People from poorer communities near Olinda, Brazil, will soon have a convenient place to get healthy, low-cost (or free) groceries, thanks to CMS short-termers Rosie and Stu Bayford and co-workers from a local church.

The Bayfords have been working for many months to set up a community market that will redistribute surplus food from supermarkets, which would otherwise be thrown away.

They wrote recently that “the community market has its first supermarket on board! It’s taken much longer than we’d hoped to get a ‘yes’ but we’re absolutely delighted….” They added that the supermarket specialises in fruit and veg, which can often be difficult for people to afford.

There are some other food projects in the region, but the Bayfords’ emphasis on using surplus food means that “we’re helping the planet as well as people”.

“We also want to provide a market format so…those coming to the project have the dignity to choose what they would like….

“We hope to have the Aguazinha market started in April. The next steps are to make the [space] a welcoming environment… and the church Agua Viva will help us register a group of families deemed most in need of this food within the community.” This will help ensure that the market is meeting the needs of the poorest and not taking away from the local economy.

Related posts

Get our email newsletter:

SIGN UP

The post A truly super market gets going in Brazil appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

CMS-trained pioneer Meg Fry and the team at Home Community Cafe were awarded Cafe of Sanctuary status by refugee welcome charity City of Sanctuary in March.

The Home Community Cafe is based in Earlsfield, London, and for the past five years it has been a place of welcome to all, including refugees and asylum seekers. They have worked closely with Just Shelter, who wrote on their Facebook page:

“Home Community Cafe has hosted many events for Just Shelter including fundraising ceilidhs, quizzes and, probably most importantly, Sharing Suppers in which we’ve been able to welcome refugees to share food, stories and music in a place of warmth and welcome.

“Within days of the pandemic lockdown, the cafe provided regular hot meals for Just Shelter to deliver to refugees across South London – from Croydon to Battersea – and continued to do so for many months.

“One of our aims is to educate our communities on the benefits of truly integrating those who have travelled from far and Home Community Cafe encapsulates that welcome in everything they do.”

Related posts

Get our email newsletter:

SIGN UP

The post Community cafe commended for caring appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

28 Too Many, the charity founded by CMS mission partner Ann-Marie Wilson, is celebrating 10 years of working to eradicate female genital mutilation (FGM).

Registered as a charity in 2012, 28 Too Many has compiled detailed country profiles for each of the 28 African countries where FGM is practised. Ann-Marie explained: “28 Too Many’s reports are used by DFID, the Metropolitan Police and the Home Office, as well as NGOs around the world.”

It is estimated that every year three million women continue to be at risk from FGM in countries where the practice is still considered the cultural norm. In 2020 Sudan introduced legislation outlawing the practice of FGM, a first step on the long road to societal change.

Ann-Marie remains hopeful: “Thank you to all the people who have supported us in this vision over the last 10 years. There is still a long way to go but together we can end FGM.”

Related posts

Get our email newsletter:

SIGN UP

The post A decade of difference: anti-FGM charity marks a milestone appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Congratulations to some former CMS colleagues, who were recognised by the Archbishop of Canterbury in this year’s Lambeth Awards.

The Cross of St Augustine for Services to the Anglican Communion was awarded both to Paul Thaxter, former CMS international mission director, and to Pauline Walker, who worked with CMS and CMS-Africa for many years in South Sudan.

Paul was commended “for his outstanding contribution to sustaining and strengthening the bonds of love and unity across the Anglican Communion”.

“Paul Thaxter connects with contexts and cultures effortlessly,” the citation continued. “He has an insatiable interest in people and places, sharing the good news of Jesus with everyone he meets.”

Pauline received the award “for almost 44 years of missionary endeavour in Sudan and South Sudan through which she stimulated the development and training of a new generation of Christian leaders, many of whom are bishops today.” Having first worked in Sudan as a CMS mission partner in 1978, she later helped establish Scripture Union Sudan, was a CMS a regional manager and then joined the CMS-Africa team.

Also receiving the Cross of St Augustine was Asia-CMS trustee Andrew Khoo, for his role in supporting the Anglican Communion’s global strategic response to the pandemic, which helped to sustain connections, share learning, promote mutual prayer and build solidarity and hope.

Rana Khan, the chair of CMS’s Asia Forum, received the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation, cited for his many and varied contributions to interfaith dialogue across the communion.

Former CMS-Africa trustee Claudette Kigeme was recognised for her work among people in Burundi with the Langton Award for Community Service. By training and developing a team of 25 staff and 900 volunteer facilitators, she has empowered over 78,000 people to use literacy to improve their lives.

They join a number of other members of the CMS family who have been recipients of Lambeth Awards since the archbishop reinstituted them in 2016.

That year former mission partners Deaconess Susan Essam and Rev Pamela Cooper received the Alphege Award for Evangelism and Witness.

Other recipients since included former mission partner Rev Canon Dr Adrian Chatfield, Rev Canon Dr Bill Musk, Rev Bob and Mary Hopkins (2017); former mission partner Rev Canon Joanna Udal and former chair of trustees Rt Rev Paul Butler (2018); and former mission partners Rev Graham and Gillian Burton and Rt Rev Graham Kings (2019) and John Clark (2020).

Related posts

Get our email newsletter:

SIGN UP

The post Lambeth Awards for CMS people appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Thank you!

Our Lent appeal this year focused on the urgent need to encourage a new generation of leaders, particularly in the Chaco regions of Argentina and Paraguay. Thanks to your generous giving, we can support growing leaders, people like Mirna Paulo.

Mirna is a young woman from the Wichí people in northern Argentina and her grandfather was one of the earlier indigenous evangelists of the local Anglican Church. Growing up in a Christian family, Mirna learned to read in her own language by reading the hymns as the older people sang. She explains, “As I listened to the preaching and biblical teachings, I realised the greatness of God and his love for all his creation.”

Throughout her life, Mirna met people in mission connected to SAMS and CMS who supported leaders in the indigenous churches. She comments, “I always liked those teams of people who work daily to spread and defend the gospel. I never thought it was possible to be part of these organisations, though I thought of forming a team to support people who felt the call of the Lord to dedicate their lives to the gospel of Christ.”

Overcoming challenges

As Mirna grew older there were challenges to navigate – family health difficulties, and an increasing awareness of disagreements in the church or people’s lives not matching their words. Yet Mirna notes, “There were also brothers who, despite everything, sought consensus and above all worshipped the Lord in their daily lives and in evangelistic ministries.”

As a result of pressure in family life, Mirna became ill herself, and was bedbound for over a year. She describes spiritual struggles, but also “in those times there was a lot of learning, my faith was strengthened in meditation and prayer. I had many visions that helped me keep my hope in God.” Eventually Mirna experienced a process of healing after reading and responding to the Bible story of Jesus healing a young girl.

After being confirmed, Mirna was part of a group brought together by a youth leader to learn about God’s teaching, to pray and to have space to share their thoughts. They also had music groups for teenagers, and young adults began to organise youth meetings and evangelistic campaigns.

At school, Mirna had classmates of European descent as well as those from indigenous groups. While there were culture clashes and misunderstandings, this gave Mirna the opportunity to encounter different cultural contexts and activities. And she sought to show God’s love to her classmates regardless of their cultural background.

Leadership and learning

Mirna stepped into leadership from a young age, helping to prepare Bible studies from the age of 12. She was elected as youth president of the local church, helped organise events and discovered a passion for supporting women and young people. She also took on greater responsibilities within her family when her mother died.

After finishing high school, Mirna got a job as an indigenous teacher in the secondary school, allowing her to contribute to the family income. Then, despite pressure to stay within the Wichí community, she travelled to share about its realities and to learn. She worked with the ministry of culture and education in the capital of the province to support teachers in areas where there are indigenous communities.

Mirna always liked to listen to the older women in her community, “I consider them experienced in the path of faith. I learned a lot listening to women sharing.” Having represented women on the pastoral commission in her area, and been involved in other diocesan groups, Mirna joined an Anglican women’s committee. This group, supported by missionaries (including CMS mission partners Catherine Le Tissier and Shelley Stokes), began to think about a new way of working among women in the diocese. The result was AMARE (Anglican Women’s Group Renewed in the Spirit), affiliated with Mothers’ Union. Mirna is now one of the leaders of AMARE in the Diocese of Northern Argentina, and is working to connect with other groups in dioceses across South America.

Building bridges for the future

As a younger leader, an important element of Mirna’s ministry is to be a bridge between young people and older members of the community. These two groups can often misunderstand each other, and have very different perspectives on a range of questions.

Mirna is also working with other CMS local partners, mission partners and Latin America regional manager Paul Tester to develop longstanding ministry with indigenous groups for new generations. This is especially urgent through a period of transition in leadership, as mission partners prepare to hand on their roles and some older leaders in the indigenous communities have died. On being part of the CMS team, Mirna comments, “They are part of my family in Christ. I have great hope that this ministry will continue to grow with the indigenous peoples for Christ.”

Related stories

Get our email newsletter:

Sign up

The post Mirna’s on a mission appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

We’re excited to be launching a new magazine (and a new website!) as part of our renewed vision: “We long to see our world made new through the love of God as we follow Jesus to the edges.”

Just as we have been on a journey of discerning God’s call on CMS at this time, we invite you to join us on that journey now – to rediscover the adventure of God’s mission together.

New life is coming

I hope you are as inspired as I am by the stories you will read – stories of God at work and lives changed as CMS people in mission follow Jesus in their contexts.

From a Syrian woman finding faith in Lebanon after encountering “the love of Jesus and the kindness of some of his followers”, to Jay Lilley discovering through a boxing community set up by a CMS pioneer student in Essex that “his kind of people” do go to church.

New strapline

Our new strapline captures the heart of what we feel called to as an organisation: With Jesus. With each other. To the edges.

Just as Jesus spent time with people at the edges, those who were often avoided, we are called to connect with people at the edges: of church, of society or of our comfort zones. That’s where we are most likely to experience God at work!

Two of our mission directors, Andy Roberts and Jonny Baker, explore more about those edges and why they are encouraged by life there.

Going together

As we follow Jesus, we know our call is to join in however we can, knowing that wherever we go, Jesus is with us. And we do that as part of a family of Jesus-followers, listening to and learning from each other. Mission partner Alison Giblett shares why she chose to stay in Ukraine with her community (including CMS local partners Valery and Anya) as war broke out – alongside them doing whatever she can, with Jesus, to serve those around them.

I’m also thrilled that you can get to know Joan Busolo, our new regional manager in Africa (page 16). Joan is one of those people joining in with what God is doing through CMS, and we’re delighted she is part of the team, bringing a new voice and a new perspective.

Thank you for being with us on this journey – for your prayers, for your giving and for the many other ways in which you join in with God’s mission.

Related posts

Get our email newsletter:

SIGN UP

The post Join us on the adventure of God’s mission appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Tamar Dawood amplifies voices in the Arab world that are not often heard, helping people tell their stories of faith through short, powerful films.

As told to Naomi Rose Steinberg by Tamar Dawood

“I have so many stories I can share with you.”

This is one of the first things Tamar says to me as we connect over Zoom – she’s sitting in her office in Lebanon and I’m working from home in Oxford. I’m recovering from COVID-19 and feeling a bit low – I could really use some good news, so I ask Tamar to simply tell me some stories from her work among Muslim-background followers of Jesus.

ISIS intimidation

“Well let me tell you about a woman I got to know well, from Syria – one day she started to suspect that her husband had joined ISIS,” Tamar begins.

“She noticed his behaviour was changing; he quit his job, started going out in the middle of the night and one day he came back with blood on his clothes. She tried to ask him what was going on and he hit her, badly. With her young daughter watching and her son asleep in the next room. She felt she had to run away, but when she went to tell her mother, her mother took her passport and hid it.

“The woman was scared and she started to pray, in a different way than she had before: ‘If you are there, God, show me. I don’t know what to do.’ She ended up, amazingly, getting a new passport – you wouldn’t believe how difficult this is.

“She felt God had heard her, yet she still expected to be turned away at the border. When the Syrian border guard saw her and her children, he asked where her husband was. She replied that she did not know. He told her to wait and while she was waiting she prayed again. He came back and let her through. She described it to me as a miracle that she and her children were allowed to come into Lebanon.”

Journey to Jesus

Once in Lebanon, the Syrian woman soon met some people from a church and they told her about Jesus. She decided to follow him.

“Why did she do that?” I ask Tamar.

“It’s a good question. She’d been a strict Muslim, yet when she read the Qur’an she had questions. But as a woman, she was discouraged from asking questions. When she got here, someone gave her a New Testament and when she started reading about Jesus, she saw he was kind, gentle, always there to help and love the poor. When she asked questions about what she read, people were willing to answer. She was attracted to the love of Jesus. Interestingly it wasn’t a miracle that attracted her. I have many stories I can share where people believed because they saw a miracle [and indeed, Tamar shares some of these stories while we talk, and they leave me astounded] but for her, it was the love of Jesus and the kindness of some of his followers.”

I tell Tamar that in the West we seem to hear more and more about Muslim people turning to Jesus either because they witness a miracle or see him in a dream or vision. “But it seems like it must be very difficult for them to stay with faith in Christ?” I ask.

“Some do leave,” she says. “Though it’s not usually because of persecution that someone walks away from God, I don’t think. In most cases persecution makes people turn to Jesus more, love Jesus more.”

Family matters

“But you know,” she continues, “they need fellowship and they need people to journey with them, because life is hard. And I think that it should be Arab people who disciple Arab people. It’s so important to have Arab missionaries in Arab worlds. Because coming from Europe or America, you can’t really understand what it’s like living here. I’ve met well-meaning missionaries who come here and they tell people that Jesus loves them and will help and protect them. But they haven’t lived a fraction of what we experience: they have electricity, money, jobs. I am so thrilled to find churches who believe in supporting missionaries from their own origin.”

Tamar’s concern for struggling, marginalised people was kindled when she was very young. She shares that walking alongside people in their trials can leave her feeling drained or depressed. “I hear such hard stories every day and sometimes there is little we can do. I have to turn my eyes to Jesus and trust him.”

Her work involves amplifying voices in the Arab world that are not often heard, helping people tell their stories of faith through short, powerful films. The account she has shared with me of the Syrian woman is one she was particularly eager to film and share – but sadly the woman recently died from COVID-19. “Her children were orphaned, but amazingly, the woman’s mother is now here looking after them, and she has now turned to Jesus too, as have other family members because this one woman’s life was a witness and she prayed for them. And because church members visited her mother and helped her, too.”

In her film and media work with Lighthouse Arab World, Tamar, a CMS local partner, shares stories. She believes that stories of people who have faced great difficulties but still held onto Jesus can be a great encouragement for others. They certainly were for me that day we spoke on Zoom. Having travelled to the edges of faith with Tamar, I closed the conversation feeling more uplifted than I had in a while.

Related stories

Get our email newsletter:

SIGN UP

The post “If you are there God, show me”: a Syrian woman’s story appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

It seemed unthinkable, then improbable, then increasingly likely – and then on 24 February Russian forces entered Ukraine.

As the world watched, aghast, for many in the Church Mission Society community, hearts lurched, thinking about CMS people in mission in Ukraine: Alison Giblett, who has been a mission partner there since 2004, Valery Alymov, a local partner and church leader near Kyiv, and Anya Manchuliak, another local partner who grew up in Crimea and works with Valery and Alison in Kyiv.

A matter of principle

In times of crisis, CMS’s policy for mission partners is for them to seek guidance from local colleagues as to whether to stay or leave. Alison consulted Valery, who supported her desire to stay as long as she could, bearing in mind her deep connection to the country and its people forged over many years. Alison is also no stranger to local unrest – back in 2014 during the Maidan political protests she and Valery and others from their church set up a tent, offering people Bibles and prayer. She told the remarkable story of a military chief whose life was spared when a bullet struck his chest – and hit the New Testament he’d received from the team.

Yet what was unfolding now was several times more catastrophic, so why take the risk and stay?

Alison said, “I believe that God called me to serve him in Ukraine. He didn’t say only when it was easy. What right do I have to serve people in the good times if I am not willing to stand with them in the hard times?”

In the eye of the storm

Citing Mark 4, where Jesus calms a storm and the hearts of his fearful disciples, Alison added, “How can God teach us to trust him through the storm if we are not willing to go through it when necessary?” (Mark 4:35–40)

In the first days of the crisis, Alison and Anya managed to join Valery and his wife Olga on the outskirts of Kyiv, along with 40 or so members of their church; they stayed together in a farmhouse. As the violence around them grew and food, water and internet became increasingly scarce, the group moved westward and at the time of writing (mid-March) they had reached a place of relative safety.

Together at the edges

Everyone around her has had to make tough choices, Alison pointed out. She said that their church, whose name has been withheld here for security reasons, believes three foundational things:

• They are stronger together
• Their united prayer of faith can have a powerful effect
• Their continuing presence is a witness as well as resistance to evil

Alison shared, “Along with many, we are praying day and night for the war to end and specifically that attacks we hear about will not be successful. As a church community we have already been in three different locations and God has used us to intercede for each place. We prayed intensively for a village that we were in when there were attacks on both sides and bombs fell nearby. Praise God no soldier or citizen was killed.”

She added, “Everyone in our church has the free choice of whether to stay…. People have chosen depending on family commitments, personal convictions and opportunities.

“Whenever I have prayed about what I should do I have always had peace about staying, with the assurance that God is not only in control but working things together for our good.

“My desire is to stay and fulfil my part of bringing God’s will to pass here in Ukraine, however, if my presence here becomes a burden, creates an increased risk for those around me or if I am told to leave I will leave and seek to help from a distance.”

Alison, Valery and Anya, with their church family, have been receiving local hospitality and doing what they can, when they can, for others, including praying, worshipping and sharing what food they have with people in need. They continue to collect resources to help people in the present and future, as the people of Ukraine are likely to remain on the edge for quite some time.

Pray together

Our prayer is that Alison’s words can serve to remind us all that the edge is often closer than we think; may we trust God in the storm and be witnesses for the peace Jesus offers. For the latest updates from CMS, please go to churchmissionsociety.org/ukraine

Related posts

Get our email newsletter:

SIGN UP

The post Ukraine: why I chose to stay appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

A few years ago, Jay Lilley would have told you there was no way he would ever be working for a church. Yet now he is a youth worker running groups in churches and schools in Essex, and is studying with CMS on a youth work pathway. He explains what changed…

By Jay Lilley

Church under duress

I’m a working-class boy from East London. I went to church under duress when I was a kid. I had to go because my sister needed to be baptised and confirmed to go to a Catholic school. And then from about 12, I didn’t go to church anymore. The area where I grew up was not the nicest – kids ran in gangs and you could get yourself mixed up in really bad stuff.

I was a soldier for a while, then left the army and got a job that paid well and gave me a house and a car. But the company went bankrupt. I lost pretty much all I owned and was homeless for a while. Eventually I moved to be with my now wife and worked two jobs. I worked a lot and was motivated by the money more than the job.

Church across the street

We lived across the road from the Good Shepherd church, and David Harrigan (a pioneer minister who trained at CMS) was one of our neighbours. We used to say hello and have a chat in the morning. At that point, I was boxing but had an injury and wasn’t as fit as I should have been going into a fight. David said, “Well, we have this spiritual boxing community at the Good Shepherd. You should come along.”

So I went to the Good Shepherd Boxing Community, which David had started. It wasn’t to do with faith for me – I needed to be fit for a fight. I was used to a boxing gym, where you go in, you work out and you spar. It’s on your own, motivated by your trainer. But the boxing group was a community. You were going there to be with people. And it was more about the love side of it than the fighting side. For me, it was completely different.

After about four weeks, David invited me to come to church one Sunday. I’d always had this gap in my life and when I told my wife I’d been asked to go to church, she said, “Why don’t you go and check it out?”

I went and sat right at the back. When I came home I felt different, weird. I said to my wife, “I’ve got a feeling this thing I’m missing is a spiritual connection.” But I didn’t go for a few weeks because it scared me. Then I saw David on the school run, and he encouraged me to come back to the boxing group.

I started going to church more. The people at the Good Shepherd were from the boxing community and lived in the same flats as me. They were my kind of people. I just didn’t know my kind of people went to church.

Boxing baptisms

The community is more than just boxing. We come together from the same kind of backgrounds. We talk, eat together, share stories and pray together. These guys, like me, have not been around church, probably ever. Or if they did, there weren’t good memories. So to see them ready to be baptised and give their lives to Jesus was incredible.

When five of the guys were baptised, David transformed our church – he put ropes around the pillars and turned the middle of the church into a boxing ring with the pool in it. It was like a boxing event, but with a baptism. It was amazing.

The church did an Alpha course, which David said might be good because I had questions. After that finished, our group said, “We’re not done yet.” So David started a new community, which was where I reaffirmed my faith. It is called Soyanna, a Sri Lankan word meaning the way, or journey or path (named because one of our group is from Sri Lanka). My children got baptised a few years ago, so did my wife. And their godparents are part of the Soyanna community. It’s a big part of our lives and it’s been a big part of my journey.

Finding vocation

Having been mixed up in bad things when I was younger, once I came to faith I wanted to give back to someone. And one Sunday the youth worker explained, “We have an outreach group where the leaders have left because the group are unruly. We’re looking for people to sign up.” So I joined the team. And the second I got there, I finally felt some peace in doing something as a vocation.

When the youth worker moved, the church offered me the role. And David introduced me to Graceworks, an organisation who do Christian schools work and support churches in my area. They were looking for a schools worker, and even though I’m not churchy and I’m a bit on the edge, they hired me.

Appetite for learning

I was already part of St Cedd’s [pioneer ministry training hub] in partnership with CMS, but I wanted more depth. David suggested I get in touch with CMS. I was accepted, so I’m studying for the Certificate on the youth work pathway, and preparing to be a lay pioneer minister.

I hadn’t done any learning since I was about 16, so it’s taken a while to learn how to write essays. My search for knowledge is much bigger now, I’m reading more than I’ve ever read. At the moment I’m doing my youth module with another person from Australia. Our tutor also does youth work, so it is great to learn from him.

Putting learning into practice

I try to do as much stuff I learn from CMS as I can. And it’s because CMS and especially pioneering is so relational. I think that when you look at the church, young people are not usually interested, but the idea I’ve taken from CMS is that being relational and being something different is what young people are looking for. It’s helped me loads within my ministries.

The boxing community is still going and growing, though I don’t go as much as I used to because of my workload. Soyanna is ever growing. My youth work is ever growing. And that’s basically my life at the moment, which is so amazing!

Take part

Do you have a passion for mission but feel that, like Jay, you’re “a bit on the edge”? Check out CMS Pioneer Mission Leadership Training – available in person and online.

Visit CMS pioneer training website

Related stories

Get our email updates:

SIGN UP

The post Giving faith a fighting chance appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Joan Busolo joined the CMS staff team at the beginning of this year to help shape CMS’s work in Africa. Based in Nairobi, Joan brings a wealth of experience from throughout East Africa and is excited to serve and worship God through this role. Here, Joan shares some of her story, how she came to CMS and her dreams for mission in Africa.

By Joan Watsulu Busolo

Let me start by saying that Jesus found me. I had been in church but was just going through the routine of religion without ever really thinking about it. I took part in everything. I was a leader. I had been assigned all manner of responsibility. But the confession had not come through my lips to say, “Yes, this Christ I want, and yes, he died on the cross for me.”

Finding Jesus and wanting more

And then, from a very unlikely source, someone spoke to me about Christ. And I realised that all along, the Spirit of God had been beckoning. This was about six years ago. I received Christ as Lord and Saviour, and every day since then I have been partnering with the Spirit of God, growing in the person that he created me to be, learning to love him, learning to read the Word and live it.

After I was saved, I began to feel I no longer just wanted to work. I wanted to do work that would glorify God. I had spent time looking at different types of Christian organisations, including CMS. When I saw CMS’s advert for the position of regional manager in Africa, I actually could not believe my eyes.

An interpreter on the ground

With my role in Africa, we are speaking to the owners of the challenges, the owners of the problems, the very people who desperately want to see change. The team in the UK is well-resourced, well-seasoned, well-prepared to impact the world. When you combine that with African-context leadership – people who understand the context, who know the terrain, who understand what the problems are – and have Christ at the centre of that partnership, that will have a mighty impact.

Being part of the local culture means you can see superstition as it is, see culture as it is, see poverty just as it is. You can empathise with people and interpret facial expressions and body language. If you’re part of the local culture, sometimes even without talking to someone, you just can see and feel that this person is resigned to whatever it is, that this person is desperate. I think that helps build a very good foundation on which to work together.

Part of the bigger CMS story

People have done great things in CMS, and I’m asking, “What is it that God wants me to do to bring change, and to be a part of the wider CMS legacy?” This question gives me very mixed feelings, ranging from excitement to almost even anxiety! God has given me an opportunity to partner with CMS to bring Jesus to the edges, to people who have not experienced the love of Christ, people who are resigned to whatever it is that troubles them. But not quietly, not submissively; I envision a real firelighting, real transformation in the people.

Renewed mindsets, transformed communities

Changing mindsets is the key to real change, and I think one of the main challenges facing mission in Africa is that people’s mindsets are not changed easily. People might have lived believing, for instance, that they are not favoured. They might have lived believing that if God was God, they wouldn’t be going through what they’re going through.

These ideas take time to change. One thing I’m looking at is mindset change at leadership level and within churches, because I know from my own experience that being in a church, even in a leadership position, doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re living in accordance with God’s will. And I know that my story is just one example – many, many other people may be in the exact same position, so to me, changing mindsets is key.

One thing I’d really love to see is for the Church in Africa to join together across denominations, to realise that regardless of which church we go to, together we are the bride of Christ. I would love to see us get to a point where Presbyterian, Catholic, Anglican, are just able to come together to see the love of Jesus here. That is something I pray about constantly. And of course, when that happens, then it also means that naturally, the impact will be there. Those sad-looking faces will begin to smile. That hopelessness will be turned into hope. That is what I envision.

Pray together

As Joan takes on this role, pray for her and that her vision of changed mindsets and hopelessness turned into hope through Jesus will become a reality.

Related posts

Get our email newsletter:

SIGN UP

The post Seeking a mighty impact with Christ at the centre appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

When we talk about CMS and mission at the edges, what does that mean? Is this different for global and UK mission? Naomi Rose Steinberg spoke to CMS mission directors Andy Roberts (international mission) and Jonny Baker (Britain mission) to get some answers.

Naomi: How have you each personally felt called to the edges in mission?

Andy: I kind of stumbled to the edges. When I was 16, I went on short-term mission to Croatia to help Bosnian refugees. And then going to Brazil, to a place of extreme poverty, working with street kids, based in a church literally on a rubbish dump… God made it clear that I was supposed to give my life at the time to people on the edges. And now I find myself helping lead CMS into the edges internationally.

Jonny: I’ve always enjoyed the adventure of thinking about how Christ connects with people beyond the reach of traditional church. I am still involved in that but if I had to summarise my sense of vocation at the moment, I would say I’m called to be an advocate for pioneers. I love people who want to be with people at the edges and I think I’m good at encouraging them.

Naomi: CMS and the edges: why now and why us?

Jonny: Well in a nutshell, Jesus. Former CMS general secretary John Taylor talks about how Jesus was loved by outsiders, fringe-dwellers. The community I’m part of are reading Rowan Williams’s book Being Disciples. He says, “Being where Jesus is means being in the company of the people whose company Jesus seeks and keeps. Jesus chooses the company of the excluded, the disreputable, the wretched, the self-hating, the diseased; so that is where you are going to find yourself. If you are going to be where Jesus is, if your discipleship is not intermittent but a way of being, you will find yourself in the same sort of human company as he is in.”

So for me, that’s why the edges: because Jesus couldn’t resist them.

Andy: And that’s why CMS started: to send people to the edges. CMS has done amazing work down the years and it’s gotten hugely varied, which is good, yet it is also good to re-examine our calling. So over the past two years we’ve gone through this refounding journey, which has led us back to remembering that CMS is all about being at those edges.

Jonny: I definitely feel that CMS at its best has followed Jesus to new spaces.

Naomi: So we go to the edges and then what? What should we be doing there, or not doing there?

Jonny: Watching pioneers, they tend to build community and friendships, learning as much as possible. And through this togetherness, faith is shared and good things happen. Hopefully new disciples grow, but we get changed as well. Sometimes it’s tempting to talk about “unreached people” and “we’ll go over and do something to them so that they can become something else”. That language is uncomfortable and it’s not what happens. I think things go better when you sense that Jesus is at the edges, you go and join in with what’s happening, and you find that God is at work in people’s lives and they get changed and you get changed. You have something to offer in that space. But it’s not the story of, “right, there’s these poor people over there, let’s go to the edge and sort them out.”

Andy: Building on this, I come from the South American Mission Society (SAMS) which later joined with CMS. SAMS has had a rich history, working with indigenous people in South America, and you could say that’s a real edge: they are marginalised, suffering huge injustices. But missionaries over decades have gone into those spaces and found exactly what Jonny says. You don’t find helpless people waiting for outside help. You find people who are already doing a lot of things and have a lot to teach those who come to them. It’s a holy exchange of gifts.

Naomi: So can you actually define what an edge is?

Andy: We can talk about the edges as being the edges of society, those who are marginalised, or the edges of our comfort zones. I would also say that the edge is where the church is minimal or marginal, where it’s difficult to be a Christian.

Naomi: Jonny, is it hard to be a follower of Jesus in the UK?

Jonny: Stefan Paas talks about it being hard ground, and my African friends are often shocked at how hostile the UK is about people of faith compared to Africa. In some ways it can be a tough place to follow the way of Christ.

Andy: I’d echo that from my experience in Latin America; it’s difficult in the UK for sure.

Jonny: For me, the critical thing is how you discern what God is calling us to. Andy’s challenge in terms of CMS’s international work is, how do we know what those spaces and places are where God is calling us to contribute? And can we discern that together?

The UK is definitely a place where CMS has weighed that up; there was a members’ vote in 1979, where it was prayerfully discerned that, yes, God is calling us to participate in UK mission, where vast numbers of people are never going to hear the story of Christ through expecting them to come to church.

Naomi: Do people need to be pushed to the edges? Or should this work be for those who are innately called?

Jonny: I found Rowan Williams’s words (above) hugely challenging: if you want to be with Jesus, you need to keep the company of those that Jesus keeps. So we need to intentionally go to the edges for the sake of our own faith and discipleship.

Naomi: So if people go to the edges it will fuel their faith?

Andy: I’ve found that to be true. In going to fairly risky places, I discovered life there, I discovered God was moving in ways I’d never experienced.

Jonny: Spending time with pioneers, your faith comes alive in those spaces.

Andy: Going to the edges can make you vulnerable. Vulnerable to failure, doubts, all sorts of things. And that’s how faith gets fuelled – making yourself vulnerable to others and to God and then hoping God will work and you know any success hasn’t come from you; it’s come from God.

Take part

Do you feel called to invite people at the edges to be part of God’s story? Contact vro@churchmissionsociety.org for international opportunities or visit CMS Pioneer Mission Leadership Training.

Related posts

Get our email newsletter:

SIGN UP

The post Stumbling towards the edges appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

More than 180,000 refugees have entered Romania from Ukraine since the war began, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration. Three-quarters of these have already gone on to other countries in Europe, or the US. But those who remain need assistance.

By Sergiu Brădean

We are doing what we can to help people both here in Constanta and closer to the border with Ukraine. People who need to stay for a week or two in Romania until they figure out what to do, and people who have nowhere to go, don’t have money and need to stay at least until the war is over.

Offering welcome

In Constanta we have prepared accommodation with meals for a few days (after which people tend to want to cook for themselves) with our church family. There are four families able to receive refugees. We also have a one-bedroom apartment that the owner has said we can use if we pay for the utilities.

At the church we have set up four rooms to offer a place to stay for between eight and 10 people (more if some are young children), as well as installing a boiler for hot water. We are currently waiting for mattresses to be delivered to set up another, larger room in the attic for another 10 people. Three young women with toddlers, a mother with 19-year-old twins, her daughter-in-law and four-year-old granddaughter are staying at the church at the moment, and they hope to stay until the war is over.

A team of women from the church have made themselves available to cook in the church kitchen. Another team go shopping (and take those staying with us shopping at our expense), while a third group are ready to offer transport.

Close to the border

We’ve also been helping other churches closer to the border with Ukraine to accommodate refugees arriving there and support local authorities. We’re sending food and supplies to two Baptist churches and are in contact with the director of Christian camp. We’ve been helping local authorities with supplies for the shelters where they receive refugees who need official documents, or who have applied for asylum. We’re also helping with transport for refugees from border towns to Constanta and Bucharest.

Choosing to stay

There are also a lot of people in need of support who have chosen not to leave Ukraine, and we’re trying to support churches helping them. On 6 March we had an offering in our church and raised about £500. We’ve been trying to get supplies too, and along with other churches and NGOs we hope to be able to send aid to Ukraine – one church will come by car to pick up supplies from us on their way.

Related posts

Get our email newsletter:

SIGN UP

The post “We are doing what we can” appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).