From a seed to a harvest

"Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds" (John 12:24 NIV)
 

The words quoted above were spoken by Jesus regarding his own impending death, and we are part of that great harvest.  But Jesus went on to speak of those who would follow him and the importance of self denial.  It seems to me that these words also have relevance as we come to terms with the home-call of my friend and colleague for 40 years - Monica Cook who went to be with Jesus last Sunday.

Monica's journey of faith started in her childhood  Her early life was spent as a Primary School teacher both in the UK and in Australia.  It was a job she loved and she was good at it.  Then, towards the end of her 20's Monica began to fee that God was wanting more from her.  But letting go would not have come easily.

She enrolled in what was then the Birmingham Bible Institute. Any of her contemporaries reading this will know that this also brought a challenge to faith and Christian commitment.  It was here that I first met Monica Cook.  I was a visiting speaker presenting the challenge of rural mission within the UK.  After the presentation she asked, "What opportunities does your organisation have for women in Christian service?".  My feeble answer was, "We are able to fit them in".  Monica later recalled thinking, "That's the last organisation I would want to be in; I dont want to be just 'fitted in'"

When we learn to die to self, though that is often painful, we discover great things.  Within a year Monica had enrolled onto a training programme I was running at the time.  Seeing her potential I encouraged that she be invited onto the staff of our evangelistic team.  For the next 13 years she took part in evangelistic missions, taught  on our training programme, set up children's clubs to follow up the missions and produced material to nurture new young followers of Jesus. In 1988 there was another challenge to self.  Doreen and I had left that organisation and were looking to place greater emphasis on enabling rural churches to become truly missional in character. Monica took the bold step to join us though we had no resources to be able to pay her.

In 1995 we agreed she should go to Kenya following a visit I had made.  I asked her to focus on the village of Obambo.  She came back to the UK fired up with a vision.  What she has since achieved in that place is amazing as she proved herself to be an effective 21st Century missionary.  Other invitations from around the world started to come in and in 2002 Sunrise Ministries granted her autonomy to go wherever she felt God calling her.  That has taken her t,around the world including countries in Africa, South East Asia, New Zealand and Australia.  Wherever she has gone she has shared the gospel with children and adults alike.  She has provided training for children's workers and so much more.  And along the way hundreds of children have become followers of Jesus.  As they grew up she often found herself teaching and reaching their children.  One seed that fell into the ground has produced an amazing harvest.

Self-denial and sacrifice did not always come easily.  Monica liked certain creature comforts.  But she happily gave these up to travel rough roads in developing countries, to run the gauntlet of armed gangs and secret police, to eat strange food and survive when sometimes hygiene was barely basic.  None of this came naturally to her.  To all of this some might add she took on the challenge of working with me for forty years!  But she did it all - and did it gladly - because she knew that self had to die for the fullness of the blessing of the Lord to be realised.

Now Sunrise Ministries is looking at ways in which the harvest time of her life might continue.  The harvest from her life produces seed that themselves have been leading to more harvests.  We value your prayers  as we seek God's guidance.  Firstly, we are committed to encouraging those who have been supporting the work in Obambo to continue faithfully  The future of the children in this remote Kenyan village are in our hands.  This will be managed by a separate organisation that Monica set up with others called "Friends of Obambo".

Then we are also considering whether Sunrise Ministries could appoint someone to take on Monica's role within the UK.  This is a ministry of evangelism but also helping rural churches and others to develop appropriate, effective and self-sustainable programmes of mission to and with children. Is there, I wonder, someone who is the fruit of Monica's ministry who will answer this call?  We need prayer for guidance please.

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Other Matters for Praise & Prayer

We have closed down the office in Battle where Monica was based.  All her email communications have been routed to the office at Market Harborough.  The past week has been extremely busy and I have sought to be helpful and supportive to those in Battle and the surrounding area.  Getting communications out and sorting out administration has been demanding.  Doreen and I value your prayers as we deal with these matters.

Please pray for Monica's brother Michael and for Pauline.  Pray too for Monica's sister, Jean and her family.  Remember all who will gather for the funeral on Friday 3rd July at Loddon and for people around the world who will meet or pray at the same time (14.00BST; 13.00GMT).  Especially our friends in Obambo.  I have been asked to speak about Monica at the service.

Pray for the trustees of Sunrise Ministries as we seek God's guidance, and for Clive Mills and the committee of Friends of Obambo.  Pray also for her many friends who will miss her including those at her church in Battle, East Sussex.

Give thanks for a Christian friend who has provided some space for Monica's files, publications and other material from her office.

Pray as we continue the programme of Rural Mission Webinars over the coming weeks.  The schedule will be appearing on our website.

Over the next few weeks I expect to be working with one church in Kent with an Away Day looking at friendship evangelism, and another church in Kent helping them with constitutional matters.  I also have a church in Norfolk that I have to visit for a mission consultation and several requests for resources.

In addition to this I have my regular responsibilities with ministry at Yelvertoft Congregational Church on the next two Sundays and on Thursday before setting off for Loddon.  I will be in HMP Gartree on Tuesday.

I am very grateful for those who have emailed or phoned to assure me of their prayers for me at this time of bereavement.  That has meant a great deal.  Thank you.

Yours gladly in His service,

Barry

Monica Cook receives her eternal reward

On Sunday 21st June 2015 it pleased the Lord to gather to himself our dear sister and co-worker, Monica Cook.

I met her first when I was speaking at Birmingham Bible Institute where she was a student.  Prior to that she had trained and worked as a Primary School teacher and taught in schools in the UK and Australia.  When she left Bible College she undertook some training within Mission for Christ.  At that time I had set up and supervised the training.  I quickly spotted her giftedness and arranged for her to come onto the staff.

We already had a gifted children's evangelist in Alfred Lavender so initially Monica's work was focused on setting up clubs to follow up missions we had conducted.  These rapidly grew.  Later she took on more responsibility for the children's part in the short term missions around the UK.

In 1988 when I left Mission for Christ she was among others who quickly followed.  She shared my vision for encouraging and enabling churches to develop and sustain appropriate missional activity - in her case among children and their families.  This led to setting up what was known as Rural Sunrise.  When the branding was changed to Rural Mission Solutions, Monica continued to operate under our charity title of Sunrise Ministries.  One particular aspect in which she was a pioneer was in developing ministry and mission with and by children, and not just "to" children.  This proved vital in growing young disciples of Jesus.

In the forty years that we have worked together we occasionally hit difficult times but our friendship never failed and she has been a faithful friend and colleague.  It had been my joy to introduce her to Christian work in Obambo, Kenya.  She took this community on her heart and worked tirelessly to raise funds to put children through education and much more.  While I shall miss her, and many more around the world who met her will miss her very much, none will miss her more than her "family" in Obambo.

As the apostle Paul faced the end of his ministry and life he wrote to Timothy, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, .."

Details of funeral and thanksgiving services will be posted on the website.

Barry Osborne

What a Friend!

"I no longer call you servants... instead I have called you friends" (John 15:15)
 

I wonder whether the disciples to whom Jesus said these words realised just how amazing it is.  The one who was from the beginning and without whom nothing was made that has been made, the one who stills storms and feed multitudes with miraculous provision, calls us his friends.

There is a great hymn by James Small which celebrates this. "I've found a friend, oh such a friend, he loved me e'er I knew him.  He drew me with the cords of love, and thus he bound me to hi. And round my hear still closely twine those cords which naught can sever.  For I am his, and he is mine, for ever and for ever!"  Many other Christian hymns and songs, old and new also celebrate this extraordinary relationship.

I love the definition of a friend which says it is someone who knows your faults and loves you anyway. The majority of those who receive these emailed letters I would describe as friends, and hope that it would be reciprocated.  But of course there are different levels of friendship.  Good friendships exist because we are prepared to open up ourselves to them and because we give time to nurture that friendship and show that we care.

Sadly, during much of the first 25 years of ministry I was unable to develop friendships as I wished because of the nature of the organisation I then worked in.  This was also a factor in losing contact with good friends from school days.  But I have been doing my best to renew those links and to make myself a better friend to others

None of us can ever be as faithful a friend as Jesus is to us, but in what ways do we seek to nurture that friendship?  Do we spend enough time consciously experiencing his presence?  Do we start the day by enquiring whether he has plans for us to do together?  Are we careful not to offend him?  Do we stand up for him when others misuse his name?  Are we keen to introduce our best Friend to others that they might enjoy that friendship too?  Can  I really call him "my friend" if I fail to act as a good friend to him?

Changes in Trustees
Among my friends some serve as trustees of Sunrise Ministries which is the charity through which all my rural ministry is exercised. We have been well served by the Rev John Bradley for several years.  John is a friend going back many years to a time when we had the privilege of serving his church in Devon.  He is a Methodist Minister and has served in the UK and in the Ivory Coast.  More lately he worked as a staff member of Churches Together in England.  Despite having Multiple Sclerosis he has served the Lord energetically.  Declining health brought that phase of ministry to an end. His more recent health battle has been with cancer.  Sadly we have had to accept hisresignation from the Board but John continues to give us the benefit of his wisdom and experience as a consultant.  John writes good material including some witty stories and I hope to be able to pass on a link to these or publish them on our website.  Better still I hope to record him reading these.  We owe John (and consequently his family) a big thank you.

Gordon Banks is another good friend and this month joined the Board of Trustees.  Gordon and I have worked together on many occasions.  He is a Church Army Officer and has represented the CA within the Rural Evangelism Network.  He has also held diocesan posts in mission and evangelism for the Diocese of Truro, the Diocese of Chichester and is currently serving the Diocese of Lichfield.  Gordon also serves on the Committee of the Rural Evangelism Network.  He and I have shared in running rural mission consultations in the past and I value his particular perspective.  One of the approaches he developed when serving in the Diocese of Chichester was a way of planning mission and evangelism based upon seasons (climate, ecclesial and local).  This scheme been taken up and promoted by others.  Gordon and I plan to include a series of seasonal ideas for mission in the programme of Rural Mission Webinars.

Gordon joins Mr Chris Knott, Rev Jim Mullin, Rev Graham Wise, and Mr Tim Woodward.  Your prayers for our trustees will be appreciated.
 

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Prayers for Monica
Monica Cook is another special friend and we have worked together for around 40 years.  Most readers will be aware that it was discovered earlier this year that Monica has a brain tumour.  It is a particularly aggressive tumour and although she has had surgery and a course of radiotherapy it seems the tumour continues to invade Monica's brain.  Arrangements have been made for her to have live-in carers as she needs support for even basic matters.  Good friends from her church and other local Christians have networked together in supporting her.  Monica appreciates the love that has been shown and the many messages she has received.  Unable to manage emails and with limited ability to write the best means of contacting her is by phone.  However, she now tires quickly and conversations need to be kept brief.

A few days ago she was admitted to hospital with what turned out to be a pulmonary embolism (blood clot on her lungs).  She has also been found to have high levels of blood sugar.  As I write this Monica is still in hospital and her condition is being carefully monitored. While she has been pleased to have visitors she cannot manage more that a few moments of conversation.  News of her condition is updated regularly on the Rural Mission Solutions Website.  Please keep her in your prayers and pray also for all who are caring for her and for her brother and other relatives and close friends.
 

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Other Matters for Praise & Prayer

We give thanks for a useful trustees meeting last Monday and for my time in Northern Ireland Tuesday to Friday.I was in N.I. as a guest of the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland and as Convenor of the Congregational Federation's Inter-Church Board.  The NSPCI, which was holding its Annual Synod, is a relatively small denomination but they provided generous hospitality and the sense of real Christian fellowship was excellent.  The Synod concluded on Wednesday but I stayed a little longer to assist in discussion between the NSPCI and CF.  Before flying back on Friday I called into the offices of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland (wearing my rural mission hat) to follow up on work I have done before fore them in 2013.

Please pray for the Conference on Creating and Growing Discipleship in the Countryside which will be held this week at Swanwick, Derbyshire.  Unfortunately I am not free to attend but I hope this conference proves beneficial.

Sunday 14th - Yelvertoft Congregational Church (Northants)
Monday 15th - School Assembly, Lubenham, Leics.
Tuesday 16th - School Assembly - Yelvertoft (Northants); HMP Gartree in the afternoon.
Wednesday 17th - Speaking at the Anniversary Meeting of Crick URC (Northants)
Thursday 18th - Communion Service HMP Gartree; Bible Discussion at Yelvertoft

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Holy Spirit - Him or Her?
My piece about "Pentecost Myths?" a few weeks ago sparked off lively correspondence by email and on Facebook.  One or two picked up that I had referred to the Holy Spirit as him or her.  Someone asked if this was political correctness.  It certainly was not; it is theological reflection.  Since writing that piece there has been reports in the news regarding suggested changes to Anglican Liturgy, which makes me grateful that I have a non-liturgical tradition.  Of course God is not human and therefore we cannot suggest that he (or she) has gender in human terms.  The Hebrew concept was certainly of God as 'Father' and that is how Jesus prayed and Romans 8:15 talks of our being able to call God "Abba".  However, God made both man and woman in his image.  The Bible also attributes to God  characteristics usually thought of as feminine. The Hebrew word for Spirit is 'Ruach' which carries feminine gender.  I understand that this true also for Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus.  The Greek word for Spirit in the New Testament is neuter (i.e. neither masculine  nor feminine).

God is a mystery to the human mind and to try to define God or even describe God using concepts with which we are familiar will always prove inadequate.  There are a few more thoughts on one of my blogs.

Yours gladly in His service,

Barry

Where Do I Go to Cry?

Some years ago when I was carrying out some research about rural churches I heard a story regarding an Anglican church building in Devon that had been destroyed in a fire.  Apparently it was situated on a hill top some distance from the village.  To replace the medieval building a brand new modern church was erected within the community.  It was built on sloping land and the architects had cleverly used this to develop a split-level building.  They had also done something very creatively regarding natural lighting.  Apparently light enters through windows somewhere in the roof and in such a way that the whole building is bathed in light.

While this splendid building had much to commend it the one negative comment was that the abundance of light meant that there were no dark corners where someone might sit and weep.  I wonder whether this could be a metaphor for the church experience of others and it is that subject I wish to explore a little here.

In all our lives there are times when either our own circumstances, or that of others dear to us, bring deep sorrow.  But Britishness, which afflicts many, means keeping a stiff upper lip and keeping your sorrow private.  People from other cultures may not react the same way.  We will all have seen scenes on the television of people in the middle east and elsewhere where public displays of distress at times of sorrow are the norm.

My question is where do we go at those times of deepest sorrow and how does this relate to Christian fellowship?

It seems to me that there are two different church experiences that are unhelpful.  The first of these is where there is such an emphasis on triumph and joyfulness that to express sadness would almost seem sinful (too  much light and no dark corners).  The other is orderly church where any kind of emotionalism is not wanted.  But surely church, in the sense of a fellowship meeting, is just the place we should be able to go and weep.  Perhaps that already happens at your church but if not you might ask yourself what would happen if someone broke down and wept uncontrollably halfway through next Sunday's service?  Would it be ignored?  Would it be received sympathetically?  Would it be seen as unwelcome?  Would it need to be 'managed' to minimise the disturbance?

One of the most popular contemporary Christian songs is "As the deer pants for the water so my soul longs after God". It is a song that evokes worship and thankfulness, but which when we sing it we usually miss the pathos behind these words which come from Psalm 42.  While the psalm opens with these words they are expressed in the context of sorrow, if not great agony.  The psalmist goes on to say, "My tears have been my food day and night..."  Three times in the space of this short psalm the writer speaks of feeling downcast.  In verse seven it seems that the writer is describing waves of deep grief breaking over his soul.  It reminds me of Hannah who was in deep anguish at the temple such that Eli thought she was drunk (See 1 Samuel 1).

I don't suppose any of would want to go to church to have a miserable experience, but I hope that we would all want our church gathering to be a context where people can feel free to weep and be open about the depth of their experiences when going through life's storms.  How else can we truly "Mourn with those who mourn"?

A few years ago a Christian magazine ran an article entitled "The Sunday Lie In".  It pointed out that when we arrive at church and someone asks how we are, we feel obliged to say that everything is fine even when it is far from fine.  Why can't we not be honest in church about our feelings whether they are of joy or deep sadness?

Most regular readers of this blog will be aware that my very good friend and colleague of around forty years was diagnosed earlier in 2014 with an aggressive brain tumour.  Since that time she has remained amazingly positive, buoyed up by her faith.  Her attitude has been so positive that some medical professionals have wondered whether she had fully grasped the terminal nature of her condition.  But this has been a hard week for her.  Even as I write this I know that normally she would not want me to share that with you.  But the God who, as Jesus, wept alongside Martha and Mary at the graveside of their brother takes no pleasure in pretentiousness.

Perhaps the best test of the quality of Christian fellowship is when someone finds the courage to weep in our presence.  Please pray for my friend Monica and for others who face similar situations (you know who you are). Pray too for their Christian friends and church fellowships that we might be all that we should be a places where - if necessary - they can cry.  God is able.

Matters for Praise & Prayer
The trustees of Sunrise Ministries (incorporating Rural Mission Solutions) meet on Monday in London.  Please pray for wisdom.

On Tuesday I fly to Northern Ireland where I will be until Friday as a guest of the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church at their Annual Synod.  The NSPCI are a small denomination and in many ways have similar aspects to the Congregational Federation in which I am a minister.  One of my roles within CF is as Chair of Inter-Church Board that has been participating in discussions with the NSPCI.  We have had some precious times of Christian fellowship during these conversations.

The following week contains a Conference on Making and Growing Disciples in the Countryside, which I will have to miss because of other commitments.  Please pray for the conference organisers as they make final preparations for what I hope will be a very special event.

Please pray for my wife, Doreen who had a bad fall and cracked or broke some ribs not long ago.  The fall was probably the consequence of the condition of peripheral neuropathy that affects her balance and walking.  Please pray that she will be safe while I am away over the days of this coming week.

Give thanks for God's gracious provision that has enables us to do so much over the past month.  The 2014 Annual Report and Accounts for Sunrise Ministries comes to the trustees on Monday and will be available soon afterwards.  A small deficit is shown for 2014 but we are grateful for faithful friends and some supportive churches.

Yours gladly in His service,

Barry