Storm Warning - some personal reflections

 
I've been reading a book that has taken me back to our Peshawar days. Storm Warning: Riding the Cross winds in the Pakistan-Afghanistan Borderland (Radcliffe Press 2013) by Robin Brooke-Smith, who was Principle of Edwardes College Peshawar

The title comes from an Iqbal couplet which is cited by the head of Pakistani Intelligence Service the ISI in Peshawar:   "Oh Eagle do not fear the crosswinds / They are blowing to make you fly higher.'

Robin is a close friend. We overlapped in Peshawar, when I was working in a Drug rehabilitation project as Drug Advisor. I used to go round to the Principal's House to watch rugby on occasions, for a meal (I remember Scottish Country Dancing there)  and even preached in the little chapel. Robin used to come round to our house in University Town to watch a video and get a way for a short while.  Reading the book was to be transported back to those heady days.
  
I even appear in the dramatis personae at the front of the book as 'CMS representative for South and Central Asia'  and I know a number of the characters in the book, mainly from the church side:   Bishop Manu (USPG Gen Sec), Humfrey Peters the Diocesan Secretary  Cecil Williams (Principal of Edwardes High School and then Bishop), Rev Ghani Taib, Col. Tressler and Col. Khanwal Isaacs, the college bursar. We know each other, we have shared bread together.   I am facebook friends with a  number of them.

I also developed a great affection for the Principal's house staff: Ilyas the chowkidar, the driver   Fayaz, Raj the mali, and of course  Yousef the cook, who used to bring me sweet milky 'bed tea' when I stayed over during later visits. I also remember 'Jet' the mine-dog (we also had a ex-UN, failed-mine dog called Nicker, who we renamed 'Snicker'!)

Our son Tim had a term at Edwardes College School in the hot, humid summer of 1996 that Robin mentions. It was the first time he had worn a jacket and tie. The heat nearly did him in and helped him decide to go into boarding at Murree Christian School (MCS) in the cooler climate of the foothills of the Himalayas.

As Regional Director I participated in the Centenary Celebrations in April 2000, visiting Pakistan with my wife Rachel. I preached at the Centenary Service, but was also involved in some behind the scene diplomacy with Church of Pakistan leadership, which helped to change the story a little.

And for me the highlight was the contrast between The Band of the Irish Guards and the Khattak Dancers.  It was as if a history of the Raj and the NWFP was being enacted before our very eyes. The Great Game seemed somehow very real...... and as yet unfinished.


I even wrote about it in a piece I did for my masters back in December 2000, the same year as the centenary celebrations:
  

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‘Carry on up the Khyber’:  A Strange Loop in Peshawar.

Helping to ‘Change the Story’ in a situation of complexity and cultural diversity.

 
Robin has gone into much more detail and writes a fascinating mixture of personal and poetic reflections on college life, with a sharp grasp of the bigger picture -  the wider geo-political context in which a drama was being played out in a college campus.  It makes for fascinating reading.

But I thought I would quote three extracts from what I wrote, which echo and in some ways add another perspective to what Robin has written: 

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Principal’s House, Edwardes’ College Peshawar,  Easter Sunday

A week of celebrations is about to take place to mark the Centenary of this old institution. I have been invited to represent CMS, which had a significant role in the foundation of the College and give an address during the Celebratory Service.

I arrived to learn that the Diocese has refused  to allow the use of All Saints Church in the Old City, next to the old Edwardes’ School (where the college started) for the Celebration Service. In addition an advert has been placed in the local Newspapers entitled APPEAL AND PROTEST, appealing to ‘worthy leaders’ on behalf of the ‘parent body’ and ‘owners’ who had been ‘humiliated’ and deprived from taking part in the centenary celebrations’.  And signed: ‘The Moderator Bishop’s Commissary and the Officers of the Diocese of Peshawar, Church of Pakistan’.

 

On Saturday, a press conference was held, resulting in a number of published articles, which appeared in the local Urdu and English papers on Easter Sunday. The Frontier Post declared ‘Edwardes College Principal’s appointment termed illegal’. It went on:‘The church is sad that having taken advantage of our vulnerability and innocence we have deliberately been deprived from our rights and authority in the College. Given that the Church is the legal owner and the initiator of the College, it is an injustice and an insult that we have deliberately been kept out of the Centenary celebration’. 

Edwardes’ College is a very significant college. One of the staff quoted a Pathan friend as saying that ‘the NWFP has nothing to present except Edwardes’ College’ and commended its Principal as a man of great strength, honesty and integrity. Yet the church feels that they are not involved in THEIR college and that a conspiracy is underway by the Government to take the college away. What had caused such polarisation and ambiguity, and extreme positioning of opposing forces ?

Khattak Dancers

Culture

The NorthWest Frontier Province (NWFP) is the wild-west of Pakistan, part of the untamed, semi-autonomous FATA areas  (Federally Administered Tribal Areas).  Pathan culture is one of the oldest democracies, with the ‘Shura’ (village elders) system, and a strong tribal code ‘Paktoonwali’ with its emphasis on honour and shame, relationship and revenge, hospitality  and hostility. Women are closely guarded and cocooned behind ‘chadar and chaar diwaar’  (cloth covering and 4 walls)  

Steeped in history, this is where Churchill as a war correspondent took pot-shots at Hill Tribeman (as recounted in ‘My Early Life’) Untamed by the British Raj, it was a final outpost of the Empire before the Durand Line, running through Afghanistan along the line of the Oxus River (now the Amu Darya)   separating the ‘British Lion’ from the ‘Russian Bear’. This is where the Great Game [1] was played immortalised by Kipling’s Kim. Full of romanticism, adventure, treachery. Boy’s Own country.

Since the Russian Invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, Peshawar has been also been ‘deluged’ with over a million Afghan Refugees. It has been a hot-bed of intrigue, drug smuggling (Afghanistan is the World’s No. 1 producer of Opium) and Guns (Darra Village where any weapon can be copied and Kalashnokovs sells for a few pounds). This is all symbolised by ‘The Khyber Pass’, connecting Afghanistan and Pakistan, the scene of the ‘Carry on’ film drama of the title.

Pakistan means ‘Land of the Pure’ yet it is reputedly the second most corrupt country in the world. It was set up as an ideological and religious state in 1947, a homeland for the Muslims of the Indian Subcontinent. Its flag of predominantly Islamic Green, has a strip of white to symbolise space for minorities. But as they say in Pakistan in various sayings or texts in urdu: ‘majority has authority’ or ‘whoever has the stick has the Buffalo’ (‘jyski lathi, uski bayhns’)

Band of the Irish Guards

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All’s well that ends well ?

The final Celebration was a grand affair with a large colourful ‘Shamiana’ [2] providing covering for hundreds of visitors in front of the New Centenary Building. The Governor of NWFP was the chief guest, with the British High Commissioner and Greek Ambassador, along with other Dignitaries. There were apparently marksmen on the roof because of a bomb threat against the band, which added to the drama of the occasion.  But the Church was present and represented by the Moderator and officers of the Diocese. A degree of reconciliation had taken place.  This had been given public expression and ‘face’ was saved.

The Pipes and Drums and Fifes of the Irish Guards, marched on in their military splendour, wearing large black, Bear Skins in spite of the heat – performing for half an hour. They were followed by the Frontier Constabulary’s troupe of Khattack dancers in an exciting display – like whirling dervishes with swords. It seemed like a hundred years of history was enacted before our eyes. The British Raj, pomp and ceremony, followed by the untamable excitement of Tribal Rule. ‘Carry on up the Khyber’ indeed! 

During the inevitable speeches, the Principal recalled the college’s academic past. The Governor made his opening remarks and a public promise of a donation to the college of 2 lakh Rupees (£2,500). The Moderator was invited to pray and used the opportunity to express the churches’ support. A scuffle of activity from the Commissary, a word  to the Master of ceremonies and a whisper in the Moderator’s ear. Then he also announced a contribution of exactly the same amount from the church.   A proper balance of power had been restored!

A postscript

During the after-ceremony lunch, there was a presentation of a British Council collection of English classic books, ‘the Everyman Millenium Collection’, to the College Library. The British Ambassador making the presentation gave the Principal a token book and chuckled.   He had chosen -  Machievelli’s ‘the Prince’ ! [3] 

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[1] Peter Hopkirk The Great Game (OUP) - Captain Conolly of the Bengal Light Infantry first coined the term ‘The Great Game’ to describe the shadow play of British and Czarist agents across Central Asia as the Russian frontiers pushed closer to India’  

[2] A Shamiana is a very colourful tent used at times of public functions: weddings and funerals. Culturally  more often than not  representiing celebration – and a place where people are honoured publically. And attendance is everything.

[3] cf McAlpine A. ‘The New Machievelli: Renaissance Real Politik for Modern Managers’  (Aurum Press 1997) ‘There is no evidence to suggest that Machiavelli was himself an evil man. However he clearly understood the capacity for evil that links all of us. The point is not that Machiavelli advocated evil doing , rather that he accepted that for all human activity and especially politics will involve evil doing. Having acknowledged that evil is unavoidable, Machiavelli tries to show his Prince how to recognise it for what it is and to use it for his own advantage.’   Pg 6

I recommend the book. Buy a copy or get your local library to order a copy (I've been reading CMS's Crowther Centre library copy). Read it and let it transport you to the wild (north) west, frontier town of Peshawar, in the mid-nineties before 9/11 and the subsequent war of terror.

There are more details of the book first public response on Wordpress.
There will be a book launch at Shrewsbury School Saturday 16th March

Leaving Lindisfarne: St Aidan as guide

At the end of our retreat we were invited to 'throw an image out into the future to guide us' (Carl Jung) 

I had been working on a pastel sketch, so this became my image -  St Aidan to guide me (based on the Statue in the grounds of St. Mary the Virgin, next to the Priory)  
I've taken the 4 headings from Ray Simpson's booklet: Give yourself a (Re)treat on Lindisfarne   St Aidan Press 1998) section 2 'figure out St Aidan'

 

1 the face - gentle, humble, winsome, of stature and vision

his personality and character - described by Bede as a man of 'peace and love, purity and humility'
He was called by Bishop Lightfoot of Durham ' The Apostle of England' 

2 the torch - a passion to pass on faith to everyone one meets

He set up schools for court members and freed slaves, trtaininig indigenous priests; mission stations which were local focused and led, scriptorium producing books and churches ....... 

3 the staff - a shepherd's faithfulness
  
he preferred to walk so he was at the same level as ordinary folk and could easily talk to them.  He also used his priestly authority (symbolised by the staff) to check the proud and powerful, he tenderly comforted the sick, he relieved and protected the poor....  
 
4  the cross - a protecting and encircling shield at one's back

The Celtic Cross 'The circle is the world made one in the cross of Christ. The cross is not just for the church but for the whole world'
  
Aidan left behind churches in Essex (St Peters Beadwell-on-sea); Lashingham in N Yorks  and his disciples traveled far and wide : Wilfred to the South Saxons of Sussex, Holland and Belgium; Hilda of Whitby; Chad - bishop of Mercia, Lindsay of Litchfield, Wilfred & the Abbey of Hexham and Rippon 

Leaving Lindisfarne: 
  

'God of our Pilgrimage you have fed us with the bread of heaven. 
Refresh and sustain us as we go forth on our journey'

Leave me alone with God 

as much as may be. 

As the tide draws the waters

 close in upon the shore 

make me an island, set apart, 

alone with you, God , holy to you.

Then with the turning of the tide

prepare me to carry our presence

to the busy world beyond, 

the world that rushes in on me

til the waters come again

and fold me back to you

Prayer of St Aidan of Lindisfarne

AsiaCMS web presence

 

 AsiaCMS is now up and running with its own website asiacms.net

 

This is the organisation I was involved with over the past few years. It is now based in Asia with a central Hub in Kuala Lumpur and satellite hubs in Pakistan India and Korea. There is also a lot happening in Nepal and Philippines, as well as elsewhere.  

Do pay them a visit. And support them in prayer and giving.

 

 

AsiaCMS is also on Facebook, which is a great way to pray and participate. Come and join us..... 

Nasruddin: Cutting off the branch he's sitting on

LEAVING CMS
 

As you may know, I have been due to leave CMS for some months now following the successful launch of AsiaCMS based in Kuala Lumpur. So now it really  is 'time to say goodbye' (have a look at the YouTube video)

I finished my formal contract with CMS as a Director on 31/July 2012  And since then have been working as a self-employed Mission consultant.

For the past few months this has included helping CMS 3 days a week with transition. I have also been teaching the CYM Diversity Module and doing an engagement survey with SAC  I have also done some Appreciative Inquiry workshops with Tearfund and have engaged with a change process with a  church in Quinton, Birmingham. I am open to other work as part of a developing portfolio,  so if you know anything....

There are lots of opportunities and I am also starting to raise a ministry fund (via Stewardship Services)  so I can continue to engage with work in Asia through AsiaCMS and Faith2Share

Some people have asked if I'm retiring!  to which I usually reply that I am far too young.  And there is far to much to do. So I am developing a portfolio of global-local consultancy. 

My role in CMS  has been handed over to Kang-San Tan the new Executive Director of AsiaCMS based in KL and Paul Thaxter the CMS Transcultural Director based in Oxford.     Olivia Jackson, the new Transcultural Manager for Asia has taken on the work that Adrian Watkins and John Hayward did, but in a redefined role that works alongside AsiaCMS .  I wrote about this earlier - the three Musketeers finding their D'Artagnon

LOOKING BACK

  
 





It has been a privilege to work with CMS these past 26 - Nearly 13 years in Pakistan as a Mission Partner and then as a Regional Director for nearly 14 years.  I wrote some notes for the speech I never did at CMS (I just told a Nasruddin story instead - see below) 

But just a few of the highlights since joining CMS in 1985: 

• CMS Training at Crowther Hall (and SIL summer school) in 1985
• IBTIDA drug Rehabilitation Project in Karachi – 10 years of ministry ‘heady days’ of rushing around the city trying to save heroin addicts from their addiction  
• Ordination as a permanent deacon in 1998 in Church of Pakistan
• Accused of blasphemy by the infamous Takhbeer magazine – a spiritual ‘high’  
• Moving to Peshawar and working with ORA  and the Afghan led NEJAT drug project (the start of my relationship with Afghanistan)
• 1998 taking on role of Middle East and Pakistan ‘secretary’ following Bob Wilkes (and John Clark before him) and doing  ‘Bob’s Job’ (I only got the job cos I was the closest look-alike!)
• Lots of CMS Residentials for strategic planning  and pub conversations   
• the RTA when I broke my sternum on the way to St Julian’s (now St Cuthman’s)  George got whiplash and Richard broke his ankle.
• President/chair of our partner organisation in Afghanistan for 8+ years with trips twice a year to Kabul
• The CMS move to Oxford from Partnership House (see  my blog on end of western mission)
• The AsiaCMS process and the setting up a new mission entity in Asia
• Flying well over one million miles of mission since I started (mainly with Emirates – Dubai lounge being my second home!)
• My kids still think my job was about taking people out for meals and giving them toblerone ....   (or maybe a spook – ‘MI5 not 9to5’)
• As I have travelled Nasruddin has been my constant travelling companion....
  

There are many other experiences over the years.  I have worked under 6 ‘General Secretaries’/ CEO/ Executive Leader

1. Simon Barrington-Ward
2. Harry Moore
3. Michael Nazir-Ali
4. Diana Witts
5. Tim Dakin
6. Philip Mounstephen
   

I feel CMS is in safe hands under Philip’s leadership and look forward to seeing what the new ‘radical continuity’ looks like.......

CONSULTANCY 

 Now back to that story about Mullah Nasruddin:

 

 Nasruddin is sitting on a  branch, chopping it off for fire-wood. A passerby warns him: 'What are you doing, if you cut that branch you will fall and die!'

The Mullah thinks: "This is some foolish person who has no work to do but go around telling other people what to do and what not to do." 

While his mind was on this train of thought, down comes Nasruddin together with the branch he had just managed to chop.

Lying dazed on his back, the Mullah realises the man must indeed be a prophet and that therefore he must be dead as he predicted. So he continues to lie down dead, wondering what would happen next. 

Passerbys see him 'dead' underneath the tree and lift him up and put him in a coffin to carry him to the graveyard. As they are taking him they come to a fork in the road and start arguing about which is with quickest way to the graveyard. 

After a while the irritated Mulla sits up, pointing and exclaims: 'When I was alive that was the right way.....'

The past few years helping to realise the vision of a new AsiaCMS has been like sitting on the branch that you are cutting off.  It involves an inevitable and predictable ‘fall’ and a sort of ‘dying’.  And I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way (except maybe finding another branch to sit on!)

And being a consultant is very similar to sitting up from the coffin when people are confused about the way forward and suggesting ‘well, when I was around we used to do it this way...’
Well that's one form of consultancy (diagnostic) anyway - I actually prefer helping people to think through and decide for themselves (dialogical).   But if any of you need a consultant to suggest ways forward just get in touch with ‘the Mullah’......

Partnership House and the 'end of Western Mission'

I used to work in Partnership House in Waterloo,  London, the 'headquarters' of the Church Mission Society CMS. The local post office used to call it 'Go Forth House' because of the stone inscription across the doorway.  It was the Great Commission according to Mark 16:15  (NEV)

 ‘GO FORTH to EVERY PART of THE WORLD and PROCLAIM the GOOD NEWS to the WHOLE CREATION’     

 
Now the site on 157 Waterloo Road is empty air as it has been knocked down and is being built on .  CMS moved to Oxford back in in 2008.

After being sold,  Partnership House was all boarded up (with squatters living in) until it was finally knocked down.  I travelled past on quite a  few occasions and it looked like Western Mission Agencies (WMA) had indeed shut up shop.  

Some have suggested that mission ended in the 20th century.  People like Vishal Mangalwadi  have suggested we have reached the end of Christendom model and Western Mission. 

But there has been a Global shift. In Church terms the Global North may indeed have been squeezed and shrinking,  but the Global Balloon is expanding in the South.   South America, Africa and Asia are where the church is growing and are becoming the new centres of mission. Mission is no longer from the 'West to the Rest' but (as in the title of a book by Michael Nazir-Ali) it is  'Everywhere to Everywhere'
 

 

Someone sent some pictures to us in CMS which showed PH in the process of being deconstructed  (14 June 2012) 

I thought you might be interested in the attached Pictures of the former Church Mission Society HQ in Waterloo Road which has been bricked up for sometime and was covered in Scaffolding whilst they demolished it.
However I remembered the Phrase above the entrance from Mark 16:15. Well, today I had my Camera for another reason and happened to go that way and they are obviously down to the last part of the entrance/chapel and have uncovered it ready for final demolition.
I always thought it was a pity that this should go and not be listed /moved to another location somehow, but then it was a 1960's office block..... Still I took a couple of poignant pictures of the verse. 

 

 

Yes it is in some ways poignant, but as I have blogged beforehand.  it may be that the Institution is being replaced by a new sense of movement and community. The Good News is still around to be proclaimed to the whole of creation......  

Bricolage - At the crossroads

Bricolage

I used an old Ordinance survey map of the Lake District dated Dec 1977  - The North West sheet, because I wanted a large canvas and I had a newer version of the map.  This represents my ‘roots’ in NW England where we settled after the Army years and my introduction to Hill Walking (A. Wainwright and his Pictorial guide to the Lakeland Fells) - my stomping ground. I wanted to think/ dream/ imagine what the future might look like in 5 years time. The picture is the outworking of this process ... 

I had sketched out a basic idea of a path leading to a cross roads and a decision to go up the slow, steep track to the left up the mountain into the unknown or to the right into the woods (also an unknown path).  Which one represents for me ‘the road less travelled?’  

I wanted a lake in the foreground on the right and something representing family in theforeground on the left. I had the idea of my two hands being visible - in one a hiking stick and in the other a compass. So the scene in front is what I would be looking at….   I intended it to be purely symbolic with no words.

I collected a pile of magazines which inevitably represent today’s interests – Time, Ramblers, Emirates In-flight magazine, Family History, Gardening, National Trust, British Heart Foundation, iCreate (Mac Mag) A Rocha - and I tore out anything that struck me. I later used 3 images from a Van Gogh calendar which are scattered throughout the picture. 

I started with the empty hands, a rough path and then did the mountains – They are Alpine (Swiss) and Himalayan – a mixture of West and East.  Somehow it is the mountains that draw me – and they dominate the skyline.  There is a group of Ramblers making their way to the foothills to start the ascent.

The Lake came next and boats surrounded by trees and flowers.  The Lake is a place for ‘messing about in boats’ and there is a mixture of a Swiss Lake steamer, and a working fishing boat and canoes.  The oriental trees  - cherry blossoms represent the East and my fascination with things Oriental.  

I liked the words: ‘Your space’ (from a National Trust mag) so added them at the side.  Birds, bees, butterflies were overlaid.   A grebe on the water,  a Great Tit feeding and the last thing I added - a Falcon (Peregrine) soaring high in the mountains (my blog/motto is: wandering4the love of God – ‘Peregrinate pro Dei amore’) 

The Natural world represents a breathing space…  a place to reflect.  And water offers the perfect reflecting space.  The 3 people sitting on a bench looking somehow reflect that. They look like Artists in their straw boaters. The water is also a place to explore and enjoy. Other words appear in the mountains:  ‘The heavens are high and the mountains are far away’. At the edge, on the fringe, there is more freedom….

The Van Gogh image added to the night sky so I ended up with day on the left and night on the right. I found a moon for the top right (twilight/ stars /eternity) and made a strong sun from Van Gogh’s sunflowers on the top left (hope/ light/ life). He also provided the field on the left and I added others, representing ‘discover your local countryside’.  I liked the ‘work, rest and play’ but ( reminded me of ‘A Mars a day helps you…’ - I always took a MARS when hill walking) and the idea of famous art, so added it as an easel, thinking about Van Gogh painting in the fields around Arles.  

I also liked the man looking wistfully off the edge to the left, a mackintosh draped over his arm.  He was part of the image with the words: 'Here I am … in my own private space’   I just kept the words ‘here I am ‘ as a sort of prayer, writ large in the sky (a prayer of submission ‘be it unto me according to your word’  - the missionary response from Isaiah 6: ‘Here I am, send me’) 

Family in the foreground 

I filled the foreground with images that connect to family - a couple with children (representing future marriage and possible grandchildren) I added sunflower heads to make them more symbolic and represent a gift from the source of life. Simple produce, a healthy heart (Jo and medicine) the farming (Andy and Ag Dev?)  And also the word ‘Development’ (I would have preferred the word: transformation). The camera (Jonny and professional photography). I don’t feel I have represented Tim and business – but there is a small beehive!   Maybe capturing micro-enterprise – certainly ‘busy bees’ and a ‘hive of activity’….

In the end the pathway leading to the crossroads and the signpost looks very cruciform, with a hanging Christ-like figure dominating the centre. And I accentuated this with a bowed head shape (and crown of thorns- maybe a little too overt!) Leaving it more subtle would have been better.    I used oil pastels to bring some continuity to the picture, sky, mountain, path, water, hands…

The crossroads does not just offer two paths: the left one up the mountain with the Ramblers and the right one to the beach and the Lake and the trees and gardens.  (Maybe the left is my masculine rugged Mountains (my side of the family) and the Right more feminine - water, gardens, flowers and sailing boats (my wifes side).  And I want both to be integrated… But there is also a third way, behind (even through) the cross, along the Great Wall of China to the Orient… where ‘the heavens are high and the emperor is far away’

Back to the hands. In the end I had a folded map in the left hand– a guide to the journey (a very local map) rather than a ‘walking stick’. I wanted a compass on my iPhone in the right hand, but left it with a drawing app: ‘Draw, play, share’ (3 very good words) the electronic devise is important since it represents connectivity to the wider world wherever I am.   I also added the iCreate logo as a title, representing my own creativity as well AppleMac’s!  I added more words to cuffs on the hands, one with Ramblers and the other Heart Matters, representing that healthy outdoor life style.  

Under Cover 

I used the inside of the folding cover for more words:  ‘Go share the gospel with the world’  - and the ‘missio dei’ (mission of God) which I orient my life around.

… ‘Open your eyes to a distinctly different ….’  On one level simply a matter of open eyed wonder at the world around, and at another deeper level representing Enlightenment. Yet the Buddhist eyes are closed (in meditation?)  And the natural world (‘eye of the Tiger’) eyes open. Maybe even more than meditation, it is natural revelation (The scripture of Nature) that is my main spiritual gateway…   

I liked the Octavia Hill (1883) quote:  

‘We all need space; unless we have it we cannot reach that sense of quiet in which whispers of better things come to us gently….(and we need) places to sit in, places to play in. places to stroll in and places to spend a day in’   

I HEARD THE VOICE OF JESUS

And finally it is all held together by one of my favourite songs/hymns:  ‘I heard the voice of Jesus say … come unto me and rest’.  I particularly like the Eden’s Bridge Celtic version. And I have recently, been asking myself the question: ‘Are my travelling days done?’ 

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto Me and rest; 


Lay down, thou weary one, lay down Thy head upon My breast.”


I came to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad;


I found in Him a resting place, and He has made me glad.





I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold, I freely give


The living water; thirsty one, stoop down, and drink, and live.”


I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life giving stream; 


My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in Him. 



I heard the voice of Jesus say, “I am this dark world’s Light; 


Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise, and all thy day be bright.”


I looked to Jesus, and I found in Him my Star, my Sun; 


And in that light of life I’ll walk, 'til traveling days are done.

The song finishes with a couplet.  I was only hearing the last phrase… I listened to it again, set to an old Scottish tune ‘Rowan Tree’ by Wild Goose recording (Iona) - words by Horatius Bonar (1846). Interestingly the Rowan tree is the tree we planted to remember my parents and their ashes are in their church garden @ Cleveley’s Baptist Church  –

I looked to Jesus and I found in Him my Star, my Sun;

And in that light of life I’ll walk 'til travelling days are done’  

The 'Go Forth' People

Ascension Day was on 17th May this year, so today, 20th was the Sunday after Ascension. It is the time when we remember, 40 days after the resurrection, when Jesus ascends to the Father. Often it is overlooked and eclipsed in evengelical circles by Pentecost.....

But it the occasion of the Great Commission given to the Disciples '.....as you go, preach the gospel......'  (Matthew 28), which must be one of the most important, foundational texts for a mission society, like CMS.

The Church Mission Society used to be based in Partnership House in 157 Waterloo Road, London before the relocation to Oxford. The local Post Office used to call it 'Go Forth' House,  because of the verse from Mark (16:15) emblazoned across the front of the building:

‘GO FORTH To EVERY PART of THE WORLD and PROCLAIM the GOOD NEWS to the WHOLE CREATION’

Unfortunately since we moved out,  the place has been boarded up and sits empty. And the message now seems to suggest the sad demise of Western Mission.

My former colleague, Patrick Goh the previous CMS Personnel Director has put together a sequence of pictures of what he has called 'Go Forth' people. They are people we know well from years of working together.  A great bunch. Many have moved on to other things, beyond CMS.  





(according to my Shazam APP, the music is 'What Grace is Mine', by Keith and Kristyn Getty)


Mission is not dead; it is still very much alive, Not as an institution, but as a movement of people of mission....   a Community of Mission Service. 

Bamboo in the Wind - Dhulikhel, Nepal

The drawing is a Dhulikhel Mountain range visible through Bamboo bent over in the wind, based on a  photo taken from the balcony of my bedroom. It is  a drawing in Oil Pastel.  I have included the Instagram picture as a comparison (enhanced by Snapseed app on the i-phone).  The Oil Pastel drawing I have given to Simon a Korean Colleague as a momento.

We were in beautiful Dhulikhel, Nepal for a gathering of CMS people from all over Asia,  about 70 in all. It was a splendid occasion, full of encouragement, as people shared their stories. We had an AsiaCMS board meeting at the beginning and then the Trustees stayed on to meet the people-in-mission (PiM).  We heard from KangSan and Francis about their vision for the future. Vinod lead the bible studies on (modern) Parables of the Kingdom.   There were inspirational dramas based on the personal  stories shared.  Plus visits to local churches and projects. Good food.  And lots of time to talk and chat and catch up.   I led a day training at the end on Samaritan Strategy.  There was a camp fire and cultural evening and the Asia PiM all said farewell to the 3 musketeers: Adrian,  John and myself. It ended in dancing the conga !

The views from Dhulikhel were stunning when the clouds lifted

I came across this poem which combines Bamboo, Wind and Mountain. I'm not sure if Dhulikhel held any such romantic notions for any of the participants.  We'll just wait and see!

The Mountain and the Wind

The mountain stands
The wind plays with her
Leaving her treetops in disarray
The wind moves on, unaware
Of the rustling gossips
Of him and her.

The mountain stands
The wind serenades her
A sighing song among the leaves
The wind moves on, unaware
Of the thousand songs he gave
Echoing in the bamboo grove of her heart.

The mountain stands
The wind dances around her
A waltz, a tango one eventide
The wind moves on, unaware
Of the face he left behind
Carved forever in her heart. 

Angelina Pandian

And here is my attempt at a Haiku poem (5-7-5 stucture) after Matsuo Basho

The Wind blows silent,
As Mountain Peaks through Bamboo,
A prayer is spoken.

sacred:space - Community Art in Dangerous Places

IN our last sacred:space (Sat 31st March), we had a visit from Frederica from CMS who spoke about 'Community Art in Dangerous Places'. She described short term placements, through CMS, with the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka,  along the Wall that divides Israel-Palestine, in disputed Kashmir India; and in the slums of Islamabad Pakistan. The art is a product of her interaction with the Community, and reflects their interests, using locally available materials.

Some of Frederica's Art from her time in Pakistan

She is hoping to go to Kabul, Afghanistan in May to help with a Women's Peace Garden (visa permitting) - anyone interested in supporting her in this let me know, and I will point you in the right direction.

It was a fascinating evening and she even got us as a group to paint individual traingles which were all put together to form a patterned cross.

picture of the cross we created,  which was then used as a centre piece for out Good Friday Meditation.

Greenbelt 2011: Dreams of Home

Dreams of Home was the theme of this year's GB and in the tent at night after the long walk to the site when it was pouring down and COLD then I must admit, I dreamed of HOME and a hot shower and a warm bed. But most of the time at Greenbelt I felt I was home.

The painting is the view from the flap of our tent on the final morning as we were ourselves packing up and Homeward Bound. So it captures for me something of the 2 homes. The temporary tented home that GB manages to create each year at Cheltenham Race Course and the anticipation of my own home, my place of being as part of family which maybe (hopefully) reflects a dream of a more eternal home...

DREAMS OF HOME

Greenbelt represent a space which generates freedom to explore faith and belief, in the context of music, Art, creativity, Justice, variety, spontaneity, humour, food and drink, challenge, concern, It attracts all ages, all types, children, youth, families, elderly, monks and punks, laity and clergy, speakers and listeners, promoters and punters.

The CMS presence was much smaller than the usual CMS marquee , reflecting hard times. But we were there in G-Source and we had some great conversations with GB punters. We were featuring the Pioneer training, but we were able to also talk to lots of CMS members and supporters as well as ex-Misson personnel. Chuli Scarf, ex CMS Area Coordinator was there to lead Salsa dancing. She is off soon with CMS-Asia to teach cricket to girls in Nepal.

I also spent some time on the Musalaha stall. GB is currently focused on the Wall dividing Israelis and Palestinians and Musalaha represents a small action - taking people of conflicting backgrounds into the desert on camels to leave their baggage behind and to encounter each other. They have been a CMS partner for a number of years.

There are lots of other groups in G-Source: YWAM, Tearfund, Medair, Applecart's 12 Baskets, Mildmay; Retreat Centre, and lots more ....

For me the highlights this year included good wholesome food Nuts (with especially good deals for crew) Mushroom, Dhal, Veggie Berger, Falafel which could be consumed whilst listening to live music in the Performance Cafe; Foreign Slippers, the Ronaldos (a skittle Band) singing Ghost Riders in the Sky ; folk singing from Peter and the Wulf (Pete Ward was the ABC's youth Advisor and used to be a CMS Trustee). Their music 'Foolish Folk' is available for download from bandcamp

Soul space is a GB tradition for quiet creative meditation. There is lots more on offer Taize singalong in the Big Top: Ian Adams was doing a meditation/reading on his book Cave Refectory Road in Abide, next to a Christian Meditation Yurt 'Breathing Space'. And then there is the Worship Cooperative - I dropped in on an excellent session on Curating Worship but I unfortunately missed Pal Singh's Sanctuary (Asian Worship) although I did encounter his Sitar player tuning up on the stairs.

The GB communion is the only event that everyone is more or less expected to attend - vast crowd packed in front of the Main Stage. The collection at the communion service always goes to support Trust Greenbelt. For me there is no doubt that eating and drinking together as an act of worship does create a sense of community, a feeling of home coming.

I didn't get to any main talks this year. I just heard snippets of Rob Bell telling a story about a Jawbone of an Ass on MainStage and Paula Gooder wondering 'Do Angels have wings?' in Jerusalem. Talking of Angels, there was a big push this year for more supporters - Greenbelt Angels account for 15% of Greenbelts income. Do think about becoming an angel....

ART FOR ALL

The Methodist Art Collection was stunning. it was my Greenbelt 11 high: 'Jesus in the Everyday'. Each year there is an art stream 'Art for All' and I have increasingly found a home there - which has maybe helped to ignite an inner passion for drawing/painting. They had 6 areas to visit with a free poster at the end (they ran out of posters but I did it anyway) Angels of the North; a Huge steel and enamel Bowl by Mel Howse (Christian Aid Cathedral Exhibition); an participative 'where the wild things are' mask making which caught people's imagination; a light show Lumina Domestica by Willie Williams; and the Scriptorium , where individuals hand scribed Matthew's Gospel from The Message, as well as the Bible Society's People's Bible project.

IN THE ARMS OF JESUS

a pint of 'Jonah (and the Ale)' in the Jesus Arms, catching up with people I know well, Peter and Grace, Nigel, Katie, Colin - various friends. They used to serve Deliverance, Redemption and the best name in my opinion 'Absolution' There were lots of other ideas for names: He-brews. Ale-Mary, Holy GrAle. Ale-luyah. Unfortunately I missed Beer and Hymns.

I downloaded the #GB11 APP before Greenbelt, but it still didn't get me to things on time. There is far too much to do and to see. Everyone's Greenbelt is different, but then again everyone's home is different, reflecting something of who they are. Greenbelt gives you the space to be yourself .... safe in the 'Arms of Jesus'