Engage Summer 2013

SUMMER

2013

CHINA IN AFRICA, DISABILITIES IN LEBANON, BMS IN YOUR CHURCH

WHY VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IS A MEN’S ISSUE MY DAUGHTER NEARLY DIED IN CHILD SOLDIERS MISSIONARY MOZAMBIQUE TO FARMERS TOPPE TRUMPS MISSION WORKERS IN DANGER

UGANDA: GOD’S LAW, GOD’S LAND

CAREY V TERESA SHOWDOWN!

THE FREE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE FROM BMS WORLD MISSION MISSION STORIES / PRAYER / NEWS / OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE

HIGHLIGHTS Chris Hall

WELCOME A new issue of Engage and a new editor!

Andrew Dubock left BMS World Mission in March after 11 years of service – we pray for God’s blessing on him in his new role at a Christian charity in Oxford. Before Andrew left, he planned this current issue and has written some of the articles – look out for his interview with comedian Sally Phillips.

Worldwide the problem of violence against women is huge, the victims largely silent. We find out that this is not, as it is often portrayed, a ‘women’s issue’ but a problem that stems from men and affects us all. We can all make a difference.

Also in this issue discover how BMS is helping those in Uganda scarred from years of civil war find a sustainable livelihood from the land there.

This is also the theme of our new Harvest resource, Hungry.

Have a great summer

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GOD’S LAND

Seeds of justice, empowerment and potential are growing a better future in post-war Uganda.

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IF A MAN EVER HURT MY SISTER

Why men need to wake up and fight violence against women.

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THE DAY MY DAUGHTER NEARLY DIED

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: Chris Hall Regular contributors: Fiona Castle OBE, Nabil K Costa, David Kerrigan, Jonathan Langley, Aidan Melville, Sarah Stone, Bekah Swanson, Katherine Wagner Guest columnist: Andrew North 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.

BMS worker Christine Holder felt powerless when her daughter was bitten by a venomous spider.

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CLASSIC MISSIONARIES TOPPE TRUMPS If the card game had a Mission Worker version, these ten people would definitely be included.

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THE BIG INTERVIEW: SALLY PHILLIPS We ask the comic actress how being a Christian has affected her approach to comedy.

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5 MINUTES WITH JOHN ARCHER Magician John Archer reveals the truth about The Magic Circle and his favourite trick.

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

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

Engage

MISSION NEWS /news–blogs

LEBANON: PLAYSTATION BUS AND SYRIAN REFUGEES

SYRIA:

BMS RESPONDS TO

Bible: © Ionescu Bogdan - Fotolia.com

A booming sound system, comfy seats, a 32 inch TV screen and an on-board games console: welcome to Lebanon’s first mobile youth centre.

The transformation of the VW bus has involved the youth at Hadath Baptist Church at every stage of the process and has been made possible, in part, thanks to a Mission Innovation Fund (MIF) grant from BMS World Mission. MIF is a fund for creative, fresh-thinking mission initiatives.

“The teenagers are all very excited,” says BMS mission worker in Beirut, Arthur Brown. “This is a completely new idea and it will be a great tool for mission and outreach.”

SYRIAN CRISIS THE HEART-BREAKING SITUATION IN SYRIA STILL DOMINATES OUR HEADLINES AND BMS WORLD MISSION IS CONTINUING TO RESPOND TO THE DESPERATE NEEDS IT HAS CREATED.

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ince the conflict began in March 2011, BMS has given over £26,000 towards critical aid such as food, detergents, mattresses and blankets that have gone to those displaced and affected by the violence.

The aid has been distributed by BMS

USA: BIBLE LOVED BUT NOT READ Americans have a deep respect for the Bible but don’t read it that often according to a new poll.

Although 80 per cent think the Bible is sacred, only 26 per cent of Americans said they read it on a regular basis (four or more times a week). A majority (57 per cent) of those

aged 18-28 read their Bibles less than three times a year, if at all.

“People realise the Bible has values that would help us in our spiritual health, but they just don’t read it,” said Doug Birdsall, president of the American Bible Society that commissioned the poll. (Sojourners)

partners in Jordan and Lebanon and, through it, BMS has also been able to communicate the love of God to Syrians.

Steve Sanderson, BMS Manager for Mission Projects, says, “With all war, the innocent, particularly the vulnerable, bear an unacceptably high burden. Now that the media has begun to focus on Syrian refugees entering Jordan and Lebanon, it is good to be able to demonstrate how BMS, through trusted partners, has been meeting the needs of these displaced people for the past two years.

“However, the human impact of the Syrian conflict is only set to deteriorate and it is important that our response remains informed, loving, practical and prayerful.”

SUMMER 2013 | ENGAGE

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MISSION NEWS

NORTH KOREA: PRAY FOR NORTH KOREA

© yeowatzup

/news–blogs

CHRISTIANS ACROSS THE UK ARE NOW PRAYING FOR NORTH KOREA REGULARLY THANKS TO A NEW RESOURCE FROM BMS WORLD MISSION.

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VENEZUELA:

VENEZUELANS PRAY FOR FUTURE POST CHAVEZ Venezuelan Christians have been seeking God’s will for the country’s future following the death of their president Hugo Chavez from cancer in March.

The Evangelical Council of Venezuela issued a statement offering condolences to the President’s family and calling for Christians to pray for peace and unity in their nation.

“There are many people, followers of the President who have been very affected emotionally and the churches need to accompany these people in their grief,” said Alexander Montero general director of the National Baptist Convention of Venezuela.

Prayers were also said for the presidential election on 14 April which was won by Nicolas Manduro.

(Baptist Press)

© ¡Que comunismo!

P

roject Cyrus was launched at our Council of Reference in February to help people pray more intentionally for the country.

Those that sign up commit themselves to praying for two years and receive monthly updates and prayer points.

The launch coincided with heightened tension between North and South following UN sanctions being imposed on the North after they carried out a nuclear test on 12 February. This led to many communications channels being cut between the two countries and a possibility of conflict.

Against this backdrop a planned trip by BMS’ David Kerrigan and Margaret Gibbs had to be postponed after their visa applications were denied.

“We are disappointed that our trip to North Korea will not be able to go ahead at this time,” said Margaret, “but we are also encouraged by the way God seems to be confirming that we are on the right track with Project Cyrus. When we announced Project Cyrus we had no way of knowing how much North Korea was going to be hitting our headlines. So, if anything, this disappointment just provides more stimulation to pray for North Korea, and I feel strongly that things on the ground in North Korea are moving forward.”

UGANDA:

COFFEE AND CUPCAKES IN KASESE

Six Ugandan women have opened the first Europeanstyle café in Kasese, Uganda, with support from BMS worker Bethan Shrubsole. Hopefully enabling them to earn enough to support their families, these women also aim to use their café, called Jambo!, to share the gospel message through good service and Bible studies.

With a vision “to show God’s love and care for people”, Jambo! café has already transformed the lives of these six women, and has the potential to change many more.

MALAWI: DEMEANING JESUS: MUSLIM RADIO PUNISHED A Muslim radio station in Malawi has been punished for demeaning Jesus Christ.

Radio Islam was fined by the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority for ‘denigrating the Christian religion’ by ‘stating that Jesus is not the son of God’. In the same programme aired by the station in January 2013 it also claimed that all people who follow him shall perish in hell.

The radio station was found guilty of breaching a clause of the country’s Communications Act and their Licence terms and conditions by denigrating other religious beliefs. They were fined $625, a quarter of their Licence fees. (Nyasa Times)

SRI LANKA: ACTION THREATENED AGAINST ‘CULT’ CHURCHES Evangelical churches in Sri Lanka could be threatened by new legislation being introduced by the government.

The proposed law instigated by the Religious Affairs Ministry is designed to take action against any religious groups deemed to be ‘distorting the original teachings’ of the country’s four main religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity.

The Religious Affairs Ministry does not recognise evangelical churches and could therefore label them as ‘cults’ if the legislation becomes law. A spokesperson for Barnabas Aid said, “Buddhists would undoubtedly use the proposed new legislation to put pressure on the authorities to target vulnerable churches.” (ANS)

ITALY: MISSION TRIP NOT A HOLIDAY The BMS Action Teams have returned from their six month placements and have been touring the country, visiting churches and schools to share their experiences.

When Huw Hides told friends he was going on Action Team to Italy, a regular response was “Enjoy a nice six month holiday.”

However Huw saw great poverty and need in the south of Italy where his team was placed. “My perception of mission has definitely changed these last six months. I saw a massive need where I was in southern Italy for evangelism, for outreach.”

Get more exciting stories every week online at

bmsworldmission.org

SUMMER 2013 | ENGAGE

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David Kerrigan

POSTCARD FROM © Michael Foley

General Director, BMS

HOW TO PRODUCE

Thailand

We had the wonderful privilege of taking part in Songkran, the Thai New Year (celebrated in April, which is the hottest time of the year).

It is a time of honouring the elders in the family, by blessing them with water, which is sometimes fragranced or contains flower petals. It is poured into their hands or on their head head and blessings spoken to them. At NightLight the leaders and those who were among the oldest, received water and spoken blessings.

Traditionally people will visit Buddhist temples but generally Christians celebrate Songkran by doing the water blessings without participating in the Buddhist rituals.

As Christians there is still a lot we can learn and share about honouring family and being involved with the family blessings without worshipping idols, ancestors or engaging spirits. This is very important especially as most of the ladies that work at NightLight are first generation Christians and ask for guidance on these matters.

It is customary during this time for both men and women to wear bright floral shirts.

After the blessings are given the entire country participates in one BIG HAPPY WATER FIGHT on the streets that can last up to 3 days! It is one of the most important times for Thailand.

HAPPY THAI NEW YEAR

With best wishes

Sarah & Paul Brown

BMS workers in Thailand

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A ‘GOOD’ MAGAZINE YOU MAY NOT HAVE LIKED OUR LAST ISSUE’S COVER STORY. DAVID KERRIGAN ADDRESSES YOUR CONCERNS. The last issue of Engage (“How to be a bad Christian”) clearly upset some people, as did our Catalyst issue on Israel-Palestine. It’s probably good that I make a comment on these things.

It is our belief that the mission of the Church takes place at the boundary places that define the Kingdom of God, where faith and unfaith meet, or Kingdom values are less visible. And at that boundary place we will seek to do two things.

The first is to witness to the gospel in ways that strike a chord for those who do not yet believe. That is what the ‘bad Christian’ piece was trying to achieve. A number of people thought the article was criticising their way of being a Christian, but it wasn’t. In fact it was trying to say there are lots of people following Christ’s commands who would never think of themselves as ‘good’ Christians. The article was encouraging us to welcome such people. Maybe we didn’t make it that clear, and I’ve said so in responses to some people who wrote in.

The second thing we seek to do at the boundary places is to speak out against injustice. In the Middle East the State of Israel is strong in comparison to the Palestinian Arabs, most of whom are Muslim, but amongst whom are also centuries-old communities of Christians.

Many of those Christian groups are BMS partners. To plead for justice for the Palestinians is not to deny that Israel has a special place in God’s purposes, nor is it to approve of missiles fired at Israel from Gaza, or to deny the hate speech that comes from others in the region aimed at Israel. It is simply to ask for justice for the weak and the dispossessed.

This is the mission to which BMS is committed. We won’t always get it right, and we’ll acknowledge that when it happens. But we will try and address the mission issues that arise at the boundary places.

David Kerrigan is General Director of BMS World Mission

Info

LETTERS

Oh my, here we go again! Another rootin’ tootin’ drinkin’ smokin’ cussin’ parson type – why if all holy joes were like him, I’d go to his church!

Well, here we go – over 30 years of trying to be a pastor, how many times have I had folk say to me, “If all vicars were like you, I’d go to church”?

Hundreds, possibly more. Have any come to church after saying it? No brainer – less than the fingers on one hand.

Engage, rather than resort to freelance writers for reviews and articles, why not use frontline troops?

I’ve had two people tell me this past Easter Sunday that I ought to read this brilliant article. Were they aware that the week before Holy Week was 102 hours long for me and Holy Week itself something over 120? No. Were they were aware of the reasons? Dealing with lives in chaos through drink, crime, drugs, abuse, mental health crises, sudden onset dementia and delirium, death, bereavement, terminal illness, panic attacks and acute anxiety, acute illness, loneliness, poverty.

Taken all this too seriously? Don’t think so. It keeps on coming up and post-mod, post-evangelical Dave is hardly original. Yes, the church needs an agent-provocateur from time to time but I think they tend to get on with it rather than write books or reviews of books about it.

Engage, do us a favour!

Paul Holmes, by email

Dave Tomlinson’s comments on good and bad Christians are OK up to a point. However, anyone who is a Christian should be prepared to say they are a Christian and anybody who does not call themselves a Christian is not a Christian. Good works, however good, do not make a person a Christian. Good works alone do not bring a person into eternal life. Good works should result from being a Christian. Read Ephesians 2: 8-10.

Faith in Christ alone brings a person salvation but that faith should be proved by good works.

Ron Clayton

Have something to say about Engage magazine?

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

I agree with 99 per cent of what Sally Buchan said in her article (How to be a bad Christian): how refreshing. I do object to her ‘signing of the petition against gay marriage’ inclusion. If signing this petition, helps protect the institution of marriage and family life, which I believe it will, is ‘being a good Christian’ then I’m afraid I have to include myself in that category. Shame really.

Malcolm Yates

Should church be for saints or sinners?

Great question with only one answer. Church should be for those who need to meet Jesus.

He said it himself, a healthy person does not need the doctor. Our churches should be beacons of hope and compassion for ‘the least’ and not mausoleums for the ‘good’.

Peter Spence

Dear Sir I have just received the Spring edition of Engage.

The new format is excellent and the content equally so.

Thank you for the article “How to be a bad Christian and a better human being.” and also the interview with the rabbi Arik Ascherman. Again, congratulations for all of the content. I have also subscribed to Mission Catalyst magazine. It looks like a real stimulus for thought.

Best wishes

Dennis Ottaway

Dear People As someone who has been round the Christian block a few times and read more than my fair share of Christian literature, may I say that I think your magazines Engage and Mission Catalyst are brilliant. I love the sorts of themes you are tackling in the latter and the obvious amount of work you guys are putting in. I particularly enjoyed the cover of the Life after Death edition.:) Well done. I hope you have enough funds to keep going.

God bless you all

Judy MacKenzie Dunn

SUMMER 2013 | ENGAGE

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Info

LETTERS

Continued...

Dear brother in Christ,

Dear Sirs

My wife and I are in our eighties and lifelong supporters of BMS. We were both distressed to read Sally Buchan’s article in Engage, and even more distressed when we read Dave Tomlinson’s book ‘How to be a bad Christian.’ It is hard to imagine BMS promoting this sort of thoroughly mixed up thinking from a man who has a ‘pick and mix’ view of God, our Lord Jesus and the Bible. Could you think of giving this book out in your mission work.

I was really interested in your article in Spring 2013 Engage about How to be a bad Christian.

Looking at comments on Amazon where the majority of readers applaud the book. Why? Because it presents a God that appeals, a God that forgives everything without repentance, a ‘cross-less’ God. Dave Tomlinson has much to say about our Lord Jesus but seems to ignore our Lord’s obvious belief in the Scriptures. He the Word made flesh! We suggest a copy of Tozer’s The knowledge of the Holy.

None of this is new, there has always been teachers who please those with itching ears. What is new, is BMS seemingly promoting this sort of confusion.

You were challenged by the book... we were saddened.

Dave is in our prayers.

Your brother and sister in Christ

Sid & Anne Gait

Just a couple of days before reading the article, I was talking to my daughter (aged 23) about the same thing. I remember the church I went to as a child was full of ‘good Christians’ who looked down their noses at those people who were sinners, who smoked, who drank and even those Catholics down the road who had ‘got it all wrong’.

The church I go to now is full of ‘bad Christians’ who admit sometimes to getting upset and swearing, a couple of people at our church smoke and sometimes you can see a flash of someone who is upset and cross, but apart from this, we try to be an inclusive church with many ways of reaching out to the local community. All are welcome and we do not judge. We try to love as Christ would. As for Communion, our minister never says who can partake and who cannot that is between you and God. No church is perfect (and who would want to go to a perfect church anyway?) but we try our best with God’s help.

Thank you for such an interesting article.

Dorcas Burnett (Mrs)

Dear Editor I have been using the BMS Prayer Guide for some time now.

I underline the people’s names that I pray for each day. Now I have started reading Engage and find I have heard of some of the people who are featured in it like Alex Vickers and Deb and Dug Benn. It is so interesting to find out more about the people I have been praying for.

Elaine Temlett

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

Investing in mission When you send a gift to BMS, we know you want your gift to make a difference, to help transform lives and demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ.

For every £1 you donate, 95p is spent on our charitable activities and only 5p on generating funds and governance.* A real investment in mission! *BMS finance accounts 2011/12. bmsworldmission.org/finance13

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95%

Compassion, Partner, Church & Mission mobilisation ministries Generating funds Governance

4%

1%

JOIN THE

Fiona Castle

CONVERSATION Find us on facebook BMS World Mission “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6: 8) Like · Comment · Share 35 people like this

BMS World Mission Life isn’t easy for people with disabilities in Thailand. This week BMS worker Judy Cook told us about Phil and Paradon – two boys who have found hope and a family. Read their stories here.

Like · Comment · Share 5 people like this

Andrew Dubock Delighted to hear about Hope Home II Judy and the opportunities it brings. Continuing to pray for your amazing ministry.

Hannah-Rebecca Hitchin Amazing!! Hugely encouraged Judy -praying for you and the team.

Messages Prasanna Harankahawa I found the BMS World Mission web page while searching for historical accounts of the BMS in Sri Lanka. I praise and thank God for all the Baptist Missionaries who brought the Gospel to Sri Lanka. - Prasanna.

(Baptist Church, Kandy, Sri Lanka.)

YOUR TWEETS David McIllroy

@BMSWorldMission #Uganda Am praying. I saw for myself last year how the work of Ugandan Christian lawyers changes lives.

Ben Sheldon

Flicking through the latest @BMSWorldMission #engagemag loving it! :)

Speaker and writer

LESSONS FROM LES MIS EXPRESSIONS OF GOD’S ABUNDANT GRACE

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expect many of you will have seen the universally-acclaimed, award-winning film of Les Misérables. It is brilliant on so many levels: the acting, the script, the singing, the sets and the production.

What strikes me most of all though is the description of the amazing generosity of God’s grace. The fact that a Hollywood movie could express the forgiveness of God, and the change of life, lifestyle and attitude that ensues, is surely expressing the foundation of our Christian faith today.

We also witness the tragic consequence of that grace being rejected, as in the life of Inspector Javert, who will not be moved from his belief of judgment and its deserved punishments.

Les Mis is such a moving story.

There are the Revolutionists who are determined to stand up for change, no matter what the consequences – and sadly those consequences cost most of them their lives. There are the military, who obey orders and are determined to put down those causing trouble; again, not without disastrous results.

As we look around our world today we realise very little has changed; there is conflict in so many countries. But the message of God’s love still prevails. In this day and age, when Christians and Christianity are being denigrated, are we prepared to stand up for what we believe, that Jesus is ‘the way, the truth and the life’ and that no one comes to the Father except through him? (John 14: 6) Let us thank God for, and pray for, those working for BMS World Mission, who are willing to sacrifice their lives in pursuit of this truth and to share God’s love with those who don’t yet know him.

ARE WE PREPARED TO STAND UP FOR WHAT WE BELIEVE?

Tim Edworthy

@BMSWorldMission Newbury Baptist Church just signed up for Project Cyrus. Pray for North Korea #projectcyrus

Join the conversation at

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

facebook.com/BMSWorldMission twitter.com/BMSWorldMission and @bmsworldmission

SUMMER 2013 | ENGAGE

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WHY ENDING WAR DOESN’T ALWAYS MEAN ENDING SUFFERING

by Sarah Stone

FORCED TO FIGHT, FLEE OR FALL, COUNTLESS UGANDANS LOST EVERYTHING TO THE LRA – BUT NOW SEEDS OF JUSTICE, EMPOWERMENT AND POTENTIAL ARE GROWING INTO A BETTER FUTURE.

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magine a childhood like the one George had: forced, at age 11, to leave his family behind and join for the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda. Forced to fight.

“I was given to the group of the commander,” he says. Abducted with a group of children whilst they were celebrating Independence Day, George* and the other children were made to learn how to use and dismantle a gun. “They said that if we try to escape they will kill us right away,” says George, also telling the story of a small girl who tried to run away from the rebels soon after being kidnapped. “They captured her back and smashed her head in,” he says. George was 12 when he saw that happen.

It would be easy to think that the suffering of the tens of thousands of children who endured atrocities at the hands of Joseph Kony’s LRA ceased when the war ended in 2006.

The repercussions though are huge and on-going – it takes more than the absence of violence to have a good life. Land and the skills to farm that land are needed for people to be able to rebuild their lives.

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Moses* spent much of his childhood in an Internally Displaced Person’s camps (IDP). In 1996, unable to stop the LRA, the Ugandan government forced the Acholi people of northern Uganda to leave their villages and move to the government-run camps. Moses and his family, along with 1.7 million others, were required to live in these camps – spending years in squalid, makeshift houses, in camps rife with disease and violence.

Trapped. Unable to make a living and completely reliant on food aid to survive, Moses knew no other way of life. So when the war that had shaped Uganda for two decades was over, he thought that perhaps this was his happy ending.

But it’s wasn’t. The bullets had stopped flying, but a different sort of hardship had just begun.

“I had been in the camp for so long,” says Moses, “and since I went back things have not been easy.” Returning ‘home’, Moses, like thousands of others, found people farming on his family’s land – the boundaries had blurred,

THE UGANDAN GOVERNMENT FORCED THE ACHOLI PEOPLE OF NORTHERN UGANDA TO LEAVE THEIR VILLAGES AND MOVE TO THE GOVERNMENT-RUN CAMPS.

Although most of the 1.7 million displaced by war and hundreds of thousands scarred by the violence they have witnessed have returned home, there is now a massive recovery challenge. BMS’ harvest appeal this year focuses on Uganda and the hungry who are dispossessed and hopeless, like Moses was.

Please order a copy of our Hungry resource at bmsworldmission.org/hungry to find out more and to see how you and your church can bring hope and a future to the millions of hungry people across the world.

the landscape had changed and land wrangles and fights were everywhere.

Having relied on aid and without land or the skills to farm, the problems seemed insurmountable to Moses. “We survive on land,” he says, “the moment someone takes away your land you see no hope, you see no future.”

LAND AND LAW FOR LIFE

“Land is everything here,” says Alex Vickers, BMS worker in Gulu, northern Uganda. With land comes the possibility of growing crops to feed your family and pay for your children’s education. “If you have land,” he says, “you have a future for your family.”

But land isn’t easy to come by and there are two big problems. While it is a struggle to get hold of any land, those who do manage to get their land back find they have no security. Why bother working hard to irrigate your fields if they are just going to be taken away again? The other major problem is that people do not know how to utilise the land they have, as traditional farming methods are often inefficient.

Dealing with just one of these problems is not enough.

This is why BMS is supporting the Ugandan Christian Lawyers’ Fraternity (UCLF) and Alex and his team who, by targeting both land security and farming issues, are restoring hope to those who have been dispossessed.

Amos, a paralegal working with UCLF, has helped people like Moses to find out exactly where their land is and to get land security. “People came out of protected camps and went back to their homes,” says Amos. “But they had lost sight of the boundaries of their land, so there are a lot of

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FARMING GOD’S WAY

This is where Alex and his team come in. They teach people to honour God in the way that they farm by using a system of cheap, natural farming techniques that enable them to increase their yield by up to threefold. Using traditional Ugandan methods but tweaking them to make them much more efficient, the team help farmers to get the most out of their fields whilst also protecting them. With his land returned to him, Henry received training from Alex. “Before the training I was using farming techniques passed down through my family,” says Henry.

“I was broadcasting seed and not using manure. Thanks to the training, the volume of crops from my fields increased, and I can get more produce from a smaller area.”

Moses has seen his life transformed through the work of UCLF and the agricultural training, and he has come a long way from the IDP camp of his youth. He doesn’t feel hopeless anymore. “Land is the source of survival,” he says, “you grow your crops, you farm your animals, and you survive, even though you haven’t gone to school.”

By restoring land and independence to Moses, Henry and others like them in Gulu, UCLF and Alex’s team are bringing God’s love and justice to those whose lives have been shaped by violence and oppression. All this is done by building relationships, letting people know their legal rights and teaching them to look after their land as God calls us to. “It is our responsibility to guard and protect this environment, this land,” says Alex.

“It’s not our land. Yes, we might have a legal title to it, but, in a thousand years’ time, whose land is it? It remains God’s land.” *Names have been changed

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© Obinna Anyadike-IRIN

wrangles. In Gulu I help to educate people about land rights.”

Amos also mediates land disputes and enables people to get legal title.

Henry*, a beneficiary of the work of UCLF who, like Moses, was forced off his land for years during the fighting, says: “After the war I came back to my land and someone else was using it.

I didn’t think that I could do anything, but thanks to the training from UCLF I was able to get my land back.”

Armed with land, Moses, Henry and thousands like them face their second great challenge – making something from it.

Ugandan soldiers fought the LRA for years

Joseph Kony’s LRA Kony was born in the early 1960s in northern Uganda, and he has waged war in central Africa for over two decades. Kony leads the LRA and was heavily influenced by the Holy Spirit Movement, a group representing the interests of the Acholi people of northern Uganda in the 1980s. The LRA has become a deadly terrorist organisation adopting brutal methods including rape, child soldiers and mutilations.

Having committed atrocities in Uganda throughout the war, the LRA has now spread to neighbouring countries – displacing, abducting and killing people in D R Congo, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

Kony is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

LRA in northern Uganda: Key Statistics • 100,000 killed between 1986 and 2007 • 30,000 children abducted from 1988 to 2004 • 66,000 people aged between 14 and 30 abducted from the mid-1990s to 2006 • Approximately 1,700,000 internally displaced from 1986 to 2007 Sources: BBC; Resolve LRA Crisis Initiative

The future of mission?

“I believe that in the future legal mission will be seen as being just as important as education and health mission are seen today,” says Andrew North, Regional Team Leader for sub-Saharan Africa.

“In countries where people have legal rights, legal voice allows them freedom and justice.”

SUNRISE, WESTERN UGANDA. He is risen. Those three words inform and inspire everything BMS World Mission does. The fact that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead means hope for every human being. It means that death has been conquered.

These words inspire BMS work in Western Uganda, near to where this photograph was taken, where we are helping a Ugandan church share the truth and hope of Christ with its neighbours in an innovative way. Solar power is providing light for school children and power to recharge mobiles: physical light and electricity empowering people to be educated, to improve their lives and to witness to the light and power of God. A lack of electricity makes the daily struggle for those who live in Kahokya – a remote village in the foothills of the Rwenzori Mountains in Kasese District – far more challenging.

“Children return from school after sunset and struggle to do their homework with kerosene lamps which are expensive, dim, unhealthy and dangerous – or don’t do their homework at all for lack of lighting,” says BMS World Mission worker in Uganda, Gareth Shrubsole.

But now things are different. Utilising solar power, the church is providing two lit rooms six evenings a week, enabling students to study after dark, through a project led

by Gareth.

The church is also using the solar-powered electricity to run a phone-charging business, generating funds to keep the project running and to practically benefit the community as a whole. For many, it is a new dawn.

The message of the Resurrection is not just for Easter. It is not simply about agreeing intellectually with a doctrine. It is for every single day we have breath to share the hope we have in Jesus, affecting every aspect of our lives and witness.

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IF A MAN EVER HURT MY SISTER A GLOBAL EPIDEMIC IS AFFECTING ONE SIXTH OF THE POPULATION – WHY MEN NEED TO WAKE UP AND FIGHT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN.

“I

f a man ever hurt my sister, I’d kill him.”

I’ve often heard men say this, with all sincerity – and I think there’s something inside most of us that recoils at the thought of those we love getting hurt. But what about the woman next door who we overhear through the wall crying at night, or the one we see walking down the road wearing sunglasses when it’s raining?

One in three women will be beaten or raped in her lifetime, according to the United Nations Development Fund for Women. That’s over one billion women facing the trauma of abuse, of being made to feel worthless, afraid and utterly alone. In D R Congo, a country with a particularly horrifying rape crisis, 36 women and girls are raped every day. With statistics like these, and with the plain fact being that these rapes are being committed by men, violence against women is simply not a problem that can be shrugged off as a ‘women’s issue’.

Told to us by BMS workers Dug and Deb Benn, Pauline’s is just one of a billion stories:

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By Sarah Stone

“Pauline was woken by the sound of her door being kicked in. Alarmed, she thought it was a thief until she heard the angry, drunken voice of her estranged husband. He had been abusive for many years before he left her.

She shouted for help as the door to her small Ugandan home gave way and her husband started to attack her with his fists. Valary, Pauline’s ten-yearold daughter, sobbed and clung to her mother as her father grabbed her.

Pauline threw herself at him and, finding inner strength, knocked him to the floor. As he fell the neighbours appeared and grabbed him. After Pauline agreed to pay for their transport, the police came and arrested her husband, and he is not supposed to come to her home again.”

According to local news reports, 60 per cent of women in northern Uganda think domestic violence is not just inevitable, but acceptable.

Perhaps gender-based violence is not regarded as OK in the UK, but you still don’t have to look far to find a woman who has experienced it.

How have we come to the point where one sixth of the population of our world falls victim to violence and it is treated as a ‘niche’ issue?

IT’S NOT A ‘WOMEN’S ISSUE’

ONE IN THREE WOMEN WILL BE BEATEN OR RAPED IN HER LIFETIME This year the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) met for their 57th session and prioritised genderbased violence. We Will Speak Out (a coalition fighting gender- based violence against women, of which BMS World Mission is a founding member), was present at the conference, speaking for Christians concerned with the statistics. The conference emphasised that ending violence against women and girls is not optional, but essential in order to achieve sustainable development, peace and security, human rights and economic growth.

BMS is committed to restoring freedom to the victims of genderbased violence – from rescuing women trafficked into the sex industry in Thailand, to advocating on behalf of women and girls vulnerable to abuse in Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Nepal, BMS works daily with some of those affected.

But, when staggering numbers of women experience abuse, everyone needs to take responsibility. In a world where no woman is safe from violence, men need to take the initiative to stand up and say no, to realise that the issue is close and to raise their voices to see it end.

IT’S A JUSTICE ISSUE

WHY VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IS A MEN’S ISSUE Four UK men speak out about the worldwide scandal of violence against women Carl Beech, General Director of Christian Vision for Men “Violence against women is a male perpetrated crime – and so it is men’s problem. We all saw on the news in December the violent gang rape in India that resulted in the victim’s death; but what men don’t realise is that a woman is raped every 22 minutes in India. We, at Restored*, support something called First Man Standing – we are calling men to stand up and challenge violent behaviour, to use their testosterone for good not ill and to dare to use their strength to protect the weak.”

Steve Chalke, founder of the Oasis Trust “Violence against women is a huge issue, as you will see if you walk into any hospital in the country on a Friday night. The problem is it goes mostly unnoticed.

It’s about raising awareness and also about education.

What are we teaching our children about respect for others?

About respect for themselves? And about making good decisions? If we want someone to get a GCSE in maths we don’t just sit them in an exam, we design a syllabus and teach them. So much emphasis is put on curriculum, where is the emphasis on character development? If we want boys to grow into better men, we have to intentionally invest in that.”

Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford “The Church needs to adopt a healthy outrage that this goes on. It certainly needs to up its game – there are too many examples in all kinds of areas where, we know to our shame, there have been times when the Church has sought to cover it up, to excuse it, to hide it away. There needs to be a kind of forensic scrutiny and honesty about the fact we’ve failed. We need to face the reality that this does happen in the church.

And I think only when we can be seen to be putting our own house in order will we have the moral capital to start speaking to others.”

Nigel Freeman, author of Rape: it’s not a woman’s issue** “Gender-specific problems do exist, but rape is not one of them. By definition, men are essential to its perpetration and so they must be key to its eradication. That so few men see their responsibility in this compounds the evil.

‘We will justify our unrighteousness; we will please ourselves at others’ expense. It’s the woman’s fault’, said Adam. ‘She asked for it’, says the rapist. When will men grow up and stand up?

This ‘women’s issue’ is too big and pervasive for only half the population to deal with it – all of us must engage if we are to see change.” *Restored is an international Christian alliance working to transform relationships and end violence against women. **Rape: it’s not a woman’s issue can be downloaded for 99p on Amazon.

WINTER 2012/13 SUMMER 2013| |ENGAGE ENGAGE

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BMS WORKER PROFILE Christine Holder

THE DAY MY DAUGHTER

NEARLY DIED

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he feeling of being powerless to help my own child is one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through. It was just before Christmas 2011, and my husband Geoff, our son Isaac (almost three), our daughter Naomi (18 months) and I were looking forward to our first holiday in Mozambique. We had been living in Beira, Mozambique, for just over six months and had spent lot of this time in language school learning Portuguese.

Naomi was always quite a crying baby, so when she cried a bit more than usual that night we kind of just ignored it because she could be a bit like that. In the morning we saw the small, red bite on her leg. To this day we don’t know what bit her.

The bite, which looked like a mosquito bite, got bigger over the next day, so I took her to the private health clinic in Beira. My husband reacts to bites so, though I went to the doctor’s, I didn’t think it was too

Cockroaches © somchaisom – fotolia.com

Curled up under a mosquito net with her 18 month old daughter Naomi in the intensive care unit of an unfamiliar clinic in Mozambique was not how Christine Holder pictured her Christmas holiday.

serious – not worth panicking about. The doctor gave us some tablets and cream and it all seemed fine; in fact we spent the next day at the beach with Brad and Ruth, BMS workers and friends who had come to stay with us for the holidays. Naomi slept, but not too much more than normal – nothing to worry about. Or so I thought.

But then the next morning the bite had got really bad, Naomi’s whole calf was swollen and the infection had gone all the way round her leg – she couldn’t speak at the time but the crying told us it was getting more painful as it swelled. We went back to the clinic, but they told us “We don’t do paediatrics now.” That was not okay, and I put Naomi on the desk in front of her, my maternal instincts kicking in, and I said: “You are doing paediatrics now.” They called the doctor and he came immediately.

“I don’t know what that is,” the doctor said as he looked at Naomi’s leg, and by now I was starting to panic. The doctor said we needed to go to Beira Central Hospital, and when we got there we just walked straight through the waiting room. I felt bad as there were people sitting there who could have been waiting for days, but at the same time I thought: this is my daughter, this is her leg, this is bad.

The specialist saw Naomi and said, “She needs to be in overnight, she needs to have intravenous antibiotics.”

By this point Geoff and I were getting more and more alarmed and, confronted with two options – to stay at the hospital or to go back to the private clinic – we chose to go back to the clinic.

But when we got back the doctors refused to treat Naomi because we couldn’t give them the 10,000Mzn (£220) cash they wanted up front. We didn’t have it, and we couldn’t withdraw it because of our daily limit. Feeling so out of control, so powerless, was terrible.

You make an assumption that if you have money in Africa you have some level of power, which isn’t a great thing, but it can be useful, and it just wasn’t the case.

People had often said to us: “Going to Africa is a big risk.” I always knew that. I try to play it down quite a lot, but of course it is. I’d comforted myself with the words of a friend: “Hundreds of children are born there every day and live long, good, healthy lives.” But now I was panicking. The infection had travelled up to little Naomi’s knee and down to her foot and the doctor had told us to tell her to sit down and elevate her leg – but try telling a toddler that.

Finally they agreed to treat Naomi – she was moved to the intensive care unit, but there were cockroaches crawling all over it. It was horrible. Naomi was shoved in an adult bed in a strange ward: we were curled up together under the mosquito net, and thankfully she was young enough that snuggling up to mum meant she fell asleep.

I slept a bit too, because I was exhausted from the stress and anxiety. But such comfort came from knowing that,

© Peter Baer

By now I was starting to panic.

all this time, people back home were praying. I got a lot of encouraging messages, and there were prayer requests on the BMS website which got a huge response – just to know we had that support from back home in the UK was really reassuring.

Miraculously, Naomi reacted really well to the treatment.

She was better, praise God. The doctors were amazed at how quickly she healed and I put that down to God’s power. Today, Naomi is normal, happy, and healthy, it all happened to her when she was so young that she’ll never remember it.

The weird thing is, through the whole thing, apart from being a bit sleepy, Naomi was fine. It was us who were worried. And it’s not until afterwards when you look back and reflect that you think, oh, that was a really close call.

Despite all this, I still feel we’re called to be here. Where God places you is where God places you. Geoff and I have never felt that going home is an option, it didn’t even enter our heads to come back to the UK when Naomi got sick – God wants us to be in Mozambique, so that’s where we are.

I’ve had people tell me I’m brave. I don’t think it has anything to do with bravery, it is to do with faith.

There were cockroaches crawling all over the intensive care unit.

SUMMER 2013 | ENGAGE

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© PBJ Management

THE BIG INTERVIEW

AFTER RISING TO PROMINENCE 15 YEARS AGO, SALLY PHILLIPS CONTINUES TO STEAL THE SHOW WITH HER COMEDY CHARACTERS TODAY.

SALLY

PHILLIPS Q You’ll know her as Sophie the giggling receptionist in I’m Alan Partridge, Shazzer in two Bridget Jones films and Tilly in Miranda.

Sally Phillips talks exclusively to Engage magazine about gender roles in comedy, why being a Christian impacts her job and what she’s learnt from her disabled son about God’s Kingdom.

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In your busy lifestyle, do you manage to get along to church?

Church is very important and I go every week if I’m not working. I do often work on Sundays, however, and so am grateful to Paul Powell and his group of comics and Steve Cole and the artisan group for their artists’ churches and support. I’m not in a small group at the moment and need to be.

Did becoming a Christian in 1996 change the way you viewed comedy? Has it affected the roles you have accepted?

I used to write a fair bit from anger, having a character based on, say, that really annoying guy at the supermarket who got in your way, or the woman on the phone who wouldn’t issue you

All photos © Universal Music/Decca Records

Q&A

a new credit card as quickly as you’d like, or the boyfriend who dumped you. I stopped doing that and now use myself for material a lot more. If someone is being laughed at, it is going to be me.

Being a Christian has had more of an impact on the roles I’ve turned down than the ones I’ve taken. If the whole project feels dark or pointlessly mean (morally neutral I’m fine with), I won’t do it. I won’t do witches or cannibals; I’d even find it hard to be in something with a demon in the title.

Are there areas you won’t go in comedy as a Christian?

I get a fair bit of judgment from Christians who feel I shouldn’t have done some of the things I have (swearing as ‘Shazzer’ in Bridget Jones’ Diary, for example). My position on that is that if you were only allowed to play perfect characters you would only be allowed to play Jesus and someone would have a problem with that too, I expect, him being a man and all. People aren’t perfect. My job is to play a person with love, to make love for that person possible.

How has having a son with Down’s Syndrome changed your outlook on life and your relationship with God? Totally – in every respect. It’s been a tremendous journey so far and Olly is only eight. In many ways he has been our Rosetta Stone, our translation device to understanding in a real way the topsy-turvy topology of the Kingdom of God where the rich are poor and the weak are strong and interdependence matters so much and independence so little. He has a strong faith himself and is the very incarnation of joy. I can’t pretend that it has been easy, though. Also having a disabled child and belonging to a church that believes in healing presents constant challenges.

IF SOMEONE IS BEING LAUGHED AT, IT IS GOING TO BE ME.

Comedy once had a reputation like the Church’s for being hostile to women. Can the Church learn anything from the comedy world about equality?

Your average girl comic used to try and do the same kind of jokes and use the same kind of delivery as the guys. If you watch early Jo Brand, her delivery is really male (deeper, fewer high-falls); she’s so much warmer now, she laughs a lot. In my early attempts at stand-up I’m totally trying to be Stewart Lee. Back then, there wasn’t an easy way for women to talk on stage that the audience would accept as comedy – only a few women cracked it. In a generation all that has changed; a few pioneers can have a big impact because our work is broadcast and then repeated endlessly on cable.

Comedy is surely more entertaining for having both sexes involved. Men tend to be better (watch me generalise!) at feedline/punchline comedy; women tend to be better at character observations. Both work better in conjunction with the other. Miranda Hart writes her plots and characters and employs the best gag writers in the land (predominantly male) to provide her with the one-liners. Can this be applied to the question of equality in the church? I have no idea.

We are clearly still some way from a female Archbishop of Canterbury.

What ambitions do you have?

To keep the Brownie Guide Law, learn the banjolele and to speak Swedish, to study clown with Angela de Castro, to make another film and write a book and be mum for my friend Erica when she has her baby and do something else with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and work with Down’s Syndrome children in Latin America and do the Moonwalk and invite some non-Christians along to our church plant in Barnes and learn the gospel of Luke and give up comedy and become a poet or a priest or do a PhD and see the Northern Lights and take that train across Canada and get a dog and take up running and knitting and teach the kids everything I ever learnt that meant anything and get really good at making birthday cakes. You know, the usual stuff.

BMS often tells people that anyone, with any skill, in any context, can be used by God – do you think that is true?

Of course. I just discovered that there is an organisation called Clowns Without Borders. Clowns parachuted into war zones to cheer up the afflicted. Just like doctors but with jokes. If I ever graduate from clown school I’m signing up.

Sally Phillips was talking to Andrew Dubock

Catch Sally guesting as the Finnish Prime Minister in Series 2 of Veep, which is scheduled for UK broadcast this summer.

SUMMER 2013 | ENGAGE

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DEVOTE YOURSELVES TO PRAYER, BEING WATCHFUL AND THANKFUL (COLOSSIANS 4:2) We would encourage you to photocopy this page, or to cut out the sections and use in your regular prayer times.

PLACES: MOZAMBIQUE Mozambique is a beautiful land, full of contrast. Its people are warm and friendly, dubbing it the ‘land of smiles’. It is also one of the poorest countries in the world, ranked 184 out of 187 countries on the Human Development Index. In 2012 vast areas of Mozambique suffered from some of the worst flooding in its history.

Working with partners, BMS supports relief work, education and development projects. Many vulnerable Mozambicans will be able to access the justice system for the first timethrough the work of the Association of Mozambican Christian Lawyers (AMAC) we have recently helped to establish.

PRAY FOR: • The people of Mozambique, many of whom live in poverty.

• Christine and Geoff Holder, BMS mission workers involved with community and education development projects in the town of Beira.

• Annet Ttendo, a BMS lawyer from Uganda, as she works with AMAC. Pray too for wisdom, patience and guidance for AMAC in these early days.

PROJECTS: Mission Innovation Fund BMS is always seeking to find new ways to share life in all its fullness with a world in need. In 2011 the Mission Innovation Fund was established to enable innovative mission opportunities to be appropriately resourced. So far over 20 projects have received funding to make Christ known through new ventures in new ways to new people.

So far, projects have included funding a ‘PlayStation bus’ in Lebanon to reach out to Syrian teenage refugees and an exciting training programme for Christian leaders in former Soviet Russia. These projects, though unconventional, are transforming lives in modern ways.

PRAY FOR: • Inspiration for BMS workers for creative opportunities for outreach.

• The ongoing work of Russian Ministries as it continues to disciple believers in Central Asia through its School Without Walls programme.

• The media outreach of the Arab Baptist Theological School and Gateway Christian bookshop in Beirut.

PEOPLE: New mission workers This year, BMS is sending thirteen new mission workers overseas. Kathy Russell, Damien Miller and Tim and Rachel Eagle will be based in Mozambique. Kathy and Damien will be working in justice ministries while Tim and Rachel will be involved with development and health work. Andy and Jenny Saunders are going to Nepal to work with the Baptist College and local churches. Linda and Tim Darby will be based in northern Uganda. Linda is a lawyer and Tim is a water engineer.

David and Claire-Lise Judkins have recently gone to France to plant churches and Irene will be working in palliative care in Tunisia. Andrew and Gwen Millns are already in Bangladesh with a view to working with the Baptist Union and training pastors.

Get regular prayer points and resources from BMS at bmsworldmission.org/prayer

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FOR ALL OUR NEW MISSION WORKERS,

PLEASE PRAY FOR: • Learning a new language.

• Adapting to new cultures and surroundings.

• Patience and wisdom in forming relationships.

Aidan Melville is sub-editor for the BMS Prayer Guide

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YOUR CHURCH

A SOLDIER’S

© Oleg Zabielin–Fotolia.com

STUFF FOR

Tribute The Word

Recent tributes to a soldier killed in action spoke of a man who had “courage, professionalism and devotion to comrades”. We are also soldiers, but in a spiritual battle, taking a stand against the devil’s schemes. There is much we can learn from this soldier’s life. At the end of our life, will our tribute be that we demonstrated the qualities that represent the kingdom of God?

“Brave” The enemy has the means to steal, kill and destroy, but as children of God we have the means to defeat him. He has given us all the armour and weaponry we need. Our job is to put it on, be spiritually alert, fighting fit and ready for battle. We can be brave by remembering that we are strong in the Lord’s mighty power.

“A pleasure to have served alongside him” We are not alone, but part of a family, a Church. With Jesus as our example, and the command to love others, we can encourage each other to be “a great friend to many”, to “lift the morale of all around”, and to “offer a helping hand to those in need”.

“A loving and loyal man” The battle is not just a place for brute strength, but for ultimate love. The tribute to “an awesome soldier who has paid the ultimate sacrifice doing a job he loved” emphasises the price Jesus paid for our salvation and the risk we all take in our mission of making disciples.

Extracts are taken from the tributes paid to Lance Corporal Jamie Webb, of 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Cheshire), who died in Afghanistan on 26 March 2013.

Verse Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Ephesians 6: 13

Prayer Mighty God, thank you for the rock of Christ, for my armour, for the comfort of fellow disciples and warriors, and for your power and protection.

Help me to be spiritually alert, to put on my armour every day, to be a loving person and to stand firm.

Amen.

Andrew North BMS Regional Team Leader for Africa

WHY I CHANGED MY MIND

ABOUT CHINA WHY AFRICA MAY BE GOOD FOR CHINA IN UNEXPECTED WAYS.

C

hina is all over Africa. I see it in Congo and Angola when I visit there to meet with partners and workers.

I see signs in Mozambique, in Zimbabwe – all over the beautiful continent, the people BMS World Mission works with are feeling the impact of China on African life.

China is building roads, schools and infrastructure in Africa, but there are those who are concerned that the deal China is offering African people is no better than the one they were given by the West over the last few centuries. Along with those schools and roads, China is also engaged in mining, in extracting minerals from Africa, as well as making trade deals for Chinese goods, importing Chinese labour.

I confess I am unsure of what Chinese intentions are in Africa, but on a recent visit to China as part of a delegation from BMS, I had my first taste of Chinese culture.

That gave me more hope: not just for the future of Africa, but for the future of mission.

In my brief time in China, what struck most was how similar some aspects of the culture were to what I have experienced over the last few decades in Africa.

The importance of formal respect and deference, the sense of meeting a proud culture and the lengths people go to in avoiding public shame all felt very familiar.

These cultural similarities may not affect the deal Africa gets for its natural wealth, it’s true. But to me they suggest great potential in building relationships between often very Christian communities and the Chinese workers who find themselves interacting with them. Who can tell how the Holy Spirit might use that situation as those workers return home to China?

I don’t know whether China will be good for Africa in the long term. But Africa may end up being very good for China, in ways it never expected.

PROUD CULTURES, AVERSE TO PUBLIC SHAME

SUMMER 2013 | ENGAGE

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STUFF FOR

© Sam D’Cruz - Fotolia.com

YOUR CHURCH

SERVANT-HEARTED

MISSION

YOU MAY BE GOING TO SHARE A SKILL OR TRAIN IN LEADERSHIP, BUT HUMILITY AND A SERVANT-HEART ARE ESSENTIAL AS YOU WORK UNDER LOCAL LEADERS OVERSEAS. Mission is many things. It is exciting, it is rewarding, it is fun and it is often deeply moving. But it is not the vocation for someone whose priority is comfort or being able to push people around. The image of the pith-helmeted missionary going out into the jungle and telling the locals how to do things is, thankfully, a thing of the past.

Today, mission is ideally all about partnership and serving under local leaders. When BMS sends people to a country, they do so in response to the needs of the local church there, having consulted with them as to what kind of people and skills they need most. When they get there, BMS workers must fit in with local customs, submit to local leaders and aim to behave with utmost respect towards the local community in which they have been placed.

With servant-hearts, even BMS workers who have been placed in positions of training and leadership help to achieve the goals and work within the parameters set by Christians who have lived in the community all their lives and will have to live there when our workers are gone. The unique skills and profound passion our workers bring is made more useful as it is guided by people who understand the culture and context better than we ever could.

A sustainable, humble, integrated approach helps BMS truly partner with the world Church in making Jesus known and sharing his love and compassion in the most effective way possible.

As the two examples you’re about to read from Nepal and China show, it’s a way of working that is a privilege for our current workers and anyone who may want to serve with us in the future.

SERVING GRACIOUSLY: CHINA Our work in China involves a partnership based on BMS World Mission’s long-standing relationship with the medical school where we are teaching English. People have said we are “standing on the shoulders of giants” and we are very conscious of the heritage of the great men and women of God who established the work here.

It is amazing to see how God has preserved this work through the last century. Being culturally sensitive has been the main challenge of our first term. We have had to learn to put aside our own preferences and, instead, try to appreciate the local customs.

After so many difficult years, many Chinese people see wealth as the solution to their problems, and Chinese society is becoming increasingly materialistic and status-conscious.

Our hope is that by living servant-hearted lives, we can show something of Jesus’ humility and grace. Conspicuous outreach is ill-advised in China which makes this servanthearted approach to mission more crucial if our partnership is to be sustainable.

We are so appreciative of the training we received at IMC before coming to China, and of the pastoral support we have received since from BMS and Church Partner groups and other faithful supporters. We have been upheld and encouraged.

David and Jenny Mewes, BMS workers in China.

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SERVANT DOCTOR: NEPAL

CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES BMS is looking for people who are willing to work in the most marginalised and least evangelised parts of the world, sharing the good news of God’s Kingdom in the name of Jesus.

Whether for three months or for a lifetime, we at BMS are always looking for people to join us in mission service.

Katrina teaching first-aid to first-aid trainers

I have been working in Patan hospital for the last 10 years, initially just as a clinical doctor and then over time, as the local faculty have come to know and trust me, I have been given increasing responsibility in the development and running of our new medical school.

The Nepali hospital leadership in Patan have a clear vision of what they want to achieve – competent, compassionate doctors, committed to serve their own people in rural Nepal. Even though the leaders are Hindu or Muslim, this is a vision that as a Christian I wholeheartedly support. The agenda is theirs, not mine – or perhaps it is actually godly and we are all servants!

This means that we work together well, and hopefully the changes and plans will be sustainable after I have left.

I believe it is important for mission work to first listen to what the people here actually want. Many times God has already been at work in a place long before we arrived, and he brings us into a situation where we can contribute or be a catalyst. Usually God has also been preparing us as well, so that we are able to work with him. Mission work, it seems to me, is rarely arriving with a fixed idea and implementing it. It takes time to understand, and flexibility to see where God is really calling us to work. It also requires some humility and a willingness to let others take the credit for what is happening.

BMS supports me in this approach by listening to my experiences here in Nepal. BMS does keep track of what is happening and I would discuss any major changes with them, but they also allow me to be flexible to respond to the needs I identify by living here.

Katrina Butterworth is a BMS medical worker in Nepal.

Key roles we are currently recruiting for service are: Entrepreneurs, company directors or business leaders for a business as mission enterprise in South Asia.

Teachers and teacher trainers for Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Albania, Nepal, Bangladesh and Lebanon.

Ministers, theologians and church planters for Thailand, Albania and Guinea.

TEFL/English teachers for China, Tunisia, Guinea and Afghanistan Development workers and project managers for Afghanistan, Tunisia, Bangladesh and Guinea.

Doctors and medical professionals for Chad, Afghanistan, Tunisia, Bangladesh, Nepal and Lebanon.

When people hear that we are committed to being here long-term, it feels like we are already a step closer to building relationships. Relationships which we hope will have a deep and lasting impact for us and all the Kingdom of God. Joe and Lois Ovenden, long-term mission workers in Zimbabwe.

Feel nudged by God to serve overseas?

Find out more about our mission opportunities at

bmsworldmission.org/opportunities

SUMMER 2013 | ENGAGE

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IDEAS FOR STUFF FOR

YOUR CHURCH

YOUR CHURCH ALL-AGE ACTIVITY

Hungry Quiz:

? t a h w t a e y e Th © Yuri Arcurs - Fotolia.com

An all-age quiz to illustrate that, while we may turn our noses up at other countries’ foods, a lot of people are dying for something to eat.

Time: 10 minutes

You will need: BMS PowerPoint quiz – They eat what? which can be found on the Hungry DVD or downloaded from bmsworldmission.org/hungry The aim of this quiz is to laugh at the crazy things people eat around the world, and then to reflect on the fact that there are many people who would do anything for one of these meals.

Divide the congregation in half and play the quiz by getting each team to shout out the answer they think is correct as you go through the slides reading the descriptions of the food. While these foods may seem disgusting to us, they are considered luxuries in other parts of the world.

Introduce the quiz by commenting on something you have eaten recently that you thought was a bit strange – then say that it was not weird at all compared with what some people in the world are eating.

To close, a few words should be said about how blessed we are to have enough food to eat each day. Finish by praying for BMS projects around the world that are working with those who are hungry.

FUNDRAISING Cycling challenge of a lifetime

Hill Street Baptist Church

RideLondon-Surrey 100

By Alan Donaldson, General Director, Baptist Union of Scotland Doing a sponsored run, walk or bike ride is a great way to get fit and raise money for BMS World Mission.

General Director of the Baptist Union of Scotland Alan Donaldson is getting on his bike for BMS in August as he takes part in RideLondon-Surrey 100, a 100 mile route that was part of the Olympic Road Race last year.

To sponsor Alan go to virginmoneygiving.com/alandonaldson for details – thank you!

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Congratulations and thanks to Hill Street Baptist Church, Swadlincote, for putting on the show ‘Jack, the Beanstalk and the Save the Cow Campaign’, raising over £650 for BMS World Mission and Comic Relief.

MEET A… BMS SPEAKER

Ashley Townsend His background Ashley has previously served on a BMS Action Team, going to Santos in Brazil in 2009. Prior to this he had trained as a carpenter and he took up carpentry again as a self-employed trade on his return to the UK. He then joined the BMS Speaker Team in 2010. As with all the volunteers in the BMS speaking team, he’s able to travel up to about an hour and a half from his base in Thaxted, Essex.

Anchored by prayer Thank you to all the churches and individuals who joined in praying with us for this year’s BMS Day of Prayer. Many churches used the all-age prayer PowerPoint in their Sunday service while others arranged special times of prayer or distributed the materials for individuals to pray personally. One church organised the Day of Prayer as a web event with links and downloads to BMS material.

Special thanks to the members of Mexborough Baptist Church and Community Centre who shared with us that on the Sunday afternoon they held a prayer meeting and attached prayer requests to balloon shapes cut out of card and attached with string. The balloons represented the places BMS is working in and reminded them it is important to anchor the people and places with prayers.

BMS Speakers If you’d like Ashley, or indeed any BMS Speaker to come to your church to bring you up to date in all things BMS, then please do complete a speaker request form and send it into the Church Relations Team.

You can access the online form or download a form and print it off: bmsworldmission.org/speakers. You can also call the Church Relations Team on 01235 517600.

Undefeated in your church Remember the summer thrills of the 2012 Paralympics? Watching goalball and handcycling?

What became of Undefeated athlete Leon Gaysli who was part of Haiti’s first Paralympic team? What difference did the Undefeated campaign make to inclusion in Haiti?

Leon has since met President Martelly of Haiti and Richard Branson. He is now managing a sports centre in Cap Haitien.

More importantly the stigma associated with disability in Haiti is being challenged following a new bill of disability rights.

So what about inclusivity in UK churches? Has our welcome improved towards disabled people? Order your free DVD copy of Undefeated to use the Undefeated welcome checklist from bmsworldmission.org/undefeated or call 01235 517617.

At BMS we consider prayer vital to our work.

There are lots of resources available to help you and your church pray in an informed and meaningful way throughout the year.

Check out the Worldwide prayer CD. This is sent four times a year and features interviews with BMS mission workers and photographs for use in presentations. To receive it regularly please visit bmsworldmission.org/worldwide You can also get weekly prayer requests from BMS on our website and also by following us on Facebook. From time to time we call on churches to join us in praying for a specific country or situation. Please look out for Project Cyrus for more information.

Please also remember next year’s Day of Prayer which will be on Monday 3 February 2014.

bmsworldmission.org/prayer

SUMMER 2013 | ENGAGE

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Arts

REVIEWS

Cross Roads

Gravity

Commission Stories

Les Misérables

WM. Paul Young

Lecrae

Book

Album

commissionstories.com/ photos

Reach Records

International Mission Board

Universal Pictures

Rating:

Rating:

Rating:

Lecrae is a Christian rapper.

But don’t stop reading just yet – he’s different. He’s good. Really good. Topping the US rap charts good. And with Gravity, he just got even better.

His sixth album is his most accomplished yet and brings slicker production (try the excellent title track); some superb guest vocalists, including Mathai on Free from it all and BIG K.R.I.T on the standout Mayday; and some of the best bars we’ve ever heard from Lecrae, best heard on the fast paced intro, The Drop.

Lyrically, we see Lecrae trying to reach an unchurched audience more so than ever before, making this album a hit with the fringe of your youth group. This move will come at a cost to Lecrae’s evangelical fan base. His message, whilst by no means compromised, is certainly contextualised; you’ll find less scripture in his lyrics than earlier works and the themes will taste like milk to many in the pew.

But we’ve got more than enough Kirk Franklins spitting to the saved. With Gravity, Lecrae is bringing the gospel into the gangsta rap culture with humility, conviction and a trunk full of talent.

In an age where smartphones think they’re IMAX cameras there’s the mistaken assumption that everyone is taking good photos. Look at the promotional material produced by some charities and it quickly becomes clear this is not the case. Good photography, like good writing, takes time and talent.

Commission Stories is a collection of stories and photo essays connected with the work of IMB (International Mission Board).

Sure, the stories are interesting but as a photographer it’s a pleasure to see photojournalism at its finest, especially when it covers the work of God through mission. The site showcases the camera skills of a broad range of gifted Christian photographers spread out across the world, each managing to find inspiration in the profound experiences around them. Whether documenting the recovery of civil war victims in Sierra Leone, following doctors in Central Asia, or covering student rallies in America, the quality of the photos feels like a scan through a Reuters or Getty Images contact sheet.

Photojournalism presents a perennial problem – how to help ease the suffering of those being photographed? Normally there’s just a bitter acceptance of the status quo but Commission Stories offers a genuine sense of the lifechanging possibilities of mission.

Beautifully filmed with stunning vocal performances, Les Misérables captivates as it tells the story of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman). Set in early 19th century France, Les Mis opens with Valjean imprisoned, and plays out his life as he seeks to do good while being forever hunted by police official Javert (Russell Crowe).

The theme of grace is central to the plot as Valjean is given an undeserved lifeline by the Bishop. But, while this grace enables Valjean to live, when extended to Javert, a representative of the law, Javert commits suicide – his death powerfully portraying the futility of striving through life without forgiveness.

Recorded live on set, the star-studded cast do not always give flawless performances, but this only serves to give the production a rawness which heightens the emotion of a storyline filled with suffering.

Anne Hathaway’s rendition of I dreamed a dream is harrowing, Crowe’s suicide song brutal, and, thankfully, some light relief is added by the well-timed performances of Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen.

Colourful, absorbing, and forcefully portrayed, Les Mis is definitely worth a watch – and, as Christians, it is never a bad thing to be reminded, once again, of the goodness of grace.

ISBN: 978-1444745979

Hodder & Stoughton, £17.99 (Hardcover)

Rating: Cross Roads is written by the author of The Shack, and, to be honest, if you’ve read that book then that basically negates the need for this review. The story centres around Tony who has an experience with the persons of the Trinity, expressed in bodily form, that changes him forever – sound familiar?

If you enjoyed The Shack then you will probably enjoy Cross Roads and vice versa.

What about if you haven’t read The Shack though? Well, I would say that if your personality tends towards the cynical then this probably isn’t the book for you. It is neither high literature nor does it contain deep theology.

However, if you are looking for a story that is easy to read and along the way raises some interesting questions, particularly regarding healing and loss (as Tony is given the gift of choosing one person to physically heal), then, like me, you may find this book both enjoyable and moving.

It is also a book that, like The Shack, I would consider lending to friends who are exploring faith issues – though with appropriate consideration due to the sensitive nature of some of the themes explored.

Review by Sarah Lewney who works for a Christian charity

Review by Ben Drabble, Short-term Programmers Organiser at BMS World Mission

Director:

Tom Hooper

DVD

Review by Alex Baker, a photographer for alexbakerphotography.com

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bmsworldmission.org

Review by Sarah Stone, Writer at BMS World Mission

5

Arts

Five minutes with...

JOHN

ARCHER

HE’S BAFFLED AUDIENCES AROUND THE WORLD AND EVEN FOOLED PENN AND TELLER. COMEDY MAGICIAN

JOHN ARCHER REVEALS THE TRUTH ABOUT THE MAGIC CIRCLE AND HOW HE’S BEST MATES WITH TIM VINE. What is the secret of being a good magician?

We need to entertain people with mystery. Even if it’s not fun, it needs to be engaging. I don’t mind watching a serious magician if I’m enthralled and amazed, and taken in and taken on a journey.

Do you have a favourite trick?

I enjoy my blindfold routine – it’s baffling and involves five people in making the trick work. People jump to the conclusion that there’s a stooge involved but I’ve never ever used a stooge in a trick.

How do you recover when tricks go wrong?

A lot of what I do is at the whim of people helping, although I’m fallible too. Usually I just admit I’ve gone wrong and move on. My character is not confident or slick, so people think that’s just part of the act!

What’s The Magic Circle actually like?

People have weird views of what they think it’s like. The truth is we’re just a group of big kids sharing secrets with each other. Some people think it’s quite dark and masonic with secret rituals but there is none of that.

How did you become friends with Tim Vine?

We met at Spring Harvest in 1994 when we were both on the arts team. I was still a police officer at the time and he’d just gone full-time as a stand-up comic. If Tim ever tours he usually asks me to support him and we pitch TV projects together.

What were Penn and Teller like?

I won a trip to Vegas through the ITV show, Penn and Teller – Fool Us. I didn’t get to know the pair really well but it was amazing to perform in their own massive purpose-built

theatre. There were 1,500 Americans watching, all of whom loved magic: a perfect audience.

What does your faith in God mean to you?

It’s a relationship that makes sense to me. I can’t imagine living without God in my life. The good thing about being on the road is having lots of time in a car on my own so I probably have more time to pray to God now than I ever did before.

How do you respond to people who say a Christian shouldn’t be doing magic?

I know everything I do is purely natural; there is no demonic stuff going on. I also know that what the Bible is condemning is not conjuring or trickery for entertainment, it is evil practices.

Daniel was chief of all magicians in Nebuchadnezzar’s court and he was walking closely with God, and Jesus was visited by Magi who were effectively magicians.

And what about being a Christian comedian?

Christian audiences can be hung up about so many things like sex or alcohol. They either feel they shouldn’t laugh at it or have a genuine issue with it. If I keep pulling away from ‘that line’ then it keeps going further away from me and other Christian comedians, and what happens is we get bland and ineffective. I don’t want to be seen as a woolly-jumpered, soft, gentle, sandal-wearing Christian comic, but rather someone who is real.

John Archer was talking to Andrew Dubock

Go to John’s website at www.john-archer.com and see him in action at http://bit.ly/archini

SUMMER 2013 | ENGAGE

29

OVERSEAS PARTNER

Manuel Wafumbua

HOPE FOR ANGOLA’S YOUTH AN OVERSEAS WORKER SUPPORTED BY A BMS GRANT IS GIVING NEEDY CHILDREN A SAFE PLACE TO DEVELOP THEIR SKILLS AND LEARN ABOUT THE LOVE OF JESUS.

A

ngola is a young country that is still recovering from decades of civil war where there was no sanitation, health care or education.

Through the pre-school education programme (PEPE) in the country, over 6,000 children have learned literacy and numeracy, basic hygiene skills and the love of Jesus. It is a safe place where children can come to have a nutritious meal and to be encouraged in life.

Manuel Wafumbua started working with PEPE in Angola when it began in2005. “I found something that filled my life,” says Manuel, “It was sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and teaching reading and writing skills to four and five year olds.”

Over the years Manuel has committed himself to the vision of PEPEs by working as an area co-ordinator in Luanda and

eventually taking over the role as national co-ordinator from BMS worker Lynne Brown in 2011.

“The role has many challenges,” he says, “but God is faithful. We will keep trusting him and counting on the prayers of others for all the areas of need in PEPE.” Because of the work of Manuel and the outstanding reputation that PEPE has for preparing children, national schools are now excited to welcome these low income children into their schools, who otherwise would not be given that opportunity.

The PEPE programme is transforming lives. After all, says Manuel, “teaching children to know Jesus and the skills they need in education is in God’s heart.”

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To find out more, call 0845 070 2223, quoting BMS13, or visit www.baptist-insurance.co.uk

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bmsworldmission.org

FROM THE

Nabil K Costa

ARCHIVES

Lebanese Baptist leader

150 YEARS AGO 1863

TRIALS OF

ACCEPTANCE

INCLUSION IS A FUNDAMENTAL

CHILD’S RIGHT EXCITING TIMES FOR SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION IN LEBANON.

I

The people of Central Africa are no strangers to horrific treatment and persecution, be it based on race or religion.

The persecution of Christians is nothing new. Throughout history, countless people have become targets for oppression because of their faith: from the rich to the poor, the free to the slave.

“W

e are surrounded by two classes of people – the free and the slave. The slaves far outnumber the free and are always ready to resent an outrage, an instance of which took place last Monday. A freeman took up an axe and cut a deep gash in a slave’s shoulder. The slaves immediately took up arms and spread desolation around the offender’s dwelling by destroying his houses and cutting down all his plantain trees.

“A few months later a slave by the name of Long Yamsey, after giving evidence of a change of heart, was baptised and admitted a member of the Church. His master went to Yamsey’s hut at midnight that night, took him away to a canoe and after

securing the poor fellow, returned to the slave’s house and plundered it of all the little contents that the man had procured by labouring for him.

When the master had done this, he took the man away to the country and sold him to pay a debt.

“If he is to be brought back again we shall have to ask the Church for the money to purchase his redemption.

Each of the Chiefs signed a treaty with the late Consul that every person shall have freedom of worship. But that, like other papers, is almost invalid. We have to fall back upon ourselves, or rather, upon God.” This is an extract from an article written

by BMS worker Rev R Smith, which first appeared in Missionary Herald, December 1863 (p184).

n an earlier issue I had shared about the felt and identified need that led us as the Lebanese Baptist Society (LSESD) to establish SKILD Centre for Smart Kids with Individual Learning Differences in March 2011. Almost two years later, Lebanon just celebrated the National Day for Students with Learning Difficulties (April 22).

Children with special needs participated in the day’s events through drama and poetry voicing their right to education. The event itself was accompanied throughout the week by seminars in various parts of the country led by specialists in the field.

Though an important step forward, the National Day is not an end in itself!

To maintain momentum, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with our two partners – the Ministry of Education and the British Council – outlining steps forward that include raising awareness at the national level, training and capacity building, and working on the legislature for the inclusion of students with learning difficulties in private and public schools.

Even though Lebanon adopted and signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, still children with learning difficulties have yet to receive appropriate attention from the relevant government bodies. They are worth every effort made to give them the future that God intended for them.

CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DIFFICULTIES HAVE YET TO RECEIVE APPROPRIATE ATTENTION.

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.

SUMMER 2013 | ENGAGE

31

I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.

Matthew 25: 35

Find out more about our latest harvest resource at

bmsworldmission.org/hungry 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.