ENGAGE - summer 2012

SUMMER

2012

5 mins with

MATT REDMAN On getting muddy and forgetting his words

AFRICA’S FASTEST WOMAN Blessing Okagbare is on her marks for London 2012

NOT HUMAN GARBAGE Hope and dignity for Burmese refugees

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

HIGHLIGHTS

Engage

Andrew Dubock

WELCOME Yes, this is still Engage magazine!

Changed a bit, hasn’t it?

People don’t always adapt well to change – including yours truly (I’m a self-professed ‘man of routine’). I believe, though, that this is a move in the right direction for a magazine that’s been around, under different guises, for nearly 200 years. No pressure there then…

So, what’s new? We’re broadening our content and continuing to share fresh perspectives on BMS work. There’s a good mix of longer articles, plus pages you can easily dip into and browse.

We’re rather thrilled too by the refreshed design – and the return to A4 format.

We hope that this new-look magazine will help you engage with BMS in new ways, and that you will be challenged by what you read and come back for more. Enjoy!

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A MATTER OF JUSTICE

THE BIG INTERVIEW: BLESSING OKAGBARE

From Paralympic athletes to Nepali shopkeepers, discover how attitudes are changing towards disability.

We catch up with Africa’s fastest woman and Olympic long jump bronze medallist.

14 A MOMENT IN TIME

The Arab Spring has brought about exciting new opportunities for believers in Tunisia – from refugee aid to new long-term projects.

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FOR THE LEAST OF THESE

BMS World Mission PO Box 49, 129 Broadway, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 8XA

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Refugees on the ThaiBurma border have food, shelter and new hope through the work of a BMS partner.

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SWITCHFOOT: MIXING ROCK AND MISSION The grammy-award winning Christian band talks to BMS about redemption, storytelling and crazy uncles.

Tel: 01235 517700 Email (general): mail@bmsworldmission.org Email (editorial): magazine@bmsworldmission.org Website: www.bmsworldmission.org General director: David Kerrigan Managing editor: Jan Webb Editor: Andrew Dubock Regular contributors: Sally Buchan, Fiona Castle OBE, Nabil K Costa, Andrew Dubock, David Kerrigan, Katherine Mannion, Aidan Melville, Bekah Swanson, Jan Webb Guest columnist: David Coffey OBE Design editors: Malky Currie 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 2012 BMS World Mission ISSN 1756-2481 Printed on material from sustainable forests

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5 MINUTES WITH MATT REDMAN The worship music maestro on human trafficking, becoming a father and forgetting the lyrics to one of his best-known songs – in front of 10,000 people.

BMS NEWS /news–blogs

ON FIRE FOR

© Rising voices

CHRIST

“The hottest and most formidable Christian movement in Guinea right now.”

That’s how BMS church planter Simon Wood describes an influential group of 600 young people with whom he’s now working.

Flambeaux Lumières (‘Flaming Torches and Light’) is committed to putting into practice Christ-like values such as courtesy, courage, purity and obedience.

Local groups lead evangelism campaigns such as showing the Jesus film and help out in local communities by visiting nursing homes. Their rural camps also have a dual practical and spiritual focus.

One member, Jeannette (16), says, “Through Lumières I got to know Jesus more and understand how to serve him. I have been transformed!”

NEW

FRONTIERS COMMUNITIES ARE BEING TRANSFORMED AND NEW CHURCHES PLANTED BY A BMS PARTNER IN BANGLADESH.

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old in their witness and passionate in their worship, Baptists in Bangladesh are sharing the gospel with people belonging to the country’s majority religion for the first time in their long history.

The church body is sending mission teams out to a rural area in the north west of the country, supported by a BMS grant

JAPAN: ONE YEAR ON A £17,000 BMS relief grant is helping communities in Japan still struggling to recover from the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which triggered the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Our Baptist partner APBAid is working alongside the Japanese Baptist Union to enable post-tsunami psychosocial recovery to all those affected in the village of Numata.

As well as spiritual support, survivors are learning craft skills to enable them to earn money so they can support their families.

Steve Sanderson, BMS manager for mission projects says, “The Church has been uniquely placed to bring comfort, hope, meaning and a fresh opportunity to live again”.

and with eight BMS supported partner workers as part of the project.

Team members visit small towns and villages and talk to local people about Jesus before leading times of prayer, worship and Bible reading.

Several small housegroups are already established and materials provided by Theological Education by Extension are being used to disciple new Christians.

After seeing the project in action, Margaret Gibbs, BMS’ Regional Team Leader for Asia, said, “It was thrilling to see our partner involved in this outreach. It is a real move of the Spirit and is bringing families and communities together.”

Our partner has historically reached out to Bangladeshis from Hindu or animist tribal backgrounds, but this is the first opportunity to share Christ with those belonging to the majority religion.

Almost 90 per cent of the country’s population follow Islam and just under one in ten of all Muslims worldwide live in Bangladesh.

SUMMER 2012 | ENGAGE

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© Steffan Dobbert

GLOBAL NEWS /news–blogs

ZIMBABWE:

CHURCHES USING 40/40 VISION BAPTIST PRESIDENT CHALLENGES CHRISTIANS TO SET ASIDE A MONTH FOR COMMUNITY EVANGELISM.

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SOUTH SUDAN: FORCED OUT Hundreds of thousands of people have returned to the world’s newest state, the Republic of South Sudan, expecting a better life.

They found instead no home, no schooling, no jobs, inadequate food and the promised plot of land to grow crops on has not materialised.

Many people originating from the mainly Christian, mainly African, South Sudan are being forced out of Sudan, having been stripped of their citizenship.

They had to leave the Islamic and Arab northern country, or opt to be treated as foreigners. An estimated 500,000 to 700,000 people, who are mainly Christians of Southern origin, are affected.

(IRIN)

© Hannah McNeish/IRIN

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hilst Zimbabwe sits at the bottom of the UN Human Development Index figures, BMS World Mission is working in the country, partnering a small Baptist community called the National Baptist Convention of Zimbabwe (NBCZ), which currently has 5,500 members.

The Convention’s young president, Jabulani Mudenda, recently had a challenging vision from God. To start with, it was just ‘40/40’. As he prayed for discernment of this vision, God revealed to him that the first ‘40’ represented 40 days of evangelism for the whole church community.

In response, the church community set aside 40 days of evangelism in April and May. They put aside all their church activities apart from Sunday services, so that they were involved in evangelism, encouraging and training everyone in the churches to be involved. They took the good news of Jesus out on to the streets, in the markets, the long queues in government buildings, at workplaces and in the small minibuses that provide public transport.

But what about the second ‘40’? This represented the challenge for each member to reach a target number of people they would tell about Jesus in 40 days – be it four people, ten people or 40 people in 40 days.

The 40 days ended on Sunday 27 May, when baptismal services were held in all their churches.

The NBCZ invites us all to continue to pray with them as they seek to make the 40/40 vision a way of life and continue sharing Jesus with all they meet.

IRAN:

SHIFTING CHRISTIANS

GOSPEL CLAMPDOWN

The number of Christians worldwide has nearly quadrupled in the last 100 years, from about 600 million in 1910 to 2.18 billion in 2010.

A century ago two-thirds of the world’s Christians lived in Europe but now Christians are so geographically scattered that no single continent or region can claim to be the centre of global Christianity.

More than a third of all Christians are in the Americas (37%); about a quarter (26%) live in Europe; nearly a quarter live in sub-Saharan Africa (24%) and one in eight are in Asia and the Pacific (13%).

Two Tehran churches have been ordered to stop holding services in Farsi, the national language, on Fridays.

(Pew Forum)

It is an apparent bid to stop the majority population hearing the gospel in their own language. This order does not apply to Sundays, which is a working day.

The Islamic regime claims that Christianity is a state-recognised religion, but Christians are discouraged from attending services.

In a separate move, a recent government survey has revealed that 70 factions of Satanism are active in Iran, and these groups have attracted as many as 2,000 followers in some cities. As a result, police have closed shops selling Satanist goods.

© Hapal

WORLD:

ESTONIA: CHURCH DREAM A REALITY

(ANS, www.mohabatnews.com)

New church plants are springing up in Laagri, a sub-district of the Estonian capital, Tallinn.

This was the dream of one believer who prayed for 30 years for a new church to be organised in Laagri.

Now, through the ministry of the BMS-supported indigenous church planter Tõnis Roosimaa, a congregation of 30 adults and 20 children meets every Sunday morning in the local Culture Centre.

There are also Friday prayer meetings, workshops and community service projects. In 2011 they organised a children’s summer camp.

Tõnis work is a part of the European Baptist Federation’s Indigenous Mission Partnership programme. Estonia is considered to be the most secularised nation in Eastern Europe. (EBF)

MOROCCO:

© EBF

A CRUCIAL YEAR Foreign Christians were expelled from Morocco two years ago, in a surprise change of heart by the government.

Since then national Christians – estimated to number around 3,000 – have still been able to meet together, but in smaller groups. 2012 is seen as a crucial year for the Church in Morocco. In March three Christian men were arrested in a coffee shop and questioned. They were released a day later because of lack of proof. (MNN)

Get more exciting stories every week online at

bmsworldmission.org

SUMMER 2012 | ENGAGE

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© Phillie Casablanca

POSTCARD FROM

Rio deJaneiro “Sun, sea, sand, carnival”: that’s what we were told Rio would be like when we moved here two years ago.

But, you’d never believe actually how little of the city is near any beach that’s worth writing a postcard about. There’s this great big mountain in the way that cuts off most of the place from the beaches and you have to spend hours in traffic to get through these endless tunnels they’ve built to get you there (well, there is the Metro, if you like playing sardines).

But what is really great is the mountain itself. Serra do Carioca is full of monkeys, toucans, waterfalls and a huge forest. It’s great for walking, cycling or just sitting around reading. One bit heaves with skateboarders and skaters on Sundays. The most popular bit is Alto da Boa Vista or Good View Heights.

Another weird thing is the fireworks, all the time, every day. Mostly bangers: bangers for football matches, bangers to warn you the police are coming, bangers for saints’ days, bangers for birthday parties – morning, noon and night – sometimes it’s even hard to sleep. At least they’ve got things to celebrate.

And talking of noise and celebration – you should try one of their worship sessions!

With best wishes:

The Greenwood family BMS workers in Brazil

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David Kerrigan

A GREAT

LEVELLER LOVE IT OR HATE IT, MUCH OF THE WORLD REVOLVES AROUND SPORT. At its best it brings out the finest in men and women who dedicate themselves to the love of their game. At its worst it can be exploitative and cynical. But that could be said of most endeavours in life.

Eric Harris-Bafende (green shirt in the photo) is Director of Macenta Medical Centre in Guinea. For most of the day you’ll find Eric either doing ward rounds or in the theatre at the hospital. He is passionate about healing the sick but passionate too about reaching the young men in the town, and his love of football has given him one such avenue.

It’s some years now since we ‘poached’ Eric from the hospital where he was serving in his homeland of D R Congo and asked him to take on this key responsibility in Guinea. There he met Sarah, his wife, and the two continue as BMS missionaries in that needy country.

As the Olympics, Paralympics and European Championships get underway this summer I pray that churches up and down the land, and individuals too, will see sport as a wonderful bridgebuilding opportunity with the community around us. For its own sake, sport is there to be enjoyed and celebrated. But it’s also a great leveller and, as Eric has found, it provides wonderful opportunities for forging relationships, which enable the good news of Jesus Christ to be shared.

Give thanks to God for Eric: for the medical skills, which have transformed countless lives, and for his love of football, which is effecting an even deeper transformation in the lives of those he calls his boys.

David Kerrigan is General Director of BMS World Mission

Pictured: Wheelchair racer Anne Wafula Strike

JONATHAN LANGLEY LOOKS AT THE ISSUES OF DISABILITY AND INCLUSIVITY, AND HOW LIVES AND ATTITUDES ARE BEING CHANGED AROUND THE WORLD.

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pecial-needs karaoke,� one of the punters calls it. I like to think of it as a little glimpse of the kingdom of God, with added beer and belting tunes. Every second Monday of the month, my local pub plays host to something beautiful.

Something that I reckon pleases Jesus. About 20 men and women, all with serious disabilities, some in motorised wheelchairs, many accompanied by carers, fill the seats and open spaces, buy a few drinks and settle down for an evening of karaoke in the community. And it is brilliant.

SUMMER 2012 | ENGAGE

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I’ll be honest: at first, I was uncomfortable. I’m ashamed to say it, but I hadn’t known how to react to people whose suffering and personal obstacles I could never hope to comprehend. I was not just uncomfortable, but afraid. I had come in for a quiet beer with a mate and I didn’t know how I should react to people with cerebral palsy, Down’s syndrome and paralysis walking or wheeling up to the microphone and singing their lungs out. Was it right for me to watch, for them to be ‘making a spectacle of themselves’?

But, as pub regulars and locals ate their meals, sipped their drinks and chatted, every now and then pausing to applaud, to smile or to watch the DJ join in the harmonies with some of the singers, I realised it was I who had the problem, not the people singing.

And I suspect I’m not alone.

BLAMED ON DEMONS

“The Church needs a lot of educating on disability issues,” says Anne Wafula Strike – and she should know. After contracting polio as a young girl in Kenya, she experienced prejudice and stigma first-hand in an African Christian context. “People said I was bewitched,” she says. “Others said God was punishing my family.” Even well-meaning Christian leaders made her feel excluded rather than loved. “Every time I went to church I would want to sing in the choir, but the pastor would ask for me to be brought forward to be prayed for because they believed I was possessed. They thought my disability was blamed on demons.”

Attitudes like these were bound to affect Anne’s faith. “I resented God,” she says.

“I wasn’t happy with who I was, because I knew I wasn’t a full person. I wasn’t a proper human being in the eyes of man, so I did not think God valued me.”

HEALING FOR ATHLETES?

Today, Anne knows that isn’t true. She’s a world-class wheelchair sprinter who was the first East African to compete in the Paralympic Games and who has spoken in Parliament on the subject of disability and poverty. She publicly proclaims her faith in the God who loves her with her disability, not in spite of it. “My faith has grown a lot as I come to understand how the Lord looks at me with my disability,” she says.

“I believe God can use me the way I am to glorify his name.”

Now resident in the UK, Anne is one of a

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few elite athletes hoping to represent Great Britain in the 2012 Paralympic Games. But she still comes across Christians who only want to pray for her healing. “As a disabled woman and a Christian, I believe healing is very important. But I believe God will only heal an individual for his own glory.”

Anne’s story is one of triumph, but she is aware that most people from her background will not have the same opportunities she did when she was ‘discovered’ trying to lose baby-weight in a UK gym. Her sprinting wheelchair costs almost as much as a second-hand car in her native Kenya. “I have facilities, support, a trainer and a gym,” she says. Many people with disabilities similar to Anne’s will have trouble affording regular wheelchairs, never mind specially designed racing chairs, and they certainly will not have Anne’s access to psychologists, nutritionists and physiotherapists if their villages don’t even have flat, maintained roads suitable for training.

Shiva: happy to be working again

GO HOME, WAIT TO DIE

The situation for disabled people elsewhere is similar. When basic dignity and material survival hang in the balance, dreams of an international athletic career seem distant and strange.

Shiva was in his early 40s when he fell from a tree while collecting feed for his animals in rural Nepal. He was left unable to sit up in bed or control the most basic of bodily functions and also left his family without a breadwinner. The doctors at his local hospital told him: “Go home and wait to die”.

Thankfully, BMS occupational therapist Megan Barker was able to help him. Through her interventions, and with the help of BMS partner the International Nepal Fellowship, Shiva can now walk short distances and wheel himself to his new shop, where he earns money to provide for his family. It’s something international mission agencies like BMS say a lot, but Shiva’s life really has been utterly transformed.

In Haiti there are similar stories. The 2010 earthquake buried countless people under the rubble of their houses. The lucky ones survived, but many were left with serious spinal injuries. Leon was one of them. Leon’s wife and eight children were killed in Haiti’s earthquake and he was left unable to walk because of the spinal injuries he sustained.

But, again, Christians like BMS supported partner worker Carwyn Hill, founder of Haiti

Leon: on the road to the Paralympics

A HISTORY OF HELP BMS has for years been serving disabled people, providing care where it’s needed and changing attitudes where they hinder the work of love. Through grants, mission workers, volunteers and partners, from surgeons curing riverblindness in central Africa and Latin America to work with governments in North Africa to change attitudes to disabled children, and through many ministries besides, your support for BMS has long brought justice for the disabled. You are part of building a better world.

SING FROM THE ROOFTOPS Hospital Appeal, have been on hand to help.

Leon has rediscovered hope. These days he spends most of his time training with BMS partners to be the first Paralympic athlete to compete as a wheelchair racer for Haiti. Thanks to a BMS grant, he even competed in the Parapan American Games in Mexico last year.

KARMA POLICE

On the other side of the world, something more basic than sports and aspirations is making a difference: love. Hope Home is a residential care centre in Thailand, set up

by BMS worker Judy Cook, where disabled children are nurtured and cared for. In Thai society, where disability is often blamed on karma (past-life sin) and even doctors will often not ‘see the point’ of operating on disabled children, Hope Home provides not only practical care but human contact and affection to children. Children like Natalie and Phil.

Natalie has foetal alcohol syndrome. Her mother’s alcoholism while pregnant left her with disabilities from birth and abandoned by her family, but her time at Hope Home gave her a firm foundation and enabled her to be adopted by a local family. Phil is an eightyear-old orphan with cerebral palsy and a wonderful smile. He finds it hard to stand or even sit unaided and can only communicate by pointing with his toes. But Phil is loved and cared for at Hope Home.

“We’re called as Christians to love our neighbour as ourselves,” says Lizz Maycock, a BMS worker who spent a year with the children at Hope Home. “Phil and Natalie are as much our neighbour as anyone else, and we have to guard against excluding them from the opportunity for love, friendship and family.”

Back in England, Anne Wafula Strike says she has known how it feels to long for those three things, but she has this advice for

disabled people: “Disability does not mean inability. Believe in yourself. All is not lost.”

And she is, of course, right.

Caring for disabled people is not about charity or pity. It’s about justice. It’s about making sure that every human being made in God’s image has access to the fullness of life that is the birth-right of every man, woman and child. It might be through singing and a pint in your local pub, or through the roar of the crowd in a sporting stadium. It might be through just a loving touch for a child forgotten by society or through giving to a ministry of mercy.

But we can all make a difference, all improve our attitudes, all make inclusivity and justice for disabled people a priority.

With God as our help and representatives here and overseas, we can make the world a place where all people, regardless of their disability, have a reason to sing.

Jonathan Langley is BMS World Mission’s features writer and a regular blogger for The Huffington Post

Tell your church about the work of BMS among disabled people with these exciting resources:

UNDEFEATED

Featuring Anne Wafula Strike, Leon from Haiti and a host of other Paralympic hopefuls, this DVD resource is aimed at engaging your church with the issue of disability.

Join our campaign to lobby the UK government to make a difference. bmsworldmission.org/ undefeated

INSPIRING SMILES The work of Hope Home, highlighted on the video

by Engage Editor, Andrew Dubock. http://bit.ly/ inspiring-smiles

DISABILITY IN NEPAL Read Shiva’s story in full and download a PowerPoint about BMS work with disabled people around the world. http://bit.ly/shiva-story

SUMMER 2012 | ENGAGE

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OVERSEAS PARTNER Bishnu Bhattarai

OVERCOMING STIGMA A LOW-CASTE NEPALI WOMAN IS EARNING THE RESPECT OF DOCTORS AT A MAJOR HOSPITAL BY WORKING AS A CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE FOR PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM LIFE-THREATENING DISEASES.

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ishnu Bhattarai, a BMS World Mission supported partner worker, has been based at Bheri Zonal Hospital in Nepalgunj since 2006, supporting hundreds of people who are affected with fatal tuberculosis (TB). She works through a local church partner, Sathi Sewa Sangathi (‘Friendly Service Fellowship’).

Her role at the hospital is a vital one. She takes the time to get to know each one of the patients – find out their condition and family history. She then reports these things to the doctors who can then give a quicker diagnosis.

Bishnu also provides Christian counselling and prayer to patients, as many are facing death. In a culture where having TB is a stigmatised disease and is seen as retribution for not leading a good life, Bishnu strives to change people’s view – that it is not a punishment and patients should not feel ashamed.

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To get to this point, Bishnu has had to earn respect from others too. At the beginning of her time at the hospital, doctors dismissed and looked down on her because of her very poor, low-caste family background.

However, over time, these same doctors soon began to realise how vital her role is in running an efficient hospital, and soon began to specifically ask her to come on their rounds with them. Colleagues recognised Bishnu’s integrity, determination, compassion, God-given talent to listen and her love of Christ.

Through her faith and dedication, Bishnu is continuously giving poor TB patients an understanding and acceptance of their disease, as well as a sense of peace as they live out their lives. Her work is irreplaceable and, though the journey has been hard, doctors and patients now see how valuable Bishnu’s work is.

JOIN THE

CONVERSATION Find us on facebook BMS World Mission The Sun is Britain’s “favourite” newspaper. Is John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, right to write a column for it?

Like · Comment · Share Charlie Kennedy Yes... it’s a way of getting the message out there, which is popular. Jesus didn’t always stay in the temple.

Jo Arnold Absolutely he should. People, sadly, rarely come to us any more, we have to go to them. Good on him for doing this!

BMS World Mission “I know of no Baptists who follow or approve of following Lent – it is seen as a Catholic tradition, and therefore inappropriate for ‘true’ Christians.” Do you agree with this view, reported by a BMS worker in Brazil?

Like · Comment · Share Neil Brighton Most of us in UK would say no; but after spending one week in Peru with BMS folk I see how anything perceived as ‘Catholic’ is a very sensitive issue. What seems bizarre from my study in raining England is critical to gospel work elsewhere.

Sarah Jones When Lent comes along I am reminded that Jesus waited and prepared for completion. If I acknowledge this I can begin to be more focused in my journey with God. Don Currie Context matters – significantly. As a Scot and a Baptist Christian, Lent means precious little to me.

Haydn Davies Here in rural mid-Wales, Lent is not compulsory for us Baptists but if we willingly share with Christian sisters and brothers we can gain new insights.

YOUR TWEETS HisGrace4

Thankful for my prayer guide, encouraged me to pray for BMS and to make my own prayer diary to keep me focussed!

revdmally

#ReverseMissionaries Excellent to see evangelism portrayed positively on TV. Showed too that outreach is really simple to do.

Catholic2012

Who’s excited abt the #Paralympics? If u havnt heard abt the ‘UNDEFEATED’ campaign that @BMSWorldMission is runnin, it’s highly recommended!

Join the conversation at

Fiona Castle

TAKE COURAGE! AM I WILLING TO PERSEVERE, EVEN IF I FAIL?

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ddie ‘the Eagle’ Edwards: remember him?

In 1988 he was the first-ever competitor to represent Great Britain ski-jumping at the Winter Olympics.

He didn’t win any medals, became a laughing stock at one point, before eventually being embraced as a ‘national treasure’!

As Britain prepares for the Olympics this summer, our newspapers are being filled with related topics. We are assured that the buildings will be finished on time and within budget. We become excited when we hear of athletes doing well in the trials. A tremendous amount of focused time, effort and dedication is demanded for everyone involved, whether competing or organising.

Eddie Edwards trained tirelessly even to gain a place to compete in the Olympics. I wonder how many of us would have such determination?

It reminds me of the story of the disciples in a boat on a stormy sea, when they see Jesus walking on the water towards them. They are very scared, but Peter boldly says, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” (Matt 14: 28) Jesus encourages him; Peter gets out of the boat and starts walking. It is only when he looks down at the churning water beneath him that he panics and starts to sink. Jesus immediately holds him and helps him back in the boat.

Peter was scorned for his fear and doubt, but at least he had the courage to try and do what Jesus was miraculously able to do. The other disciples were sitting comfortably in the boat!

This challenges me. Am I prepared to step out of my comfort zone and get my feet wet? Am I prepared to follow where the Lord is leading me and try something new? Am I willing to persevere, even if I fail?

I remember Jesus’ words: “I am with you always”.

Fiona Castle OBE is an international Christian speaker and writer. Her late husband Roy was an entertainer and TV presenter. We welcome Fiona as a regular columnist for Engage magazine.

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

SUMMER 2012 | ENGAGE

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THE BIG INTERVIEW

Blessing doing her thing – with God’s grace

BLESSING

© Athletics Images

Q&A

OKAGBARE AFRICA’S FASTEST WOMAN AND OLYMPIC LONG JUMP BRONZE MEDALLIST BLESSING OKAGBARE TALKS TO STUART WEIR ABOUT GOING FOR GOLD IN LONDON AND GLORIFYING GOD THROUGH HER SPORT.

Q A

There are only four women in the world faster than you. How does that feel?

[Laughs] Yes, that is what it says now: fifth place in the 2011 World Championship 100 metres final. That is a good thing; I wasn’t expecting that.

Everyone else in the final had a faster time than me coming into the Championships. And I had to beat some good people to get into the final so I am excited about that.

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And the fastest woman in Africa?

[Laughs again] That is just the grace of God: me being the fastest in Africa. The grace of God and me doing my thing.

How did you get involved in athletics?

At first I played football for my high school and later fell in love with athletics. A teacher from my elder sister’s high school talked me into doing sport. At first I was just messing around with it, just doing it for fun. I was not serious about it but I was young then.

What do you believe about prayer?

It was one of the best things that ever happened to me.

If I had stayed in Nigeria, the talent I have would not have developed: I would not be as good as I am now. When I left Nigeria, it brought out the best in me. God took me out of Nigeria to USA and I was so excited about it.

It is a moment when you communicate with God and you seek for solutions, guidance, comfort; seek things you want.

Sometimes I don’t super-pray; I just praise him and sing praises. Those times of prayer and praise draw me closer to God. They help me get answers from God.

What are your memories of the 2008 Olympics?

I went with high expectations because I was jumping well before the Olympics. My goal was to jump a personal best in Beijing. I was ready for it but when I got there I was so nervous. I lost the whole rhythm and, before I knew it, the game was over. And I didn’t qualify for the final.

I felt really bad because my coach was expecting so much from me, and even my country, but you can’t change what has happened.

But something changed and I was told I was in the final after all.

[Blessing finished 13th but it was then announced that one of the 12 qualifiers, Lyudmyla Blonska, had tested positive for a banned substance. Blonska was disqualified with Blessing taking her place in the final.]

When I got the call it was like, “this is unheard of”. You didn’t make the final and yet you just got in the final somehow. And I thought: something is going to happen.

God has something special for me out there. I was saying: “OK, I just got into the final!” I got to take my chance and whatever happens, I have got to do my best. So I gave it a shot and I got a bronze medal and it was phenomenal.

SOMETIMES AS A CHRISTIAN WE NEED SOME TOUGHNESS. I CAN’T BE WEAK WHEN I GO TO COMPETE.

Tell me about your faith in God? I am a woman of faith. I believe there is a God. I believe so much in the Word of God. Knowing him has changed my life.

What difference does Jesus make to your life?

He makes a lot of difference. I feel that knowing Jesus makes me unique. Sometimes it means not doing what others do.

Like when you have practice in the morning and people still go to the nightclub until 5am. It doesn’t make sense to me.

You have two hours sleep before practice and you can’t gain anything. For me to do that is a sin before God. So I try to stay away from the things that are against the will of God. Because I have the fear of God in me, I try not to do something where I know, if I do it, God is not going to be happy.

© Stuart Weir

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Why did you go to America?

Do you feel any tensions between being a Christian and being competitive?

I am not a really quiet type. Jesus showed love to people and he was a meek person but Satan could never defeat him. So as a Christian you don’t have to be weak. Sometimes we need some toughness. I can’t be weak when I go to compete.

Can you run for God’s glory the same way you sing to God’s glory?

It is different. When you run and are victorious, you praise God for that.

Singing is different because you are singing to the glory of his name. But when you run drug-free then you are pleasing God.

What are your thoughts on the 2012 Olympics?

I am planning to be there! In 2011, I was not expecting too much – I was pleased to run as I did but it was really about preparation for 2012.

I am maybe aiming to run the 100 and the 200 metres. Maybe I won’t be jumping.

You already have an Olympic medal: isn’t that enough?

No. I have a bronze and I am trying to see if I can step up to a gold. With two events I have two chances. Everybody goes to the Olympics to fight for medals. That is what I am going to do. I am not going there to play and watch people.

I am going to prepare myself really well. I pray that I stay free from injuries and I hope to do great. I am really looking forward to it.

Stuart Weir is director of Verité Sport, a Christian mission to the world of sport. He was an accredited journalist at the 2008 Olympics.

SUMMER 2012 | ENGAGE

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© Ezequel Scagnetti

YOUR CHURCH

A MOMENT

IN TIME

FROM REFUGEE AID TO NEW LONG-TERM PROJECTS, THE ARAB SPRING HAS BROUGHT NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR BELIEVERS IN TUNISIA, SAYS BMS WORKER SARAH. February 2011: Thousands of migrants workers fled the violence in Libya, with many coming through the border with Tunisia at Ras Jdir. The Tunisian army and Red Crescent responded rapidly to provide shelter and support. And our organisation was asked to help too.

Being already in-country, we were on-site at Choucha camp before the larger relief agencies. One of the first requests was for a hot meal for 700 people. By the time of the evening meal, numbers in the camp had swollen, with thousands more waiting to get through the border. The meal intended for 700 miraculously fed over 1,500. Despite being designated a transit camp, Choucha soon became home to many different nationalities who couldn’t be repatriated and after a few days we increased the number of hot meals to 10,000!

Our volunteer team and willing helpers from among the displaced people shared the tasks of cleaning up the 50-litre cooking pots, chopping 2 kg of garlic, 20 kg of meat and a seemingly endless supply of potatoes, vegetables and parsley.

While our work in Tunisia is sustainable development, taking part in relief work gave us an opportunity to share our hope and our faith – often without words. As one army officer observed, our faith was real and made a difference, and we treated refugees as individuals, with love. Whilst refugees told stories of shattered dreams, Tunisian and international believers shared their journeys of faith.

Since the revolution in Tunisia, believers, like many others, have taken advantage of their new freedoms while the Constitution is being rewritten. A 100 per cent Tunisian Christian organisation has already been created and received its authorisation. This will give national Christians a legal status. Others are planned.

Some have also had opportunities to speak in the local media although this brings risks – persecution here is often from families and communities, and living in a democracy doesn’t change this. Although the future remains unclear, there is a sense of expectancy and excitement – and knowledge that God is moving.

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ALLEVIATING SUFFERING Pallative care for people with serious illnesses is a relatively new concept in Tunisia. Ismay is a BMS worker there right on the frontline of this vital healthwork.

We had little idea the momentous events of last year would occur just two days after our move to the more traditional south of Tunisia in order to develop community palliative care here.

The need is desperate. Patients struggle with advanced disease, often in pain and with difficult symptoms. The burden on families is considerable.

Poverty is an issue and living conditions can be basic. We are so delighted to work with a group of Tunisian colleagues, committed to changing and challenging this unacceptable suffering.

We have used the Help the Hospices Palliative Care Toolkit training, organised a Palliative Care Awareness Day and have just rented a small house to develop into a support centre.

More professionals with palliative care experience are needed. This feels like God’s timing and his agenda. His blessings have astounded and overwhelmed us!

Help grow the palliative care work in Tunisia: get in touch with us today on 01235 517653.

BRINGING CHURCH TOGETHER A team of eight from Faversham Baptist Church made a splash in Kolkata last summer – but the ripples went much further, writes minister Geoff Cook.

Why did we go?

My BMS Ministers’ Team experience in 2009 was a ‘burning bush’ moment. The letter outlining the opportunity had unusually not been buried in a pile of mail, and God was Educating Kolkata’s street kids waving at me to turn aside and see what he was doing. The church wholeheartedly supported my trip and, on my return, the idea of sending a Church Team quickly emerged.

How did it work? Whilst in India the eight of us on the ‘away team’ found ourselves coping with a different culture, heat and poverty such as we had never experienced before.

We also had the thrill of witnessing God at work through his people: in the lives of street children, women escaping the sex trade, rural communities and much else. It was exhilarating, faith-stretching, inspiring and exhausting. We blogged about what we were doing and the comments and constant prayer from the ‘home team’ tangibly expressed their love and at the same time drew the wider church into the shared experience. One person commented: “The church really came together – despite being thousands of miles away, it was one of the occasions when I’ve felt closest to my church family!”

What difference has it made? We’ve always been supportive of BMS and continue to be so. We budget a percentage of our church income, use resources such as the annual Harvest material to focus prayer and giving, and are linked to the Holder family in Mozambique. We have other interests around the world, but it is our connection with Kolkata that inevitably now stimulates most interest. One of the Kolkata Team is leading the church in spearheading a project in Faversham’s schools and community: ‘Khushi Feet’ is an initiative to raise awareness of and support for a BMS partner project with street children in Kolkata.

How could a BMS Church Team stimulate mission in your congregation? Discover the possibilities at bmsworldmission.org/churchteams

CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES CHURCH PLANTERS AND THEOLOGICAL TRAINERS GENERAL Theologians and ministers are required to train local pastors in different areas of the world. We need people to maintain good relationships with regional and national church leaders and share their vision.

Specific requirements: • Theological degree and ministerial experience.

• W illingness to learn and communicate in a local language.

• Able to relate well to others in the team.

Church planters and pastors are needed in Albania, Bangladesh, Guinea and Thailand.

DOCTORS BANGLADESH Lamb Hospital in Dinajpur is seeking doctors for at least three months but preferably for two to four years. There is an urgent shortage of paediatric doctors at any level of training. Also required is a senior obstetric and gynaecology doctor. Anaesthetics and medicine specialists would also be greatly valued.

Medical workers also needed in China and Tunisia.

TEACHER AFGHANISTAN A primary school teacher is needed for Afghanistan.

Key responsibilities would be to: teach expatriate children (in English); plan lessons, teach all subjects, help develop children’s social skills and relate positively to local staff. A formal teaching qualification is not essential, but preferable.

Teachers are also needed for China, Albania and Nepal.

Do you have the talent, the desire and the faith to fit these needs?

Could you empower and build capacity in our mission partners? Get in touch with us by calling 01235 5127653 or emailing opportunities@bmsworldmission.org

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RISING FROM THE

RUBBISH

DUMP

SUPPORTING A BURMESE-LED ORGANISATION ON THE THAI BORDER IS ONE WAY BMS WORLD MISSION IS LIVING OUT ITS MANDATE OF CARING ‘FOR THE LEAST OF THESE’, WRITES PAUL HOBSON 16

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eading a Christmas update from a mission worker can be disorientating. Intertwined with the stories of blessing and seasonal parties are sober reminders of the call on their involvement overseas in the first place.

Bob and Charmaine Trendell’s letter home last December was a case in point. “The first of our celebrations took place on the 17th,” it read. “For all the families at the garbage dump.”

The day featured music, a traditional Burmese celebration meal, a tug of war, a football match – and the handing out of shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste. There was drama too, with a staged version of one of Jesus’ famous stories. “You’ll be glad that the Good Samaritan made sure he washed his hands before tending to the injured victim, to reinforce our teaching on the need for hygiene!” the letter continued.

HUMAN GARBAGE

Bob and Charmaine are long-term BMS workers supporting Compasio, a faith-based organisation dedicated to transforming the lives of vulnerable people on the Thai-Burma border.

Compasio is located in the Thai trade town of Mae Sot, where an estimated 100,000-plus Burmese refugees and economic migrants live. There are many reasons why people cross the border: to flee army attacks, destruction of homes and crops

BMS

or simply to escape poverty. Their rights independently outside of refugee camps 24:7 partners are few, vulnerabilities high. Issues such on the Thai/Burma border. He noticed Turning compassion into action as child-trafficking, slums and childhow it was working with a particularly abandonment are common. isolated and vulnerable group. After Life-changing work like Several hundred families eke out an meeting Allan Brown he began to spend this can only be made existence around the rubbish dump, time there, helping to put structure and scavenging both for leftover food and systems in place. It was a period when possible by regular support items that can be recycled and sold on.

Compasio was growing quickly, and by people like you. Give a It’s clearly a dirty, horrible place. “It was began to change from an international/ small amount every month surreal,” wrote volunteer Kristine Smith Thai-led organisation that worked with and make a big difference. on the website’s blog. “My mind started the Burmese, to being Burmese/Thai-led, processing how they live in this, how it supported by an international team.

Become a 24:7 Partner has to be very unhealthy. Does the smell today at bother them?” bmsworldmission.org/ Nevertheless Compasio community A QUALITY PARTNER partners or by calling outreach workers visit several times a Allan said he was in the right place at 01235 517628. week. In time friendships have been built the right time. “Brian came at that point and simple needs met, such as water in the organisation where we began to and basic medical care. Perhaps even firm up the foundations of what had to more important is the dignity afforded to each person there. that point been a pioneer work along the border,” he explains.

Hearts and minds are being changed. Some families have been “It was good timing.” A formal BMS link was formed, and convinced to send their children to school. “A difficult sell when continues with Bob and Charmaine, who went out in September the kids are breadwinners,” notes founder Allan Brown. “But 2011. They are involved in different aspects as they support, the whole family is changed by this in the present, and definitely encourage and empower the national team members. “They in the future, as these kids have families of their own.” need the likes of Bob and Charmaine there,” says Brian, “as there are issues that the local team need capacity building on.”

SAFE SHELTERS The relationship between Compasio and BMS is Compasio is an example of how an NGO, motivated by faith predominantly a staffing one. “BMS has been a great partner,” in Jesus, has combined international backing with local says Allan. “When folks come from BMS we feel that we’re knowledge to protect and empower those on the margins of getting quality. We’ve no other partnership at this point in the society. It was founded by Canadians Allan and Joanne Brown world that we do this sort of thing with in terms of taking in in 2006 in response to issues of girls at selected and trained folks, and that’s a risk in Thailand and its activities have valuable partnership to have.” subsequently grown and adapted to meet But everyone is agreed that the key to local needs. the difference Compasio can make lies It runs a drop-in centre for street in its local involvement. Increasingly the children, offering at scheduled times a leadership are Thai or Burmese, and the nutritious meal, medical care, and games community engagement team are all and other educational activities. Out of Burmese nationals. this grew a youth mentor programme, Allan is in no doubt this is the way the when staff felt it was no longer right to organisation should be. “When I hear serve a meal and send the children away. our community engagement leader, Compasio has also opened a home for who is Chin (ethnic minority Burmese) abandoned babies, a home for babies of explaining to a new member of staff prisoners, a children’s safe house and an the values of Compasio, it makes me emergency shelter for women and girls proud,” he says. with nowhere to go. Immediate needs are “When I see him making choices and being met. The Trendells’ prayer letter coming up with solutions that I would featured an account of how a mother abandoned her baby at never have dreamed up (because as a Westerner I’m not as the clinic. Several days later the baby’s siblings, aged five and clued up) I am humbled. When I see Thais on our staff caring three, were spotted sifting for food in the rubbish outside the for illegal migrants of very low standing as though they were clinic too. The biological father is drunk and abusive, but the family – a very unlikely thing in this part of the world – it gives new husband did not want to be burdened by the children. The me hope that what we’re doing goes beyond physical needs: it mother chose the safest place she could think of. is changing hearts on both sides of this border.”

“It is hard to contemplate her having to make this terrible decision,” wrote Charmaine. “In the midst of joy and Paul Hobson is editor of The Baptist Times Online. celebration we also come face to face with the pain of poverty Discover more at compasio.org and abuse and hardship, and know that without God nothing would make sense.”

BMS plays an important role in Compasio’s development.

BMS worker Brian Leitch came across the organisation in 2009 when BMS decided it would concentrate on those living

WE COME FACE TO FACE WITH THE PAIN OF POVERTY AND ABUSE AND HARDSHIP.

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YOUR CHURCH

SPECIAL FOCUS ON

HAITI

‘THE PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS PERSON IS POWERFUL AND EFFECTIVE.’ (JAMES 5: 16) We would encourage you to photocopy this page, or cut out the sections and use in your regular prayer times.

PLACES: HAITI Haiti was once known for its beautiful mountains and idyllic beaches, wonderful cuisine and hospitable people. Unfortunately, a series of natural disasters, poor investment and corruption has left it a broken country. Haiti was struck by a powerful earthquake in January 2010 and has never recovered. Its economy is weak, its infrastructure is severely damaged if not destroyed, and 1.6 million people are without shelter. Many of the inhabitants live in tent cities, where disease, crime and hunger are rife. Whilst there was significant media interest at the time of the disaster, the cameras are long gone and the people are left to rebuild what little of their lives they have left.

PRAY FOR: • Haiti’s homeless population, that they would soon be rehoused and get the care and support that they so desperately need.

• National leaders and those involved in the aid effort.

• Peace, stability and prosperity to benefit all Haitians.

PROJECTS: Medical care and clean water with HHA & CBF Though the world’s attention has moved away from Haiti, BMS is still supporting the relief effort, and there are two projects in particular which require your prayer support. Firstly, the work of supported partner workers Carwyn and Relinka Hill who head up Haiti Hospital Appeal (HHA). HHA provides medical aid and rehabilitation services for people with disabilities, and has a long-term vision to expand their medical work in the north of the country. Further south, BMS works with the Co-operative Baptist Fellowship (CBF). Many of Haiti’s water sources have been contaminated, mainly with cholera. CBF are providing wells in communities that don’t have other means of access to clean water.

PRAY FOR: • Both of these projects, as they minister to communities that are in the greatest need.

• Good administration and enthusiastic workers.

• Give thanks for the lives that have been transformed by this work and that more people will be able to enjoy a higher standard of living as a result.

PEOPLE: ANDY AND JUTTA COWIE Much of BMS’ ministry is dependent on those who have responded to God’s call to service overseas. For many mission workers, what is required of them is obvious, but discerning God’s will is not always straightforward. Andy and Jutta Cowie have been serving with BMS in Guinea but are now preparing to move to Haiti to work with Co-operative Baptist Fellowship initiatives aimed at restoring livelihoods to those affected by the January 2010 earthquake. Please pray for them as they adjust to new surroundings and culture.

Get regular prayer points and resources from BMS at bmsworldmission.org/prayer 18

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PRAY FOR: • The work that Andy and Jutta have left behind in Guinea – that God will continue to bless that even though they are absent and that the relationships they have built will endure.

• Wisdom and peace as they move to a place of great need in Port-au-Prince.

• The logistical arrangements involved in moving from one country to another.

Go to the back cover for details about our Haiti-focused harvest resource bmsworldmission.org/thirsty

IBRAHIM IS SEVERELY MALNOURISHED: HIS HAIR IS FALLING OUT AND HE WEIGHS LESS THAN A STONE.

Aged 18 months now, he probably won’t live to celebrate his fifth birthday. It’s the grim reality for one in five children in Afghanistan.

His family is very poor, so Ibrahim only eats locally grown bread, potatoes and rice. Now BMS partners in Afghanistan are introducing high-protein foods to diets in Ibrahim’s village: growing chickpeas and keeping chickens.

In this way, children like Ibrahim will have the chance of a future. Through your support, more children in Afghanistan will survive beyond the age of five.

SUMMER 2012 | ENGAGE

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Info

VISUAL MISSION

1.CHILDREN 4 MILLION DIE EVERY YEAR FROM DIARRHOEA CAUSED BY UNCLEAN

WATER AND POOR SANITATION1

50%

AVERAGE DAILY WATER USAGE PER PERSON2 North America 400 litres Europe 200 litres UN suggested basic requirement 35 litres Developing world 10 litres

OF THE HOSPITAL BEDS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ARE FILLED WITH PEOPLE SUFFERING FROM DISEASES ASSOCIATED WITH POOR WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE.3

Sources: 1 World Health Organisation/Wateraid.org 2 Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, UN Human Development Report, World Water Assessment Programme 3 Human Development Report 2006

DO YOU HAVE A HEART FOR CHINA? Be a part of the beat of a growing BMS presence in this land of new opportunity.

We’re seeking teachers to share skills and inspire others.

Short and long-term placements are available.

Follow your heart – explore more with us: 01235 517653

bmsworldmission.org/opportunities

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YOUR CHURCH

Light

of theWorld

The Word Why does the day seem so much better when the sun is out? Feeling the warmth on your face, smiling as a sense of happiness and healthiness seem closer, noticing how much growth has taken place as flowers track the sun.

Light is good: it illuminates hidden things, it enables people to see the road ahead, it prevents evil from congregating, it sterilises.

The Bible uses ‘light’ to describe concepts such as truth, growth, guidance, protection, boldness and hope.

Promise of a new day Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you… the LORD will be your everlasting light.

(Isaiah 60: 1, 20)

Jesus is powerful The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it… The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

(John 1: 5, 9)

Nothing is hidden from God Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

(Matthew 5: 16)

We must spread the gospel I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

(Acts 13: 37)

The scriptures guide us Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

(Psalms 119: 105)

Reflective application Get a handful of tea lights or candles and, in a dark room, light just one. Notice the things it lights up in the room and ask God what he would want to light up in your life. Then light a second candle, and ask God to highlight another area that he would want

to bring his light to. Do this until you feel that you have opened yourself to God’s light and you have a list of several points to work on. Now, in the brightness of the room, pray about those things which God has shed his light on.

Prayer Lord, help me to let my boundaries down with you, so that your light can shine into the depths of my heart. Help me to see what you see – what is good and what is bad.

I want to let your truth correct my false beliefs, your guidance be my one direction, your forgiveness remove all my sin. I recognise that the source of my life is in you.

Please help me to be a disciple who looks to you in all matters and radiates your goodness, so that others may be drawn to you. Amen.

Poem Brightest One, I see you shine Through eternity and into every place.

Your white blazing holiness and perfect glory Are too much for me, I have to cover my eyes.

With eyes closed, I reflect on the darkness inside me: The lies, that I thought you would be blind to; My bent philosophy which skewed the truth.

The dirt of my sin has built up, and I want to be clean.

Give me confidence to expose my shameful deeds, To air my dirty washing on the line.

I know your light will make my whites brighter, And show the rips which need to be mended.

Your light shines into my future, Lighting just far enough so I can stay on the path.

Each word of The Word is a glint of light Guiding me forwards, keeping me safe.

Brightest One, I need you so I can grow; Give me energy to progress, determination not to waiver.

And one thing I’ve noticed is that when I look to your light You shine through me to be a light for others too.

Katherine Mannion

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Essay

THE SCIENCE ISSUE SCIENCE POINTING TO GOD: THE FINELYTUNED UNIVERSE

IN 2012, SCIENTIFIC LITERACY IS NOT AN OPTIONAL EXTRA FOR MISSIONMINDED CHRISTIANS. IT IS ESSENTIAL. If Christianity is to be relevant to a world of genome-mapping and large hadron colliders, Christians need to be scientifically literate.

And that involves some familiarity with scientific apologetics, key scientific theories and the philosophy of science. Here are three ideas that may help your witness.

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We’re lucky to be alive. In fact, we’re lucky to be here at all. And when it comes to the question of the ‘fine-tuning’ of the universe, we are lucky there is a ‘here’ at all. Our growing understanding of science has revealed that our existence is only possible because the universe seems fine-tuned to allow it.

Often called ‘the anthropic principle’, fine-tuning has been much-discussed in secular scientific circles, and Fred Hoyle, a Cambridge astronomer and mathematician, himself an atheist, famously said: ”A commonsense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super-intellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature.”

The facts in question relate to conditions at the beginning of the universe and what physicists call ‘constants’. These are numerical values in scientific calculations that are believed to be universal and constant, like G, the gravitational constant, essential in calculating the force of gravity.

At the Big Bang, all the matter in existence was evenly distributed and gravity is what caused atoms to start clumping together, eventually forming planets, stars and galaxies – pretty essential preconditions for life. If the force of gravity had been stronger, all matter would have concentrated together, eventually collapsing back in on itself. If it had been weaker, atoms wouldn’t have come together and those all-important planets and stars would not have formed. Moreover, if the speed at which matter rushed away from the universe’s starting point (its ‘rate of expansion’) had been slower or faster, even by miniscule amounts, similarly disastrous consequences (for us and all life) would have been inevitable.

The sheer number of constants that allow our existence, the inexpressibly fine ‘margin for error’ (really a margin for disaster) points, for many scientists, believers and unbelievers alike, to the universe almost ‘expecting’ our arrival.

QUANTUM PHYSICS: EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG

PARADIGM SHIFTS: CHALLENGING ARROGANCE

You can’t be in two places at once. A cricket ball can’t behave like a piece of music. One has to choose between the facts of science and the mystery, uncertainty and seeming irrationality of ‘the spiritual’. Until relatively recently, that seemed true. Newton’s physical laws and the science that built on them gave educated people a warm, fuzzy feeling of confidence in the rational and predictable behaviour of the world. The universe was a vast, predictable, clockwork machine of observable fact with little need or place for anything beyond the observable. But Quantum physics changed all of that.

What is light? That was one of the questions physicists in the early 20th century were asking when they discovered something troubling for the ‘common-sense’ view of the universe.

Light sometimes behaves as if it were a stream of particles and sometimes as if it were a wave in a medium. For one phenomenon to behave as particles and waves makes as much sense as a cricket ball sometimes behaving like a piece of music.

Electrons are similarly puzzling. They also have a particle/wave nature and in some experiments, a single electron has been shown to pass through two slits in a screen at the same time. The most basic logic of common-sense tells us that one thing cannot have two contradictory natures or be in two places at the same time. But at the Quantum level, they do.

One of Quantum theory’s key architects, Niels Bohr, famously encapsulated the significance: “Those who are not shocked when they first come across Quantum theory cannot possibly have understood it.”

With the advent of Quantum thinking, scientific certainty about how the world works and what is and is not possible seems a little more fluid than before.

Whether this has any relevance to miracles, God’s interventions in the random world and the emphasis we place of physical objective observations is a matter of debate among philosophers of science. The fact there is room for such debate should excite and encourage us.

“There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now,” Lord William Thompson Kelvin said in 1900. “All that remains is more and more precise measurement.”

Thirteen years later, Niels Bohr constructed a theory of atomic structure based on Quantum theory and changed the way science understood the laws of physics.

The hubris of that one pronouncement had been preceded by hundreds of years of certainty that, while the primitive scientists of the past had been scrabbling around in the dark with inefficient tools, contemporary scientists had finally uncovered the truth about the universe.

None of them could have anticipated Thomas Kuhn’s work on paradigm shifts.

The structure of scientific revolutions, published in 1962, popularised the term ‘paradigm shift’ and revolutionised discourse about scientific progress, even among those who disputed its validity. Kuhn basically argued that significant scientific progress is made through revolutions and ‘paradigm shifts’, between which more incremental discoveries are made. These shifts take place when an accepted paradigm (not so much a scientific theory as the scientific culture and assumptions that underlie theories) experiences a ‘crisis’.

For Kuhn, those working within a paradigm consider it so basic that not only would they be uninterested in questioning its basic tenets, but that

MISSION

anomalies would be treated as failures in measurement or mildly interesting glitches to be ironed out later.

When a revolution or paradigm shift happens, it has as much to do with the groups supporting or opposing the old and new paradigms as the validity or usefulness of the paradigms. As a consequence, scientists 200 years from now might look on some of our assumptions about say physics with condescending pity because we do not have the technology or theoretical concepts to understand the universe as fully as they will.

Such a postmodern perspective on science has unsurprisingly been criticised by many in the scientific community and should not relativise our understanding of scientific data and its ability to accurately predict and map matter and its behaviour. Rather, it should serve as a caution against arrogance, an argument against taking too seriously anyone who declares our understanding of the meaning that lies behind the material world nonsense based on the assumption that “science has proven that is impossible”.

We can’t all be scientists or philosophers. But we can at least speak the same language, understand some of the objections and make our outreach relevant to the culture in which we live.

This article first appeared in Mission Catalyst, issue 3, 2012.

Jonathan Langley is BMS World Mission’s features writer and a regular blogger for The Huffington Post

ISSUE 3 2012

Intelligent Christian thought on contemporary culture

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 SCIENCE & GOD:

3 things you need to know There are ideas every Christian leader should be able to share from within science, scientific apologetics and the philosophy of science // page 6

THE SCIENCE ISSUE page 2 // THE LIMITS OF SCIENCE page 3 // JOHN LENNOX page 4 // SCIENCE AND GOD page 6 // PROOFS FOR GOD page 9 // CHRISTIANS AND EVOLUTION page 10 // DAWKINS, DARWIN AND GOD’S TWO BOOKS page 11 // BIBLE REFLECTION page 13

SUMMER 2012 | ENGAGE

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10

THINGS YOU WON’T FIND IN THE UK

David Coffey

MARGINALISED OR

PERSECUTED? BELIEVERS ACCOMPLISH MORE WHEN THE OPPRESSOR IS NOT CONSIDERED THE ENEMY.

R

eligious liberty is a hot topic in the UK. Bideford Council has been challenged about praying before council meetings. Secularists are renewing their call to remove religion from the public square. The chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission says Christians should leave their faith “at the temple door”.

There is a marginalisation of faith in the UK and a narrowing of the space for Christian belief.

But whatever challenges we face in the UK they are minuscule compared to the persecution of Christians in many parts of the world. It is estimated that 250 million believers in over 60 countries of concern are denied basic human rights: the right to believe; the right to change your belief; the right to join others in a believing community.

In Nigeria, religious violence has cost the lives of over 50,000 people since 1999. One hundred and thirty church leaders in Colombia have been assassinated in the past three years. North Korea has one of the worst human rights record in the world; most citizens there have never met a Christian. And Iran is experiencing an alarming rise in the detention of house church leaders in the past year.

My observation from visiting members of the persecuted Church is that believers accomplish more when the oppressor is not considered the enemy. I have seen how the oppressed live by the biblical principle, ‘Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good’ (Romans 12: 21).

I suspect the marginalised have lessons to learn from the persecuted.

David Coffey OBE is Global Ambassador for BMS World Mission and Chairman of Spurgeon’s College Council.

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1

Freshly picked oranges to eat or make juice from the orange tree on our front patio.

(Andrea & Ian, Spain)

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Clothes made from cloth designed by ladies in the church and worn by everyone attending special gatherings.

(Fiona Welsh, Angola)

Church-meeting-free evenings. Most meetings here are after church on a Sunday; in the UK we were out at something every evening. (Deb & Dug Benn, Uganda)

Weather so warm that our four year-old son isn’t sure what a coat is. (Lizz & Pete Maycock, Thailand)

‘Jesus’: one of the top-selling fizzy drinks, which only exists in Maranhão. ‘Jesus’ is also a brand of cleaning products!

(Julia dos Santos, Brazil)

Kisses! It’s expected to greet and say goodbye to people with a kiss on the right cheek – whether you know them or not! (James & Julia Henley, Peru)

Prayer meetings with 50 people every week. Our church doesn’t just take prayer seriously, it knows it works and depends on it. (Katrina & Martin Butterworth, Nepal)

Community – day to day involvement in each other’s lives, meals together, lots of time to talk, knowing all your neighbours’ names and who is related to who, and being invited to every party. (Daveen & Mike Wilson, Brazil) A deep understanding of Scripture from living in a country where the culture shares many similarities with the period in which many Bible stories happened. (BMS worker in Tunisia)

A throne fit for a king! Our toilet has been placed on a square platform two foot high because of plumbing challenges. (Andrene & James Hayton, Bangladesh)

© Switchfoot

Arts

SWITCH IT ON

do rock and mission really

‘M

ission’ is a loaded term. Depending on the Christian circles you move in, it can mean wildly different things. Outside of those circles, it usually means nothing at all. Regardless of where you start, it’s unusual to find many who regard a touring rock band as mission.

At BMS, we’ve been stunned by the interest we get when we cover rock’n’roll as mission. The most downloaded of any BMS podcast is the one featuring US band Demon Hunter. It’s this theme of ‘rock as mission’ that leads me to being backstage with US band Switchfoot during their UK tour.

Switchfoot are Christians and Grammy award-winners (for their 2011 album Hello Hurricane). Their songs have featured on soundtracks for the films Prince Caspian, Spiderman 2 and Hawaii Five-0. They’re strong supporters of practical mission and they’ve raised huge amounts by giving part of the ticket price for their shows to charity.

Asked about the responsibility Christians have to the poor, singer Jon Foreman is expansive: “If we are part of the movement of redemption, then sometimes love looks like helping out people that are the least of these. Whether that means people you disagree with, have less money than you or have more money than you.”

Commenting on his long-running support for Habitat for Humanity, he goes on: “We stand in a debt of love to the people around us, and sometimes that looks like building a house for them. You can actually hammer alongside the person that’s going to receive the house and get to know them, so it’s actually a community-building endeavour.”

Guitarist Drew Shirley joins the debate as I ask, how do you pick your battles? “Well, sometimes they pick you. We’re not a political band. We write about things that are important to us, that we believe in and are honestly going through.”

mix?

Mark Craig meets Switchfoot to find out

Iron Maiden’s singer Bruce Dickinson has commented that his band are just song and dance men – they aren’t there to save your soul. Asked where Switchfoot stand, Foreman is animated: “Telling our story well is what human endeavour is about to some extent. The Hebrew word for ‘faith’ is tied to ‘remember’ which is to tell the story, to tell it to your kids and so, if anything, song and dance is all we’ve got. While I don’t think we’re going to be the thing that saves anything, we can tell a story that reminds people of the bigger picture.”

Given the band’s fame, I wonder whether they feel a responsibility to represent the whole Church to young people and how that feels when the US Church has the likes of Westboro Baptist and Qur’an-burners in its midst. “I think the body of Christ is this grand family and you have your crazy uncle that comes over for Thanksgiving and says some crazy things and you don’t agree with him but you still have to love him,” says Jon. “There are beautiful people, hurting people, dangerous people and fanatical people that are all attempting to follow this amazing rebel Jesus that began a revolution of love. I count myself among those followers and I can’t speak for all of them, but I do have the need to love them.”

And with that, their sell-out audience beckons and they’re off towards the stage, living out their ‘rock as mission’ calling.

We can tell a story that reminds people of the bigger picture.

Mark Craig is BMS Director for Communications

For more of Mark’s interview listen to bmsworldmission.org/switchfootpodcast

SUMMER 2012 | ENGAGE

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Arts

REVIEWS

Africa United Director:

Debs Gardner-Paterson

Mesijh

Film

Album

Pathé International

Mesij Music

Rating:

Rating:

Africa United does play somewhat like a big budget Comic Relief montage: cute smiling kids striving to overcome all that the African continent might throw at them – HIV and Aids, sexual exploitation, child soldier abduction and wild animals.

This makes it an excellent educational showcase for church youth groups or schools, with accompanying resources from the web to help engage with the issues raised. However, in terms of being a classical piece of entertainment the film falls short.

That is not to say that Africa United is devoid of charm. It follows the story of five friends as they trek from Rwanda to South Africa for the opening ceremony of the World Cup. The characters ooze personality and in ‘Dudu’ and ‘Fabrice’ genuine stars have been unearthed. Director Debs GardnerPaterson has received critical acclaim for the performances she has elicited as well as her desire to portray the resilience of youth in the face of adversity.

Ultimately however, the film’s unfair comparison to Slumdog Millionaire (it is not nearly as sophisticated or well-paced) and the speed by which the plot deviates from issue to issue means the film is solid but not spectacular.

Mesij was birthed from a vision to take the Church into places where the good news of Jesus Christ is rarely heard – prisons, homeless shelters, hostels.

It’s a powerful ministry and there is no doubt that Mesij are captivating live – their love for Jesus permeates their performance and their vocals and harmonies are world-class (ignore the overuse of this compliment in X-Factor judging – I actually mean world-class). But, could this be captured on a debut studio album?

The answer is yes! In my Father’s house is a spiritual warfare weapon wrapped up in a fabulous funky, gospel house package. The general vibe and vocals are upbeat and reminiscent of the Brand New Heavies in their heyday. The lyrics on every album track are so biblically powerful, they make some popular worship leaders’ albums (barring their references to Jesus) feel spiritually impotent.

The standout tracks for me are seven and nine. Track seven, He went in, tells the story of creation; lyrically and musically it would rival any Rhianna production – catchy, punchy and spiritually (as opposed to sexually) provocative – and it makes you want to dance!

An impressive first album with broad appeal and global potential.

Download it at www.mesij.co.uk

Review by Graeme Riddell, BMS team leader for mission programmes

26

In my Father’s house

bmsworldmission.org

Review by Sally Buchan, BMS writer

GodPod

What good is God?

Podcast

Philip Yancey

http://sptc.htb.org.uk/godpod

Book

Rating:

FaithWords, £12.99

ISBN: 978-0-44655-985-0

Rating: The premise of God Pod is quite simple: three theologians discuss questions emailed in from listeners on God, the Bible and ethics for 40 minutes.

The monthly podcast, produced

by St Paul’s Theological Centre, features lecturers Graham Tomlin, Jane Williams (wife of Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury) and Mike Lloyd. It has been going for a while now – they will be onto their 70th programme by the time you read this.

I listened to show number 66. In it Graham, Jane and Mike discussed the tree of knowledge of good and evil, was Jesus the son of God from birth or did he become so later in life (‘adoptionism’ is the theological term apparently), and praying for healing.

Each question tends to get a good ten minutes’ discussion so they do answer them in detail.

Being theologians they speak with knowledge and authority, managing to explain oftencomplex ideas in accessible language. It did take me a while to warm to the three but there is a good rapport between them and it’s a very interesting show.

Recommended listening for Christians and seekers looking for answers to the thorny questions faith throws up.

It’s a profound question: What good is God, a god, any god, when there is so much pain, so much suffering, so much trauma all around the globe – when massacres and tsunamis and wars and destruction are almost daily occurrences?

It’s a question Yancey investigates, realising that he has been privileged to speak in many parts of the world following traumatic events. Real places where real people have needed an answer.

Interviewing some of them, in ten different places, he relates how they discovered faith that makes a difference, a God who makes a difference, in spite of, or because of, those events.

Each chapter of interviews points to the fact that God matters, that faith produces hope and transformation. And that God reveals himself through each of us as we reach out to others from our pain to theirs. Yancey does not pretend to know the answer to his question. Yet by the end he demonstrates, simply and clearly, how faith in the God who cares makes all the difference.

Read it; be challenged into knowing that “the presence of the King can change everything”.

Review by Chris Hall,

Review by Penelope Swithinbank,

Writer/Editor at the Baptist Union of Great Britain

a writer, speaker and author of Women By Design (www.ministriesbydesign.org)

Arts

5

Five minutes with...

LORETTA ANDREWS CATCHES UP WITH INTERNATIONAL WORSHIP LEADER

MATT REDMAN ON THE RELEASE OF HIS CHART-TOPPING SINGLE 27 MILLION WITH LZ7, IN AID OF THE A21 CAMPAIGN AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING.

© sixsteps

MATT REDMAN

What’s the biggest life lesson you’ve learned?

There’s a lesson I’m trying to learn which is simply, whoever you’re with, try to be with them 100 per cent. Invest yourself fully in the moment.

What has fatherhood taught you about life and faith?

It’s taught me just how gracious God is and how he is quick to show mercy and slow to show anger. It’s highlighted to me what a perfect and amazing father he is and made me want to aspire to be like that.

What issue is on your heart at the moment?

A21 brought human trafficking and modern day slavery to my attention. I had no idea there were around 27 million slaves in the world today and some of them right under our noses. 27 Million is an attempt to speak into that.

Most embarrassing moment on stage?

At last year’s Soul Survivor I forgot nearly the whole first verse of Blessed be your name. There were 10,000 people there and I’ve been singing it for ten years. I had so many people tweet me afterwards!

Which is the most special of all the songs you’ve written?

You never let go because we’ve had so much response. We wrote the song out of a real hard time – Beth [Matt’s wife] just had her fourth miscarriage in a row and we had a friend that week we thought was going to die. It seems to have connected with other people’s pain and struggle.

Favourite mainstream/secular song?

Living in America got me into country music a bit and there’s a Carrie Underwood song Temporary home that actually speaks into a spiritual thing. It’s a classic example of great storytelling through a song.

Is there a book that has especially inspired you?

I’ve just finished Bear Grylls book, Mud, sweat and tears. It inspired me in a weird way as I’m the opposite of him! I don’t take risks in life or like being outdoors and getting muddy – but spiritually speaking we’re called to be adventurers outside of our comfort zones.

Do you have a favourite Bible verse?

Revelation – chapters 4 and 5. When you think your life is spiralling out of control or you can’t get a handle on some kind of pain or confusing thing, you just look up and see this perfectly powerful God on his throne holding all things together.

Worst habit?

Getting distracted. Someone will send me to do something and half way through I’ll totally forget what I’m doing.

Favourite thing to do on a Sunday afternoon?

I love watching some football with my boys.

Loretta Andrews is a freelance writer, radio producer and presenter

www.thea21campaign.org

www.mattredman.com

SUMMER 2012 | ENGAGE

27

IDEAS FOR STUFF FOR

YOUR CHURCH

YOUR CHURCH

RECIPE Bible Cake

Ingredients: 1 225 g or ½ lb of Genesis 45: 18 2 225 g or ½ lb of Jeremiah 6: 20

3 15 ml or 1 tablespoon of 1 Samuel 14: 25 4 3 of Jeremiah 17: 11 5 225 g or ½ lb (chopped or mixed) of Song

of Songs 2: 5 6 225 g or ½ lb of Amos 8: 2 7 50 g or 2 oz chopped of Numbers 17: 8

8 450 g or 1 lb of 1 Kings 4: 22 9 Flavour of 2 Chronicles 9: 1

10 A pinch of Leviticus 2: 13 11 5 ml or 1 teaspoon of Amos 4: 5

Instructions

12 45 ml or 3 tablespoons of Judges 4: 19 13 Add 1 Corinthians 9: 7 (optional)

Beat 1, 2 and 3 to a cream.

Add 4 one at a time. Still beating, add 5, 6 and 7.

Add the mixed 8, 9, 10 and 11.

Add 12. Beat well and if the mixture seems a little dry add some 13.

hours, 150 degrees. Some references are a little obscure; some you may wish to adapt!

Turn into a greased and lined tin and bake for 1 ½

Thank you to Mary Wright for sharing this recipe with us.

‘Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God.’ (1 Corinthians 10: 31)

ACTIVITIES Bottle it up A billion people worldwide have only dirty water to drink, cook and wash with. By using thirsty for your harvest celebrations this year you’ll discover the refreshing difference that clean water projects are making to people in Haiti.

Here is just one idea for your church’s Sunday school or youth group to raise money for people who are in need of clean water and other life-giving help.

Collect some empty plastic bottles.

Invite your children to take a bottle home and fill it with any small change they have. Alternatively, you may like to ask the children to bring in their coins and fill up a larger bottle together.

When the bottle is full, the children can bring back the bottle to the group. The bottles are then emptied and the money sent to BMS World Mission. We will use the money to help children who would consider a bottle of clean water more valuable than a bottle of money to save their lives.

28

bmsworldmission.org

Please note: Do not send the coins to BMS, but give them to your treasurer who will send the amount as appropriate to BMS. Please ask your treasurer to let us know that this money has been raised by the children for the thirsty appeal – and we’ll send you a certificate to say ‘thank you’.

For more information visit bmsworldmission.org/thirsty

Creative fundraising Thanks to Doris Burdett and Liz Allnutt for selling homemade cards in support of BMS and raising £163 in total. Liz used her own photos on the cards, and those of local scenes have been sold through local shops.

MEET A… BMS SPEAKER Constable – Kabul – Caravan!

Our survey says…

BMS is committed to produce high quality, dynamic and relevant resources to help you and your church engage with world mission as we partner together in transforming lives.

We really value your opinions, particularly as we develop new resources and evaluate existing ones. From time to time we will ask you to complete a survey in order to get your feedback.

In a recent survey we conducted regarding BMS resources we asked: ‘Do you think that BMS offers a good range of resources?’ We were delighted to find that the overwhelming majority (96.4%) think that we do offer a good range of resource material.

Len and Ruth Clift from Westbury Their background Len was a policeman with the Wiltshire Constabulary for 30 years, before he and Ruth served with BMS in Afghanistan for over seven years. Len managed the team’s welfare and Ruth ran the guesthouse and taught braille.

Do you think that BMS offers a good range of resources?

96.4 %

Yes

3.6 %

No

Their UK return In 2008, they served alongside a small Baptist Church in Pill on the south side of Bristol. Having now retired (again!), they are keen to continue to visit churches to thank them for the faithful support of BMS work – encouraging churches to pray, give and be fully engaged in overseas mission through BMS.

The present They are supported, trained and resourced as BMS Speakers.

They can respond to requests from churches in the WEBA, SWBA and SCBA areas for a number of different kinds of speaking engagements.

Their mission To bring supporters up to date with the current challenges in mission, all seasoned with their own experience and insights of having served in another culture.

Their commitment The Clifts are keen on caravanning and so are quite likely to pitch up in your area for a few days, being on hand to speak at your church for the engagement that’s been booked!

Book a BMS Speaker at bmsworldmission.org/bmsspeaker or by calling 01235 517600.

We also received the following additional comments: • DVDs are very useful for use in church and at fellowship lunches • Resources are well-produced and up-to-date • The weekly prayer updates are brilliant for our weekly prayer group If you would like to give us your feedback go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ engageBMSresources Thank you for your feedback – it really does help to shape our planning and resources so that we can continue to produce relevant and useful materials. Please consider giving your feedback the next time you order and use a BMS resource.

Contact details The Church Relations Team is here to support the British churches, associations and Baptist Unions that partner with us in transforming lives through world mission. For any information or advice, please call us on 01235 517600 or email churchrelations@bmsworldmission.org

SUMMER 2012 | ENGAGE

29

BMS WORKER PROFILE James Henley From dreams of captaining a ferry to church planting in Peru, via Brazil and a Baptist college: James Henley’s journey so far.

Why Jesus?

I was brought up in a Christian home but the point I always look back to is my baptism, aged 14. I became aware that if God existed and if the gospel stories were true, then this was something worth pursuing with everything I had.

What did you expect from a BMS Action Team in Brazil?

An excuse to live in another country for six months and maybe an opportunity to save the world! What I wasn’t expecting was to have my horizons, worldview and understanding stretched as much as it was.

How did the call to church ministry happen?

The Action Team had the privilege of working with a church that was trying to reach out into one of the city’s big favelas.

Little by little, lives were being changed. I had a growing sense that this was the sort of thing God wanted me doing: equipping churches to reach out to their communities with the fullness of the gospel. This gradually grew into a call to be a Baptist minister.

What shaped your thinking about overseas mission with BMS? I went to Spurgeon’s College with a sense that I would probably return to South America. My (now) wife Julia, also at Spurgeon’s, had never had any inclination to go overseas at all (her previous shortterm mission experience had been a disaster). This led to a very difficult and painful time as we tried to work things out. After some time, and a mission trip to Brazil (more successfully this time for Julia), we both began to feel more peace

30

bmsworldmission.org

My horizons, worldview and understanding were stretched. that this was something we were meant to be doing together, and that God wanted to use us to serve him here.

What are your hopes in Peru?

We’re church planting on behalf of the Peruvian Baptist Convention and helping to develop their work. We live in a small town in the Peruvian Andes where there is a lot of poverty and a long history of class struggles, racism and oppression. Our hope is that we can help people to come to know Jesus in a way that liberates rather than oppresses.

preferably as a character who gets to ride around on a horse waving a sword.

What makes you laugh?

Satire, political comedy and Ross Noble.

What would Julia say is your worst habit?

Leaving everything until the absolute last minute.

As a child, what job did you want when you grew up?

The captain of a cross-channel ferry.

Town or country?

Country.

Newspaper or novel?

Novel Champions League or Heineken Cup? Heineken Cup Cheese or ham?

Both

Choose three words to describe Peru.

Stunning, bemusing and complicated.

Which UK food do you miss the most?

Pie and mash (with a pint of good ale).

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

Any of the Lord of the Rings trilogy,

James Henley and his wife Julia are BMS long-term mission workers, based in Urubamba, south Peru. James’ home church is Beulah Baptist Church, Bexhill-on-Sea. Read more about the Henleys at bmsworldmission.org/jjhenley

FROM THE

ARCHIVES 100 YEARS AGO

A PICTURE OF

1912 Nabil K Costa

MISERY

BELIEVING © www.oldindianphotos.in

THE SLUMDOG

Forgotten, abandoned and oppressed – all words that can be used to describe the life of a leprosy sufferer in India in 1912.

These men, women and children were outcasts; marginalised by all who met them and shunned by the government, the very people who were supposed to help them.

“O

ne of the saddest sights it is possible to see anywhere is a pauper leper, as he can be seen in any large city in India – in the bazaar, begging on the roadside, or sitting to receive alms outside the railway station, temple or mosque. His fingerless hands, his sore legs and toeless feet, his dim sight make a picture of misery.

“It is difficult to pass unmoved and impossible to forget. Yet there are nearly 100,000 of these poor lepers known to the authorities in India, and the real number must be larger than this. Such a disease is, if possible, concealed, and outsiders do not get to know of all the cases.

“In India there are some 60 asylums, with about 7,000 inmates

(including children). The Indian Government passed a Lepers Act in 1898, which provides that any pauper leper may be sent to an asylum; but it is left to the local government to enforce it, and so far no local government has put the whole act into operation.

“At present it would not be possible to segregate all lepers, for the existing asylums would not hold a tenth of those to be found in India.

One cannot come face to face with such suffering without feeling how dark and hopeless these lives are.”

This is an extract from an article written

by BMS worker Frank Oldrieve, and which first appeared in Missionary Herald, April 1912

HOW TRUSTING A CHILD BROUGHT TRANSFORMATION.

“Y

ou are the very first person ever to believe me”: The words of Hadi*, a 12 year-old former street child who joined one of our periodic vulnerable children camps.

The previous night, the boys’ room had become so noisy that youth minister Joseph had to come in several times to gently convince them to call it a day. It was clear that Hadi was behind all the action. When Joseph returned for the nth time to negotiate with them, everyone in the room pointed their fingers at Hadi – but the child immediately said, “It’s not me this time”. Joseph could instantly see in his eyes that he was telling the truth. So, he came forward, hugged Hadi and told him, “I know it is not you!”

Hadi is one of thousands of vulnerable children in Lebanon including children of migrant workers, working children, street children, trafficked children and Palestinian and Iraqi refugees.

Earlier on this year in one of our camps – which are always both spiritual and recreational – we brought together former street children and Sudanese children who are sons and daughters of migrant workers in Lebanon. On the very first night our camp leaders were stunned to hear the Sudanese children pray for the former street kids and seek God’s forgiveness for taking their own many blessings for granted.

This summer we’re running three camps for children plus a six-week summer educational programme for children with special needs. Please pray for such transformational touches: that God would work in the lives of these children – some of whom may only join us this once. For indeed, it is the way we live before them and interact with them that makes more of an impact than our words. * not his real name

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 2012 | ENGAGE

31

Harvest: The water of life.

Today a billion people worldwide will be using dirty water to drink, cook and wash with.

They have no other choice.

Use at your harvest celebrations this year and discover the refreshing difference that clean water projects are making to people in Haiti.

You can help BMS save lives there and in similar situations around the world.

It’s a simple choice to make.

Order your free copy today: call 01235 517617 or visit: bmsworldmission.org/thirsty

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.