God has placed us, whether you’re a farmer, teacher, engineer or construction worker...God has given you a platform to bring his kingdom into that sector. If you are a business person in the marketplace in a country like Kenya that struggles with much corruption, it’s about living and working in such a way that will draw people’s attention to God and ultimately, lessen corruption.

Our context in Kenya makes business as mission very strategic. Recently, one of the business people we trained in this area told me he was putting in a bid for a contract. The potential employer said to him, “Right now you are our second choice but you could be our first choice if you will skim money off the top for us.” They were trying to bribe him. He said to the company, “I cannot do this; my faith does not allow

Name: Serah Wambua Location: Kenya My call: To help African Christians realise they are called to mission and to help them live this call My role: CMS-Africa champion of business as mission and outreach to Chinese people in Africa

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it.” This is the kind of whole-life discipleship that will grow the kingdom of God in Africa.

And now with so many Chinese people doing business in Africa, business as mission is especially crucial if we are going to be a good witness.

The church in Africa has historically been good at proclamation, but we need to encourage this kind of mindset change: where your faith is about more than what you do on Sunday. CMS-Africa’s approach to this is two-pronged. We need church leaders to grasp the vision of whole-life discipleship and speak to their congregations about living for Jesus in their work-lives. And we need business people to understand their role – that they too are called, not just to support mission, but to be in mission. In fact they can reach people their pastors never could. Once they understand this, we need to equip them for mission where they are. When people grasp this whole-life discipleship message we can make great strides towards doing away with corruption and exploitation.

The good news is that in Africa, we don’t need to go to the marketplace and shout, “You all need Christ!” Churches in Africa are full; people from all sectors come to church every Sunday. If they can be equipped to demonstrate their faith once they leave the pews, it will have a great impact. What the church leader teaches is critical. I remember a bishop telling me that a chief justice came to talk to him, saying, “Bishop, I feel lonely and would like to hear a message that resonates with my work life.”

Like all CMS-Africa training programmes, business as mission training is focused on mindset change.

On the church front, we are equipping leaders to encourage business people in their God-given mission. We also train business people directly. Recently some of our trainers were speaking to a local chamber of commerce; this was an amazing opportunity. We want to see the marketplace redeemed for the glory of God. We want to say resources are good, business is good; God wants to use it.

Our training curriculum starts with a worldview shift. There is a worldview that says you exist to make money; we look at what the Bible says about this. We talk about how our spiritual and work lives are not separate, but part of a whole. There are four components to the training: financial, spiritual, environmental and social and all of these interconnect. We want to see people involved in healthy business practices that will yield both profit and transformation. What this looks like will of course vary according to context. We bring this training to churches and groups and are constantly training trainers so that this can be implemented throughout Africa.

Like the missionaries who came to Africa when I was younger, we too are facing a mission frontier that cannot be ignored.

9 January 2017

FREE A DAY WITH SOUGHT-AFTER AUTHOR AND ACTIVIST MARK SCANDRETTE Discover the life of meaning, freedom, compassion and simplicity you were meant for.

10:30am – 4pm at CMS in Oxford

To book: churchmissionsociety.eventbrite.co.uk

OPEN DAYS 2017 PIONEER

MISSION

LEADERSHIP

TRAINING Come and explore a course designed by pioneers for pioneers

Tuesday 14 March Tuesday 13 June

10:30am – 2:30pm Church Mission Society Watlington Road, Oxford OX4 6BZ RSVP to Helen Harwood pioneer@churchmissionsociety.org | 01865 787439 website: pioneer.churchmissionsociety.org

FEATURE STORY

OLYMPIC OPPORTUNITY THE OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES IN RIO DE JANEIRO PROVIDED THE CHURCH MISSION SOCIETY TEAM IN LEADERSHIP AT CHRIST CHURCH WITH MANY CHANCES TO CARRY A TORCH FOR THE GOSPEL

ALEX AND JANE CACOURIS AND JESS AND MARK SIMPSON REPORT

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t was a privilege for us to be here during Rio 2016 and to gain a glimpse of how God was working in this city and in our church during August and September.

Above and far right: Family fun day outreach Middle top: Alex and Jane Cacouris Middle below: Jess and Mark Simpson Sidebar photo: Andy Roberts of ReVive International and Olympic swimmer Joanna Maranhão

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THE GAMES As with London 2012, the build-up to Rio 2016 was hugely controversial. Healthcare, education and security were under extreme financial pressure in the run up to the Games.

For example, some state schools were suspended for six months in order to finance the Olympic construction programme. We’re only just now getting a taste of what the consequences are for an impoverished public purse. Politically, this year has been incredibly tumultuous and the recent municipal and mayoral elections saw levels of violence not seen since 1979. And the evaporated political

will is leaving a stench in the Guanabara Bay; having been cleaner, it’s clogging up again.

But life carries on, and the city is of course already well on its way into planning Carnaval 2017.

Having said all that, in true Brazilian style, the city pulled off an utterly outstanding Olympics and Paralympics, full of all the vibrancy, colour and life you would imagine only Brazil could do. The natural beauty of the city was rightly shown off and with excitement building and stadiums filling, there was peace and joy in the air. The ill omens of shoot-outs and the Zika virus did not take their place in the annals of Olympic history. And of course the long-term benefits from the revamped transport infrastructure (new high speed bus line, metro, new tram line) are already noticeable, as is the impressive development of the old port area.

A word particularly on the Paralympics: after lukewarm interest initially, in the end the nation really got behind the

CHURCH MISSIO N SO CIETY

Paralympic Games, captivated by the gritty perseverance and passion of the competitors such as Brazilian Daniel Dias, who has inspired multitudes and shifted negative perceptions of the less able-bodied, and Sophie Christiansen, from the British equestrian team, whose joy at participating and winning felt almost like a taste of the joy we’ll experience in heaven. As a church it was fantastic to applaud those in our community with disabilitites and to think more about how to involve them more actively in the life of the church. There’s a man in the church, Willy, who has Down’s syndrome and is 27, and for various reasons he would never stay in the main church service, but rather head out to join the children’s church gathering.

After some discussions with him, he was able to ‘graduate’ from children’s church and is now helping in the main church service.

Sometimes we need help in lifting our eyes to see situations with a whole new gaze.

Corinth, where they met Paul, and on they went to Ephesus and met Apollos, from Alexandria, who then headed to Corinth himself. With each meeting, followers of Jesus are built up and grow in maturity and faith.

THE GUESTS It was so encouraging for us as a church community to host up to 50 new people from around the world during the Games. With coffee and cake tables at the back of church, we extended our welcome to various visitors, including relatives of competing athletes and personnel involved in cultural events that were taking place across the city. We also had the pleasure of having two ordinands from Ridley Hall, Cambridge join the team here for a few weeks and help us explore ways of reaching out to the wider international community.

THE NATIONS Shortly after London 2012, we were contacted

by St Paul’s East Ham, a church in London, who had acquired 26 international flags for the London Olympics and had displayed them in their church during the Games. They wanted to ‘pass the baton’ to an international church in Rio for 2016. And so a few months prior to Rio 2016, one of our congregation members returned to Rio from a trip to the UK with a suitcase heavily laden with 26 flags.

We hung them up, loud and proud, along the entrance drive to the church during August and September. St Paul’s maintained regular contact with us during the Games, praying for us and the city and we were blessed by this colourful partnership. So, looking forward to the next Olympics in Tokyo, we linked to a movement of evangelists from America, Britain and Japan, who came out to Rio in August.

We will look to hand the flags on to them, potentially, in four years’ time. The Church has always grown through global intersections: Priscilla and Aquila left Rome and arrived in

THE FAMILY FUN DAYS On Super Saturday of the Olympics and Super Sunday of the Paralympics we hosted two separate Family Fun Days in the grounds of the church, which contain an open-air basketball court. We had the help of a great friend of ours, Mary Woods, who for the last 20 years has travelled the world, encouraging and helping churches to host festivals that they can invite their communities to attend.

At the heart of these fun days is the chance to invite the community to celebrate life, see what church looks like and, we pray, give them a glimpse of what God is like. The Christ Church family put on an amazing couple of parties with crafts, face painting, games, balloon sculpting, a trampoline, a big screen television showing the Games, candy floss and a barbeque that saw over 300 people come along, of which half do not attend church. After the first festival a lady we have got to know, who is not a Christian, texted: “Thank you for probably one of my best afternoons ever. So many lovely people, so much love, so much happiness. My boys and I loved it. My heart was so happy this afternoon. Thank you.” We can often take for granted what others gasp for in their lives – love, happiness, joy.

THE PATH AHEAD This whole experience has been a huge boost to the congregation. While there are many ex-pats and English-speaking Brazilians in Rio, the church has not been able to connect much with these folk. It’s a big city with many small social networks, so God has been kind to open unexpected doors at times to meet new people here. In between the two Games we had a Focus on Prayer week, a new venture for the church, where we were able to convert the rather drab balcony into a prayerful and creative space.

We were also treated to a surprise donation of 11 DFS sofas from the British consulate, part of a total of 40 specially commissioned for the British House during the Olympics. The timing was providential as we’d been visualising how

THE CALL - WINTER 2017

to reconfigure some of the spaces of the church to be more welcoming and disarming – it felt akin to winning the lottery.

Off the back of the family fun days we’ll be running another Alpha Course; about 20 people have signed up and we are planning a Messy Church Nativity event to reconnect with families at the start of December.

HEARING FROM A HERO

Although they are a four-hour flight away from Rio de Janeiro, the girls living in the ReVive safe house in Olinda, Brazil experienced much Olympic excitement thanks to a celebrity visitor. Andy and Rose Roberts, founders and leaders of ReVive, reported: “We were thrilled to welcome four-time Olympian, Brazilian swimmer Joanna Maranhão, to ReVive in October. She’s from Recife originally so she is very well known around here. One of our team managed to get in touch with her to come and talk to the ReVive girls. Like many of our residents, Joanna also suffered sexual abuse when she was nine years old. Yet she still managed to become a very successful athlete. Her talk was very challenging and inspirational.

Everyone enjoyed taking photos with her afterwards.” There are currently eight girls living at the ReVive house; all are survivors of abuse and trauma.

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1. ARGENTINA

9. BURUNDI

17. GUATEMALA

25. LEBANON

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2. BANGLADESH

10. CHILE

18. HONDURAS

26. MALAWI

34. P

3. BELGIUM

11. COLOMBIA

19. INDIA

27. MALAYSIA

35. P

4. BOLIVIA

12. DR CONGO

20. ISRAEL/PALESTINE

28. MALTA

36. R

5. BOTSWANA

13. ECUADOR

21. ITALY

29. NEPAL

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6. BRAZIL

14. EGYPT

22. JAPAN

30. NETHERLANDS

38. S

7. BRITAIN

15. ETHIOPIA

23. JORDAN

31. NIGERIA

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8. BULGARIA

16. FRANCE

24. KENYA

32. PAKISTAN

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churchmissionsociety.org

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OUR SIX MISSION PRIORITIES MAKING DISCIPLES:

By God’s grace, we want to see communities of people being like Jesus with one another and within their neighbourhoods.

ENCOURAGING LEADERS: Walking with local leaders worldwide and investing in their mission calls.

PEOPLE AT RISK: Showing people made vulnerable by unjust systems or circumstances that they are valued by God. LASTING ECONOMIC CHANGE: It’s about dignity not dependency, encouraging entrepreneurship and generating income for generations to come.

PEACE AND RECONCILIATION: Helping people in conflict find forgiveness and a way forward.

CREATION CARE: “For God so loved the world” – the planet and the people – and we want to join him in the renewal of both

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PARAGUAY

41. SPAIN

PERU

42. SRI LANKA

PHILIPPINES

43. TAIWAN

ROMANIA

44. TANZANIA

RWANDA

45. THAILAND

SERBIA

46. TURKEY

SOUTH AFRICA

47. UGANDA

SOUTH SUDAN

48. UKRAINE

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CENTRAL ASIA MIDDLE EAST NORTH AFRICA EAST ASIA SOUTH-EAST ASIA /churchmissionsociety

THE CALL - WINTER 2017

@cmsmission

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MISSION ISSUES

“We are not a voice for the voiceless. The truth is that there is a lot of noise out there drowning out quiet voices, and many people have stopped listening to the cries of their neighbours...

It is a beautiful thing when folks in poverty are no longer just a missions project but become genuine friends and family with whom we laugh, cry, dream, and struggle. One of the verses I have grown to love is the one where Jesus is preparing to leave the disciples and says, ‘I no longer call you servants....

Instead, I have called you friends’ (John 15:15). Servanthood is a fine place to begin, but gradually we move toward mutual love, genuine relationships.”

Shane Claiborne

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MISSION THE The difference a letter makes what we do for “the least of these” we do also for

BY COLIN SMITH, DEAN OF MISSION EDUCATION FOR CHURCH MISSION SOCIETY Jesus. But I wonder whether the potentially more

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et me begin with a confession: I am not very good at cross-examining the theology of the hymns I happen to be singing. NT Wright’s wonderful book, Surprised by Hope, did leave me wondering where I had missed spotting Buddhist eschatology, gnosticism and Platonism in some of my favourite and not-so-favourite hymns, but like many others I can be sucker for a good tune disguising some ropey theology.

However, one recent Sunday I was caught off guard singing the hymn, I the Lord of Sea and Sky. It is a great hymn based loosely on Isaiah 6. The first half of verse three goes like this: I the Lord of wind and flame, I will tend the poor and lame, I will set a feast for them.

My hand will save.

At least it goes like that if you take the words from Complete Mission Praise. However, in the equally incomplete Complete Celebration Hymnal there is a minor change, just the change of a letter in fact. Here the “Lord of wind and flame” will send the poor and lame. In the changing of a single letter the poor and lame cease to be those ministered to, to whom we are sent (chorus: Here I am Lord… I will go Lord) and become the agents of mission. One letter turns the theology on its head and raises some helpful questions.

The idea of mission involving the care of the vulnerable, responding to human need by loving service, is a key dimension, or “mark” of our understanding of mission. Visit the websites of most mission agencies and there is plenty of evidence of care and service directed towards the most vulnerable in our world. “I will tend” certainly fits comfortably with our practice of mission. It is also biblical, with the reminder that

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challenging phrase “I will send the poor and lame” is the better one? I certainly prefer it for a number of reasons.

First, our preference for “tend” seems to reflect the way mission is often reduced to using the wealth of our gifts, talents, resources and energies in order to do good to others. Of course that is no bad thing. But from positions of power there frequently remains a fundamental inability to, in the words of Henri Nouwen, “receive the fruits of the lives of the poor as gifts for the salvation of the rich”. In the pattern of Jesus, self-emptying, radical vulnerability becomes the starting point of a journey of mission. Yet so often mission in the West is presented as a movement from places of presumed strength towards people and places perceived and portrayed in terms of weakness.

Second, the references in the song to the poor and lame seem to be drawn from the parable of the banquet in Luke 14. Yet here “the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame” are not the passive recipients of another’s care. They are the ones who respond to the divine invitation that their more prosperous and self-satisfied countrymen have despised. They are actors in the drama who exemplify what it means to enter into the feast of the coming kingdom. Theirs are the voices to be heard, theirs the example to be followed.

I can happily sing both versions of the song but I wonder what the implications might be for God’s people around the world if we were to celebrate the God who sends the poor and lame. Do we possess the humility and grace to recognise and respond to our need to receive the gifts of those whom God has called from the very margins of our world and who have replied, “Here I am, send me”?

This article was originally published by Global Connections at www.gc-connect.org.uk under the title I Will Tend.

MISSION ISSUES

FROM MARGINS The difference a pope makes

BY BERDINE VAN DEN TORENLEKKERKERKER, CMS MISSION PARTNER

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erdine travels regularly to the Central African Republic (CAR) to teach in a theological seminary there. She is also involved in teaching and training in other parts of Africa and Asia, particularly with Asia CMS’s innovative Asia Gateway training. She knows CAR well, having previously lived there for eight years. She reflects on visiting CAR earlier this year: In April, my husband Benno and I travelled to the Central African Republic to teach at the Faculté de Théologie Evangélique de Bangui (FATEB). It was wonderful to be there together again. The last time Benno had been in Bangui was in 2013, when the latest conflict started and the Séléka rebels took the city. For me, there was a world of difference arriving at Bangui airport and travelling to the campus compared to the situation a year ago. Then we had to travel through a military corridor but now the streets were busy and everywhere there were markets along the main road, just as there were before the troubles.

During our entire stay in Bangui, we did not hear a single gunshot and it became clear that the people, staff and students were hopeful.

A new president had been elected and even though it was a difficult process, people felt that it was fair and were proud that they had been able to pull this off amid such chaotic scenes.

At the same time, people realised that there was a long road ahead – a time of rebuilding and a time of seeking reconciliation. When I asked our friends what had made the difference, where the beginning was of this change, they all responded: “the visit of Pope Francis”. The fact that as a world leader he had been willing to come – against all advice – to visit the places that were most central in the conflict and to meet all the different groups, had made a very deep impression. One person said: “He really has

been a father to our country.”

One of the remarkable things that Pope Francis did during his November 2015 visit to the Central African Republic was to announce a “Year of Jubilee for Peace and Reconciliation”.

Normally such a declaration is done by the Pope at the centre of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome, in St Peter’s Cathedral, by opening the doors of the cathedral. But Pope Francis chose to start this Year of Jubilee not from the centre, but from a city that had been marginalised and torn apart by violence and hatred. He pushed

“When God chose his people Israel, he did not choose the powerful but the small. Because he loved them. When Jesus walked this earth, he spent most of his time with the weak and the marginalised, because he cared for them.” open the doors of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Bangui, and by doing so made this city and this country the capital of this Year of Jubilee.

When God chose his people Israel, he did not choose the powerful but the small. Because he loved them. When Jesus walked this earth, he spent most of his time with the weak and the marginalised, because he cared for them. Yet

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it is not just that God reaches out to the poor and weak in order to help them. He wants to use them in his mission. And it is this mission that is so powerful. “For my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

And this is what people in the Central African Republic now realise; they may be marginalised but they have a mission, a God-given mission to the world, a mission of peace and reconciliation.

PRAY

An update from Berdine: “Sadly, violence in the CAR has increased again. Armed groups are committing robberies and revenge killings are following, together with attacks on civilians and the burning of houses.

“It seems that there are groups in the country who do not want peace, who are profiting from violence and insecurity. The process of disarmament seems to have stalled. The population is crying out for help and protection.

Please pray for protection for the people. Please also pray for the Church, which continues to seek reconciliation in this difficult situation.”

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FEATURE STORY

WHEN CALLS

IN ACTION

CHANGE A LIFE

IN LIBYA A Church Mission Society partner (who must remain anonymous as he trains people for mission in Muslim contexts) reflects on the new Church Mission Society descriptor – ‘the call in action’ – and shares how it takes many people, putting different kinds of calls into action, to transform the world.

Photo: For illustrative purposes www.flickr.com/photos/lifesagamble

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FEATURE STORY

BY A CHURCH MISSION SOCIETY PARTNER WHO MUST REMAIN ANONYMOUS

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here aren’t many playgrounds in Tripoli.

With the constant threat of danger, after years of instability and war, few children venture out. But one day two years ago, Jane (name changed) sat down on a park bench to watch her children play. A Libyan woman sat beside her, as her daughter joined in the fun. After a moment of silence the women greeted one another in Arabic and politely asked questions about each other’s children.

To Jane’s surprise, within minutes the conversation turned to deeper things. Grace (that’s what I’ll call the woman on the bench because that is what this story is all about) shared a dream that she had had some time before. In her dream a man appeared, dressed completely in white. He gathered her into his arms, holding her in a long hug. Grace shyly explained that she had never told anyone her dream before; she felt it was significant, but did not know why.

CALLED TO GO Jane and her husband Peter had spent time with our training team in Spain. They had lived in various North African countries for many years and had often prayed for the people of Libya – an overwhelmingly Muslim nation, with a tiny minority of indigenous believers in Jesus.

During a short window of relative calm in Libya, Jane and Peter eagerly moved there. And now, as Jane sat beside Grace and heard her dream, her pulse quickened with excitement and she breathed a silent prayer; she had heard of similar dreams from many Muslim-background believers in Jesus.

Jane explained to Grace that she had met others who had dreamt of this imam in white.

She suggested that they meet the following day to talk further.

CALLED TO PRAY That evening Jane emailed several people around the world, asking them to pray for Grace and for their upcoming conversation. My team prayed. Another woman, Pat, one of Jane’s prayer partners, received the email in the USA. As Pat spent time praying for Grace, a verse came to her mind. She replied to Jane that she sensed that Jesus was saying to Grace, “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice” (John 10:16).

Over coffee the next day Jane explained that the imam in white in Grace’s dream was Jesus. She shared the verse from John. They talked about Jesus, the good shepherd, who gave his life for his sheep, and who even now was seeking Grace and speaking to her. Grace had grown up with sheep and sacrifices and quickly understood. After some time chatting, Jane suggested that perhaps they could pray together. Grace asked, “How do you pray?” as she was accustomed to her own prayer format.

Jane invited Grace to spend time in silence with her, listening to the voice of God, and then praying in response to what they sensed.

After a short time of silence Jane looked at Grace and saw that her face was bright and smiling. Grace shared that she had just had another vision. The man in white had appeared again, this time in the corner of the room. He held out his arms towards Grace and she saw that his hands were glowing white. His eyes seemed to invite her towards him and in her vision she left her chair and approached him.

Glancing down, she saw that her hands were also glowing white.

In amazement, Jane opened her Bible to Psalm 24 to a verse that had come to her during their time of silence. She read aloud: “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord but those who have

“For this event to happen, someone had to be called to go, some had to be called to pray and many people had to be called to support Jane and Peter through giving and training, so they could be in the right place at the right time.” clean hands and a pure heart?” Jesus, the good shepherd, who had given his life for Grace, was calling her to him. He alone could clean her hands of all the wrong from her life, so that she could enter the presence of God without fear or guilt.

After praying together, Jane left Grace with an Arabic New Testament. Over the next few weeks they met several times. Within a short period, however, the fighting in Libya intensified once again. Jane and Peter were forced to evacuate, entrusting Grace to the Lord.

THE CALL(S) IN ACTION It strikes me how well this story illustrates the new Church Mission Society descriptor: ‘the call in action’. For this event to happen, someone had to be called to go, some had to be called to pray and many people had to be called to support Jane and Peter through giving and training, so they could be in the right place at the right time.

Surely, if God can give Grace a dream and start the process of calling her to himself, then he can also complete the whole process alone.

After all, he is sovereign. And yet God always seems to want others to participate in the

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process of drawing individuals into the family of God. In Acts he gave a dream to Cornelius, but then sent Peter to interpret it. Similarly, he spoke to Grace, and then brought Jane into her life.

This is where we see God’s love of fellowship, of using ordinary people as partners in his mission.

As we each put our own call into action we can each play our part.

When Jane sat on that park bench that day, she was putting her life call into action. It took years of hard work and preparation. Years of language learning and cultural adaptation, days spent counting the cost of living in Libya. She had paid a high price to be there, was alert to the opportunity and did not miss the opening.

Numerous other people helped Jane get to that park bench. Our team in Spain had played its part; our call in action is expressed through training and sending people to faithfully represent Jesus in the Muslim world.

Jane’s home church had sent her. Close friends had responded to her needs, giving sacrificially and putting their own call into action. Some gave large sums to meet the costs of flights and relocation; others sent small treats and reminders of home. Each played their part.

God generously involved Pat in the story.

She took time to pray, listened to the Lord and risked giving Jane her feedback. Imagine how encouraged she was to know that the verse she received played a key role in the conversation.

Her call to prayer involved her in world mission from her home.

We are living through the best and the worst of times. Daily we hear news stories that can inspire fear. We can react by building walls to keep people out. Yet Grace’s story is one illustration of a larger shift happening. Over recent decades, numerous Muslim people have come to faith in Jesus. Perhaps more than in the rest of history combined. Over the last 25 years there has been heightened prayer for the Muslim world; each year millions pray for their Muslim neighbours during Ramadan. And God is responding. A recent study of a thousand Muslims who have come to faith in Jesus shows that for half of them, miraculous dreams and healings played a significant role in their faith journey. God is calling people to himself through Jesus. This is, after all, his mission.

Yet, God invites us to join in his mission. We all have different parts to play, but as we each put our call into action, together we see more of his kingdom coming here on earth.

PRAY Please pray for encouragement for all of our people in mission who must remain anonymous.

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FEATURE STORY

“I THINK WE’LL SEE FRUIT WE CAN’T BEGIN TO IMAGINE” An interview with Bishop Andrew Proud about ‘going organic’ with the Partnership for Missional Church process

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ishop Andrew Proud has seen the deep change Partnership for Missional Church provokes and has become a champion of the process. A cluster of churches in his area are now almost halfway through this three-year journey of discovering and joining in with what God is doing in their community. He spoke to Jeremy Woodham of Church Mission Society, which recently began hosting and running Partnership for Missional Church in the UK.

WHAT MAKES PARTNERSHIP FOR MISSIONAL CHURCH DIFFERENT FROM OTHER THINGS ON OFFER? What makes Partnership for Missional Church different is that it is not a take-offthe-shelf programme that you can complete in six months but a much more organic, intuitive thing. It is something you need to keep working on and as you work on it, it is going to change you.

The church as a whole needs Partnership for Missional Church because we’re in a sticky position. The Archbishop of Canterbury has said that for the first time the numbers of people attending church in our country is below a million and in 30 years that’s going to halve.

We’re not going to be able to sustain ministry and mission as we have at the moment in every place. I think there will still be presence in every place and we’ll find new ways of making that presence happen. We’re going to need to be thinking differently about ministry for mission. Partnership for Missional Church is to my mind just the process that we need to engage a changing environment where we don’t know what the future is going

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to look like in five years’ time, let alone 10.

WHY ARE YOU SO ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP FOR MISSIONAL CHURCH PROCESS? I’m enthusiastic about Partnership for Missional Church because it’s aimed at getting deep culture change in a congregation – it’s not a quick fix – and I’m enthusiastic because of the change I’ve seen in me and in the people around me who have been part of the journey.

One of the spiritual disciplines of Partnership for Missional Church is Dwelling in the Word, a little bit like lectio divina, where you focus on a passage of scripture [reflecting and meditating rather than analysing] but the idea of Dwelling in the Word is that every time you meet you use the same passage [for an entire year]. So you dwell in the word until the word begins to dwell in you.

We decided to use this at area deans’ meetings and area team meetings. We began to notice that the quality of our conversations changed and the things we wanted to talk about changed. So instead of – with area deans – constantly talking about insurance and downpipes and gutters, we wanted to start talking about the stuff that really mattered to us.

EMBARKING ON THE PARTNERSHIP FOR MISSIONAL CHURCH JOURNEY TAKES AT LEAST THREE YEARS. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO PEOPLE WHO SAY THAT IS TOO LONG?

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Name: Rt Rev Andrew Proud Location: Tidmarsh, Berkshire My call: To encourage our clergy to remember their first love and to create the kind of church where when we look at one another we expect to find the light of the glory of the face of Jesus Christ My role: Bishop of Reading

PARTNERSHIP FOR MISSIONAL CHURCH I would say that actually it’s worth every month of those three years. I would want to say that I understand your desire to see something happen more quickly: we’re concerned about the numbers, we all want to leave a legacy of growth and I understand all of those drivers, but actually if you can sit with this process, let yourself be shaped through it – not by it but through it – and allow God to do what God wants to do I think we will see fruits that we can’t begin to imagine.

WHAT CHANGE HAVE YOU SEEN PRACTICALLY AND SPIRITUALLY SO FAR? The change I have seen so far is in the quality of the conversations that we have when we dwell in the word together, when we talk about God at work together. People are talking theologically in a way in which they never imagined that they could. We are seeing lay people growing in confidence, talking about what they are seeing God doing.

LOOKING FORWARD, HOW DO YOU HOPE PARTNERSHIP FOR MISSIONAL CHURCH WILL CHANGE THE CHURCH AT LARGE? My hope is to see confident churches where the lay people’s ministries are of equal importance to that of the clergy, congregations that are outward looking, that are working beyond the walls of their churches with people in the local community who like them want to make a difference – and recognising that God is deeply involved with all of that and to see these people rejoicing that they are doing what God is doing.

My hope for the communities around the church is to discover a new sense of hope and purpose: to be less anxious about things like isolation and identity and discover a stronger sense of who they really are.

WHAT IS PARTNERSHIP FOR MISSIONAL CHURCH?

BY DEBBIE JAMES, CHURCH AND COMMUNITY MISSION DIRECTOR FOR CHURCH MISSION SOCIETY Partnership for Missional Church is a three-year process of spiritual reflection, transformation and engagement that groups of 10-12 churches take together. Originating in the United States, it has travelled to South Africa and Europe and is now being offered to churches in the UK

One of the lovely things about Partnership for Missional Church is that it focuses on us as Christians remembering whose we are; I think one of our key missional tasks as a church is to help people beyond the walls of the church to discover what it means to be truly human.

I think the result is going to look different in every place where God’s people are growing and flourishing. I am just trusting that it’s going to be good.

DO YOU THINK IT WILL HELP THE CHURCH AS A WHOLE REFOCUS FOR MISSION? I really believe it’s got to. Not in the sense that we are investing so much in it that if it doesn’t, it will be disappointing. But because if we are seeing transformed churches through deep culture change, then we’re going to see a laity growing in confidence, a clergy who are prepared to let go and to encourage. As neighbouring congregations see that taking place, as they begin to ask if it could happen where they are and people begin to seek opportunities to be on a similar journey, I can’t imagine how that can have anything other than a positive impact for mission across the church more widely.

IS PARTNERSHIP FOR MISSIONAL CHURCH FOR EVERY CHURCH? I want to say yes because I am passionate about it. But I don’t think it is necessarily. It’s got to be one of a raft of different things that we have to offer to engage more faithfully with what God is doing. And I’m very happy with that. At the moment I’m putting a lot of my effort behind Partnership for Missional Church because it’s fairly new on the scene and because it’s focusing towards those who would think of themselves as being ‘ordinary’ parishes that know they have got to be different, want to be different and are

through Church Mission Society in partnership with Church Innovations, who developed the original concept. More than 60 churches are currently following the process in Southwell and Nottingham, Leicester, Durham and Oxford dioceses. Unsurprisingly, partnership is at the heart of Partnership for Missional Church. It is first and foremost a reminder that God is our primary partner in mission. This shifts the focus from the church’s mission to God’s mission, in which we are created partners. Partnership is also essential to how the church is present and engaged in its local community.

The first year of PMC is centred on discovery.

A constant refrain is “What is God up to?” and “Where have we seen God at work?”

Discovering and affirming the activity of God in a particular neighbourhood opens up possibilities for congregations to be more deeply present and engaged. Mission practices are introduced during the year (six across the

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prepared to embark on that journey. If they are prepared to embark on that journey, I’m prepared to walk with them.

YOU WERE PREVIOUSLY BISHOP OF THE HORN OF AFRICA, AND SET UP THE ANGLICAN CENTRE IN GAMBELLA, FEATURED IN THE LAST ISSUE OF THE CALL. DOES THIS CROSS CULTURAL EXPERIENCE RESONATE WITH PARTNERSHIP FOR MISSIONAL CHURCH? We were living in Addis Ababa but most of my work was on the border with South Sudan where Bishop Grant [LeMarquand] is now; Church Mission Society have just sent a couple to go and work with him. We were there providing the resources and structure, if you like, to allow local mission to take place.

Looking back on it, it was important to have rules and regulations and structures but they are containers. They were only useful up to a certain point. Here they seem to define us. But there mission was always bursting out way beyond the structures.

People always came to see me when I travelled down to Gambella to say we just discovered another congregation or we just planted another church or we want to go and plant another church because we’ve just discovered a people group that’s moving across the border from South Sudan and they are settling. So God was always at work and coming up in extraordinary and exciting places.

And coming back [to Britain], I felt that it was all happening there, and it wasn’t really happening here. What Partnership for Missional Church is helping me to see is that God is always working for good and he’s as much at work here as he was there; we just have to open our eyes and see what he is doing.

three-year process) which help to bring about long-term cultural change in congregational life toward being missional, rather than simply carrying out mission activities. A mindset of being faithfully present among the community is nurtured, as opposed to doing something to it or for it. Year two is focused on experimenting – a team take on a missional challenge that often involves identifying and building partnerships with people of peace, innovating and learning together. The third year is all about envisioning, as congregations plan for the future into which God is leading them.

For more information about Partnership for Missional Church contact Nigel Rooms: nigel.rooms@churchmissionsociety.org

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MISSION REFLECTION

Name: Eluned and Mathew Phipps with Zac and Alister Location: formerly Madrid, Spain; now Winchester, England Our call: to bring Christians of different denominations together in mission for the sake of a “witness of oneness”

Mission means...

Our roles: After seven and a half years of bridge-building work with Protestants and Catholics in Spain, we are in Winchester where we are becoming part of a mission-shaped diocese. Mat is chaplain to the Rt Rev Tim Dakin, Bishop of Winchester. Eluned is thinking about what to do next.

…doing as little as possible

BY MATHEW PHIPPS “In 25 years of ministry, I have never had a seminarian from my own church,” said Agustín, “so if God wants to send me an Anglican seminarian, then who am I to argue?”

The 50-something Roman Catholic priest with a grey ponytail clearly felt there was something providential about my arrival in the small congregation of Santo Domingo de la Calzada, a church on the outskirts of Madrid, surrounded by the tents of drug addicts and the ruins of houses demolished in police raids.

After four years studying with Roman Catholic seminarians at the Ecclesiastical University of San Damaso, I still had no idea what to expect when I cold-called Father Agustín and asked whether he could teach me a thing or two about what it meant to serve the people in the infamous Cañada Real settlement. I didn’t expect his enthusiasm, and I didn’t expect that he would be baptising my youngest son a couple of years later (but that’s another story). I just wanted to learn a thing or two about mission.

Agustín was at pains to show me the diversity of the Cañada Real – a 14km medieval cattle track which is sometimes referred to (slightly euphemistically) as a “settlement”, at other times as a “shanty town” (a bit more sensational, but not without reason), but which for the residents is just a barrio, or neighbourhood. It would take nearly two hours for us to drive from one end of the track to the other in his jeep – past three-storey houses and wood/tarpaulin shacks.

The Catholic parish in the Cañada is no 26

stranger to need. In a sense, seeing a heroin addict injecting himself against the wall of the church blinds one to the broader spectrum of problems facing the inhabitants. There are nearly 10,000 people living in social exclusion and legal limbo. No single problem can be solved in isolation. There are security issues like drugs, guns, copper theft, people-smuggling and the organised mafias and clans that make these things happen. There are infrastructure problems like a shortage of electricity, water, waste drainage and refuse collection. In some places these amenities are completely absent, as are telephones, postal services and consistent numbering of houses. There is illiteracy, school absenteeism, unemployment and acute poverty.

There are tensions between Spanish, Spanish Gypsy, Romanian Gypsy, Portuguese Gypsy, Romanian and Moroccan communities and sharp disagreements between the political parties of the local and regional governments about how to tackle these problems.

I wanted to know what the church was doing.

I wanted to know what I could do. Missionaries are so often activists, fixers. We are driven to respond to need and we are the first to ask what we can do. The Cañada posed two problems for me: (1) the need was so much bigger than I could even comprehend; a lasting solution would take more than a decade to implement and cost tens of millions of euros; (2) the problems were so serious and complex that it was obvious to me that poorly planned help, no matter how wellintentioned, could do a great deal of damage to a delicate situation.

It was a running joke with our colleagues in the Red Cross and other NGOs that Agustín did

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as little as possible. And that was what he taught me to do. Sometimes our desire to help has a lot more to do with our own need for recognition, or just to be useful. When we give and others receive, we reinforce the difference and distance between us – the relationship is dominated by the dynamic of giving and receiving, and this can often hinder us from listening to those in need, and from identifying with and accompanying them in their difficulties.

We even pray “fixer prayers”. It takes time for us to slow down enough to reflect on what God is doing in situations we are so quick to try to solve.

But what if the Church’s role is to help those in need to find God in the midst of their troubles, rather than to offer assurances that he will be found in the solution to them?

I like to think that the most significant thing Agustín and I have done is as little as possible.

But we have done it together. In Spain it is no small thing to see a Catholic and an Anglican working “elbow to elbow” (as the Spanish expression goes). We have listened to and learned from one another, and we have listened to and learned from others together. Perhaps others have seen the power of the way of listening and learning and glimpsed the hope of reconciliation with God and with one another. In that testimony we have made the healing power of God more present in the Cañada.

Now that I think about it, this is just one story among many we could tell of how God has built ministries out of the things we thought wouldn’t work, and spoken to others through us when we thought we were just there to learn. So if you see us doing as little as possible, you’ll know why.

FEATURE STORY COMMUNITY NEWS

A MISSION EXPERIMENT

From theory to practice

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fter encountering Church Mission Society’s Mission Experiment stand at the Big Church Day Out in 2015, Eleanor May, age 19, decided to become a CMS community member and embark on six months of mission in Asia. She writes: Why mission? As I grew up in my faith and it became my own, rather than my parents’ or church’s or something you do on a Sunday, I had a sense of wanting to save the world. To the point where I actually asked my mum one day, “Will you help me save the world please?”

I considered a gap year. I had a desire to travel, not just for the sake of it, but to be able to appreciate and understand the normal lives of people outside my tiny western bubble. I explored teaching abroad, but the further I got with that process the more disillusioned I became with the motives expressed by secular

The Mission Experiment toured festivals in 2015: “CMS works with you to work out your calling,” says Eleanor May.

organisations. It all seemed mainly for self-development, something you can put on your CV to look better.

I started looking at missions. I’d been thinking about this idea of “saving the world” and realising that I, Ellie, can’t save the world myself. But God already has. Why not try to walk in his footsteps and serve with a love that leads people to God? I had heard of Church Mission Society through my family and church. At the Big Church Day Out in 2015, CMS had a stand called The Mission Experiment. For me, being a science student, this made so much sense. Basically you selected your skills, passion and availability from a list of suggestions. This was a real difference from other organisations, where you applied for a specific team and had to fit yourself around them. I didn’t know where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do and at the CMS stand I was given the opportunity to start identifying that.

And then CMS works with you to establish a way to work out your calling.

The more I read about CMS, the more I liked it; they seemed to get mission and get where I was coming from. So I became a member and then I came to the office and met with three regional managers for South America, Africa and Asia to talk about possible placements. I ended up settling on Asia.

I was in Bangalore for five months, working at Chai 3:16, a student cafe ministry. Then I went to Nepal, where I spent a couple of weeks working with National Mission Commission

Name: Eleanor May Location: Mission home: India/ Nepal, local home: Hampshire, new home: Cambridge University My call: To love – for whomever God puts in front of me to know they are beloved My role: Relational ministry among students, encouraging and emotionally/spiritually equipping those in education

to Nepal (NMCN) and attended the South Asian Christian Youth Network conference.

My church recently invited me to share my experiences and my curate asked me to compare the theory and practice of my recent journey. What were my expectations versus reality?

THERE WERE THREE THINGS I COULD IDENTIFY THAT CAME UNEXPECTEDLY AS MY MISSION TRIP TOOK SHAPE. 1. Service is a rich blessing – one embarks on such adventures with the notion of helping people, changing lives and making a difference, when in fact I was met with such warmth, acceptance and welcome that it became a privilege to merely appear as a piece in the jigsaw of people’s lives. I remember a day when one of the truest friends I made from among the students hurried into the café with a beam and the words, “Ellie, Ellie, I need to talk to you – there’s something I want to tell you before anyone else.”

It was an honour to be part of this girl’s story.

2. Service isn’t always glamorous – many hours were lost to spreadsheets and other documents: creating schedules and structures for our staff team, writing briefing and information packs for Chai 3:16, correcting and reformatting outgoing correspondence for NMCN. 3. Service is presence – singing and playing the guitar, chatting about music and watching film trailers, drawing pictures and illustrating names; it was this that founded friendships. Cooking, eating, sharing food; it was this that rooted relationships. Conversations, prayer, Bible studies; it was this that grew organically and budded encouragement, Continues on next page

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COMMUNITY NEWS

A dozen face the Downs for mission

Perfect 10: These walkers traversed 10km for mission

On Saturday 7 May, 12 Church Mission Society supporters gathered at Goodwood in the beautiful South Downs under blue skies for CMS’s fifth annual Walk with Jesus sponsored challenge.

Skills, passion and possibility: Ellie May with her Mission Experiment ‘equation’ at Big Church Day Out 2015.

support and challenge. Mission for me wasn’t development work – I did not paint a school, build a toilet, dig a hole, carry a brick or hold an orphan; I was serving the poor in spirit and so painted a new picture of an individual’s value, built a foundation for people’s worth, dug a well to the water of life, carried burdens and held hearts. I smiled as my church, St Mary’s Andover, launched its free popup cafe in the local housing estate; its debut was met with very few customers, which brought to mind hours sat in Bangalore with no students, and days of indulging the trickle while holding out for the flood. I smiled because we’re not called to success, but faithfulness; God saw us being there available and that made him smile. That’s because love starts with presence and is nurtured by presence.

CMS encouraged me in the ministry of incarnational living despite my lack of professional qualifications, valuing stories over numbers. I have learned to focus on the individual in front of me; to love people is to love a person. CMS recently went through a rebrand, which readjusted their outlook to equipping “the call in action” – the call we each have as Christians to partake in the Father’s mission to humanity – a mission of love, an invitation to be present, whether we travel five metres or 5,000 miles. Mission is loving the person in front of you, whether that’s across an ocean or across a street.

Mma Ramotswe, from Alexander McCall Smith’s novels, beautifully crafts this into a sentence: “I love all the people whom God made, but I especially know how to love the people who live in this place.” I love all the people whom God has made, but I especially know how to love students who live in cities, because that’s me, that’s what I do, and that’s what I can do with people – this is my heart and my steps will follow.

Before this year my heart stretched across the table to companions at school, then it got extended across the world to comrades in Asia and now the recoil takes it to university. Where is your heart?

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Hugh Skeil, who serves with his wife Debbie at the Christian Medical College in Vellore, India, walked 60km in 11 hours and 40 minutes. CMS supporters the Gunn family walked 20km and there were eight 10km walkers, including Robert Caroe, taking to the hills less than a year after a triple heart bypass, and Alison Blenkinsop, formerly a mission partner in Pakistan.

Mary Shepherd and Una Barter were walking to raise funds for new CMS mission partner Heather Johnstone in Tanzania.

When asked what they would be thinking about to inspire them during the walk, Mary responded: “Around the world, people are walking for so many other reasons, including fleeing persecution. I’ll be thinking of those people.” She further commented: “The official name of this walk is Walk with Jesus. Walking with Jesus is something I should do, not just today but

every day. This is a wonderful opportunity to remind myself that I’m walking with Jesus, which means no problems are insurmountable.”

When asked, “What does CMS mean to you?” second-time participant Robin Green said, “CMS is an organisation I respect very much, with a lot of experience in mission.

It’s a privilege to belong to it.” Alison responded, “Family.”

Well done to all the walkers and a huge thank you for all their fundraising efforts.

Thank you also to those who cheered on the participants during the day. Altogether the event raised £3,300 for mission.

The South Downs walk will be taking place again on Saturday 13 May 2017.

Keep an eye on churchmissionsociety. org for details. For more information, email Hannah: hannah.caroe@ churchmissionsociety.org or call her on 01865 787521.

Finance update

further understood a little more about this wonderful man. Sir William Leech had a remarkably generous vision in setting up a trust which has served five Christian charities (including Church Mission Society) since its formation in 1960.

The other main area of general fund income comes from churches, individuals and trusts. As of the end of September, these income streams are struggling to meet their budget targets and are four per cent down from last year. Please pray that we will see an upturn in the final quarter of the financial year. We would also really value your continued prayers for both the provision of a suitable tenant for the office space we have available to rent in CMS House and for our ongoing pension valuation, which is due to be finalised in the first half of 2017.

If you have any questions about CMS finances do not hesitate to get in touch with me: charlie.walker@ churchmissionsociety.org

BY CHARLIE WALKER, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND CORPORATE SERVICES As we head into the final quarter of the 2016-17 financial year, I can update you on our financial position as it stood at the end of September 2016.

One of our key areas of focus is what we term “general fund income” (that is, money that’s not restricted to a particular person or project). As of the end of September, general fund income from legacies, investments, trading, rental and charitable activity were all tracking on or above budget. Please give thanks for these vital income streams, particularly for the income (around £500k per annum) we receive from the William Leech entities. I had the pleasure of attending the William Leech AGM this year, and

CHURCH MISSIO N SO CIETY

COMMUNITY NEWS

COMMUNITY EVENTS 1 DECEMBER 2016. South Sudan: challenge and opportunity as seen by Derek and Jane Waller.

6.45 for 7pm, St Peter’s Church, Rushden. Jackets and pudding supper. £7 suggested donation.

Contact Margaret Walker: 01933 223614 or pearlgate21@googlemail.com 9 JANUARY 2017. Live free: a day with Mark Scandrette, author and activist. 10.30am– 4pm at CMS in Oxford. Discover the life of meaning, freedom and compassion you were created for. £5 for Starfish Network members, £10 for non-members. Contact pioneer@ churchmissionsociety.org 18 JANUARY. Gathering of members and supporters in Norwich. 10.45am–1pm, House of Prayer at St Edmund’s Church Fishergate, Norwich NR3 1SE. Drinks provided, bring your own lunch. Contact Louise Wright: 01508 536940 or louisewri@yahoo.co.uk 3-5 MARCH. Church Mission Society Southern Residential Conference. High Leigh Conference Centre. Theme: Hope for refugees. Main speaker: Canon Andy Wheeler, Guildford diocesan world mission adviser. Contact Jane Fulford: 0118 969 5039 or jane.fulford@btinternet.com 14 MARCH. Pioneer course open day at CMS in Oxford. 10.30am–2pm. Contact: pioneer@ churchmissionsociety.org 18 MARCH. Church Mission Society Community Vision Day.10am–4pm at CMS in Oxford. Sharing plans for the year and thinking creatively together. Contact Linda Sammons: 01865 787400 or linda.sammons@ churchmissionsociety.org 18 MARCH. Team leaders’ training day at CMS in Oxford. For those leading teams overseas. £39 including lunch, refreshments and handouts.

Discounts for multiple bookings from the same church/institution. Contact Helen Brook: 01865 787493 or helen.brook@churchmissionsociety.org

THE CALL IN ACTION 21-22 APRIL. Adelante Latin America conference at CMS in Oxford. Speakers include Bishop Nicholas Drayson and Catherine Le Tissier (Northern Argentina), Levi Santana (Brazil).

Contact: jo.anthony@churchmissionsociety.org 24-28 APRIL. Missional Entrepreneurship week. Pickwell Manor, Devon. Share and develop ideas for mission enterprise. £500 pp includes food, accommodation and materials. Contact: pioneer@churchmissionsociety.org 5-7 MAY. Church Mission Society Northern Residential Conference. Cliff College Derbyshire.

Theme: Bloom where you’re planted. Contact Alan Nickless: 0114 236 4517 or alan@nickless-online. co.uk 13 MAY. Northern regional meeting: St Aidan’s Church, Acomb, York YO26 5DB. 10am–3pm.

Please bring your own lunch. Drinks provided.

Contact Miss Evelyn Wroe: 01904780852 or evelyn.wroe@btinternet.com 13 MAY. Africa Day Conference, Southampton.

1–4pm. St James’ Parish Church, Shirley, Southampton SO15 5LW. Bring lunch from noon, tea and coffee provided. Contact: charlotte. plieth@doctors.net.uk 13 JUNE. Pioneer course open day at CMS in Oxford. 10.30am–2pm. Contact: pioneer@ churchmissionsociety.org 16-17 JUNE. Wales and the Borders Residential Conference. Llangasty Retreat House, Brecon.

Main speaker: Bishop Henry Scriven, CMS mission director for Latin America. Contact Chris Carey: 01291 425010 or crcandkili@tiscali.co.uk

TO KEEP UP TO DATE

with Community events visit churchmissionsociety.org/events

People in mission changes Moving on David and Rine Ingleby with Sem and Joanna are ending service after five years in India, working on various projects among marginalised people.

Eluned and Mat Phipps with Zac and Alister have returned to the UK after eight years’ service in Spain, four of them as mission partners with Church Mission Society. Mat has been appointed chaplain to the Bishop of Winchester, Tim Dakin.

Changing location Ruth Radley, after eight years’ service in South Sudan, has relocated to serve on the chaplaincy team of Birmingham Children’s Hospital, still as a mission partner with CMS.

Church Mission Society staff changes since August 2016 WELCOME: Ben Smith’s role was changed from finance and corporate services team administrator to income and data processor (October). Victoria Summers began working as regional personnel officer for Africa (November).

FAREWELL: Angela Trotman, personal assistant to international mission director and international mission team administrator (September); Thalia Carr, regional personnel officer for Africa (October); Cecilia PenaVazquez, income and data processor (August); Bryony Loveless, key relationships summer intern (August); Chrissie Bonnie, fundraising for mission directorate administrator (November)

DEATHS OF PEOPLE IN MISSION EARLY 2015 June Perrin, Pakistan 1967-1979 FEBRUARY 2015 Pamela Paul, India 1950-1966 JULY 2015 Rev Canon William R Harrison, Kenya 19621965 OCTOBER 2015 Janet Gower, Nigeria 1967-1978 NOVEMBER 2015 Elisabeth Gill, Uganda and Sudan 1950-1960

Rev Mark Inman, Nigeria 1956-1968

MARCH 2016 Roger Smith, Pakistan

MAY 2016

Molly Vass, Sudan 1947-1963

Rev Edward Ghinn, Chile 1978-1982

DECEMBER 2015 Marjorie Phyllis OludheMacGoye (née King), Kenya 1954-1960

Pat Bennett, Bangladesh 1958-1978

JUNE 2016 Beryl Norman, Uganda 1955-1965

JANUARY 2016 Isabelle Valentine Maynard Smith 19611971 FEBRUARY 2016 Rev Canon John Fletcher Beckles Goodwin, Nigeria 1950-1957

APRIL 2016 William Gordon Silk, Uganda 1953-1963 and 1988-1992 Anne Kathleen Joyce Williams, Sudan Stella Marie Pearson, Kenya and Uganda 1967-1976

Linda Middleton, Sudan

JULY 2016 Dorothy Dykes, Nigeria 1969-1985 SEPTEMBER 2016 Robin Slade, Kenya 69-97 OCTOBER 2016 Pat Goodchild, Tanzania, Oman, Nepal and Nigeria 1960-1981

Jean Burne, Nigeria 1965-1967

THE CALL - WINTER 2017

CLOSURE It is with regret we must let you know that the Church Mission Society shop will cease trading on 27 January 2017. The CMS senior management team have made the difficult decision to close in order to concentrate resources on other strategic priorities.

We wish to pay tribute to all our suppliers and to thank our customers for faithful support over more than 10 years.

DO VISIT THE SHOP WEBSITE FOR CLEARANCE PRICES: WWW.CMS-SHOP.ORG.UK

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MISSION SPIRITUALITY A series exploring the story of Jonah as a resource for nurturing a spirituality for mission

IN THE BELLY OF THE FISH WITH JONAH Part 3: Shaped in Darkness

BY IAN ADAMS, MISSION SPIRITUALITY ADVISER FOR CHURCH MISSION SOCIETY But the Lord provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah’s problems deepen.

Fast.

Thrown into the sea, he is snatched from the surface.

Dragged down into the abyss.

And for three days and for three nights Jonah is in the belly of a large fish.

But the storyteller suggests that this event may not be a disaster.

For the fish is somehow a gift, and will be the means of God’s grace.

In this unwanted experience descent, loss and darkness will become Jonah’s guides.

And the belly of the fish will become – in the language of the early desert monastics – the cell that will (if he is willing) teach him everything.

The darknesses we face are almost always unwelcome.

We would, of course, wish that there could be another way.

That we could always be in sunlight.

But sooner or later we all find ourselves caught in the toughness of life, dragged under, spiralling down.

And, as with Jonah, the descent threatens to overwhelm us.

our moments of happiness and success, how dark would be our darkness.

But God is in the darkness.

And may yet be found.

As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.

Jonah’s great prayer-poem is one of hope even in the most dire of circumstances.

Rooted in both his personal experience and in the great faith story of his people.

And in a joyful epiphany, after three days and three nights, he is able to speak of unimaginable salvation: deliverance belongs to the Lord!

Jonah has been freed to play his part in God’s mission.

The healing and restoration of the people of Nineveh await.

All things are possible.

We will, of course, see how Jonah’s story may unfold.

But for now, the future is opening up.

And Jonah is thrown up onto dry land.

His journey resumes.

Lord, help me I pray to find you even in the darkness and so may I continue my journey into your life and into your mission.

The waters closed in over me; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped around my head...

And yet, if we can, with Jonah discover the courage to remain with the darkness that has fallen upon us, we may discover there the presence of God. This paradoxical pattern has been a repeated discovery of the Christian contemplatives over the centuries.

God’s real presence may be encountered in God’s apparent absence.

Such a mystery.

And yet what a revelation.

If God were only to be encountered in

Image: Rachel Yates

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CHURCH MISSIO N SO CIETY

GLOBAL DISCIPLESHIP

SPREADING AN ANTI-GOSPEL

Mark Oxbrow, international director of Faith2Share, offers a candid assessment of the current state of discipleship in global Christianity

“Discipleship? Oh, yes, we did that about three years ago. It was a good course. This year we’re doing creation care.”

I had just been trying to explain to a curate of a thriving suburban congregation in England why Faith2Share adopts discipleship as our first priority.

Is discipleship a course, is it for beginners in the faith, or is it something quite different?

A few days after this conversation, Bijoy Koshy, the international director of Interserve, said something to me which kept me awake into the early hours: “When we settle for a second rate objective we get a second rate church.”

He then went on to suggest that, in recent decades, and in some cases for centuries, mission agencies worldwide have focused on evangelism and church planting rather than discipleship. The result has been massive church growth but a disastrous failure in Christian witness. Today, he claimed, we have thousands of Christians who live lives that are so unChrist-like that they say at best nothing and at worst highly damaging things about the God whom we claim to serve. Christians living inept, secularised, materialistic, immoral or violent lives proclaim an anti-gospel that’s far more persuasive than the efforts of any gospelsharing evangelist.

Four years ago, in preparing a funding bid for a new area of work within the Faith2Share network I wrote, “Sadly the rampant materialism of ‘Christian’ Europe, the genocide of ‘Christian’ Rwanda and the broken families in every church prove that we have a lot to learn about ‘depth discipleship’.” I wrote this after having a number of painful conversations with mission leaders from Africa, Europe and Asia, who were saying to me, “We lead agencies that do well in evangelism, who know how to plant churches and train leaders and how to serve communities, but we constantly fail to ‘make disciples of all nations’.” It has become almost platitudinous to speak of churches that are ‘a mile wide and

an inch deep’ but this is the tragedy of our contemporary situation. In too many places Christian faith is a fragile veneer glued over the coarse grain of greedy materialism, fractured tribalism, fearful spiritism or depressing fatalism.

As we have seen in Rwanda, Syria, Northern Ireland, the USA and so many other places, the shiny veneer will not survive when the underlying structures of society, the deeply held worldviews of the people, are in turmoil.

Discipleship is not a course, it is not the first stage of church membership. Discipleship is Jesus saying “follow me” (Matthew 4:19) and “teaching them to observe all that I have

“In too many places Christian faith is a fragile veneer glued over the coarse grain of greedy materialism, fractured tribalism, fearful spiritism or depressing fatalism.” commanded you” and “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). Discipleship is a whole way of life. Following Jesus radically changes not only what we do on Sundays but how we treat our spouse and children, how we think about people of another race, what we do at work, how we use money, what we commit to politically, how we relate to our community … in fact nothing remains the same.

THE CALL - WINTER 2017

One of the mission leaders who came to a Faith2Share Depth Discipleship consultation a few years ago told us recently: “I came to that consultation because I wanted to improve my ministry. What I discovered was that God was not so interested in my ministry – he was more interested in me, it was me he wanted to change, not my ministry. Hey, that was really scary. Inside I was running away...but God caught up with me.

The deal was – he changed me, I changed my ministry.”

God always has bigger plans than we at first realise. About the same time as the 30+ mission agencies who are part of Faith2Share adopted a renewed focus on whole-life discipleship, the coordinating body for Anglican churches around the world, the Anglican Consultative Council, called for serious reflection on discipleship.

Faith2Share was invited to join a small group of Anglican leaders internationally who researched what this might mean for Anglican witness. In 2015 I was privileged to join John Kafwanka, the director of mission for the Anglican Communion (and a former Church Mission Society regional manager in Africa) in editing the report Intentional Discipleship and Disciple-Making: an Anglican Guide for Christian Life and Formation.

In April of this year, based on this report, the Anglican Communion inaugurated a nine-year international focus on intentional discipleship.

In the title (and content) of this report there are two important words – ‘intentional’ and ‘life’.

We need to be intentional about discipleship; it does not just happen, and discipleship is about life, all of life, or as Paul put it “living in Christ” and “Christ living in me” (Galatians 2:20). Discipleship courses cost money, life costs everything. Let’s live the life.

To learn more about the Faith2Share network: www.faith2share.net 31

CURRENT MISSION OPPORTUNITIES IN MAKING DISCIPLES AND ENCOURAGING LEADERS THE CALL: By God’s grace, we want to help grow communities of Christians who are making his dreams for our world come true.

Wonderful work is happening through local leaders worldwide and we want to walk alongside them, learn from them and invest in their mission calling.

LATIN AMERICA

Rector, Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, Lima, Peru. A diverse and challenging role with scope for development. The new rector will be an energetic leader who can inspire and mentor, with a leadership style that encourages collaborative decision-making and welcomes new ideas and approaches.

ASIA

Missions development director, Kathmandu, Nepal. The International Nepal Fellowship (INF) Sanjaal team are involved in migrant ministries, health sector capacity building, developing grassroots Christian integral mission organisations and supporting Christian Nepali professionals to engage with development issues. They are looking for an experienced and visionary mission leader to help develop the significant potential of this work.

MIDDLE EAST

Chaplain in the diocese of Cyprus. Help promote peace and reconciliation, grow churches and take responsibility for ordering worship, Bible study and prayer meetings.

Situated in Famagusta on the northern side of the dividing line, the parish includes churches on both sides. This is a unique setting, giving plenty of material for reflection on reconciliation and forgiveness.

AFRICA

Biblical and theological trainer, DR Congo.

The diocese of Aru is seeking a biblical and theological trainer to work at their Bible school. The role includes teaching pastors, writing curricula for the Bible college and theological education by extension courses, assisting in the discipleship of churches across the diocese and facilitating seminars, conferences and retreats. In all areas of the work there should be a focus on building the capacity of local Christians.

To enquire about any of these roles, contact Isaac Frisby: 01865 787416 or isaac.frisby@ churchmissionsociety.org

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COMMUNITY

VISION DAY

2017

10

AM

-

4P M

Classifieds

18 MARCH 2017, OXFORD

You’re invited to come and find out what’s planned for 2017 and help CMS think creatively about the future.

£12pp including two-course hot lunch, £5pp without lunch (bring your own), tea and coffee provided Book your place by 6 March.

For more details and to book: churchmissionsociety.org/events

SHORT-TERM MISSION LEADERS’ TRAINING DAY

18 MARCH 2017, OXFORD

LEADING A SHORTTERM MISSION VISIT CAN BE DAUNTING. With 200+ years of cross-cultural mission experience, CMS can help you avoid potential pitfalls and make the most of your time.

Come learn more about: Leadership in a cross-cultural context Developing a positive relationship with your host Group dynamics and spiritual care Practicalities and preparation

Standard ticket: £39pp includes two-course lunch, refreshments and resources. Discounts available for multiple bookings from the same church/institution.

CHURCH MISSIO N SO CIETY

FOR MORE INFORMATION EMAIL HELEN: helen.brook@churchmissionsociety.org or call 01865 787493

APPEAL FOLLOW UP Name: Steve Poulson Location: Going to Honduras My call: To build relationships with and between projects that work with street children in Tegucigalpa My role: To represent Street Kids Direct, providing practical support such as networking, safeguarding training, mentoring and local fundraising

“We are called to this work... it’s not just a good thing to do”

E

arlier this year, Church Mission Society supporters gave generously to an appeal to “help us break new ground”. Following is an update from Steve Poulson, who is preparing to go to Honduras, a new country of work for CMS. He writes from Guatemala (another new CMS country) where he is studying Spanish and connecting with Mi Arca, a project similar to the one he will work with in Tegucigalpa.

La Terminal, where the bus station is, and the surrounding streets of Guatemala City are a hard place to live. Last week, during a session on the streets, I had to wet-wipe bathe a tearful four-year-old before treating his flea bites with the appropriate spray medicine. He and all his friends, who are also flea-bitten, are at high risk of having to live on the streets. They live in shack-like houses; just a few weeks ago 16 of these burned down due to a spark from a stove.

I also visited the mother of four children in the 6ft by 9ft windowless, hot and stuffy room they call home.

When we arrived at the door, one of the girls, age 10, burst into tears and told us her mother was ill and she was scared.

After consulting a doctor by phone, it was decided that the mother probably had chingunguña, which is very similar to dengue fever.

Another recent visit was made by Duncan and Ben. Duncan is the director of the Mi Arca project and Ben is a volunteer visiting for a few weeks. They went to visit a brother and sister, ages

seven and 10, whose mother was shot dead earlier this year. They were placed with their grandparents but sadly it turns out they were being physically abused and severely neglected in their new home. Just after Duncan and Ben left, there was a shoot-out between the local gang and police. The boy was spotted by a gang member and threatened: “If you tell anyone about me I’ll come back, cut you into pieces and leave you all over this street.”

Understandably the boy was extremely disturbed by this so he and his sister didn’t go home that night. They stayed on the streets as they felt safer there.

The girl did not return in the morning but by the afternoon she was found.

The boy returned, covered in bruises.

The two of them were later reported missing. As I write, the police are “looking for them” as are our street team. The hope is that we can get them out of immediate danger and into care.

As you can gather from these examples, not only is the problem large, it’s immediate. There are several children, families and friends in crisis at any given moment. It is not possible nor wise to try and deal with all that is going on, however we must do something There are scores of children in line to enter the mentoring program which has been set up by Mi Arca. Each mentor has one ‘mentee’ with whom they spend one hour a week. They talk about the difficulties and successes of the past week, as well as hopes and fears for the next. The motivation behind this is to help these children and young people to

know their worth.

All of them have been abused or neglected in some way. All of them have been let down by the adults they should have been able to trust.

The mentor is a consistent, positive adult in their life who shows them care, attention and love.

We are called to this work. We don’t do it simply because it’s a good thing to do. “We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 1:3). This encouragement to the Thessalonians is a reminder to us to keep our eyes focused on Christ. With the mountain of problems that are faced daily, we mustn’t lose sight of the trust we have in God. It’s a joy to see the mentoring happening and the difference it makes: the teenagers riding their bikes outside the mentoring centre, the children laughing and screaming as they play Jenga and the ever-increasing freedom experienced by those helped. May you also know freedom wherever you are, whatever form that takes. And please do pray for the large and immediate problems we are facing here.

THE CALL - WINTER 2017

Steve spending time with children on the streets in Guatemala City

GIVE

You can help people like Steve put their call into action by giving online at churchmissionsociety. org/give

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LAST WORD

HOW TO...

How to... be a change maker

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BY JANE JERRARD, WHO SPENT TWO DECADES IN PAKISTAN, WORKING WITH MARGINALISED LOCAL PEOPLE TO ACCOMPLISH GOALS THEY NEVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE: ESTABLISHING AROUND 100 RURAL VILLAGE PRIMARY SCHOOLS, CREATING DOZENS OF WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT GROUPS AND BELIEVING IN A BETTER FUTURE.

Church Mission Society believes that as we join in God’s mission through Jesus and the power of the Spirit, we see that the love of Christ renews people and places, pioneering leaders forge new paths of transformation and people on the margins flourish. As members of the CMS community we want to see lasting change – but how is it achieved?

Many come and go with programmes, grants and trainings but the actual difference made can be non-existent or short-term.

HOW DO WE BECOME CHANGE MAKERS? From my experience of working in Pakistan for 20 years and from my research there seem to be three important factors in transforming the lives of individuals and communities:

1 change of mindset 2 change of capabilities 3 change of agency In other words, change your thinking, acquire relevant skills and create an environment that provides you with increased opportunity to act.

LISTENING AND LETTING OTHERS LEAD Our role in the Primary Education Project was to listen to what people wanted to achieve, support pioneers in changing mindsets, provide relevant training and facilitate them in creating an environment that would be a catalyst for change.

In the rural Sindh where I worked, low-caste Hindus had suffered generations of disempowerment and poverty; they are marginalised in society, denied and often unaware of their rights. Many work as farmers: bonded labourers with few opportunities for decision making, in debt to landlords, living with a sense of hopelessness, unable to imagine that life could be any different.

However, when individuals and communities refuse to identify themselves as victims but as change makers, when they gain relevant capabilities to achieve their goals and when they find ways to make decisions for their lives and access their rights, transformation occurs.

CHURCH MISSIO N SO CIETY

Photos from Jane’s time in Pakistan.

Below: Padma’s education was a passport to a better future.

Right: Primary school students in the Sindh. Far right: Kanjee, a true change maker

ONE MAN: THREE AREAS OF CHANGE For most of my years in Pakistan I worked with a lowcaste Hindu man called Kanjee. He is a man of deep conviction and motivation. His parents were the only couple in his isolated village near the Indian border who agreed to send their son away so he could go to school. He lived with an uncle for his early education and in a hostel for his last two years.

As a member of a marginalised minority community, he struggled to overcome barriers due to discrimination and was determined to ensure that other members of his tribal low-caste community, particularly girls, would not experience those same barriers. I recognised that in addition to changing his mindset, he was a man taking every opportunity to change his capacity, developing his skills to be better equipped to achieve his ambitions.

He increased his agency by creating a wide network of contacts: in the media through writing articles for local newspapers and being a social activist; in civil society through becoming a member and then a local representative for the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP); with the diocese through becoming a teacher in one of their schools; with development NGOs, taking his community members to seminars which nurtured their vision and determination to provide a different future for their children, including their daughters.

LAST WORD educated daughter-in-law and an uneducated one…my first goal is to bring awareness.” And so the context is set for the next generation of change makers.

IF WE WANT TO SEE REAL CHANGE, WE HAVE TO BE REAL

TRANSFORMATION SPREADS Together with Kanjee, we started Village LEAP (Literacy Education Awareness Programme) with the first school opening in his village in 2001. Our vision was that these community schools should be transformative for children’s lives and that the teachers [selected from within the villages] would become agents of change to address the injustices that their communities had suffered for generations.

The village teachers, observing the transformation of Kanjee’s life, began to believe that they could do the same. At first communities found it hard to imagine that sons of farmers with limited education could become teachers, but as they observed the confidence and knowledge that their children were acquiring, they started to respect the teachers.

The teachers not only taught effectively in the classroom, they also helped families with their personal problems and advocated for their village to access further government resources, especially in times of crisis, bringing flood relief and facilitating rehabilitation.

We listened to the teachers and community leaders and came to understand that the three main benefits that they wanted from their schools were cleanliness, social skills and communicative English, so we adapted our trainings to achieve these goals: personal cleanliness, so that they would no longer be perceived as ‘dirty farmers’; the ability to advocate for their rights; confidence to communicate in English, which meant government officials would listen to their case and take action to support their communities. As circumstances changed and new needs arose, a supplementary curriculum was introduced to meet these needs and to sustain community ownership of the schools. People increasingly witnessed the difference that a relevant education can make.

TRANSFORMATION TAKES RISKS Women and girls living in a rural area, as members of an ethnic minority, in an agrarian community, are regarded by UNESCO as the most disadvantaged citizens in Pakistan. Starting from Kanjee and his village, to now include 85 communities, women are developing a vision for their daughters to be enrolled in school, complete their education to college level

and marry an educated man as their ‘passport’ to a better future.

For the girls in the first class of the first Village LEAP school that opened in 2001, this required strategic decisions. After four years, they realised that it would be impossible to fulfil their dreams unless they moved nearer a town since there was no accessible middle and high school in their area. Kanjee and his brother-in-law therefore motivated 15 families to uproot and create a new village near a town.

My previous vicar used to say, “Find out what God is doing and join in.” We tried to do that in the Primary Education Project. It took us along many unexpected paths, but as we listened, looked to God for his strength and discovered his purpose through prayer, we saw wonderful change take place. Through working alongside the poor to bring social change, we also saw a gradual spiritual change emerging. At first there were barriers, but gradually, we of different faiths learned to respect each other, recognising our common goal to deliver quality education for our children. We learned the power of encouragement and working together as a team. Isaiah 55:11 says, “My word that goes out from my mouth will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” As trust grew and relationships deepened, Christians, Hindus and Muslims were able to sit together and engage with biblical texts.

The social changes that we were able to be part of opened the way for people to experience the love and compassion of Christ and, step by step, to be transformed by listening to him speak through his written word.

To achieve change always requires a calculated risk: the villagers owed debts to their landlord, but Kanjee judged that their contacts with HRCP and his personal relationship with a key Pakistani human rights lawyer, would mean that the landlord would be reluctant to take action against them.

Their accumulated government and media contacts informed them of vacant government land which they occupied; the diocese, as a Christian minority group themselves, were sympathetic to providing scholarships for these students; other contacts gave them access to government grants and support from NGOs to develop their village.

MINDSET CHANGE, EDUCATION AND EMPOWERMENT FOR GIRLS The pioneer of female empowerment in Kanjee’s village was a girl called Padma, one of his nieces. The family realised that she must complete her education to college level. Research shows that female students who have over ten years of education and continue their education up to age 18 have more influence over the timing of their marriage and choice of partner. They also have some space for negotiated gender relations within the marital home.

After completing her basic education, Padma taught for two years in her village school, then married an educated man, used family planning, had a safe pregnancy and has a healthy child. Recognising her confidence and skills, Padma’s in-laws were willing to let her work as a teacher after marriage in a local school, a very rare occurrence in rural Sindh. She and her husband are community leaders. As Padma expressed, “First I want to educate the children of my family and then I want to work for the people in the village…I want to show the difference between an

THE CALL - WINTER 2017

PRAY

1

Lilian, mentored by Jane, was appointed director of the Primary Education Project in the Diocese of Hyderabad when Jane left Pakistan this year. Pray for Lilian, who is a local partner currently supported by CMS.

2

Pray for Kanjee as he continues to help bring about change for marginalised people.

3

Pray for Jane as she helps CMS develop an impact assessment system.

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PESTMA AL S

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CH RI

Tonight in rural Uganda, a young, nervous, expectant mother might travel through darkness, looking for a safe place to deliver her baby.

yn, u rd e V ie rr o C r D d n a l a it sp o H Hopefully she will find Kiwoko as lead g in rv se y b n io ct a to in ll ca n o who is putting her missi h care. lt a e h ’s n e m o w d n a y it rn te a m doctor in Jesus’ birth in a stable, and the dangers such a delivery might present for a young woman like Mary, have parallels in the difficulties women face in Uganda – which Corrie encounters daily.

In the UK, we expect most births to be safe; fewer than one mother will die for every 4,300 births. In Uganda, one new mother in every 30 will die. But at Kiwoko, Corrie’s work means that a mother’s chances of life are different.

In the year past, Corrie and her team helped ensure that while three women still died from complications, there were 2,300 safe deliveries. In addition to assisting at complicated births, Corrie is training local midwives, junior doctors and medical students; this training can make the difference between life and death for hundreds of mothers and babies.

What Corrie has achieved shows how much your gifts matter – they help hundreds of people like Corrie put their call into action worldwide.

Tonight at Kiwoko there may be care for a mother – and it is your support that helps make this possible.

GIVE

This Christmas, please give to support people in mission like Corrie.

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