I'm studying a Diploma in Christian Leadership and my first Assignment was to be written in the form of a blog post - so here it is!

The Bible…still important for you (and me)?

My short answer to this question is yes.

But let’s look at the words and ideas in the question a bit more closely.

“The Bible…”

I guess if we are asking about the Bible, we need to be clear on what we mean.  What is it? A historic text? A message from God?  A sacred symbol?  Is it reliable? Is it even finished?  Authors^[1] suggest God (and we) are still writing his story. People talk about “the word of God”, varying in meaning between Jesus himself, his words, the written Bible, and revelation received directly from God today.

Do we consider the Bible as one whole, or as lots of separate parts (2 testaments, 66 books, or 31,102 verses)?  Is it valid to say the Bible as a whole is important for you?  Or that some verses are individually important?

Is it all true, and accurate? When I was at university in the 2000s, there was lots of emotionally charged debate over whether the Bible is “inerrant”, and what this meant. Now it seems to be more widely accepted that “inerrant” is perhaps not the best word to use, rather that God was “intimately and creatively” involved in its writing[2].

These are all good questions! But I would say the whole Bible, as published today, is important as the collection of writings brought together by God, about him and his people.

“…still…”

Was the Bible important…

… when written, but not now in today’s world?

… for Jews and early Christians, but not now we have the Holy Spirit?

…  in me becoming a Christian, but not now that I know God?

The Bible itself says:

Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."

Matt 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.“

2 Tim 3:16 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”

Even when this world is replaced by God’s eternal Kingdom, his words will still be important.  They keep their value even when everything else has fundamentally changed.  Culture, this world, our way of life – these things are temporary, and lose their importance (although this is hard for us to accept). 

Jesus, being in very nature God, and filled with the Spirit, still valued the Scriptures highly, reading from them and teaching.  We can’t let our assurance of God within us devalue his words to us in the Bible.

Timothy shows that as well as God’s word leading me to be saved, it also helps me in the process of growing, living, and teaching.

God’s word stands, important as ever.

”…important…”

What do we mean when we say something (or someone) is important?  That it has great power or influence? Is it something I can use for my purpose, or something that has an effect on me?

Important: “necessary or of great value” / “having great effect or influence”[3]

These are interesting definitions because they talk not just about value but about consequences. Something that is important is also to have a practical effect on our lives.  The Bible does this.

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

This reminds me of my first encounters with a machete in villages in northern Peru.  It was used for clearing a path, opening a papaya, cutting toenails – everything.  It was “necessary”, and did have “great effect”.  And the Bible is even sharper!

“…for…”

There’s a difference between something being objectively important “for” me (like oxygen, exercise, government policies) and being subjectively important “to” me (like family, a view of the sea, freedom to choose what to wear).  I might not even be aware of some of the things that are important “for” me, though they are necessary and deeply affect my life – but their importance doesn’t depend on my point of view. 

The Bible, whether or not it is important “to” us, is definitely important “for” us.

Psalm 119 is full of examples where the author recognises God’s word’s great importance “for” him, but he also shows that is important “to” him.  Perhaps if we recognise our need for the Bible and its fundamental importance in our life, we start to value and love it as David did.

“…you…”

Who are you?  I’ve seen the importance of the Bible in the last few months for the following people I know:

·         Friends looking to heal their relationship

·         People setting up and leading churches

·         Quechua-speaking Christians who are receiving the full Bible in their dialect for the first time

·         Someone struggling to forgive others who hurt her, and move on

·         Teenagers thinking about relationships and decision-making

I asked Oliver (age 9), the title question and he said: “Yes, because if you don’t read the Bible you won’t understand who Jesus is”.

Whoever you are, God’s word in the Bible is vitally important for your life.

“…(and me)…”

I know that the Bible is very important for me.  I can trace its impact through my life. I’ve been taught from it and come to believe, I’ve searched for knowledge, understanding and help, I’ve got to know God more through it.  Therefore it’s also very important to me. 

But reading it is like exercise – I know it is important and has soooo many benefits, but as well as ultimately being enjoyable (both the process and result) it is a lot of work both to start and continue.  Can you see its importance in my life? Yes, usually.

I know God’s word is important for me.  Can you see its importance in my life? Again yes, usually. Hm, a bit of a challenge there for me!

“…?”

I may have asked more questions than I have answered in this blog, but I shall finish with a few more. 

The Bible is still vitally important for you. 

Did you know that?          Is it also important TO you?         What will you do about it?

Some useful books that might help you to answer these questions (full references below in the bibliography):

·         Engaging the Word (Peter M. Phillips) – lots of discussion of what the Bible is, what its purpose is, and how we engage with it.

·         How to read the Bible so that it makes a difference (Michael Parsons) – loads of helpful suggestions of varied and creative ways to engage with the Bible.

 

References & Bibliography

CAMBRIGDE UNIVERSITY PRESS., 2013. “Important”, Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (4^th ed). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

FEE, G.D. & STEWART, D., 2003. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (3^rd ed). Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI.

HARDY, L., 2020. Honey from the Comb. Birch Island Books, St. Paul, MN.

PARSONS, M., 2020. How to read the Bible so that it makes a difference. BRF, Abingdon.

PHILLIPS, M.P., 2017. Engaging the Word. BRF, Abingdon.

WRIGHT, T., 2013. Scripture and the Authority of God (2^nd ed). SPCK, London.

(Bible references use the NIVUK translation)

---

[1] notably Phillips and Parsons, read as part of this study

[2] Parsons, p.15

[3]Cambridge University Press.  

AIDIA Water Team!

We had such a great week training the new AIDIA water team - Noemi, Keila and Judy will work part-time with me this year.

Here's a video we made explaining what we've been doing over the week - and then some more details below.

Getting an idea of what the team already knew - and then how much they learned. 

I understand how water is contaminated, and why that's a problem
I know who is responsible for the water systems in the communities where we work
I can explain how to use a water filter and why it's important
I help more with people's spiritual/physical needs?
I know what the Bile says about water and sanitation
I understand what my new role is in this team
I know how to prevent diseases linked to water
(Green dots - beginning of the week. Red dots - end of the week)

Prayer for the topics we covered

Prioritising different topics for teaching

How do we need to report on our work, and who to?

Learning styles and interactive teaching

 

How well do you wash your hands?

Setting up the water filters

Who are the stakeholders? Housewives, teachers, local water board. churches, children, local council, health centre, regional development council, other AIDIA areas.

Learning how water-based parasites travel to infect people

What is holistic development?

Judy, Noemi and Keila, after their training

New water office, and list of possible workshops to give.

Vaccine!

How amazing that I as a foreigner could receive the Covid vaccine here in Peru! I went the first day it was available in Abancay for those under 30-39.  For such a large age-group I thought the queue would be horrendous, so I went an hour before they opened and it wasn't too bad. The whoel thing took about 4 hours so I still had some Saturday left.

 

Peru uses various vaccines depending on availability, and some are not accepted in the UK.  Of course you are not told which you'll get before you go, as they don't want people to pick and choose.  "The best vaccine is the one that's in your arm."  As I queued I was thinking about travel requirements and my next trip to the UK (whenever that may be) - if I get a vaccine that isn't recognised by the NHS, I potentially could need more quarantining and 2 more vaccine doses when I visit!  But I decided that my reason for being vaccinated is not to make my own life and travel easier - rather it's to reduce the risk for the people that I travel with and stay with in my work.  If there's a downside, ok I accept that as part of the "sacrifice" of being a missionary.

And after all that soul-searching, prayer and self-sacrifice: it was Pfizer! 

I still can't get it registered in the UK yet as it was administered overseas, but the NHS is working out a system for that.  At least it's registered in the Peruvian system and I managed to get them to change my country of origin from British Virgin Islands back to United Kingdom (quite an understandable error when my documents say my nationality is "British"!)

2 days ago I had my second dose. Slightly more pain but a lot less queueing.

Back to Mariscal Gamarra

Back in March last year, I visited this group of villages, and assured them I'd be back within a month.  Little did I know...

After a heavy cold (no, not Covid, according to the test!) last week postponed my much-delayed return, we finally went on Thursday.  My plan: to visit the people who had bought filters last year, as well as to generally catch up and encourage the churches.  Cesilio's plan: to deliver 300 food parcels in the various villages.

There was some drama on the way, including not knowing whether the truck was behind or ahead of us, getting stuck at some roadworks (but eventually let through) and then finding the truck broken down halfway through the new section of road being worked on!  But eventually we arrived to the villages in the valley, and it was wonderful to be greeted warmly by friends there who I've now known, amazingly, for 8 years.

I managed to visit most of my water-filter families.  I had very low expectations, as I know how important follow-up visits are and hadn't managed to do any - in some cases these expectations were justified but in others there was good news!  I fixed some broken filters, retrained people in how to clean them, and sold a few more.

We loaded up some of the food parcels into my car and drove up the mountain - previously I'd only ever walked to this village but there is a new road.  The top part had clearly suffered a recent landslide but it was passable - but I have a new top 3 entry for "scariest driving moment"!

One of the villages I visited 2 years ago had a tiny group of 5 or 6 Christians and we met together outside someone's house.  During the pandemic, the church has grown hugely, and is now around 40 people - it was so exciting to see!

People have been so generous and I came home with 3 sacks of different produce - now to share it round with friends and neighbours.

A brief look through the year.

January: Each year begins with SIM Peru’s Conference in Lima – a great time to spend with the other missionaries who are usually far away in other cities in Peru.  In January I also have a week of classes to improve my Quechua language speaking - I’ve been meeting with the same tutor for 3 years now and have a good relationship with her.

February: I had a wonderful 2-week holiday, visiting friends in Canada - a great adventure and a break.  On my return I started plans and preparation for the next few month of visits and my trip to the UK.

March:  I accompanied a group who were training leaders to distribute the Samaritans Purse Christmas shoeboxes, in the Mariscal Gamarra area where there are many growing churches. I went as the driver, but also led a Bible study and gave people correct information about the new virus, encouraging them to set up soap and water for effective handwashing, and providing water filters for more families as interest had grown since my last visit. National lockdown began on our return to the city.

April: I was concerned about young Christians in the town, who could no longer attend church and many of whom did not have the maturity or motivation to continue their own spiritual growth.  I started producing live videos with sung worship, Bible study and prayer, for young people and students.  These were well received, and I continued 3 times a week through to August.  It was great to see many people engaging with this material.  Churches in the villages continued to encourage one another with individual visits, but were cut off from the city apart from phone calls.

May: The people mostly suffering economically from the lockdown were mostly in the cities, particularly those without family or savings.  As the SIM Peru team works in the rural areas, we didn’t know where to find these people but thanks to a local Christian in the police, we were allowed out to ask local shopkeepers and friends about those in need.  We managed to help Venezuelan and Columbian immigrants and many Peruvians, with fortnightly food supplies.  We’re so thankful for the logistical and financial help we received.

June: I took on the role of SIM Peru Personnel Coordinator, helping the Peru Director in taking care of our team and those enquiring about joining us.  During lockdown and my time in the UK, there has been less work to be done but it will start to occupy me more and become a part-time role over 2021.  I continue to learn how to support the team in this way.

July: Lockdown eased in Peru and I was able to visit some friends in the city.  I also made enquiries about travel for my planned Home Assignment and at the end of the month I was able to travel to the UK.

August: I spent the month visiting my family and making revised plans for the next few months.

September: I had my SIM UK debrief and my medical, and started to visit churches and friends around the UK.  Because of Covid, I stayed longer in each place before moving on, and saw people individually rather than in large groups – this made the pace a lot slower than usual UK visits, which I appreciated.  I was very glad of the summer weather for outdoor meetings.

October: I continued with church visits, some of which were for in-person services - was a treat and an encouragement to see a variety of approaches that churches are taking.  I was also able to have some short holidays with family.

November: I had valuable time with my Mum during lockdown, and had to make my remaining 2 church visits virtual.  It was still wonderful to spend time online with old friends from churches I know well.

December: I had been praying I would be allowed to attend a week-long retreat I had booked in the autumn and, wonderfully, this was allowed to go ahead.  It was a great time of listening to God, thinking about his plans and his ways, and a reminder to trust him and stay attentive to his voice.

(In early January 2021 I was able to return to Peru, where I am writing this.)

Personnel Coordinator

Our current SIM Peru personnel coordinator is leaving at the end of the year, and in May I was asked to consider taking on the role (which is part-time).  I spent a couple of weeks praying and thinking and asking advice (including from some people at Barnabas – thank you for your encouragement!), then said yes.  June was a handover month when I started to learn my new job, and now I am doing it!

So, what does the job involve?

I see it basically in 2 parts - helping people to get here, and helping them once they are here. 

I deal with enquiries from people looking to come to Peru with SIM long-term.  This means I need to know a lot more about our teams and the different ministries we have – when things start up again and I’m able to travel I’ll hope to visit all our areas so as to be able to answer questions and advise people what the opportunities might be.  It’s quite exciting to think of helping people discover God’s plan for them.  I’ll also need to coordinate (but not necessarily always do) the orientation process when they arrive, and any information they need before arriving.

Then I’m also responsible for “People Care” within the mission –this is something that everyone is supposed to do to some extent, but key things that I’ll do are to arrange annual reviews, deal with any issues (like conflict within the team or misconduct, which I hope won’t be a big part of the job!) and encourage people to take appropriate rest and training.  I’ve not done much of this before but it’s something I’m keen to grow in, as I see how important it is for me and for others.

Where is the time coming from?

The personnel job should take up about half of my time, and a big part of my decision process was figuring out whether this would be ok.  There are a couple of roles I’ve been doing that come to an end about now, which frees up some time.  I will also spend a bit less time on water projects, but plan to still visits villages – just 2 visits a month rather than 3.  I’ll also need to reduce the work I do with youth and students, focusing more on the student group (I’ll still be involved with the youth group to a lesser extent as part of my church membership). I’ll be heading into my third term here, where the plan is to train up a team of people to take over the work.  This is another challenge coming up, but having less time available may actually be a good thing, forcing me to give responsibility to others.

How’s it going so far?

It’s quite good timing for starting the job, as I’m still working from home and unable to travel.  There are lots of SIM systems that I’m getting to grips with – although this for me may be the least challenging part of the job as I’m good at documents!  I’m looking forward to being able to visit all the people and ministries again, and am prompting myself to do things via phone if possible – talking is rarely my preferred method of communication if email is an option, but I know that a key part of the job is knowing the SIM Peru members well.

How can you pray?

• As I learn my responsibilities and work with all the different cultures and personalities in the team – that God gives me a great love for them and that people feel cared for.  
• For new enquirers, that God guides them to where he is sending them, and that I can help.
• For the SIM Peru team as a whole to care for and support one another
• For the right time-balance between different elements of my work when travel becomes possible again
• For the next few months when I was planning to be in the UK and now have no idea what will happen!

 

 

 

Abancay in lockdown

Greetings from Abancay!  Life here has reduced to a few things I am able to do, and yet the time always seems to get filled.

I’m not allowed to leave my house apart from for essential shopping, although it’s possible to apply for a government permit to carry out work.  Of course I can’t travel to the villages I would usually be working in, and there are no meetings.  This means the work I do has changed rather over these past 2 months.

I have two “projects” at the moment:

• I’m producing a facebook live video devotional 3 times a week. This is aimed at students and young professionals who might not have the motivation or skills to seek God when the church has ceased all activity (my church has no online presence).  To start with, this was a very scary thing to do but I’ve got more used to it as the weeks have gone on.  It’s great that at least some of my target group are watching, and occasionally I hear from them that they have been encouraged. 
  
  I’ve been mostly focussing on the presence of God with us and the certainty of being able to trust his goodness despite circumstances – so I’ve been thinking a lot about this too. 

• Peru, like many countries, has been working out an economic aid package for its citizens but has not always been able to reach everyone who needs it.  Lots of private organisations as well as individuals are identifying local people who need help and giving out food parcels.  The small SIM Abancay team has been doing the same, using some of the funding we’re unable to spend on our usual ministries.   So far we’ve done this twice, getting the government permission to be out and distributing 90 food parcels, many to Venezuelan refugees who receive less government help.  The idea is primarily to provide practical help but we’ve also been including Bibles and encouraging people to seek God in their difficulties.  
  
  Last week we had just run out of food boxes when we encountered another Venezuelan lady  - we still had a few little bits, which we gave her.  It was mostly sugar which she’d just come to the shop to buy!  She’s a Christian but hadn’t got involved in a church in the two years she’s been in Abancay – she also didn’t bring a Bible with her and her husband is not a Christian.  So she’s on our list for next time, and we’ll bring her a Bible.  In the meantime we prayed with her there on the pavement – it was the highlight of my week!

A typical day?

• I wake around 6.30 as I sleep with my curtains open since the lockdown – I am really appreciating windows!  
• I go downstairs to the cornershop to by fresh bread and some vegetables. 
• If it’s a video day, I get dressed and ready to present – otherwise it’s an exercise day so I find a workout video on the internet and jump around, possibly waking my downstairs neighbour! (I’ve been slowly getting to know her during the quarantine, which has been great.) 
• Then I spend some time reading the Bible.  It’s lovely to have plenty of time to do this properly – rather than a rushed 5 minutes while I’m eating breakfast and before running out of the door.  This year I’m studying Jeremiah – there’s a chapter for every week – and it’s amazing to read the relevant themes of desolation in the country, although also interesting to consider the different purposes God might have – for Judah, punishment, but for today? 
• My building has a flat roof so I tend to go up and walk around while the sun is setting and it’s a good time to phone people – sometimes from the villages I’m unable to visit, or the young people in Abancay.  Many people seem concerned about God’s purposes in this as well as about their health.  I also have people I phone just to relax! 
• I’m in much more frequent contact with people from the UK, partly because everything has gone online – including my midweek group at Barnabas! 
• There are also admin jobs to do – planning for my videos or for the food distribution project, various tasks for churches (like writing this article!). 
• I miss being able to visit people in the evenings, particularly my godson who only lives 2 blocks away, but I am learning, along with the rest of the world, that it’s possible to watch films and play games with others from different houses.

Here in Apurímac we have comparatively few cases of Covid-19, but the numbers are slowly going up.  This means that the economic impact of the pandemic has been much greater than the health impact.  Markets are the cheapest place to buy food but are also some of the most crowded places.  Financial constraints and worries mean that people often don’t respect the guidelines in place to keep them safe.  Of course we don’t know what will happen in the coming months.

It’s been helpful to see that the words in James 4:13-15 are more obviously true these days.  I’m learning to make plans only about a week or so in advance, and admit that they, as well as my very life, are in God’s hands.

Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’

This of course includes my plan to have my Home Assignment in the UK later this year!  So I may or may not see you in 2020, but in the meantime I’m enjoying “seeing” many of you more than usual.