The Global Christ

There is much talk of the Global Christ and how he is only fully realised as each culture engages with him and brings fresh understanding  (cf Andrew Walls   Ephesian Moment  ) 

He Qi's picture of the Risen Christ expresses some of this. 

 

Jaroslav Pelikan’s exceptional book ‘Jesus through the centuries’ explores some of these understandings, as various cultures have engaged with Christ over the centuries and the insights that have resulted and added to the bigger picture of the Global Christ  

Strong Son of God, immortaL Love, 

Whom we, that have not seen thy face

By faith, and faith alone, embrace, 

Believing where we cannot prove...

Our little systems have their day; 

They have their day and cease to be:  

They are but broken lights of thee, 

And thou, O Lord, art more than they.

 Alfred Lord Tennyson,  In Memorium 

The Provincial Museum of Alberta have an amazing online exhibition on the subject 'Anno Domini:  Jesus through the centuries.  Exploring the heart of two Millenia'. well worth a look.  

I also found the following quotation  thought provoking:

Jesus/Christ as hybrid concept

The most hybridized concept in the Christian tradition is that of Jesus/Christ. The space between Jesus and Christ is unsettling and fluid, resisting easy categorization and closure. It is the ‘contact zone’ or ‘borderland’ between the human and divine, the one and the many, the historical and cosmological, the Jewish and the Hellenistic, the prophetic and the sacramental, the God of the conquerors and the God of the meek and the lowly. Jesus question “Who do you say that I am?” is an invitation for every Christian and local faith community to infuse that contact zone with new meanings, insights, and possibilities. The riches and vibrancy of the Christian community is diminished whenever the space between Jesus and Christ is fixed, whether, on the one hand, as a result of the need for doctrinal purity, the suppression of syncretism, or the fear of contamination of native cultures, or, on the other hand, on account of historic positivism and its claims of objective and scientific truths about Jesus

The images of Jesus/Christ presented in the New Testament are highly pluralized and hybridised, emerging out of the intermingling of the cultures of Palestine, the Hellenistic Jewish diaspora, and the wider Hellenistic world.

P 171 Ch 'Engendering Christ' in ‘Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology’ Kwok Pui-lan (professor of Christian Theology and spirituality at Episcopal Divinity School Cambs Massachusetts scm 2005

Catching the Tiger's Tail in Pakistan

I came across this fascinating account of a church meeting in Pakistan  

'This morning they took me to the largest Church to preach. I have never seen such a gathering in Pakistan, hundreds and hundreds of people came to the Church…. I talked about the Ethiopian eunuch. I said that I am an Ethiopian, I am the spiritual son of the Ethiopian eunuch (definitely not physical since he was Eunuch) Philip shared the gospel to Ethiopian Eunuch, The Ethiopian Eunuch (most likely) shared the gospel to us Ethiopians, We Ethiopians are sharing the gospel in Pakistan, India, South Sudan and looking ways and opportunities to share in others parts of the world out of our poverty, but what about you? If my Church is able to send me up to Pakistan, are you not able to send someone at least within Pakistan? Have you realized that your slogan ‘we are poor, we are poor’ is not a reason but an excuse not to obey the Lord? 

At the end of my sermon I asked one question. Those of you who are convinced with the truthfulness of this message and are willing to give 10 rupees and above every month, would you please raise your hands up? 80% of the congregation raised their hands. I said, would you please stand up? They stood up. Again I said, would you come forward to the pulpit. People flocked into the pulpit. I asked the elders, pastor, and all the Choir members to take pens and papers and write these people’s names and the amount of money they are going to give consistently every month. The funny thing was in the midst of all these the pastor came to me and said “almost all the people are coming, it will take time to register their names, so , would you leave it so that we may do it other time? I said, no, it will not take more than five minutes, you yourself write their names, let others also quickly write. As I said they completed writing their names within 5-7minutes. I asked them to elect a mission mobilization committee which comprises a chairman, a secretary, a treasurer, and two committee members. I clearly told them that this money is not to pay their electric bill, Gus bill, it is not even to pay for the pastor’s salary. It is solely to send a missionary from this local Church and back him up financially. Finally they put some amount of money in an envelope and blessed me. I gave that money back to them so that it may be a seed money for opening a separate account and send a missionary from that Church. Please would you pray for Presbyterian Church not to leave the tiger’s tail. ……. TODAY THEY HAVE CAUGHT THE TIGER”S TAIL' 

by an Ethiopian

Prison Ministry, Lahore, Nov 2008

Prison Ministry Conference, Lahore 25-28 Nov 2008   from a report sent by Aamir

Bishop Joseph from Catholic Church, Diocese of Faisalabad officially opened the conference. The ceremony was attended by more than 100 people, with over 40 attending the whole conference. Rev Derek, from Manchester shared on good practice in the British Prison system. Rev Falak a Pakistani priest in Manchester Diocese shared his story:

'Experiencing pain'

“ I was 5 or 6 Years old when I first visited prison with my mother to see my father. I was 16 years old when I dedicated my life to God and went to Catholic Minor Seminary to become catechist because I always wanted to be a catholic priest. I finished my training as Catechist and also completed teacher training. When I was 18 years old, memories from my past especially those of visiting the prison started running in my mind like a film. It was then that the Lord gave me vision to start prison ministry through this verse {I was in prison and you did not visit me}. I started visiting prison and meeting prisoners there. Bishop Joseph was my rector at that time so I shared my vision with him. He encouraged me a lot and later I received encouragement and support from various other people, one nun used to accompany me to visit the women prisoners. I visited Karachi central jail for five and half years. With all the support from the priests we were able to fight for Christian rights in 1991, and got notification for remission on studying Bible. 19 people got remission in Sindh on the basis of this. 10 years ago I went to UK and completed 1 year prison chaplaincy training. I visited different jails did a study comparing the prison system of Pakistan and Britain. In Manchester I continued working in the prison because this has become to be the core of my ministry. {I was in prison and you did not visit me}. I myself had never been imprisoned but I had an accident through which Lord made me experience the pain and I could relate it to the pain that people go through in prisons.”

Sohail ’s Story:  'Sharing Life'  

“

In 1998 when I was working with a multinational company, I was charged with a murder case. On 31st March I was sent to jail and the worst thing was that my elder sister, elder brother and father were all convicted with me. Seeing my brother and father in the same cell made me very angry and sad. My rest of the family suffered a lot during this time as no one was out there to earn living. After 3-4 months when I was out of my fear of prison I started meeting and talking to other inmates. I always used to get angry with Christians who visited me and lectured me to repent, because I used to think that I had already repented and God should move on to take me out of prison. I accepted Jesus as my saviour on 26th May 1999. Today I remember Mr. B.  who is not with us as he used to visit me in prison with Arthur and used to counsel me, they helped me to pacify my anger. Arthur gave me a book that changed my life, I could never forget one sentence that changed my life "don’t look at your hardships turn your face and set your eyes on cross”. Lord gave me vision and burden for my fellow prisoners. One mullah used to come in prison to teach Muslim prisoners so I thought; why shouldn’t I teach my fellow Christian prisoners. I started bible classes and sharing stories. I got peace of mind in serving my fellow prisoners and I made committed my life with Lord through this ministry.

I moved an application that there is no place for worship to Superintendant who threw it out and made mockery of our request. I was saddened by the suffering of Christians due to injustice and discrimination. I was very confident that we would not get the punishment from the court because the Lord had put peace in my heart. One night before the decision, that was 31st May 2001, we all (fellow prisoners) sat to pray in our cell and my fellows put their hands on us and cried and prayed. Next morning we were released by the court due to lack of witness and proof.

We stayed in prison for three years and two months during which my family came under heavy loans as no one was earning. When I came back home I got depressed to see the poverty and the financial burden of the family, we could only afford to eat one meal in a day. After one month my father asked me to go out and earn money, and I thought I had promised with God to serve Him, how could I go and just do a job to earn money. I went to Karachi to my brother in-law who was a pastor and shared with him that I had promised with God to serve Him but my family situation is hindering my commitment, he advised that me to turn my face from problems and set my eyes on the cross.

 
I started serving the Lord in faith and arranged a first worship evening for the prison work. I had only thirty rupees with me while I needed fifteen thousand. While I was arranging 350 chairs for the event a pastor came and said that I should be expecting so many people to attend as people do not come to such events. I felt discouraged but I asked him to pray that the Lord fills all these seats, which he did. I started my ministry SHARING LIFE and kept walking in faith with God and He kept blessing me, today SHARING LIFE is known in 30 countries. Along with working for the spiritual and physical needs of prisoners SHARING LIFE also works on advocacy issues. In the future we are planning to set up a micro credit programme for the families of the prisoners.”

Asia Stories November 2008

Holy Land: Living Stones      

The Holy Land Trip was a very great success, the group had the chance to hear lectures about End Time Theology, Reconciliation, History of the Conflict and meet with Israeli human rights activist. Their trip to Hebron was the biggest highlight and meeting Parliament member from Hamas and Fatah was of a great advantage as they asked many questions. The last day, we met a group of Messianic Jewish Soldiers who talked about their experiences, hopes, fear and passion. Over all the group was very satisfied, happy and encouraged to see that there is hope in the Holy Land. All of the did urge us to make similar trips so that people can get a taste of the reality and meet the living stones.

Painting Magi in Bethlehem  

Even the elusive Banksy sought out the Palestinian artists who helped Frederica Venn to repaint a mural of the Magi in Bethlehem. Have you heard the one about the Englishwoman, a couple of Palestinians, Banksy and the three Easterners? No, neither had we.

Artist and former CMS 'Make a difference' volunteer Frederica paints us a picture………..
For more on this story see CMS website

AFGHANISTAN – Aid worker killed

Gayle Williams, 34 SouthAfrican /UK citizen working with SERVE, among disabled Afghans. Shot in Kabul whilst walking to work by 2 men on a motorbike Sun 19 Oct 2008. A member of Hillsong London and well known to 2 members of CMS staff, Nicole and Zoe, who appeared on BBC TV to give a very moving interview about her.

Cyd Mizell, a 49 year old American woman was kidnapped from a residential neighborhood as she was on her way to work in Kandahar, Afghanistan on Jan 26th 2008. She worked with Asian Rural Life Foundation. From Southwestern Baptist Church, Texas. Still missing (presumed killed?)

‘About 30 aid workers, including Afghans and foreigners, were killed and 92 abducted across Afghanistan from January to September 2008, according to a separate report Ban Ki-moon presented to the Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan on 23 September’. Irin News 

Philippines: ‘world to rights’ Manilla tour  

Sept visit to  Tim and Kate of Jigsaw Kids ministry


The privilege of working here with Jigsaw means we not only get to travel to these areas but we are welcomed by the local people and join in with their lives. We started by visiting one project in a squatter dwelling (Shanty town area). 

The building was bustling with 50 or 60 toddlers playing with toys scattered everywhere. I imagined Zara my daughter being there, she would have loved it. The group was run by a team of about 6 Jigsaw workers, themselves from the squatter area. After open play the children were led in circle games and sang Christian songs with actions. Everyone was then seated on the floor and a white sheet appeared held by two helpers across the room. We were suddenly the audience of a puppet show. The children absolutely loved it and so did Mike and I.                      (Extract from the Dave's BLOG)

PAKISTAN: Waking up to Quetta quake

Quake victims 2 in a bed in Quetta Hospital

With the death toll now at 200 and 15,000 made homeless, local Christians and CMS partners are already responding to the Balochistan earthquake. The shaking in the Quetta home of Joan and Nigel at four o’clock and again at five o’clock in the morning was a bit disconcerting. But, mindful of the stories of an earthquake in 1935 – that killed over 30,000 people in the city but spared the Christian hospital where the Bulls are based – they went about their business. Later they heard that the earth tremors were the effects of a major earthquake just 34 miles away. The hospital decided to send a first response medical team to the Ziarat area and Dr Ron, veteran of working in the region, went with them. CMS was quickly checking on the situation and a grant of £10,000 has been sent to Quetta Christian hospital to cover initial costs.

MONGOLIA: Alternative Medicine Encounter 

 

a good listening ear !

Rev. Park, a Korean methodist pastor who has been serving Children Fellowship in Ulaan baatar for 13 years, lead our team with intensive schedule. Ram from Nepal, Mehgan and Catherine from Korea led by Rev. Simon, visited Mongolia from 25th Sept to 2nd October.  Cooperation between peoples in UB is regarded as a model case. Koreans form a big group, and others are mainly included in an umbrella organanisation: Joint Christian Service International. 

JCS shares the office and resources to reduce duplication of facilities and investments involved in project work. Alternative medicine proved to attract both young and aged people in local parish and outback region. The team heard not a few positive echoes from them. This service formed a room for intimate communication including diagnosis, recipe, care of health. According to the exploration during this trip, the service could be continued with confidence.

Stories from the web October 08

  I was a female expatriate worker in Afghanistan

Sian spent six years in Afghanistan. She reveals what it was like to be a female expatriate worker there while the Taliban were in control.    22nd October 08    Read More 

  Speaking of Orissa

Persecution of Christians in Orissa is making national and international news. A CMS mission partner in India gives her personal perspective on it.    17th October 08  Read More 

  Orissa update: “Life has changed forever”

Persecuted Christians start burying the dead but wonder if life will ever be the same

10th October 08   Read More 

  How the Church in China stepped up
Five months ago on Sunday, Sichuan province in China was hit by an earthquake that killed 70,000 people. CMS partners Asian Outreach acted immediately through their social action arm in China and despite persisting aftershocks have achieved some remarkable things. Asian Outreach director Francis Tsui reports,      10th October 08  Read More 

  The gift of immigration

Societies often scapegoat immigrants for their own failings. Felipe and Sarah, who work with immigrants in Malaga, provide a useful corrective.     2nd Octber 08  Read More 

wherethehellismatt Oct 2008

I have been inspired by a YouTube posting of an American, Matt Harding dancing around the world, doing his silly dance.  Originally he danced on his own in some pretty amazing places. 

His videos can be viewed on You Tube: 

Dancing 2005

Dancing 2006

But in 2008 with the support of Stride Bubble Gum,  others joined in the dance.  And cultural diversity is introduced - dancing Bollywood style and also  Dancing with the Huli Wigmen of Papua New Guinea

This has become a picture for me of mission, of faith sharing, of connecting people around the world with the 'Lord of the Dance'.   Whenever I have shown the video I've always seen people smile - it somehow has that feel good factor, registering joy   

His videos can be viewed on YouTube or on his website Wherethellismatt or in higher quality downloads they can be downloaded for free from the Stride Bubblegum's mattsplace

The one that really inspired me is Dancing2008

So why not watch it and see.  

What were your reactions as you saw the clips ? Post a comment ........

Stories from the web September 08

  A selfish world
The tragic Marriott Hotel bombing in Islamabad revealed much about the prevailing culture in Pakistan, says Aamir.    25th September 2008  Read More 

  Orissa: mass protests, suicide threats
In Delhi a mass fast, in Orissa some Christians turn violent while others threaten suicide in climate of fear.   26th Septemeber 08 Read More 

  Preparing for climate change in Bangladesh
The impact of future climate change threatens Bangladesh with widespread social suffering. James outlines what is being done.   19th Septemeber 08  Read More 

  Faiths join protest in Orissa
Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs joined a solidarity rally in support of Orissa’s persecuted Christians this week,  18th September  Read More 

  Orissa: church leaders plan action

As attacks on Christians in Orissa spread to new states, Indian church leaders are meeting to plan joint response.   18th September 08   Read More 

  Live as a Hindu, die as a Christian

After weeks of violent persecution, Orissa’s Christians now face forced conversion as they come out of hiding.     12th September 08   Read More

  Relating to Muslim neighbours
Transformation in an Islamic context — a family living and working in North Africa relate their experience of how such change has developed quite naturally.  5th September Read More