Engage - spring 2013

SPRING

2013

FRIAR ALESSANDRO

MYSTERIOUS MUGU

CLASSICAL MUSIC’S NEW CHRISTIAN STAR

BLESSINGS AND SURPRISES IN REMOTE NEPAL

AFGHANISTAN & TUNISIA FOLLOWING JESUS IN TOUGH PLACES

PLUS LOU FELLINGHAM, BETH REDMAN & CHAM KAUR-MANN

THE FREE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE FROM BMS WORLD MISSION NEWS / COMMENT / MISSION OPPORTUNITIES / ARTS / INTERVIEWS

Highlights

Engage

Andrew Dubock

welcome Is there a danger that our churches have become ‘holy huddles’? When did you last talk about your faith with a non-churchgoer?

Tackling these questions can be tough because they challenge our prejudices and threaten to change our habits.

I feel that Jesus’ radical messages of inclusion, forgiveness, grace and love can get swamped by religiosity and theology. After all, Jesus came “to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners”.

I was challenged by reading the provocativelytitled book, How to be a bad Christian… and a better human being, and we explore some of its key issues in our centre-spread feature.

I hope it sheds new light on God’s desire that all people might come to know and love him. Do tell me what you think – and you could win a copy of the book.

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The mystery of Mugu

The Big Interview: Friar Alessandro

Travel to Nepal’s poorest district to discover the caterpillar fungus and a hope for the future.

How does a vow of poverty fit with the music industry for the classical world’s newest star.

16 All-inclusive Christianity Should church be for saints or sinners? A London vicar believes many congregations are failing to connect with authentic followers of Jesus.

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Rabbis For Human Rights’ Arik Ascherman

BMS World Mission PO Box 49, 129 Broadway, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 8XA Tel: 01235 517700 Email (general): mail@bmsworldmission.org Email (editorial): magazine@bmsworldmission.org Website: www.bmsworldmission.org General director: David Kerrigan Managing editor: Jonathan Langley Editor: Andrew Dubock Regular contributors: Sally Buchan, Fiona Castle OBE, Nabil K Costa, Andrew Dubock, David Kerrigan, Aidan Melville, Bekah Swanson, Katherine Wagner Guest columnist: Cham Kaur-Mann Design editors: indigoninja.co.uk and Pepperfish.co.uk Printed by: Halcyon Print Management, Tunbridge Wells, TN3 9BD The views and opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of BMS World Mission.

Baptist Missionary Society Registered as a charity in England and Wales (number 233782) and in Scotland (number SC037767) © Copyright 2013 BMS World Mission ISSN 1756-2481 Printed on material from sustainable forests

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Israeli rabbi and veteran human rights campaigner talks justice and faith in Israel/Palestine.

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Lou Fellingham The former Phatfish singer and 20-year Christian music veteran tells Engage how she stays humble and shares God’s love.

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5 minutes with Beth Redman Matt Redman’s better half and bestselling author on being a woman in Christ, campaigning against trafficking and being a mum to five children.

Sign up to receive Engage magazine for free four times a year at bmsworldmission.org/engage

bms news /news–blogs

GREEN

© UMN

AGAIN

A Christian project in Nepal has seen schoolchildren replant 2,000 trees in the area of the country most prone to landslides.

Students from three schools in Doti, Rukum and Dhading districts are part of the United Mission to Nepal’s Green Ambassadors programme, supported by BMS. The trees crucially bind together the thin, shaly soil and prevent further erosion. In time, they will also provide income from animal fodder and, in some cases, fruit.

Students have become passionate about caring for the environment and are learning vital lessons such as the importance of slope protection and the type of trees appropriate for their particular context.

Redeemed

AND restored Prisoners in Zimbabwe are turning away from crime, coming to faith in Christ and re-integrating into society.

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odfrey was in a Zimbabwean prison when he came back to Jesus. Imprisoned for fraud, he was fortunate to encounter 2nd Chance ministries, a BMS partner organisation that helps ex-offenders escape lives of crime.

Godfrey is now out of prison and, through a chaplain, joined a counselling programme run by 2nd Chance’s

A fresh mission focus Two new key appointments will widen BMS’ horizons in Asia and the UK. Roshan Mendis is Regional Team Leader for Central/South Asia and will oversee responsibility for BMS work in Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh.

Roshan is Sri Lankan and currently serves as Chief Executive of the Lanka Evangelical Alliance Development Society, a key BMS partner in the region.

The appointment of Baptist minister Graham Doel as the first BMS UK Field Leader is a creative response to many requests for BMS to assist churches and networks in mission.

David Kerrigan, BMS General Director, says, “Roshan and Graham bring with them an outstanding range of skills and experience.”

rehabilitation centre. Today, he is a committed Christian, has a job and hope for the future.

2nd Chance helps about 50 prisoners face up to their crimes through a restorative justice programme, focusing on biblical values of restoration, healing and responsibility.

With unemployment in Zimbabwe at 80 per cent, it can be incredibly difficult to find work for anybody, let alone someone with a criminal record.

2nd Chance runs a programme of skills and vocational training. BMS workers Brad and Ruth Biddulph helped set up a tailoring training centre, whilst a BMS grant has paid for sewing machines, material and workshop costs, as well as counselling for eight ex-offenders.

There is now a waiting list for counselling and training, and the Zimabwean government has expressed interest in expanding 2nd Chance work throughout the country.

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© Aminu Abubakar/IRIN

global news /news–blogs

Nigeria: Church attacks continue A thousand Christians have now been killed by militants in the last four years after renewed violence.

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CHINA:

Microblogging believers Some Christians in China are using Weibo, the country’s state-regulated social network, to share their faith and speak out against religious persecution.

When Christian band Rainbow Come appeared on China’s equivalent of The X Factor, Christians turned to Weibo to drum up votes for the band. Such is the power of social networking in China, which has officially banned Facebook and Twitter.

From its inception in 2009, Sina Weibo now boasts 400 million users, and the number is rising. One of the leading Christian bloggers is Pan Shiy, a real estate billionaire who “frequently shares prayers on Sundays with his six million plus followers”. (Forum 18)

© Bfishadow

D

ozens of Christians in northern Nigeria were killed during church services and murdered in their homes by suspected Boko Haram militants over the Christmas and New Year period.

It is the third consecutive year of fatal attacks on services during the Christmas season there.

Most of the attacks took place in Borno state; Islamist group Boko Haram had earlier declared that any Christians remaining in the territory by Christmas would be killed.

On Christmas Eve, six people were killed by gunmen at a church service in Maiduguri.

Another six people were killed and two injured in a shooting at a church service in the early hours of Christmas Day in Siri village, near Potiskum, Yobe State. Gunmen entered the midnight service and attacked the congregation; the Rev Yohanna Simi was among those killed. Around 20 homes and the church where the shooting had taken place were torched. Many residents fled to the bush during the attack.

Gunmen killed at least 15 worshippers at a church in Chibok while Christians were also murdered in their homes in Musari.

The unrelenting violence by Boko Haram is having the intended effect of driving Christians out of northern Nigeria. Violence linked to the insurgency in northern and central Nigeria is believed to have left some 3,000 people dead since 2009 – roughly a third of them Christians, according to Human Rights Watch. (Barnabas)

Germany:

Uzbekistan:

Iranians revive church life

Christians’ holiday nightmare

A growing number of Persian converts to Christianity are helping to swell church numbers in eastern Germany – known to be one of the world’s most godless areas. © alexbakerphotography.com

Police in Uzbekistan raided a group of about 80 Protestants on holiday together in Bostanlyk district.

Charges under six different articles of the Code of Administrative Offences were brought against four of the group, who were meeting together discussing their faith and singing Christian songs.

Police confiscated three Bibles and 100 Christian songbooks, insulted the group and took the fingerprints of all present. People must worship “only in registered places specifically set up for religious purposes”, according to Uzbekistan officials.

Last November three Protestants were fined sums of between 20 and 100 times the minimum monthly wage for reading their Bibles, singing Christian songs, praying and possessing religious books – all without state permission. (Forum 18)

At one church, the House of God’s Help (Church) in East Berlin, former Muslims from Iran have doubled the size of the congregation.

“It came like an unexpected summer rain,” church deaconess Rosemarie Götz said. “These young, energetic, diligent Iranian Christians have brought a little revival from Iran to our congregation.

And I’m thankful that our members opened their hearts to them.”

Polling shows that belief in God in the old Communist east is only 13 per cent. (ANS)

USA: Students’ mass mission

For the first time ever, the number of language communities still needing a Bible translation project has dropped below 2,000.

According to Wycliffe Bible Translators, there are now 2,075 Scripture translation projects in progress with just 1,967 languages in need for a translation project to begin.

“These statistics are very important in showing progress toward our goal of seeing a Bible translation in progress in every language community needing it by 2025,” said Bob Creson, president of Wycliffe USA. At least 4.9 billion people have a Bible available in their first language. (Joel News International)

© Urbana

Over 16,000 students from 100 different countries built 32,000 caregivers’ kits for Aids workers in Swaziland during ‘Urbana 2012’ – the world’s largest and longest-running student missionary conference.

In partnership with local churches in Africa and World Vision USA, organisers from Intervarsity Christian Fellowship constructed 44 assembly lines at the Edward Jones Dome in St Louis, Missouri.

Around a third of Swaziland’s population has HIV or Aids. The kits, which will help an estimated 800,000 people, include medical and hygiene supplies plus a handwritten prayer of encouragement from the students.

‘Urbana’ began in 1946 and today almost half of attendees are from ethnic minorities. (ANS)

World: Bible boost

Get more exciting stories every week online at

bmsworldmission.org

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David Kerrigan

postcard from © Michael Foley

General Director, BMS

Tirana

The party we are attending today is not just an ordinary celebration. The birthday cake is 500 metres square and the Prime Minister is cutting the first slice. If the cake itself is not Guinness-record making, the food fight that follows is among the messiest on record as thousands of invitees clamour for a slice.

Red or black attire is de rigueur, being Albania’s national colours. Even the lampposts are decked with these colours for the occasion. The streets are teeming with humanity. All around there is the sound of multiple concerts and the smells of grilled qofte – a kind of sausage – and other meats. A thousand lambs are being roasted for the occasion (vegetarianism is still not a very Albanian concept).

Military parades momentarily evoke a more infamous period of the country’s communist history, but this parade is memorable for the fact that the marchers are not in lock step as they trudge through heavy rain and a firework display lights up the auspicious occasion at the culmination of the party.

Not an ordinary party, for Albania is 100 years old. “Edhe një qind” – “here’s to a hundred more Albania!”

With best wishes

Nicola and Roger Pearce BMS workers in Albania

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Beyond

culture We can learn lessons from other countries – but have a gospel to share with them.

BMS missionaries saw much that horrified them in years gone by. Reports exist of widows walking into the funeral pyre of their deceased husband, head-hunters and cannibals, and the excruciatingly painful practice of foot-binding to achieve small feet in China.

Most of these practices are now gone. But there are other horrors to take their place. The trafficking of people, children dying for want of clean water or vaccinations, a lack of food and all kinds of abuse – there is no shortage of modern day evils.

Spiritually also, it is heart-breaking to see people bowing before idols of wood and stone, living with the crushing weight of superstition, believing that by following rituals they can come to know the God who ‘knit them together in their mother’s womb’ (Psalm 139: 13).

All of this is true. But it’s not all that is true. There is goodness too in this world that God has gifted to us. It is seen in the beauty of creation, in random acts of kindness in every corner of the world, and in the graceful dawn of a new day in China when people come together in community to exercise, as the photo above shows.

Our commitment to Christ need never blind us to the beauty of cultures that are different to ours, and aspects of community that we have largely lost. But the beauty of such cultures must not blind us either to the need to be a gospel presence in these places.

To know ‘who you are’ by knowing ‘whose you are’ is the birthright of all who live and breathe. To experience the lifechanging nature of forgiveness, to be the recipient of God’s love and mercy, to experience adoption into the family of God – these are priceless things no culture can replicate.

Thank God for the beauty of the world around us. Thank God too for the missionary mandate of the Church.

David Kerrigan is General Director of BMS World Mission

overseas partner

Luis Alvarado

Getting personal A Peruvian pastor with a passion for Christ has been bringing the good news to people through training centres, church planting and capacity building.

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lthough Pastor Luis Alvarado, a BMS World Mission supported partner worker, has only recently begun his work with the Peruvian Baptist Convention (CEPB), he has been sharing Christ since 1970 following his seminary graduation.

Since this time he has pastored three churches, planted five churches, taught seminary courses, was president of the association of Baptist churches in Iquitos and has currently taken on the role of ‘Circuit Missionary’ for CEPB. “I have a passion to see my nation come to know Jesus,” says Luis, “not just as a religion but as a personal relationship.”

His new work with CEPB is helping to foster these personal relationships. His role is three-fold: to work with churches as an advisor, to train pastors and church leaders and to oversee the work of the Nauta training centre. The centre reaches out to those in isolated river communities of the Amazon, where he also works alongside BMS personnel.

From travelling for up to four days to reach these communities to abandoning his paid work in business administration to be a full-time pastor, Pastor Luis is continually showing his dedication to spreading the word of Christ.

His openness, vast experience, warm disposition, charisma and reliance on God has made him popular with church leaders and students. “The Bible is key to giving me wisdom and intelligence,” says Luis. “Each day I come before God to ask him to use me.”

Along with his wife Noemi, Pastor Luis is touching the lives of many people. His effortless and unending dedication to Christ is helping to build new and personal relationships in Peru.

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with

solar panels

Spectacularly beautiful, and balancing poverty with technology and spiritual diversity, the mysterious valley of Mugu holds many surprises. Kev Reynolds travels to Nepal’s poorest district to discover caterpillar-mushrooms and mobile phones.

I

t was an incongruous sight. Caked in dust and dressed in the brown and fawn stripes of homespun, the yak herder with wind-burned face and wild hair hurled a stone with one hand to keep the lumbering beasts moving, while his other pressed a mobile phone to his ear. The snorting of yaks, the creaking of their huge loads and the clonking of bells hung round their necks were all part of the Himalayan scene. The mobile phone was alien.

A single glance was enough to confirm that in the back-ofbeyond that is Mugu, two worlds are in collision. A way of life seemingly unchanged for centuries has been introduced to technology, its ancient past has glimpsed the present, which invites a huge question mark for the future.

Sixteen years ago I’d passed the edge of Mugu towards the end of an epic traverse of Nepal’s farthest west with my good friend Kirken Sherpa and five porters, one of whom was with me now as cook. At the time I was weak from a serious chest infection (it turned out to be TB) and several days with little or

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no food. Now, with practically no memory of that valley whose river is born close to the Tibetan border, I was eager to return.

Kirken too.

He’d been here 30 years earlier with a naturalist, studying the elusive snow leopard that feeds on the large herds of bharal (the Himalayan ‘blue sheep’ that are neither blue nor sheep) we were to see on a number of occasions. We’d see not just the blue sheep, but the goat-like Himalayan Thar and musk deer. We’d wake in the night to the howling of jackals and be mesmerised by day by the graceful lammergeyer sailing the thermals with its nine-foot wingspan. Lemur monkeys stared at us from impossible rock faces, and every day was full of wonder.

The valley of the Mugu Karnali proved to be more rewarding than I’d anticipated. Almost every other region I’d journeyed through in the Himalaya had been notable for its massive snow mountains and bulldozing glaciers. Not so with Mugu. It was not 8,000-metre mountains that drew me here, but the mystery of a valley I knew little about, and a nagging desire to learn about the villagers who survive in what is said to be Nepal’s poorest

district. With Nepal being one of the world’s poorest countries, what did that say about the people of Mugu?

I’d been told about the plane-loads of food aid that arrive daily at the airstrip above Gamgadhi, courtesy of the UN’s World Food Programme, but had also heard that some of the Mugu villagers owned homes in Kathmandu, thanks to income from trading with China via Tibet, and from the gathering of highly-prized (and priced) mushrooms found here, which are used for medicinal purposes and as aphrodisiacs. This fungus, yartsa gunbu, bizarrely devours caterpillars’ bodies and erupts from their heads.

All attempts at farming it have failed.

Clearly there were contradictions, for how can you have poverty and a second home? I stared in surprise at the number of houses, not just here in Gamgadhi, but throughout the Mugu valley, where the flat rooftops were not just stacked with straw for the approaching winter, but displayed small, rectangular solar panels provided by the Nepalese government to give each home a limited supply of lighting.

How many of these, I wondered, would work for more than a week or two? In some of the houses I visited there were either no light bulbs or the wiring was faulty. The solar panels were a symbol of what might have been. If only.

Is this a cry of despair? No, not really. What matters is not technology, tidy streets or a solar panel that works, but the spirit of community, the care for each other, the warmth of welcome for a stranger, and the depth of meaning behind every “Namaste”. Meaning “I salute the god within you,” there is, I feel, no better greeting nor farewell than that, no matter your faith.

Namaste is the soundtrack to every journey in this land of superlatives, and if one begins to despair over things that do not work, it only needs a glance at the cascade of terraced fields tumbling down an unbelievably steep mountainside to know that husbandry is the heartbeat of Nepal. And as

we trekked through Mugu, the harvest had been taken and now, wherever we looked, wooden ploughs were turning the soil in readiness for the next planting.

The yelp of a farmer’s voice and the belching of buffalo drifted across the fields. Nepal was working after all.

Raw with frost, the highest village had been partly deserted. Villagers who could travel had already descended to a warmer elevation to sit out the winter, leaving behind the old folk, a Buddhist monk and a few of the more hardy souls.

At over 10,000 feet it was a strangely comforting place where we were welcomed with smiles and gifts of apples.

A Christian in harmony with Buddhist friends, I sat on a rooftop and was offered salt-butter tea and small potatoes cooked in their skins and rubbed in salt. Across the river on a windswept plain below a row of ancient chortens (monuments), women prostrated themselves before a gold-painted Buddha surrounded by prayer flags. The entrance kani (arch) was bright with richly-coloured saints, motifs and symbols, and beside the altar in the gompa (meditation room) a man was creating a frieze of animals from a mix of clay and glacial silt.

Buddhism is 500 years older than Christianity, and here in remote Mugu it was alive with meaning. Gazing across the rooftops, I was not surprised to see a local dressed in homespun twirling a prayer wheel and flicking his rosary while behind him the sun glinted on a small rectangular solar panel and a satellite dish.

Two worlds came together, but it would take the faith and dedication of one to make the other work.

This highly-prized fungus devours caterpillars’ bodies and erupts from their heads.

Kev Reynolds is a freelance travel writer and lecturer who has written 50 books. He has made 20 expeditions to the Himalaya and claims to have the world’s best job.

Caterpillar fungus: © Yong Hian Lim - Fotolia.com

Other photos: © Kev Reynolds

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MUGU’S

teenage HOPE Most people in Mugu currently don’t reach their 50th birthdays – but a BMS partner in Nepal is working hard to overturn such statistics, writes Jerry Clewett.

T

he hope for Mugu lies with girls like 15 year-old Chauli BK (pictured above).

She is a Dalit – the ‘untouchables’ of the Hindu caste system – and comes from a very poor farming family whose crops feed everyone for barely six months of the year. But thanks to United Mission to Nepal (UMN), a Dalit Girls Scholarship has enabled her to continue her education.

Chauli has also become the chairperson of the UMNsupported Sthaniya Sirjanshil Child Club where she learns about child rights, nutrition, sexual and reproductive health, and the importance of personal hygiene. She is strongly opposed to child marriage, which is still common in Mugu. Chauli is very bright and, because there is no electricity in her village, she often uses ‘jharro light’ (light from burning pine wood pieces) to study in the evening, to make sure she completes her homework on time.

“I am very excited about getting a better education to improve our living standards,” she says, “and I want to study in the health field”. Chauli dreams of a day when her family will have better health and crops to feed themselves for the whole year.

UMN has been working in Mugu since 1999 to support those like Chauli who want to make Mugu a better place.

But addressing poverty in Nepal’s least-developed district is very challenging. Mugu is yet to be connected by motorable roads and lacks basic necessities like regular electricity, drinking water, and a reliable communication system. Communicable diseases are common and giving birth is still highly risky for women and their newborns.

By building the capacity of six Mugu-based partners, UMN is helping people out of poverty. There is a big

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emphasis on girls’ education and, thanks to the scholarship programme and strong advocacy, there are now over 1,500 Dalit girls studying in school compared to only 32 in 2005.

And for the first time, four Dalit girls are studying health in tertiary education with the intention of returning to serve their communities.

To reduce the infant and maternal mortality rate, female community health volunteers and birthing centres have been introduced. To improve food security, families are supported with seeds and knowledge to cultivate fruit, vegetables, spices and maize. Male sheep and bucks are provided to farmers for rearing and breed-improvement, and last year almost 4,000 sheep and goats were vaccinated against parasites.

A major review of its work in Mugu in 2013 will ensure that UMN maintains hope for the future for Chauli BK and the next generation.

Jerry Clewett is a BMS worker, seconded to United Mission to Nepal as its technical director.

Mugu: the facts Population: 55,000 Average life expectancy: 44 years Literacy rate: 49% Land suitable for agriculture: 5% Area connected to an irrigation system: 11%

Photos: © Jerry Clewett

join the

Fiona Castle

conversation Find us on facebook BMS World Mission Many Indians are calling for the five men who raped and murdered a woman in Delhi to face the death penalty. Would this be the best outcome?

Like · Comment · Share Helen Henderson Was it not Mahatma Gandhi who said that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind?

Marie Lewis Evidence shows that the death penalty does not act as a deterrent. It merely gives revenge. India would do far better to concentrate on better education and support for women.

BMS World Mission Is the Church of England right to allow gay men in celibate civil partnerships to become bishops?

Like · Comment · Share Judi Baines It doesn’t matter what our views are. It matters what the Bible says and what God’s views are…

Marie Lewis I don’t think the Bible is crystal clear on this subject, at least not if read in context. I think we have a problem with homosexuality because of OUR views and taboos, not because of what God thinks. As for insisting on celibacy that is ridiculous, unenforceable and pointless.

Alison Mackay Surely if God calls to service, whether to be a deacon, minister, bishop etc, the task of the Church is to prayerfully discern the call of God on that life, in Christian love and grace, regardless of sexuality, gender or marital status.

Darren Oakley Why is it that I cannot dictate such employment rules as gender and sexual preference in my organisation?

your Tweets Esther Elliott

Such a lovely weekend with @BMSWorldMission at Gravity, catching up with wonderful friends, what a joy! #ActionTeams

Andover Baptist

Great to have @judkinsinfrance here with us today! Look forward to partnering with you in your future with @BMSWorldMission

Tim Edworthy

@BMSWorldMission Top quality seminar at Thornhill BC #businessasmission especially Paul Bulkeley on ‘bringing all things under Christ’

Join the conversation at facebook.com/BMSWorldMission

Speaker and writer

The single way Learning to trust God in guiding our lives

L

ast year, I was interviewed by Ann Widdecombe for the BBC’s Songs of Praise on the subject of singleness.

The programme touched on various aspects of singleness. There are those, like Ann, who have never been married and are totally content with their singleness. Some might be now single following divorce or separation. And others who continue to harbour hopes of meeting their dream partner.

I was widowed 18 years ago, am very happy and, dare I say, almost selfish in my condition! However, being suddenly alone took much adjustment. Not only did I find myself initially doing the work of two people, I also had to learn skills which I had always relied on my husband to fulfill, such as DIY and financial intricacies!

Back then, it was almost impossible for me to walk into a roomful of people at an event, totally alone. Those who have always been single might find these aspects pathetic, but they were real feelings for me.

However, my problems paled into insignificance compared with another interviewee on Songs of Praise: a man whose wife left him to care for their disabled daughter all alone. The love and care he had for his daughter was humbling. The story had a happy ending – the Lord provided him with a new wife and mother for his daughter!

Not all stories have a happy ending. Not all our prayers and longings are answered in the way we ask or hope. However, as we pray, we have to trust his answers, even when they are not the ones we hope for.

That way, we grow in our faith and learn to make each day count for the Kingdom.

As Rev Jim Graham wrote, I have learnt to:

Being suddenly alone took much adjustment.

Look up with wonder.

Look back with gratitude.

Look around with love.

Look within, with honesty.

Look ahead with anticipation.

Fiona Castle OBE is an international Christian speaker and writer. Her late husband Roy was an entertainer and TV presenter.

twitter.com/BMSWorldMission and @bmsworldmission

spring 2013 | Engage

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Meet the latest Italian tenor singing star and the first religious brother to top the UK classical album chart.

Friar

All photos © Universal Music/Decca Records

THE BIG INTERVIEW

Q&A

Alessandro When he started singing, Friar Alessandro Brustenghi of Assisi had what he describes as a ‘tiny voice’. But not any more. The Friar talks exclusively to Andrew Dubock about how he is coping with his new-found stardom and why he hopes his music points people to heaven.

Q A

How did you become a follower of Christ?

I was 16 years old and I had a lot of different philosophies in my mind. But I felt anguish, pain and was not calm. There was something inside of me that was asking something

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more. And so I went to a wood, lay down on the grass and asked God, “If you do exist, give me a sign!” In that moment I remember inside of me a special communion with all the creatures and with all the people of the world. God was no more an idea but a presence of love.

It was my meeting with Jesus and my life changed from that moment.

You then decided to become a Friar – what sacrifices did you have to make?

At the beginning, I didn’t sacrifice anything. It was natural because when you meet Jesus you decide the good things are better than the bad things. It’s the power of love. Sometimes we have to sacrifice things. Every time now I recognise that there is an egotistic feeling inside of me I’m called to refuse, to sacrifice.

Describe Assisi to me. What is so special about the place where you live?

Assisi is a peaceful city. It’s a city of poverty and a city of beauty. If you go there, you can understand that. If you visit the church that Francis founded and lived in all his life you can find a gate which says, ‘This is the gate to eternal life’. And it’s true. It’s wonderful to stay there and I invite everybody!

How did your love of music begin and did singing come naturally to you?

I played the organ from an early age and, aged 14, decided to specifically study music. I was 19 when I started to study as a singer but my voice was not very good. My teacher told me that I couldn’t take a diploma at the end of my study because my voice was too tiny, so I started to study a lot – vocalising, with scales and breathing exercises. After two or three weeks my operatic voice went out and, from that moment on, I started a new journey with music.

person is a gift for me. There’s the possibility to share with each other the gift of God. This is the beauty of this journey, of this mission.

What do the other Friars think of your album and success?

They support and help me. When I’m away from the Friary they do my duties – on the sanctuary, with the pilgrims, of playing the organ and singing in celebration. They recognise with me the opportunity I have for evangelism.

I am just the tip of the iceberg because behind me is all of the Order and it’s a mission we’re all in together.

I ask God that, through my music, people can experience heaven.

How did you get ‘discovered’

by Decca Records and end up recording your debut album, Voice from Assisi?

After singing in a very small concert close to Perugia, another singer there told me, “You have to have an audition,” but I refused. But she insisted and after many months she organised an audition with a record manager. Afterwards he asked, “Are you happy if I speak to Decca Records about you because we are looking for tenors?” I thought it was about participation in a choir but after I had a second audition with Decca they told me, “We want to record a CD with you!” Oh, my Lord! I was confused though at the beginning and I was thinking to refuse because I wanted a calm life and I didn’t want to travel. But I asked my friends and the other Friars and everybody told me, “Pay attention, because this could be a mission that Jesus is asking of you”. I accepted and took a plane for the very first time in March 2012 to record my CD at Abbey Road studios in London. I was very excited.

Has travelling the world to promote your album been a strange experience for you?

I am naturally shy so it’s not easy for me, but I accept the challenge because Jesus has asked this. It’s an opportunity to share the gospel, it’s a way of evangelism. I’ve met a lot of people through the internet but also personally in the studio or when I do a round of interviews or promotion.

Every time I meet someone it is an opportunity. Every

The music and entertainment industry is sometimes referred to as the Dark Arts – how have you protected yourself from this darkness?

The devil tempts you in every part of your life if you are close to God. When Jesus is with you, you don’t need to be afraid, because you are protected.

There is no darkness where there is light – Jesus is light and he is with me. For me, I use the Holy Eucharist, confession, prayer and love. Love is the most important thing in all our lives.

How do you want people to feel after hearing your music?

I feel the music is a key that can open a door to heaven. I have experience of heaven – and this is not just for me but for all people. I ask God that, through my music, people can feel peace, gladness, good humour, the experience of heaven and Jesus. It is so beautiful to stay with Jesus: our Saviour, our friend, our God. He is incredible. I hope that all the people can meet Jesus.

Interview by Andrew Dubock, editor of Engage magazine

We have three copies of Friar Alessandro’s debut album Voice from Assisi to give away, courtesy of Decca Records. For an opportunity to win one, simply email magazine@bmsworldmission.org with the answer to the following question:

In what province in Italy would you find Assisi?

Three winners will be drawn at random and notified by email by the end of May 2013.

spring 2013 | Engage

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Stuff for

your church

Committed

TO His cause

What does it mean to be a Christian in the context of a different culture? We look at three different situations, starting with Afghanistan, described by BMS worker Mark.

In many ways I find it easier to ‘be a Christian’ in Afghanistan than in Britain. Here, everyone I meet knows that we and the other foreigners in our town are followers of Jesus and are here to serve the Afghan people. Life is simpler, there are fewer distractions or safety nets.

The pressure is on, if you like – to act in a good way, to treat people right, to have a lifestyle which makes us approachable and able to relate to our neighbours. But the pressure to conform, to consume, to be invisible – all of which envelops so many of us in the West – is off. And so often we have no other recourse during times of trouble or worry than to pray and trust God, so that gradually becomes much more natural. With the right attitude, the stress of not being able to fix everything yourself becomes a liberation.

That’s on a good day, of course! You do need to keep working on this attitude and find support from each other.

Life is still hard work. It still needs effort to read the Bible and pray every morning. We meet the other foreigners on our team twice a week to share and reflect on what is going on where we work or at home, and to pray. Fridays are our normal ‘church’ day, which for us means meeting in a sitting room for familiar songs and prayers, and often a downloaded sermon, then lunch together.

We could never invite local friends to such a meeting; their lives would instantly be at risk. But we can respond to the questions, deep or superficial, that come up as people see the outward expression of the Good News in the way we work and live.

We are looking for project managers, teachers and medical professionals to work in Afghanistan and Tunisia.

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The power of prayer A BMS couple testify to how God is working through them to bring about physical and spiritual healing in Tunisia.

People need to make sense of a serious illness in their life and often cry out to God for help. Sadly, those in the more rural areas of Tunisia where we work will also cry out to ‘jinns’ (spirits) and dig deep into other aspects of folk Islam, hoping to find cures for their symptoms and suffering.

One such person known to us was deeply agitated and unable to sleep, keeping her family awake with her disturbing behaviour. Her family wanted to take her for an exorcism in the middle of the night. Other members of her family felt strongly that this was wrong.

It was hard to know how to help but we found the opportunity to tell a story that talked of the power of Christ in such situations. We also asked for specific confidential prayer for her by a group of very committed prayer warriors amongst our UK support churches.

We do not pretend to understand the mystery of God’s grace but we have heard she is much better and we praise and thank our God for her improving health.

Ismay and Steve are BMS workers, developing community-based palliative care in Tunisia.

Being salty

A passion for mission

Uganda’s Christians face huge faith challenges, and many more must become shining lights in society, write Deb and Dug Benn.

And what kind of people do we want to join us?

Committed Christians, driven by compassion and a calling to cross-cultural mission in another country, people who aren’t content with the status quo, exceptional people, who have a vision for mission.

Servant-hearted, won’t-give-up-easily people, who know themselves well, their strengths and weaknesses, not absorbed by pursuing their own interests, ready and eager to serve under local leadership.

People query why we’re mission workers in Uganda?

It’s a country that is officially 85 per cent Christian, where Christian terms are very much part of everyday life and shops like ‘Jesus is Lord Ladies Fashions’ or ‘Divine Faith hair salon’ abound. Atheism is not a common philosophy and people presume that everyone has a faith.

However, in our experience many who claim to be Christians don’t seem to allow that statement of faith to live in them or to challenge or interfere with the way they live. People readily state that they are Christians, although this may just be to clarify that they are not Muslim and most evangelical Christians refer to themselves as ‘born agains’. Discipleship and leadership training therefore are very important in this context. We have run training for people eager to hear what we say, hold it in their hearts and act upon it.

We all know that our faith must be visible at all times; we must be salt and light. In Uganda, that visibility, that saltiness, for all of us with a living faith has a great importance. Those we have met here whose faith affects their lives shine – they are as precious jewels and Jesus’ presence in their lives is an amazing encouragement to us.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Willing-to-learn people, with hearts like a sponge, ready to soak in new skills, new languages, new cultures, being led by the ‘God of surprises’ and, in the process, learning what true mission means.

People who are skilled in their profession, able to work in partnership with others, building others up in skills and faith, knowing the job is only done when you’ve handed it on.

People who love God with their heart, soul, mind and strength, who shine in Christ-transformed living, who are busy serving God in their church community, making them hard-to-release people.

People who realise that living life to the full means taking risks, following God wherever he may lead, living in challenging environments, being the first-ever Christian your new neighbours have met.

We are always looking for people who love Jesus to join us!

People who want to change the world, ready to do anything, go anywhere people – passionate for mission.

(Matthew 5: 16) Deb and Dug Benn are supporting the Baptist Union of Uganda in their education ministries.

BMS is committed to working in the least evangelised and most marginalised places on earth.

We are also looking for people who can help grow and disciple the local church. We are seeking people to serve in Thailand, Guinea and Albania.

This poem appears in our new recruitment booklet, A passion for mission, which you can order from BMS resources by emailing resources@bmsworldmission.org, by phoning 01235 517617 or online at bmsworldmission.org/opportunities

Are you one of our kind of people?

Find out more about BMS’ mission opportunities at

bmsworldmission.org/opportunities

spring 2013 | Engage

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YOU’VE MEMORISED THE WHOLE OF LEVITICUS AND ORGANISED THE CHURCH FLOWER ROTA. YOU DON’T DRINK, SWEAR OR SMOKE. BUT DOES YOUR LIFE REALLY PLEASE GOD? Sally Buchan has her pre-conceived ideas of being a “good Christian” shattered as she meets a minister who believes many churches are failing to connect with authentic followers of Jesus. You may find yourself challenged too.

“W

e now welcome all baptised Christians to come forward and receive communion.”

My blood boiled. The sermon from Luke 4, where Jesus declares he has come as the fulfilment of scripture, has just finished and already it appears that only the “good” people have been selected for communion.

I have heard this exclusive appeal many times before and have never been angry: so why now? It’s all because I’ve just met Dave Tomlinson, vicar of St Luke’s, Holloway, and author of the provocatively-titled book, How to be a bad Christian… and a better human being. And I have realised that my church – and most others I have been to – are full of “good Christians”.

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Just to be clear: I use the term “good” and “Christian”, not in a wholly accurate way. I am not describing a divinely righteous, exemplary follower of Christ but rather how the world views a “good Christian”. A ‘goody-goody’ rule-keeper who regularly goes to church. Someone who looks and smells clean, is possibly teetotal, is appalled by swearing and tries to be pleasant to everyone. A person who signs petitions against gay marriage. Don’t we all want these sorts of “good Christians” taking communion in our churches?

Dave Tomlinson doesn’t.

A former pub vicar who does not flinch at swearing, drinking or smoking and who offers no prerequisites before opening up the communion table, Dave, in what he considers to be the true spirit of Christ, welcomes all to God, his

“Here’s my secret: sometimes, when I hear all kinds of outrageous things said and done in the name of Christianity, I think about turning in my membership. I don’t want to be part of the elite club of the doctrinally correct and the spiritually superior. But then a book like this one comes along, and I say, ‘This is a way of being a Christian that makes sense to me. This is a way of life I can live with.’

I’m glad to be known as a bad Christian, thanks to Dave Tomlinson and this beautiful book.”

(Brian D McLaren)

Church and to the Lord’s table. Dave is not interested in “good Christians”; he wants “bad Christians” filling empty church pews.

And by “bad” Dave doesn’t mean evil, but people who are more concerned about visiting the elderly person who lives on their road than they are about being known as a Christian.

People who follow Christ’s example more than church protocol. People who have good hearts but perhaps not good manners. Dave appears to me to have a unique ministry of inclusion for people who often live by Christian teachings and yet feel utterly unworthy and unwelcome in church.

Dave has primarily written this book for people who would never call themselves Christians but live out the commandments of Jesus effortlessly every day. People like Carol, mentioned in his book, who was violently abused for many years and said, “I’m not religious or anything but the thing that got me through it was that God, Christ, whatever said ‘don’t worry; you’ll get through this’ and I did.” Or another, Kay, who stretched her meagre income to include her elderly neighbour Eric in mealtimes and, when he died, privately made a deal with the funeral directors so he could have a proper funeral. People who hear God, sense God and are naturally good Samaritans in a world where many “good Christians” are passing by neighbours-in-need on their way to church.

Dave longs for everyone to “get a new vision of God’s grace and put themselves in the flow of God’s generosity – instead of a mean-minded God.” Both in his book and conversation, he makes it sound easy to be a follower of Christ; something that comes naturally and doesn’t have to be forced or learnt – just like appreciating nature. It was this notion that inspired the title for his book when he stumbled across the How to be a bad birdwatcher which explains that birds are part of everyone’s everyday lives and that you can have wonder, awe and love for birds without ever calling

yourself a bird watcher. Dave says experiencing God and following Christ should be the same.

Dave believes that Christians need to start “seeing the world as God sees it” and having “a more generous view of the world. “We should expect to meet with God in a variety of people and situations. God is in the world and in others, so we must be prepared to discover God in surprising people and situations.” According to Dave, that must include nonChristians and people of other faiths as well. He says: “The most important thing that we must do as Christians is to meet, befriend, get to know and sense a kindred spirit with others. I believe our God is greater than manmade religions.”

The book refreshingly does not include deep theological concepts, fauxChristian jargon or lots of Alpha course references.

Dave cuts through the guilt-ridden, authoritarian view of God and the Church and is able to replace his readers’ fears with affirmations of their goodness and ability to meet with God – in or out of church. This book, like Jesus, celebrates a faith and way of life simple enough for children and good enough for kings; an inclusive Saviour who all can access easily.

Isn’t it time we stopped making people feel they’re not good enough for God? Isn’t it time we found the “bad Christians” around us and invited them to God’s table?

How to be a bad Christian… has fascinated both me (a selfprofessed “good Christian”) and also my mother-in-law (a classic “bad Christian”). She announced that she would go to church if all ministers were like Dave. Sadly, they are not.

And if she came to my church, she would hear an incredible sermon on Christ coming to proclaim good news, only to remain seated whilst I and the other “good Christians” got to eat the broken body and shed blood of Christ. How sad.

There is a lot that can be learnt from Dave’s book and from those around us who may not know what ‘offering the sign of peace’ is but, without having to shake people’s hands, are bringing love and peace to the people around them. I think I may need to be more of a “bad Christian”. What about you?

WE MUST BE PREPARED TO DISCOVER GOD IN SURPRISING PEOPLE AND SITUATIONS.

Sally Buchan is a freelance writer and lives in north London.

SHOULD CHURCH BE FOR SAINTS OR SINNERS?

Email magazine@bmsworldmission.org or tweet @bmsworldmission and we’ll choose three responses at random to win a copy of Dave’s book, published by Hodder & Stoughton.

SPRING 2013 | ENGAGE

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your church

© Attila Acs

Stuff for

Prayer

Trust The Word

Finances, family, future, career, housing, food, self-image, safety, secrets – things we all need and care about. Our approach to these matters can range from excessive planning to recklessness, and our attitude can either be full of worry or trust.

In the Bible, a person who trusts in God is compared to a flourishing tree planted near a stream. Its deep roots have constant access to nourishing water, keeping it steady and fruitful even in times of drought.

A trustworthy friend We can confidently place our trust in God because of his character. The names attributed to God (Provider, Shepherd, Rock) and his character revealed through history and in Jesus all give us positive reasons for trusting him. He is good and that will never change. With this assurance we can confide our deepest longings and know that he won’t betray us.

Core stability As we develop a deep trust in the Lord we let him influence and shape us to the core of who we are. When difficulties and hard times come we will not find ourselves gasping cries of doubt or flailing aimlessly in disorientation. With roots drawing deep into God we can stay spiritually healthy and even help others from the overflow of love and grace we have experienced ourselves.

Trusting God is not just a statement we claim or a desire we aspire to, it is a mind-set that impacts on our decisions and priorities, our understanding of opportunities and life purpose. It moves our vision beyond self-sufficiency and even consultation with others to a more profound, God’s-eye view of situations.

Trusting in God is no easy discipline, but be encouraged to take a first step, to trust a little deeper.

But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.

They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.

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It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.

[Jer 17: 7-8]

Loving father, your ways are higher than mine. I acknowledge that my own plans and my worries fall short of the fullness of life you desire for me.

Help me to let go of any self-serving or fearful attitudes, and to exercise a real trust in you.

I submit to you because I believe you are good and you love me.

Thank you for all your goodness. Amen.

Poem Your blood Lord Just one drop enough to purify justify sanctify a million sinners a billion and more before your God To cleanse the sinner of the deepest stain.

An offering poured out held out prayed out under the greatest of suffering Even unto death.

Drops fell to the ground made holy the place where sinners stood and understood the sacrifice divine.

Most precious fluid tangible witness to your humanity, humility.

Separated no more by sin but reconciled to our Father.

Accepted through his remedy and loved in the Beloved.

Now hidden within bestowed righteousness.

Sanctified in God’s sight in his beloved Son. No longer afraid to be seen For who I really am.

Janet Carleton, Engage reader Based on Rev 5: 9

A bundle of joy!

It’s 10am on Monday morning and the activity is frantic.

People pass by in a blur; some are writing, others are giving orders. A few sit quietly watching, waiting.

A door opens and out walks an older lady proudly carrying a bundle from which a small fist protrudes punching the air, followed by a strong cry demanding attention.

A young, tired-looking girl is then led out to a bed in the corner where other women who have been sitting shift to make room.

As the young girl collapses and is given a well-deserved drink, her baby is weighed and finally she gets to hold her.

New life at the maternity unit at Guinebor II Hospital in Chad.

Story told by BMS nurse Rebecca North.

Chad has one of the world’s highest rates of preventable deaths in children under five. Through your support, and in partnership with the Cutting Edge Foundation, we are saving the lives of babies and their mothers too.

spring 2013 | Engage

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Info

LETTERS

Have something to say about Engage magazine?

Email us at magazine@bmsworldmission.org or write to us using the address on page 2.

Dear Andrew,

Dear Editor

I do want to congratulate you on the publication of both Engage and Mission Catalyst. They are excellent and such good reading. I have now received two issues and found them stimulating reading, as well as very informative about the work of BMS.

Christians have brought persecution on themselves due to the past arrogance of missionaries and their lack of respect for non-Christians and their faiths.

I visit one of our retired ministers who is currently in a care home but has all his wits about him. His wife Margaret, who died about three years ago, was the daughter of BMS missionaries in the Congo.

I showed him these publications and he would be very glad to receive them. He misses The Baptist Times and also his library of books so these two publications would meet his need for good reading.

Pam Neville

Dear Sir, Please accept my congratulations on the new format.

The magazine on the persecuted church was really good.

For years I struggled with the old format – I could not cope with the large pages and the constant colour background changes.

I lost interest in reading it, finding it hard to read. The new format is brilliant. Keep it up.

Yours faithfully

Ron Granger (aged 75)

I was appalled to read about religious prejudice in Italy against Roman Catholics, most of whom are the best Christians one meets.

Brian G Phipps

Dear BMS Thank you for the summer 2012 issue of the magazine. I really enjoyed reading it and would like to sign up to receive it each quarter. There’s such a great variety in it and I loved it all. I especially liked Fiona’s Castle ‘Take courage’ column. I am prepared to go where the Lord takes me, but as a relatively new Christian, I am only just beginning to find my feet and ‘understand’.

I was very humbled reading ‘Rising from the rubbish dump’: I didn’t realise people lived quite like this and I feel such a compassion for them.

Also, I loved reading about Switchfoot – they look good and their music sounds really cool. I would like to hear it and perhaps will one day. Yes: rock and mission really do mix!

God bless

We do not have space to include all readers’ correspondence that we receive and letters that are printed may be edited for publication.

Nanette Chittick

Will you pray for North Korea with BMS over the next two years?

Sign up now to receive monthly updates, a bookmark and a free wristband.

bmsworldmission.org/prayer or call Resources on 01235 517617

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Stuff for

© Expert Infantry

your church

SPECIAL Focus on

north korea

© Joseph A Ferris III

Can a nation be changed? Can a nation be saved?

Can a nation be turned back to you? (Matt Redman) It is one of the most closed nations on earth. Little is known about its culture and society except for what the government chooses to release. Even the pictures we see on our television screens are distorted representations of what life is really like in the country.

For many in North Korea, life is tough. Poverty is widespread and famine is rife. An estimated three million people have died of starvation since the early 1990s. Food security is a major challenge, especially in the months leading up to harvest time. Those who can feed themselves do so on a diet that is low in protein and other nutrients and, as a result, a generation of children suffers from malnutrition.

It is not just physical challenges that need to be overcome. The authorities control the media and restrict access to the internet. Freedom of expression – be it artistic, political or spiritual – is highly censored. Believers’ gatherings, though present, has largely been forced underground and many believers have been martyred or imprisoned. Many believers are being held in captivity, regarded as ‘political prisoners’ because they pose a threat to the authority of the state.

The population is exposed to the philosophy of Juche (pronounced Ju-chay), which advocates selfreliance and the control of one’s own destiny. Though it claims to be a secular, even atheist state, North Koreans are taught to revere the ‘Great Leader’ (Kim Il-Sung), the ‘Dear Leader’ (Kim Jong Il) and now the new leader Kim Jong-Un.

Pray for believers: • Praise God that numbers are growing in the North, despite opposition.

• That believers will continue to stand firm in the face of persecution.

• That people would hear the gospel and learn that their purpose in life is to honour and glorify God.

Many believers are being held in captivity

Pray for the government: • That it would address the serious needs of a population in poverty.

• That it would end persecution and release its political prisoners.

• That Kim Jong-Un would be the kind of leader God wants him to be.

Over the next two years, North Korea will be the focus of Project Cyrus, a BMS initiative to encourage churches and individuals to pray for the nation, for peace, prosperity and an outpouring of God’s love on a people who are in desperate need for the gospel. We believe a nation can be changed.

Please pray with us.

For more information about Project Cyrus, visit bmsworldmission.org/prayer

© Yeowatzup

Pray for the people: • For health professionals to address diseases like tuberculosis.

• For agriculturalists to bring solutions for food insecurity.

• For wisdom for teachers as they raise a new generation of North Koreans.

By Aidan Melville, sub-editor for the BMS Prayer Guide

spring 2013 | Engage

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Essay

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

Rabbi Arik Ascherman is co-founder and Director of Special Projects and External Relations for Rabbis for Human Rights, based in Israel. He is a co-recipient of the Gandhi Peace Award.

A

Photo © Trocaire.org

&

AN ISRAELI RABBI WHO HAS BEEN ARRESTED FOR DEFENDING PALESTINIANS TALKS ZIONISM AND JUSTICE. Why is it necessary for an organisation like Rabbis for Human Rights to exist?

When I first came to this country, my first greatest shock was to find out that bagels were not readily available – I mean what kind of Jewish state is this, where you can’t get bagels? But my most profound shock was to find out that the deeply held belief in the North American Jewish community – that a basic part of what it means to be a Jew is to be concerned with human rights and justice – is not the case in this country, in Israel.

Our organisation was founded during the first intifada in 1988, and

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our founder, Rabbi David Forman put an open letter to the Chief Rabbinate saying: why is it that the religious establishment in this country seems only concerned with Sabbath observance or with our Jewish dietary laws? Where are rabbis like Abraham Joshua Heschel, speaking about the burning moral issues in this country?

Rabbi Heschel was a descendent of a long line of patristic rabbis who was saved from the holocaust and who was very involved in issues of his time. He was very active against the Vietnam War and his picture hangs on our wall, marching with Martin Luther King. He is our role model.

How is your work perceived in Israel?

In terms of how people see us – there are people who just don’t know who we are at all. There are many, particularly in the religious world, that think we are like the devil incarnate because we throw a monkey wrench to that very comfortable symbiotic relationship between extreme right wing opinion and Judaism. And, on the other hand, there are people who stop us in the street and say, “I couldn’t continue to be a religious Jew if you didn’t exist, you are saving Judaism for me.”

If the Bible says that God has given Israel to the Jewish people forever, how can religious Jews support any compromise on the land claims of Palestinians?

Rabbis for Human Rights doesn’t have a position on where the borders should be, but if one takes the Bible seriously, it says very clearly that God has made a promise of the land of Israel in perpetuity to the Jewish people as a sign of the covenant. And of course for us in the Jewish tradition, that covenant has never been abrogated, and so it is still valid.

However, that same biblical theology, you find it time and time again both in the Torah in the Prophets, teaches that if we behave improperly the land will spit us out. We see again and again that the land of Israel is pained, like a physical, living, breathing entity, when there’s bloodshed, when there’s oppression. These things pain the land and it will spit us out. The Bible doesn’t say that God will expel us forever from the land, but God does say that the amount of the land of Israel that you will be holding on to at any point in history will expand or contract according to your moral behaviour.

From my point of view, the basic foundation of Judaism is honouring the image of God in every human being, which means honouring human rights and people’s dignity and everything else.

And you don’t just have to ask Rabbi Arik Ascherman. Rabbi Yosef, the founder and Sephardi Jewish leader of the ultraorthodox Shaf Party, has said, in a ruling that many of his supporters would rather forget, that as holy as the land of Israel is, human life

is more holy.

Ovadia Yosef said that, as painful as it would be to give up any part of our homeland, if by doing so one can prevent bloodshed then it’s a no-brainer.

Because what’s more important is obvious. Now, today, he himself might get out of that conundrum that he put himself in, but from a Jewish point of view one can certainly argue that as holy as the land is, human life is more holy, and that if you can prevent bloodshed by compromise then, as painful as it is, that’s what you do.

REAL LOVE AND CONCERN IS SOMETIMES HOLDING UP A MIRROR TO HELP PEOPLE.

CATALYST LIVE LIVE

FEATURING: FEATURING:

JÜRGEN MOLTMANN

ATALYST JOHN LENNOX ROBERT BECKFORD ROBER BECKFORD

DENIS DIRCKX DENISALEXANDER ALEXANDER| |SHARON TANYA WALKER MICHAEL MICHAEL RAMSDEN RAMSDEN || MIRANDA MIRANDA HARRIS HARRIS STEPHEN HOLMES | LUCY BERRY STEPHEN HOLMES | LUCY BERRY THE THE METHODIST METHODIST ART ART COLLECTION COLLECTION POETRY POETRY || MUSIC MUSIC AND AND MORE MORE TO TO BE BE CONFIRMED… CONFIRMED…

November November 2013 2013 27th 27th Manchester Manchester 28th Reading 28th South

BMSCATALYSTLIVE.COM BMSCATALYSTLIVE.COM

Has Christian Zionism been good for Israel?

I personally think it’s incredible scheme of the end of days whether or not it’s really that people who call themselves in Israel’s interests.

Christian Zionists, who call I think real love and concern is sometimes themselves Christians, don’t listen holding up a mirror to help people. I think that the at all to their fellow Palestinian Christian Zionists will support something whether Christians. I think there’s or not it’s in our interest if it fits their plan, and FOR will CHRISTIAN THOUGHT LEADERS, November 2013 something very strange there. AN EVENT they oppose something if FEATURING: it doesn’t fit their FEATURING: November 2013 27th Manchester 27th Manchester I think that anyone who plan.

28th Reading 28th South thinks we are getting some sort can find |out more about Rabbis for Human of unconditional love from the JOHN LENNOX BECKFORD JOHNYou LENNOX | ROBERT ROBER BECKFORD rights at http://rhr.org.il/eng/ DENIS ALEXANDER | SHARON DIRCKX | MICHAEL RAMSDEN Christian Zionists should think DENIS ALEXANDER | TANYA WALKER | MICHAEL RAMSDEN MIRANDA HARRIS | STEPHEN HOLMES | LUCY BERRY MIRANDA HARRIS | STEPHEN HOLMES | LUCY BERRY again, because they are trying THE METHODIST ART COLLECTION | POETRY | MUSIC This article first appeared in Mission Catalyst, issue 2, 2013.

THE METHODIST ART COLLECTION | POETRY | MUSIC to induce Israel to do what they AND MORE TO BE CONFIRMED… AND MORE TO BE CONFIRMED… BMSCATALYSTLIV think is going to bring about their Jonathan Langley is BMS Editorial Team Leader and Editor of BMSCATALYSTLIV

LIVE JÜRGEN MOLTMANN JÜRGEN

CATALY L

L

Mission Catalyst

Mission Catalyst

is a magazine for Christian thought leaders. Challenging, informative and mission-centred, it is essential reading for the thinking Christian.

To subscribe or find out more, go to:

bmsworldmission.org/catalyst Join the debate at facebook.com/BMSMissionCatalyst

ISSUE SPRING 3 |2013 2012 || ENGAGE ENGAGE

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Nehemiah Foundation

Investing in the

next generation How could you help tomorrow’s leaders express themselves to their full potential?

L

ooking for investment opportunities? Global financial centres have exhibited giddying peaks and troughs over the past few years.

Many countries have been plunged into debt crisis, high unemployment and social unrest.

Consequently, many are cautiously holding on to their cash and becoming risk-averse.

Investment opportunities appear to be few and far between, and increasingly, people want firm assurances wherever possible, that they will receive a return on their investment.

However, who we invest in, must never be determined by economic fluctuations or social climates. Such investments must be intentional, generous and deliberate acts.

Who are you investing your time and talent in? Who are you depositing your years of wisdom and experience into? The scriptures are clear that both children and youth are capable of providing us with great leadership.

Biblical examples include David, Esther, Mary, Jeremiah and Josiah – to name but a few.

Don’t we all need ‘investment’ of some kind, in order to express our full potential? Children and youth are no different.

I have made a commitment to invest in the next generation, many of whom are already leading today in our schools, colleges, workplaces and homes. How confident, assured and focused our young people become as leaders may well depend on how much you and I are willing to lavishly sow into their lives.

Remember this: ‘Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly.’ 2 Corinthians 9: 6 (TNIV)

Children can be great leaders

Cham Kaur-Mann is co-director of Next Leadership (nextleadership.org) and Chair of the Nehemiah Foundation (nehemiahfoundation.co.uk), a national initiative aimed at the regeneration of hard-pressed communities. Cham is the first (and only) Asian woman minister within the Baptist Union of Great Britain.

10

ways to live LIGHTLY

1

Reduce the amount of meat and dairy you eat.

This often comes as a surprise, but doing this really lowers your ecological footprint.

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Each time you go out, ask yourself if you need to go by car or if you could cycle, walk or take public transport.

Make sure your home is thoroughly insulated and turn your heating down to a level at which you are not uncomfortably cold but still need to wear slippers and an extra layer of clothing to feel warm.

Do a bin audit. Make a note of contents each day, for a week and then see what your bin is mostly composed of and take steps to reduce that.

When was the last time your church had a focus on wider creation-care? Check out bmsworldmission.org/ futureshape, ecocongregation.org and my Environment Bible study guide (see website details below).

Find ways of getting the majority of your food from local growers rather than from supermarkets, through box schemes, farmers’ markets and growers co-operatives. And grow your own!

© Andrew Dubock

Cham Kaur-Mann

Holiday in the UK. We must all take big steps to reduce the amount we use planes, flying only when necessary and preferably not at all.

Switch to a green energy supplier.

Good Energy and Ecotricity are currently the best options.

Get involved in the big issues through taking action with groups like Friends of the Earth and 350.org.

Don’t buy so many things: only buy something when you think you really need it and buy second-hand wherever possible.

From Ruth Valerio, Theology Director for BMS partner A Rocha UK and manager of its Living Lightly project. Find out more at www.ruthvalerio.net

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© Integrity Music

Arts

THE REAL DEAL W

hether it’s in Brighton’s underground clubs or on the New Wine main stage, Lou Fellingham has been one of the most celebrated and influential women on the UK Christian music scene for nearly two decades.

As well as being one of the founding members of the Christian rock band Phatfish, Lou has also enjoyed a hugely successful solo career and has led worship at major Christian events around the world.

But with all this success, what is it that keeps Lou so down to earth? “You stay humble because you still have to wake up in the morning and think ‘I feel fat today’ or ‘I didn’t sing that very well’ or ‘I didn’t deal with my children very well’ or ‘I was so proud about that’ or ask, ‘Why did I speak so quickly?’. I am still full of a lot of junk and God is still helping me. I want more of him and hopefully that in turn will reflect in our songs.”

Not the kind of blunt honesty you’d expect from a Christian celebrity, but then it’s not celebrity status that Lou is chasing.

“People put you on some kind of pedestal or think that your life is perfect or you have it all under control,” she says.

“I just want to be real with people so they can see me just being human and take me off any pedestal I’ve been put on.”

A parent to three kids, Lou is just as open about that side of her life: “Being a parent is one of those things that brings incredible joy and also pushes every button that you could possibly imagine exists. It’s relentless and sometimes that relentlessness is fantastically fun and sometimes it’s absolutely exhausting!”

on Glammed up e stage and in th y brit Christian cele atfish’s spotlight, Ph m tells Lou Fellingha her Ben Drabble e in life greatest desir and is to love God others more.

Lou has a passion for mission. Through their recent single Thirsty, Phatfish have been raising money and awareness for the Turn on the tap campaign, helping people across Africa gain access to clean water. Being involved in this has led Lou to reflect on her own lifestyle. “I have so much wealth and richness in my life. I can have a hot shower every day. I can eat food until my belly is overflowing. I really just want to not be selfish but to keep actively giving to those in need.”

For Lou, mission is not just limited to meeting people’s physical needs in another country, though. “Locally, I have friends that don’t know God and are poor in that way and you can give them time and show them the love of Christ.”

So, while Lou is by no means shy about her achievements, nor afraid of the big stages – “That’s the chance I get to glam up!” she laughs – ultimately her goal is higher. “All I really want to do is love God first and use the gifts that I’ve been given as best as I can.

“I love people. I love to tell them about God. I want to see his church enriched and empowered and reigning in Christ and I want to see God glorified. I just want to show the love of God any way I can.”

“I still wake up in the morning and think ‘I feel fat today’.”

Ben Drabble is BMS mission teams organiser

spring 2013 | Engage

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Arts

Reviews

Man’s search for meaning

26

Talking about Jesus

The Daniel Project Director:

Reggae worship: A roots revival

Victor E Frankl

The Damaris Trust

Stewart Menelaws

Christafari

Book

Smartphone & tablet app

Documentary

Album

Rider Books, £7.99

69p

Studio Scotland Ltd

Lion of Zion Entertainment

Rating:

Rating:

Rating:

Rating:

When all material possessions, the love (and life) of family and friends, and positive feelings such as pride and pleasure have been stripped away, how do you survive? What is the point of existing when you are hungry, humiliated and hopeless? What actually is the meaning of life?

These are questions Dr Victor Frankl tries to answer in this classic book, first published more than 50 years ago. His personal experiences about imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp make for both a demanding and compelling read.

Several key themes emerge: faith in humanity, sacrificial love for others, gratitude for the smallest of mercies, suffering and death. Although not overtly religious, spiritual undercurrents run through the entire work.

In addition to the autobiographical content, Dr Frankl uses part two of the book to analyse the topics using his psychological theories (logotherapy), with the final part given over to notes from a lecture given in 1983. These latter areas are more complex, but worth persisting with.

Man’s search for meaning has changed my attitude towards how I view myself and others.

I discovered that God works through people to shine light in the bleakest of situations. This is a book of hope.

Talking about Jesus is a mobile app from The Damaris Trust that explores Jesus’ life and teaching in six topics (miracles, death and resurrection etc) through 18 short films.

Also available on DVD, this app is easy to use and well designed. The films include a good mixture of speakers from different backgrounds, including Canon Andrew White, Surjit Sroa from Southampton Asian Concern Outreach, Krish Kandiah and Philip Yancey. Much of what they have to say is thoughtprovoking and accessible, and would work well in a small group setting.

Also included is a guide for leaders using the resource in their small group and a 28-day personal devotional series working through Luke’s Gospel and the first four chapters of Acts. It is possible to ‘gift the app’ to someone else so a friend can get the app for free.

On the downside the videos can feel repetitive because they stick to a similar format each time. At 433MB it takes up a lot of memory space on your phone.

This will appeal to Christians but I’m not so sure how attractive it will be to those from a nonchurch background.

The Daniel Project is a featurelength documentary that puts ancient predictions of the future under a journalistic microscope and presents the subject of Bible prophecy in a clear and informed manner.

Presented by self-confessed sceptic Jeremy Hitchen, it examines 20 biblical predictions pointing to events in the Middle East, society’s moral deterioration, environmental destruction, globalisation and contemporary church apostasy as events of prophetic significance.

Contributors with expertise in the fields of archaeology, agricultural research, global nuclear disarmament, geopolitical issues, historical Judaism, financial systems and state control of personal identity offer their analysis of current trends. Engaging Bible expositor and New Yorker Jacob Prasch offers insight into the future outworkings of the Word of God. A well-researched professional production, The Daniel Project is engaging in terms of both its content and delivery. Forget the apocalyptic movies coming out of Hollywood with their fictional ‘end of the world’ scenarios, this is a serious documentary which investigates the claims of the Bible in relation to the end of the age. It simply presents the facts and leaves the viewer to make up their own mind.

“And another thing to try with your worship band,” suggests the seminar leader, “is playing in different styles. What about jazz?

Or reggae?” Thus the soft rock demonstration band launches into a highly awkward parody of said style, causing such squirming among the onlookers that vows are made never to inflict the same on a real congregation.

In theory, Reggae Worship: A Roots Revival is far from parody.

Christafari’s lead singer is a convert from Rastafarianism; this is his band’s 16th album and their third entitled Reggae Worship. “Think Hillsong goes reggae” states the album cover – its generous 17 tracks include modern worship songs, hymns and originals.

In practice, I found the album very silly. At times it’s as if a kid has rushed into your band practice and started whacking a cowbell or wobbling the keyboard’s pitchbend. This almost works for praise songs (Everlasting God), but the more intense Agnus Dei can forego the happy brass stabs and wah-wah guitar. Comparing with well-known secular reggae, the music is very busy and it’s all a bit Casio keyboard really.

If you want to smile, get this album. But to try reggae in your worship band, listen to the greats.

ISBN: 978-1-8441-3239-3

Review by Chris Hall, Communications Writer/Editor at the Baptist Union of Great Britain

Review by Andrew Dubock,

Review by Phoebe Mould,

Editor of Engage magazine

Communications Officer at the Baptist Union of Great Britain

bmsworldmission.org

Review by Ed Wiles, Worship leader at Christ Church, Abingdon

5

Arts

Five minutes with...

BETH

REDMAN

Author, speaker, singer, mother and

campaigner, Beth Redman talks to Loretta Andrews about security, sanctuary and supporting husband Matt.

Tell us about your involvement with A21 Campaign (theA21campaign.org) against human trafficking?

I’m the UK ambassador, which means, wherever I can, I spread the news not just about the statistics, which are overwhelming and horrific but, also about how God is using the Church as a solution. A21 was started five years ago by Christine Caine when she saw photos of missing children in an airport and was told they were thought to have been taken by traffickers. Today it prosecutes traffickers, rescues victims and raises awareness.

How do you balance parenting five children with your other roles?

It’s a journey and we learn by our mistakes but I think it’s all about priorities. Making sure Matt and I have a good relationship and putting our children before work is important. I truly believe that changing the world starts at home.

What are the challenges of being married to a high-profile Christian?

It’s a challenge whoever you’re married to. I think many don’t take seriously the vow ‘for better or worse’. It’s about agreeing to love in the worst as well as the best and that is the challenge of being married to anyone – whether they are Matt Redman or someone else – to honour the vows.

What is the last book you read that really inspired you?

Finding sanctuary written by an abbot, Father Christopher Jamison. I was drawn to it as our lives aren’t getting any quieter and I’ve been trying to find a way to live a full life as a busy mum in ministry yet still find a place to carve out some silence to be still and listen to God. What aspect of your faith still amazes you?

That God chose me! You can counteract any rejection and any battle when you know who you belong to.

What would you say is the secret to successful parenting?

First and foremost: absolute dependence on God. We cannot be the parents we want to be by ourselves. One practical thing that has helped me is remembering that I’m a mirror to my children so if I’m angry or holding bad feelings in my spirit it will reflect on them. That just makes me more dependent on God.

What are you working on at the moment?

Some talks on key themes that are burning inside of me, particularly justice. I’m also passionate about understanding the Bible more. I’m not writing any books at the moment but I’m speaking, studying, carrying on with A21, supporting Matt by singing and writing with him and being a mum.

What do you think Christian women today need to hear most?

Women, whether married or single, need to feel secure and where does our source of security come from? Jesus, and in knowing who we are in him. We also need companionship.

We can sometimes isolate ourselves when we get hurt but we need people. Most of all we need the power of the Holy Spirit.

Loretta Andrews is a freelance writer, radio producer and presenter

Beth’s bestselling book God knows my name: never forgotten, forever loved is published by David C Cook and priced at £8.99.

spring 2013 | Engage

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ideas for Stuff for

your church

your church Ingredients:

© Nimal S

masala RECIPE Vegetable from Nepal

1kg vegetables of choice (ie cauliflower, potatoes, beans) 2 tsp of ginger (powder or paste) 2 tsp of garlic crushed 2 tsp of tomato puree/paste 2 tsp of poppy seeds 200g fresh tomato chopped Half sliced onion 3 tbsp vegetable oil 1 tsp of salt 200ml water 4 tbsp of cream 2 tsp mild curry powder

Instructions 1 Mix the ginger, garlic, tomato paste and poppy seeds together. Fry them in 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil for one minute on medium heat.

3 A dd the vegetables of choice to the pan and fry the mixture for one minute. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 200ml water.

2 A dd the fresh tomato and onion and 2 teaspoons of fresh curry powder.

Fry the mixture again for one minute.

4 C ook for 15-20min on medium heat, stirring in 4 tablespoons of cream.

5 S erve hot with rice or roti bread.

Thank you to Helen Douglas, a mission worker in Nepal, for sharing the recipe.

Church mission What’s your

passion?

How would you describe your church’s interest in world mission? Would you say it was passionate?

If so, what defines that passion?

These can be difficult questions to answer as, in many churches, we have portfolios of world mission interest that, if we are honest, are diverse and haphazardly assembled. The easy answer, of course, is to say that we want to see people come to faith in Jesus. Fine, but how do we reconcile that with the variety of expressions we might find if we look closely at what we support?

It’s worth taking some time to examine your church’s interest in world mission and ask the question: what is it that inspires and fires us for world mission? You may

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bmsworldmission.org

discover that collectively you have a heart for an area of the world. Perhaps you’ll find that you are passionate about seeing justice for the oppressed and persecuted. You may have a specific individual, couple or family in mind that you want to support.

To help determine your passion for world mission, have a look at BMS Church Partners where your church can express an active and engaged partnership in world mission with us.

Be passionate and become a BMS Church Partner:

bmsworldmission.org/churchpartners

Meet a… BMS Trustee

Our survey says…

In 2011, we surveyed Baptist churches to help us improve our Harvest appeal resources in 2012.

At that time, 48% of respondents said they would like the resource to address one specific issue: for example, clean water in different countries.

Your feedback significantly helped us plan our 2012 harvest resource, Thirsty. It’s been a huge success!

By early January, it had raised £213,700 and as a result BMS has been able to make a difference in countries like Haiti, where recent flooding continued to threaten outbreaks of cholera.

In the 2012 Harvest survey, we asked you what was important to you in a harvest appeal resource.

John Western About me I’m 48 years old, married to Lorraine and we have two teenage sons. After 12 years as minister of St Leonards Baptist Church on the Sussex coast, I am now at Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex.

Visiting a missionary friend in Indonesia some years ago showed me the amazing impact that can be made by living a Christ-like life in a community that previously knew nothing about Jesus. Attending a Baptist church, I regularly heard of BMS, but really began to discover what an excellent mission organisation it is when another friend became an area co-ordinator.

Becoming a BMS trustee This is a wonderful opportunity for me. It’s very exciting to hear what God is doing around the world. It is humbling to see others who have made incredible commitments and sacrifices in order to serve as mission personnel in difficult and dangerous parts of the world.

The great outdoors I love doing energetic things – the more demanding the better!

I have completed the Devon coast-to-coast challenge (90 miles of cycling, 40 miles of running and ten miles of kayaking) and L’Etape du Tour (stage of the Tour de France). Now, I’m in training for 2013’s challenge – a two-day, 69-mile run around the Isle of Wight’s coastline in June to raise money for BMS. To sponsor John in the ‘Round the Island 69’ event, go to justgiving.com/John-Western, phone 01235 517641 or send a cheque (made payable to BMS), using the address on page 2.

We really value feedback like this as we develop new products in 2013. Thank you.

Fundraising

An auction of promises Here’s a really simple but effective fundraising idea for your church.

Ask members of your fellowship to donate ‘promises’ or ‘lots’ – for example, to cook a meal for two, wash a car, give an hour of gardening or babysit so a couple can enjoy a night out. Encourage people to design promises according to their skill.

Other church members bid for the promise and the highest bidder wins. It’s a great way for people to get to know each other, have fun and raise money for BMS at the same time!

For more about setting up your auction online, go to auctionofpromises.com

© Paul W

My interest in mission

spring 2013 | Engage

29

BMS worker profile Alex Vickers He was one of the first people on the new Wembley pitch and now he’s having a ball in Ugandan fields: meet Alex Vickers.

Why Jesus?

I came from a non-Christian family, but my mum came to Christ when I was seven, followed by my dad. I was 15 when I made my own decision to follow Jesus.

When did your interest in soil science start?

I had always loved geology. When I was 17, however, I read a book by a mission doctor in Nepal who was praying that God would send out more agriculturalists to combat malnutrition and help provide sustainable livelihoods.

It was the first time I had even heard of soil science and I ended up doing a degree in it at Reading University.

What was it like working on top UK sportsgrounds?

As a lecturer in soil and water management at Cranfield University, I started getting more research work in sportsfield drainage, construction, irrigation and surface soil mechanics.

This allowed me to combine work with fun. I was one of the first people to kick a ball at the new Wembley and witnessed an amazing day of cricket in the 2005 Ashes series at Trent Bridge in the company of the ground staff – top chaps who make an excellent brew!

Why mission work with BMS? After my mission interest aged 17, I had a crisis of faith in my mid-20s after my mum died. Family and career things happened and the time to work in overseas mission was never right. Then, over three years, God began putting it on both my and my wife Jackie’s minds.

We visited some friends in Benin, they

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God is blessing the farmers with some excellent harvests. were amazing with us and then it was a question of seeking God’s will and asking lots of questions. BMS were very good to give us this chance.

You’re now in Uganda: how’s it going?

Really well. We are working with around 30 groups of farmers (representing some 800 families) in Gulu, teaching appropriate sustainable methods, as they move back to their land after war. We combine this training with discipleship, teaching farmers that they can honour God in the way they farm. It is amazing what a simple improvement sustainable farming can deliver. God is blessing them with some excellent harvests. That doctor in Nepal was on to something!

If you could have been an extra in any film, which would it be?

Joining John Mills, Sylvia Simms, Anthony Quayle and Harry Andrews at the bar for the last scene in Ice Cold in Alex.

Where is your favourite place in Britain?

The North Wales coast: fantastic scenery, rarely crowded and sometimes warm enough to swim.

Of what are you afraid?

Wasps: clearly a product of the fall.

If you could choose to do something new, what would it be?

It would be great to fly – we know lots of pilots from Mission Aviation Fellowship and they get the best views of Uganda possible.

Which animal would you say you most resemble?

A dog. I like sleeping in warm places.

Batting or bowling?

Both (left arm spin, bat at no 3) Books or newspapers?

Books Walking or cycling?

Walking

Alex Vickers is a BMS worker in Uganda with his wife Jackie and their two daughters Harriet and Bethany. Their home church is Ampthill Baptist Church in Bedfordshire. Read more about the Vickers at bmsworldmission.org/ajvickers

From the

Nabil K Costa

Archives

Lebanese Baptist leader

100 years ago 1913

In search of

safety

“T

he magistrate had fled during the night, the citizens were sending their wives and children and portable property to hide in the hills, and all were expecting an attack sooner or later from the bands of robbers that seem to spring out of the ground at the slightest sign of disturbance of the powers that be. About noon the old evangelist led us three miles out of the town to the home of one of our church members, whose name was Tsao. This was a cave dwelling, as are all the houses in that district.

Tsao settled us comfortably in an inner cave while his daughters-inlaw disposed themselves in various places to keep watch lest the soldiers should come out after us. We knew

that if word should come from Si-an-fu that this was an anti-foreign rising among the soldiers, they would immediately follow us up.

“Tsao made arrangements for his family to go in one direction to hide in the hills, while he prepared to lead us by a less frequent road. We were to walk at night and hide by day. At two o’clock in the morning we started up the hill. We followed unfrequented paths as much as possible, for we did not know whether the soldiers were going to search for us that night.”

This is an extract from an article written

by BMS worker Andrew Young, which first appeared in Missionary Herald, January 1913.

for Syria Christian care in the midst of crisis.

“W

© Thomas Fisher rare book library

In the midst of the fighting, terror and chaos of the Chinese Revolution, many foreign missionaries had to rely on the help of their Chinese brothers and sisters to be delivered to safety.

A heart

hy would people intentionally hurt each other?” asked a dear 12-year old child as we together watched the killing and destruction in Syria on the TV news.

Struggling with a brain tumour since birth, this child wrestled with the idea that people would choose to inflict pain on others – including children like him.

It is heartbreaking indeed to see Syria go through what we in Lebanon went through for almost two decades. Syrians have in the past repeatedly opened up their homes and hearts to the Lebanese, and today they themselves go through the agonising journey of division, destruction, displacement and uncertainty.

As the Lebanese Baptist Society, together with the support of the larger Baptist and Evangelical family, we are working hand-in-hand with local churches in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan on reaching out to around 1,350 suffering and vulnerable Syrian families. Our relief work varies from food distribution, to assistance with rent, medical care and counselling services.

As our region continues to experience one crisis after the other, we need to also invest considerable time and effort in raising a new generation of Christians – people who are able to deduce from every biblical event and incident a practical lesson that strengthens and empowers them. We need a Church that is an agent of change, able to drive away hatred and invite love and peace.

Much of what takes place around us does not make sense to a 12-year old, and should not to us either. Let us not give up on trying to positively influence our own corner of the world and make it a better one – at least for some.

We need a Church that is an agent of change.

Nabil K Costa is the executive director of BMS partner LSESD, a vice president of the Baptist World Alliance and a trustee of BMS World Mission.

spring 2013 | Engage

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BMS partners

:7 24 Tur nin g com pas sio n int o act ion

SUPPORT

A BMS MISSION WORKER Sign up at bmsworldmission.org/partners or call 01235 517617 As a Christian mission organisation we aim to share life in all its fullness with the world’s peoples by: enabling them to know Christ, alleviating suffering and injustice, improving the quality of life with people as our primary agents of change – motivating, training, sending and resourcing them.