Share magazine

www.cms-uk.org

• Struggle for land among marginalised groups • EnxetBibletranslationupdate• BrummieshitBolivia

Iwasputonthespot the other day at a

Christian meeting by a man I had not met

before who asked: “What’s your favourite

Psalm?” I immediately said, “Psalm 34”

and I was pleased when he said that was

his favourite, too. Then I realised I hadn’t

looked at Psalm 34 for a long time.

What I really like about Psalm 34 is the

focus on staying close to God; we go to

God with problems and they may not

immediately disappear, but, by being in his

presence, we reflect his radiance (v 5).

I can think of many people in South

America (and in Abingdon, where I live)

who might need to be delivered from their

fears (v 4) and several who need to be

saved from their troubles (v 6). As I work

every day with mission partners, Latin

partners, strategic partners (bishops and

dioceses) as well as with churches in this

country, I see many needs and sorrows,

hardships and sacrifices that are humbling

and inspiring. I am sure you will be able to

relate every story and article in this edition

of Share to one or more verses of Psalm

34. As we thank Gill Sinclair for all her work

composing Latin America Prayerlines, we

could perhaps take Psalm 34 and pray

parts of it for the people on that prayer

calendar.

“Those who seek the Lord lack no

good thing” (v 10) is a promise that we

SHARE is produced by the Church Mission Society, Watlington Road, Oxford OX4 6BZ. Tel: 01865 787400. Registered Charity Number 1131655. If you have any questions regarding the content,

please call us or email:[email protected] Cover Photos: Tim Curtis and Catherine Drayson

Bishop Henry Scriven, Mission Director for Latin America

hold on to, especially for dioceses facing

serious economic challenges. “Those who

fear him have no lack” (v 9); our prayer is

that God will stir the hearts of his people

who can give generously to do so and thus

be the answer to the prayers of many who

long for resources to expand God’s mission.

There are two important events for the

Church in South America this autumn: the

second Global Anglican Future Conference

(GAFCON2) in Nairobi in October, followed

by the triennial Provincial synod in Santiago,

Chile, in November. Please pray for both.

I will bless the Lord at all times;

his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Oh, magnify the Lord with me,

and let us exalt his name together!

SHARE AUTUMN 2013 02

Staying close to God


Recentlytwonewbishopswere

consecrated. In Bolivia the bishop from

SAMS USA, Frank Lyons, was replaced by

long-term mission partner from Singapore,

Raphael Samuel. Our hope is that the links

between Singapore (and the Province of

Southeast Asia) and the Southern Cone

will be strengthened. Singapore has an

incredible missionary task as they seek to

reach out and grow their deaneries in

Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam,

Indonesia and Nepal; it is testimony to

God’s worldwide vision that they now

have a missionary bishop in South

America. Pray for Raphael and his wife,

Michelle.

Michele Pollesel is from a French

Canadian background and replaces the

Cuban bishop of Uruguay, Miguel Tamayo,

who recently retired. Michele studied

theology in Ottawa, Toronto and

Rochester, New York and is a Doctor of

Ministry. He was Secretary General of the

Provincial Synod of the Church of Canada

and, though he is a native English speaker,

also speaks French, Italian and Spanish.

We hope that the links between Canada

and South America will grow in the future.

Both dioceses of Bolivia and Uruguay

are small and struggling financially. The

bishops need great wisdom as they lead

and train and plan for growth.

Two new bishops for Bolivia and Uruguay By Henry Scriven

Volunteering: are you up for the adventure?Thankstoformermissionpartner

CarolineGilmour-White, the South

American Mission Society photo archives

are coming alive again. In May, Caroline

worked as a volunteer, cataloguing SAMS’

huge photo collection in the CMS library in

Oxford.

Caroline says: “A major find is a

Victorian postcard album with late 1800s/

early 1900s pictures. It is a unique

collection made by a long serving mission

partner in Paraguay who first went out

there in the 1890s.

“So many of the postcard views are

probably not available in people’s home

countries (Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil,

Uruguay) because of wars, riots, floods, fires,

etc in the epochs when they were printed,

so it’s to be hoped that one day they could

be made available on the internet or in

short book form to bless the people of the

countries where they were taken who, as we

learnt during the bicentenary year in

Paraguay, long to recapture their own history

and love visual reminders of it.”

Caroline was based in Asuncion and

finished with CMS in June after more than

a decade serving with SAMS and CMS in

Paraguay.

CMS is looking for a volunteer to help

in the library in Oxford and carry on with

the SAMS archiving work which Caroline

began. To find out more, email

[email protected]


Fighting for indigenous rights

EdandMarieBrice(above)recentlymovedfromParaguaytoTartagal innorthernArgentina after more than 35

years serving Enxet communities in

Paraguay. Marie is from Argentina and Ed is

from the UK. The couple has taken on

pastoral oversight of the Anglican Church in

Tartagal and work in the northern area of

the Chaco. Part of their ministry is working

with Asociana, which helps indigenous

communities with land rights issues. We

caught up with them at CMS in the UK.

Q: SowhymakethemovefromParaguaytonorthernArgentina?

A: Ed: There’s been a continual

evolution in my work in Paraguay. I went

over there first as a missionary

microbiologist and gradually moved into

other areas – starting with land rights, then

Bible teaching, pastoral work and back into

Bible teaching. During our last phase, the

opportunities were significantly reducing

and we were offered the chance to go and visit northern Argentina. The bishop was

very welcoming and keen for us to go, so we

went. Quite a big shock for us!

Q: Tellusaboutyourministry?A: The majority of congregations in the

Anglican Church in northern Argentina are indigenous, and in rural areas. There are about 120 different congregations spread over an area of several hundred miles, so one of the bishop’s ideas was that we’d be in a region in the northwest of the diocese. He told us there were two congregations in Tartagal – one for the indigenous community, and the other for non-indigenous people, which had been without a pastor for many years but is now very involved in ministering among children, with a Sunday school faithfully running for years and years.

Two members of that congregation (Zacarias and Claudia) form part of the Asociana team, an organisation within the Anglican Church which is responsible for accompanying indigenous communities, especially on land rights issues, healthcare and other development work. The bishop asked if I could be involved in chaplaining the Asociana team.

Our third area of work is collaborating with the indigenous church in theological education – joining people like Latin partners Marina and Rene Pereira and mission partners David and Shelley Stokes.

Q: WhataresomeofthelandrightsissuesthattheAsocianateamisdealingwith?

A: The current issues are the same ones that were current 20 years ago, unfortunately.

The provincial government of the Salta

NORTHERNARGENTINA


Fighting for indigenous rightsProvince made promises to the indigenous

people that they would give them land and

they have gone back on these promises

again and again.

The latest developments before we left

for the UK, were that the indigenous leaders

had approached the Inter-American Court of

Human Rights to say the government wasn’t

fulfilling its obligations, stated clearly in the

national constitution or promises they had

made repeatedly to these marginalised

grouops. So the court sent a delegation to

Argentina; they visited the area, visited

continued on page 6

TheMapuchepeople’slong-runningstruggleforlandandrightsinChileissomethingthatBishopAbelinoApeleo, CMS Latin partner in Temuco, southern Chile, feels passionately about. He’s the Anglican Bishop of southern Chile and Mapuche himself and in 2010 and 2011 was a key member of a high-level round-table dialogue committee “towards a

Historic Reunion/Re-encounter”, which

discussed the indigenous conflict.

He says: “It was a very special

experience for me, as I had the privilege of

taking part as a Mapuche bishop in support of our Araucanian people. I always make an effort to keep up with the issues, and to see how to view the indigenous conflict from a Christian perspective. It is a

complex subject but at the same time

quite understandable.”

government officials and they gave them yet

another period of six months to get their act

together before they go on to the next stage

of the judicial procedure.

Near where we are living, things are

much more depressing because the

agricultural frontier is advancing at such a

rapid rate that many indigenous communities

are finding themselves on land which has

already been completely cleared and is

absolutely useless for them, even should

they get what the constitution allows

them to get.

MorepowertotheMapuchepeopleThis summer the BBC reported on the

issue – after a senior United Nations

lawyer, Ben Emerson, said the Mapuche

land rights dispute “could boil over into

serious violence at any moment”.

We asked Bishop Abelino to give an

‘on-the-ground’ account of the situation.

He writes:

“Although it is certainly true that we

live in a time of conflict between the

indigenous people and the Chilean

government, this is undoubtedly quite a

complex subject. In the first place this not

only involves the current government or

the general political focus of the country

but is a historical burden.

“I feel that the indigenous Mapuche

people have well-founded grounds for

protest. For this reason I would say that

they should continue to struggle for the

SOUTHERNCHILE


Underpinningeverythingforthe

indigenousMapuchepeopleisthe

issueoflandownership, which dates

back to the end of the 19th century. Later,

during Pinochet’s military dictatorship, big

forest and hydroelectric companies and

other enterprises interested in operating in

undeveloped parts of the country were

offered incentives like land and subsidies.

The Mapuche say the land, now the

property of logging and farming companies

and individuals, is theirs by ancestral

rights and should be returned to them.

Over recent years demonstrations by the

Mapuche have occurred periodically,

continued from page 5

Mapuche struggle for landincluding land occupations and in a few

cases burning of private property, incurring

casualties.

MapucheleaderswithBishopAbelino(secondleft)andBishopHenryScriven

cause of all Chilean indigenous peoples,

whatever the specifics of the struggle may

be in each context.

“It is inevitable that conflict should be

part of such a struggle, especially when

there are many interests intervening inside

and out of the country. It also seems

unavoidable, given the difficult historical

background, that the Araucanian Mapuche

people would experience angry reactions

out of their understandable resentment.

“But of course in situations where the

demonstrators have burnt trucks on roads,

houses and landowners’ premises, public

opinion has come out in condemnation of

such terrible incidents. No one has the

right to cause the death of another, and

especially not under these circumstances.

And the Chilean police were involved as a

consequence of the demonstrators’ use

of force.

“But I believe that the Mapuches are

fighting a valid cause, although their

methods are not to be recommended –

especially when the repercussions are so

deplorable. Unfortunately, however, there

seems to be no way forward unless these

public demonstrations continue.

“The Mapuches are a respectable

people and undoubtedly deserve all

the privileges enjoyed by ‘white’ society.

As we know from history, the Mapuche

have been the true inhabitants of the

major part of the Araucania. Currently they

are being treated as if they were just

backyard inhabitants of the house. There is

still much more to be achieved in addition

to the minimal progress already made.”


DrAndrewLeake,aCMSmission

partnerwithhiswifeMariain

northernArgentina, vividly describes

the effects of deforestation on the isolated

communities of the Chaco region in a

powerful new five-minute CMS video.

“In a matter of hours or days a

bulldozer can transform a landscape which

was previously characterised by hundreds

of species into a landscape dominated by

soya bean and maybe one or two other

weeds,” Andrew warns.

“Everything you knew is gone. It’s like

being put on a new planet but with no

resources.”

Andrew grew up in northern Argentina,

and his parents and grandparents served

with the Anglican Church among the Toba

and Wichi Indians. Andrew studied

environmental sciences and rural social

development, before serving with Tearfund

in Honduras, where he worked on

indigenous land rights and rainforest

protection.

Following doctoral research in Paraguay,

Andrew joined the Anglican Church in

northern Argentina, where he led work in

mapping indigenous land use and

monitoring deforestation. He is currently

director of Land for Life (Fundacion

Refugio), a creation care initiative, which

seeks to draw attention to the biological

plight of the Chaco and establish protected

areas there. His wife Maria is involved in

children’s work with their local church.

They have three children.

Why didn’t you save the forest?

In July, Andrew wrote: “Greed, political

inertia, and rampant corruption are fuelling

the massive wave of deforestation that

continues to sweep across the Chaco.

It appears all but impossible to stop the

process, and we often feel powerless.

We can only believe, pray and trust that

God will do his bit, and that through his

intervention at least some of the Chaco’s

ecological integrity might be preserved for

the wellbeing of local people.

“So it is, then, that we look forward to

seeing how God responds to proposals we

are now sending out to raise support to

purchase tracts of land for conservation in

the Chaco.”

Watch the video at:

http://vimeo.com/70611555

Read the Leakes’ blog at

http://leake.blogspot.com

AndrewLeake:‘everythingyouknowisgone’


CMSmissionpartnersinRiode

Janeiro,Brazil,JessandMark

Simpsonwrite: “We’ve come to an end

of a six month ‘bedding in period’… Since

the beginning of September we have been

based full-time in a neighbourhood called

Tijuca, where Mark is training under the

Dean of the Cathedral, though that’s not as

grand as it sounds.”

A highlight for the couple over the

summer was Pope Francis’s final mass for

World Youth Day on Copacabana beach.

Hundreds of thousands of young people

turned up and the 2.5 mile crescent-shaped

beach was packed with worshippers.

“There was a sacred hush as everyone

was asked to lower their national flags (so

many Argentines!) and banners (including

ones like ‘Holy Father, I’m evangelical but I

Massive mass on the beach

love you!’) as a sign of unity. We all stood,

crowded onto a mesmerising coast line

worshipping God – followed by a mass

pile-in to the waters,” Jess writes.

The couple are now working with Dean

Abimael Rodrigues and his wife Dayse.

“They are a great pair and so hospitable.

Their hospitality really shone through when

they opened their doors to accommodate

130 Argentine Catholic youth during World

Youth Day, especially rigging up makeshift

showers for them.

“Mark will be piloting his Hebrew

teaching doing a mid-week class with

congregation members. We will both

be involved in working with the

youth group, starting a series on

God and sex, which should be

sparky! We will also be running Alpha.”

Jess says Abimael’s vision is to

reach out into one of the local

favelas, Turano, “one which

lived through so much violence

for many years. Please pray for

us as we start from scratch

there, and look to build

relationships, links and

partnerships.”

PopeFrancisinBrazil

JessandMarkSimpsonrelationshipbuilding

BythetimeyoureadthisIwillhave

visitedSouthAmericaforthefirst

time. I’m looking forward to it immensely.

Together with Jo Hazelton (who will act as

my interpreter) I will be attending the

Synod of the Province of the Southern

Cone, in Santiago, Chile.

For Father’s Day this year my daughter

(who knows me very well!) gave me a

wall map with a special coating over it that

you scratch off for every country you visit

– so I am looking forward very much to

finally revealing one of the countries of

South America. May many more follow in

the years to come.

I know very well that from the ‘inside’

the merger of SAMS with CMS wasn’t

either as logical or simple as it appeared

from the ‘outside’. But I think that one of

the undoubted benefits of the move –

as my wall map reminds me – is that it

enables us to see mission in South

America in a truly global context.

It’s a cliché to say that

we live in a global village

– but we do, and it is

exciting to see lessons in

mission in one part of the

world applied in another.

For instance, our colleagues

in CMS Africa have recently

spent time in Pakistan sharing

insights from the Samaritan

Strategy programme with

brothers and sisters there.

Samaritan Strategy enables community

transformation through the development of

a truly biblical worldview. And if it works in

Africa and Pakistan, then why not in the

Chaco of northern Argentina and Paraguay

– or in Tierra del Fuego?

Similarly we are working with Pueblos

Musulmanes Internacional (PMI) which is

enabling South American nationals to

engage in mission in North Africa.

Likewise, mission partners Efraim and

Ruth Vilella are preparing to serve in Uganda

– a British woman and a Brazilian man (not

forgetting their son Max) are going to share

lessons in mission in Africa learnt in South

America. And the Province of the Southern

Cone’s experience in ministering to

marginalised indigenous communities has

much to teach the wider church, too.

Mission in the world we live in today is

no longer simply north to south – it’s east to

west and west to east. And more and more

it will be south to north as well. Let’s rejoice

in that, and commit ourselves

afresh to building God’s church

– the whole world over.

The global map of mission learningBy CMS Executive Leader Philip Mounstephen

SHARE AUTUMN 2013 09 PuttingChileonthemap:PhilipMounstephenandJoHazelton


Afteryearsofpainstakingtranslationwork, CMS mission partner Tim Curtis and

his translator colleagues Asuncion Rojas and

Juan Martinez (CMS Latin partners) are

hoping that the Enxet people will have a

Bible translated in their own language

towards the end of next year.

The small team is based at the Anglican

Centre in Rio Verde in the Paraguayan Chaco.

“The good news is that we are on target

to finishing the checks on the Old

Testament texts at the end of December

this year. During next year, the team will

revise the 1997 Enxet New Testament, a

task which is expected to continue until the

end of December 2014. God willing, this will

be the date for completing the translation

project and handing the work in, ” says Tim.

AsuncionRojaswrites:

InrecentweekswehavebeenrunningfinalspellchecksonallthebooksandthendistributingportionsoftextsforEnxetlanguagereaderstoreadthroughandcommenton.

Sometimespeoplecallusontheircellphonestoaskabouttheuseofaspecificwordorjustoccasionallypointoutaveryobviousmistake,likeacapitalletterinthemiddleofaword.

Sometimes we contact an Enxet speaking

pastor to ask about a specific word if we think

it sounds archaic or old fashioned. We have

found that it is extremely important that

people feel involved in the translation

process.

It is also important to keep in touch

with different denominations. The team

was invited to the dedication of a new

Mennonite sponsored church building

recently, so we printed out the readings for

the service in the translation office, and

were able to tell the Mennonite visitors that

many churches in the UK are funding this

translation. One of the pastors in that

church has been using some of the

recently completed drafts for a Christian

programme on a Chaco radio station.

Since the project began in 2003, we

always begin our day with morning prayers

and a Bible reading. As we will shortly

begin revising the 1997 Enxet New

Testament, we are extra sensitive to any

reading from the New Testament – from

time to time making notes on how we

might improve a certain passage or verse.

Many people ask us when we will finish

the Bible in their language and want to

know where it will be launched. We can

now say that we hope to finish by the end

of 2014, although we don’t yet know

where the launch will take place. When we

mention the translation we always ask for

people to pray for our physical and spiritual

protection during this vital final stage.

“A significant moment in our history”

AsuncionRojasinthetranslationoffice

FromJuanMartinez:

Duringthefinalstagesofthetranslation,wehavebeenbusyrunningspellingchecks,whichrequireagreatdealofconcentrationasmostEnxetwordshaveoneormoreaccentsonthemtoindicatelongandshortvowelsthatcontrast.Wereadallthedraftsoutloudtomakesurethatthetextreallyflowsnicelyinourlanguage.

My colleague Asuncion spends most of

his time checking the structure of sentences

and paragraphs, again, so that the text

sounds completely natural and not like

something translated from another language.

I spend most of my time spell checking

individual words. I am responsible for

printing out the chapters which I re-read

myself and distribute among Enxet speakers

who can read. Most of these people, but

not all, are Christians.

Sometimes our eyes get tired from

looking at the computer screen, so we take

a break or do something different like

cleaning the office.

We often sit round our large office table

to discuss the use of a word – such as

whether to use the Spanish word for wine,

“vino” or the longer, less used Enxet word

– “anmen yámet égmenek”.

Enxet does not use many

loan words from

Spanish or Guarani.

“A significant moment in our history”Our morning prayers are important if the

day is to go well. To relax after a busy week

with my head full of concentrating on biblical

texts, I play football on the pitch nearest to

the office in Rio Verde, where there are

mainly Hispanic (ie non Enxet) lads kicking a

ball about, or I go off and play football with

Enxet lads who live in villages just a few

miles away. On Saturday and Sunday

mornings I play Christian music on the Rio

Verde FM radio station.

We receive visits from our United Bible

Society consultant Tito Lahaye several times

a year.

I have realised what an enormous

influence the translation of the Bible into

Enxet has on the use of the Enxet language.

We, as a team, are constantly making

important and far reaching decisions with

other Enxet church leaders, and also Enxet

speaking school teachers on how the

language is written and presented.

The translation of the Bible into Enxet

brings the Good News to our people and

helps the churches to grow in maturity.

Our language is strengthened through the

translation, as is our identity as Enxet people.

This is a significant moment in our history.


JuanMartinezatwork

MEET THE TEAM


GillandMauriceSinclairweremissionpartnersinnorthernArgentinaintwoseparatestints: from 1968 to 1978 and from 1990 to 2001.

In 1990 Maurice became Bishop, then

Archbishop of the Southern Cone, and

Honorary Vice President of SAMS. The

Sinclairs “retired” in January 2002, but

continue to be active in the CMS family,

which includes Gill writing Latin American

Prayerlines.

Q: WhendidyoubecomeaChristianandwhatdoesitmeanforyou?

A: My mother prayed by my cot from

my birth, and through her I grew up knowing

Jesus, with many encouragements along the

way from godparents, Sunday School

teachers, a Christian school friend… I am

just so grateful to God for holding on to me.

At this stage in life when many of our

contemporaries are shining examples of

faith as they go through bereavement and

illness, I realise that the biggest challenges

are still to come. It is so good to know that

Jesus is, and always will be, with me.

Q:WhatgotyouinterestedinallthingsLatinAmerican?

Gill Sinclair A: While I was at university my home

church (All Saints Woodford Green) got a

new vicar who was also honorary general

secretary of SAMS. It was not long before

three people from our church went as

missionaries – Thea Wedgwood and

Jocelyn Padbury – to start a school in

Makxawaya, Paraguay and Helen Sohns to

nurse in the Argentine Chaco. Thea later

moved to Asuncion where she started a

kindergarten class which was the beginning

of St Andrew’s College, currently

celebrating its 50th birthday. I began to

wonder whether God wanted me to go

too, but not being a teacher or a nurse I did

not feel I had the right skills. (I was a

computer programmer).

Q:TellusaboutyourlifewithSAMS,nowCMS

A: Soon after we got engaged we both

sensed God speaking to us during a

sermon at All Saints from Harry Sutton. We

went straight round to see him after

church. One thing and another led to

Maurice applying for ordination, Bible

college and a curacy; by the time we set

sail for South America we had two little

boys, with two more arriving in the next

few years. We were based in Salta and I

looked after the family and provided

hospitality for missionaries who worked in

the Chaco, but who came to Salta for

documents, supplies, medical treatment or

just a much needed break. Maurice was

involved in a rural development

programme so did a lot of travelling. Later

he became pastor of the city centre

church. With others I taught in the Sunday

School and also ran a midweek meeting in


our garage for neighbourhood children.

All Saints Woodford has long been a

CMS supporting church, and still is.

I remember being taken as a young

teenager to CMS House, Salisbury Square,

by my Bible class teacher. Then between

our two stints in Argentina, Maurice and I

were on the staff of Crowther Hall, the

mission training college in Birmingham.

Q:MauricewastheBishopofNorthernArgentina(1990-2001)andtheArchbishopofthesoutherncone(1995-2001).Whatwasthatperiodofmissionlike?

A: We moved back into the house we

had left 12 years before, with the same

neighbours, and the children who had

come to our garage club, now married and

living in rooms built on to their parents’

homes. Again there was plenty of travelling

for Maurice, and this time I was often able

to go with him. There was even more

hospitality this time round, with many

more visitors – officially to the diocese and

friends and family of mission partners.

Sometimes I helped with admin in the

office, and I also spoke at women’s

meetings and in the churches.

Q:WhatisyourfavouritememoryfromyourtimeinnorthernArgentina?

A: Our third son Mark taking his first

steps, helped by a little Wichi girl. It was

such a thrill to see her walking backwards,

beckoning him on, and Mark walking

unaided. Another is waking up on a very

cold morning in the Chaco with frost on

our tent, and the pastor bringing us hot

baked sweet potatoes for breakfast.

Q:Themostinspirationalthingyou’veencounteredinyourlonghistoryofSAMSwork?

A: To see God at work in the lives of

those who have so little economically and

yet have faith to trust God utterly to provide

for their needs. Rivadavia was a place

Maurice used to visit once a year for teaching

and pastoral care for a little group of

churches. We arrived in the rain and found

the church full. One elderly pastor had cycled

a long way through the rain and mud, and

had skidded and fallen into a puddle. As he

told his story, true to their Wichi sense of

humour, everyone laughed. But wet through

though he was, the pastor triumphantly held

up his Bible which he had managed to keep

dry. The previous year there had been no

young people in the church at all, but this

year the youth group was thriving.

Q: What’syourfavouritecountryinLatinAmerica?

A: Argentina! It stretches from the tropics

to the Antarctic and has spectacular scenery.

The foothills of the Andes are truly beautiful,

with a rich variety of colours in the rocks of

the mountains, lakes with flamingos and

green valleys with vineyards.

Gill,herfoursonsandfriendsintheChacoin1975


Inourlastissue,ateamfromChristChurch,SellyPark,Birminghamwasabouttoembarkonashort-termmissiontriptoBolivia.Agreattimewashadbyall,asteammemberPhilBantingreports.

“You have started a revolution”. Not the words you’d expect to hear at a diocesan conference. But the damp patches on the floor where the tears had fallen confirmed that something extraordinary had taken place among the pastors of Bolivia.

None of our 12-strong team could have imagined this outcome when we arrived in La Paz less than three weeks earlier. My wife Miriam and I had spent the previous two weeks visiting relatives in Argentina, but like most of the team had never been to South America before.

Two years earlier Beccy Lanham, while still a teenager, had spent several weeks visiting Anglican churches in Bolivia and it was her report back in Christ Church, Selly Park, Birmingham that had inspired many more of us to join her on this trip.

Bishop Maurice and Gill Sinclair, who had spent many years serving in northern Argentina, were part of the group and it was through them that the link with Bolivia had first been established. Their wisdom and knowledge of Spanish were invaluable.

We received a lot of support from Christ Church and CMS to prepare us for the visit. We also had received considerable prayer backing and many donations for the projects we would be involved in during

Brummies in Bolivia

the visit. We also launched our blog,

Brummies in Bolivia, which proved to be a

vital method of engaging with supporters.

The Bolivian churches we were working

with made us feel very much at home

– providing meals, accommodation and

transport. They gave up so much time to

guide, assist us and just be with us.

We experienced heartfelt worship at all

the churches. There was a willingness to

pray and be prayed for and enthusiasm for

outreach. We were encouraged especially

to see a group of young people providing

games and Bible teaching activities for

children who live on a huge housing estate

outside Santa Cruz.

The pastors were clearly serving with

great faithfulness and were encouraged by

our visit. But we also became concerned at

their wide separation across this vast

country and the lack of a support network.

The final week of our visit included a

conference for pastors and other church

leaders. On the second day, as the

afternoon break approached, retired

minister Chris Turner said something that

changed the mood in seconds.

He spoke about a time of frustration in

his ministry due to the lack of growth in a

BrummiessingingwithchildreninSantaCruz


JillBall returns to Ecuador for three months from January 2014.

TimCurtisis due back on UK leave from Paraguay in January 2014 for four months.

DavidandGinaHucker finished their service with CMS on 31 August after 15 years in Chile. They returned to Chile in September and will move to Australia from there.

AnnaSimstravelled to Lima, Peru in September to start as a mission partner working in visual arts and community development.

DavidandShelleyStokes are due back on UK leave from Juarez, northern Argentina in November.

SharonWilcoxhas moved to Santo Domingo, Ecuador to work with Life in Abundance Trust (LIAT).

EfraimandRuthVilellawiththeirsonMaxcontinue their studies at All

Globe+crossersNations. They started with Opportunity International on 1 October, but will remain based in the UK for the next year or so.

Short–Termers:EmmaNutt is helping with children and young people at Jesus El Salvador in La Paz, Bolivia, alongside pastor Pedro Villarreal from September 2013 until March 2014. CeriArkins is volunteering at Hogar el Alba orphanage in Buenos Aires, Argentina from October 2013 until March 2014. TylerOverton is currently working with a Compassion project in Guatemala before starting his CMS placement in March 2014 at St Paul’s School, Vina del Mar, Chile.

You can find out more about where and when these Globe+crossers might be in your area on the CMS website www.cms-uk.org Click on the map of Latin America . The We’re Visiting section is on the right of the page.

church he had led. With some difficulty,

Chris started to describe how great personal

pain and loss had brought him to the point

where he felt he could no longer bear all

these burdens.

The whole of his church had stopped

and prayed. From that point, started to grow.

A minute later the Bolivian pastors were

embraced in a circle, singing, praying and

crying. Some knelt on the floor, overcome

as the Holy Spirit healed the pain, divisions

and isolation that these men had

experienced over many years.

This continued for… who knows how long?

We just knew that this was a new beginning

for the Anglican Church in Bolivia.

And for us, we had always felt part of something much bigger, linked to the wider Christian family through our own churches, our prayer supporters and CMS. Now we feel part of the church in Bolivia too. We look forward to whatever the next stage in this partnership might be.

Read more about the Bolivia trip at:

www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk/

bolivia_2013.html

CMS offers a range of tailor-made

training programmes for Christian

short-term visits overseas. For more

information, email helen.brook@cms-uk.

org or call her on 01865 787493.


BishopAbelinoApeleo,CMSLatinpartnerinChile,writes: “I’d like to tell

you the story of the Rev Jose Pino, newly

ordained in our region and who used to be

in the police force. Some time ago he

received life-threatening injuries after

intervening to separate youngsters involved

in a violent disturbance. When he got to

hospital the doctor’s opinion was that he

would definitely not make it. But he

survived and went through years of

treatment, still being told that he would

never be completely cured. But God in

his great mercy enabled Jose to make a

miraculous unconditional recovery – a

public testimony to the marvellous healing

power of God. Now his only desire in life is

to serve as a true soldier of Christ. Jose

went on to study theology, starting with our

own Rural Bible Institute, next at the

Alliance Seminary in Temuco, and finally at

the Centre for Theological Studies in

Santiago. Earlier this year he was ordained

Presbyter at the church of Saint Matthew.”

Long-time friend

of CMS, ArnoldPage, director of

Chile for Christ,

completed the

Great North Run

in September.

“I am

delighted to say

that I managed

to complete it

without mishap in one minute less than my

target time of two and a half hours. I came

in 43rd out of 91 runners in the age group

71 to 75 years, which sounds much better

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than telling you

that I came

31,137th,” says Arnold.

“It was an amazing experience,

especially the last mile beside the

sea in South Shields, for by the

time I arrived the Red Arrows were

doing their stuff all around us.

With spectators cheering us on from either

side of the road it was all very exciting.

“I raised £1,949, which will be a great

help to our friends in Chile towards the cost

of materials to finish their new church

building.”

Chile for Christ is a UK-based charity

which helps the Pehuenche congregations

of the Chilean Andes.

BishopAlanWinstanley, who 20 years

ago was bishop of Peru and Bolivia with

SAMS, contacted CMS to say that his wife

Viv had died on 14 July. Alan and Viv

served in Peru and Bolivia from 1981-1993.

A memorial service was held at St John’s,

Whittle-Le-Woods, Lancashire on 14

September. Viv is sorely missed by Alan and

their two children, Christopher and Kathryn.

Mission associate ChrisHawksbee asks

us to rejoice that the construction on the

church building in La Paciencia, La Patria is

nearing completion, and for the counselling

and prayer ministry Celino Rodriguez has

been able to exercise while working on the

church building there. It has had an impact

and also encouraged Pastor Nino Pepe and

his wife. The presence of the Mission

Paraguay team has also been encouraging

the community. Remember mission

partners Bishop Peter and Sally Bartlett

leading the diocese.

ArnoldPagelimberingup

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