Mission Support Booklet FINAL WEB LINK

Christ Church Beckenham

Mission Support Weekend

7/8th October 2017

In preparation for our Mission Support Weekend we would like to invite you to join
in a week of prayer and bible reflection with our Mission Partners.
In this booklet, you will find a Bible verse and reflection for each day of the week,
commencing 2nd Oct, which is relevant to each of our Mission Partners and their
situations, together with some explanation of who they are and what they are
doing. Please note that some days there is more than one person to pray for.
We hope that you will be informed and inspired to partner with them in God’s
Mission of reconciliation to the whole world.

Missionary Support Committee Christ Church Beckenham October 2017

Monday 2nd October

Paul & Kate Bown and
children Lydia & Christopher
Paul works with ReachAcross in Birmingham

As International Administrator of the mission, Paul supports the
International Director in planning of field trips and getting resources
together, as well as the routine work of maintaining the email system, the
repository website, arranging sponsorship of interns from the USA and
administrative tasks. Paul has also been involved in local outreach doing
door-to-door work, visiting a Muslim for discussion, and following up a
Christian from a Muslim background.

 Many young people have come to Birmingham over the last year as

part of the internship programme, and have had an impact in the area

 A Taiwanese worker has joined the team in Birmingham, and is

connecting with Chinese workers from the underground church to train
them in Muslim evangelism

 A new online repository site for the mission is about to be launched

Over recent months the internship programme has expanded. Paul has
needed to obtain legal advice concerning employment and tax issues. The
interns themselves continue to make a big impact in Birmingham. Some of
them live in a community building in the heart of one of the
densely-populated immigrant areas.
During the year the UK Field, based in Birmingham invited a Taiwanese
worker. She has formed links with the underground church in China and is
involved in training Chinese Christians for ministry to Muslims.
The re-structuring of the mission executive body has now been completed,
with the formal registration with the Charity Commission of England and
Wales. Paul has been co-opted as a Member of the executive body and he
is working on post-registration formalities with the bank.

2

Similar to last year, Paul is helping to organise anoTthheeBrowdnafyamciloy:nPfaeurle&nKcaete at
Sutton Coldfield Baptist Church. This year’s conwfeitrheLnydciae&, C‘hFrrisutoitpfhuelr not
Fearful: Serving together with MBBs for mutual fruitfulness,’ looks at the
issues that prevent our brothers and sisters who have come to faith from
Islam from leading productive Christian lives, and from being effective in
witness. Steve Bell from Interserve will be the main speaker. Paul needs to
edit a short video for the event.
Paul had decided to get out into the community more in the evenings when
he is staying in Birmingham, and now meets with an Algerian shopkeeper
for conversation, leading to discussion of spiritual matters. He does door-to
-door work in the community when he is able.
Lydia was successful in her ‘A’ Levels and has been accepted at
Southampton University. She starts there on 25th September. Christopher
continues to enjoy playing basketball and refereeing football. He is
studying hard for his GCSEs next May/June.

‘And another scripture says, "This is the stone that will make people
stumble, the rock that will make them fall." They stumbled because they
did not believe in the word; such was God's will for them.’
1 Peter 2:8 (Good News Bible)
A rock can impede our way and cause us to stumble. Or a rock can
become a sure foundation for a wall or a building.
Jesus can become the foundation-stone of all our hopes and happiness.
Man can look for hope and happiness in religion, but that proves futile, like
sand slipping through our fingers. Only when men and women climb on the
rock that is Christ instead of tripping over or avoiding the obstacle will they
find everlasting joy in the presence of our God and Father.
Please pray:
 For all the preparations for the conference on 4 November
 For wisdom in overseeing the sponsorship programme, with the

complicated employment status and tax issues involved
 For Paul to be able to make good contacts in the evenings with Muslims

who have an interest in discussing the Christian faith.

3

Tuesday 3rd October

Nigel Harman
with OPERATION
MOBILISATION in the
USA

The Harman Family: Nigel & Joanne with children
Ben, Ellan, Joshua, Rebekah & Lydia

Coming from an engineering background, Nigel discovered that he could
use his unique gifts to create websites that become the interface between
OM and people globally that are looking to step into missions on a short or
long-term basis. The web has become the primary method for
communicating what OM is involved with on an international scale. It also
informs people of the many opportunities available to join OM in its mission
- to see vibrant communities of Jesus followers among the least reached.
This year, a major project for Nigel was to get 23 Caribbean countries
represented on the web in preparation for the visit of the OM ship LOGOS
HOPE. They were set up on the new OM Website platform, and had
hundreds of responses by people ready to take the next step in missions.
TRAINING
Nigel is working with an international team to provide a web platform that
the 120 fields in OM can use to communicate their unique focus on this
mission - so far we have 60 on the new platform, including the Caribbean,
most of South America and many European fields. Nigel helps fields set up
their website, and trains staff how to add or edit content to keep it relevant
for their audience.
DEVELOPMENT
Nigel is involved in the evaluation of the international website platform and
how it meets the needs of the fields. Changes are necessary as the needs
of the fields increase, and Nigel recommends and logs these changes for
the developers to focus on. We are currently in the process of developing a
new website for OM’s ship, the LOGOS HOPE in preparation for the visit to
South America. There are many custom features that are being worked in
by our programmers. Other websites that Nigel is developing that is not in
the new platform include the OM Arts website, Bill Drake, and others.

4

1 Corinthians 15:58
“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing
move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,
because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.”
This whole chapter reminds us of the spiritual nature of our beings, and the
immortality of Christ. All our efforts made in the name of our Saviour can
have an eternal impact. We are not involved in mission work for any reason
other than that we are compelled to do so by Christ himself, and that we do
it as part of his body. Each believer is uniquely gifted, to work together for
the purposes of God’s kingdom, and we are grateful for the support and
partnership with Christ Church, as we all continue to give ourselves to the
work of the Lord.

PRAY for Nigel as he helps OM Fields and other staff develop their
websites.
PRAY for Jo, that she may “number the days and gain a heart of wisdom”.
Psalm 90:12
PRAY for the Harman children – home-schooling and growing into the
people they will become.

5

Wednesday 4th October

Caroline Seed
CMS MISSION PARTNER IN KENYA

Working in Theological Education with Church Mission
Society in Kenya

Have you ever read the whole Bible? Do you know what you believe, why
you believe it and where your beliefs come from?
In Kenya, many men and women aspire to become leaders and preachers
in the churches. They come as mature students from the local churches
with limited experience of reading the Bible and little understanding of the
doctrines of the faith and the place of the Kenyan church in the history of
the world church.
My task at the Presbyterian University of East Africa (PUEA) is to teach
students from different denominations to read and interpret the Bible, to
know what they believe and to understand their unique place in world
Christianity. This way, they become better equipped to preach, teach and
lead in the churches. My work also involves writing contextual distance
learning materials and co-authoring a commentary for believers from
Muslim backgrounds. In addition, I supervise post-graduate students
researching theology and context.
The 2017-2018 academic year is my last at PUEA, after which I will join
Dick in Theological Education Development Services (TEDS) to use my
experience to train theology lecturers across the African continent to teach
the Bible contextually and relevantly.

6

“I JUST DON’T KNOW WHAT TO
BELIEVE!”

Meditation from 1 John 4:1-6

4. Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether
they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that
acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every
spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the
antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the
world.

4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one
who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the
world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens
to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but
whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the
Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

How do we recognise truth in a world of post-truth and relativism? John shows
his readers that there are three things we need to do to know the truth:

1. Recognise the times in which we live
In 1 John 2:18 John reminds his readers that they live in the “last times,”
between the ascension and return of Christ. The prophets predicted that there
would be many “false prophets” in the world during this time (Dan 11:31). John
says that the “antichrist” has already come into the world and is spreading false
teaching (vv.1 & 3).

2. Recognise the spirits of the world
John calls his readers to “test” the spirits of the false prophets (v.1). Their
characteristic is speaking from the “viewpoint of the world” and being accepted
by the world (v.4). Their teaching denies the truth about the coming Jesus
Christ into the world as the God-man to save sinners (vv.2 &3).

3. Know the Spirit of God in his witness to Jesus Christ
Truth can be easily recognised because it acknowledges that Jesus Christ is
the one sent by God to save the world (v.2). Those who believe in Christ have
the power of the Spirit of truth within. The Spirit within is greater than the spirits
of the world who do not accept him (v.4). Those who have the Spirit of God
recognize the truth (v6).

We should not be surprised by the abundance of “truth-alternatives” today. John

gives a fool-proof test of truth. The Spirit within us testifies to the truth 7about
Jesus Christ.

Wednesday 4th October

Dick Seed
CMS Mission Partner
Organisation of African Initiated Churches.
Programme of Theology and Ministry
Formation.

Working with the Church in Africa to deliver mission centred training.
In Africa there are over 200 theological colleges training men and woman
for service in the Anglican Church alone. Once you add those who train for
other denominations or for nondenominational Christian service and
witness the number runs into the thousands. Over the last five years It has
been my privilege to work with a fraction of these, mostly located in East
Africa and serving those denominations with no historic tie to
denominations in Europe or America. The assistance given to these
colleges is to provide them with training in constructing curriculum and
teaching methods. The objective is to give those responsible for training
ministers and pastors the skills to build curricular that are both faithful to the
scriptures, and relevant to the African context.
The activities that this involves me in include, running workshops,
consulting with college leadership, writing and publishing learning and
teaching materials. As we look into the future, funding has been found to
take this work into the wider African context and develop throughout Africa
centres for the training of trainers in theological education.
Please pray for us while we consolidate the work in East Africa and prepare
the ground for the next more global stage of this work.

8

Matthew 13: 31-33
In Matthew 13 we find a collection of parables. These we are told are
Jesus’ method of teaching (13:1). We are also told why he used parables.
Recognising who Jesus is, is the product of the gift of the Holy Spirit. The
disciples were given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven
(13:10). This kingdom of heaven is described in the parables and is open
to understanding by those willing to grow in their discernment of the
working of God in Jesus (13:51-52).
Read again the two short parables found in 13;31-32. Both these
parables convey a similar idea. In the parable of the mustard seed the
concept of the kingdom of God illustrated is the silent but steady growth
of God’s involvement with humanity. As many of us know from cooking
the mustard seed is fairly small. From this small beginning small seed a
bush develops and ultimately it can become a thicket. Once it reaches
this state of growth it serves the wider ecosystem by providing nesting
sites for birds. All Jesus’s listeners are aware of this. The parable of the
woman baker speaks of woman who mixes a substantial amount of flour,
about 60 pounds, with yeast. The skill of this woman is that despite the
quantity of flour the yeast is worked into the entire batch and results in its
expansion. She will provide enough bread for a whole village.
The kingdom does not break into human history as a fully developed
system but involves a process of movement and growth through personal
appropriation of the teaching of Christ. A New Testament character who
epitomises this is Tychicus. We know a little about him. From the
following verses identify his role with Paul in the spread of the church.
(Acts 20:4, Colossians 4:7, Ephesians 6:21, 2 Timothy 4:12 and Titus
3:12). Tychicus was active with Paul but mostly in the background. His
support of Paul was a significant factor in the success of the mission of
the church.
Think of an example from your life in which God was at work in a hidden
but sure way. How is your appreciation of the person and work of Christ
leading you into a deeper understanding of the Kingdom of God? How are
you participating in the spread of the kingdom of God.

9

Thursday 5th October

Interchristian Fellowships’’ Evangelical Mission (IcFEM) is
an indigenous Mission, registered in Kenya under the Societies
Act.

After over 40 years working in Kenya, first as a physics teacher at Lugulu girls
school, and subsequently as Deputy Director of IcFEM, Ann Lipson was promoted
to higher service when she died earlier this year.

As a Director she has worked with the founders of the Mission - Solomon and Ruth
Nabie - who are pictured with her in the photograph.

We are continuing, as a church, to support the work of the Interchristian
Fellowships’ Evangelical Mission, which is an indigenous Mission, registered in
Kenya under the Societies Act.

The Mission was founded in 1989 by a group of young Kenyans who saw the
needs of their own people and came up with the Motto of HOLY LIVING AND
HARD WORK.

IcFEM’s VISION is God with People and Development. God is first in
everything that is done, be it sponsoring students, development of mercy, justice
and relief, medical and hospital services, ministry to the desperately needy and the
disabled, education, Village Discipleship Schools, youth ministry .... it is all
undergirded with prayer and there has been Prayer and Fasting at the end of every
month (except December) since the Mission started. The monthly Prayer
Newsletter encourages friends worldwide to pray. The fruit of all these activities is
changed lives.

Working “Inter” – among, between, together with – Christian Fellowships, the
Mission is not setting up as an alternative church, but working together with Chris-
tian Fellowships to accelerate community transformation. It is “wholistic” in enabling
communities to take responsibility for their development both spiritually and
practically.

The Mission is organised under several guiding lines of which the first is “Spiritual

empowerment” – the establishment of the kingdom of God in the hearts of

believers. Following gospel outreach, Village Discipleship Schools are formed for in

-depth teaching of God’s word, and for understanding the full vision of discipleship

in the pastoral impact on their immediate communities. 10

Several villages in one area are combined into a Local Transformation Unit,
which strengthens their work and provides extra resources, and also taking the
initiative in developing the mission’s work in their area.

The second line is Economic empowerment. As this part of Kenya relies on
subsistence farming, this involves advice and support on improved agriculture,
the provision of mini “start-up” loans for small businesses, community storage
and marketing, banking facilities and the care of water supplies.

Next , IcFEM champions education as a key concern. The Mission builds,
equips and helps with local schools as well as running its own school – the
“Dreamland Education Centre” (which runs an annual exchange visit with
teachers in English schools). For adults there is the provision of training in
primary health care and environmental hygiene and Vocation Training for skills
development.

Mercy, justice and relief work includes people with disabilities; care of orphans,
widows and elderly; resolving conflict, emergency relief and the rehabilitation of
ex-community offenders. The development of awareness and responsibility
within the communities, rather than reliance on “hand-outs” is central. The
founding of the Institute for accelerating community transformation studies has
trained over 40 members in its first year.

The “Dreamland Mission Hospital” is now regarded as the best hospital in
Western Kenya, with full x-ray, ultrasound and dental equipment. In a year it
routinely treats 40,000 patients and carries out over 300 eye operations (mainly
for cataract), over 100 treatments of club foot, split palate and other surgery,
dental treatment, maternity and malaria cases – as well as providing counselling
to all patients, and going out to markets to carry out on-the-spot eye tests for
those who are not aware of the opportunity for treatment.

Changed lives lead to changed communities where love and care are practically
expressed and where bribery and corruption are refused.

Please pray for the continuing work of all the members of IcFEM.

The hospital (and school) is called
“Dreamland” because the land was gifted as
a result of the owner having a dream in which
God told him to give the land to the Mission.

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Friday 6th October

Howard and Nora Norrish Transforming
Middle East and North Africa (MENA) lives
and communities

We thank you for your prayers for us and the Muslim World throughout
another year. We are very conscious that what we have been able to do
has only been possible through the faithful prayers and support of our
partners.
Our Mandate: to help God’s Kingdom come in the Arab/Muslim World.
After time in Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus and London, we are
now in Cambridge. We belong to a Mahabba Group praying for Muslims in
Cambridge. We love to invite international friends to our home. It is our
prayer that some will come to faith in Jesus and become His ambassadors
when they return home.
Our work with the leadership of MENA continues over the last months
we have been sorting out training materials written over the years to
discover which are still relevant. Once updated we pass them on to those
who can make then available in different formats for today’s generation.
We have just completed the revision of Forming a Biblical Basis for
Transformation – 18 Bible studies for those involved in development work.
We are happy to share this digitally with anyone interested. Please just ask
us.
There are ~1400 OMers specifically reaching Muslims somewhere in the
world. Many are involved in relief or development and all indications are
that the need for more development workers will continue to grow.
We produce a quarterly journal – Crescent – that goes to all our workers
among Muslims. It is a forum to share encouragements and problems and
discuss what they are learning from area to area. Recent lead articles
include:
Sin and atonement as seen by Muslims and believers in Jesus
Predestination: a contrast of Islamic and Christian views

Let us know if you would like a copy of
either of these as a PDF or in hard copy.

Recruiting pray-ers and workers
We have many opportunities to share the
needs of the Muslim World.
Pray with us for more who will commit to
praying and/or going.

12

“And this Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a
testimony to all nations and then the end will come. (Mt. 24:14)
This is God’s promise to us. He has given us the privilege of being His workers.
Each of us has a part to play. God will place us where the gifts He has given us
can best be used at different times in our lives. There is no ‘retirement’ on God’s
team! Please pray that we will know the focus God has for us in 2018
and will look to Him for His strength to do His will day by day.
Reports coming in from summer teams are very encouraging. Here is just one:
A worker took a taxi home from the airport. As always she began sharing the
Gospel with the taxi driver. When she tried to change the subject he said, “No,
tell me more about Jesus”. Arriving at her place she asked him to wait a moment
and quickly fetched a DVD of the Jesus Film and information about websites
where there were helpful discussions in his language. They said goodbye.
Twenty minutes later she saw his car was still there. He was listening to the
Jesus Film. Her comment, “I can’t remember when I last saw such interest!”
Prayer points:
 Pray for those who responded to the Gospel during the summer outreaches.
 Pray for refugees and displaced people in their disillusionment with Islam and

search for truth.
 Pray that workers will make time spent with God a priority so He can guide

them to those He is calling (Jn. 6:37)
 Pray that God will call more pray-ers and go-ers.
 Pray for many of our brothers and sisters in very difficult circumstances of

imprisonment or starvation etc. that God will be very real to them and meet
their needs.

“Everyone who Refugee at the “The disciples went out
drinks this water will Drop in Centre in and preached everywhere
thirst again, but Germany. Many and the Lord worked with
whoever drinks the have come to them and confirmed His
water know who Jesus word by the signs that
I give him will never is. accompanied it.”
thirst.” Jn. 4:13 Mk. 16:20 13

Saturday 7th October

Starfish Asia

We met on an OM evangelism team in France in 1967. We married after
Mike returned from four years with OM in India. Mike was born in Jamaica,
studied and came to Christ as a student in Trinity College, Dublin. Kerstin is
from Sweden, came to Christ on a walking tour in north Sweden and
worked as a nurse before joining OM where she met Mike.
Together we served with OM in India and Nepal before moving to Pakistan
in 1979 to lead OM’s work there for the next 9 years. We returned to
Bromley where Mike served on OM’s Executive responsible for the work in
South Asia. Frequent visits to Pakistan only deepened our commitment to
the needs of Pakistan’s Christians, and strengthened our ties with a
network of Christian churches and leaders.
Out of these years of experience was born the desire to do more for
Pakistan’s Christians. Being a predominantly Muslim country, Pakistan’s
Christians are regarded as second-class, often treated as a servant
community largely illiterate and despised. We were told constantly: “If you
really want to help us, help provide education for our children.” This led to
the launch of Starfish Asia in 2003, a charity that now supports 35 schools
for more than 7,000 poor Christian children in Pakistan – together with a
home for blind Christian girls and four homes for disabled children and
orphans.
Our commitment has grown, so that we now have an office, locally staffed,
in Lahore. We also provide scholarships for about 150 young people for
higher studies, run training workshops for teachers, supply furniture, school
books and an Urdu Bible curriculum for primary school children. In 2016 we
conducted a survey of Christian Schools and now have a database of more
than 600 schools, all facing needs that we are working to meet. This year
we launched an Association of Christian Teachers to whom we produce a
quarterly magazine for Christian teachers and free Bible curriculum books.
The on the ground work in Pakistan is ably run by a Pakistani couple, Anser
and Kashi Javed. Our task is to oversee the charity and raise the funds.

14

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded;
and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be

asked.”
(Luke 12:48)

We used to look at the world and see so many needs that we could easily
despair: poverty, injustice, greed and sadness. The easiest thing is to just
concentrate on our own small world. Shouldn’t our attitude be to see every
need as an opportunity to make a difference to someone’s world.

Every privilege carries a responsibility, especially as Christians follow in the
footsteps of Jesus who came from the glory of privilege to take
responsibility for a lost world. That is what motivates us to do what we can
for our under-privileged brothers and sisters in Pakistan.

Pray for:

 Peace and stability in often tumultuous times in Pakistan
 That Pakistan’s Christians will have a spirit of boldness rather than

fear

 Anser and Kashi who lead the work of Starfish Asia in Pakistan
 Many thousands of Christian children who still have no school to go

to

 For Mike and Kerstin’s health and strength to continue to serve

Pakistan’s Christians

 For someone to join us to help Mike in raising funds for Starfish Asia

Please see our website: http://starfishasia.com
or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StarfishAsia/

or pick up a newsletter from the back of the church

15

Saturday 7th October

Sam and Eva Kitalya, Bushfire

As a nation, Uganda has suffered much due to internal conflicts and wars in
neighbouring countries in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, HIV/AIDS epidemic and
dysfunctional families. As a consequence, it is estimated that there are about 2
million children who are without parents or a parent who cannot care for them.
Uganda Family Resource Link (UFRL) is a non-government organisation (NGO)
registered in Uganda (Number S.5914/3698). This NGO was founded in 2002 by
Samuel and Eva Kitalya to restore family dynamics and take care of children at risk,
within a family setting. The organisation provides housing, food, clothing, health
care and education to children in need. Bushfire is the name of the childcare project
and the term used to refer to all work that has been developed around this core
project.
There are currently almost 90 children living in foster homes at the Bushfire
community in Bulange sub-county, Namutumba district of Eastern Uganda. The
support we give to the children goes beyond the boundaries of the Bushfire
community and extends to children living in the surrounding 37 villages of Bulange
sub-county.
Our desire is to see individuals and families at Bushfire and surrounding areas turn
their hearts to Jesus, grow strong in the Lord and walk in truth so that their lives are
transformed in such a way that they impact future generations for the glory of God.
We are doing this through building the Community’s capacity in farming and
agriculture, business industry, setting up schools and tree planting. The children and
leadership of Bushfire are grateful for all the prayer, practical & financial support,
guidance and encouragement from local and overseas supporters.

What we do:
 A Childrens Home with cottages separated into boys and girls as well as ages,

each approximately housing 20 children. Dedicated House Mothers provide
practical care and love for the children. A wonderful feature is the way older
children also care for the younger ones.
 A Health Clinic which is staffed by a very busy Nurse who
provides basic health and accident services, mainly to Home
and School children. Resources are stretched when providing
assistance to people in the local villages.
 A Kitchen which provides basic meals each day to the 400
children (day and boarders) and 100 staff. Typically the meals
comprise maize, sweet potato, cassava, beans, rice (if good
season) and fruit such as mango, banana and pineapple (in
season). Typically a 100kg bag of rice will last 2-3 meals for
the 400-500 people on site.

16

 A Primary School which has a classroom and teacher for each grade. The
teachers focus on literacy, numeracy and science whilst allowing for the students
to have fun. As with other Schools at Bushfire, children from local villages attend.

 A Secondary School which covers all years covering most subjects based on the
Ugandan National curriculum up to matriculation level. A Library and Science
Laboratory are recent additions.

 A Vocational School was established to provide older students with basic training
in such areas as woodwork, metalwork, tailoring, hairdressing, hospitality, and
motor mechanics with visiting instructors. It was accredited by the Government in
2012 and offers Certificate level qualifications. Secondary School
students normally also participate in Vocational training.

 Farms are essential to provide food for the Bushfire Community. Crops such as
maize, sweet potato, ground nuts, rice, pineapples, mangos are grown as well as
raising animals such as goats, chickens and cows. The Farms cannot provide all
Bushfire needs hence supplementary food purchases are normally required. This
is a substantial problem when crops fail.

 A Business Centre in nearby Bulange village has been established where there is
grid power supply. Using donated machinery, local produce such as rice and
maize from Bushfire farms is milled together with produce from other growers.
Being in a predominately Moslem village, this activity is another means of Bushfire
helping and strengthening the local people.

 Church is the centre for many Christian ministries with several Pastors serving in
satellite Churches. Besides Sunday Services, there are many Bible Studies,
Prayer meetings and House Groups each week as well as evangelism, education,
counselling and emergency support.

 Bushfire graduates who have potential to undertake tertiary training in Jinja or
Kampala and would have no other means may be sponsored and mentored
through Bushfire.

 Support Functions such as administration, finance and maintenance are
conducted from Bushfire by a small team of dedicated and capable people.

EPHESIANS 2: 8 -10. Our life is clearly marked out to walk and live in Him. If we're
to do anything, the demand to depend on grace is just as important and never take
anything for granted.
The Song: Only by grace can we enter and only by grace can we stand...Not by our
human endeavour but by the Blood of the Lamb. We struggle in life because we
don't care taking him seriously and closer so He can guide us daily.

17

Hannah Kunert

For three months in early 2017, I worked in Durban,
South Africa, as an International Citizenship Service
(‘ICS’) volunteer.

ICS is a UK government-run programme which works with charities to send
young people overseas to volunteer in deprived communities. I chose to
work with Tearfund, a UK Christian charity, as a member of a team of two
other UK volunteers and four South African volunteers, focussing on
education in Chesterville, a Durban township.

Our day-to-day work involved classroom assistance and running a variety of
clubs in three schools, and tutoring for three hours in a local education
centre. We also ran a holiday club, assisted in 2 local Sunday schools,
carried out some infrastructural work, and worked to create stronger links
between the community and ICS.

It was a rewarding experience and I believe that our work made a genuine,
long-lasting impact in Chesterville. However, living in a
township, working in a very small team, and dealing with
constant uncertainty and language barriers was challenging,

and we found ourselves relying heavily
on God and our daily team devotions
to encourage and strengthen us; as a
result, my trust and faith in God have
grown enormously. Thank you so
much for all your prayers and support.

Jonathan Lancaster

With the generous support of Christ Church, God enabled me to spend July
and August in Indonesia working with a small NGO, whose work aims to
empower and equip disadvantaged communities across a handful of
villages. Their primary tool is education, and as such I was involved -
amongst other things - in teaching English at after-school classes, as well
as aiding the organisation’s staff with their English. Despite almost every
day being busy, upon reflection I gained more from the experience of
“being” there than I ever could from “doing”. It was also a time where I learnt
to listen to God more and value a closer friendship with Him. As all of the
charity’s work is centred on the restoration of relationships – with God,
oneself and others – I was also challenged to consider how as Christians
our gospel witness is most effective and most complete when it begins with
friendship.

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Mission Support Weekend

Thank you for taking the time to pray with us in preparation for the Mission
Support weekend. You will notice that this year’s booklet contains some
‘new’ names on the list of official Mission Partners. We are entering a time
of change and transition when it comes to those who we financially support.
After many years of support we have come to the prayerful decision to draw
to an end our financial support of Howard and Nora Norrish, Paul Bown and
Nigel Harman. This has been a careful and prayerful process and the
decision and reasons were communicated back in January (May for
Howard and Nora) and we have had full and gracious understanding from
them all. Our financial support for them is reducing over the coming years
so as to give them plenty of time to explore alternative funding, but our
prayerful support and friendship will not end. New Missions have been
added to our support portfolio - Starfish Asia and Bushfire.
We have also spent a great deal of time on a new Mission Support Policy
which we hope will be adopted at the next PCC, meeting subject to any
necessary amendments.
Yours in Christ, Rev. Rob Hinton, Chair of the Mission Support Committee

Giving

After prayerful and careful consideration the Missionary Committee have
this year set a budget of £35,000 which, once achieved, will enable the
budgetary needs of our mission partners to be met in full, along with
contributing to the three projects we support as well as replenishing the
pool for those who undertake short-term mission work. Financial gifts for
missionary work are welcome at any time during the year, although
donations for the Missionary Support Weekend will be limited to the period
up to Sunday 29th October.
Gifts may be placed directly into the globe at the back of church, or in the
collection bag using a marked envelope or blue missionary giving envelope.
Cheques should be made payable to ‘Christ Church Beckenham PCC
Missionary Account’. Alternatively a donation can be made directly into
Christ Church’s Missionary Bank account (Sort Code: 60-02-12: Account
number 14216930).
If you are a UK tax payer the use of blue missionary giving envelopes is
encouraged, as this will enable CCB to make a gift aid claim to HMRC. By
using gift aid CCB is effectively able to increase a gift by 25%, (£100
donated becomes, after gift aid is claimed, £125 for our mission partners).

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In order for Christ Church Beckenham to maximise the claim it makes to HMRC then
our preference is for all donations to be allocated to the mission pool, however should
you wish your donation to be for a specific mission partner, mission agency or project,
then it is acceptable for their name (or that of the agency/project) to be penned onto
the blue missionary giving envelope enabling your donation to be allocated according
to your wishes.
This year we are also seeking donations to assist those members of our congregation
who wish to undertake short term missionary work. Should you wish to allocate your
donation for this then please write Short Term Workers (STW) on the blue envelope.
Should you make your donation directly to the Missionary bank account please quote
‘the mission partner (mission agency) / project’, or ‘STW’ in the reference box. Should
you be a UK tax payer please add ‘GA’. If we do not hold a current Gift Aid declaration
from you our Gift Aid Secretary will be in contact with you shortly.
This year’s budget for our mission partners totals £35,000 being broken down as
follows:

Mission Partner Mission agency 2017 2018
Dick & Caroline Seed 8,500.00
Nigel & Jo Harman CMS 8,500.00 5,000.00
Howard & Nora Norrish OM 10,000.00 5,500.00
Paul & Kate Bown OM 5,000.00
ReachAcross 5,500.00
9,500.00

Mission Project 5,500.00 2,250.00
Bush Fire £39,000.00 5,500.00
IcFEM 2,250.00
Starfish Asia 1,000.00
Short term workers £35,000.00

Should the mission partner or charity you wish to support not be one of the named
CCB mission partners then you are invited to make your donation direct to the charity
in question. Any donations received by CCB, accompanied by a cheque (or cash), not
for one of the CCB mission partners will be returned to the donor, and any
unidentifiable cash will be directed to the CCB mission pool.
Please ask Keith Robbins, Missionary Treasurer, if you have any further queries
regarding giving.

Christ Church Parish Office, 1A Christ Church Road, Beckenham, BR3 3LE
Tel: 020 8650 3847  Email: [email protected]  Website: www.ccb.org.uk 20