David Goswell, February 20th 2010
For those who didnt know (or forgot), NCS sponsored me to go as a missionary to Bangladesh for a month over January. I have been asked to write a short summary of the trip.
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We did two main things over there, evangelism and contextualisation (helping pastors out with practices in their church community). Evangelism was probably my favourite and most rewarding experience. We told stories from the bible, about creation and about Jesus to the villages in the mountains. The villages couldnt get enough of these stories, they had never heard anything like them before. The village elders would even come to our camp to try and get more stories out of us that they could relay back to their people. When we were in the villages, the children would all sit down the front with their mouths agape. Everyone was excited by these stories, and soon forgot their fears that we were trying to convert them to christianity (which we were), and became lost in the stories.
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So yea, the evangelism was hella rewarding. Aparently – most of the people who come to Christ in BD come through the stories they hear about Christ (rather than through proposition, which is something we put alot of emphasis on in western evangelism).
One thing i noticed is that over there they have evangelism as a job. I dont think i have ever heard of anyone in western civilisation who evangelises for a living (save Smith Wigglesworth, but he’s in heaven now).
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The second thing we did over there was contextualisation. My group focused on the christian marriage ceremony that the marma people group undertook. Our aim was to reduce syncratism (where they have mixed in their cultural beliefs with christian beliefs). I will give you an example of one practice that we asked that they remove from their practice. They strangle a chicken, then boil it. When the marriage ceremony is complete, they remove a main artery from the neck of the chicken. A straight artery means a good omen for the marriage – a curly one means a bad one. We did research on this and found that divination is an abomination to the LORD. Also that strangling causes blood to seep into the flesh and in acts 15 (i think) it says that we must not eat blood. We strongly recommended to the pastors that they remove this ritual from the marriage ceremony.
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So that is a brief few examples of what we got up to over in the big BD (no really its the size of tazmania – with 156 million people). Of course there is a month worth of experience for me to talk about, but i will keep this post short.
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Bless you all, go in peace
photo credit: naquib
David
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Tags: Bangladesh, Contextualisation, Evangelism, Mission
Posted in Thoughts
Martin Shadwick, February 14th 2010
Hey guys,
Just wanted to let you know we’re having a ball in India. We love the people and are very encouraged by their love of Jesus and his word.
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Pete, Krysia and Steve are doing a great job and we’re having fun while working hard with them. Pete and Steve did a great job of giving their lectures. They were nervous but spoke clearly and confidently. We were proud of them. Krysia is doing really well at building relationships with the women. One is taking her and Jen sari shopping tomorrow!
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Earlier today we finished our first training conference (Ephesians) with about 100 Indian pastors and Christian leaders. It has been encouraging to hear stories of how they have taught other PTC courses to fellow Indians. The main translator from the course will be teaching it later this year in the north of India. And our friend George (his real name is Tarun, but we spent the first 24 hours calling him George by accident – we blame Babel!) is also teaching courses to youth.
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Please pray for our week ahead. We are tired, battling colds, and still have a lot to prepare. We will be teaching Old Testament in Bangalore.
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God bless,
Jen & Martin.
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photo credit: Swami Stream
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Tags: India, Mission, Prayer
Posted in News, Prayer
Martin Shadwick, February 2nd 2010
Dear NCS,
A new university year is about to hit us once more!
But before then… five NCSers are flying to India for two weeks to train pastors (6th-20th February).
We want to let you know so you can partner us in this exciting work.
WHAT WE’LL BE DOING
We are going in partnership with India Gospel League. This organisation is doing amazing things in India – particularly in the area of Church Planting (1000s of churches a year!!). That means there are thousands of pastors who are eager for more theological training to help them teach their churches.
In our first week in India the team will be training pastors in Salem from the book of Ephesians. Martin will be doing the majority of the lectures with 2 of our students teaching one unit each as well. We will all be involved in leading small discussion groups that are based around the lectures. The second week will be spent in Bangalore and we will be teaching the first five books of the Old Testament 1.
We are all feeling pretty excited but also working pretty hard to get our preparation completed.
PRAYER POINTS
* For Martin: pray that God will help him to complete all the work that he needs to do for India, pray that it will not be a burden for him! Pray that his lectures will be clear and concise and he will teach the Indian people faithfully.
* Pray that Martin and Jen will lead the team well, and that we would all work well together.
* Pray for the people in India that they will come prepared to listen, learn and take what they hear back to their churches. Ask as well that God will protect the Indian Christians from persecution and from any forces that are trying to stop the spread of the gospel.
* Pray for Peter and Steve who both have some lectures to give and devotions to prepare.
* Pray for our health – we are a little nervous about the prospect of gastro away from the comforts of home.
* Please pray that we would be sensitive to cultural differences, humble and dependent on God in everything.
* Ask God that we will be an encouragment to the people and they will encourage us but most of all that Christ is preached faithfully and that people mature or come to know him!!
Thank you so much for your prayerful support of us.
We look forward to seeing you in O-week or back at uni!
God bless,
Martin, Jen, Peter, Steve and Krysia.
Tags: India, Mission, Prayer
Posted in News, Prayer
