South Asian Forum of the Evangelical Alliance Newsletter
Issue 31: September 2018
S outh As i a n F orum of the
Evangelical Alliance
connecting, uniting, representing
The South Asian Forum (SAF) is a grouping within the Evangelical Alliance, it was set up to provide a place for South Asian Christians in the UK to encourage, support and equip each other for mission, and to represent their concerns to government, media and the wider Church. With the support of both individual members and church members totalling more than 20,000 people, SAF is steadily growing. Visit saf.eauk.org to get involved in supporting this wonderful ministry
by becoming a member of SAF. Once you become a member, you will receive idea, the Alliance’s bi-monthly magazine, as well as regular newsletters from SAF detailing our progress. If you are already a member of the Evangelical Alliance you can add SAF to your Alliance membership at no extra cost. In this instance please send an email to saf@eauk.org
Reaching the World on Your Doorstep Saturday, 24 November 2018
Naujavan 20th anniversary celebration, Saturday, 15 September 2018
Venue: Emmanuel Church, High Street, Northwood, London, HA6 1AS
20 years of Naujavan and it’s time to celebrate what God has done!
You are warmly invited to a day conference at Emmanuel Church, Northwood to look at how we might befriend, engage and share the journey to the gospel with those around us, especially neighbours coming from different faith and cultural backgrounds.
Naujavan was born in 1998 with a small gathering on the south coast of England and suddenly, almost quietly, a movement began. So much has happened; stories rewritten, lives brought together, miracles and moments of great joy. God has been faithful and He’s not about to change that habit. We can’t wait to celebrate all that’s happened but we know, the best is yet to come!
The day will include personal stories, presentations, discussion, biblical reflections, prayer and ideas to help you to understand our mission fields and effectively engage with others - introducing them to our Lord Jesus, through our friendship, actions and words. Registration and refreshments will begin at 10am, with the event closing at 3.30pm. Cost: £10 per person including refreshments and an Indian lunch.
Join Naujavan for this truly special event where we’ll learn and laugh together, seeing what God has done over these years and set the vision for the years to come. There will be great teaching and inspiration, loads of time to worship and pray and the chance to connect with the Naujavan family, old and new.
Presenters will include: Gavin Calver, Usha Reifsnider, Tim Meathrel, Matt Irvine, Dayalan Mahesan, Manoj Raithatha, Kumar Rajagopalan, Helen Thorne and Kevin Wren.
Normally Naujavan events focus on younger people, but this event is open to anyone interested in what Naujavan is about. They’ll be sharing miraculous stories of God at work in the South Asian community over the last 20 years and this will be a welcoming space for those who don’t regularly go to church too.
You can book your tickets via the link below:
You can book your tickets via the link below:
https://www.globalconnections.org.uk/events/reachingthe-world-on-your-doorstep/181124
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/naujavan/170889/#
REACHING THE WORLD O N YO U R DOORSTEP: Engaging with your South Asian Neighbours 24 November 2018
A day conference at Emmanuel Church, Northwood to look at how we might befriend, engage and share the journey to the Gospel with those around us, especially neighbours coming from different faith and cultural backgrounds. The day will include personal stories, presentations, discussion, biblical reflections, prayer and ideas to help us to understand our mission fields and engage with others, introducing them to our Lord Jesus through our friendship, actions and words. Registration and refreshments will begin at 10am, with the event closing at 3.30pm.
Cost: £10 per person including refreshments and an Indian lunch. To book please go to: bit.ly/2IZ96re (Booking essential) Venue: Emmanuel Church, High Street, Northwood, London, HA6 1AS Presenters will include: Gavin Calver, Matt Irvine, Dayalan Mahesan, Tim Meathrel, Manoj Raithatha, Kumar Rajagopalan, Usha Reifsnider, Helen Thorne and Kevin Wren.
THIS EVENT HAS BEEN PLANNED BY A TEAM FROM:
F
SAF profiles its work, partners and resources in the quarterly newsletter and on our website saf.eauk.org
Introducing Simply Eat Have we forgotten that food and faith belong together? From Genesis to Revelation, God provides for His people to eat. Regardless of age or ethnicity, gender or class, we all share the same God-given physical and spiritual hunger. When we come together to eat, we discover our shared humanity and find our spiritual as well as our physical need can be met. From a BAFTA award winning writer to a former Hindu priest, and from a poetic school-girl to a celebrity chef, Simply Eat is an inspirational collection of stories and recipes celebrating the power of food and faith. Colourful and creative, this book exquisitely reveals all God can do when we simply eat! To buy your copy of the book (available on pre-order currently), please use the link below: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Simply-Eat-Everyday-StoriesFriendship/dp/1909728942/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=153 1221417&sr=8-1&keywords=simply+eat Book number: ISBN-13 978-1909728943 Price: £15.00 Publisher: Instant Apostle “Great Commission is all about equipping and inspiring a passion to make Jesus known. That’s why we love the vision of Simply Eat; bringing people together to share good food and good news stories of Jesus. We’re so excited to see how God uses this book to inspire hospitality, generosity, and a hunger to see others come to know Jesus.” Gavin Calver, director of mission, Great Commission, Evangelical Alliance “A key value of Asian cultures is that no one should have to eat alone – but in the West they often do. Simply Eat is part of the solution to this problem, celebrating the power and joy of eating together as we share both our food and our lives with one another. And in the UK’s often polarised multicultural and multi-ethnic society, coming around the table to eat together will be essential to building community, welcoming outsiders and making safe spaces to share the good news of Jesus Christ.” Manoj Raithatha, national co-ordinator, South Asian Forum, Evangelical Alliance
Interview with Ann Bower co-ordinator of mission in the UK forums at Global Connections, discussing her thoughts on her upcoming retirement
South Asian Forum of the Evangelical Alliance How long have you been at Global Connections? I worked for Global Connections for 11 years and for eight years prior to that I worked for Faith to Faith, which became a forum of GC, joining along with me, in 2007. I retired on 31 July, leaving behind many lovely friends made over those years, in a job that has never really seemed like ‘work’ but more of a ‘hobby’ and certainly very enjoyable! What did your role entail? My passion has long been to encourage and equip the church for cross-faith and cross-cultural mission, through Faith to Faith and some joint events in partnership with the South Asian Forum. We have a great team with the SAF, Interserve and London City Mission and I bring input from Global Connections. My work includes facilitating events, publicising opportunities and sharing resources to help Christians to relate to people of different faiths around the UK. I also facilitate groups relating more specifically to ministry amongst Muslims in the UK. It was a privilege to work with a team from several mission agencies in 2015, to run the Hope for Muslims tour around the UK, when Dr David Garrison presented the research on his book, ‘A Wind in the House of Islam’: the aim of the tour was to present the positive, encouraging and mind-blowing story of many Muslims coming to Christ this century.
Become a member - saf.eauk.org
What do you sense God is saying to the UK church right now? I think that God is saying that “The time is now – feed my sheep!” What do you sense God is saying to UK mission agencies right now? There are many established mission agencies with an enormous wealth of experience, desperate for churches to invite them to work in partnership with them in local mission or in sending people to other parts of the UK or the world. Sadly many churches prefer to work alone. So I would say to the mission agencies, ‘Be bolder in offering your help, not by offering a course or scheme, but to walk beside the church’ and I would say to the churches, ‘Please draw on the help and expertise available from the mission agencies.’ This would be so much more enriching for all – enabling mission to happen where God wants, not just in an area where the church has a link, then people have experiences in places they never thought of and the local area sees Christians who are bolder, more welcoming and better equipped to share their love of the Lord Jesus in the UK or overseas. What do you plan to do in your retirement?
Mission partners from overseas to the UK have not always been welcomed and included as they should be and so I have also assisted a group that has been running some very relevant events on the topic – the Centre for Missionaries from the Majority World. With a wider perspective, I am involved in the Global Connections Muslim World Forum and the Central Asia Forum.
I have prayed a lot about this over the last few years and got excited about several things I would love to do, but the overwhelming advice seems to be not to plan ahead but to wait on God for His leading and that I will know when the time comes! The well quoted verse from Jeremiah comes to mind: ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
What progress has been made since your appointment?
How can we pray for you?
I think that work in mission is always hard to quantify and God is the only one who knows the real results! In some parts of God’s church there is a real heart for mission, a strong desire to bring people into the kingdom and to nurture them to be strong disciples, knowing Christ and drawing in others. In other places in the UK, as found by the original Presence and Engagement research, churches are simply struggling to keep going for themselves. There are many people who are afraid of approaching those from different cultures, let alone giving them a welcome into their churches: I think this is more related to fear of change, than to elements of racism or bias. So, I would love to say there has been a lot of progress made, but the truth is that I believe that together, we have brought change only in small pockets. So our ongoing prayer must be that the church must never give up!
I am not very good at waiting! Please pray that I might be a good listener, know God’s will and be a witness through whatever I do as a wife, mother, grandmother, neighbour and in any places where I am needed. Philippians 4: 4-7 seems relevant, especially that I might continue to ‘Rejoice in the Lord always.’ Please share a prayer for the UK. ‘Loving Father, we pray for our nation to know you. May your people offer a welcome to all, as we conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of your Son, Jesus Christ. May we stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one, for the faith of the gospel, without being intimidated in any way, as we endeavour to make disciples of all nations.’
SAF profiles its work, partners and resources in the quarterly newsletter and on our website saf.eauk.org