Ross' Christmas Letter by CARE User

PA56

ROSS HENDRY CEO of CARE

December 2021

DEAR FRIENDS, I trust and pray that you had a blessed and joyous Christmas. As you read this letter, we have just entered the season of Epiphany – the twelve days of Christmas that is familiar to many through the well-known song. Of course, this short period in the Church’s calendar is meant to commemorate the three Wise Men from the East, the Magi, seeking out the baby Jesus as the Messiah. It’s a time when Christians across the world remember that the birth of Jesus was proclaimed as ‘good news of great joy that will be for all people.’ (Luke 2:10 NLT) Advent was a season of expectation. Epiphany is a season of hope, proclamation, and transformation. It is the beginning of something remarkable. Immanuel. God with us. Similarly for CARE we have been in a season of expectation and are now embarking on a season of change; of seeking God’s blessing on our ambition to see a society that increasingly reflects God’s grace and truth. I joined CARE in November, immensely grateful for the legacy I inherited from Nola Leach’s 17 years of leadership, for the talent and ambition of the current team, and the faithful support you and other friends have shown us in our mission. I must be honest with you and say that we reached the end of the year tired and hard-pressed with gaps in our team and several members ill or bereaved. This at a time of unprecedented challenge and change to the nation. It was not just debates over measures that would allow assisted suicide across the NHS, but wider public debates about gender, identity, caring for the vulnerable and marginalised. We are living at a time where there’s a danger of the nation casting itself off even further from biblical truth.

Never has it been more important to have a gospel voice of hope in the public square. Last month we published a book celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Nationwide Festival of Light, from which CARE emerged almost 40 years ago (the book is available at care.org.uk/ turning-the-tide). That movement sprang out of the radical social changes of the late 1960s. I believe we are going through a similar, if not more radical set of changes right now, and we cannot and must not leave debates in the public square to become untethered from the truth of the gospel and God’s word. We have a better story to tell and must be bold and courageous, compassionate and clear, intelligent and thoughtful, faithful and hopeful in speaking out for Christ. It is a season to support parliamentarians who follow Jesus, to help them hold firm and have confidence in their roles as legislators, and to grow a new generation of public leaders rooted in a love of Jesus and the word. That is why in 2022 we will again seek God’s blessing – his provision, protection, and inspiration – to cast a vision for how we will be light and salt in Westminster, Holyrood, Cardiff Bay and Stormont; how we will be the Lord’s ambassadors in the public square and how we will empower the Church, both locally and nationally. I am genuinely excited about how the Lord may use our small team to affect big changes in this generation. When the Magi sought out the Messiah, they did not expect to find a small baby born in a manger. To many, CARE may seem small and insignificant, but from the light we shine we seek to roll back the darkness. The Magi brought Jesus three gifts, each deeply symbolic and practical. Similarly, I am incredibly grateful for your continued support and the gifts you and our other partners in our mission can provide at this time. Our gold, frankincense and myrrh are prayer – enlisting God’s power to open closed doors and blind eyes; gifts – financial support and legacies that fund all that we do; and recruitment – telling others about what we do and inviting them to join us as partners in our gospel work and mission. The message of Epiphany always reminds me of the famous quote from Abraham Kuyper that ‘there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: Mine!’ With your support and partnership, and God’s grace, we will carry this truth into the public square, into 2022 and into this generation and beyond. Yours in His Grace,

ROSS HENDRY CEO of CARE

CAREORGUK

CARE.ORG.UK