Canon John Musaasizi writes from the Diocese of Mityana in Uganda: “What we are seeing with our own eyes as far as Rooted in Jesus is concerned is an apparent manifestation of God’s answers to your prayers and prayers of other God loving people spread widely. We thank you very much.” The Diocese plans to host a second Rooted in Jesus conference later in the year. To read some of John’s recent news, including the remarkable story of a man who gave his life to Christ following the violent death of his wife, visit the Rooted in Jesus blog.

We have just received a report from the Diocese of Lango, Uganda, where Diocesan Coordinator Ronald Eguny has been visiting some of the Rooted in Jesus groups founded just under a year ago. Ronald reports that there are now groups in 48 parishes, and he shares many testimonies of changed lives from group members– read them here on the  Rooted in Jesus BLOG.

We have also received news from the Diocese of Fianarantsoa, Madagascar: Revd Pez Raobison writes to say that he has just had the joy of baptising Alpha and his brother, the first two new Christians in Ambositra, where Pez and his wife Louise are using Rooted in Jesus to plant a new church.

Meanwhile Nicole Corlew reports from South Africa that “RinJ Junior continues to be used in the following dioceses: Cape Town, False Bay, St. Mark the Evangelist, Mthatha and Pretoria. The Province has embraced the Decade of Intentional Discipleship initiative, and plans are in place to offer training over the next three years for leaders of Rooted in Jesus, Rooted in Jesus Junior and The God Who is There in each of the Province’s 28 dioceses. We see all of these resources as being integral to discipling people and teaching them to disciple others. We are very excited about the next three years!”

The Anglican Consultative Council made the following formal Resolution last year: ‘In the light of the Gospel and theological imperative to make disciples, the ACC recognizes the need for every province, diocese and parish in the Anglican Communion to adopt a clear focus on intentional discipleship and to produce resources to equip and enable the whole church to be effective in making new disciples of Christ Jesus.’ Rooted in Jesus and The God Who is There are both endorsed by the Report as recommended resources for discipleship training.

The Mathetes Trust was registered as an independent UK charity by the Charity Commission on 24th October 2016. The Trustees are Roger Morgan (Director), Mike Cotterell and Andrew Evans. Roger was for many years Vicar of Holy Trinity Leicester, and from 2008 to 2016 worked with ReSource. Mike is the Vicar of St Paul’s Church in Slough, and has long been associated with Rooted in Jesus, leading teams to South Africa, Tanzania and South Sudan. Andrew is the Vicar of St Katharine’s Church in Holt, and has been a key member of EQUIP over a number of years; Andrew has also been involved in missions with Roger. The Trustees held their first full meeting on 13th December 2016.