Church Mission Society (CMS)

Look out for us in your newspaper!

If you're a reader of the Church Times or Church of England Newspaper, then make sure you don't miss our superb centre section in this week's issue of both papers.

It paints a great picture of how God is using the CMS community worldwide to make disciples, resource leaders and transform communities... in short SHARING JESUS, CHANGING LIVES.

If you don't subscribe to either paper and you can't get to a newsagent, you can always browse it online:

Philippines update from Jigsaw Kids Ministries

Thanks to the response from CMS supporters to Jigsaw's needs in flood-hit Manila, CMS was able to send a grant of £3,000 to help with their emergency work, adding to the "amazing response" from supporters and churches up and down the country that Jigsaw reports.

Tim Lee, CMS mission partner who founded Jigsaw Kids Ministries, is in regular touch and gives us this update:

"The situation in so much of the Philippines, especially urban poor areas of Manila, is terrible and almost every day more problems arise from the aftermath of the typhoon.

"One of Jigsaw's great strengths is that its centres are set in such central locations - at the heart of the squatter and slum areas, this means that response to such crises can be almost immediate.

"Alongside this, the fact that Jigsaw is being run and led by local people in these areas means Jigsaw's response cannot only be fast but completely relevant to needs.

"Jigsaw distributed over 150 emergency family packages to those most devastated. Our social worker wrote that the reaction of the families was incredible. The families couldn’t believe that the packages contained EXACTLY what they really needed at this desperate time - a bed mat, two blankets, a small charcoal cooker, cooking pots, spoons and knives."

Many had been given rice and lentils but had no cooker to cook with or pots to cook in.

"The packages were so focussed in their content in relationship to the needs of the people because the plans for the contents of the packages were developed by slum and squatter peoples themselves who work in Jigsaw.

"Jigsaw is developing as a wonderful work of God but it is still only small help in relationship to the magnitude and devastation of the problems being faced.

"All at Jigsaw Philippines and all those being helped by Jigsaw and myself want to say a huge thank you to all at CMS; it will be wonderful to see how this goes. It’s amazing how God provides so faithfully for his work."

A portion of the funds given to Jigsaw will be passed on to the Philippine Children's Network. "Jigsaw is an active member of this network and they are coordinating along with us and other members to give emergency aid and support to children in the worst affected areas. This enables Jigsaw to help children outside of the areas in which we normally work," says Tim.

Small. Missional. Community. The way forward?

There's a lot of jargon talked in the mission world. 

Some of our astute CMS members were picking our directors up on it at the Members' Day last Saturday at the Oxford centre. 

Many of the words in regular use in essays on mission find Microsoft Word trying to correct their strange spelling with a red squiggly line.

One such is missional – yes, it even gets picked up by the spellchecker on this blog – a word that's been brought in as an adjective to displace the tainted "missionary". And you can see why. A "missionary life" (grab your pith helmet and set sail) sounds very different from a "missional life" - an ordinary lifestyle with mission spirituality making it tick.

CMS is increasingly putting this word together with "community" and "small" as one key way we believe mission-shaped Christians can make an impact for the good of all.

But what on earth is a 'small missional community' and what's the difference between that and my local church?

Well, our partner Fresh Expressions has a helpful post this week from Johnny Sertin (above), who leads one such missional community in Earlsfield, south-west London (and who co-leads the Make Believe course sponsored by CMS). 

It's great to hear how, in practice, this can be a sustaining and hopeful way of life, fully linked in with the local church, and without members having to live together in the same house.

"As we have looked at embracing a mission spirituality," writes Johnny, "we have landed on two things that are the essence of Jesus’ own ministry. Though seemingly simple they have been profound in our own story. Jesus was committed to eating together with others, and healing people." Read the full article to find out how this works out in practice.

If you're interested in finding out more about small missional communities then Ian Adams, CMS missional community developer, would love to hear from you.

UPDATE Ian Adams's conversation on small missional communities at Greenbelt 2009 is now available online: Start a community - change the world.

Understanding Islam: people first

Published on the Guardian's Comment is free today is a very helpful article by Graham Kings, a former CMS mission partner and now Bishop of Sherborne.

All week on Cif belief people have been answering the question, "What is the future for Anglican conservatives?" with relation to attitudes to Islam as well as the sexuality debate.

Bishop Graham offers a brief survey of how CMS's thinking in particular evolved, that can be summed up in his title "People must come first".

Highlighting a new series of articles by current mission partner Richard Sudworth on Fulcrum, analysing Anglican engagement with Islam, Bishop Graham also draws attention to a CMS great Temple Gairdner, and it's your blogger's favourite section:

"Sudworth is following in the tradition of an earlier CMS mission partner, Temple Gairdner (pictured) who died in 1928. Constance Padwick, in her Temple Gairdner of Cairo (SPCK, 1929), records the perceptive comment of Yusef Effendi Tadras: ‘Other teachers taught us how to refute Islam; he taught us how to love Muslims’.

"Implicit in this remarkable saying are four contrasts: Gairdner’s approach was more positive than negative; it was concerned with people more than with systems; it involved love rather than attacks; and it was effected by example rather than by theory."

Read the full article here.

Missing Japan

Occasionally people who pray with CMS write in and share something of their own story – and it’s like opening a curtain to reveal a window you didn’t know was there.

From Seattle, the Rev Timothy Nakayama emailed with a gentle plea not to forget Japan in our PrayerSpace email bulletin that he and his wife Keiko use every week.

He enjoys telling people how he and Keiko met for the first time 11 days before they got married.

It was 1961, in Canada, where Timothy was born and raised, and Keiko had come from Japan to marry him. “It was an ‘arranged’ marriage,” he explains; “we were introduced to each other by a Canadian missionary.” They had, though, “become somewhat acquainted” as pen pals ahead of time.

Five years later they were sent as missionaries – to Seattle, to work among Japanese Americans. They carried this work on till retirement, when another adventure beckoned and they moved to Japan for seven years to pastor an English-language congregation in Okinawa.

They are heading back in September, for the 150th anniversary celebrations of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai, the Anglican Church in Japan.

But while working in Okinawa, Timothy learned of another fascinating character in mission history – a Church of England medical missionary who had arrived in 1846, 16 years before the first missionaries from the USA, whose arrival is deemed to mark the birth of the NSKK.

Bernard John Bettelheim was a Hungarian Jew, who trained as a rabbi before becoming a Christian through two Anglican priests he met in Turkey. He was learning Arabic there – one of the 25 languages he learned during his lifetime!

Although he wanted to work in the Holy Land among fellow Jews, he found himself sent by a naval mission to Okinawa in 1846, his wife giving birth to their first child during the voyage.

“With his particular insights into the Hebrew Scriptures, and the Greek New Testament, he prepared translated portions of the Bible in Japanese and the Okinawan dialects to which he was exposed, to aid him in presenting the Christian message in the face of persecution,” says Timothy.

It was forbidden for foreigners to live in Japan at this time, and the local government in Okinawa was certainly unhappy about Bettelheim’s presence.

Nevertheless, says Timothy, “they stayed for eight years until 1854, dispensing Western medicine, and preaching the Gospel. Not only did they offer salvation through faith in Our Lord, but he healed many from death by cholera by instructing people to drink clean water.”

So it’s amazing what you can learn just from being on the end of an email.

Timothy was kind enough to say what that means to him:

“Because of our racial and ethnic background and work in the Church in diverse circumstances, we have been alert to mission opportunities throughout our ministry, and are thankful that you provide us with a glimpse of the world that God loves so much that he gave us His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour, Redeemer, and Friend.”

And we thank you, Timothy, for another glimpse of that world from a different angle.

CMS, Greenbelt and Gene Robinson

An article has appeared on Anglican Mainstream which may concern some. To allay any confusion, CMS offers a few points of clarification. You can, if you wish, read them here.

BBC World Service on dangerous mission

A fascinating edition of Heart and Soul, the BBC World Service religion programme, talking to some undercover missionaries in the Muslim-majority world.

It features a contribution from Mark Oxbrow, CMS member and Faith2Share network coordinator, speaking up for an open and honest approach.

Thanks to the wonders of this 'ere Internet, you no longer have to be clutching a short-wave radio to tune in but can listen again here:

BBC World Service - Programmes - Heart and Soul.

Archbishop calls for action on sustainable Sudan peace

The Archbishop of Canterbury issued a statement today backing a day of action for Sudan and called on all parties to commit to working for "measurable results as soon as possible".

The slow implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement threatened long-term peace, he said, and that peace in Darfur was tied up with it.

"It is understandable and right that the continuing horrors of Darfur attract international attention. But we need to recognize that unless the commitments around the CPA are honoured there is no chance of settling the conflict in Darfur."

You can read the full statement on the ABC's website.

A legacy of education

The legacy of early CMS education work is being celebrated in two West African countries as two pioneering schools celebrate major anniversaries this month.

Annie Walsh School in Freetown, Sierra Leone, is 160 years old, and the CMS Grammar School in Lagos, Nigeria, is marking its 150th anniversary.

Annie Walsh, a girls' high school that was the first educational institution in West Africa founded for young black women, launched a book, Builders, celebrating their story.

"The Annie Walsh School has produced some of the greatest women in Sierra Leone and West Africa," said Sierra Leone's Awareness Times. "They are also noted for being trail blazers or embarking on singular careers. The example of Jemina Cox-George who remained the only female land surveyor in the history of West Africa is notable. The First Lady of Sierra Leone, Sia Koroma, is the school’s current pride."

Meanwhile, Nigeria's The Guardian notes that the CMS Grammar School in Lagos is "older than Nigeria". "When it was founded by the CMS in 1859, Nigeria had not yet become a British dependency. Secondly, the school was the product of a private effort by the CMS of the Anglican Church in England, and not the colonial government. In fact, it was not until 1909...that the first state secondary school, the King's College, Lagos, was founded, by the British colonial administration."

Of course, there's also a book to go with this anniversary, telling the story of Nigeria's first secondary school. And there are more pictures of the grammar school in Lagos from a 2007 visit on the CMS site.

CMS youth team conquer three peaks

Many charities have a big old hill to climb in these tough financial times.

The CMS youth and children's team stepped up to the mark on Saturday as they took on the Three Yorkshire Peaks Challenge to raise funds for CMS youth work in the UK.

The team walked their socks off - starting at 5.30am - and have so far raised £1,200 in sponsorship, that will help them to deliver more impressive programmes like this year's World To Rights, a schools theatre tour about children's rights.

Congratulations to Anita, Mike and Dave along with three faithful friends Louise, Merlin and Andy, who conquered the summits of Pen-y-ghent (2,276 feet), Whernside (2,415 feet) and Ingleborough (2,372 feet) on a 24.5 mile route that took in over 5,000 feet of climbing!

There's still time to sponsor them at their Just Giving page. And listen to the full story on the team's excellent monthly podcast trax16.