Share magazine Summer 2014

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:• Mission on the touch line in Brazil• Faith, family and forest in Northern Argentina • Meet our four new Latin partners

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www.cms-uk.org

We live in a world that is obsessed with celebrity. The World Cup has produced one or two spectacular goals and some individuals, including Messi and Suarez (the latter more for the wrong reasons) will be in the headlines for a while. The power of the media makes it easy to believe that we are nothing if we are not successful, good looking, young, rich and intelligent.

Frighteningly, the church has absorbed this culture. We have our superstars, anointed speakers, glamorous conferences and events. But how much does this point to Jesus, glorify the Trinity and extend the kingdom of God?

The reality is that I am one person in a vast universe, one person in more than seven billion inhabitants of Earth. If we are not too self absorbed, we realise that we worship a God who delights in numerous galaxies and millions of species of insect. Why then do we have such a problem with pride and self promotion?

It certainly seems to be part of our fallen human nature, but it clashes with all that we know of Jesus who, “though he was God, did

not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead…he took the humble position of a slave…” (Philippians 2:6,7 NLT). Why does this not motivate us more and direct our church relationships and how we serve Jesus every day?

The wonderful thing about CMS in South America (and elsewhere) is that we can be inspired in our pilgrimage by the witness of Christians working in tough and demanding situations. They experience the grace and strength of God for their ministry and prove time and again that God equips those he calls rather than calling the already-equipped. They prove that God’s strength is made perfect in weakness.

What a privilege to read this edition of SHARE and learn from the example of others, and to be able to bring these people before God, joining with them in their struggles and joys! The body of Christ as seen in the CMS community is an amazing thing. We don’t need fame or recognition to be totally fulfilled and completely what God designed us to be.

Thank you for your faithfulness in reading, giving and praying. “Your father, who sees everything, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6 NLT)

SHARE SUMMER 2014 02

Bishop Henry Scriven, Mission Director for Latin America

More humble goals

SHARE is produced by the Church Mission Society, Watlington Road, Oxford OX4 6BZ. Tel: 01865 787400. Registered Charity Number 1131655. If you have any questions regarding the content, please call us or email:[email protected] Cover Photos: Tim Curtis and Catherine Drayson


Possibilities abound in Chile and BoliviaCMS personnel officer for South America, Jo Hazelton, had an action-packed trip to Chile and Bolivia recently. Her first port of call was Chile; CMS executive leader Philip Mounstephen travelled with her for the first part of the trip. It was Philip’s first time in South America and Jo was his interpreter as they met with leaders of the Province of the Southern Cone, who had gathered in Santiago for their provincial synod.

“Philip and I met with the following Bishops: Tito Zavala, Abelino Apeleo, Peter Bartlett, Mike Chapman, Nick Drayson, William Godfrey, Michelle Pollesel, Raphael Samuel and Greg Venables,” said Jo.

Philip was invited to present CMS’s vision for Latin America; he outlined CMS’s current strategic priorities. In Temuco, Jo visited Latin partners Bishop Abelino Apeleo and his wife Paty.

“I really enjoyed spending time with Bishop Abelino and Paty, seeing their ministry, the difference that they make and being able to attend a vibrant annual worship celebration with them in Chol Chol, with the wonderful Pastor Silverio Ortiz,” Jo recalled.

While in Temuco, Jo also visited Latin partners Joel and Lily Millanguir. Joel has completed his studies at the CEP (Centro de Estudios Pastorales, the diocesan seminary) and is now back in Temuco leading the Church of the Nativity, which had its 40th anniversary while Philip and Jo were there.

Joel is also involved in the Instituto Bíblico Rural (IBR) to prepare potential pastors for ministry in Araucania and possibly for future studies at CEP. There is the possibility that they could do further study in Temuco and enable more leaders to train more easily in the south.

In Santiago, Jo and Philip visited mission partners Alf and Hilary Cooper at La Trinidad Church and La Moneda Palacio Presidencial. “I was impressed, as always, with Alf’s commitment and enthusiasm, with Hilary’s wonderful stories, gentleness – and more tea than I have drunk in a very long time,” said Jo.

“La Trinidad seems to be going from strength to strength – it was packed at the Sunday service I went to and was fairly busy in the week as well,” she added.

Jo continued: “I also enjoyed my time with Latin partner Cristobal Ceron and his lovely family in Santiago – talking about their church plant, meeting his three little girls and chatting with Ale, his wife.

“Mission partners Daniel and Ellelein Kirk were also very hospitable and their church plant in Valparaiso is growing well. They are focusing on equipping leaders and discipleship groups.”

After Chile, Jo flew on to Bolivia on her own and met with the new bishop of Bolivia, Raphael Samuel and his wife Michelle. “They are doing a great job with relatively few clergy, have a good vision for the diocese and are much appreciated in Bolivia,” Jo said.

Chol Chol church: (l to r) Pastor Silverio, Paty and Bishop Abelino, with Jo (far right) and Philip (rear)

Faith, family and forestCMS had the pleasure of welcoming mission partners Catherine and Nick Drayson to its Oxford offices recently. As bishop of Northern Argentina, Nick is strengthening churches and their leaders – covering an area the size of France comprising seven provinces (Salta, Formosa, Jujuy, Chaco, Tucuman, Catamarca and Santiago). Catherine has a ground-breaking ministry among women and families with great needs. They serve more than 145 Anglican congregations, many of whom are indigenous peoples living in the Chaco Forest and representing four tribal groups, each with their own language, in addition to Spanish. It was to these groups that SAMS missionaries first brought the gospel 100 years ago. Catherine and Nick were in the UK for six weeks visiting churches and individual supporters – to inform and inspire them.

What message are you bringing to UK churches?

Nick: I use a diagram of a triangle – with three Fs, one at each corner: faith, family and forest. We talk about these three aspects of church witness: worship, community and mission. Faith is about developing a vertical relationship with God. Family is the importance of the horizontal relationship between churches and believers and also the family aspect of our understanding of the gospel. This includes helping parents disciple their children and have healthy families in their own cultural context. Forest refers to our outreach work – and finding the right strategies for both urban and rural work, particularly the issue of deforestation.

The Chaco peoples are losing their traditional way of life as government and large corporations cut down their forests. How big a problem is deforestation in your diocese?

Nick: Deforestation affects the majority of our congregations who live in the forest and it’s reaching crisis proportions. CMS

mission partner Andrew Leake (based in Salta, northern Argentina) who does research and writing on deforestation and ecological issues, describes it as a ‘tsunami of requests for deforestation’ which the government is approving. It’s a catastrophe. I first went to the

Chaco 40 years ago – and have lived there on

and off ever since.



Until five to ten years ago, deforestation was not considered an issue. There always seemed to be enough forest for everyone. Now the policy of the Argentine government – particularly with mining and the production of soya – implies massive destruction of the environment in order to help the economy, but with little regard for human rights. So it is a massive issue we are hoping to address together with other churches and organisations internationally.

What are some other issues facing the Chaco people?

Nick: As a result of the deforestation, the Amerindians are being forced out of the forest into towns or the edge of towns. They used to be at the centre of their own universe and now they are on the edge of someone else’s and trying to relate to it. We are seeing a lot of alcoholism, drugs and an increase in violence among teenagers.

Catherine: It’s a world where people have internet, satellite TVs, smartphones, etc. Globalisation has entered their lives overnight. Young people’s lives in particular are affected; their role models now are often other children or from the TV or internet. Wichi parents are often passive in their parenting. This worked fine when they were living in rural areas and fairly secluded – and where there was mutual respect. But passive parenting doesn’t work in the society they are living in now. The children need discipline from their parents. Many parents say, “We have lost our children”.

Nick, can you tell us about your life as bishop of northern Argentina?

We have 145 churches in the diocese and 200 clergy. We drive 25,000 kilometres per year. My work includes sorting out problems, lots of confirmations,

a few ordinations and pastoral encourage-ment. At the same time we do a lot of work with families and that area of church life.

Catherine, can you explain your ministry with families?

We realised that families were struggling with how to move forward in a culture that has changed so much. People have the sense that they are being invaded by western values and cannot live the life they used to.

This prompted the local women to say, “What can we do to help?” So a project called Making Disciples in the Family (Pastoral Familiar) was set up by the Anglican Church to encourage parents to take responsibility for their children, and empower church leaders to disciple young people. There’s been a huge response and some really encouraging things are happening from Pastoral Familiar. We have a Facebook page if you’d like to see more.

A recent encouragement concerned a meeting among the Toba people. A parenting workshop acted like a wake-up call to parents and leaders – encouraging people to think through issues and discuss how to address problems. The Toba people have been very proactive and are now taking parenting skills more seriously. We’re also seeing more children in church and church leaders are making services more child-friendly. There’s been a definite change with the Toba. The Wichi are moving more slowly.

continued on page 6

Women’s conference: we are family

Jess and Mark Simpson are CMS mission partners in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They are involved in leadership training and outreach in the city and to coincide with the World Cup in Brazil they launched Alpha na Copa (Alpha at the Cup) to bring the light and love of Jesus to thousands of people during the football tournament. This entailed “souping up” their VW camper van into a mini Alpha course venue, complete with projector and screen to show a series of Alpha Youth films and plastered with big red question marks on the outside. The launch of Alpha na Copa was on 28 June, to coincide with the start of knockout stage of the football tournament.

Sunday 8 June, Mark wrote:Awoke to Facebook message from

friends in the UK who’d spotted us on the BBC’s Pentecost service Spirit Break Out. We didn’t realise it was on so early. Just a short interview from Copacabana beach, recorded on Saturday, talking about our Alpha na Copa initiative.

Life is dull when we miss the Sunday morning market, so we headed down, mindful that we’re moving out of our

A life in the day of: Jess and Mark SimpsonWhat are your priorities when you return to northern Argentina?

As soon as we get back we are having an encuentro (encounter) for Criollo women (Spanish-speaking Argentines of European descent) at our house. We are expecting about 50 ladies. We are hoping local Criollo women will be touched by God’s word. We are also holding some parenting courses and have two Argentine women who have been trained to train others to be facilitators of these groups.

Prayer points:

• For people’s attention to be drawn to deforestation and for pressure to be put on the authorities to stop for the sake of survival of the most vulnerable people

• For future church leaders and for appropriate training for a national leadership, so teams can be mobilised across the diocese in leadership, training and administration

• For Nick and his team to develop an urban strategy and find ways that the urban church can reach out and grow – including more links with professional, middle-class, Spanish speaking people

• For the development of the work with families and its relationship with Mothers’ Union worldwide

continued from page 5

Alpha na Copa: ready for kick off



apartment at the end of the week so not wanting to get more fruit and veg than we’ll get through. Guavas, mangoes, grapes and pears. Sunday is also pocket money hand-out day, so the prospect of a proper lunch out after church awaited. Thankfully the fact that our UK bank cards had been blocked again (“Brazil is a high risk location” says the bank’s security department) didn’t hinder this; we have a little cash stash.

The morning service at the Anglican Cathedral starts at 10.30am, nominally at least. I’ve been learning to allow for robing up time – new patterns of worship – so we drove over together. Must get that steering looked at. Although Jess passed her UK driving test a week before we left for Brazil, she hasn’t driven since. But it’s such a blessing to have a vehicle. A nine-seater is great for taking groups around. The curtains have recently arrived, the swing-out table has been built, so it’s all set up to be a youth group transporter/get-out-of-town camper van/mobile Alpha venue.

Alex Price came out from our sending church St Peter’s, Battersea during May and did an amazing job kitting it out while enjoying a few of Brazil’s dazzling sights. And now Henry Stanimeros is here with us on his gap year, brushing up on his Portuguese and preparing for Alpha na Copa.

A life in the day of: Jess and Mark SimpsonSo it’s red for Pentecost. And the bishop

is with us. Bishop Filadelfo has been recovering from a major heart operation, so Abimael, the dean, will preach. Still getting to grips with the Brazilians’ Book of Common Prayer, I stumble through a few responses and collects.

But I enjoy the drama of the gospel reading from the middle of the church (do I lift up my microphone when they lift up the Bible and the candles?). It does seem to grab the congregation’s attention. Other than the red robes, it’s a fairly ordinary service.

We had an exciting invitation that evening to go and hear our friend Romulo Braga’s band Reuel (Hebrew for “friend of God”, pronounced “hewew”, which we think sounds rather funny) performing at a Roman Catholic parish. It was the church’s festa juninha, which is a Brazilian “June Festival” often coinciding with a parish patronal festival. This one is dedicated to the Holy Spirit. It’s theoretically winter here, so there’s a Guy Fawkes sort of vibe, barbecued sausages, and a hilarious fundraising auction being conducted by the priest, Padre Claudio. He has a roving microphone and is trying to persuade people to buy children’s toys, statuettes of St Anthony and microwave

continued on page 8


A life in the day of: Jess and Mark Simpson


ovens. And it’s also a great location for Alpha na Copa. It’s the parish next to the famous Maracana stadium, holding official pre-match masses for the travelling fans. We meet him and he is happy for us to come and park and show our Alpha films there.

One last event for the day: we drove home and struggling for a parking space attempted to squeeze in, only slightly dangling the nose over a building’s driveway. As we walked back down the hill towards our flat, a chap followed us, whistling and then shouting after us that we were parked badly and should move. “Don’t worry, I’ll go and move it now,” I said – or at least that’s what I was trying to say, because he just got angrier and stormed off back up the street.

When we got back to the van there were key scratches all along the side, and he’d had a really good go at our big red question mark. We spoke to the doorman where it was parked who wasn’t very helpful. We decided in our tiredness not to go the police, so we found a better parking space and walked home – trying to trust in God’s faithfulness.

A big thank you to churches and individuals who used the resources that CMS produced to coincide with the World Cup in Brazil. The aim was to use this global event to

focus on God’s mission around the world and also remind people of the darker side to Brazil: poverty and the burgeoning sex industry. Titled A Higher Goal the resource featured CMS mission partners Andy and Rose Roberts. Their ministry, ReVive, provides a safe house for vulnerable girls at risk on the streets of Olinda, in northeastern Brazil – where thousands of children are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. The resource included an order of service, sermon notes, a Sunday school activity, plus a World Cup wall chart. There was also an online prayer diary, encouraging prayer for all our mission partners serving in Brazil.

The World Cup may be finished, but please continue to pray for people in mission in Brazil: Marcus and Tamara Throup (training church leaders in Joao Pessoa); Jimmy and Katia Rocks (currently in Bristol, but preparing to go to Brazil in 2015); Simea Meldrum and husband Ian (Living Waters Church and My Father’s House refuge for boys) and Di and Tomio Tamaki (English teaching and outreach in Livramento). See: http://www.cms-uk.org/highergoal

Reaching for a higher goal

VW van becomes Alpha venue


Rebuilding lives after Valparaiso fires

“The port is alive, the port will come through.” That is the mentality of the people from Valparaiso, who recently suffered the worst tragedy since the 1905 earthquake.

The Great Fire of Valparaiso – as it is now known – took place from 12-16 April 2014. It left 15,000 people homeless and 15 people dead – destroying at least 2,500 homes. An additional 6,000 people were evacuated from the city, which was placed on red alert and declared a disaster zone.

Less than two months after the tragedy and people are still living without proper housing. And the interest of volunteers is swiftly disappearing. After the fire, the Iglesia Pablo Apostol (IPA), as a small church plant in the port, teamed up with other evangelical churches, helping in donation centres and

shelters, sorting out items collected and feeding those in need. Pastorally, IPA prayed for people and listened to their stories. Teams also went to the hills to clear out rubble and bring people water.

Housing continues to be the biggest problem. People have been given medias aguas, temporary housing units, but there is

Happy Argentina Day with Hugo VergaraLong-standing CMS Latin partner in the Diocese of Northern Argentina, Hugo Vergara, was in the UK earlier this summer with a team of five people from San Andres Church in Salta, where Hugo is pastor.

To celebrate the visit, Hugo and the team held an Argentina Day at Fairfield Church in Northwood Hills. CMS Latin America director Bishop Henry Scriven and CMS Latin America personnel officer Jo Hazelton went along to join the fun and meet Dany, Flavia, Marcos, Oriz and Gustavo.

As well as pastor for San Andres Church in Salta, Hugo is pastor of Prince of Peace Church in Salta and Grace Church in

Tucuman. He also has pastoral oversight of urban ministries in northern Argentina. Naturally there was ‘mate’ at the celebration, along with empanadas.

Henry said: “Hugo seemed well and enjoyed his time in the UK with the team from Salta. Techi (Hugo’s wife) was visiting their son in Spain so we weren’t able to see her, but Hugo’s daughter and son-in-law Daniel and Flavia (who are mission partners with Latin Link) were part of the team.”

EYEWITNESS REPORT:

By CMS mission partner Ellelein Kirk, whose husband Daniel is pastor of a church plant called Iglesia Pablo Apostol in Valparaiso, Chile’s largest port

continued on page 10

Hugo: happy to be in UK

City on red alert

Spring clean reveals buried treasureA long time SAMS supporter, Shirley, was having a spring clean recently when she discovered a package dating from the early 1970s.

It turned out to be a SAMS collecting card for a fundraising campaign from that era, called “What five shillings will do”. It was full of three penny bits to the value of five shillings, but somehow it had never made its way to CMS – lost perhaps down the back of a sofa or

behind a radiator. After discovering the package,

a somewhat embarrassed Shirley asked a man from her church, Stuart Sharpe, to get in

touch with CMS to see if it was of interest and

if so she would very pleased to donate it some 40 years later.

The campaign tells would-be donors that five shillings would buy a Mataco hymn book, pay for a week’s treatment of a TB patient or buy a Spanish Bible.

CMS mission director for Latin America Henry Scriven said: “The coin card is exciting to see, especially as work with the Wichi (they used to be called Mataco) is going strong in northern Argentina.”

He continued: “The bishop, Nick Drayson, and his wife Catherine are CMS mission partners. There are now more than 135 Amerindian churches and most of them are Wichi.”

Bishop Henry added: “It’s also interesting that when this card first went out, SAMS was based in the same building as CMS. The organisation moved to several locations before coming back together with CMS here in Oxford in 2009.”

SHARESUMMER 2014 10

still no clear timetable as to when more permanent houses will be provided.

IPA continues to organise different teams from the Anglican community to go up the hills to clear debris and to continue to support eight families long term.

Pastor Daniel Kirk explains: “Because IPA takes Jesus’ words to be ‘salt and light’ in our community seriously, alongside other Anglicans, we are committed to aid these families materially by helping to build and re-stock their homes as well as

accompanying them spiritually by sharing Jesus with them.”

With courage and determination and with our hope in Christ we expect to echo the words of Pablo Neruda: “…Valparaiso, hardy sailor, you brush away your tears, you hang your houses on your hills again…”

Rebuilding livesEYEWITNESS REPORT:


Clearing debris in the hills

Jo Hazelton and Bishop Henry examine the treasure


Financial updateBy Adrian White, director of finance and corporate services

We have much to be thankful to God for in the financial year ending 31 January 2014. Total income for CMS was £7.8m, which is comparable to the previous year. Income from churches was lower, but this was compensated by increased donations from individuals.

CMS also benefitted from generous legacy income of over £1.2m. Generally we have continued to see income under pressure due to the economic climate and the increased call on church resources for other uses. Our aim has been to increase income year on year, both to meet increasing costs and to close the gap between regular income and expenditure that has previously been funded from reserves.

The year to 31 January 2014 saw us make a small surplus (before pension adjustments); however, we do not anticipate such substantial legacy income going forward and we need to plan accordingly.

The CMS/SAMS work in South America continues to be well supported and income restricted specifically for that use was approximately £0.85m. This allowed us to support 21 mission partner units (couples are counted as one unit) in situ or training, plus grants to six Latin partners.

We know that some of you also give to the CMS general fund and this funding is extremely valuable, both for work in Latin America not covered by restricted funding, and for the CMS group.

We continue to provide comprehensive support to our mission partners with a

dedicated mission director for Latin America, personnel officer and Latin partner adviser as well as our training, fundraising and communications teams. Our feedback from people in mission in South America is that this is very much appreciated.

Pensions, both for the CMS group and SAMS specifically, continue to be a significant challenge. SAMS was part of a multi employer scheme provided by the Church of England that made certain promises around pension levels to those who are retired or who will be in the future. Due to the economic climate, and increased life expectancy, these promises have become more costly to keep, with the money previously paid into the scheme insufficient to meet them. This has resulted in a pension scheme deficit that we have agreed to pay off over a 20 year period. Currently this deficit is paid from the historic SAMS reserves.

Please continue to pray that people will put themselves forward for mission partner service and that churches and individuals will support them in their calling. When you support CMS (and not an individual mission partner) please remember to specify if you want your donation to go to South America.

Thank you for your prayerful support. For more about CMS finances and to receive a copy of our latest report and accounts, email [email protected]

Prayerful support helps youth training


Four new Latin partners for three countries

We have four new Latin partners this year. They are from different backgrounds, but all are involved in sharing the gospel and supporting people in the love of Jesus Christ in three different countries of South America.

Alexandre Teixeira was introduced to us by CMS mission partner Mark Simpson in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is in lay ministry at the Holy Spirit mission church in the city of Mage. Alexandre is a trained musician and music therapist, working with socially vulnerable children and those with learning difficulties. His dream is for the word of God and the name of Jesus to be shared and heard by all people.

Victor Gonzalez is a member of the San Juan Church in Asuncion, Paraguay, who spends two weeks a month in Rio Verde, Chaco, where CMS mission partner Tim Curtis and Latin partners Juan Martinez and Asuncion Rojas live and work. His lay ministry there includes pastoral visits, equipping fellowship groups and personal discipling. His visits to Sombrero Piri (also in

the Chaco) to help Pastor Augustin Maidana are valued by the local indigenous communities.

We also have two new Latin partners in the diocese of Bolivia. Franklin Cuenca will probably be in ministry in La Paz. He trained as a dentist but after becoming a Christian at university was called to ministry in the Anglican Church. He recently graduated from the CEP (Centre for Pastoral Studies) in Santiago, Chile, and is looking forward to his new ministry.

Walter Toro is also from Bolivia and will probably be based in the southern city of Tarija. Walter is currently the pastor of the Anglican church in Tarija. He is married to Adelita and they have two daughters.

By Mary Rollin, CMS Latin partner adviser

CMS mission director for Latin America, Henry Scriven visited the diocese of Peru in late June. In Lima he saw CMS mission partners Paul and Sarah Tester, Anna Sims and Pat Blanchard as well as long time Latin partners, Juan Carlos and Penny Marces and Julio and Norma Montoya and family. His itinerary also included meeting for the first time with Latin partner Ruben Mancilla as well as other key leaders in the diocese with Bishop William Godfrey.

Scriven’s sojourns From there he travelled to Arequipa and on to Arica to stay with Latin partners Federico and Rosa Bascuñan, now pastoring the church planted by David and Gina Hucker.

The visit concluded with a brief stop-over in La Paz, Bolivia, to catch up with the pastors there and then on to stay with Bishop Raphael Samuel in Santa Cruz. Henry said: “It was a flying visit but good to touch base with a large number of people and work with them on CMS’s ongoing strategy in relation to our partners in South America. More of that in the future!”

CMS’s Latin partner programme is integrated into the CMS Timothy mission partner programme. You can watch a video about the programme, featuring Hugo Vergara, Rene Pereira and Cristina Vargas by going to www.cms-uk.org, then clicking on “resources” then “photos and video”.


To be perfectly honest, I wanted to go to Chile because I was scared of spending a whole year in Guatemala. When I came to my interview with CMS in January 2013, I was planning to spend six months teaching in an isolated Guatemalan town I had visited a year before. I knew this was going to be difficult. I had seen what life in the town was like, and I had spent some time living in Guatemala City previously. I wanted the support of Christian community and also a placement that I knew would be a little more structured. CMS fitted the bill.

For better or worse, my placement in Guatemala turned out to be precisely as difficult as I had imagined it to be. I struggled with the local church and with life in the midst of poverty. By the time I got to Chile in March of this year, I was exhausted.

One of the things I’ve been learning since then is the importance of doing mission when you’re tired. The temptation has been to see my placement and my interactions with other people as merely a means of recuperation before I return to the UK in August.

But spiritual need is just as prevalent here as it was in Guatemala, and some of the great joys of this time have come through asking God to open my eyes to that need. It’s been incredible to come alongside people in what they’re dealing with here, and participate in efforts to bring God’s kingdom about in Chile.

Seeing need when it isn’t as visible

One way I’ve had the opportunity to do this is through meeting with the Christian Union at St Paul’s. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the kids and sharing how God has worked in my life. Hopefully, this has been an encouragement to them as well. I’ve also had the chance to speak at prayers, essentially a short morning service which all the students attend. Two weeks ago, I spoke on the parable of the lost sheep to the younger students, and next week, I hope to share the gospel with the 11 to 18-year-olds. It’s been amazing to keep my eyes open and see what God has in store for this time.

SHORT-TERM SHORT STORIES

Candid reflections from Tyler Overton, who spent six months in a placement at St Paul’s School, Viña del Mar, Chile


The Church and the World – Understanding the Relevance of Mission

by J. Andrew Kirk (Paternoster 2014)Reviewed by CMS director of international mission Paul Thaxter

This book is published as part of the Christian Doctrines in Historical Perspective series and as such seeks to explore the relationship between the church and the world through the lens of mission.

Andrew Kirk is someone well-known to our SAMS/CMS community as a former SAMS missionary in Argentina and long-serving mission educator with CMS and others. (His son Daniel is a CMS mission partner with his wife Ellelein serving the Chilean church where they have been since 2005).

Andrew’s passion for mission alongside his intellectual integrity and rigour come out in this 354 page paperback. Written in accessible English, Andrew presents his book in three parts.

The first section highlights a biblical view of the cosmos, exploring the definition and nature of the world from both an Old Testament and New Testament perspective. It explores how the New Testament interprets the mission of Jesus. These pages are replete with helpful quotations, biblical content and succinct summaries of complex ideas. This section finishes by looking at the ethical nature of the church’s mission – essential but often not covered adequately in books on mission.

Part two looks at patterns from history, from the “discovery” and conquest of the “new world” over an approximately 70-year period, the radical and stimulating views of

church and world presented by the early Anabaptist communities in contrast to Roman Catholicism and emerging Protestantism over about a 20-year period, and the Edinburgh 1910 conference that took place over a 10 day period with positive and negative outcomes for mission. Each study is rich detail and implication and provokes for the keen, a desire for further

reading and reflection. In his first study he draws on his deep interest in South America with a historical analysis of the impact of mission in the “new world” of the late 15th and 16th century – recognising this “first major missionary movement beyond Christendom.” (p101). Significant missiological issues emerged such as the human status of indigenous peoples, morality of the slave trade and human rights, etc. New mission understanding was emerging among a few. Kirk quotes Gutierrez citing the famous Dominican Fray Bartolome de las Casas when writing to the Council of the Indies: “God has a very present and lively memory of the littlest and

BOOK REVIEW


most forgotten” (p124). This mission experience had a major long term effect not only on the indigenous people of Latin America but also on the Europeans, particularly Spain. Such a study warrants further research and thinking as many of the issues are still among us today.

In the final part of the book Kirk explores in stunning clarity the nature of mission, contemporary concerns and the response of the church post second world war. He explores the “shift in theological thinking from the church to the world as the primary location of God’s missionary activity” of the 1950-60s, to the mission shift geographically, ideologically and theologically of the 1970s onwards drawing on the life and writing of the Protestant Argentinian church leader, theologian and educator, Jose Miguez Bonino. In the 1980s onwards other concerns for the church in its engagement with the world include peace and war, varied religious worlds and secularisation. Each chapter helpfully summarises some of the key issues.

Kirk’s erudition shines through in this scholarly book with an impressive bibliography, which depicts how the church in the world has either demonstrated “faithful fulfilment” or “disobedient exploitation” of the biblical message. For some this will act as a reference book, others will use it as part of an introductory text to some complex issues around mission, the church and the world and others will use it as a great resource to teach from. It covers a vast amount of material while being judicious about its scope and limitations. The reader will be rewarded.

CMS and SHARE magazine wish to congratulate Andrew on the upcoming celebration of his 50 years as an ordained priest in the Anglican Church.

Globe+crossers

Andy and Rose Roberts are due back in the UK on home leave in December 2014.

Short Termers: Ceri Arkins completed her placement at Hogar el Alba orphanage in Buenos Aires, Argentina in March. Irina Dale has been learning Spanish in Quito in order to go to Santo Domingo, Ecuador in April for a year to help at Life in Abundance Trust as a physio alongside CMS mission partner Sharon Wilcox. Tyler Overton continues his placement at St Paul’s School, Viña del Mar, Chile until the summer. (See page 13)

CMS Latin America team staff member Jo Hazelton got married in June. Her new name is Jo Anthony and her email address is [email protected]

You can find out more about where and when these Globe+crossers might be in your area on the CMS website www.cms-uk.org and click on the map of Latin America. The We’re Visiting section is on the right of the page.

Pat Blanchard is coming to the UK from Peru from 2 September until 11 November.

Jess and Mark Simpson will be in the UK during July and August.

Congratulations to Rev Dr Marcus Throup who was in the UK in May completing his PhD.


NEWS SHARE

New life for Loli From Latin partner Noel Diaz, St Andrew’s Church, Zaragoza, Spain:

Loli is from a traditional Roman Catholic family and was invited to St Andrew’s by one of our congregation when she was going through a really difficult time in her personal life.

We prayed for her and she felt very welcome among us. She has been coming to church and to the midweek prayer meeting for a year now and has never missed a single Sunday service. As part of our St Andrew Apostle celebrations led by Bishop Carlos we received Loli as a member of the church. She has found a community of faith and friendship, and a place where she can be herself and grow in confidence to express what she thinks and feels.

We recently started a new way of involving the congregation in reading the Bible in their own homes by asking them to bring a memorised verse and reflection to share at the Sunday meeting. At first things went slowly, but now we have a revolution on our hands! Everyone brings their Bible reflection and is ready to take part. To our surprise Loli was the first to share three verses she had memorised. We were amazed at her thoughts and comments, as she explained what the Lord had taught her from his word in such a relaxed and confident way. Last week we asked her to be part of the new leadership team here at St Andrews and are thrilled that she is keen to take on this new role.

Northern Argentina: training programmesCMS Latin partner Rene Pereira is involved in leadership training for young Christians this summer. “Please pray for the leaders and for the youngsters attending the training courses Pozo del Tigre, Formosa, Tartagal, Chaco, Vaca Perdida, Tobas, Mision la Paz, Salta and El Potrillo. We also ask you to pray for unity in the indigenous churches.”

Land rights in northern Argentina: great result after 50 years“The requests for land rights in the rough area of the Pilcomayo from Vertientes to Puntana have been granted and a separate area for the Criollos. I can hardly believe it but my heart is full of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord for this provision after so much prayer and hard work.” That is the message from Pat Harris, who adds: “The matter of land rights in this area was raised at a meeting of missionary personnel in Mision Chaquena on 28 July 1964 and as a result Kevin Bewley accompanied Delfo Guttierez from Algarrobal and David Gonzalez from Mision La Paz and went to Salta to meet the then governor who agreed that there should be grants of land and asked Kevin to measure out appropriate plots. So…the pressure has continued over the last 50 years to the present day with the work of Fransisco Perez with Lhaka Honhat, Asociana, CMS mission partner Andrew Leake and many others. What an incredible answer to prayer.”

Share magazine Summer 2014

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Transcript of Share magazine Summer 2014