CoMission 2016 by Assemblies of God

CoMissi n

2016

Official mission magazine of AoG GB

Stronger Together in Mission

Lift up your eyes ...if you want to fulfil the great commission

MULTI-CULTURAL CHURCHES • MISSION IS A LOVE COMMAND • FORUMS

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John Partington National Leader, AoG GB

n no less than three occasions Abraham is instructed by God to ‘lift up his eyes’. Once he was told to ‘lift up your eyes and see the land’, to a place of destiny and fruitfulness (Genesis 13:14-15). In Genesis 22:13, he was again told to ‘lift up your eyes and see the lamb’ or, more accurately, a ‘ram’ caught in a thicket. This brought provision for the salvation of Abraham’s son, Isaac. Thirdly, he was told to ‘lift up your eyes and see the Lord’, being encouraged to have a view of God himself, the Great Jehovah, El Shaddai… the Almighty God. This edition of CoMission is again filled with exciting articles, reports and challenges to every one of us who are

called to be involved in harvesting those who as yet do not know Christ as Saviour. May it be that as you read, you too will sense the exhortation of God himself asking you to lift up your eyes and see things afresh. I believe this year you will receive a new revelation of WHAT God has for you, a better understanding as to WHO has become your substitute in taking your place upon the altar, and also you will see again WHERE the One who is ‘high and lifted up’ really resides… far above all principalities and powers!

Your friend , John

❛May you sense the exhortation of God himself asking you to lift up your eyes❜

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CoMission is published by Assemblies of God in Great Britain, National Ministry Centre, Mattersey, Doncaster, DN10 5HD. Email: info@aog.org.uk. Tel: 0177 781 7663. All content is copyright and must not be reproduced without permission

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It’s imperative that we see long, wide and high! As we lift our eyes and fulfil the great commission, we face challenges that require us to look at things differently, writes Phil Pye, a member of AoG’s National Leadership Team

he good news book of John and chapter four reveals a number of expressions to the call and reach of mission and witness. Firstly, Jesus – in the every day circumstances of life – ignored cultural protocol to engage a woman in conversation at a well. Her rather dubious past and current complex relational situation is opened up by revelation – and the consequence was great change. She, in turn, in the first flush of newfound faith, impacts the whole community where she lived. Then Jesus, rejoining the company of his disciples, moves attention from ‘the one’ to ‘the fields’ – the masses, the crowds, the world. His impassioned plea was that his friends 4

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would ‘lift up their eyes’ and see that the fields are ripe for harvest. A throwaway line used by preachers that carries some truth says, “As in the natural so in the spiritual.” But not in this case! Naturally, our sight diminishes, and remembering where your specs are is a sign of the rolling of time. Then again, we often need help with sight – binoculars, a magnifying glass, telescope, microscope, periscope and a whole myriad of complex instruments are there to help us see. But spiritually? Sight of the heart is not diminishing but increasing with lasereyed focus that recognises that the call to see and look beyond ourselves is just as urgent now as

high winds and raging storms; they know a great strength against the forces of nature’. Our AoG GB strap-line in this season is not a cliche but a truth – we are stronger together. See high – adoringly

it was then. The Apostle Paul, writing to the church in Ephesus, prays that ‘the eyes of their heart may been enlightened’. What challenges does this throw down to us as we lift our eyes and become transfixed by the call of the fields? I suggest we must: See long – generationally The immediacy of Jesus’ words cannot be denied, but here we are many generations later thankful someone passed the

message on. Psalm 145:4 says, “Generation after generation stands in awe of your works, each one tells stories of your mighty acts.” The now must never stop us seeing ‘the then’, even as the old proverb reminds us that it means some will be ‘planting sapling trees under whose shade they will never sit’. See wide – relationally Tunnel vision takes us to independence, a ministry hubris that discounts anyone else’s contribution

to the cause of the great commission. In complex times, that stance is crazy. May we increasingly find collaboration and co-operation with others, seeing wider, even forming ‘unlikely alliances’ for the progression of the kingdom. The giant sequoia trees of California steeple into the sky, but interestingly the roots of such trees do not go as much deep as wide, forming an impressive interconnection. Someone commented that such natural edifices ‘withstand

It is not without significance that the great missionary journeys found in Acts were launched in an atmosphere of worship. As John Ortberg said, “Without worship our natural tendency is to self-reliance and stubborn independence.” The very urgent call for the cause of mission in the earth is not to look down but to ‘lift up your eyes’ – it brings a whole new perspective that inevitably will take us onwards and forwards. Where are you looking?

Phil Pye CoM i ss i n

FORUMS

India

Sujith Alex

An encouraging journey so far

ndia is home to some of the largest unreached people groups in the world. There have been three India forums so far and each one of them has been unique. The opportunity to hear about the tremendous work various ministries are doing in India has been inspiring. The forums have also provided a brilliant platform for networking with like-minded visionaries. The several presentations made at the forum brought a focus to a variety of

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issues that is facing India – from Compassion’s work in releasing children from poverty to IJM’s contribution in tackling the problem of sex trafficking and forced labour. Empart, who were also part of the forum, has a goal to plant 100,000 churches by 2030 in India and beyond with over 10,000 churches already established and no less

AoG church leaders from the UK have taken trips to India

Balkans Mark Wiltshire

Challenges and opportunities than 800 church planters trained last year. Stephane Hofer, Empart Europe Chairman, says “India has a population of nearly 1.3 billion with the annual growth estimated at nearly 13 million. With such large numbers, our work is naturally going to be on a much larger scale than people may be familiar with. Placed in the Indian context, it almost becomes trivial.” Some AoG church leaders from the UK have taken trips out to India to see and serve the work of Empart – the feedback has been excellent. Local churches are encouraged to follow up and engage with any one of these organisations to partner with God’s mission in India. The journey so far has been nothing but encouraging!

he successful development of our so that new leaders can be developed, Balkans forums continues to expand. existing leaders strengthened and more BCC in Bromley hosted back-tochurches planted. Our great desire is that back Central European and Balkan forum more UK churches will link in, bringing the gatherings with many pastors joining from opportunity for short-term mission as well across Europe, the UK and US. The synergy as strategic relationship development. of the two events was significant, and led The Syrian refugee crisis has led to to a strategic decision to follow up with many migrants passing through Greece, a forum in Sofia, Bulgaria. More than 60 Macedonia and other Balkan nations. key leaders joined this event, which many This has created new challenges and felt was a landmark point for all of those opportunities. A number of major church involved. planting and humanitarian groups are In Romania more than 2,000 churches becoming connected with us. These have been planted over recent years include the European Learning and national leaders instrumental Community (ELC), Association in this work were invited to of Related Churches (ARC), Church share the principles they Exponential, World Compassion, planting have learned with UK and Convoy of Hope, and a number groups are Balkan pastors. Leaders very prominent churches from connecting from Germany, Hungary and the UK and US. with us Poland were also actively involved. The purpose of these forums is to create in-country and crossborder church partnerships

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FORUMS

Israel

Mark Starbuck

God is at work fulfilling his plan

e are living in amazing times in the land through their network of when God is moving within the congregations. At our most recent forum nations. All around the world we event we had Wayne Hilsden from King of see examples of grace and transformation. Kings Jerusalem with us. This congregation Israel is no exception to with its local and global reach this and here in this ancient and its remarkable ‘Prayer land and among these Tower’ are an outstanding Mission ancient peoples God is at example of what God is doing tweets work to glorify his name in Israel today. @timkellernyc: The and fulfil his redemptive The Israel Forum exists Church is not a museum plan. to facilitate the building of for pristine saints but The AoG Israel Missions relationships and partnerships a hospital ward for Forum provides a great with Bible-believing broken sinners context within which to communities within Israel. It is discover what God is doing in Israel our hope that out of this forum will come and to connect with significant opportunities to visit Israel and to see Christian ministries operating first hand what God is doing. within the land. We are also exploring projects We want AoG During 2015 we had and programmes that would leaders to ministry from Ari Sorko-Ram provide real opportunities for get involved of Maoz Israel, a Messianic AoG leaders and congregations to with mission in Israel Christian ministry based get involved financially, prayerfully in Tel Aviv. Maoz are doing and personally with mission in Israel. a significant work of outreach

Africa

Vince Williams

Reaching people with the gospel

he Africa forums have developed into a catalyst for change in missional thinking. We have the benefit of input from experts in community transformation, agriculture and education from Europe and Africa. We are refocusing on the original intent of Jesus when he said to go into the entire world and preach the gospel, and of the Apostle Paul when he said, “My ambition has always been to proclaim the Good News in places where Christ has not been heard of.” The Africa forums are focused on having a direct impact on unreached

people. We have partners beginning to reach into these communities with the gospel of Christ and are initiating projects that will increase the opportunity. In the arid lands of Northern Kenya we would like to dig wells and provide farming expertise to the Turkana people. For the island people of Lake Victoria we would like to introduce fish farms to

We are refocusing on the original intent of Jesus

reduce the damage to the lake from over fishing. Within the next 18 months we are looking to dig two wells in the Turkana region and establish one fish farm on Lake Victoria. We encourage you to pray for us and give to this cause of reaching people with the gospel. You can have a direct impact on those who have never heard the Christian message! Jesus said in Matthew 24:14, “And this good news about the kingdom will be preached through all the world for a witness to all people; and then the end will come.”

Mission tweets @LesslieNewbigin: Every church, however small and weak, ought to have some share in taking the gospel to the ends of the earth

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ADVERTORIAL

Serving the poor and saving the lost

esus’ mission to proclaim good news to the poor and set the captives free through the local church is at the very heart of what Christians Against Poverty does. Over the past 20 years, they have been relentlessly pursuing their vision, partnering with hundreds of churches across the UK to see people released from a life sentence of debt, poverty and their causes. Through their services, they have created practical solutions designed to equip churches to address some of the biggest problems in society – financial illiteracy, unemployment and addiction to name a few. Already, 38 Assemblies of God churches have partnered with CAP to deliver a life-changing service in their local community. By combining their passion for serving the poor and saving the lost with expertise, they are seeing lives transformed both out of poverty and into God’s kingdom. It’s this partnership that means the charity sees over 700 people find Christ every year. Cleo is one life that has been recused from a prison of debt and given a new hope with Jesus Christ. When she came to CAP she was in a really dark place. “It’s amazing to think back to how I was just before I heard about CAP,” Cleo

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debt help recalls. “I was so depressed and even suicidal – I just couldn’t see any way out of the debt. “I had lost so much weight from skipping meals. I also remember spending a lot of time wrapped up in bed at home because I couldn’t afford to put the heating on. But then CAP came and my life changed so much. “Now I am debt free and back to my normal self – other people tell me they can see a difference in me. I no longer want to die; I am enjoying life! My daughter is getting married in a couple of years. I thought, ‘Wow I could have missed this. Thank God for CAP!’ “If it wasn’t for them I really don’t know what I would have done. I’d never asked anyone for help before, I just didn’t know

‘

Not only did they help me get out of debt, but they also invited me to church and taught me how to connect with God

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who to turn to. Not only did they help me get out of debt, but they also invited me to church and taught me how to connect with God. Life now is beautiful and I can’t stop smiling!” CAP longs to see more lives like Cleo changed now and for eternity, but they can only do it if more churches join with them. CAP’s vision is to bring freedom and good news to people in every community through 1,000 CAP projects by 2021. If you too are passionate about seeing God’s love in action for people in your neighbourhood, then contact CAP today. Whether you choose to help people

job clubs

release groups

with debt, unemployment, addictions or financial education, you can bring hope and salvation to some of the most marginalised people in your community.

Visit capuk.org or e-mail churchpartnership@capuk.org for more information CoM i ss i n

Local church

I L E S ON M I S

Every church should be missional, explains Justin Downward, of Wessex Christian Centre

ny church that is not missional, in my mind, ceases by definition to be ‘church’ at all. Why? Because to be missional is to be like Jesus. It’s to be obedient to Christ. It’s to simply be church! One big problem we have as leaders is that we want to see our churches grow. That’s a good thing, right? Yes, but actually, I believe our first desire should be to see the kingdom grow. If that means your church numerically multiplies, that’s really great… but very often, growth is a soul saved that will never attend ‘our’ church. And that’s where mission comes in. We have seen so many 12

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Wessex Christian Centre members on mission

We must build trust and work together

lives changed through mission… many of which are spread across the world. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve heard, “I went there to give but ended up receiving far more than I gave.” Why? Because when we become truly missional, we take our eyes off our need for more sermons, and give ourselves to others instead. Upshot? A richer life, a richer church, a growth that God has orchestrated, a wider vision and God’s blessing falling upon us as we become unselfish. That’s happening to us in Bournemouth. Every time we ‘go on mission’, be it ministering at our children’s clubs every week, taking a mission trip to Romania, or transferring finance to another part of the world, it’s like the windows open and fresh air breezes in. God smiles on it. We are satisfied. We are used. By God’s grace, let’s go where he leads... and look outwards. That’s where the action is.

Mark, congratulations on your new role. Can you tell us a bit about your background? My parents were pioneer missionaries with Operation Mobilisation in India. I was born in Bombay, later moved to Kathmandu and then to parts of Africa. Our family subsequently joined the OM ship Logos for two years, visiting Asia, Africa and the Middle East, before returning to the UK. As a young Christian I sensed a ministry call but doors opened into a successful technology career after university. This exposed me to commercial business development and strategy roles, and leading teams internationally. God then redirected. I became a local pastor and now lead the church I joined as a new Christian.

Mark Wiltshire is the new Mission Leader for AoG. We spoke to him after his appointment In 2011 Gary Rucci invited me to join his London area team, and shortly after that, his UK mission team. What are your aims as national Mission Leader? As a serving local pastor I recognise the challenges of reaching community with the gospel and leading a growing church into genuine discipleship. I have found that healthy church needs to experience local and international mission perspectives equally. I want to encourage our churches to collaborate in missional thinking, to explore opportunities in the UK and abroad, send out shortMark Wiltshire

term teams, and find ways of building longer-term intentional partnerships with emerging churches in other countries. We have great building blocks in place already, and I am excited about our future. What do you see as the biggest challenges for the Church on a global level? Building trust and working together are key challenges for leaders. If we model kingdom values authentically, within and between our churches, and see mission as an imperative, we could see movements emerge in ways we may never have expected.

• AoG would like to thank Mark’s predecessor Gary Rucci and his wife Nikki. They have recently moved back to Australia to lead a church in Brisbane.

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From Moston to the masses How an unlikely AoG lad turned into a global missions pioneer…

aul Gibbs worked for Sharon AoG Church in Moston from 1988-2000. According to Pastor Harry Letson, “Paul was probably the most unlikely man that I would have thought to do this work… strange hairstyle, skinny looking guy, unassuming. He would not have been my choice.” Who would have thought that 20 years later this man would be sent out from the very same AoG church and be heading up a movement that is changing lives in over ten nations? It all started in 1988 when Paul was invited into his first school. Soon he was ministering as a youth worker in 17 schools across Manchester. In 1992 the first Pais team was launched. Four volunteers joined Paul in a free apprenticeship programme. As a result,

Working in the Favela in Brazil

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From outreach to discipleship The Pais team in Brazil

many young people were integrated into the local church by the relational bridge they had built. Over the next few years Sharon Church supported Paul as he planted teams all over the UK. When Pais moved its HQ from Moston to Failsworth to repurpose an AoG congregation, teams began to be launched on a global scale. The AoG in the UK inspired and encouraged Paul to create further autonomous organisations across the globe. Pais is currently working in six continents. Harry Letson and Sharon Pentecostal Church made room for Paul by allowing his dream to grow, his vision to be pursued and a path to be made for many to follow. The sending capacity of that small Moston church expanded to impact the whole world.

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Our missionaries spreading the gospel across the globe ALBANIA

ICELAND

Chris and Ethna Parker used to lead an AoG church in the North East of England and are now based in Selfoss, Iceland. Their primary role is to work in partnership with the Icelandic Pentecostal Church and help its development. In the last year Chris and Ethna have taken on the leadership of a church in order to re-purpose it and they are already seeing a breakthrough. Chris also has links with the church in the Faroe Islands. https://parkersiniceland.wordpress.com

Rachel Wilson serves in Albania heading up a ministry called Spark Ministries (Shkendije), established in 2000. Rachel runs several practical projects that reach Albanian children with God’s love. She also serves as an equipper to partner with the Albanian churches to assist them to do the same. www.sparkministries.org

CENTRAL AMERICA

In 2005 Leonie Webster, a qualified midwife, was sent out from Hull’s New Life Church to work in Honduras. She set up a charity Heart4Honduras to work improving the quality of care provided for orphaned children and seek systemic reform to protect teenage girls from being trafficked. In 2012 she was threatened by gunmen and had to leave Honduras. She has relocated to Kansas City and continues to champion the same cause that affects the whole Central American region through the ministry of the Orphan Justice Center. http://orphanjusticecenter.com

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JAPAN

Tom and Olive Kisaki, along with their two girls, work in Japan. Tom is Japanese but for many years he studied and lived in the UK where he became a Christian. During his time in the UK he connected with British AoG churches. Tom was sent out from the UK to return to Japan with a specific burden to reach out to individuals bound in addiction. He is the national director of Teen Challenge Japan, which has been operating for just over a decade. They have two Teen Challenge centres, one on the island of Okinawa and one on the main island at Okayama. www.teenchallengejapan.blogspot.co.uk

SOUTH AFRICA

Gillian Harris was a missionary in Mozambique from the early 1990s but is now using all those years of language and cultural acquisition to good effect at Emmanuel Press in White River, South Africa. Gillian co-ordinates EP’s Portuguese literature programmes. People in nations such as Mozambique and Angola can access evangelistic, discipleship and Bible study literature online through Gillian’s involvement at Emmanuel Press. www.emmanuelpress.co.za

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Start thinking about pla nting and pioneering The big ‘buts’ can stop us, but we must press on with mission and church planting, says Kristian Thorpe

maintain churches don’t intentionally go inwards. But many do so because they lose sight of the mission and get caught up in excuses and many lesser things. I call these the ‘buts’ to advancement! There are many ‘buts’ in the Bible… “But I’m not able to speak.” (Moses). “But I’m the weakest in my family.” (Gideon). “But we have no food to feed the multitude.” (The disciples). Christians and leaders can all too often come up with ‘buts’ of their own too – “but I don’t have enough time.” “But we don’t have the people.” “But we have no money.” “But we are not as gifted as so and so.” “But he’s paid to do this!” We must get off our buts, put away all the

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excuses, the whining and the whinging and get up and ‘go into all the world and make disciples… of all the nations’. No buts or maybes – just get up and do it! It’s a proven fact that one of the greatest ways we can impact and transform the world is through the pioneering of healthy new churches in communities, villages, towns and cities! Locally,

This year the church planting team at AoG is launching a training curriculum for planters and pioneers. Look out for training dates in the months ahead. We are also actively looking for churches and individuals

when we pioneered into a neighbouring town we didn’t have all the money, buildings, serving teams and musicians that we needed. But we did not allow this to stop us. We went anyway! Within AoG GB today, we don’t have enough money, resources and personnel to fund the vision that God has given us! But we are not going to allow what we don’t have to stop us doing what we are called to do. We are presently planting scores of new churches and repurposing many old works back into new life. We are who will give financially to help us establish a trust fund that will help fund new church planters for years to come. We are seeking to initially raise £100,000. For details, e-mail kristian.thorpe@ aog.org.uk

seeing the engagement of communities through practical good works. We are seeing leaders called, trained and released for ministry and we are seeing the gospel carried to the world! This is happening. My wife and I are blessed with three beautiful girls and one great son. My elevenyear-old boy is becoming a very capable basketball player, playing at national level. He is an averagedsized eleven-year-old and yet he represents his club and county at an age level of under 14s and on occasions under 16s. He is playing against ‘boys’ that in some cases are 6ft 3, 15 stone and with more facial hair than me! Yet Isaac gets up and gets amongst them. He

does not allow the size of the opposition or the physicality of the match from deterring him from getting amongst the action. He gets bashed, pushed, knocked down and bruised! On the side of his very expensive basketball shoes he wrote in permanent marker: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” This acts as a reminder as he steps onto the court. My son could easily allow the buts of ‘not big enough’, ‘not strong enough’ or ‘not old enough’ to stop him, but he has put all the buts aside and has instead said, “I can.” Start thinking about planting and pioneering. Plan towards starting something new within your community that engages brokenness. Then do it! Believe for increase, growth and favour. God moves towards action. Let’s all get off our buts!

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Moving into a new phase of church mission can be painful but rewarding, says Vince Williams, who leads AoG’s churches in Lakenheath and Biggleswade

Rewards of change I n any transition, there is always a point when you’re not what you used to be but not yet what you want to be. That’s where we are at Lakenheath and Biggleswade. We have a plan to change the predominate culture of outreach in our churches to one of being ‘within reach’, becoming an accessible and a viable part of both communities. With our teams, we have begun focusing everything we do around reaching the lost. Through those efforts, God has begun to supply the resources to continue the change. A new couple was added to our team with the remit of connecting both churches to the community. At Lakenheath, working with our nursery, a series of events have been established including bazaars,

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charity events, games nights and litterpicking outreaches. At Biggleswade the challenge was to rescue a church that was struggling and in decline. We immediately began to work through community activities such as barbecues and special services. We wanted the community to know that we were alive and well. God has blessed us with several people being saved. Overseas, we are planning a short-term mission to Kenya involving both churches. We will be reaching out to the Turkana people of Northern Kenya and the island people of Lake Victoria. We’re believing to drill wells and establish fish farms, but more than anything we will be making Jesus accessible to needy people! CoM i ss i n

The person of Jesus himself should be enough to motivate us to mission, says Mattersey Hall Principal John Andrews

Thailand has a population of

68 MILLION 1% of the population is Christian

Mission is an expression of the love command

esus was asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” His answer was stunning. The identical expression that links both Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 is ‘and you shall love’, but what is often missed is the revelation on which both commands are built. In Deuteronomy 6:4 it reads, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God the Lord is alone.” On the basis that the Lord is alone and that there is no one like him, we are called to love him. But look at Leviticus 19:18: “… love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord.” When the religious expert asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbour?”, Jesus told the story of a Samaritan who John demonstrated goodness Andrews 22

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to a Jew by taking care of him. The shocking reality of this story is not simply in the idea of a Samaritan being a ‘good neighbour’, but rather that his actions were motivated by an understanding of who the Lord was! The Samaritan did because the Lord is! We aren’t called to mission because people are in need – we are called to mission because he is Lord. Once we understand this, mission is no longer an option but a necessity, an authentic expression of the love command. When he is Lord there is no room for prejudice or selectivity. We go because he is God. We reach and serve our neighbours not because we like them but because we’ve seen the Lord who is alone! We go because he is!

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Kirk McAtear at St Andrew’s, the home of Birmingham City

Chaplaincy helps get me out of the church bubble Birmingham City chaplain and AoG minister Kirk McAtear talks about his role Why did you become the chaplain of BCFC? I’ve always loved sport, and in 2007 I became club chaplain to the Newcastle Knights Rugby League team in Australia. I got to mix my two passions – Jesus and sport. At Birmingham, I built key relationships with Christian staff members within the club and trained with Sports Chaplaincy UK. I was appointed as chaplain in 2013 which was the same year we started our Sunday service in the stadium. How’s the role going? Being a chaplain involves me being at the training ground half a day a week, meeting with staff and players. On game day I have a prayer room next to the changing rooms 24

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to pray with some of the players before the game and am on deck in the player’s family room to connect with partners, parents, kids and other friends and family of the players. Beyond this the pastoral role includes funerals, meeting families of players who have lost loved ones and caring for injured players. Our church also holds an annual ‘carols in the stadium’ event that the club promotes. Recently we have had players and staff join our church or attend events. What advice would you give to anyone thinking of becoming a chaplain? As a pastor, it helps get me out of the church bubble and into the lives of people who would neither hear about Jesus nor realise that he is relevant to their life. I would encourage all church leaders to either be a chaplain or encourage members of their congregation to be chaplains. It is an open door of opportunity into our communities.

Giving from AoG churches is showing the love of God INCARE is helping those in need due to disaster and conflict worldwide

n April 2015, the 7.8 magnitude Gorkha earthquake caused over 9,000 fatalities in the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal. AoG GB has raised £61,314 and these funds have been used collaboratively through three key partner organisations operating in Nepal to ensure people devastated by this earthquake are effectively

assisted. Former Director of Mission Gary Rucci visited Nepal, and spent a day each with Christian Aid, Convoy of Hope and Empart to see how the funds raised by INCARE have been deployed. Each of these organisations have prioritised getting immediate aid to remote areas and are empowering local churches to be a means of assisting their communities in rebuilding for the future. The Syrian refugee

situation may not be a natural disaster, but it represents one of the most serious humanitarian crises in recent times. We cannot ignore the need just because we do not understand the complexities of the cause. The conflict in Syria has led to millions of displaced people across its borders and has especially affected neighbours such as Jordan. The £46,400 raised by INCARE has been largely used to help the situation in Jordan. Funds have been channelled through AoG’s connections with Jordanian churches that are best placed to offer practical assistance and show God’s love. Thank you for your support and generosity.

Women and children from Syria brave harsh conditions in a bid to escape fighting CoM i ss i n

We’re often told that Christianity is on the decline in Britain. But is it? Joel Edwards examines the facts

We need to look for the crossroads churches face

Working with politicians Make lasting connections with political leaders, urges Tim Roberts, Parliamentary Officer for AoG GB

s church leaders we’re not alone in working for the good of our communities. School governors, local councillors, AMs, MPs, MSPs and MEPs are in fact VIPs. They make decisions and set budgets that change lives. It is very important to reach them and seek to work with them, even if you don’t agree on doctrines or political position. Their roles open doors that you can walk through to bless your community. Here are some ways you can reach civic leaders for the glory of God: 1. Be a friend. Presume you share a 26

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common desire to help people. Treat them warmly, as a peer. Invite them for coffee – not to ask for funding for your church building, but to ask their thoughts about the future of your community. Be open about your own hopes and frustrations as a leader. Just be you, and let them be them! 2. Be prayerful. Treasure in your heart any insight you get and commit to pray for that politician. Then, every now and then text them to tell them you are doing just that. 3. Be discrete. Don’t brag about any connections you make, thank God for them, but maintain a dignified maturity about it. The details of your conversation with them shouldn’t end up in Sunday’s sermon, however good it makes you look!

ot for the first time, I was recently responding to ideas that UK churches were under siege, selling out the gospel, closing buildings to Muslims and converting to secularisation. So it got me thinking if I really was missing something. And then I remembered the story of Elisha and his servant surrounded by the Aramean army (2 Kings 6). It was a case of the servant observing what he saw, and the prophet seeing what was there. When Christians face challenges about wearing crosses or opening up B&Bs to gay couples, we are right to pay attention.

I still have clear memories that England in 1960 was described as ‘a spiritual graveyard’. If you had asked me then – or even ten years later – to describe what we see God doing through local churches now I would have found it incredulous. There is no way I could have conceived of the explosion of Christianity Explored, Alpha 24/7. There are more Christians in parliament today than there were 20 years ago. Food banks are a household name. Recently, the Evangelical Alliance’s Building Tomorrow’s Church survey showed 77 per cent of Christians aged 18-37 share their faith.

Elisha’s servant was neither blind nor stupid. But when we fail to see what God may actually be doing, we have a tendency to panic. We want to avoid the caricature of a nervous church trying to rescue the world! During my visit I had a brilliant conversation with a colleague about the church’s need to recover the centrality and power of the cross. But as we chatted, it also became clear that we needed to acquire the ability to see the crossroads churches face and the fact that we really have never been this way before. And nervous pilgrims make poor pioneers.

4. Be patient. It will take time to develop trust, and that is a crucial ingredient in anything we do for God’s kingdom. CoM i ss i n

We risk becoming an irrelevance if we neglect diversity

ne of the challenges that many of us in the innercity face is that of building church that is relevant and missionally-focused in a diverse and multicultural setting. If we build our churches too narrowly, we risk becoming an irrelevance to many of the people that we live with and seek to minister to. At Tower Hamlets Community Church in London’s East End, we face that challenge. Our context is that we are located in the most predominantly Muslim borough in the entire UK. It’s a place of tremendous need and yet one that provides great opportunities. Some of the things that we have found

Reaching multi-cultural Britain with the gospel isn’t easy – but it can be done, says Tony Uddin essential to ministering here are: Diversity and complexity We have to train our people to embrace the challenge that these two things bring. We cannot hide from this. In practice this means that whilst our primary call may not be to reach Muslims, we need to live our lives in such a way that our witness becomes relevant to them. Bryant Myers speaks of the need to live lives that ‘provoke questions’ and this is key

to living missionally in a place of ethnic diversity. Witnessing to any group of people only becomes possible when we have a clear commitment to loving them, and that love includes sharing our lives and resources. A culture of hospitality Most Muslim communities live with a sense that our society is suspicious of them and are unwelcoming. By making what we have available to them and building a culture of hos-

pitality, we challenge their mindsets of what Christian attitudes towards Muslims are. This means that in a typical week, more Muslims use our building than Christians. Loving what they love At THCC we have been intentional in focusing our giving towards Muslim nations and actively supporting social projects in Bangladesh so that we communicate the love of Christ through loving what our neighbours love. Leaders setting an example The fact is that people are more influenced by what

their leaders do than what their leaders say. At THCC we believe that leaders set an example in loving and reaching out to people of a different cultural background to themselves. Whilst Hybels speaks of walking across the room, we expect our leaders to model walking across the street not the room because we realise that most times, the people we need to reach won’t even be in the same room as us. Avoiding becoming mono-cultural One of the most prophetic things that a church can do is to break out of an insular mentality and genuinely embrace others of differing cultures. For many of our

churches in the UK, 10am Sunday is the most segregated time of the week. We have to be intentional about building multicultural churches. The hinge of history for the New Testament Church can be seen in Acts 11 at Antioch where Jews started to reach out to Gentiles and in so doing radically changed the course of the Church. For many of us we need to make decisions like that, which empower our congregations to intentionally reach out to those whose background, culture and values are profoundly different from their own.

Mission tweets @IJM: Go with a spirit of love and compassion and righteous anger against injustice

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If we are to see our churches grow, we must be relevant, urges Grayson Jones, National Director of Training

aul, writing to the church in Corinth, says, “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:22). Here we see Paul’s commitment to being someone who did everything within his power to be relevant with the gospel. So, what does it mean to be relevant?

growing are intentional about what they do and how they do it. They consider everything with the eyes of the visitor or new person in mind. The way they share, speak, serve and connect with people is planned and thought through correctly. They care about the details because people matter!

1. Be outward not inward focused Often churches that are growing are more concerned about the needs and concerns of the people they are looking to reach rather than the ones who are already in. Relevant churches plan, pray and prepare things with an outward focus, not an inward one.

3. Realise it’s not about you Relevant and growing churches are driven by this! It is this one thing that drives the way they do everything, from the setting of the budget to the presentation of the building. As churches we must make sure that we do not fall into the trap of being keepers of the aquarium rather than being fishers of men, as Jesus taught.

2. Think through everything you do Churches that are relevant and

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Jesus loved people. He did it radically, unexpectedly, generously. He had open arms for those on the edges, a welcome for those who’d been shunned. Christian Aid supports churches to show that same love to the world’s poor. Visit: christianaid.org.uk/ inyourarea Call: 020 7523 2269

Together we can reach this love out further. Get in touch to discuss how our local team can support your mission to the world’s poor.

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