Interact (Issue 3, 2022)

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

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

WELCOME

We often use the word “practising” when it comes to describing a person’s faith. It’s an attempt to recognise that authentic “faith” requires outworking. It’s a phrase we also employ in relation to health care professionals – “a practising GP”, “attend the practice”, and so on – implying a constant refining and growth of experience, bringing healing and restoration. Did the early followers of Jesus view themselves as “practising disciples”, or “practising Jesus followers”? And what were they practising, exactly? Did they ever stop practising because they had become, well … perfect?

Jesus showed what following his path looked like and urged them to “go and do likewise”. And so, they did just that – they practised in their real world lives and contexts. And mostly, that meant sharing the story of Jesus through word and deed – wherever they found themselves. It was a story that Jesus himself had invited them into. The disciples, the apostles, those that heard and received the message they shared, they were all encouraged to practise – to change certain things,

improve others, to do something new or take leaps of faith – all part of the practice of walking the Way of Jesus.

Ours is, after all, a “practice-based faith”, worked out “in praxis”. At Lifewords, through our resources and the contexts in which they are used, we also empower others to practise as well, in their way, in their world. This issue of Interact shares how we do this among the needy children of India, through digital platforms, or in conversation with our friends and neighbours, and more. Sharing the story of God’s love is something that requires constant practice, adapting to each and every situation. When one experiences the telling of a seasoned storyteller, there is something very engaging and beautiful about the way they become a sort of bridge for the story to roll across into other’s lives. May we become those who hold the story out and may all the stories we share in this magazine and around the world inspire all of us who seek to be followers of Jesus, to keep on practising!

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

Matthew 7:24 NIV

Telling Stories

How do we share our faith with family, friends, colleagues, strangers? Our faith is reflected in our lives; our encounters with Jesus are seen through how we approach the highs and lows; our values and beliefs shine out in our response to everyday situations, through conversation and action. This is our story of faith. A story that is written from our encounters with Jesus.

How do we tell this story so that others can encounter Jesus too? Recent research says that “there is an openness to the gospel at this time and the most common pathway to faith is through a Christian friend. This research highlights the need for every church to prioritise inspiring every member to be a great friend and equipping them to be able to share their faith”1. Dr Patrick Dixon, Chairman of Global Change Ltd, talks about how “the power of the Holy Spirit [is] needed alongside the hard work of contextualising the

gospel … not an institutional response but a people movement; something simple that [enables] Christians to have millions more sensitive, positive, culturally-relevant conversations about Jesus that could be deeply effective in evangelism”2. For many Christians it was a conversation with someone that led them to become a Christian themselves3, so how can we be equipped to talk about our faith and have these “sensitive, positive, culturally-relevant conversations about Jesus”?

“How do we tell our story so that others can encounter Jesus too?”

1 Phil Knox, Head of mission to young adults, Evangelical Alliance in “Changing Church, Autumn 2021

THE POWER OF A STORY

One of the ways Lifewords wants to help us have these conversations is through telling the story of Jesus. When we share the Bible, we introduce people to Jesus, and subsequently to the impact he has on our lives. And, as we invite people to read and find out more about him, we invite them to experience the transforming freedom of a relationship with him. Vanessa Boris from Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning explains the impact of a story: “Telling stories is one of the most powerful means to influence, teach, and inspire. What makes storytelling so effective for learning? For starters, storytelling forges connections among people, and between people and ideas. Stories convey the culture, history and values that unite people.”4

GOING ON A JOURNEY

Alongside the idea of “story” is the concept of “journey”. Often, we talk in terms of a one-time decision to follow Jesus, but many Christians don’t talk about their coming to faith in Jesus as one sudden decision or experience – for lots of people it is a series of conversations, experiences, and encounters with Jesus that lead them to a relationship with him. We see this with Simon Peter who has several encounters with Jesus: the initial meeting where Jesus says, “‘Follow me! I will teach you how to bring in people instead of fish’” (Matthew 4:18-19, NIV); Simon Peter’s return to fishing and the second promise from Jesus that he “‘will bring in people instead of fish’” (Luke 5:10, NIV); his denial of Jesus (Matthew 26:69-75, NIV); and his declaration of love and commissioning by

“For lots of people it is a series of conversations, experiences, and encounters with Jesus that lead them to a relationship with him”

Jesus (John 21:15-19, NIV).

For Simon Peter, his faith journey is made up of a series of encounters with Jesus that grow into an unswerving commitment to him.

EQUIPPED TO SHARE

Lifewords wants to resource people to tell the story of Jesus, and to equip them to help others embark on or continue their journey of faith. When Luisa* from Brazil was counselled by a Pavement Project worker, she was able to talk about how she was scared and could not sleep at night because her parents were

fighting. Through Pavement Project resources Luisa met Jesus and discovered how she could be part of his story. In Kenya, the You Matter booklet helped children from the Kariobangi slum area in Nairobi see themselves in the story of the prodigal son. In the UK, Viktorija was given Little Book of Help when she became a Christian, and now she is hoping that others will read it and start their own journey with Jesus.

Now, Lifewords new resource Follow Me harnesses the power of stories to share how Jesus interacted with

4 https://www. harvardbusiness.org/ what-makes-storytellingso-effective-for-learning/

*Name has been changed

“Follow Me harnesses the power of stories to share how Jesus interacted with people”

PRAY

Give thanks for your faith story and for the people in your life who you can share it with.

Pray that God would give us more and more opportunities to share our story with others.

Praise God for the new Follow Me resource. Pray that it would help people connect with Jesus.

people. It introduces Jesus in his own words and by his own interactions with the people he met, equipping us to start a conversation that may begin a journey of faith for someone else. “Follow Me is about connecting with people where they’re at – like Jesus did – and it starts with that simple invitation,” says Kris Calver, creator of Follow Me. The resource invites readers to explore how Jesus valued people and showed concern for those who were marginalised in society; how he demonstrated God’s love, and how that love brought healing and new life into the world through his death and

resurrection. As each story is framed around the invitation to “follow me” the resource concludes with that same invitation to the reader. “The value of story and the impact of the life of Jesus, and the simplicity of the words ‘follow me’, are an accessible starting point,” says Kris. “‘Follow me’ was the invitation then and it is the invitation still, 2,000 years later. This resource seeks to introduce readers to Jesus, and hopefully through that, to encounter him.”

Visit www.lifewords.global or follow us on Facebook for the latest news on Follow Me.

Choose Life in Brazil

In Brazil, churches and local projects are using Choose Life to help young people develop character and values based on the wisdom of the Bible. The resource, which Lifewords originally designed for use in Africa, has been redeveloped for a new context and last year the Evangelical Mission for Assistance to Fishermen (MEAP) in the Parnaíba Delta started using the programme with the children they meet through their projects.

The interactive curriculum empowers young people with skills to work out choices, consequences, and decide for themselves how to live. “When we were working with the Choose Others module, the children shared a lot because they like to talk about their experiences,” said Deborah, one of the MEAP missionaries. “All the children knew how to read, so we read together with them, and they participated a lot. Speaking about the parable of the Good Samaritan, a child shared that, a while ago, she had some money with her and felt it was to help someone. When she went into town, she saw a homeless man and felt she should give him the money, but she didn’t. Returning to the island she was sad, sorry that she hadn’t helped that man. I was able to minister to the child that God will give her other opportunities to help others.”

Junction 42

Our partners Junction 42, recently helped fund the printing of Finding Hope booklets to use in their Stories of Hope packs which go out to prisons all over the UK.

Junction 42 works in 132 prisons across the UK – covering 100% of prisons in Scotland, and 94% in England and Wales. It works with chaplaincies, and encourages individuals on their faith journey, supporting them pastorally during their time in prison. Junction 42’s Stories of Hope packs include Bible and prayer resources, alongside craft activities – over 200,000 items make up packs that are sent to over 19,000 inmates. Their most recent pack included Finding Hope , a prayer journal, and a rainbow card kit. “When I opened a faith pack … I was blown away,” says one inmate. “I want to know more about your church so I can come when I get released.”

“Thanks to everyone at Lifewords for making this happen,” says Simon Warren, Head of Resources. “It’s great to be partnering together on this amazing endeavour.”

Report:

Pavement Project in India

In India, two out of every three children are physically abused. Over 50% of children face one or more forms of sexual abuse, with 21% reporting facing severe sexual abuse. Half the abusers are people known to the child or in a position of trust and responsibility. Every second child is facing emotional abuse. India has one of the world’s highest suicide rates for youth aged 15 to 29. Every hour, one student commits suicide in India. Half the children in India work seven days a week.

The Covid-19 pandemic has added more problems to these already vulnerable young people. Many children have had to stop their education

and have been pushed to child labour. Child marriages of female children have increased considerably. Domestic violence and abuse has risen. Many organisations working with children and their families had to shift their focus to financial support during the pandemic and were unable to reach out to the children to address their emotional needs.

TRANSFORMING LIVES

At Lifewords India we are meeting this need for emotional healing through Pavement Project. We, together with our partners, are helping children process their pain and discover the love Jesus has

Words Serah Thomas, Pavement Project India

For most of his thirteen years, Kamal* has experienced tremendous trauma. He was abandoned by his mother and was physically abused on a daily basis by his alcoholic father. Kamal compares himself to a rat, always living in fear and trying to hide when someone comes.

“We are meeting this need for emotional healing through Pavement Project”

PHOTO: © TINNAKORN JORRUANG

for them, using Pavement Project’s unique counselling tools. When Kamal met with a Pavement Project worker, he asked, “Can Jesus really help me to be strong? Will he hear when I pray?” He has been praying regularly since his counselling and Antonia, the director of the children’s home where Kamal now lives, shared that he has shown visible changes after the Pavement Project session. His aggressive nature has changed and there is a huge improvement in his studies.

BUILDING A MINISTRY

For young people to be counselled and for their lives to be transformed, we rely on a network of partners and Pavement Project workers to help us share God’s love. We are also training up workers to train others in how to use the Pavement Project resources. Biju, one of our trainers, facilitated two training sessions earlier this year for workers in Kerala, the southernmost state in India, and was fully certified as a Pavement Project trainer at the end of July. Over the summer we also saw more workers trained, and we are hoping to train two more people to train others in south India, and six more for north India.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

We are in the process of shifting to the new Pavement Project app which includes four Indian languages and are looking to train our workers to use it. We also have two committed workers in Sri Lanka who would like to train others to use Pavement Project. I am excited about the possibility of mentoring and helping them to reach more children in the Tamil community of Sri Lanka. But all this takes prayer, resources, and committed people. We are counting on the support of churches and fellow believers in helping us reach out to the children who need emotional healing and hope for the future.

If you would like to support the work of Pavement Project, visit www.lifewords.global/give.

PRAY

Praise God for the work of Pavement Project in India. Please pray for children like Kamal who are victims of domestic violence and for others who are experiencing abuse.

Pray for the team in India. Pray that God would provide them with the resources they need to continue their work.

Newly trained Pavement Project workers

Pavement Project training session

The Unchanging Message

Words Jess Bee

Our world is a whirlwind of change, crisis, conflict, and uncertainty. In the midst of this, the Bible offers us an unchanging message of hope, peace, and love. When the Covid-19 pandemic turned our world upside down, we needed God’s Word more than ever. In a time of limited access and connection with others, people all over the world reached for the Bible in the easy and accessible format of Lifewords Life Changing Words (LCW) app and email service.

Currently, 25,000 people from over 200 countries of the world use the LCW email service to receive daily Bible verses, and the app has been installed by over 70,000 people. “A significant growth in installations has been recorded in the pandemic years,” says Jarek Jankowski, Global Bible Resources Director. “In the time of lockdowns and various restrictions, a lot of activities moved to cyberspace, and –at the same time – people around the world were hungry for encouragement and hope. This resulted in 20,000 new app installations in 2021 – the best year ever since launching the LCW app.”

RESPONDING TO THE BIBLE

As LCW users read and share the Bible digitally in 12 different languages, we are reminded that there are people all over the world

engaging with God’s Word through reading it alone and corporately, through study, in church, through art and music. People are responding to its words daily, just as the LCW users do when they read, respond to, and share a Bible verse. And when we look at the number of people using LCW, we remember that there is a story behind each “active user” – an individual who is impacted by the Word of God.

The data gathered via an electronic service such as LCW enables us to see how others are engaging with the Bible. LCW users can tag the verses they read as “life-changing”, “inspiring”, “interesting”, or “difficult”. The top two verses tagged as “life-changing” talk about the forgiving nature of God: “But I wipe away your sins because of who I am. And so, I will forget the wrongs you have done” (Isaiah 43:25, CEV), and “Turn back to me!

“People around the world were hungry for encouragement and hope”

I have rescued you and swept away your sins as though they were clouds” (Isaiah 44:22, CEV). Here is the power of the Bible reminding us of who God is and what a relationship with Jesus offers us – this happens every time someone reads the Bible, whether it is through LCW or another medium.

READING THE BIBLE TOGETHER

When LCW users respond to and share the Bible, a community of readers is built at a time when the world is – in lots of ways –becoming more fractured and divided. “It is always good and encouraging to hear from users,” says Jarek. “Paradoxically, the time when we receive most positive feedback is on the rare occasion when something goes wrong and the service stops. One time when this happened, concerned users were asking where their daily email was. I was especially touched by a message from a woman who was going through a very difficult time. She confessed that the daily LCW emails are her lifeline, enabling her to persevere.”

Jarek and the Lifewords team in Poland are working on a new version of the app ready for launch next year to coincide with the 20th anniversary of LCW. Please pray for the team and look out for more LCW news over the coming 12 months. If you would like to give to support the development of Lifewords digital resources, helping people read and share the Bible all over the world, visit

PRAY

Give thanks for the growth of Life Changing Words.

Praise God for how the Bible speaks to us no matter who we are or where we live.

Praise God for

GET INVOLVED

LIFEWORDS

Reaching out to the community

Dave Lumsdon from Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne, got in touch to let us know about how his church are joining others to share God’s love in their community:

“Every other year, since 2011, the churches in Heaton have put on a festival for the local community in two adjoining parks. This involves local crafts, food, music and performances, an area for youth and children, including bouncy castles, sport, and other entertainment. We had a brilliant day with lovely weather, with around 20,000 in attendance. It was wonderful to see so many people volunteering and supporting each other. Many people commented on the wonderful atmosphere there was at the festival.

“Although it is not an evangelistic event, as Heaton Churches Together, we want the people of Heaton to know God loves them, is for them and they can have a relationship with him,” says Dave. “This year we had a ‘connecting’ or prayer tent, featuring interactive display boards and people on hand to chat with and pray for people if they wished. We also offered people copies of Finding Hope, Daily Strength, You Matter, Little Book of Faith, Little Book of Help, Little Book of Chaos, and The Way to Life. Thank you so much Lifewords, for supporting us with your wonderful literature and also in prayer.”

To browse and order resources to share in your community visit www.lifewords.global/shop

How will you share the Bible this Christmas?

Christmas is always a great opportunity to share the Bible –as we gather together there is space to talk about Jesus, and the salvation, love and forgiveness he offers us.

Over the years, we’ve heard hundreds of stories from churches, schools, community groups, and individuals who are using Lifewords resources to invite people into the Christmas story. People have ordered resources to use in school assemblies, carol services and nativity trails; to offer to those in care homes, prisons, and hospitals; and to include in care packages and gifts for those in the community. Every time you share one of our Christmas resources someone has the opportunity to experience the Christmas story and to discover more about God’s love.

Our Christmas range this year features Meet the Cast, The True Light, and also OUTSIDE/IN – with a Makaton-signed version of the animation coming soon. Also, new for this year is A Story for the Whole World – incorporating patterns from communities around the world that reflect themes like hope, life, and family that are mirrored in the Christmas story. So, how will you share the Bible this Christmas?

Visit www.lifewords.global/shop to view the full range and to order Christmas resources.

CONTACT US

Get in touch with the Lifewords global family. Find us online at www.lifewords.global, or contact your local office.

AUSTRALIA australia@lifewords.global

BRAZIL projectoc@lifewords.global

CANADA +1 905 683 6482 info@sgmcanada.ca

KENYA +254 20 2730100 kenya@lifewords.global

INDONESIA +62 81294210986 indonesia@lifewords.global

INDIA +91-9538811181 india@lifewords.global

POLAND europe@lifewords.global

UK & INTERNATIONAL OFFICE +44 (0) 20 7730 2155 uk@lifewords.global

Available now from Lifewords free Bible resources for Christmas

The Christmas story connects with common longings expressed in art from around the world, and the yearning for something more.

Wherever and however you share the story, our brand-new resource for Christmas is available now – along with an exciting range of other Christmas resources for all age groups. forStoryWholethe World

Iran Poland

It’s the time of year when everyone needs quality Bible resources to booklet resources who