M A G A Z I N EJ A N U A R Y 2 0 1 6

C R O S S L I N K S

G O D ’ S W O R D T O G O D ’ S W O R L D

Christopher Ash John Chesworth Andrew Walker Neil Watkinson

David Williams

W I T H C O N T R I B U T I O N S F R O M

GOD’S WORDS

THE LIGHT HAS COME INTO THE WORLD

JOHN 3:19

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Published byCrosslinks 251 Lewisham Way, London SE4 1XF

Tel 020 8691 6111Fax 020 8694 8023Prayerline 020 8692 5321www.crosslinks.org

Mission DirectorAndy Lines alines@crosslinks.orgOperations DirectorGiles Rawlinson grawlinson@crosslinks.orgBritain and overseas circulationcmt@crosslinks.orgIreland circulationIreland@crosslinks.org

Crosslinks works with over a thousand churches in Britain and Ireland. Founded in 1922 as BCMS (TheBible Churchmen’s Missionary Society), Crosslinks isan evangelical mission society facilitating partnerships largely within the Anglican Communion. In fellowship with churches in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, Canada and Australia, it provides personnel, sponsorship for theological students and support for local mission wherever it happens.

Crosslinks policy is to use all funds received for the purpose to which they are designated. Crosslinks retains the right to use any surplus funds at the end of deployment or at the end of a project, at its discretion for gospel purposes.

Registered Charity number 24 99 86.

The best gift ever given

‘Word’ and ‘World’ have always been important in Crosslinks vocabulary because the need to take God’s word to God’s world is still constant. This issue of the magazine looks at what the Bible means by ‘word’ and ‘world’ and why the world needs to hear the word of God today.

Enclosed is a bible study on John 3: 16 – 19. It poses the question ‘What is every person’s greatest need this Christmas?’ It may help you think through the implications of the best gift ever given and encourage you to talk about it to somebody who may not yet know Jesus. Feel free to pass the study on to a friend after you have used it, or contact Crosslinks for more copies to give away.

With every blessing for Christmas and for 2016.

Mark Gillespie Communications Manager

COMMENT

God’s Word to God’s World Alan PurserTeaching Christ in context David Williams

Teach the Scriptures Neil WatkinsonWorking together for Christ John Chesworth

God, the Holy Spirit and the Bible Christopher AshWhy cry for Argentina? Andrew Walker

God’s mission – our missionThe last word Andy Lines

Crosslinks diary and prayer meetings

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C O N T E N T S

Christmas Blessings

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A N E W C H A P T E RThe year ahead, 2016, marks a new chapter in the life of Crosslinks. Formed in 1922 as BCMS, with its origins reaching back to the founding of CMS in 1799, the new name ‘Crosslinks’ was adopted in the 1990s. Now the society has become a Company Limited by Guarantee–and thereby acquired a new legal identity–but the name Crosslinks and the ethos of the society remain unchanged.

So, what’s the difference?

• We are still a registered charity - but our trustees are now protected by limited liability.• We are still a society of members - but operate under a combined trust that owns all of the assets.• We are still an Anglican mission organisation - but with a reaffirmed historic doctrinal basis, expressed in up to date language in the Declaration of Belief (see www.crosslinks.org/about/declaration-of-belief).

T H E S A M E O B J E C T I V E SThe objectives of the society remain the same: the proclamation of the gospel and the strengthening of those whose task it is to proclaim it. Why? Because God’s word remains unchanged - it is the story of the coming of Jesus into our world at a specific time and in a particular place, as the Eternal Word ‘became flesh and dwelt among us.’ Seen and heard by the disciples, their testimony speaks truth in a world full of lies. As such, human society (‘the world’ in John’s language) remains as perverse and needy as ever - and so the new Crosslinks retains the same ambition, to bring God’s word to God’s world.

This edition of the magazine explores what it means to proclaim God’s unchanging word in today’s world.

A L A N P U R S E R

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Alan Purser is Crosslinks Church and Member Team Leader

‘The light has come into the world’ declared the Apostle John, whilst observing that ‘people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil’. What was true of the world in the first century remains true today. Yet those who have believed in the light rejoice that ‘God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world’ and celebrate at Christmas the coming of Jesus as Saviour (see John 3:16-19).

GOD’S WORDS

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‘There are good reasons why evangelicals have approached contextualisation with caution,’

writes David Williams, a Crosslinks Associate Mission Partner seconded to CMS in Australia to train their workers to teach

the gospel in all parts of the world.

I live in Melbourne, Australia. Everyone here knows what the word ‘football’ means. It means AFL, or ‘Aussie Rules’ or usually just ‘footie’. If I lived in Brisbane ‘football’ would mean Rugby League; in England it means soccer and in the USA it means gridiron.

Christians know that context is important. When we are taught how to study the bible, we learn the importance of putting a passage into its context. If you don’t carefully read a bible passage in its context, you risk misinterpreting it. That’s because the meaning of words is determined by their context.

There are many reasons why Christianity is unique among world religions. One of those reasons is that Christians believe in translation. We believe that you can be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ in your own tongue and that God’s word can be translated into your language. This translated bible can still be treated as the word of God. The wonderful news of the gospel is that God speaks your language. You don’t have to learn Greek and Hebrew to be a follower of Jesus. This is one of the striking differences between Christianity and Islam (in Islam, Arabic is the divine language and the Qur’an cannot be translated).

In the earliest years of the Church, recorded for us in the Acts of the Apostles, God’s people faced a serious dilemma: how were they to obey Jesus’ command to take the gospel to the ends of the earth? Three possible strategies lay before them. The first was

D A V I D W I L L I A M S

T e a c h i n g C h r i s t i n c o n t e x t

Contextualisation: The work of explaining the gospel in another person’s language and culture

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CYou can read more about David and Rachel Williams at

www.crosslinks.org/mission-partners/david-and-rachel-williams

RACHEL AND DAVID WILLIAMS WITH SONS TOM, SAM AND JONATHAN <

to take the gospel only to Jewish people. The second was to take the gospel to Jews and Gentiles, but to expect the Gentiles first to embrace the customs and culture of Judaism. The third, and by far the most radical, was the multi-cultural solution. Timothy Tennent explains it like this:

‘The riskiest option was for the communicators of the good news of Jesus Christ to enter into the cultural, linguistic and social framework of the target group and explain the gospel through whatever terms and concepts were already present in and understood by the target group.’ 1

After much debate, the early church decisively adopted the third option. Since the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, God’s people have been explaining the gospel using the language of the people they are seeking to reach. Using another person’s language means entering their worldview and learning their culture.

The work of explaining the gospel in another person’s language and culture is called ‘contextualisation’. Contextualisation is often misunderstood. There are good reasons why evangelicals have approached the subject with caution. In the hands of some, contextualisation has been an excuse to change the gospel to make it fit a particular context. But the New Testament does not allow us this licence. It insists that the one message of Christ crucified is universally applicable to all people everywhere.

Evangelical contextualisation is not about changing the gospel. It is about learning another person’s language and culture so they can hear and understand the good news. It is about enabling someone to be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ in their own tongue. This is not a straightforward process. In many cultures where our Mission Partners serve, there simply may not be a vocabulary for key biblical terms. A word like ‘propitiation’ may not exist in the local language. Other words may hold a different meaning to the intended meaning in the Bible. Translation is a risky business! But it is of non-negotiable importance if we are to be faithful to the task of mission.

The translatability of God’s word stands at the heart of Crosslinks identity. Throughout our history, our core business has been about engaging in long-term mission that takes God’s word to God’s world. We believe in long-term mission because we know that it takes time to learn language and culture well. Our Mission Partners invest years in the painstaking work of learning to communicate the gospel in someone else’s context. But this investment lies at the heart of the risky business of translatability.

1Tennent, Timothy, 2010. Invitation to World Missions. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, page 327.

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Pastors and preachers frequently lack resources in their own languages, have few real-life models of expository preaching and get little opportunity for practical mentoring to help them improve in preaching faithfully, clearly and relevantly from God’s word. Faced with this need, Crosslinks has been running Schools of Biblical Training (SBTs) for over a decade – in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America – to nurture indigenous expository preaching movements appropriate to the local contexts.

In November 2008 my wife Debbie and I moved to Singapore where I was responsible for developing, co-ordinating and running Crosslinks SBTs in south-east Asia, whilst serving on the staff team at St George’s Church. At the beginning of September this year I took on the newly-created role of International Director at the Proclamation Trust (PT), based in London but with global travel to encourage and equip others in expository bible ministry.

My new role will contribute to the way that PT aims to serve ‘the local church by promoting the work of biblical expository preaching in the UK and further afield’. The underlying conviction of PT’s work is that ‘when the Bible is taught God himself speaks, and his voice is heard clearly today.’ I myself had been a part-time student for two years on PT’s Cornhill Training Course – a one year full-time or two-year part-time course designed to equip men and women for preaching and teaching God’s word - before training at Oak Hill Theological College and subsequent ordination.

Thus PT and Crosslinks share this underlying conviction about the place of the ministry of God’s word in the life of the local church and in training others. My own experience over these past seven years has been serving in a cross-cultural church and seeking to train pastors, preachers and bible college students to become better expository preachers and teachers – with the desire for each to be ‘one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.’ (2 Timothy 2:15, ESV).

Praise God for tremendous growth in the Majority World Church. But where is this growth going to end up if people are not being taught the Scriptures?

N E I L W A T K I N S O N

teachTHESCRIPTURES

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Neil Watkinson continues as a Crosslinks Mission Partner. You can read more about him at www.crosslinks.org/mission-partners/neil-watkinson

Part of my new responsibilities will include tutoring international students on the Cornhill course and assisting with the preaching groups two afternoons a week, along with some teaching on the course. What is possible at Cornhill is in much greater depth than what is achievable in a week-long SBT-type event, more akin to the ‘training of trainers’ level we have wanted to develop with the SBTs.

Another aspect of the role will be seeking ways to support indigenous expository preaching movements within the countries where PT and Crosslinks have contacts. Every year pastors and preachers come from the Majority World to attend preaching conferences run by PT. Some ex-Cornhillers return home wanting to export Cornhill as a ‘one-size fits all’ package, without considering what is appropriate for their local context. They may often face a lack of funding, or a non-availability of facilities or staff to teach. While in Singapore, a local colleague and I started the Singapore Expository Preaching Course (SEPC) - a one-evening-a-week preaching course held over 12 months, which is now in its fourth year. This experience helped me to grapple with how the Cornhill preaching training might be adapted for a very different setting. Thus I hope to help those from overseas to work out how to best invest in training others along the lines of Paul’s exhortation to Timothy: ‘What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.’ (2 Timothy 2:2, ESV).

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I anticipate forging links with similar-minded organisations in the UK and overseas to develop a more co-ordinated approach to preaching training where possible – and looking at how appropriate resources by PT can be translated or produced to assist with building up expository preaching ministry in the countries where we have contacts. I will continue with some of Crosslinks SBTs with which I have been involved in recent years, though my involvement will by no means be limited to SE Asia!

• Please pray for wisdom in thinking and planning strategically as to how best to promote expository preaching training, and for good gospel-minded partnering with individuals and other organisations.

• Pray for the current international students on the Cornhill course - and the upcoming SBTs planned for Myanmar (January 2016) and Nepal (February 2016).

C

> A RECENT SCHOOL OF BIBLICAL TRAINING IN KATHMANDU

PAUL EXHORTS TIMOTHY: ‘WHAT

YOU HAVE HEARD FROM ME IN THE

PRESENCE OF MANY WITNESSES ENTRUST

TO FAITHFUL MEN WHO WILL BE ABLE TO TEACH OTHERS

ALSO.’

GOD’S WORDS

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J O H N C H E S W O R T H

W O R K I N G T O G E T H E R

FOR CHRIST

GOD’S WORDS

Image: ©Tejvan Pettinger

At the end of 2015 John and Phyll Chesworth will retire from Crosslinks after 26 years of service both in Britain and Africa.

Latterly, John has been working at the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, Oxford, where Phyll has also served as the

administrator. Here, he describes their path to Oxford.

JOHN AND PHYLL

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My first experiences of Christian-Muslim relations (known as CMR) as a teacher in Dodoma, Tanzania in 1978-80, and then afterwards in inner city Coventry, helped me to appreciate the need to thoroughly understand Islam. In 1985, studying at Trinity College, Bristol in preparation for serving with BCMS, I was advised by the then General Secretary of Crosslinks (John Ball) to take as many courses on Islam as I could. My tutor, Colin Chapman, was instrumental in shaping my approach to CMR. This combined an awareness of the missionary imperative to ‘go and tell’ with the importance of building good relationships with Muslim neighbours and the local community.

Arriving at St. Philip’s Theological College, Kongwa, Tanzania in 1989, I became the teacher on Islam. My aim was to present Islam as Muslims understand it and explore ways of reaching them for Christ, allowing students to share their own knowledge and experiences.

The need for a deeper knowledge of Islam led me to take an MA in Islamic Studies in Birmingham (1998-99), with Muslims both as teachers and fellow students. I learnt much about the practice of Islam from them, making friends and useful contacts for the future. I discovered the value of Muslims and Christians studying together and learning from each other - a central tenet of the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies.

In 2000, I was invited to St. Paul’s Theological College (now University), Limuru, Kenya where I taught courses on Islam and CMR. Working with the Programme for Christian-Muslim Relations in Africa (PROCMURA), I was asked to develop an MA programme on Islam and CMR. Since 2004, Christian students from many African countries have taken this course, some of whom come from areas of Muslim-Christian tension. They learned to look at Islam objectively for the first time and at Muslims with the love of Jesus. Many of the students are now CMR field-workers in their own countries.

Leaving Kenya in 2006, I completed a doctorate at Birmingham on the Muslim and Christian use of each other’s scriptures in popular tracts. Such literature was often as polemical as it was instructive. It was saddening to read what was being said about the other’s faith.

In 2008 I joined the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, Oxford, working with Dr Ida Glaser and others. As well as teaching at colleges in the UK, I continued to research and write on CMR, including the impact of Islamic law in Africa, with a team of Muslim and Christian junior academics.

Since 2012, I have been seconded to Birmingham University to co-ordinate an international research project, ‘Christian-Muslim relations. A bibliographical history 1500-1900’, bringing me into contact with academics around the world, both Muslims and Christians. Our work is providing a significant resource for Christian-Muslim relations. I maintain my links with the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies and supervise students’ research.

The importance of being faithful to the Great Commission and helping Muslims and Christians to understand each other, and work together in spite of their differences, continues to be central to my approach. Only by following the example of Jesus, proclaiming his word, and living out his love will we win Muslims for Christ.

• It portrays God as a means to an end and not the highest delight

THE CENTRE FOR MUSL IM -CHR IS T IAN S TUD IES , OXFORD

Please pray for John and Phyll’s future, giving thanks to God for their faithful service with Crosslinks over many years. Pray too for the ongoing work of the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies as it seeks to promote better understanding between Christians and Muslims.

The vision of the centre is to promote Muslim-Christian relationships through shared academic study and by following the example of Jesus Christ. This is done by equipping leaders, resourcing scholars and developing biblically-based thinking at the Muslim-Christian interface through teaching, research and public education.

Pray particularly for Ida Glaser as she continues to direct the centre and through whom Crosslinks continues its partnership.

To find out more about the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, Oxford see www.cmcsoxford.org.uk

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C H R I S T O P H E R A S H

GOD, THE HOLY SPIRIT AND

Christians have a book - the Bible - and Christians have God - God the Holy Spirit.

What is the relationship between the two?

There are perhaps ways to think about this. are wrong!3 2

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The Spirit is the key, though the Bible may help.

If I believe that there is some kind of g/God, and some kind of s/Spirit of God, then I may also believe that the Bible – along with other inspiring and religious books – can help me to grow as a ‘spiritual’ person. My key relationship is through my ‘spirituality’ – however I conceive that to work. Inspiring records of other people’s ‘spiritualities’ may inspire or stimulate me as I walk my own path.

No follower of Jesus should subscribe to such a low view of the Bible; I doubt if any reader of this magazine will give it houseroom. I certainly hope not.

However a second view is much more common amongst Christians who call themselves gospel people, evangelical believers, bible people:

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I need to keep a balance between the Spirit and the Bible.

It is said that the written word is dead – after all, it is just words on a page – but the Spirit of God is living. ‘Oh, sure, I need the Bible because its words tell me the basic truths about Jesus. But what I really really need is a living relationship with God by the Holy Spirit, who speaks to me and guides me and works through me.’ So I have this ‘dead’ book, and I mustn’t let go of that; for if I leave the Bible behind, I can drift off into any random thoughts and ideas. But I mustn’t neglect the living relationship with God by the Spirit, who speaks living words to me today.

On this view, some Christians are ‘all word and no Spirit’ – dead, cold, cerebral, ‘sound’, but without much life. Other Christians are ‘all Spirit and no word’ – full of life, but a bit unstable. As the old saying goes, ‘With all word and no Spirit we dry up; with all Spirit and no word we blow up; when we keep a balance between word and Spirit we grow up.’

This view is very common but also wrong! For how can we keep a balance between the Holy Spirit (who is God!) and the Bible? God is God and cannot be balanced by a book, no matter how wonderful the book. How can you ever have too much of God the Holy Spirit? How sad to be a 50% Holy Spirit person, because I am trying to keep myself in balance with 50% Bible!

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...continues overleaf

no!

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The Bible is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17)

Jesus taught his apostles that after his death there would be two witnesses to testify to the world about him. In John 15:26-27 he says:

• that the Holy Spirit will testify about him, and • that the apostles will testify about him.

He cannot mean that the witness of the Holy Spirit needs to be supplemented by that of the apostles, as though it were inadequate; for the Holy Spirit is God! No, these are not two of the same kind of testimony, but two different kinds of testimony. The witness of the apostles is historical; Jesus says they must testify because ‘you’ – you apostles – ‘have been with me from the beginning.’ Right from the start of Jesus’ public ministry, in the overlap time from John the Baptist, they were there, watching, listening, and later remembering accurately with the help of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26). Supremely they were witnesses of his resurrection (see Acts 1:21, 22). The fruit of their historical testimony is the New Testament, which is the accurate record of all the apostolic teaching.

The Holy Spirit does not add to this historical testimony. Rather he gives an inward testimony that brings conviction to us that the Bible’s outward testimony is true (cf. John 16:8-11). When he works, the gospel comes to people not only in words – though it never comes without bible words! – but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction (1 Thessalonians 1:5).

We do not need to keep a balance between the Holy Spirit and the Bible. We need as much of the Bible as we can possibly read, hear, and digest; for only here is the authoritative, trustworthy, and fully sufficient record of Jesus. And we need as much of the Holy Spirit’s working as God will give us in answer to our prayers; he will not add to the Bible, but he – and only he - will give us and others that inward conviction that the Bible’s testimony to Jesus is really true.

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So let us not be 50% Spirit / 50% Bible people; let’s be 100% Spirit /100% Bible people!

Christopher Ash is a pastor and author. From 2004-15 he served as Director of the Proclamation Trust’s Cornhill Training Course.

One of his books, Hearing the Spirit (Christian Focus, 2011) is about the Holy Spirit and the Bible.

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A N D R E W W A L K E R

GOD’S WORDS

A R G E N T I N A ?w H Y c R Y f O R

T H E W O R DUNLEASHED IN ARGENT IN ALike every nation, Argentina needs the gospel. The Anglican Church of Argentina strives to bring God’s word to the nation and has invited our family to serve in pastoral ministry with a view to leadership development. I have been placed as assistant minister in a revitalised church in southern Buenos Aires (Holy Trinity, Lomas de Zamora). It is our heartfelt cry to God that the gospel will be preached and young leaders identified and equipped, at both the local and national level. In the years to come, may the wonders of salvation indeed be proclaimed and believed upon by many in Argentina, for the glory of God.

1 Bp Greg Venables, The Words of Eternal Life, sermon preached at St Mary Bredin. Accessed 9/10/2015: http://www.smb.org.uk/Groups/264648/St_Mary_Bredin/Im_Interested_In/Latest_Talk/The_Words_of/The_Words_of.aspx

2 Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiasticall Politie, 2.7.5.

Greg Venables, Bishop of Argentina, recently warned that, ‘The battle of the Christian faith is the battle over God’s word.’1 He is right; if we lose a right understanding of Scripture the future of the Christian faith will be jeopardised. The Bible is essential in the training of leaders and we aim to put this into practice in Argentina, a new context for Crosslinks.

T H E W O R D THE ULT IMATE AUTHOR I T Y FOR S ALVAT ION AND ESSENT IAL FOR TRA IN INGFor all matters of salvation, the Bible is our ultimate authority. This foundational truth has been impressed on me forcefully almost daily this past year. My MA dissertation examined how the 18th century Anglican church leader Richard Hooker defended and clarified the Reformed doctrine of the ultimate authority of Scripture (in the face of vociferous opposition).

Hooker contends that nothing is as sure as that which ‘the Scripture of God teacheth; because we hold that his speech revealeth there what himselfe seeth, and therefore the strongest proofe of all… is the scripture.’2 To paraphrase: in the Bible, God speaks what he sees; there can be no greater authority than that.

It is thus essential that we preach salvation based on God’s word. However, we must also train future leaders to do likewise. We must entrust the gospel, ‘to reliable people who are qualified to teach others,’ that the world may hear its glorious truths (2 Tim 2:2). If church leaders cannot teach Scripture faithfully, the very salvation they proclaim will be compromised.

“We must entrust the gospel, ‘to reliable people who are qualified to teach others,’ that the world may hear its glorious truths

CYou can read about Andrew Walker and his family at www.crosslinks.org/mission-partners/andrew-and-bethanie-walker

Andrew Walker recently completed an MA at Oak Hill Theological College and, together with his family, has just returned to Argentina.

ANDREW, BETHANIE , MAIA AND EMILIO WALKER

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BOOK ONLINE www.crosslinks.org/deyoung FOR INFORMATION CONTACT Valerie Ellis at vellis@crosslinks.org / +44 (0) 28 9079 6028 / www.crosslinks.org

‘TAKING GOD AT HIS WORD’For all who teach God’s Word

FRIDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2016

10.00am - 12.30pm (lunch included)St Saviour’s Church, DollingstownBT66 7JP

Free of Charge

‘WHAT IS THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH? All welcome

SATURDAY 27 FEBRUARY 2016

9.15am-4.00pmArmagh City HotelBT60 4FR

Cost £10 (Lunch is not included in priceCancellations will incur a 10% administration fee)

‘CHALLENGE TO MISSION’For students and young adults

THURSDAY 25 FEBRUARY 2016

7.30pmAll Saints’ Church Canterbury Street, Belfast BT7 1LB

Free of Charge

SUNDAY TEACHINGJoin Kevin as he teaches this Sunday

SUNDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2016

10.30amSt. Elizabeth’s ChurchChurch Green, Dundonald BT16 2LP

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3DAY CONFERENCE 4

In February 2016, Crosslinks is hosting four events in Northern Ireland featuring prominent writer and bible teacher Kevin DeYoung. Each focusses on the need for confidence in

the word of God and the challenge to engage in proclaiming his word worldwide.

Kevin DeYoung has been the Senior Pastor at University Reformed Church, Michigan, USA, since August 2004. His main responsibilities include preaching and leadership. Kevin has written ‘Taking God at His Word’ and co-authored, with Greg Gilbert, ‘What is the Mission of the Church?’ a theme at the heart of these

planned events.

He writes, ‘We want to make sure that the gospel – the good news of Christ’s death for sin and subsequent resurrection – is of first importance in our churches. We want the

crystal-clear and utterly unique task of the church – making disciples of Jesus Christ to the glory of God the Father – put front and center, not lost in a flurry of other commendable concerns. Jesus’ commission in Acts 1:8 describes the Church’s key assignment of what to do until the Lord returns. The priority for the Church until then, of which the community must never lose sight, is to witness to Jesus to the end of the earth. Making disciples – that’s our task.’

KE

VIN

DE Y

O UN G

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wordA N D Y L I N E S

15Andy Lines is Crosslinks Mission Director

THELASTWORD

At meetings where I update colleagues about Crosslinks governance review some roll their eyes in weary sympathy for this complex process; but I am grateful for my wonderful colleagues who have helped steer this through. Is it worth the bother? I love reading the stories from the society’s history of how God’s word was taken to a hostile world in the early years but there is still a job to do. Here are three examples that illustrate why it is definitely worth it:

Look at Europe: only 2.5% of the population, even by a wide definition, would be classified as evangelical. The UK is relatively strong at 8.8% with only Finland and the Faeroe Islands having higher percentages. We have endless opportunities to take God’s word to God’s European world with its apathetic populations and migrant crisis - but it will not be easy.

I was in Tanzania recently for a School of Biblical Training at the invitation of the Anglican Church of Tanzania (which has more than three million members!). The local bishop in his farewell address said that the norm for a preacher would be to think on Saturday about what to preach on Sunday, choose a verse, and then largely say whatever he wanted without reference to the text. What a challenge for Crosslinks to help train local trainers through our Study Partner programme. The task is daunting but it was really encouraging to see Study Partners and Project Partners in action.

Pakistan is a Muslim nation of 180 million with its 2% Christian population under serious religious, social and economic pressure, yet they will be key in the task of reaching some

350 unevangelized people groups. Over two million Pakistanis work in the Gulf States including a small Christian percentage. 1.1 million Pakistani background

people live in England yet few have meaningful contact with churches. There is much to be done to reach these people.

These are three reasons why Crosslinks is worth making fit-for-purpose to take God’s word to God’s world in the 21st Century. A more significant motivation though is encompassed in the phrase on a sign in a friend’s garden: ‘Jesus is coming!’

FIT FOR PURPOSEIN THE 21ST CENTURY

“We have endless opportunities to take God’s word to God’s European world with its apathetic populations

and migrant crisis– but it will not be easy”

M E E T I N G SP R A Y E RIf you think you could start up a Crosslinks prayer meeting in your region, get in touch with Abbi McClure amcclure@crosslinks.org (London) or Val Ellis vellis@crosslinks.org (Ireland) and we will help and support.

BELFAST1 February, 9 May, 1 August, 7 November at 8pmCrosslinks Ireland Office, 32 Montgomery Rd, Belfast Contact Rev Trevor Cleland on + 44 (0) 28 9265 0134

BOURNEMOUTHSecond Tuesday of each month at 10.30am St Paul’s Church, Throop, BournemouthContact Douglas Newport on 01202 397342

BROOKEBOROUGH1 March, 7 June, 6 September, 1 November at 8pmAghavea Church Hall, 21 Aghavea Road, BrookeboroughContact Rev Gary McMurray + 44 (0) 28 8953 1210

CHORLEYSt Paul’s Church, Bury Lane, Withnell PR6 8SDEmail avril_fowler_746@hotmail.com for more details

DONEGAL14 March, 13 June, 12 September, 12 December at 8pmDonegal Parish Centre, Donegal TownContact Ven David Huss on 00 353 74 9721075

DUBLINSecond Monday of each month at 8pmContact Janet Craven on 00 353 1 2194595

DUNGIVEN18 February, 19 May, 18 August, 17 November at 8pmDungiven Parish Hall, DungivenContact Val Ellis on +44 (0) 28 9079 6028

FRINTON-ON-SEAFirst Thursday of each month at 3pm 34 Ashlyn’s Road, Frinton-on-Sea, Essex CO13 9EUContact Tricia Hamilton on 01255 676376

OXFORDAt St Ebbe’s Church, OxfordContact cmt @crosslinks.org or 020 8691 6111

RIPONFirst Saturday of each month at 1.30pm 2 All Saints Square, RiponContact William and Ruth Deeth on 01765 690366

STONEYFORDThird Friday of each month at 8pmWatson, 2 Stoneyford Road, LisburnContact Margaret Sharkey on + 44 (0) 28 9266 5996

WARINGSTOWN14 March, 13 June, 12 September, 14 November at 8pm78 Murray Wood, WaringstownContact Rev Jim McMaster on + 44 (0) 28 3882 0741

WEYMOUTHSecond Monday of each month 7.30-9pmContact Derek Saunders on 01305 779510

ARCTIC FELLOWSHIP – OADBYContact John Tonkin on 0116 281 2517

E V E N T S

C R O S S L I N K S

ANNUAL MEETING OF MEMBERS5pm Tuesday 21 June 2016

London

St Botolph’s without Aldersgate Little Britain, London EC1A 4EU

CROSSLINKS MEETING LONDON5.45pm Tuesday 21 June 2016

St Botolph’s without Aldersgate Little Britain, London EC1A 4EU

CROSSLINKS MEETING DUBLIN7pm Friday 24 June 2016

Irish Church Missions, 28 Bachelor’s Walk Dublin 1, Republic of Ireland

CROSSLINKS MEETING DOLLINGSTOWN7pm Saturday 25 June 2016

St Saviours Church, Dollingstown BT66 7JR

CROSSLINKS MEETING KNUTSFORD3pm Sunday 26 June 2016

St John’s Knutsford Cheshire, WA16 6DH

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WHAT IS THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH?Saturday 27 February 2016Armagh City Hotel, 2 Friary Road, Armagh BT60 4FRKeynote Speaker: Kevin DeYoung Further info: Contact Val Ellis vellis@crosslinks.orgor see www.crosslinks.org/deyoung

Kevin DeYoung has been the Senior Pastor at University Reformed Church, Michigan, USA, since 2004. His main responsibilities include preaching, leadership, and administration. He has published a number of books including one that captures the theme of our conference, ‘What is the Mission of the Church?’