A Passion For Life 2022 – how is it designed to work?
John MacKinnon
Date posted: 1 Oct 2021
One of life’s most enjoyable experiences and one that spans the globe in its cultural relevance is the joy of sharing a meal amongst family, friends or even on occasions with complete strangers.
In the journey of life, I’ve known the simplicity of an apple given at great sacrifice in a poverty-stricken African village, the elaborate feasts of civil gatherings, the splendour of wedding celebrations, the countless choices of restaurant menus and, my favourite, the gathering round the family table for home-cooked fayre where the main ingredient is love.
evangelicals & catholics
Who will be the next Pope?
Leonardo De Chirico
Date posted: 1 Oct 2021
There is a general perception that Pope Francis’s pontificate has entered an irreversibly declining phase.
It is not just a question of age: yes, Pope Francis is elderly and in poor health. But aging aside, the pontificate finds itself navigating a descending parabola. It started with the language of ‘mission’ and ‘reform’. Francis’ reign, now nearly ten years old, was immediately engulfed in difficulties, particularly within the Catholic Church.
Moldova and east Ukraine: breakthrough among young?
Slavic Gospel Association & Mission Without Borders
Date posted: 1 Sep 2021
Moldova has suffered particularly badly in the Covid pandemic, coming as it did on the heels of a severe drought and disastrously poor harvests in 2020, which added to the already heavy burdens of the poor and vulnerable.
Poverty is endemic in large sections of the populace, and its consequences are evident not only in material terms but in the realm of relationships, and particularly family life. This scenario is common in a number of East European countries. Families are poor. The parents cannot find work to sustain their children and their homes. They take the decision to go to other countries where work can be found, and children are left in the care of ageing grandparents who themselves find life difficult and challenging. Often this results in children growing up without adequate parental guidance and discipline, and falling prey to many dangers and temptations, including addiction, sexual abuse, and even human trafficking. It is no exaggeration to say that chaos is evident in many family situations.
news in brief
Eternal Wall prayer drive
Inspired by Nehemiah’s rebuilding of Jerusalem’s wall, ‘Eternal Wall: 52 Days of Prayer, Fasting and Worship’ is underway.
It began on 3 September in support of a crowdfunding campaign for the Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer, a Christian landmark planned for the West Midlands, UK in 2023. It is to include 75,000 ‘heritage bricks’ celebrating answered prayer as far back as 600 AD. The 52 days of prayer is a flexible prayer schedule that can be followed daily – either individually or in a small group, or in a church or organisation. For more information visit eternalwall.org
Riga resumes in-person Bible training
John Woods
Date posted: 1 Oct 2021
It is great to be in Latvia in late summer when the daylight still holds until late evening and the temperature can still be hot. It was a particular delight for me to be there with Anthony Billington, associated with the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity, to teach a weekend course on Whole Life Preaching as part of the two-year School of Preachers programme at the Latvian Biblical Centre (LBC) in Riga.
It had been nine months since the group were able to meet in person. We have managed to maintain the teaching via Zoom involving three languages. It was lovely to have the buzz of personal interaction in those September sessions.
news in brief
Argentina: Evangelical Churches Day
The Argentinian province of Neuquén has enshrined in law a new Provincial Day of Evangelical Churches. The date – 31 October, Reformation Day – was chosen as it marks the anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in 1517.
‘We believe it was important to give public recognition and support to the evangelical churches that are doing essential work in our province and our country’, said provincial deputy Darío Peralta (see photo). He stressed that the Congress was ‘happy to highlight their work and make it visible by recognising them and declaring 31 October as the day of the evangelical churches in our province’.
EA launches
‘Being Human’
Evangelical Alliance
Date posted: 1 Nov 2021
The Evangelical Alliance
is
launching a
new
three-year
initiative
to help people
think Biblically about what it means to be
human.
The ‘Being Human’ project aims to inspire
and equip everyday Christians to be able to
‘understand, articulate and participate in the
Biblical vision of humanity’.
Celebration as church marks first birthday
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Nov 2021
First birthdays are special, and for an Essex
‘church in the home’ – its first birthday
marked an encouraging year despite the
pandemic.
Cornerstone Church
in Colchester, an
Anglican church, began on 18 October 2020
under the oversight of Anglican Mission in
England (AMiE). It has coined the phrase
‘… starting in the home, sustained in the
home!’ to reflect the church’s conviction of
the value of meeting in the home.
Afghan refugee children campaign
en staff
Date posted: 1 Nov 2021
More than £2,000 has so far been raised as part of a campaign to provide winter clothing for Afghan refugee children arriving in the UK.
The initiative is organised by Christian group Afghan Welcome – whose director is Krish Kandiah (see photo), and whose supporters include en contributor Graham Miller of the London City Mission, Gavin Calver of the Evangelical Alliance and many others.
ReNew: abuse &
healthy church
ReNew
Date posted: 1 Nov 2021
The
annual
conference
of ReNew
for
conservative evangelicals in the Church of
England has been held in-person again, after
a virtual session last year due to the pandemic.
The event tackled issues of spiritual abuse
following recent high-profile cases and
the
publication of
the Thirtyone:eight
report
into Jonathan Fletcher’s time at Emmanuel,
Wimbledon. It also focused on ‘establishing
healthy churches’ – the theme for the gathering.
John Stott’s ‘new’ book: a heartfelt environmental plea
Thomas Creedy
Date posted: 1 Nov 2021
In 2011 IVP published what was intended by the author to be his final book – summing up decades of prayer, study and ministry. John Stott’s The Radical Disciple, ten years on, continues to provoke, encourage and inspire.
Stott’s own purpose in that book was ‘to consider eight characteristics of Christian discipleship which are often neglected and yet deserve to be taken seriously’. One of these was ‘creation care’, an issue which is increasingly coming to our attention and the focus of the world. With the Stott centenary running from April 2021 to April 2022, IVP took the decision to publish John Stott on Creation Care, a definitive collection of Stott’s writings on the topic, carefully compiled from throughout his ministry. Sam Berry and Laura Yoder, in their own way, have carefully curated tens of thousands of Stott’s own words, adding interpretation and context, to produce a vital new book.
letter from the
Irish Republic
David Houlton
Date posted: 1 Sep 2021
Columba and evangelicals
In
the midst of
the pandemic many
churches across Ireland are celebrating a
prince, born
into a minor royal
family
1,500 years ago, who became the founder of
one of the greatest evangelistic movements
ever in Europe.
Between 7 December 2020 and the same
day
in 2021, senior church
leaders
from
across County Donegal
in the northwest
of
Ireland are uniting
to pray
together,
and walk together, to celebrate the life and
ministry of Colmcille (Columba), born in
a remote part of the county, who founded
a movement that spread the gospel to the
pagan Scots, and then to the pagan Anglo-Saxons, and
inspired generations of Irish
and English Christians to bring the gospel
to their pagan kinsmen in mainland Europe.
Reasons to ‘ReJoyce’
Gary Clayton
Date posted: 1 Sep 2021
On 7 July, MAF Pilot Mike Brown loaded a new Kodiak Quest 100 aircraft with food supplies and Bibles and flew to Emdoman, central Papua.
The first operational flight for MAF’s newest aircraft had taken almost three years to reach MAF’s Indonesian programme due to coronavirus restrictions.
Fifty years on: from the Festival of Light to CARE and the future…
It was Saturday, 25 September 1971. Tens of thousands of people, young and old, met together on London’s Trafalgar Square for the largest ever open-air gathering of Christians in British history.
People carried placards showing a map of the UK or showing messages like ‘Jesus loves you’. Some wore Nationwide Festival of Light (NFoL) T-shirts and there was a general atmosphere of sheer excitement and expectation.
British Christians helping Afghan refugees
Iain Taylor
Date posted: 1 Oct 2021
As UK Christians consider how they might help the sudden influx of refugees from Afghanistan, one church leader with extensive experience of mission to Muslims has warned that the overwhelming majority of evangelical churches will not see any asylum seekers placed anywhere near them by the government.
Stephen Kneale (photo left) of Oldham Bethel Church says: ‘Most of these asylum seekers are open to Christianity. We already welcome many Afghani refugees who are, typically, very receptive to a gospel that is demonstrably different to what they left behind. Dozens of those we have witnessed to have put their faith in Christ.
Changing cricket and changing church
Date posted: 1 Oct 2021
Dear Editor,
I enjoyed reading John Stevens’ article in the September edition on the new format of cricket with the introduction of The Hundred tournament.
New Mozambique and Angola venture
Charles Raven
Date posted: 1 Oct 2021
24 September 2021 marks the inauguration of the newest province of the Anglican Communion, known as the Igreja Anglicana de Mocambique e Angola (IAMA, or the Anglican Church of Mozambique and Angola).
To proceed, the project required a minimum of two thirds of the Anglican Primates to vote in favour and this threshold was reached in August.
Vietnamese evangelicals find favour
Iain Taylor
Date posted: 1 Oct 2021
Evangelical Christians and the Vietnamese Government appear to have learnt from past mistakes – and their joint response to a recent coronavirus outbreak in Ho Chi Minh City has highlighted the benefits of prompt co-operation.
After some students at the Evangelical Church of Vietnam South’s Institute of Bible and Theology developed coughs and fevers last summer, church authorities immediately called the government health department. Tests revealed that 290 of the 306 students and staff on the campus had Covid-19. The authorities immediately quarantined the campus and sent in a medical team. Two Christian doctors and five volunteers of a Christian student fellowship also entered the campus to serve the sick. The 15 who needed hospital treatment included the Dean of Students, pastor Nguyen An Thai, and his wife.
everyday evangelism
God’s plan to reach
the world: it might
surprise you
Glen Scrivener
Date posted: 1 Aug 2021
‘If I became a Christian, I would have to
spend every waking moment trying to save
others.’
The words
came
from
an
extremely
intelligent student considering
the call of
Christ – let’s call him Phil. It was the last
night of a university mission and Phil told
me he was terrified of the gospel being true
because if it was he couldn’t imagine how he
could justify anything other than a life of
unceasing evangelism from that day on.
After the fall of Afghanistan, is there hope?
About 300 yards from my house is the grave of an 18-year-old paratrooper killed in Helmand province.
I’ve never been convinced by the reasons given for our Afghan adventure, and why this young man was put in harm’s way by our government. We have now abandoned Afghanistan and we are left wondering if there is any hope for that country.