DR Congo: Ebola outbreak and response

Please continue to pray for people in DR Congo, where the government has recorded over 1,500 cases of Ebola, including over 500 deaths. The World Health Organization reports that treatment centres are at saturation point. Mission partner Martin Gordon, Bishop of Goma, reports that scepticism around whether the disease is real has led to attacks on healthcare centres and medical workers. Pray for the church to continue to be at the forefront of the Ebola response, loving its neighbours, providing hope and signposting to practical help, and for the rapid development of a treatment and vaccine for this strain of Ebola (Bundibugyo).

The post DR Congo: Ebola outbreak and response appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Ethiopia: visiting the UK

Chris and Suzy Wilson, who work with Christians to build peace across divides, ask for prayer for the family as Suzy and their three eldest children travel to the UK for four weeks and Chris and their youngest child (who cannot leave the country) stay in Addis. Pray for smooth travel and that Suzy and the three eldest children are able to rest alongside a busy schedule of time with family and church visits. Please pray that the youngest settles well while the rest of the family is away, and that he and Chris have a really good time together.

The post Ethiopia: visiting the UK appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

North Africa: on home leave

Mission associates C and E, who lead a church in North Africa, are preparing for a trip to the UK to visit churches and attend CMS’s people in mission conference. Pray for safe travels and for a useful, blessed time reconnecting with churches, family and friends. Please pray for their church in North Africa to continue to flourish while they are away.

The post North Africa: on home leave appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Paraguay: the gospel moving among Southern Énxet and Northern Enlhet speakers

After over 40 years of service in Bible translation for the Southern Énxet and Northern Enlhet languages, Tim Curtis has returned to the UK permanently and is finishing as a CMS mission partner. He may however return to Paraguay for short-term spells in the future. Tim asks for prayer for Asunción Rojas, who continues to offer his skills to The Diocese of Paraguay and has shared their work on the Southern Énxet dictionary with the Ministry of Education. Pray for Christians as they continue to proclaim the gospel, provide Bible teaching and upskill the indigenous members of the Anglican Church of Paraguay. Pray also for Tim as he looks for a place to live in the UK. 

The post Paraguay: the gospel moving among Southern Énxet and Northern Enlhet speakers appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Philippines: new farming practices and new connections

Mission partners Eric and Sandra Read report that Eric did a presentation for the Philippine Department of Agriculture on syntropic (regenerative and sustainable) farming. Pray for farmers or cooperatives who have heard the presentation to be enthusiastic and interested to know more about how they could benefit from using syntropic farming methods. Additionally, Sandra is starting a mothers’ group next week. Pray for God to prepare mothers’ hearts for connection and even to be introduced to Jesus. 

The post Philippines: new farming practices and new connections appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

UK: settling in at university on the other side of the world

Mission partner Tim Lee is based in Cumbria and supports the work of Jigsaw Ministries (working with children and young people living in extreme need and hardship) in Manila, Philippines. Jigsaw works with over 1,500 children a week in four deprived areas of Manila. Pray for Tim as he guides his Filipino colleagues from afar to become a sustainable, locally led ministry.

Tim and his wife Kate ask for prayer for their daughter Grace who has just arrived in Sydney, Australia, for a year at university. Pray for her to make friends and settle in quickly, and enjoy her cross-cultural experience.

The post UK: settling in at university on the other side of the world appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Ali Mascarenhas attributes her start as a pioneer to Pioneering Parishes. 

by Rev Tina Hodgett

Ali attended one of our earliest courses and took our content and ran with us. We’ve told her story to lots of different groups of people round the country (and the world via our website), and she’s contributed to every First Steps course we’ve put on online. Her story has inspired hundreds of people and helped them realise that pioneering is something ordinary people can do.

We featured her slow but steady transformation of the churchyard at St Mary’s Brighstone in the Isle of Wight into an outdoor place of encounter with God through community scrub clearance and establishment of a beautiful Biblical olive garden where Celtic Encounter worship services take place outside in summer months.

She excitedly shared with us all the gorgeous mosaic art projects – Celtic cross, advent calendar, nativity scene and many others, that were made by members of the local community learning the skill of glass art together working inside the ancient church building on long tables, coming together for companionship and creativity.

Over the five years since Ali set off from very small beginnings she has continued to carefully discern where the breadcrumbs the Holy Spirit lays down have led. Recently she and her lay worship leader companion who creates beautiful Celtic liturgy have planted two new small Celtic Encounter congregations in a local village (which had no Christian expression of worship) and the town of Yarmouth. She calls this a ‘ministry of smallness’.

Ali was commissioned last year as a Lay Pioneer by the Director of Ministry at the Diocese of Portsmouth in a church full of community members. She has facilitated over the years a wide variety of talks on aspects of creation care and the environment, and has a programme for this summer including bird-watching, wild orchids of the Isle of Wight and dinosaurs which inhabited the area 125 million years ago!

The latest mosaic project is intended for the annual church Christmas Tree Festival which will be on the Narnia theme of C S Lewis’ book ‘The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe’.  She writes: ‘You’re going to be able to walk through the wardrobe to Narnia and be greeted by a ‘mosaicked’ Aslan, Mr Tumnus and the beavers by the lamppost and you can have your photo taken with them.’  Ali herself hopes to arrange some storytelling of the book and to explain the Christian message of the book in various ways along with dressing up as the character of Queen Susan with a bow and quiver strapped to her back. In a wide range of ways that are appropriate to the rural island context Ali and her team (made up of members of both church and community) are putting the church at the heart of the village and enabling opportunities for encounter by all ages of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Find out about how you can shift the energy of your church outwards through the Pioneering Parishes book: Into All the Parish: Pioneering Practices for Every Local Church.

More from Pioneering Parishes

Connect with Pioneering Parishes:

Get in touch

The post A ministry of smallness appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

An Anglican–Pentecostal Story from Toxteth, Liverpool

Join our third webinar of the year, exploring shared space, mission, belonging, and Anglican–Pentecostal partnership in Toxteth, Liverpool.

For over 11 years, The Apostolic Church Liverpool has worshipped in the building of St Bede with St Clement, a Church of England parish in Toxteth, Liverpool.

What began as a rental arrangement has grown into a relationship marked by hospitality, shared worship, community service, and mutual learning.

In this Acts 11 webinar, Rev Phil Nott and Pastor Joseph Ola reflect together on the story so far: the joys, tensions, lessons, and future possibilities of Anglican–Pentecostal partnership in a changing, multicultural neighbourhood.

This conversation will explore what shared space can teach us about migration, mission, belonging, and the Spirit’s surprising work across traditions.

Take part

Book now via Eventbrite

• See all events

Explore Acts 11

Acts 11 newsletter:

SIGN UP

The post Webinar: From renting space to sharing mission appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Africa: Ebola

DR Congo reports over 1,300 cases of Ebola and close to 400 related deaths. Some local governments have now banned large gatherings, but it is estimated that there may be as many as 20,000 untraced contacts of current Ebola patients, meaning there is still huge potential for the disease to continue to spread rapidly. Pray for people to take sensible precautions and for the disease to stop spreading.

Thank you to those who joined us to “connect and pray” at the online prayer event for Africa last weekend. Paediatrician Dr Nicci Maxwell joined us from Juba, South Sudan, where she works on the neonatal unit at Al Sabbah Children’s Hospital as well as in a local refugee camp. There are currently no confirmed cases of Ebola in South Sudan, but it has been predicted that there is a 70 per cent chance of Ebola coming to the country in the next three months. Nicci shared that Al Sabbah Children’s Hospital is unable to pay its staff and lacks medication, basic PPE and immunisations, and doesn’t have facilities to screen incoming patients or visitors. Pray for Al Sabbah and the many other hospitals around the country and across the region who are under-resourced and facing a potential epidemic.

The post Africa: Ebola appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Lebanon: people in desperate circumstances

More than 1.4 million people in Lebanon have had to leave their homes due to airstrikes. Please pray for every person who has been displaced as they face ongoing instability, fear and lack of safety. In the midst of these incredibly difficult circumstances, pray for people to turn to Jesus and find hope in him. Many Christians in Lebanon are doing their best to help those most in need despite their own suffering. Pray for provisions such as emergency food packs and blankets to be multiplied and to reach all in need.

The post Lebanon: people in desperate circumstances appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

South Africa: postgraduate diploma students

Caroline and Dick Seed are based at George Whitefield College in Cape Town, and train and resource theological educators across Africa and beyond. Caroline writes, “Please pray for David Turnbull from Local Leaders in Australia who arrives next week to teach our distance and online learning module for the postgraduate diploma.” We give thanks with Caroline and Dick for the high quality of work the postgraduate diploma students have been doing during the first six months of their studies. Pray that the Lord will send the right people to register for the course next year.

The post South Africa: postgraduate diploma students appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Spain/North Africa: on leave in the UK

This week CMS staff in Oxford were blessed to have a visit from a family engaged in mission in Spain and North Africa. The family ask for prayer for protection and encouragement for Muslim-background believers. Pray for protection and good health for the parents and children while they spend the next few weeks in the UK visiting churches and catching up with friends.

The post Spain/North Africa: on leave in the UK appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).