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'All the statistical evidence goes to show that those within our secularised societies who are being drawn out of unbelief to faith in Christ say they were drawn through the friendship of a local congregation'.

So writes Leslie Newbigin. A statement like this is easily passed over. It seems rather obvious at one level.

John Peet interviewed Cecily Maclagan, a Scotswoman, working with the Irish Baptist Mission in Peru.

JP: Where are you working in Peru, and who with?

CM: I'm working right down in the south of the country on the border with Chile, and I'm seconded by Grace Baptist Mission to the Irish Baptist Mission.

How are Christians called by the Lord into missionary service? On this page and opposite are two examples. We start here with Will and Judith.

Long ago, in a galaxy far away, lived a couple of normal Christian students...

In his 1960s' biography of the evangelist Billy Graham, John Pollock says that Graham began his ministry in Britain in the South Wales town of Gorseinon.

He has since corrected that. The first two meetings were held in October 1946 at the Gospel Temple in Bristol, which is now demolished.

I was startled when I first read the figures, I couldn't believe them - surely they couldn't be true! That the Christian world in general spends £999 in every £1,000 on itself. That left only £1 in every £1,000 to reach out to the non-Christian world.

But worse was to come as I read further. While 90 pence in every £1,000 was spend on the non-Christian world that had already been evangelised in some way, only 10 pence in every £1,000 was spend in reaching the unevangelised world. Is it really possible that we invest so small a part of our Christian giving on the lost, those who are without Christ and without hope in this world?

'Dr. Livingstone, I presume' is one of the best known quotations in the English language but, for many people, this is all they know of the great man. John Delaney tells us more . . .

Perseverance

This is not yet another eulogy on this intrepid medical missionary, explorer, and national hero of the past. It is, rather, holding forth a life to encourage every buffeted and bewildered follower of Jesus.

We are becoming used to hearing rumours about 'new moves of the Spirit'. Brace yourself, yet another may well be about to break upon the British church scene. EN investigates ......

In the partial lull after 'Toronto' many have been awaiting either the next 'movement of the Holy Spirit' or the next outbreak of 'counterfeit Christianity' - depending on one's perspective and biblical understanding.

In some ways it is easy to have a holiday club. You can just run it the same way as last year.

Just rope in some leaders from the youth organisations, arrange a few games, sing 'Jesus' love is very wonderful' and hit them with a few 'old-faithful' Bible stories.

In a decade of controversial movements rumours have been rife for over a year now of the next big thing about to hit the British church scene: Promise Keepers. EN carried news of this last September. Now Peter Glover reports . . .

Born in the USA (God's apparent spawning ground for new movements) five years ago, Promise Keepers has seen enormous growth especially among evangelicals.

60% of the world's population live there, but less than 5% are Christian. East Asian economies are growing rapidly, promising to make an ever-increasing impact on the rest of the world. It is a strategic time to be in Asia.

We asked Malcolm Jones to interview David Ellis, National Director of Overseas Missionary Fellowship UK (OMF) , to explore the life of the Church in East Asia, and discover the part being played by OMF in that part of the world.

I have usually been the one up front; Sundays, that is, morning and evening. But for a rare few weeks I have been able to visit a variety of churches and chapels; not as a visiting preacher, nor as a sermon-tester, nor even to find where to settle down . . .

It is good to get the feel of several congregations in a different area, and incidentally to appreciate better the feel of the pew - its hardness or comfort is one factor, but not the chief!

John Benton

Date posted: 1 May 1996

University students in Africa are responding to the gospel. David Zac Niringiye is a regional secretary for the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students and is responsible for 27 English and Portuguese-speaking countries. John Benton caught up with Zac at Word Alive, and interviewed him for EN.

EN: When and how did you become a Christian?

DZN: Both my parents were committed Christians - my father was also a lay evangelist. So I grew up within the church, but when I was 15 I strayed and became heavily influenced by drink. I tried to deceive my parents and bought some Scripture Union Bible reading notes, to pretend that things were not so bad with me. Through the notes I read the Bible seriously and was struck by its impact. One Sunday in June 1972, when I was suffering from a hangover, I went to a small-group discussion run for Christians on the subject of doubts in the Christian faith. I realised then that the only reason I doubted the reality of my faith was because I wasn't there yet, and so I turned to the Lord.

Following the article on Robert Moffat in the January issue of EN, Dr. Malcolm Moffat, the grandson of Robert Moffat's grandson (see footnote) has kindly supplied us with details of how the Moffats' descendants have contributed and still contribute to Africa today.

Dr. Malcolm Moffat worked as a paediatrician in Zambia and Uganda in a variety of roles including Makerere Medical School, before coming back to the UK National Health Service.

Iranian student Amin Abbasi saw no reason to live. Abused as a child, crushed by poverty, he was ready to kill.

But he was given the Scriptures in his own language and was fascinated by Jesus. He surrendered his life to Christ. He is now being trained at Elam Ministries which operates the only residential Bible Training Centre in the world for Iranians. This is his testimony.

Peer group pressure! It is a big factor in a youngster's life. this proved to be especially true when I was 12 years old. I had just started at a senior school in my home town of Windsor and I was eager to make an impression on new friends.

One of those friends, Alan, invited me over to his house for some fun. When I told him I was hungry, he suggested we went to the shops and got some sweets, but neither of us had any money. But that was no problem. 'We'll just steal them', Alan said. I had some qualms about this, my parents being good, church-going people, and being aware of what God thought of stealing. But my protest soon ended when I realised that Alan's estimate of me was plummeting rapidly, and that if I was not careful, I would quickly be labelled a coward at school. Quite soon we were coming out of the shop with pockets bulging with sweets and books we had stolen.

The end of 1995 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of Scotland's greatest missionaries, Robert Moffat. Although less famous than his son-in-law, David Livingstone, Moffat was also a remarkable man.

His story has all the ingredients of the classic Victorian missionary saga: wild animals and even wilder tribes, exotic customs and bizarre costumes, daring expeditions into the interior, and above all, an indomitable missionary sustained by his trust in an Almighty God.

One evening in 1787 a young MP pored over papers by candlelight in his home beside the Houses of Parliament. William Wilberforce had been asked to propose the Abolition of the Slave Trade, although almost all Englishmen thought the Trade necessary, if nasty, and that economic ruin would follow if it stopped.

He studied first the state of Negro slaves in the West Indies. He found it bad. Then, the harm to Africa. This disturbed him. Then he examined the conditions for the wretched men, women and children as they were shipped across the Atlantic and he was appalled. The death rate on this 'middle passage' was dreadful. Every dead slave meant loss to a slave ship's owner, yet hundreds died every year.

During the week, St. Peter's Vere Street in London's West End is home to Christian Impact, but on Sundays it is fully used by Emmanuel Evangelical Church. This is a young, vibrant and growing international congregation. To find out more about it, John Marsh visited their pastoral leader, the Rev. Chua Wee-Hian.

EN: How did the church begin?

CW-H: Towards the end of 1988, a group of primarily Chinese Christians believed that the time had come to launch a new church that would reach out to students and professionals from ethnic minority backgrounds. This would also be in line with the Lord's mandate to 'make disciples of all nations'. So on January 1 1989, Emmanuel Evangelical Church (EEC) was born. Our dream and vision is to grow into an international church.