As the country begins to awaken from its enforced hibernation, we have begun to travel again. Our EQUIP groups are still meeting by Zoom, but we are increasingly able to plan real, live events with and for those we support. Roger Morgan has just spent a weekend in Kent helping a tiny but growing village church prepare for its first ever parish mission, working with a determined clergy couple and a dynamic group of young church members. ‘We have not had a prayer opportunity until now, and people’s response was amazing!’, they wrote afterwards; ‘a lady who didn’t attend on Sunday said her friend (who did) wouldn’t stop talking about it!’ And that, of course, is what we want – a world in which people talk about what’s going on in the local church…
A new book for Rooted in Jesus
We have continued to work hard on Rooted in Jesus, with 7 conferences ready to go as soon as circumstances permit. We have printed additional books for the growing number of groups in Uganda, Kenya, Madagascar and Tanzania, and have published translations in several new languages as well as updating editions for some of the older translations. But the main news to share is that we have written a brand new book. It’s called Tools for the Job, and its aim is to provide an ongoing template for groups which have completed the 4 books of the Rooted in Jesus programme and are now engaged in various forms of ministry, but wish to continue meeting together periodically to support and pray for one another and continue to grow in their faith. To find out more please visit our blog.
The new world of Zoom
Zoom is one of the new tools we will probably all want to keep on using into the future. It’s early days, but we have been experimenting with virtual small groups and training events. Bishop Martin and Colleen Breytenbach have been running a Zoom Rooted in Jesus group in Cape Town, which is going very well – if anything, they say, people are able to respond more deeply from the familiar environment of their own homes. They are now designing the first Rooted in Jesus virtual leadership training, adapting the usual conference material into a Zoom-friendly format.
Here in England, Ian and Sue Cripps have had some very positive feedback from the Beyond Ourselves course which they ran over Zoom for those who signed up after a virtual enquiry event at which Roger spoke. ‘Each week, every topic and associated exercise has spoken to me and I have found my faith strengthened and enhanced’, wrote one participant afterwards; ‘Having experienced this course, I would recommend it to anyone who wants to explore their faith, whether coming from none or little faith, or having been brought up in a Christian family.’
So here we are in a new season. We’d like to close by sharing some news we received recently from Ven Hectorina Tsotetsi of the Diocese of the Free State in South Africa:
“Let me share the most exciting and shocking news that happened on the day of Pentecost, where [a member of our] RinJ small teams donated 50K [rand, ie £2.5K] as a testimony of life changing and thanksgiving to God. Her reason for donating such a huge amount of money is that she nearly died without accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour. She thanks God for the transformation of becoming a new creation. God is good all the time.”
Indeed he is.
The Mathetes Trust 