Transforming communities from Manchester to Bangalore
 In the UK the Eden network is organising a two-day national gathering in Manchester in May for everyone who "longs to see the Kingdom come in our nation's most challenging neighbourhoods". The timing is key in this city while some communities are still struggling to cope with the aftermath of riots in 2011. This event is called Proximity and it will be held 25 - 26 May 2012 and the booking is open now. Across the world, in Bangalore one of our partner agencies Urban India Ministries is doing just that - reaching out to hurting families in Indian slums. They have just announced plans to build a new Family Mission Centre and are looking to raise around US$200,000 by the end of March 2012. If you would like to partner with them, you can do so through their website.
Missions work together in India
 An exciting new partnership between three mission movements has meant that two missionary couples have just been commissioned for work in Kedgaon in the Indian state of Maharashtra, east of Mumbai. Faith2Share member agency Asia CMS, working with another of our partners, the Mission Board of the Presbyterian Church of Mizoram, this week commissioned Azahi and Dina, and Saia and Melody along with their son Abel (photo left), for service with the Pandita Ramabai Mukti Mission. The Mizo Church, planted in north east India by Welsh missionaries over a hundred years ago, is today one of the most active Indian churches in the sending of missionaries. Their members serve in every part of India and in many places outside India as well.
Americans unite for mission
 CrossGlobal Link and The Mission Exchange, the two mission networks in the USA, are now one. Following an agreement in October last year to explore merger, the two have come together under the new name Missio Nexus with Steve Moore serving as President and Marv Newell as Senior Vice President. Steve explained, "We chose Missio Nexus because it captures our sense of appreciation for our rich history and a sense of anticipation for our preferred future. Missio, the Latin word for mission, ... affirms we are on mission with God, standing on the shoulders of a great cloud of faithful witnesses proclaiming the unchanging message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Nexus is a Latin word that ... describes the coming together of our two associations in this historic merger as well as a point of convergence where Great Commission influencers from North America can learn from each other and work together in servant partnership with the global church to make disciples of all nations."
Archbishop speaks of African 'Gift from God'.
 Greeting African Anglican leaders meeting in Burundi this week the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Rt Rev Dr Rowan Williams, said,“The work of the Anglican Provinces in Africa for holistic mission and development, grounded in the Good News of Jesus, is an inspiration to all your Anglican brothers and sisters, throughout the world, and it is a joy to see it developing so richly. Your witness to Christ in so many situations that are both materially and spiritually challenging is a gift from God”. This meeting of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA) brings together leaders from Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, DR Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Central Africa, the diocese of Egypt, Tanzania, West Africa, South Africa, Indian Ocean, together with representatives of mission agencies such as CMS Africa and USPG.
Pray for friends and family of Helen
Helen Sidebotham, director of Servants for Asia’s Poor UK, died tragically in Manila on Friday 27 January. Helen has been visiting the Philippines as part of a prayer retreat but collapsed and died whilst travelling home. Friends and colleagues have paid tribute to Helen who had made a significant impact in mission. Please take a moment to pray for Helen's family, especially her husband Peter, and all at Servants for Asia’s Poor; that God might provide courage, peace and a deep knowledge of His love, as they come to terms with this loss.
Anglican Alliance Facilitator
The Anglican Alliance, in partnership with the Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil, is seeking a committed and dynamic person to work as a part-time Alliance facilitator for Latin America and the Caribbean. The Anglican Alliance brings together development relief and advocacy work across the Anglican Communion. The main focus for the work will be to assist the Church in Brazil with the arrangements for Anglican involvement in Rio + 20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, due to be held in June 2012. Other duties will include working on development, relief and advocacy in Latin America and the Caribbean, in line with the Anglican Alliance mandate. The position will be located in Brazil. It is a full-time position offered on a six months contract. Please note that the postholder will need to speak Portuguese and English, and to be able to understand Spanish. You can download information about the position here. For further information please email anglicanalliance@aco.org.
Calling God "Father"
 An old debate in the mission world has been reopened by three recent publications and led to some heated discussion. In their new Arabic Bible "Stories of the Prophets" Wycliffe Bible Tanslators/SIL have chosen to avoid the terms "Father" and "Son" for God as these are offensive to Muslims. Instead they use the Arabic equivalents of "Lord" and "Messiah". In a similar move Frontiers have just produced a publication, "The Meaning of the Gospel of Christ" which replaces "Father" with "Allah", and a new Turkish translation of the Gospel of Matthew which speaks of God the Father as "guardian" and God the Son as "representative". Many are questioning whether these attempts to avoid offense in Muslim contexts are in fact also a denial of Christian trinitarian faith. Turkish church leader Rev. Fikret Böcek says, “This translation is ‘an all-American idea’ with absolutely no respect for the ‘sacredness’ of Scripture, or even of the growing Turkish church.”
One month to go: 2012 Leadership Consultation
It's just over one month to go until Faith2Share's Leadership Consultation, taking place in Antayla, Turkey from 5th to 10th March 2012. These five days provide vital time for members of the Faith2Share family to share face to face and to plan and collaborate for the future. The focus of this year's gathering is 'one year on from the Arab Spring' and is seeking to resource the church in the midst of massive cultural and political changes in the Middle East, North Africa and into Asia. Faith2Share director Mark Oxbrow says bookings are near enough closed, but if you are absolutely desperate you need to contact us TODAY. If you are member you can find out more about the gathering in the Consultation area. Whether you are planning to come or not, do pray for this important gathering and for the CAC (2-6 March) which immediately preceeds it. These are days of massive change and it's urgent we pray for the Christian's around the region and beyond, as we seek to respond.
Faith2Share appoint new staff
 Today two new part-time staff join the team at Faith2Share. As our work in Asia continues to expand Rev. Vijay Isaac (left) joins us as Regional Coordinator for Asia. On secondment from our largest Indian member agency, Friends Missionary Prayer Band (FMPB), Vijay will be based in Chennai, south India. Having worked previously as a missionary in Gujarat, Vijay also brings a wide experience in mission administration. In our Oxford office in the UK, Andy Freeman also joins us today as our new Communications Officer. Andy brings with him a long experience of work with the 24-7 Prayer movement as well as some work with CMS on their Pioneeer mission track. Faith2Share International Director, Mark Oxbrow, will now be released one day a week to work with the Lausanne Movement as their Senior Associate for Orthodox-Evangelical relations. All five Faith2Share staff either work as voluneers or are supported by individuals and churches in their ministry.
Two minute gospel in the Andes
 Juan Bendezu is the enterprising director of Radio Inti Andina (Andean Sun Radio) in Peru. Noticing how advertisers sell their product in just two minutes on the air he has commissioned a whole series of two minute Christian radio programmes. One listener wrote in to the station about his limited understanding of missions beforehand; but now, he says. "listening to these programs, I have understood what we're expected to do - what we have to do - without fear." Some programs of special interest to listeners have covered topics such as "The Great Commandment" and "Called to Holiness." Bendezu also lists other listener favorites as: one profiling the Old Testament character of Abraham, and others that focused on "God as Missionary" and "God and His Church." The programmes are produced in Quito, Ecuador, for the ALAS-HCJB Spanish satellite radio network.
Fatwa against Christians challenged in Kashmir
 The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) has called upon Mr. Omar Abdullah, the Chief Minister of Kashmir, to ensure the security and safety of the tiny population of Christians in the Kashmir valley region of India who have been living in terror since a hate campaign was launched in the city of Srinagar following a fatwa of the Sharia court on 19 January 2012. The anti-Christian campaign first stated in Srinagar in October when fundamentalists accused the Church of North India minister, Mr. C M Khanna, of All Souls Church of forcible and fraudulent conversions in the city, which is almost entirely dominated by Muslims. Simultaneously, a rumour campaign was mounted against the Christian schools which have been in the city for more than a century. The school principals were accused of luring students to Christianity. The schools, which have over 7,000 students, have just seven Christian students.
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