Gideon and the crucible of a challenging assignment”

Reading Alan’s “Gideon and the crucible of a challenging assignment is making me think back to what may have been my crucibles… What about yours?

Read Full Post »

I’m looking for a new Boss!

Actually to be more accurate, it’s me and another 400+ Wycliffe UK and Ireland members, employees and volunteers, looking for a new boss.

Nice shiny new office.

Lovely people to work with.

A great vision…

By the year 2025, together with partners worldwide, we aim to begin a Bible translation project for every language that needs one.

Just 1,919 languages to go.

For more details, see the Wycliffe UK website

And as we look forward to the new boss that God will choose for us, I want to say a personal thank you to my good friend and colleague Eddie Arthur who has led us for the last number of years. Well done, Eddie!

Eddie speaking at Bangor Worldwide 2011

Read Full Post »

Our April Newsletter… excerpts

John’s last few months as N. Ireland Coordinator for Wycliffe UK have been rewarding and encouraging. He loves being able to enthuse people about how God uses many different gifts and abilities in bringing His Word to life in every language. Two events in February were very successful. Twenty people came to First Steps and two people at CheckITOut offered to use their IT skills from home for Bible Translation projects overseas.

Recruitment has been another part of the coordinator role that gets John excited! Our latest N. Irish member, Lydia, was accepted in April – another reminder of the privilege of seeing God at work in individual lives. Ruth enjoyed interviewing two recent applicants and hopes to continue being involved in this way.

Many people have prayed faithfully for the N. Ireland Office and specifically for the staff needed there. It has been more than John could have hoped for to see the way the new team has taken shape. He has really enjoyed the relaxed way the handover has been managed, giving time for the “new John” to watch what goes on in the office before getting to grips with how he plans to lead it forward.

On Monday 8 April the big day happened quietly. John Young officially took over as N. Ireland Coordinator and his wife Jennifer became the Personnel Coordinator. Some changes have been made to the layout of the office so that a new look has accompanied the new team. John Hamilton is now delighted to find himself with a new desk, in a new room, with a new role in the new look team! Please feel free to drop in to see the changes and greet the team.

You may be wondering what John is actually going to do? Well the focus so far has been on “Old” John helping “Young” John to familiarise himself with all things Wycliffe in N Ireland. The plan is for John Hamilton to take a short break in May to allow John Young to go solo. Then they will sit down together to map out John’s new role. It would be great if you could pray for both Johns – Young as he takes charge and Hamilton as he fits into the new shape team. He is already enjoying the prospect of having more time to focus on doing fewer things and to having a boss in the office. Having reached the milestone of official retirement age, John also plans to reduce his time in the office to 3 days a week. He is glad this will allow him more time to support his mum and dad … and who knows what else he might find God leading him into? Any prayer and suggestions about this will be welcome!!

Ecclesiastes 3 has lots of “times” – “a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to be silent and a time to speak.” New times in the Belfast office might include these and more…

Read Full Post »

Missio Vitae: reflections on mission and life

This is a blog that I found it on Wycliffe Global Alliance’s Facebook page this morning. Some readers may be interested – Missio Vitae

Missio Vitae has been developed by Wycliffe Global Alliance and invites others to…

Be a part of Wycliffe’s learnings and reflections as together we prepare our hearts and minds for fuller participation in God’s mission. We invite you to use these resources to start real conversations in your own context!

Kirk Franklin, executive director of Wycliffe Global Alliance writes:

Wycliffe Global Alliance’s interest in missiology is key to our participation in the missio Dei (the mission of God). Missiology’s contribution to the Bible translation movement is to analyse its practises, intentions, attitudes, message and methods. This is in keeping with Samuel Escobar’s definition of missiology: “An interdisciplinary approach to understand missionary action [looking] at missionary facts from the perspectives of the biblical sciences, theology, history and the social sciences*.”

We recognise that Bible translation is only one facet of the overarching mission of God. Our desire is that all peoples have access to and can understand and apply God’s Word so God may be glorified in every language of the world.

The gathering of resources for Bible translation and compassionate service takes place in a rapidly changing social, cultural, economic, political and religious environment in each nation and at the global level. Recognising these factors, we seek God’s guidance and direction for discernment and wisdom. We also encourage our colleagues and co-workers in missiological reflection and action. Together under God’s direction we can participate in ministering to a changing world.

Already there are contributions from Samuel Escobar, Andrew Walls and Christopher Wright.

I’ve got some reading time planned into my diary for tomorrow and hope to dip into Missio Vitae.

Read Full Post »

Humility, Integrity, Simplicity

Jesus’ model of  leadership is, to say the least, radical and revolutionary – as totally misunderstood in the first century world as in our twenty first century world!

“If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Jesus [Mark 9:35]

Take this morning…  starting my day reading the Bible online with Scripture Union WordLive. It was Mark 9:30-41 under the title The Paradox of Leadership.

Who’s the greatest? Jesus has already spoken to the disciples about the fact that following him means denying self – but this message hasn’t yet sunk in. He talks to them about his own future act of supreme self-denial, but immediately they argue about which of them is the greatest disciple – in other words, who is the most visible, the most important, the one with the highest status.  Gill Robertson

Jesus, the most patient of teachers, is gently encouraging his disciples – including me today – to get it!

Revolutionary leadership Jesus’ model of self-emptying leadership is new and revolutionary, turning upside down the preconceptions and assumptions of Jewish and Roman cultures (v 35).

The fact is that when it really mattered they understood: on the day of Pentecost Peter was able to explain to others, so eloquently and passionately, what the new revolution was about – a testament to the effectiveness of Jesus’ teaching methods. Lessons that seemed strange at the time… would later be remembered and passed on to thousands. Jesus was the ultimate investor in people.  Gerard Kelly

Jesus’ teaching continues to turn upside down the preconceptions and assumptions of our world today – and not just the secular world but the world of the Christian church!

Chris Wright addressed this issue recently at the Third Lausanne Congress in World Evangelization in Capetown. Chris spoke on the greatest obstacles to the growth of God’s Great Mission being found, not in other religions or persecution or resistant cultures (although these are obstacles), but within the church and in the failure and disobedience of God’s people.

In his talk entitled Integrity Confronting Idols Chris challenged Christian leaders on three obstacles: power and pride; popularity and success; and wealth and greed which together add up to a failure to “love one another” as Jesus commanded us and thus prevent the unity of Christ’s Church on earth. His solution is a call to humility, integrity and simplicity: to be concerned about status and office in the church, argues Chris,  is sheer disobedience to Christ and to the Bible!

There is so much in this talk to absorb and chew over and to put into practice; so many words that are very quotable – do take the time to listen to Integrity Confronting Idols for yourself.

And I’ll end with the parallel passage to Mark 9 in Luke 22:24-26, one of many Biblical references that Chris uses:

The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them… But you are not to be like that.

Read Full Post »