joseph's story: press supplement dec 2012

You might have been embarrassed if you had been

sitting next to me on my recent flight home from Nepal.

Big men are not “supposed” to cry. But I could not hold in

my tears as I stared out of the window.

I had been to three continents – 35,000 miles by air, 40

hours by road, 12 different beds. All to see the daily lives of

CMS people in mission and the impact they are making.

What had moved me to tears was the astounding sacrifice that

I’d seen first hand. Along with the remarkable impact of their work.

My hope is that the following pages will leave you inspired

as you discover how faithful people are serving God and

demonstrating his love. More than that, my

longing is that you’ll also want to be part of this –

through your prayers and gifts.

You’ll meet those who, for the sake of the gospel:

are enduring temperatures of 50C and choking dust

storms to grow Christ’s church in the Argentine Chaco

have surrendered a secure job in a fragile economy to

fight poverty and share Jesus among Kenya’s poorest people

chose to follow Jesus knowing

their family would treat them as

‘dead’ – and now serve him at the

risk of their health to plant churches

and raise up leaders in Nepal

This is the kind of inspiring sacrifice

I rubbed shoulders with, time and again,

during my visits. But more than that, I looked

hope in the face as I saw lives and communities

responding to God’s love as a result.

Please read on to be inspired and to be part of it all.

Former CMS mission partner pledges £100,000 to encourage support. A former CMS mission partner is encouraging individuals and churches to give generously to CMS mission by agreeing to match whatever they give. He has set £100,000 aside for this purpose. Gifts received before this target is reached will be worth double.

www.cms-uk.org

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Praising God in prison

In at least two of Nepal’s prisons, inmates are finding freedom in Christ – thanks to the work of CMS Timothy mission partner Ram Prasad Shrestha and his co-worker Bishnu.

Baptisms behind bars are taking place – using buckets – and small churches are being established. In one, new believers now take up offerings to help needier prisoners.One of those baptised recently was Atish who is serving eight years for robbery. Atish says, “Though I am behind bars I am experiencing freedom in my heart. I have made commitment to God to share the good news of joy and salvation to my prison mates and for the rest of my life.”

On a recent visit of Ram Prasad and his wife Keshari, 10 more men and two women decided to follow Jesus. This followed separate evangelistic meetings held with the unexpected encouragement of the prison warden. Says Ram Prasad, “The warden, a Hindu, told prisoners to follow the teachings of the Bible, which was bold.”

Eyewitness report: “I looked hope in the face”My three continent encounter with sacrifice and God at work

Why choose to live in life-draining heat, amid choking dust storms and great poverty, especially when close to retirement age? That question gnawed at me as I watched mission partners Catherine and Nick Drayson.

To reach them in Argentina’s Chaco region took almost three days by air and road. They are serving more than 100 Anglican congregations – representing five tribal groups, each with a different language. It was to these groups that SAMS missionaries first brought the gospel 100 years ago.

As bishop of northern Argentina, Nick is strengthening churches and their leaders. Catherine has a ground-breaking ministry among women and families with great needs.

What I had not anticipated was the conditions they face. Chaco summer temperatures can reach above 50C. At times the night-time heat is so intense it is better to seek the relative cool of the tiled floor – and risk the scorpions.

Jet engine in a storm

Then there’s what local people call the ‘suicide wind’ – something like being face-on to a jet engine in a dust storm. Outside the dust chokes. Inside, under the tin roof, people bake.

This is part of the sacrifice Catherine and Nick have made to make Jesus known and to serve his Church.

Nick confesses to feeling “slightly overwhelmed”. This is hardly surprising due to the great social and spiritual challenges of the region.

For centuries the Chaco people have been third class citizens, with their needs for health-care and education largely ignored by successive governments. And now their traditional hunter-gatherer way of life is being eroded as their forests are cut down by the government and large corporations.

Meanwhile the churches have a great demand for more trained leaders. Those who are mature disciples, rooted in Christ and Scripture.

At the same time, well established churches need help to adapt to the needs and aspirations of young believers.

Mentor church leaders

Hungry for Nick’s input are those like Julian Gonzalez from the Wichi people group. He’d been trapped in alcoholism before he met Jesus due to the outreach of the Anglican Church. Today he’s a deacon

COW DUNG CHANGING LIVES IN KENYA

Seeing women and families flourishAs corporate deforestation continues in the Chaco and as

Christian families face increasing influence from outside cultures, they have much the same challenge as in the West – to see their children grow up as followers of Jesus.

In response, Catherine Drayson has tapped into the Mothers’ Union World Wide Parenting Programme – helping train 16 facilitators to run parenting courses.

She also helps run other discipleship conferences for women. These involve building relationships and identifying with those who attend – which is why she and her co-leaders often sleep on the floor with attendees who have travelled great distances to take part.

Spiritual impact through cow dung

It was CMS Africa’s Samaritan Strategy Vision Conference

that challenged Machakos leaders to think about how to help their

communities practically and spiritually — using resources they

already had. The message: “You already have what you need to

bring the change you need.”

One available resource Machakos leaders identified was cow

dung, which, it was discovered, could be used to create biogas and

fertiliser by processing it through an anaerobic bio-digester (ABD).

Robert Kariuki and his wife Jane struggled to survive on

income from their cow’s milk and the vegetables they grew.

Robert says using biogas as fuel never crossed his mind. He

used firewood, charcoal and paraffin for cooking. With the smoke

inhaled being equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day.

The land had become barren of trees. With an increasingly

scarce fuel source, members of the community lived in tension.

The use of ABDs has brought economic transformation. Robert

can even afford for his children to go to school.

What is true for Robert and Jane is becoming true across the

diocese and having a great spiritual impact. Christians are seen

loving their neighbours – who then want to know about their faith.

GROWING CHURCHES AND PRISONERS PRAISING GOD IN NEPAL

Ram Prasad’s sacrifice has opened prison doors and prisoners’ hearts to Jesus. It was my privilege to share in their baptisms

Through Rachel Kananja, Kenyan families are making their way out of poverty and also meeting Jesus

Amid the Chaco’s scorching heat and choking dust, me (centre) with Catherine and Nick Drayson who are tirelessly

working to serve indigenous churches and needy families

HIGH TEMPERATURES AND STRATEGIC IMPACT IN ARGENTINA AND CHACO

in the church and wanting to do his best for God.Nick works tirelessly to encourage, train and mentor

church leaders across this vast region. Catherine is helping develop an extensive and growing parenting course and women’s ministry.

As a result, faith is rising and people are coming to know Jesus. While there I saw –

Churches prospering spiritually and with growing numbers

The opening of a new church for the Toba people – packed, with many coming forward for confirmation

Enthusiastic and deeply committed local leaders being raised up to train more local people

Meanwhile, Catherine told me of 16 new facilitators now equipped to run parenting courses. And of the impact made by the income generating programmes she and Nick have initiated. A woman once told her, “Christianity brought us freedom, life, hope, peace, a reason to live.”

In Kenya I spent time with the amazing Rachel Kananja, one of our CMS Africa champions. She’s working in innovative ways to help poor families generate income. And losing no opportunity to tell them, “It’s all because of Jesus.”

Sacrifice for God came early in Rachel’s life. When she met Jesus at age 14, she lost the love of her father who followed the local tradition of the Kikuyu and their god Ngai.

But she kept praying for her parents and seven siblings. And one by one they came to Christ – with Rachel’s father asking her to lead him to the saviour just a month before he died.

God is using Rachel’s faithfulness to fight poverty and make Jesus known.

God challenged her

After studying information technology, Rachel built a thriving computer business. But God challenged her about how much of it was for him – more sacrifice followed.

She gave away her business assets and followed God’s call to work with CMS Africa – moving from a Nairobi suburb to work among people in great poverty.

At the heart of CMS Africa’s work is the core belief that handouts are not the answer. As Rachel put it to me, “Africa’s rich in resources and creativity. We have to help people see they already have what they need to change their lives.” They call it the Samaritan Strategy.

Rachel has seen the difference this mindset change makes.

Change in the city and country

Take for example the settlement to which Rachel and her husband, a pastor, have moved. The place is crowded, made up of shanty houses on average eight by eight feet.

The area is replete with discarded plastic bags. So Rachel led the women to gather them up – turning them into twine and weaving highly-desirable baskets, hats,

bags and more. Selling these products has given them new dignity and the ability to feed their families and see them have an education.

I saw this approach firsthand in the rural setting of Machakos, where Rachel is one of those God is using to do something even more dramatic – with cow dung!

Brick cisterns known as anaerobic bio-digesters turn cow dung into the gas families need for cooking. And produce potent fertiliser that increases the yields

of vegetable plots by three hundred per cent. Both outcomes mean families can then feed themselves, pay for school fees, and share with their neighbours.

No need to steal

The idea to utilise cow dung came after a CMS Africa Samaritan Strategy Vision Conference, where people were challenged to create transformation using resources already available. One readily available resource happened to be cow dung.

As a local pastor put it, “People used to spend hours hunting for increasingly scarce firewood. Fights used to break out over accusations of stolen wood. Now the people don’t have to steal wood. Having biogas gives them free time to help the church and serve the community. As a result, many are coming to faith, being baptised and joining the church.”

Spending time with Rachel I saw her commitment to Christ shine out. With her computer skills, she could still be making a comfortable living in a nice suburban area. Instead, her choice has been to follow God’s call no matter the cost.

Over the past seven years, Nepal has seen 200 new churches created and more than 180 new local missionaries trained and sent out – thanks to Ram Prasad Shrestha.

Fifty years ago Nepal had only about 30,000 Christians. Today more than 600,000 follow Jesus there. Ram Prasad, a Nepali CMS Timothy mission partner plays a vital role by planting churches and training leaders nationwide.

Ram Prasad’s sacrifice for God began in his teens. Born into a devout Hindu family, Ram Prasad was cast out when he committed his life to Christ. With emotion he told me, “My family treated me like an enemy and considered me as dead. They insulted me publicly. I gave up the inheritance of my family.”

Hard to breathe

Ram Prasad’s sacrifice did not stop there. He has only one lung, due to a teenage illness. It’s a condition best coped with amid the clean air of his mountain village. But, following God’s call, he and his wife Keshari and their two daughters are now living and breathing in polluted Kathmandu, as this is the most strategic base from which to plant churches and train leaders across Nepal.

During my inspiring time with him I came to see that Ram Prasad seems willing to sacrifice anything to bring the gospel to those who need it. This includes braving Nepal’s harrowing mountain roads – some little more than a ledge with a 4,000 foot drop and no guard rails.

Baptism by bucket

I experienced the terror of these roads myself, during a 25 hour drive to visit two of the prisons where Ram and a co-worker are planting churches.

Then I shared in the baptism by bucket of seven prisoners who now know Jesus as a result of their work.

This was another example of the gospel flourishing due to the dedication of this CMS Timothy mission partner putting his service to God above his inheritance, success in society, comfort in his personal life – and even his health.

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Hazardous journeys:Even this plane crash couldn’t keep Rachel (Kenya) from her mission to see Africans rise from poverty and know Jesus

Bumper crops from barren land thanks to a little ‘input’ from these guys - and CMS Africa!

Even risking health: Ram Prasad Shrestha

Catherine and Wichi women build up the next generation of Jesus followers

These roads scared me!

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