Would you like to help make history? South Sudanese Christians have asked for our help to fund the translation of the Christianity Explored course into Arabic.
One of our partners I have worked with in Juba writes,
“there is urgent need to translate the CE material to Arabic to benefit mainly those South Sudanese Christians who came from Arabic background. They are taking their discipleship seriously and they have great impact on other believers in South Sudan.”
We need to raise $1,000 US Dollars to facilitate the translation of the course material by this Summer. In August we hope to return to South Sudan and continue to train church leaders to use the course. If you would like to help make this possible, we would be pleased to hear from you. We are working with the charity Fields of Life to make this happen.
Here are photos of some of our adventures introducing Christianity Explored in Uganda, Kenya, Burundi and South Sudan.
Will you be making pancakes on Shrove Tuesday? Will you be fasting during the 40 days of Lent? Will you give up any little luxuries until Easter? Will you mark Ash Wednesday with ash on your forehead as a visible sign of your repentance for sin? Will you tell anyone? In our series The Passion of Jesus, based on the Gospel of Matthew, last week, Jesus taught us how to inoculate ourselves from spiritual abuse:
Have you noticed that when a new hotel or commercial building is being constructed, the architects will invariably install large mirrors in the lobby? Ever wondered why? Apparently we complain less when we’re looking at ourselves.
Our son Michael celebrated his 21st birthday last week. When he was born, five weeks premature, and I held that little bundle of life in my hands for the first time, I didn’t know whether the Lord who had given us a son would take him back again. Although I wasn’t quite as old as Abraham, it was the first time I could really identify with him. Twenty one years later, Mike is taller, more intelligent and more attractive than me.
The Liberty of Grace – and Why the Church is Persecuted (Galatians 5)
Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32). But the truth is dangerous for many in our world today. And Christians in the South and East, it seems, are willing to pay the price to stand for Jesus. Yet in the West, we have domesticated Him. We don’t necessarily see the link between truth and freedom. We probably don’t experience opposition to our faith on a daily basis. So we take freedom for granted and we are liable to compromise the truth. When was the last time you brought Jesus into a conversation at a dinner party or meal with friends or neighbours? Die for Jesus on the streets of Virginia Water? I don’t think so. Hard to imagine. In November each year, we pause for two minutes silence to remember the names of people from Virginia Water who gave their lives to preserve our freedoms and defend us from fascism and totalitarianism. Imagine if those lists were the names of Christian brothers and sisters from our church family who had given their lives in the service of Christ? Would we honour them differently? What of those Christ followers in Syria, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, and many parts of the world, for whom the persecution Paul writes of in our passage today is the norm. Can we take it for granted that it won’t happen in our country?
Have you seen the weather forecast for this week? Temperatures will be dropping to – 60 degrees centigrade. Winds exceeding 100 mph. No sunlight for months on end. Imagine surviving in those conditions without shelter, without heat, without clothes. Its hard to believe but some do, indeed they have adapted and thrive in such conditions. Every aspect of the Emperor Penguin’s life is tough, for the bird is the southernmost species and breeds on the ice-bound Antarctic land mass. What it takes to do this is remarkable.
