CMS Gift catalog

Just in case you're madly rushing around doing Christmas shopping and can't work out what to get. CMS has some great ideas - including a way to directly help the work we are doing here in Latin America.

http://www.cms.org.au/product/gift-catalogue

The northern hemisphere calendar

It's that time of year when everything's finishing up. School's finished for another year, work Christmas parties, kids are beginning the transition from primary to high school - or is it??

One of the things which is really striking us at the moment is what a difference being in the northern hemisphere makes to the way you view December and Christmas. While our southern hemisphere friends are rushing about madly doing having their school parties and farewells and Christmas functions and looking forward to a long summer holiday - we're not. I'll be working on Christmas eve and will start again after a few days break - back to normal.

We have the Christmas stuff - although here it all happens on the night of Christmas Eve, but we don't have the associated feeling of 'the year is ending' - because its not!. We get 2 weeks school holiday (after an 18 week term!), and then the year continues as normal. It really puts quite a different spin on Christmas.

(Of course long term northern hemisphere readers are thinking - of course, what are you talking about!)

But as the days get shorter and colder and we hear of the Christmas holiday stories floating our way over the Pacific - man, would it be nice to be on the beach at Valla this Christmas!

Catch a wave or two for us.

(By the way, the photo is of Grahame and Patty Scarratt and I at Bulli Anglican Church in November, at the 'festejo' to celebrate 30 years of Scarratt ministry in Latin America, and me being handed the 'poncho' to be the Director of MOCLAM)

When worlds collide

There are two big events coming up in Mexico in the next few weeks that make us ask of few questions about what our involvement should be.

On the 31st of October there's Halloween, and then on the 2nd of November its 'Day of the Dead'.

You can easily find good summaries of the history of Halloween, but it basically seems an adaption of a pagan festival from times past. In most cases I think the dominant theme now is consumerism with a 'ghosty' twist.

Thanks to our proximity to the USA, Halloween is becoming very popular here. At the moment there are quite a few decorations up around the place and yesterday at the supermarket I stood behind someone buying a plastic battle axe. (I assume it was plastic!) On the night of the 31st there will be groups of kids wandering the streets asking (or in most cases demanding) lolllies.

The whole thing seems to tap into the growing interest in spiritual 'other wordly' sorts of things which is being reflected in TV, movies and literature.

Day of the Dead is a bit different. Its more tradition than commercialism, more about family than lollies, more religious than fantasy. Its a great example of how the catholicism of the conquistadors has been mixed up with some of the beliefs and practices of the early inhabitants of Mexico. On the day, many people will visit the grave of loved ones, for all sorts of reasons. Some to reflect and mourn, others to celebrate, others to spend time touching up the grave and repainting the headstone.

In the classrooms at school and altar (thats what it is called) is constructed and the kids are invited to place pictures and favourite things of dead relatives on it, and the classroom is decorated in traditional stuff.

This of course presents quite a challenge for the Christian kids and families in the school. Halloween is a bit easier - the simple 'we don't do that' seems to suffice, but when its in the classroom its a bit more difficult.

Also, the altar and the stuff that goes with it is a bit more 'problematic' - if I can put it like that. We can largely ignore Halloween saying its American commercialism - but there is clearly a lot of feeling and belief going around on the day of the dead.

What to do?

Do we encourage the kids to just sit and observe and learn from the culture, or should we be more active that that? Should we say something to the school about what we believe and make a 'stand'? We know we are not of this world and therefore there are going to be things that challenge what we hold true about life, death and resurrection, so how do we respond in this sort of circumstance?

One of the greatest things I've seen recently is a friend who set up a table in her garage with the Two Ways to Live gospel tract displayed on big pictures. When kids came trick or treating, she invited them to take a leaflet, and a lolly, and read through the pictures. Great idea.

I wonder how you might apply this sort of thing in a more public setting, like a school.

We'll go and visit a cemetery on Day of the Dead - its an important part of the culture here and it gives us a great insight into the way people think - but the question of what to say / do / think at school is still churning in my head.

A bad day in Monterrey

Today was a bad day for security in Monterrey - probably made worse for us because the violence was in our area and had a personal connection.

This afternoon there was a major shooting incident very close to our church. Details are still being reported but there are lots of pictures of squads of heavily armed police, helicopters and cars with bullet holes on the TV. The nearby campus of the University which is across the road from our church was locked down for a while and then students were advised to go straight home. I was on the bus going into class to teach for the night when people started talking about it. Most students didn't make it to class - which was completely understandable. Apart from anything else, the traffic was shocking.

But also, it appears that one of the young men from a family at our church was kidnapped on Sunday afternoon (after being in church on Sunday morning) and was found dead this afternoon. I have no idea of the circumstances - but it is of course a terrible thing for the family and our wider church family.

We had hoped that things had quietened down a bit - there hadn't been much violence in September, but it seems things are getting bad again. There were 3 grenade attacks in public places over the weekend, and now this.

As usual - we don't feel threatened and are taking advice for the local people who we know and trust, but overall it wasn't a happy day in our city today.

Why I've changed my mind on how to support missionaries.

Why I've changed my mind on how to support missionaries.

In the last three years a lot has changed for me. I've gone from being a parish rector in Sydney to being a missionary with CMS in Mexico. I've gone from being comfortable and confident in my surrounds, to being way out of my depth, struggling with language and culture. I've gone from someone who talked a lot and gave direction, to someone who needs to sit back and listen to the directions of others. And, I've changed my mind on how churches should be involved in supporting missionaries. (Of course, this change has been prompted by me seeing things from 'the other side of the fence', but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, nor does it make my change of mind illegitimate.)

Three years ago, if you'd asked me what I thought the role of the local church in supporting missionaries and mission organizations was, I think I would have said something like this.

Following the mission imperative of the gospel going to all the nations which is clear throughout the Bible, local churches need to be active in their promotion of cross cultural and overseas mission as a normal part of the everyday Christian life. Its important for churches to have particular missionaries they support in prayer and care for - for example through the CMS system of missionaries being linked to particular churches which they visit when on home assignment. The missionaries have a responsibility to keep link churches and other supporters up to date with prayer points and news, and the churches have a responsibility to regularly pray for the missionaries and their work - both in Sunday gatherings, small groups and personal prayers. The church as a gathering should model personal involvement with the missionary, and encourage individuals to contact and care for missionaries. The local church also needs to be active in recruiting and sending new missionaries to the field - usually through a society like CMS. In the matter of finance, the church needs to encourage all its members to become a member of the mission society and to be individually active in giving money regularly and generously.

Today, in answer to that question, my response would be 90% the same. I still whole-heartedly believe the local church has a critical part to play in the promotion of mission as a normal part of the Christian life, in encouraging people to pray for mission, to care for missionaries and to ask the question of going. The difference would come in the last sentence. I still agree that the local church needs to encourage its member to become a member of the mission society and to be active in individual giving. However, I now think that the local church also needs to be actively supporting mission financially from its own budget - having a 'mission support' line in the budget right alongside 'staff salary', 'building repair' and 'electricity'.

A number of factors have been influential in my mind change.

1. I think giving money 'as a church' reflects the scriptural model.
Generosity and giving to those in need and in ministry is a clear Biblical principle. (2Cor 9:6-15) In Acts and several of Paul's letters we get snapshots of the money that is being given from one group to another to aid the growth of poorer churches. (Acts 24:17, Rom 15:25, 1Cor 16:1-3) Paul himself benefits from the generosity of the Philippian church (Phil 4:15-16). In each of these cases, it seems it is the 'organised church' that is providing the material aid, rather than individuals.

I am in no doubt that Paul received aid from individuals as well (Acts 16:15) but also at times refused this aid, both 'personal' and 'institutional' so as to remove potential stumbling blocks (1 Cor 9:1-18).


2. Being a model
The local church plays an incredibly important role in providing a model of Christian life to its members. The things that the church thinks is important, it demonstrates and models to its members. Through the way we read and engage with the scripture in our public meetings we want to model serious and contemplative Bible reading that requires a personal response. In our public prayers, we want to model that prayer is important, how to pray and what to pray for. We want to model love, community, compassion, generosity, willingness… the list is almost endless.

Perhaps a question worth asking is 'How is my local church modelling partnership in cross-cultural mission?' We host a visiting missionary from time to time. Maybe we have a missionary prayer and support group. We encourage people to attend missionary conferences, like CMS Summer School.

As I thought through that question, and I thought about the church budget, I wondered if saying 'we are a church that supports mission' while not significantly supporting that mission through the church budget was something of a disjunction.

3. The role of mission society membership
Because Christian mission is a normal part of Christian life, rather than an 'add-on' for the really keen, I think it should be a normal expectation for all Christians to be involved in some sort of mission organization. In the case of CMS, that is seen in the form of being a member. Other organizations have partners, sponsors, givers - but the principle is the same. The individual is committed to the organization, prayerfully, financially and personally.

One of the great advantages of making this mission involvement personal rather than 'institutional' (ie: our church is involved in supporting mission) is that it encourages long-term involvement and more personal consideration. If you rely on your church to 'do' your mission involvement for you, and you move churches to a place that doesn't support mission, your mission involvement potentially ends.

Three years ago I would have said the model of giving needs to follow this model of membership, ie: its personal. I still believe that mission involvement needs to be personal, but I'm not sure that takes the local church out of the equation, particularly in the area of giving.

4. Missionary work is costly business
I recently heard a speaker say that his study had concluded that of every $100 earned by a church member in America, $0.025 goes towards cross-cultural mission. Even if that figure is out by a factor of 10, or even 100, the amount of money that is given to mission is relatively small, particularly in comparison to the amount of money that is given to local church ministry.

And, let's face it, missionary work is expensive. Relocating families, training them in language and culture, caring for their pastoral needs and helping to provide the resources they need is a costly exercise, but its an exercise that the gospel requires of us. Perhaps the burden of this expense needs to be shared by both individuals and churches.

I am not suggesting for a minute that most local churches are rolling in cash and spending without thought or careful consideration - I know from my experience and the experience of my peers that nothing could be further from the truth. Also, the budget figures of CMS clearly indicate that there are a large number of very generous members who see mission as a high priority and that priority has translated to their wallet.

But I do want to ask the question, in the context of the annual church budget, is the figure for mission support generous and adventurous? When the budget is increased for the salary of the next staff member, or when the building fund appeal is launched and the minister and treasurer make excited and 'visionary' presentations to the congregation, is the cross-cultural mission budget equally being raised?

Of course, it's not fair to say it's all up to the local church at this point. The missionaries need to be active players in the local church - missionary partnership, ensuring regular prayer points are sent, deputation times are well prepared and presented and that they are praying regularly for their partner churches.


Conclusion

My mind has changed over the last 3 years. The thinking behind that change of mind has been largely prompted by the fact that I've moved from being the guy who thinks about giving the money to the missionary society to the guy who asks for it. It would be easy to say "I've changed hats and therefore my perspective has changed." Yes - I've changed hats, but I think that has been the catalyst, rather than the reason for my change of mind.

So what's my request. I'd like it if all Christians were an active member of a missionary society. Praying for, caring for, giving for and sending missionaries. CMS is fantastic but by no means the only one. But I'd also like it if all churches were an active partner with a mission society. Regularly and publicly praying, actively caring, generously and adventurously giving and excitedly and regularly sending.

It's a real dud being sick

It's a real dud being sick - as I'm experiencing at the moment. Nothing serious, just a heavy head cold and a sore throat that makes me sound like I smoke half a packet before breakfast each day.

But there's something about being sick in a foreign country. I don't know what it is - its just different. The doctors and medical staff here are great (if you are fortunate to be able to afford them, which thanks to CMS we are). They have some slightly unusual customs and when I was recently giving blood for a test and asked the nurse 'Is it red?' she just kindof looked at me. But apart from that, everything is fine.

I think what it is, is that when you are sick, you want everything to be just that little bit easier and more comfortable. You'd prefer it if some of the hassles of everyday life just went away for a few days while you got back to normal. And the reality of our life here is that life isn't as easy and comfortable as what it would be if we were in Australia. Again - nothing dramatic - just the vibe. We have security considerations in our mind here which we wouldn't have in Australia. We have language issues, we have fewer friends and different relationships.

When you're sick, I reckon those differences become a bit more apparent.

By the way, the photo is our 'official' CMS snap for 2011. We took it two weeks ago in a canyon not far from here.

Security

In our latest newsletter we're briefly mentioned the security situation here in Monterrey. Here's a few more details.

Over the last couple of years the level of violence has increased in Mexico generally, and particularly in the north. This violence is almost exclusively related to drugs. There are several cartels that operate major trafficing routes through Mexico into the US, and hence the northern borders of Mexico tend to be the places where they have their power struggles.

In the past there has been violence, but the violence has either been gang on gang, or gang on police / military. News of armed police raids and gang reprisal attacks were common. However, because it was all gang related, there were only ever a few unlucky everyday citizens who got caught up in the crossfire. It happened, but it was extremely rare.

On a personal note, on the way home from Bible study one night last year, I was stuck in a traffic jam, the cause of which was a gang vs army shootout.

However, in the last year, or even less, the violence has changed for the worst.

The gangs are still fighting each other - but the complete disregard for anybody else seems to be increasing. Just last week, a person was shot in the carpark of the supermarket we often use. The wounded man ran into the supermarket, around the checkouts (this is a big place, maybe 35 checkouts) and the gunman followed him in and shot him again - wounding a 14 year old girl in the process. Again, the injured man ran, this time into the carpark again, where the gunman caught him and put a bullet in his head. This all took place at 2pm on a Tuesday afternoon in the last week of the school holidays!

This is very disturbing, but the violence is also changing in that it is now taking a political edge. It would appear that the gangs are trying to 'get at' the government by making life more difficult for ordinary citizens, which will in turn create more political pressure.

This is done in two ways. First, government officials are becoming more of a target. Just last week the mayor of Santiago (a pretty town of about 20,000 30 mins south of here) was kidnapped and 2 days later found executed on the side of the road. I have friends who worked with him on various projects and they say he was a good man. Apparently the reason for his execution was that he refused to cooperate with those who wanted to bribe him. Of the six arrested in connection with his killing, 5 are policemen.

My friend who lives in this town says all the police and officials have left - presumably in fear of their personal safety.

The second event which is happening more often around the city is a blockade. These is where gunmen hijack some cars - usually between 5 and 20, and create a roadblock which either just creates a nuisance traffic jam, or blocks up an area so the police are unable to enter and the gang can 'take care of business'.

Last Sunday afternoon, in a gang incident, 3 teenagers were executed in a suburb not far from here. As a result, between 7pm and midnight on Sunday night, there were 39 blockades across the city, causing huge disruption to traffic. Keep in mind its school holidays and Sunday afternoon / evening is out visiting families, enjoy the long evenings etc.

As a result, the local government has formed a new, heavily armed 'flying squad' with orders to respond to such incidents. Last night as I drove in the city there were many more groups of police parked on corners, on streetsides etc.


So how do we feel about all this?

Well, its terrible. We feel sad because the whole society is being affected here. In many ways what is happening is a form of terrorism and everyone is feeling and tension it causes. Everyone talks about it.

We don't feel personally under threat, although we're being a bit more cautious around the place, and tend not to go out at night if we can possible avoid it. We do what we can to keep a low profile. Thats been a bit easier because its been school holidays and our routine has been flexible, but school starts again this week so we'll see if there is any change.

Please pray for our city and the country of Mexico. Please pray for justice and incorruptibility in the government. Please pray that God would hold back the hand of those who want to be violent, and that those in positions of authority would make right and wise decisions.