Mission Development Officer, Doug Chaplin, writes about world mission:
The last “missionary” I met was a South Korean working in England, primarily but not exclusively with S Korean expatriate communities in this country. Mission in today’s church is, as someone once said, “From everywhere to everywhere”. Pretty much every country sends missionaries somewhere else, and pretty much every country receives missionaries from elsewhere.
World mission at its best is always about partnerships of friendship, support, and encouragement between Christians of different cultures, helping local and national churches live out the missionary calling of God in their culture.
Traditionally 29 November, the eve of St Andrew’s Day, has been kept as a day of intercession and thanksgiving for the missionary work of the Church. It recalls Andrew as the first missionary, as in John’s gospel, he is the first person to bring someone – his brother Peter – to Jesus.
Given the changed shape of global mission today, it is still a good day to pray for the individuals who serve as mission partners in other countries and cultures. Pray that they may find love and support in the churches they support, develop or plant. Pray also that their vision and experience may help the Christians and churches they work with to be more critical of their own culture, and how to serve God within it.
Pray also for the work of the two main Anglican Mission agencies, CMS (Church Mission Society) and USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) as they help churches learn from, support and challenge each other about how best to share God’s love in both their local context and a global world.
Malvern Deanery – Rural Dean: David Nichol; Lay Chair: David Sparkes
Diocese of Wad Medani (Sudan): Bishop Saman Farajalla Mahdi
