From three to 25,000 – but militants tried to kidnap my teenage daughter
Iain Taylor
Date posted: 1 Sep 2022
Indian church-planting missionary Elavatta Abraham has an extraordinary experience of how God has worked in his life.
He told his story exclusively to Evangelicals Now during a brief trip to the UK to attend the Cambridge Leaders Network conference.
Buffalo saves ambushed mission worker and family
Gary Clayton of Mission Aviation Fellowship writes:
In 1 Corinthians 15:32, the apostle Paul refers to fighting wild beasts in Ephesus. Although it’s unclear whether this is a reference to enraged opponents of the gospel or an allusion to a particularly cruel form of Roman punishment, for many MAF passengers the organisation’s light aircraft are the only way they can avoid the peril posed by man and beast.
New Scottish partnerships?
John MacKinnon
Date posted: 1 Sep 2022
One of the fruits of the ongoing Life22 mission
initiative of A Passion for Life has been the
initiation of some promising conversations
around Scotland about the possibility of the
establishment or in some cases re-establishment
of Regional Gospel Partnerships (RGPs).
Nick McQuaker,
the development officer
for
the partnerships, has been on a
tour
around Scotland meeting key church leaders in
Edinburgh, Fife, Aberdeen, Moray, and Ayrshire.
Stepping out in faith: I said, ‘OK Jesus, I’m here…’
Carl Knightley
Date posted: 1 Sep 2022
‘Never in a million years would you have seen me knocking on someone’s door. That’s someone else’s ministry, I would have told you.’
These were the words of Maria, a member of Forestdale Church in Croydon, South London.
Ten Questions: A Biblical ‘boulderer’
Jason Roach
1. How did you become a Christian?
Across the British Isles: Christians gear up for mission in 2022
Across England, Scotland, Wales and in Northern Ireland, thousands of Christians from hundreds of churches are gathering and preparing for a focused month of mission called ‘Life’ in March 2022. Operations leader Le Fras Strydom writes:
Under the banner of A Passion for Life, over 650 churches are now involved – and more are joining each week. From Brighton to Belfast and Edinburgh to Eastbourne, hundreds of churches up and down the UK and Ireland are already using A Passion For Life’s personal evangelism training resources to get equipped, enthused and excited in preparation for the month of mission and a lifetime of evangelism beyond.
UK in transition: Keep calm and carry on!
John Stevens
Date posted: 1 Oct 2022
The death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, after her remarkable 70-year reign, inevitably causes great uncertainty for the future. How might Britain change under her successor?
She has been a focus for stability and national identity in a fast-changing world, and a voice for the centrality of Christian faith in the public square. None of us knows the full extent of her influence behind the scenes, but many Christians assume that she has been a bulwark against ever-advancing secularism and progressivism. They fear that her death will allow these forces greater sway, and that the very integrity of the United Kingdom may be more difficult to sustain without her.
Antidote to gadding about
The Free Church of Scotland’s 69th School
in Theology began with the life of Alexander
Moody Stuart by the Rev John W. Keddie.
It
was
a
resounding
and
thrilling
commencement to the School, writes E.T.
Kirkland. It is important to note that this
is not a conference but a school, meaning
the papers are given by those who regularly
attend as opposed to recruiting conference
speakers. This has the benefit of enabling
ministers to study a particular subject which
ordinarily
they may not do. Because of
this, the quality of the papers exceeds those delivered at conference level.
Taiwan: now more than 2,500 Christian fellowships
Iain Taylor
Date posted: 1 Oct 2022
David Eastwood is Field Director for OMF in Taiwan, where he has been working for 30 years, and now oversees 70 missionaries.
OMF’s focus in Taiwan is on working-class and marginalised communities, such as prostitutes, the homeless and orphans, who are often overlooked by those agencies who concentrate on reaching the middle classes. Evangelicals Now spoke to him exclusively about the current situation there.
Modern
slavery alert
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Oct 2022
With modern slavery in the UK escalating,
evangelical churches are being challenged
to dedicate Sunday 25 September to prayer
and taking action to help trafficking victims.
‘Freedom Sunday’, coordinated by
the
International
Justice Mission
(IJM), has
been chosen as a day dedicated
in
the
UK and abroad
for corporate prayer
for
individuals trafficked into modern slavery –
and to take action to end it.
Seven ways to spot a ‘BWW’ and why it matters
Nay Dawson
Date posted: 1 Aug 2022
I’ll never be one of the ‘Blokes Worth Watching’ (BWW) nor will many of my friends that don’t fit.
I love leadership and evangelism. I want to invest precious years into mission and the future of the church, so I’m wondering how do I become one of the BWWs [as described in this article in last month's EN] ? How do I get mentored? How do I get invested in so that I can make a significant difference? The problem is, I can’t. I’m a woman. I’ll never be a ‘Bloke Worth Watching’ and neither will half of those made in the image of God.
Addis Ababa to London: Meron’s pioneering mission
Iain Taylor
Date posted: 1 Feb 2022
Meron (Mary) Haile has become the first woman missionary from Ethiopia to be a part of Serving in Mission (SIM) UK’s Engage programme. The 29-year-old is now serving with Inspire at St James, Clerkenwell, as part of SIM’s strategy of bringing experienced workers from overseas to work with churches in their multicultural contexts.
Engage helps (mainly urban) UK evangelical churches to share the gospel cross-culturally with the different ethnic and religious communities now embedded where they are. Many churches now recognise the strategic gospel opportunity – on their own doorsteps – to reach those who have not heard the good news of Christ.
First flight is answer to decade of prayer
Gary Clayton
Date posted: 1 Aug 2022
A few weeks ago MAF pilot Roy Rissanen flew a team of American missionaries from a remote part of Guinea – the journey representing the first operational flight of MAF’s latest African programme.
With only 5% of Guinea’s roads being paved and the country’s railway network no longer running, the severe lack of transport makes life difficult for aid and development agencies, churches and missions in isolated areas.
news in brief
Jesus loves journalist
Journalist Matthew
Parris
(see photo)
was
‘curiously
moved’
after
a
young
Deliveroo
cyclist
stopped
alongside him and
asked if he believed
in the Lord Jesus.
In his regular The
Times column, Parris, a former Conservative
MP, wrote:
‘I replied that I’m sure Jesus
existed, and love and respect the character
whose description has come down to us
through the ages, but that I do not believe
he was the Son of God, and do not believe in
God at all. ‘“But He said He was,” said the
young man. I replied that Jesus probably was
under a misapprehension. The cyclist paused
to think. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘Jesus loves you even
if you won’t acknowledge him. I will pray for
you.’ And with that, he cycled off. I walked on, curiously moved.’
The church that grew – from two!
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Aug 2022
From two to more than 120 people in nine years – a London church plant which began with a couple meeting individuals in the first year before launching as a living-room Bible study, is now planning to send its very first convert to start a new church in West London.
Malcolm Riley and his wife moved to London in 2013 with a desire to reach the next generation from the city centre. They came with literally nothing, having just left St Ebbe’s Oxford; with no staff team, no core group, no salary, no vicarage and no church building. ‘But we had two Bibles,’ said Malcolm.
Evangelical crisis? I don’t think so
Andy Mason
Date posted: 1 Aug 2022
What is the state of conservative evangelicalism? Glen Scrivener has given us a challenging answer in his article in the July 2022 issue of en, ‘BWWs: the “Blokes Worth Watching” conveyor belt…’
His article is a strong critique, essentially arguing that we evangelicals are in something of a spiritual crisis. The strength of its criticisms invites a rejoinder. As a fellow pastor, I know Glen and have worked with him. He is a wonderful evangelist, a man of integrity and a very gifted preacher. Most importantly, he loves Jesus and cares for the abused. I think, though, there are some real problems with Glen’s take on our churches.
German believers help Ukraine
Iain Taylor
Date posted: 1 Aug 2022
Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine in February Evangelicals Now has been inundated with stories about how UK churches and Christian groups are helping refugees and reaching out to them with the gospel. But Christians in other parts of Europe have been busy too.
Here is how Message Germany (an international hub of Manchester-based The Message Trust) has responded to the crisis.
ten questions: dismantling our tribalism
Jonathan Lamb
1. How did you become a Christian?
Revelation boosts Reformed in Rome
Iain Taylor
Date posted: 1 Sep 2022
A preaching workshop being held in the Italian capital is expanding rapidly.
‘Workshop Predicazione’ looks set to double the numbers attending in 2022.
Moses masterclass
Richard Underwood
Date posted: 1 Sep 2022
Book Review
THE CRUCIBLE OF LEADERSHIP:
Learning from the story of Moses
Read review
Grateful at
Keswick ’22
The Keswick Convention 2022 brought
thousands
of Christians
together
this
summer under the banner of ‘All One in
Christ Jesus’ (see also en, August).
The theme was ‘Grateful’ and there was
certainly much
for which to be grateful,
writes Emma Harrison.
news in brief
Egypt: Christians attacked
by Muslim
A Christian man and his son have been
attacked by a Muslim man in Giza, Egypt.
Joseph Israel and his son were attacked
by Ahmad Mouhammad outside Mr Israel’s
wine shop. Mr Mouhammad attacked both
with a knife before
some of Mr Israel’s
Muslim neighbours
intervened and beat
the assailant badly. Mr Mouhammad, Mr
Israel and his son are currently in hospital
receiving medical
treatment
for
their
injuries. Journalist Nader Shokry suggested
that
these attacks are
the
result of hate
speech and
sectarian
incitement by
local
Islamist preachers.
Is complementarian theology really abusive?
I recently found myself tagged in a lengthy Twitter discussion.
Megan Cornwell interviewed me for an article called ‘Is complementarian theology abusive’ for Premier Christianity. She posted a link, and the responses began. It was like watching a tennis match, a type of Twitter ping pong. Tweets passed backwards and forwards. The rallies were long. An accusation followed by a defence with a counterargument returned.