Mission moves South

 

– a personal invitation to participate from the Faith2Share International Coordinator

 

I am so grateful for all the support and encouragement I have received from so many people during my ministry that I have decided to share an exciting new challenge that faces me and in which you might want to share.

 

Once in a while the world suddenly changes and we have to change with it or be left behind. I first became a supporter of the Church Mission Society (CMS) in 1957 and began work with them in 1988. At that time Christians from Europe and North America, serving through agencies such as CMS, were still the leaders in global mission. Twenty years later all that has changed! Today most Christians live in Africa, Latin America and Asia and it is from these continents that we see growing churches reaching out to serve God’s world – in evangelism, relief work, development, and love for the most needy. I am now taking up a call to work primarily with these twenty-first century mission leaders. Let me mention just two of them.

 

When the Tsunami hit Sri Lanka in 2004 one of the first to get a team on the ground with relief supplies was Ram Prasad Shrestha (left), leader of the Mission Commission of Nepal, a country where it was illegal to be baptised just ten years ago. I now work regularly with Ram who just this month reported on the baptism of eleven Nepali men in prison.

 

 

 

The person who has challenged much of my mission thinking in recent years is a young Kenyan, Duncan Olumbe (right) who leads a new movement in East Africa called Mission Together Africa. With almost no resources, and at times working without salary, Duncan and his team are enabling young African Christians to serve in mission, in Sudan, in the slums of Kenya, and as far away as Europe.

 

 

Personal implications – for me (and you?)

 

After 21 years with CMS (on a secure salary and with great colleagues!) I have decided that I need to step out on a new adventure with people like Ram, Duncan and Joy (who I can tell you about another time). These past two decades have left me with no doubts at all that the message of Jesus can and does transform whole communities as well as individual lives, but I have also come to the conclusion that, while traditional agencies like CMS will still play their part, the cutting edge of mission is now in the Global South (Africa, Asia and Latin America).

 

The Faith2Share network was established specifically to enable collaboration in global mission and to strengthen the new movements of mission from the South. I will now be giving all my time to Faith2Share encouraged by the fact that mission leaders from around the world have assured me that I have just the right gifts and experience to lead this new venture and help build a new (South-centred) future for Christian mission. I am delighted that Anton Ponomarev, a colleague I have worked with for a number of years, will be joining me in this venture, and we have the full support of the General Secretaries of all 18 of our member agencies and many ‘advisers’ around the world.

 

To begin this new adventure at this stage of my working life I also need to raise a considerable level of support from people like yourself who have supported me in other ways in the past. The three main ingredients will be ‘regular prayer’, ‘regular finance’, and ‘regular interest’. I already have a website and blog to enable the flow of prayer and information but I need to establish my financial base from scratch! (Faith2Share members support the work of the network but as many are in the Global South they are unable to fully support salaries and much of our ‘cutting edge’ ministry with new and emerging mission movements.) Please do prayerfully consider how you might share this ministry with me and respond by downloading your response card now.

 

Impact

 

However you decide to respond I can promise you one thing – this ministry does have an impact! Let me finish this letter with a few facts:

·               The average British missionary costs £21,000pa. An Indian, Nepali, or Chinese missionary can be supported for around £4,000pa. so Faith2Share can enable many more mission workers to be active in serving communities.

·               The largest Anglican mission agency, CMS currently has 162 mission workers, the Indian Evangelical Mission (a Faith2Share member) has over 800. Together within Faith2Share we have around 3,500.

·               In East Africa, Church Army Africa (a Faith2Share member) have recently created employment for dozens of unemployed young people.

·               In Bangladesh another Faith2Share partner has established a movement of around 3,000 Muslims who are now ‘followers of Isa (Jesus)’ and serving their communities.

·               By participating in the ministry of Faith2Share I, and potentially you, will support the work of many traditional agencies like CMS and SAMS as well as hundreds of new Global South movements and their leaders, like Ram, Duncan and Joy.

 

Thank you again to all who ave supported and encouraged me in ministry so far, God bless you,

 

Rev. Canon Mark Oxbrow

Faith2Share International Coordinator

 

UK Charity No. 1132707

 

Download a response card

 

 

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