Audiomission From Cms

To celebrate Church Mission Society's 222nd birthday, we are inviting you to pause and pray for mission with our 2min 22s mini-liturgy - celebrate and remember God's mission in your neighbourhood and our world.

Recently, Jenny Muscat talked to Tim Curtis about his work as a mission partner in the Chaco region of Paraguay. Tim works on resources to enable the Enxet people to access scripture in their own language, following on from his involvement in the translation of the whole Bible into Southern Enxet.

Chris Duffett, from the Light College and Collective, is an artist with a desire to bring words, comfort and scenes from God’s heart to those he paints for. Chris’ fine art seeks to bring the colours and mystery of other realms. His work is playful and joy filled with an overemphasis of light. Chris studied Art with Theology at Chester College and has exhibited in Chester and Cambridge and worked as an artist in residence with Chelmsley Wood Baptist Church. His work is often used for publications and magazines. As well as painting and creating he is the founding evangelist of The Light Project, an author, tutor, poet and Baptist minister. He talked to Camilla Lloyd at Church Mission Society in Oxford on 3 March 2020 as part of the For Art’s Sake Pioneer Conversations Day.

Jeremy Woodham talks to musician and theologian David Benjamin Blower about the connections between prophets and artists, whether Jesus was an artist and if art is or isn't missional. Also: the power of lament and hymns without happy endings. The interview was recorded at Church Mission Society in Oxford on 3 March 2020 as part of the For Art's Sake Pioneer Conversations Day.

When Phil and Sylvie Good set out for Lebanon as new mission partners, they began working with a church and serving Syrian refugees. “The scale of what happened to them became more apparent as I got to know them,” says Sylvie. “Total lack of future.” In the face of this seemingly overwhelming situation of despair, Phil and Sylvie took the attitude of “do what we can”. Jenny Muscat found out what this means on a practical level, and how some people even say they are glad to have become refugees. To find out why, listen to the interview.

Canon Moses Bushendich, international director of CMS-Africa, gave three talks at Church Mission Society's 2019 Africa conference 8-10 November, at the Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, UK. He spoke from an African and CMS-Africa perspective on the theme taken from Isaiah 43: “See, I am doing a new thing - do you not perceive it?”

Canon Moses Bushendich, international director of CMS-Africa, gave three talks at Church Mission Society's 2019 Africa conference 8-10 November, at the Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, UK. He spoke from an African and CMS-Africa perspective on the theme taken from Isaiah 43: “See, I am doing a new thing - do you not perceive it?”

Canon Moses Bushendich, international director of CMS-Africa, gave three talks at Church Mission Society's 2019 Africa conference 8-10 November, at the Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, UK. He spoke from an African and CMS-Africa perspective on the theme taken from Isaiah 43: “See, I am doing a new thing - do you not perceive it?”

Advisory: contains frank discussion of FGM practices. On the last of #16daysofactivism against gender-based violence, we hear from Ann-Marie Wilson, CMS mission partner and founder of the anti-FGM charity 28toomany. Ann-Marie was working in Sudan in 2003–2004 when she met a little girl in Darfur who’d had female genital mutilation (FGM) at 5 and been raped at 10. From this encounter, the charity @28toomany was born. Ann-Marie felt called to act – to stand up and make a difference. With support from @churchmissionsociety she started @28toomany in 2010 with the goal of reducing the practice of FGM by 10 per cent in 10 countries in 10 years –they are well on the way to achieving that. She recently told us about their latest country report on #Sudan and #SouthSudan – going back to where it all began. Ann-Marie comments, “This particular country report, it’s very close to my heart.”

Jeremy Woodham talks to 2019 graduate Modupe Adefala, prison chaplain and leader of Word Fountain Christian Ministries, a Pentecostal church based in Oxford. They discuss her work in prison, whether pioneering is too white, and how she'd like to see churches becoming learning centres as well as worship centres.

Recently returned from working with asylum seekers and refugees in Malta, Doug Marshall told Jenny Muscat how his perspective on Christmas has shifted thanks to his experience there.

Jenny Muscat talks to Malcolm Pritchard about his work at Janani Luwum Theological College in Gulu, northern Uganda. Malcolm talks about a unique setting in an area that has faced huge trauma over the years, especially through the activity of the LRA and the constant pressures of daily life. And he tells the stories of students coming into their own, and the joy of walking alongside some shining lights of the future church in Uganda.

The Cacouris family recently returned to the UK after spending three years working with Christ Church, Rio de Janeiro. We caught up with Alex, Jane and their children to hear about mission as a family, and how their time in Brazil has taught and shaped them.

Levi Santana, mission partner working along with his wife Debora among the marginalised in Goiania, Brazil, shares what he has learned about the simplicity of mission. This talk was recorded at the recent CMS Adelante conference, celebrating mission in Latin America.

Mark and Rosalie Balfour work with street connected children in Guatemala. Increasingly they have also been working to offer pastoral support to others working on the front line in a difficult urban context – all part of the way in which their mission call is “all about Jesus and all about people”.

Bishop Anthony Poggo's address at the commissioning of Alastair Bateman as CEO of Church Mission Society at St Andrew's Church, Oxford, 8 June 2019. Bishop Anthony represented the Archbishop of Canterbury, the patron of Church Mission Society, and began by reading a special message from him.

Debs North, a youth worker specialising in sex education, PSHE, and mental health work, speaks about enabling youth leaders and parents to have conversations about sex and relationships with young people, and to feel confident engaging with their questions. Debs is passionate about enthusing and resourcing anyone who works with or has contact with young people to normalise talking about relationships, sex, mental health, and all aspects of being human and whole. This interview was recorded at the Pioneering with Youth and Children day at Church Mission Society in Oxford on 7 May 2019.

Sarah Clarke, lead of undergraduate programmes at Church Mission Society's Pioneer Mission Leadership Training, discusses an innovative new module on community development with Jeremy Woodham

"My passion, my dream would be that in every local church, in every home group, Bible study group, discipleship group, we are not just learning scriptures and talking to each other about what's happened in our lives but we're also encouraging each other to care for God's creation more effectively." In this interview Dave Bookless, a CMS mission partner and director of theology for A Rocha International, discusses his call to creation care, the many stories of Christians engaging in caring for the environment, and the reasons why "when Christians take the earth seriously, people take the gospel seriously".

Is there still space for church planting today? Is church-free Christianity possible? Long-serving mission partners Alf and Hilary Cooper from Chile share some of their experience of planting church as hospital, school and training ground.