Churches Inc in Mozambique 2015

Our Churches Inc team visited Mozambique from the 14th to 24th August. The four-person team (Nigel, Kerry, Heather, and Jillian) trained local people in inclusion of disabled people from a Christian perspective, and worked with One Mission Society in the city of Maputo - you can find out more about our partners by following this link to their blog. The team sent back a few stories from the trip as it was going on - Follow this link to see everything from the trip so far...

Here, as part of some final reflections, Kerry writes about the workshops the team provided - we'll have more reports in the upcoming Vital Link newsletter.

'A participant shared about having a sister with learning difficulties. She cannot communicate easily with other people, so she becomes aggressive about getting things she wants. She shared how good it was for her to participate in the children’s event and to see many happy children with disabilities who were playing and relating well with others. This participant was also given confidence on a home visit to encourage a lady with physical disabilities who isolates herself in the home to not feel embarrassed by her disability. To view it as normal the same as looking at any person. She encouraged this lady to come to church.'

Preparations in Mozambique (Thursday 20th August)

Our Churches Inc team are working in Mozambique until the 24th August. The four-person team will be training local people in inclusion of disabled people from a Christian perspective, and working with One Mission Society in the city of Maputo - you can find out more about our partners by following this link to their blog. We hope to bring you updates as often as we can - Follow this link to see everything from the trip so far...

Church leaders, TTR team and One Mission leader Melvin Kelly got together today to prepare the programme for Saturday. Those having attended training will be presenting key aspects of the workshops to a wider group of church members under the guidance of the TTR team. Tomorrow, Friday, we work with selected leaders in three groups: Biblical basis for ministry in disability, Working with Learning Disabilities, and Practical measures and equipment.

Today was excellent as we get all the more close to the church leaders and workers.

Mozambique Report (Wednesday 19th August)

Today Heather gives us a few words from the trip:

After another good morning of training, the team headed to another local church for what was a very special afternoon. Parents of children with disabilities were invited by members of the local church who had been attending the training. It was a blessing to see those from the training interacting with and showing love to these children and their parents. One mother shared how it was so encouraging for her to know that there are other families in the same situation. We are so thankful that we can already see God working through this.

Who is the Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven? (Ros' Blog)

As you look back over our generation, whom would you list among the greatest Christians? Billy Graham? Matt Redman? Mother Teresa? Joni Eareckson Tada?

All these names are well-known, all are people who have dedicated their whole lives to the cause of Christ, and all have had an immense reach in terms of the numbers of lives they have touched with the love and grace of God.

But that’s not how Jesus measured greatness. Here’s what He had to say about it, when His disciples asked Him who is the greatest in the Kingdom of God: “Jesus called a little child to his side and set him on his feet in the middle of them all. ‘Believe me,’ he said, ‘unless you change your whole outlook and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. It is the man who can be as humble as this little child who is greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.’” (Matthew 18. 2-4, JBP) So, using Jesus’ measure of greatness, who would you put in your list? Here are my top two.

The first is an aunt-in-law of mine. She died last year at the age of 99, having lived all her life in the house in which she was born. As a young woman, her father decided that she would not marry, but would be the one to look after her parents in their old age, and therefore she was not allowed to have boyfriends. She did indeed care for her parents to the end of their lives, while also working in a clerical job. By the time her mother died a few days short of her 106th birthday, she herself was 73, still rising early every morning to take her mother breakfast in bed. I never once heard her complain about her lot in life. Instead of living with regrets of what might have been, she lavished affection on her nieces and nephews and later on their children, and threw herself into the Girl Guide movement, keeping herself young by sharing fun, high-jinks and her quiet but vibrant Christian faith with generations of teenage girls. She was and is my heroine.

christian hero gregory.png The second is someone whom I have never met and had never heard of until last month. George is someone whom our mission team met in Eldoret, Kenya in May. George’s legs were amputated following an accident. He was fortunate enough to receive a wheelchair and so was able to continue working as a shoe seller. When he met a woman who had also had her legs amputated as a result of damage caused by diabetes, he considered her need greater than his own and gave away his wheelchair to her. From then on his journey to work consisted of dragging himself along the ground to the bus stop, crawling onto the bus which took him to work where he sat on the ground at his shoe stall, and then reversing the process in the evening. Our team was able to bless him with a new wheelchair and so his generosity to that lady was rewarded.

Both these people lived or live in a narrow circle of acquaintance. The world takes no notice of them and their sacrifice passes unobserved by most of the world. But God sees, and in His eyes they are among the greats, the giants of the kingdom of God. It’s people like this who set the bar for us as Christians – may we imitate their way of life and grow in Christ-likeness because of their example.

Teaching in Action (Mozambique Day two and three)

Nigel reports...
'Long day today with home visits nearer the city centre after the morning training sessions. Kerry reports that she is particularly impressed at how the church members are responding to all our inputs and are enthusiastic for helping further the disabled people in their areas. Tomorrow afternoon sees an event in the 'T3' zone church for mothers with their disabled children. The idea is to create support activities for them, and interaction between parents.

Jesus' compassion is being effectively modelled through the church members. It's rewarding for us to be able to encourage them and accompany them in the contact with families.'

And yesterday, Jillian wrote,
'Today we started our training in Khongolote, Nigel began by bringing our attention to how important it was to help everyone understand God's heart - his love and how he cares equally for everyone. Kerry shared personally how disability affected her family and how it can affect us all, Jillian and Heather took a practical lesson on the use of walking aids and everyone was thoroughly engaged in that. It was very encouraging later in the day when out on house visits to hear some of the helping hands volunteers using the information so effectively. They had understood our teaching and now they are putting it into action.'

Churches Inc in Mozambique - Day One

Our Churches Inc team have arrived safely in Mozambique, where they'll be working until the 24th. The four-person team will be training local people in inclusion of disabled people from a Christian perspective, and working with One Mission Society in the city of Maputo - you can find out more about our partners by following this link to their blog. The team will be in Mozambique for 10 days, and we hope to bring you updates as often as we can - Follow this link to see everything from the trip so far...

Team Leader, Nigel, writes... The team is all together for the first full day at the OMS / Helping Hands compound in Machava, just outside Maputo. We have been beautifully welcomed by the missionaries here, and Kerry and Nigel met the facilitator and workshop engineers at the Helping Hands project yesterday. Impressive to see a good mobility workshop in operation and good stock of wheelchairs from Northern Ireland. Our training will be to 12-15 key people in the Living Word Evangelical Church including two from Zambezia Province way up north: so they will be developing the disability work through the churches there. We are all happy and well! More news from us daily. Next instalment after our Sunday activities. Thanks for your prayer support. Blessings from us, Nigel, Heather, Jillian and Kerry (the order in the photo above)

British Summer Time (Ros' Blog)

As I write this, at the tail-end of July, I sit shivering in a cold office. I’ve just come back from two weeks in a warm and sunny France, and the contrast is as unwelcome as it is striking!

I don’t think, however, that this counts as what cricket commentator Brian Johnston used to call a “Madame Butterfly summer” (One Fine Day) because when I went to water my garden on my first day back, the water butt was pretty much dry, so I think there must have been some nice weather here while I was away.

Be that as it may, the torrential rain over the weekend (leaking into my hallway from a broken porch roof) and chilly temperatures weren’t what I was planning for my summer this year. Dreams of sitting out in the garden after work eating my dinner in the late evening sunshine have proved to be exactly that – just dreams.

Life has a way of doing that to us, disrupting our carefully-laid plans. It may be a flare-up of arthritis, a wave of exhaustion from overdoing things when you felt well, or, like our own Jenny recently, being confined indoors owing to a misbehaving car. Whatever the reason, the things we thought we were going to be doing don’t materialise.

Even Jesus had this problem. There was one occasion when He set out for Jerusalem via a mission trip to some Samaritan villages, but before He had a chance to proclaim the Gospel of the kingdom, the messengers who had gone ahead to make preparations for Him were sent away with a flea in their ear by the villagers.

He didn’t allow the change of plans to upset Him, nor did He express resentment towards the Samaritan villagers. Instead, with a good grace, He continued to listen out for His Father’s instructions and went where He wanted Him to go. On days when a disability is particularly difficult to cope with or frustrates the day’s plans, He is our example.

I know I sometimes have trouble adjusting to unexpectedly new circumstances. Jesus is, in this as in everything, an excellent role-model for us to follow. Next time life throws you a curveball, try asking God where He’s directing you instead. It might be the start of an adventure!

'The Shepherd King' - The August 2015 Come Fishing

Here's the latest episode of 'Come Fishing', from Jenny Edwards MBE. Each episode contains news, stories, music, and inspiration. We hope you enjoy it!