Interact, Issue 3 2023

CONTENTS

Issue 85 / 3–2023

Editorial team

Jess Bee

Kris Calver

Steve Bassett

Photographs Lifewords unless otherwise stated

Lucy Favier

Design

Worthy of

Welcome Growing community in Nairobi News

The latest news from the Lifewords global family

Connecting with Culture

New ways to engage with the Bible Looking to Christmas

Opportunities to share good news

Get Involved Lifewords and you

Lifewords is the operating name of Scripture Gift Mission (Inc), registered charity in England and Wales, 219055

Registered office 1A The Chandlery, 50 Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7QY

Cover photograph

S2 design and advertising Ltd

Print Yeomans Creative

Interact is free, available three times a year from your nearest member of the Lifewords global family of organisations (see page 15).

WELCOME

WELCOME

Jesus calls us to tell others about him, and to not just tell, but to “make disciples” – to build relationships, to grow communities, to gather as “church”.

In this issue of Interact, you will read about how different people and groups are “making disciples”. In Nairobi, a mission project is reaching street children with good news. It is meeting their practical needs while also welcoming them into the church community as new disciples. You can also read about how 23 years of Pavement Project continues to help children meet Jesus, about how Ninefold Path empowers us to go deeper in our faith, and about how our Christmas outreach can be the start of making new disciples as we share good news with others.

Thank you for your partnership with us in helping people discover Jesus and continue on their journey with him. We hope you enjoy reading about all the different ways we can lead people into a relationship with God and help them deepen their faith, so they might also share good news with others

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)

In Nairobi, a community is making disciples as it brings God’s healing, restoration, and welcome to street children. At the heart of this network is a group of people – pastors, church members, street children – breaking down boundaries, spreading the word, and opening up the church to all.

“This is a place where everyone is important,” says Pastor Mary, talking about Maisha Poa, the project and church where she serves as a social worker and pastor to street children and their families in the Kawangware area of Nairobi. All the children they serve are precious, no matter their status or how they appear. Mary likens it to finding something valuable –no matter the condition it’s in, its inherent worth doesn’t change: “If you have $1 and it drops in a sewer or is dirty, it doesn’t lose its value.”

Words Jess Bee

Photos Lucy Favier

CHANGING LIVES

Pastor Mary and the team at Maisha Poa rescue, rehabilitate and reintegrate children, providing counselling, educational sponsorship, vocational and skills training, literacy programmes, and practical support such as food, washing and laundry facilities, and accommodation. They use Lifewords resources and counsel young people using Pavement Project.

Jonathan is one of the children that Maisha Poa has helped. “I was a thief,” he says. “I was a street kid and I used to fend for myself from the dumpsites. I used to sleep in makeshift shacks. At night, the police would beat us and tell us to go home, but they never used to understand our challenge of not having a home.

“But when I came to Maisha Poa, they changed me. I never used to like education, but they gave me a chance and they took me to school. I used to run away from school, but they were persistent with me. I’m now changed, and I love Jesus.”

“All the children they serve are precious, no matter their status”

Opposite page: Pastor Mary; this page: children at Maisha Poa (above), Pastor Mary (left), Jonathan (right)

PASSING IT ON

Jonathan is now the one who offers help to street children as he encourages his friends from his old life to come to Maisha Poa. “Right now, when I see street boys, I give them the same message that the pastor used to tell me, and I motivate them – I tell them God loves them, because my pastor told me that God loves me.”

One of these boys is Wicliffe. “Before I came to Maisha Poa, I used to collect food and other stuff from the dumpsite in Kawangware,” he says. “I used to do this to feed my family. Everyday my sisters and I used to sort out trash that could be sold for recycling. I used to run away from home and sleep on the streets. One day my friend Jonathan told me that Maisha Poa helps children like me and that I should go there. So, I came here, and they promised to help me. Pastor Mary also counselled me and told me that the bad stuff I was doing wasn’t pleasing in the eyes of God. I started coming with my mum on Sundays to worship and serve here.”

“I tell them God loves them, because my pastor told me that God loves me”

Wicliffe (above)

about a community that is waiting to welcome them in. “I ask the street kids, have you been stopped from going somewhere just because you’re a child?” says Jonathan. “And they say, ‘Yes, I was chased away. Firstly, because I was dirty, and secondly, because I was alone, I didn’t have a parent.’ The children who go to church are the children who are being taken there by their parents. Those who don’t have parents are chased away.” But these children are invited in at the church that is part of Maisha Poa. “It is wrong to build a big church, and then lock it with a gate, and put guards outside,” says Pastor Mary. “We welcome the children to our church.”

Give thanks for Maisha Poa and Pastor Mary –for the welcome and restoration they offer street children.

Praise God for Jonathan and Wicliffe –pray that they would grow in their faith and in their compassion for others.

MOTIVATED BY GOD

The practical help and welcome are undergirded by the Bible’s values of love, forgiveness, and restoration. Through the church community, and ongoing discipleship and counselling, young people are discovering new perspectives and new ways to live. “I felt welcomed here, because the very first time I came here, they prayed for me, then taught me using stories from the [Pavement Project] green bag,” says Jonathan. “The Bible has been really helpful to me and has motivated me a lot.”

Pavement Project is helping these children know that they are accepted by God, and that they are invited into God’s kingdom. “Pastor Mary showed me a card from the green bag that had a picture of a child carried in Jesus’ arms,” says Wicliffe. “She then told me that even if I go astray, Jesus still loves me, and he’ll still take me back. Right now, I even go to the streets and invite the other street kids to church.”

“My life has changed since I came to Maisha Poa,” says Jonathan, “it has given me an education, it has given me motivation. Before I came here, I was everything bad –I used to smoke weed, I have used all kinds of drugs. But ever since I came here, I’ve changed. I don’t do all the bad things I used to do. What made me stop doing all these bad things was the green bag. The Bible motivates and gives good advice. Pavement Project teaches stories about God and once you know about God everything is possible.”

Praise God for how the Bible is motivating and guiding these young people.

PRAY

“Young people are discovering new perspectives and new ways to live”

Banging the drum for NINE BEATS

In May, Lifewords was at Big Church Festival showcasing NINE BEATS and Ninefold Path. An electric drum pad with nine different beats allowed visitors to drum out their own nine beats, and a listening station gave them the opportunity to experience the album from NINE BEATS Collective, Nine Beats to the Bar.

“The stand stood out in the exhibition space, and it attracted a lot of people,” says Elizabeth King from Lifewords. “The listening station was very popular, and the people who listened to the CD loved the music and appreciated the eclectic style – one woman bought the album and took it back to her tent, and later told us that she had spent all evening listening to it. The drum pads were a hit (pun intended!) with a lot of people and created a bit of a buzz. Ninefold Path garnered a lot of interest as a different way of engaging communities around the beatitudes, with one visitor telling us that ‘Ninefold Path is the best thing I have ever done’.”

Life Changing Words is 20!

This year Life Changing Words (LCW) celebrates 20 years of the email and app service that connects users all over the world with a daily Bible verse that they can respond to and share.

The email service was launched in 2003, followed by the app 10 years later, in 2013. Now, in 2023, a new version of the app has been created offering a new look, more features, and a faster user experience. “People can share Bible verses using attractive graphic backgrounds,” says Jarek Jankowski, Global Bible Resources Director. “It is already attracting more people. In just three weeks, we recorded 5,000 new installations on Android and iOS driven devices. In comparison, 2022 saw 17,000 new installations for the whole year. This is encouraging – it means that thousands of people are reading Bible verses every day and sharing them with their friends and relatives.”

“We have to figure out ways to deliver the truth, the ways and teachings of Jesus, in ways that people can hear it today –because that word still heals, it still saves, it still guides, so we’ve got to get it into people’s hands and we’re committed … to find as many artistic means to deliver the message of Jesus Christ to as many people as we can.”

Eric Leroy Wilson, NINE BEATS Collective

Connecting with Culture

For 135 years, Lifewords (and Scripture Gift Mission) has been known for resources that equip, inspire, and encourage the Church worldwide, and that tell aspects of God’s story in engaging ways to the cultures and contexts in which we live. Jess Bee spoke to Steve Bassett, Lifewords Creative Director to find out more.

Jess Bee: Can you tell me a bit about the culture that Lifewords is working in and how it is seeking to engage with it?

Steve Bassett: Getting alongside people in all walks of life, communicating in ways that resonate with how people feel, how they think, how they live, has seen us create many resources over the years. Extending from purely literature to web, digital and now AI, and creating programmes and projects that offer different ways for people

to engage, the ministry has moved with the times while being consistent with our core mission.

Literature resources are still the core part of the ministry today, but they sit alongside other expressions that also seek to share the gospel. Many people can’t – or won’t – read the Bible in printed form. We know about the proliferation of digital and social media, and now there is the new frontier of AI. What a challenge to find ways to share the Bible in this kaleidoscopic world. So, you will find us online with VerseFirst,

“Many people can’t – or won’t – read the Bible in printed form”

Steve Bassett

Life Changing Words, and animations of some of our booklets as we continue to explore other ways to engage in digital spaces. And, alongside all of this is NINE BEATS and Ninefold Path.

JB: What’s the latest with NINE BEATS and Ninefold Path?

SB: Our beatitudes project, NINE BEATS, is an example of finding wider ways to share the Bible. With the words of Jesus in Matthew 5 as the core of the project, NINE BEATS expresses the welcome of these words through music and arts, as well as through a printed curriculum resource, Ninefold Path. By engaging with people and getting alongside them, we find that the beatitudes quickly become a meeting place where the common aches and yearnings of the human heart can find a meaningful encounter with the words of Scripture. With NINE BEATS, the songs and artistic expression connect with how people feel and think and live, and point to the words of Jesus.

This year, we have been re-promoting the Ninefold Path as a resource for individuals, groups, and churches. Many have found it to be a compelling and transformative nine-week journey into the words of Jesus. At the end of September 2023 NINE BEATS is embarking on a mini tour of six venues, working alongside communities that we have built relationships with.

JB: How is NINE BEATS, and in particular Ninefold Path, evolving?

SB: Right now, we are looking for partners who will journey with us to bring the backing to make new ideas and expressions of Ninefold Path happen. If you are interested, do contact us – we would love to explore possibilities, from church-facing to culture-facing and all points in between!

For the latest information and NINE BEATS tour dates visit 9beats.org and ninefoldpath.org. Visit our YouTube channel to hear more from Eric Leroy Wilson on NINE BEATS.

with

people

Give thanks for how Lifewords offers a breadth of ways for people to engage with the Bible.

Pray for those who can’t, or won’t, read the Bible in traditional ways – pray that new expressions would help them engage with God’s Word.

Pray for new partners to help grow NINE BEATS and Ninefold Path.

PRAY

“The songs and artistic expression connect

how

feel and think and live”

Looking to Christmas

Christmas is always a great opportunity for sharing the Bible. All over the world, through services, events and gatherings, churches, groups, schools, and individuals invite others to share the story of Jesus’ incarnation.

Last year, Lifewords sent out nearly 85,000 Christmas resources in the UK. “Every year, people come to us for relevant, thought-provoking and welldesigned Bible resources to share with friends, family, and strangers at Christmastime,” says Elizabeth King from Lifewords UK. “People from all over use our resources and some in really creative ways. It’s always great to hear how our material is being used to open up the Christmas story and help people engage with the Bible.”

A STORY FOR THE WHOLE WORLD

Last year, Lifewords added a new resource to its Christmas range. A Story for the Whole World looks at how the telling of Jesus being born harmonises with the common desires and longings of humans throughout history, and the shared human ache and yearning for

something more. Using patterns and designs inspired by cultures around the world, A Story for the Whole World tells the story of Jesus’ birth in the Bible’s own words, inviting individuals, communities, and the whole world to find a place in it.

“Often, in the UK, we can turn the Christmas story into a western Christian winter festival,” says Dan Chalke, designer of the resource.

“A Story for the Whole World reminds us that it isn’t just about one culture, it’s about everyone. It’s bigger than just one experience and perspective. This resource is about how Christmas is represented and celebrated in different cultures. The patterns in the design look at family, identity, and where we fit in the world. It’s a perfect reminder that the Christmas story can be 2,000 years old, but the issues it’s addressing and confronting

“Every year, people come to us for relevant, thoughtprovoking and welldesigned Bible resources”

Words Jess Bee Christmas

are contemporary and personal. This is the introduction to the story that answers all of the questions that all of these cultures have always been asking.”

CONNECTING PEOPLE

St John’s Church, Southall have been using Lifewords Christmas resources for several years, including OUTSIDE/IN, and The True Light. Last year, they also used A Story for the Whole World. “We gave the resources out at every available opportunity and must have given away at least 250 booklets. That was more than ever! Many of our members said that they would be handing them on to friends, family, and neighbours,” said Rev Dr Anna Poulson, vicar. “We really appreciated the concept behind A Story for the Whole World because the members of

our church come from a whole range of different heritage backgrounds, from India to the Caribbean, Iran to Nigeria – the resource emphasises the inclusive nature of the gospel. Some of our members are also refugees and this booklet captures the truth that the gospel has no hierarchy, no matter where you come from or what your documented status – the good news of Jesus is for each of us! The use of patterns from around the whole world made for a beautiful booklet and helpfully captured the sense that the Christmas story connects with people across time and physical borders.”

How will you use Lifewords resources this Christmas? Keep an eye on our social channels for stories and ideas of how to creatively reach your community.

Visit lifewords.global/christmas to browse our Christmas range, and read more about the concept behind A Story for the Whole World on our blog –lifewords.global/blog

Give thanks for the opportunities to share good news at Christmastime.

Praise God for Lifewords resources that help people engage with the Christmas story.

Pray for churches, groups, and individuals as they reach out to people this Christmas.

“The resource emphasises the inclusive nature of the gospel”

GET INVOLVED

Going deeper with Ninefold Path

Our Ninefold Path resource is for groups and churches who are looking for fresh ways to engage with the Bible and put the words of Jesus into practice. Vicki Price told us her experience of using Ninefold Path to help her and her community explore and go deeper in their faith:

“I am training for lay pioneer ministry in the Church of England, and I use the Ninefold Path to prepare services or small group discussions, because there are loads of nuggets of practical truth that are easy to share and accessible for people, especially if they are new to faith or thinking what it means to be a Christian. It’s a helpful tool to get into deep things really quickly.

“I find all of the beatitudes helpful, and I know that whatever the session or service theme I’m preparing, there’s always going to be something from one of the ‘beats’, because they resonate with everything. There’s a theme that goes through the beatitudes that you can’t get away from – the core of what it means to live out faith.”

Available as the Ninefold Path Notebook and Learning Lab Group Guide, Ninefold Path has been designed for use either individually or in a group. Each beatitude (or “beat”) offers a short invitation for us to read, reflect on, and wrestle with. Then, there are three practices or experiments that give the opportunity to put the words of Jesus into action in our daily lives.

Thank you from Pavement Project!

Every year, on 21 June, Lifewords teams around the world mark the anniversary of Pavement Project. They gather to celebrate the power of the Bible to bring restoration to vulnerable young people and their families, and to say thank you to the people all over the world who are part of making Pavement Project happen.

“I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of those who are part of Pavement Project, and to those who give, who pray – you are our partners,” says Clenir dos Santos, Pavement Project Director. “Over these last 23 years, God has used us to bless so many.”

“How incredible to think that this green bag continues to be so relevant, wonderfully transforming the lives of children and adolescents,” reflects Luciana Falcão, Pavement Project Brazil Coordinator. “It continues to be what many organisations are looking for. It shows the power and grace of Jesus to heal, to transform, and to bring joy to hearts.”

Clenir dos Santos and the Pavement Project green bag