Mark it in your diaries now, and book in some Annual leave while you can: the NZCMS Spring Conference is happening next year!
Yesterday marked the first day of elections in Egypt since the reign of President Mubarak ended earlier this year. Thankfully, we read reports that there was no violence and the day passed peacefully.
Please continue to pray for Egyptian Christians during this time. Middle East Concern is an organisation aiming to help churches and Christians in the Middle East practise their faith freely and enjoy religious liberty in their respective countries. Middle East concern asks for Christians around the world to pray that the elections will be conducted in a peaceful environment and fair manner, and that all Egyptians, including Christians, will have confidence in the process. Please pray that there will be an end to on-going violence, and that independent investigations will be initiated into the recent violence suffered by predominantly Christian protesters in October. Pray also that all political parties will respect and uphold Egypt’s current human rights commitments, including the freedoms of belief and expression.
A number of opportunities to serve in mission have come up recently, here’s a selection of ways that you or someone you know could use your skills to serve God’s Kingdom:
NZCMS Office & Finance Manager (Christchurch)
Do you have the ability to self-manage?
Are you a good administrator and can multi-task?
Do you have good mathematical skills?
Are you organised and have an eye for detail?
Do you easily relate to people from a wide range of backgrounds?
Do you have excellent speaking and communication skills?
Do you have accounting skills or qualifications?
Are you a problem solver?
Yes? You might just be the special person we are looking for!
We have a part time (hours negotiable) permanent position available, based in Christchurch to manage the Office and Finance aspects of the work of the NZ Church Missionary Society.
Please contact Kris for more info: kris@nzcms.org.nz or (03) 377 2222. Applications close 15 Jan 2012.
Primary and Secondary School teachers (South Asia)
A Christian International School in South Asia is currently on the hunt for teachers. This school has been running for almost ten years and provides quality education for the children of missionaries and internationals serving in one of South Asia’s biggest cities. This education opportunity allows these families to stay in ministry in South Asia longer. The school also has links with a local school, and is able to provide education assistance and financial support. The school offers to pay for teachers’ flights, accommodation and a local salary. They are looking for gutsy Kiwis who want to make a change and spend a few years overseas doing something valuable. Contact Sophia Sinclair at the NZCMS office for more info: sophia@nzcms.org.nz or call (03) 377 2222 or 0508 4 NZCMS.
ESOL teachers (South East Asia)
English Teachers are needed urgently to serve in South East Asia. It’s a great opportunity to serve God and get alongside students to share your skills and the love of Christ. Minimum qualification requirement is a CELTA certificate or equivalent qualification, teaching experience and cross cultural ministry experience is preferred. Contact Sophia Sinclair at the NZCMS office for more info: sophia@nzcms.org.nz or call (03) 377 2222 or 0508 4 NZCMS.
Principal (Tanzania)
Canon Andrea Mwaka School (CAMS) in Dodoma, Tanzania is looking for a Principal to commence work beginning in January 2013. Essential qualifications for the position include experience in a school, a degree and an appropriate teaching qualification. A minimum commitment of four years is required.
Property/Finance Manager (Tanzania)
Canon Andrea Mwaka School is looking for a Property and Finance Manager to commence work January 2013. A minimum commitment of four years is required. Essential qualifications for the position include experience in a school, a degree and an appropriate teaching qualification.
Deputy Principal (Tanzania)
Canon Andrea Mwaka School is looking for a Deputy Principal to commence work as soon as available. A minimum commitment of four years is required. Essential qualifications for the position include experience in a school, a degree and an appropriate teaching qualification.
Come and hear what God is doing through the ministry of NZCMS Mission Partners Stephen and Josephine Tustin who are focusing on the Arab world. Hear them speak at these locations:
Interested in what God is doing in East Africa? Come and hear recently returned Mission Partner Robyn Appleby share stories of her experience teaching at Msalato Theological College in Dodoma, Tanzania:
Phil and Becky Sussex (with kids Bryn, Toby, Molly and Pippa) are nearing the end of their first year in Phnom Penh and are considering ways to serve God in the future. Becky recently accepted a two day per week position teaching at Hope International School and will be starting in the New Year. Phil is considering which ministries to commit to during 2012, please pray for wisdom as he decides where to serve.
Anne and Anthony McCormick are nearing the end of their first year of language study in Cambodia. Please pray for them as they explore placement options with the NGO Christian Care for Cambodia (CCFC).
Gerald and Maureen Harley will be concluding their time in Cambodia as NZCMS Mission Partners in early 2012. Please pray for them as they hand over various ministries and say farewell to many good friends in Phnom Penh over the next few months.
Steve and Wendy Tripp (with Isaac and Niam) have been involved with recovery efforts after major floods forced many people out of homes and into debt. Steve writes:
“Floods, like life, are made of highs and lows. The rivers have dropped over two metres in the past four weeks allowing life for many to return to normal. Many of the swamps and lakes are also steadily dropping. However, for many they are now even more trapped under the persistent burden of debts accumulated during the floods. They need to borrow money to eat when jobs become scarce or access is too difficult, and borrow money to pay for healthcare as sickness increases due to poor water and sanitation or simply not enough food.
“It’s been really moving to see over $18,000 donated to support the victims of the floods in the areas around Phnom Penh. So far we have helped with the distribution of over 20,000 kg of rice, plus some fish sauce, and noodles. It’s also been really moving to see that most of the donated funds have come from Christchurch, a city that has seen its own fair share of tragedy. I believe it’s a sign that people are giving not out of pity, but out of a sense of solidarity in suffering. It’s a sign of shared humanity and being able to communicate that to local people has been quite powerful.”
Connect with NZCMS and be inspired for global mission. Come and hear what God has been doing overseas through NZCMS Mission Partners. Come prepared to be challenged and ready to discover how you can be part of the mission to impact the nations for Christ. NZCMS National Director Steve Maina and NZCMS Communications Officer Sophia Sinclair will share updates from Mission Partners and info about upcoming Encounter team opportunities and the Haerenga Gap Year internship.
When: Saturday 26th November, 11am-1pm (morning tea included)
Where: St John’s Anglican Church, 373 Highgate, Roslyn, Dunedin. Contact sophia@nzcms.org.nz for more details or to RSVP.
The Anglican Church, through the Anglican Missions Board has faithfully contributed to supporting NZCMS for many years. They have launched an appeal to help fund the recent and ongoing growth of NZCMS Mission Partners heading out overseas on God’s mission. To check out more visit their web page: http://www.angmissions.org.nz/?sid=320
Connect with NZCMS and be inspired for global mission. Come and hear what God has been doing overseas through NZCMS Mission Partners. Come prepared to be challenged and ready to discover how you can be part of the mission to impact the nations for Christ. NZCMS National Director Steve Maina and NZCMS Communications Officer Sophia Sinclair will share updates from Mission Partners and info about upcoming Encounter team opportunities and the Haerenga Gap Year internship.
When: Saturday 26th November, 11am-1pm (morning tea included)
Where: St John’s Anglican Church, 373 Highgate, Roslyn, Dunedin. Contact sophia@nzcms.org.nz for more details or to RSVP.
When partners return to New Zealand for Leave and Home Service, or after they’ve concluded their ministry overseas they are often available to speak to church services and groups; sharing their hands-on mission experiences. To register your interest in arranging a partner speak to your school, small group or congregation contact Jane at AMB: office@angmissions.org.nz or call 04 473 5172.
Hear Stephen and Josephine Tustin speak about ministry in the Arab world at these locations:
My last post reflecting on the nature of mission ended with a critique of the idea of a ‘call’ to mission. This needs further explanation since it is very seldom that mission, especially mission that crosses cultural boundaries, is discussed apart from some concept of ‘call’. Indeed when applying to join the activities of some mission agencies, answering a question about one’s ‘sense of call to mission’ is part of the application process. The usual expectation then is that someone who ‘does mission’, who ‘becomes a missionary’, will have a ‘call’ and that having this is important. However, I am increasingly concerned that this notion of ‘call’ is overemphasised by the Western Church and represents an offshoot of the individualism that pervades contemporary Western Culture generally.
The problem with variations on the concept of ‘call’ is that the concepts, as they are typically voiced, are expressed relative to variations on the theme of ‘I’: I feel called to… My calling is… God has called me to…and so on. Uncritical acceptance and use of this language has two unintended consequences. Firstly it places prior limitations on God; saying that I do or don’t feel a call to such and such can amount to stubbornly telling God “this is where you may or may not send me, thank you very much.”Secondly it risks baptising our own preferences at best and our laziness at worst: a laziness which is content with present knowledge of self, service of others, and experience of God.
The ‘call’, because it was ‘my call’, because it was self-originated, becomes self-perpetuating in its capacity for self-limitation. I will not grow in knowledge of self, others and God because it is inconceivable that I, the consumer of mission, should ever be ‘called’ to unfamiliar, uncomfortable or unconsidered possibilities that would challenge, extend or even redirect me. Ambivalence to unfamiliar, uncomfortable and unconsidered missionary possibilities is not possible when we genuinely seek to place our lives in the hands of God who will shape us and mould us and make us into the people He wants us to be.
True ‘calling’ is perhaps that which we are drawn to in spite of ourselves. Moses, Jeremiah and Paul would rightly be regarded as living lives marked by the ‘calling’ of God. It is instructive to note that Moses tries to excuse himself from this call (Ex 4:10). Jeremiah is initially reluctant (Jer 1:4-6) and Paul, the ‘Hebrew of Hebrews’ (Phil 3:5) whose heart’s desire and prayer is for his fellow Israelites, seems, humanly speaking, a very odd choice as an apostle to the Gentiles (Rom 10-11). If the lives of these ancestors of faith were not their own, how much more is this true of us? Those who are caught up in the mission of God have done and will do things that they never could have imagined and would never have described themselves as ‘called’ to in the usual sense. Indeed this is my own experience concerning emigration from Kenya to New Zealand to serve God at NZCMS!
Over and against an emphasis on ‘calling’ I would draw attention to four other marks that should characterize a potential cross-cultural missionary: Community, Character, Competence and Chemistry.
Community
Someone who wants to honour God across cultures will first put themselves within a faithful and discerning community that listens, through immersion in scripture’s narrative and through prayer, to the Holy Spirit. They will open their mind and heart to that community concerning mission and in so doing find themselves in a situation where it is finally appropriate to speak of ‘calling’. Note for example how Barnabas and Paul/Saul are called and sent. The worshiping and fasting community discerned the Spirit saying “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” (Acts 13:2). ‘Call’ divorced from community lends itself to the unimaginative reductionism of individual ‘likes’ and materially humanistic logic.
Character
A potential missionary will be a person of consistency and integrity, having a depth of faith and spirituality. They know God not merely from textbooks but from a living experience of God. Their lives, decisions and priorities will be daily shaped and transformed by a desire to fall into step with their knowledge of who God is and what God is about. They will have a relationship with the Son of God and a desire to proclaim him wherever they are because their lives have been and are being transformed by his historical and on-going work.
Competence
In the world today anyone who goes anywhere in mission will be confronted with the question “what are you bringing us?” As such they must have skills, and skills that are proven and tested. Someone straight out of university, polytech or seminary may well have a great deal of knowledge but little practical competence. I encourage people to invest a couple of years building competence in their areas of training locally before considering offering their skills to others. Of course some people may be unsure what skills to develop to best serve a particular context. Short-term exposure overseas is useful in addressing this. But it should be noted that short-term exposure is properly understood as preparation for mission, not mission itself. Such exposure gives people a sense of what God is doing in a place and helps them, through debriefing in community, to better know themselves and what they could offer. Qualifications are another aspect of competence that is becoming increasingly important to anyone intending to serve overseas. One’s long-term presence in a country will usually require a visa. Why would a government issue a visa to a foreigner to do work for which any number of locals are equally qualified? Similarly why should a mission organisation in East Africa or India receive an expatriate to work for them when there are so many unemployed local masters and PhD graduates in these places?
Chemistry
Sometimes a person can tick all the boxes of community involvement, character and competence but simply isn’t ‘right’ for a particular placement. The potential missionary must demonstrate that they bring something positive and life-giving to the people in that place. They must leave intangible benefits in the lives of those they walk alongside, build friendships with, listen to and learn from. Such chemistry amplifies the service that can be offered making it more than the sum of community, character and competence.