Saving the world with a click

I don't know about you but I have my doubts about those constant requests to go on line and sign a petition. Three clicks of my mouse and the world gets saved! How powerful am I? Friends send me links so I can save a nature reserve from motorway invasion, a country from civil war and a child from starvation - just enter my name and click, and then you can return to the comfort of life in Oxford. I take the requests from organisations like Avaaz somewhat more seriously but even they tend to flood my in box. Well three weeks ago a friend sent me one of those links - Tony, a ten year old from Congo about to be deported from the UK, held in prison in the Congo when he was only six, a popular pupil at his school in Didsbury - an obvious threat to UK security? Today I heard that only 2,100 of us clicked on that petition but it worked - Jacqui Smith (or more likely here staff at the Home Office) have given Tony and his mum (pictured) indefinite rights to remain in the UK.

Is my belief in democracy restored? Will I be able to ignore any of these requests in the future? And what about the ethics of sitting comfortably at my computer, drinking good coffee, and clicking my mouse to save Congolese children, whales, or even Wales?

Civilised flying

Like many who spend too much of their time travelling, the novelty of airports and aircraft wore off years ago. In fact I find it hard to think of a more inconvenient place to be than an airport lounge or an economy seat at 30,000ft. This said I was delighted to find this sign when travelling in China a couple of years ago. If only the reality had matched up to the promise. I was reminded of this photo today whilst talking with the person who runs the 'China desk' at Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. (Here it is Lawrence!) Perhaps after Easter it is a good reminder that the Christian faith has often been seen as bringing a 'civilising' influence into societies, although I would prefer 'humanising' (in the full Christological sense). As an 'expert' on airport endurance perhaps I ought to devote my next years of ministry to evangelising airports and making them 'God friendly spaces' - 'civilized airports'?

Leadership and power - Nigeria and Britain

I connected with two great guys yesterday who I used to work with in the '80s. Ken is now Bishop on the Niger (Nigeria) where he has a couple of years left to serve before retirement. He is also chair of the Church of Nigeria Missionary Society (part of Faith2Share) so we had business to do. The more interesting part of the conversation however was about leadership in a Nigerian culture. Ken has a great vision for the real potential of lay leadership in the church in Nigeria, but (outside his own diocese where he is 'king') constantly comes up against rampant clericalism. He as a Nigerian and I as a Brit. were trying to analyse how much of that style of leadership - bishop/knight/chief - is cultural (and perhaps even appropriate) and how much is simply human power games. No answers but a good discussion.

Then in the evening Bob rang. He was Dean (big boss) of a cathedral in the UK and at Christmas decided to step down from all that and find a humbler way to serve. Risky - he doesn't have a job yet - but a great witness to those who see promotion and titles as the ultimate objective!

A good Coptic read

It's amazing what you can discover on the internet whilst looking for something else. A search for a particular order for Christian women in Russia once brought me a very unexpected offer from some other Russian women ... let's not go there! Well today I stumbled over the fact that the Coptic Orthodox community in Australia have been very busy putting hundreds of Coptic books on the web in English. Pope Shenouda seems to be going for a world record in books written, but there are a lot of other interestings things there, including children's books. If you are interested in one of the oldest surviving Christian traditions take a look at http://www.coepa.org/index.php

Make disciples and ... No 'and'!

From time to time I get asked to peer-review an article or a book that a colleague has written, pre-publication, so they can feel a little more confident sending it in to the editor. Normally its a task a hate because either the article is very boring, or its so cleaver I don't understand it, or its really bad and I don't know what I can say without causing my friend major psychological distress. It's like saying, "your baby is so ugly"! But today life was different. Well I suppose it is Easter week so we should expect that. An Indonesian colleague sent me a small book he has written. It's full of good stuff. I'll plug it here when he gets it off the press. Here are two quotes - I hope that's OK, BB?

"The dynamic community of Ecclesia [church] of Jesus Christ powerfully operates in advancing the Kingdom of God every single day. ... Unfortunately this non-stop transformation has, in many parts of the world, been reconfigured into a single event on Sunday."

" Jesus did not command the Ecclesia to 'engage in making disciples and also to care for the poor'; or to 'make disciples and to care for the creation'; or to 'make disciples and to engage in the public square.' This is because making disciples includes all of those."

Christ in Bang-Wizzen

I rode on the back of a motorbike through the dark street of a small town in India many years ago. It was Dewali and firecrackers jumped out at us from every angle. Excited children raced through the alleys and grown men wore grins as they sent jumping jacks sparking after their neighbours. Hindus were having fun with their gods. Last night I was in the church where I grew up as a teenager. In all solemnity we recalled creation, flood, exodus, and prophetic promise and then all heaven broke loose – not just Alleluias and bells, not just cymbals and tambourines, but fireworks! Not just sparklers (we had those) but proper big wizzy, banging fireworks.

Christ is risen, he is risen indeed.

If Christ be risen (he is!), then fireworks are only the start! There’s a lot more fun to come, and not just childish fun but real grown up fun, world changing fun, live giving fun, fun beyond measure and out of control. Christ is risen, let the party begin.

Digging

I always feel I should dig on Holy Saturday, dig good dark earth, not just with the spade but with my hands. I need to feel the soil, smell its goodness, see its darkness. On this liminal day, the between time, when flesh has been taken down from cross and lies resting in the cool of the earth, when there is no hint of a future, I need to return to the earth. This life-giving earth in which we plant the bodies of those we love somehow draws me. In L’Aquila today they planted 228 new bodies in their garden – children and strong men, women and grandmothers. What hope on this day?

I dig to be close to that dark cruel earth, and that darkness, to discover something warm, some hint of life to come.

Dig for victory?

Dig is desperation (like those who search for earthquake victims?

Dig simply because it takes my mind of darker things (like Peter fishing)?

Dig ……. daring to find what I dare not hope for.

It rained

As a walked to church it rained - it really rained! And I hated the rain. The church was welcoming enough, my church, my people, my space, space to be quiet on Good Friday. And then he came and sat next to me. I did not notice it as first, at first he was just an unfamiliar disciple. But the stench was undeniable, unremitting, making every moment of my quiet reflection uncomfortable, regretted. Could I not have prayed at home? Then it struck me, and it hurt. Jesus, to whom he was also a stranger, died for him, this man sitting quietly next to me. While I wanted to run away from an excess of stale alcohol, Jesus died. For a friend, one might die, for a young women with potential and her life in front of her, yes perhaps, but ........

Jesus did!

We left church together and the rain was ligher then.

Confused over China

Tomorrow, 9 April, as many of us around the world recall the arrest of Jesus of Nazareth and his subsequent trial before Herod, the people and Pilot, Shi Weihan (right) will face the People’s Court of Haidan District, Beijing, China. Shi is just the last of a whole chain of Christian leaders in China to find themselves in court - his crime, the printing of Christian books without government permissions. I will be praying for Shi's release (he has been in prison since March last year) while I share a 'last supper' with my friends in Cowley, but I will also be wrestling with confusion. Visiting China two years ago I began to understand how important this nation is for us all. Not only is every fifth person in the world Chinese, and their economy one of the strongest, but it is a melting pot of creative religious debate in which Christians are increasingly playing their part. As one Christian stands trial, another is advising Party officials, and a third is having a serious impact on the intellectual community in the universities. Persecution and prophetic leadership are all there, confused, and yet vibrant. The disciples were somewhat confused on that evening in Gethsemene but they were also the 'future' - the ones to be watched. China? I know which nation I'm watching, and its not the US!

Pope Viewing

As a bookoholic with little prospect of finding a cure I am often sent tempting offers from a number of internet booksellers. Today's range of tempting offers included "What to wear to see the pope". Looking at the book's cover I wondered whether they had checked my gender before mailing me! Apparently, its a novel about a neurotic Belgian Catholic whose neuroses over the details of life threaten to destroy the really important - like her husband and family. I have no intention of reading the book so the rest must remain mystery, but it did give me a good reminder mid-way through Holy Week that there are greater things to think about than catching up with the washing and making sure I have some fuel in the car. Christians are good at neurosis (don't talk to me about keeping the hymn books straight!) but are we just as good at the world transforming? Like a God who died? And? (Oh, if you need the book, its going on Amazon for £1)

Palm Sunday

The procession was long and excited, snaking its way up the hill until, reaching the 1,900ft. summit of Hartside Pass we saw the sparkling hills of Lakeland – Ullswater reflecting the afternoon sun. The procession was colourful, noisy and fired up with adrenalin. Bent forward in the saddle, the driver of the bike that had hugged the back of my car on the last bent, let out the throttle and with a flash of blue in my peripheral vision he was gone. The other procession was very different – eleven of us huddled in coats walked all 120 meters from the Market Cross to St. Augustine’s. A shot of adrenalin here might have helped the hymn we sang on our way, between caught breaths – even the slight incline is a struggle for us older folk. Reaching the relative calm of the M6 this afternoon I found myself reflecting on my two processions of Palm Sunday. I was tempted to see Christ in the saddle of a BMW, wind in hair (no crash helmets in AD30!) and to dismiss the ‘remnant’ of Alston parish and our half hearted waving of palms. But that’s too easy. All those years ago Jesus entered the city on festival day with excited crowds, adrenalin and noise, but his closest attention was Thomas and Judas, Bartholomew and James – a small band struggling to understand. Hey, I’m glad I joined both processions today.

Story, Discourse and Narrative

Yesterday I went to listen to Enos Das Pradhan, General Secretary of the Church of North India talking about the recent violent attacks on Christians in India. It was all rather depressing and conducive of that 'but what the heck can we do about it?' feeling. Conflict is something I would rather run away from, but as reconciliation is so central of the Christian hope, I know I can't just do that. The day was saved for me by a young Indian academic, Mr. Brainerd Prince, who spoke afterwards. He was suggesting that the way into dealing with communal violence is to begin with its ideological roots and to understand the dynamic of story-discourse-narrative. In every situation, especially where there is conflict the story that is told (what happened) is always embellished with the discourse I add to explain why it happened like that and the two together become the accepted (or disputed) narrative. The clue is to realise that our discourse is always informed by ideology. The way into conflict resolution is to try to separate out story (facts) from discourse (interpretation) and then to negotiate discourse independently from story. Sounds great - now all I need is to get into a conflict so I can try it out! Thanks, Brainerd.

Hong Kong joins the party

I woke up to good news this morning. The network of international mission agencies that I look after, Faith2Share, had just gained a new member. For some time I have felt the lack of Christians from East Asia in our network. We already have two agencies, with about 1500 mission workers between them, in India (those Indians know how to do mission!) but East Asians have a distinct contribution to make. Now a great agency based in Hong Kong and working in around 25 countries in Asia has joined us - Asian Outreach International. Their director (well, 'President' actually), Francis Tsui, is already becoming a friend and so great times are ahead - perhaps even a visit to Hong Kong?

Missionary Diocese?

Tonight I took the risk of cooking Indian food for an Indian! - it seemed to work. My dinner guest was Revd Moses Jayakumar the General Secretary of the Church of South India (CSI). Quite a breath of fresh air after the last holder of that post (let the reader understand!). After we had survived the Anglo-Indian curry I was quizing Moses (what a great name!) about how members of CSI churches join mission agencies in India. Two of them are members of our Faith2Share network - hence my interest. What took me completely by surprise was his reply that whilst many do join agencies like Friends Missionary Prayer Band and Indian Evangelical Mission many Indian dioceses send out their own missionaries. I knew that, but what I didn't know was that several send over 400 or more each! Apparently South Kerala and Tirunelveli dioceses have missionaries in almost every state of India and beyond. Wake up Wakefield (the Church of England's so-called 'Missionary Diocese') - that's what you call 'mission shaped diocese'!

Nepal comes alive in Penge

Thank you to the family at St. John the Evangelist, Penge, for a great morning - and lunch! The children (in their crazy hats, above) reminded us of the growth of the church in Nepal, out of suffering, as well a their current sending of mission workers to so many other countries. Kids, I hope you like your picture!

Soros on Storms

It was encouraging today to hear George Soros, he of a few pence, reminding us that those who will suffer most from the current economic storm are not those who started the storm, but rather the poorest occupants of our planet who don't even know what a sub-prime mortgage or a government bond might be. It reminded me of the butterfly which is supposed to flap its wings in Malaysia and cause a hurrican in Mexico. As world leaders go into their G20 meetings this week Soros' reminder of who bears the brunt of a global economic storm is well timed. Bob, a friend of mine prompted a similar thought in my mind as we looked at Mark 4:35-41 together this afternoon. I must have read that story of Jesus ending the storm (a real one, not an economic one) a hundred times before but I never noticed before that "there were also other boats with him". Bob's thought was, "What did the people in the other boats think when the storm suddenly finished?" Sometimes God (in Jesus in this case) works unknown in our world. The question I am wrestling with now is, "what will it take for God to finish our economic storm so as to bring relief to the frighted people in the 'other boats' - the poor and powerless of our world?"

Male-female power imballance fuels HIV/AIDS

The latest rumour from Tear Fund UK, sadly, is that there are more redundancies on the way as they, like lots of us, seek to 'restructure' and survive in a challenging global market. But looking on the bright side, I just discovered a great resource they released this month. Their case study of HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso Gender, HIV and the Church, has some provocative things to say about the power equation between African (only African?) men and women and the role of traditional belief structures, even in churches, in fostering the spread of HIV. Not a long read and there's plenty of pictures, so worth downloading.

iServe Africa

We had a great telephone conference call for most of the Faith2Share leaders this morning. It meant that Steve (New Zealand) had to stay up until after midnight and Robb, Geoff and Stewart (US/Canada) were up at 6.00am. but for us in the UK it wasn't too tough! We prayed together and did some good vision sharing. Of course many of us, as mission leaders, face the pressures of the economic downturn (did I mean crash?) but the real energy was reserved for the discussion of emerging mission movements around the world. Duncan, he of Mission Together Africa in Nairobi, reminded us that their new programme iServe Africa is now underway and has a prayer event on 5 April. iServe Africa is a leadership development and discipleship programme for fresh African graduates who are keen to serve as apprentices in churches, mission agencies and other Christian oraganisations. Well done Duncan and travel well to Germsny with the team next month. (They're going to Mission Net.)

Vulnerability in Mission

With a very interesting group of people from around the world, I'm currently working on some research that might see the light of day next year - at the Edinburgh 2010 Mission Conference. The idea is to look at how people get motivated for and caught up in Christian mission - how they go about it. One of the issues we were talking (well, virtual talking) through yesterday was vulnerability in mission. Jesus was quite vulnerable at times (how else did he get crucified?) and Paul has quite a lot to say about vulnerability, and yet Christians often go about mission in quite powerful ways - linked in with colonialisation, globalising materialism, or 'power evangelism'. I had a quite challenging/difficult meeting last week with a Brit. who is absolutely committed to vulnerable mission - living simply, using local resources, speaking the local language, having no more power than any local person - in western Kenya. Jim really works hard at this 'being vulnerable' but its not easy. His skin colour alone manks him out as one who has access to those with financial resources and power even if he does not have them himself. I also found out about him on the internet and met him in Wantage, UK. No one else from his village in Kenya has a web presence or flies to the UK! So what does 'vulnerability' mean in terms of mission? I'm still wrestling with that one.

A sixth mark of mission?

Over the past few years many of us have got used to Five Marks of Mission but now someone wants to add another! Well, to be precise a whole bunch of people think its a good idea. It started in Canada last year but now there's a real grownd swell. The idea is to recognise that peace making, conflict resolution and reconciliation are all essential 'marks' of God's mission amongst us. The context of our world, and don't forget the church itself!, makes it obvious enough that we need peace, ways of dealing with conflict, and ministries of reconciliation - witness Iraq, Sudan, Sri Lanka and your local church - but is this 'mission'? Personally I am amazed none of us thought of this before. If God does anything, he makes peace. Saint Paul used to talk of Christians as 'ambassadors of reconciliation' and Billy Graham wrote about finding faith as "Peace with God". There will be those who say, "How can we have six marks of mission when everyone knows there are five?", but personally I'm glad we can add to the list and in so doing enrich our understanding of mission. I'm glad the Canadians have reminded us of this missing mark.

Journeying Backwards

I was asked today where my blog name comes from. Well you can blame Tom Wright - the one who is bishop of Durham. I could say that its all about soteriology being Christocentrically rooted in eschatology but that really doesn't help! Perhaps we could say instead that Christianity makes much more sense if you read history backwards - that us Christians are people of hope and that we are orientated towards the future because that's where we will discover who God really is and who we, in consequence, are. Help, that doesn't sound much clearer either. Why don't you just read Bishop Tom - he really understands it, and so did I after I read him. It's all in Surprised by Hope, Tom Wright SPCK 2007

So ...... inspired by Tom, I'm now walking backwards (guided by the historic events of Jesus and his church) towards all the things I dare hope for because of Jesus. And as I go that hope is daily transfigured (changed and strengthened) into something more certain. You must see - that's quite exciting! Hence the blog name.

EAT Lunch

I wasn't expecting such a good lunch today at EAT in Baker Street. Well, the food was actually not that good - overpriced and somewhat bland - but the conversation was great. A colleague asked me to meet a student from London School of Theology who wanted to talk with someone about partnerships in mission and as I was in London destined for another meeting - which is another story! - I agreed to meet Lanri. I must admit I was expecting just another student looking for a quick way to get someone else to write their asignment, I've had plenty of those meetings, but I was wrong. It turned out that Lanri is a mature student, hails from Lagos, Nigeria, and is really passionate about partnerships in mission. I can't believe it, but he tells me he is one of only two students at LST majoring in mission - what has become of LST? We had a great hour or so sharing passions and now Faith2Share is destined to become the case study in Lanri's disertation. That's good, but better still, I was encouraged to find another African brother who really believes we can build kingdom partnerships. Perhaps it was worth the £3.95 sandwich after all!