1. religion and spirituality
2. islam

GO
Lives and
communities
transformed
through encounter
with jesus christ
APR–JUN 2015
STARTING
OUT
A family’s first year on
mission together
YOUR VOTE, YOUR VOICE:
UK ELECTION
ISLAMISM VS SECULARISM
AFTER CHARLIE HEBDO
FROM JIHADI TO JESUS,
AND MORE AMAZING
STORIES
MISSION IN A TURBULENT WORLD
Making sense of risk and suffering in mission today
INTERSERVE CONFERENCE 2015
12-14 June
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NN3 6LL
Full conference: 12–14 June
One day pass: 13 June only
(a stand-alone programme with a special
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places)
Please use enclosed booking form or book online at
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of trouble. Psalm 41:1
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Poll
position
Contents
With only a matter of weeks to go before the
United Kingdom takes to the polls to choose
its next parliament, it’s a valid question to
ask: what do mission agencies have to say
to the British church and the nation in an
election year? Rather a lot, I would argue.
I am engaged at Westminster more now
than ever. Opportunities come my way to
advise parliamentarians on the nuances
needed when dealing with fraught issues
such as immigration, radicalisation and social
cohesion.
One key insight emerges from our firsthand
experience of life in our ‘parish’ – Asia and the
Arab world – where the lack of political freedom
and process highlights to us the immense value
of these cornerstones of democracy. How easy
it is to take them for granted because, like the
NHS, you only fully appreciate them when you
have lived in a country that doesn’t have them.
It is a matter of Christian responsibility that we
engage with the political process.
Another insight from the mission agency is
to point out that Christians can model good
citizenship by voting. It helps to remember
that, historically, the British parliamentary
system itself has its roots in the biblical notion
of persuasion and ‘conversion’. One person
aiming to win others to their point of view was
a key plank of early British Christian Socialism
– but this fact has become buried, along with
so much else, under a blanket of secularism
in the political arena. In other parts of the
Interserve world, decisions are often made
for the masses and driven home by force, but
our parliamentary democracy is at its best
when issues are debated so that minds can be
changed by reason and evidence rather than
by force. May the tone and tenor of the coming
election (and our part in it) bear that hallmark.
Steve Bell
National Director
4-5
6-7
8-9
Starting Out
What’s it like starting out on mission
in a faraway place? We meet the
Hawke family to find out
Cold Water Stories
How a violent jihadist became a
passionate evangelist; plus the
miracle of God’s hand at work in the
Korean diaspora
Islamism and Secularism
They’re not polar opposites, writes
Steve Bell – they’re two sides of the
same coin
10-11 ‘A Year that Changed my Life’
Interview with David Cornish who
served with Interserve’s On Track
programme last year
12-13 GB Team News
Updates from our partners across
England and Wales
14-15 Dispatches
Stories from the front lines of the
Interserve world
Interserve England and Wales,
5/6 Walker Avenue, Wolverton Mill,
Milton Keynes MK12 5TW
Tel: 01908 552 700
Interserve England and Wales is a registered
charity no.1020758
www.interserve.org.uk
[email protected]
Designed by Mark and Heather Knight
Printed by Lavenham Press
3
Starting Out
How does it feel to begin a missionary
adventure in a far off land?
Alex Hawke reflects on his family’s
first year in Cambodia.
Something we learnt in
cross-cultural missions
training is that ‘we’re never
not communicating’ to
those around us.
4
G
reetings from Phnom Penh! The fan next
to me sounds like a light aircraft taxiing
to the runway. I can hear crickets and
dogs barking. The wind has picked up ahead
of rain. A mosquito barely escapes with its life
after flying across the laptop screen. Another
day in Cambodia comes to an end.
The past twelve months have seen us all taking
in lots of new experiences and challenges as
we adjust to life here. We’ve been stretched
beyond our comfort zones many times and
humbled in many ways as we start from
scratch, learn to communicate and find our
feet. But we’ve also experienced God’s grace
and comfort when we’ve been exhausted or
occasionally wondered what on earth we’re
doing here!
Laying a good foundation
Our very early days were about doing the
practical things – settling our two boys, Isaac
and Joshua, into school and starting language
school ourselves; sorting out important visa
extensions; sourcing items we needed and
meeting a lot of people. We see this first year
as laying a good foundation for the years to
never not communicating’ to those around us.
We’re grateful for a number of conversations
already where we’ve been able to share clearly
about our faith in Christ and why we’re here.
come – language, cultural understanding,
devotion to God and a healthy family life.
Moving to a brand new culture is a very sensory
experience. It’s hot (40C most days) and the
humidity is draining, ensuring a layer of sweat
all day. We quickly got used to all the new
sights and sounds – roadside hairdressers
and vendors roaming the streets selling
snacks (including duck foetuses which are
very popular); people steering mopeds with
one hand, holding babies in the other. Not to
mention the signs of Buddhism all around –
monks strolling the streets barefoot, collecting
food offerings and praying blessings over
shopkeepers; chanting from the local temple;
shrines and ‘spirit houses’ in homes.
Why we’re here
Ellie and I don’t have specific ministry roles to
do here yet – we have been meeting people
from different organisations and projects and
have been praying a lot about our future. But
one major reason for us being here is that
God has put on our hearts those affected by
sexual exploitation. That’s something that’s
very common here. Massage parlours abound,
often fronts for prostitution. Paying for sex is
very common among Khmer men and many
young women are coerced into sex work or feel
pressured to provide for their families in this
way. Sadly, sexual violence is common and we
are deeply grieved by the situation faced by
thousands of women, boys and girls here.
Even before God opens up formal ministry
opportunities, we’re aware that simply by being
here we can have an impact. Our house opens
straight onto the street and local children will
often wander in and out. Something we learnt
in cross-cultural missions training is that ‘we’re
Keeping going
The last twelve months have been among the
most challenging of our lives so far. There have
been so many adjustments and transitions,
and it’s been difficult sometimes not having
particular roles or a set routine. We constantly
have to remind ourselves not to despise the
day of small beginnings. It’s a long road ahead
and we have to remember it’s a marathon, not
a sprint.
As anywhere, it has been a challenge to stay
focussed on God and keep Jesus at the centre.
Hebrews 12:1-3 has encouraged us so much.
As we fix our eyes on Jesus we can run with
perseverance. It’s all about him and not us. And
he has suffered so he understands both us and
the broken people around us. Please pray for
us as we begin the next twelve months of our
journey together!
Is God stirring you about beginning your
own missionary adventure? Interserve
exists to support and facilitate God’s
people as they respond to his call to
‘Go.’ Why not begin a conversation
today to discern the next steps for
you? Contact us using the details on
the back page.
5
‘As cold water to a tired soul, so is good news from a far country ‘
Prov.25:25
Cold Water
Stories
From Jihadi to Jesus
When civil war reached his home in Choueifat, Lebanon,
the teenage Jerry Rassamni knew what he had to do: take
up arms against the infidels. ‘I had to defend my land and
my existence. I had to kill or be killed,’ Jerry recalls. ‘Pretty
soon gunpowder became my outlet, my escape, my addiction.
Sometimes it manifested itself in an AK-47 assault rifle.
Sometimes it was a hand grenade, a land mine.’
LEBANON/
USA
Rassamni fought for three years. But as the atrocities mounted
up, he gradually began questioning everything he had been
taught: ‘I saw the unrestrained evil that man is capable of.
And when religion tells you that man is basically good, it is lie
of colossal dimensions. I saw the true heart of men and I was
changed by the horrors of it.’
Offered the chance to flee to America, he seized it. There
he began to study the Bible in an attempt to disprove it:
‘As I began to examine the scriptures, I came across some
revolutionary teachings. In the excellent names of Allah in Islam,
not one is “Love”. Not one is “Father”,’ Jerry says. ‘But I read
about a God who loved mankind so much, even after they
rebelled against him, he made a way that we could come before
him and call him Abba. This was not the God of Islam.’
After his dramatic conversion, he began telling his powerful
story and presenting the gospel to audiences around the world.
In his book From Jihad to Jesus, he tells the whole story and
makes a compelling appeal to Muslims to turn to Jesus.
‘God says “In the last days I would pour out my spirit on all
people. Your young men shall dream dreams. Your old men
shall see visions.” And we are seeing the fulfilment of Joel 2:28
in the Muslim world all over. Where people in Islam are seeing
visions and dreams of Christ and they’re coming out of darkness
into light.’
Jerry Rassamni’s book From Jihad to Jesus is available from
Kitab (kitab.org.uk) priced £6.99.
6
God’s hand in the diaspora
The fall of the Soviet Union left a massive vacuum in
political and cultural thought across Central Asia. Beliefs
KAzAKHSTAN
which had been taken for granted for decades were
cast aside and many people remember a widespread
openness to the gospel: ’If you threw a tract at someone
they would convert,’ says one. ‘And a small crowd would queue
up behind them to get one, too!’
But there was truly remarkable church growth in the nation of
Kazakhstan – and from a surprising source. Thousands of Muslimbackground Kazakhs came to Christ during the 1990s and
many new churches were planted. But little of this was due to
missionaries sent from the West.
Mostly it was thanks to a large Korean diaspora community which
(in the sovereignty of God) had lived in Russia dating back to the
mid-nineteenth century. These people were, like many ethnic
minorities, forcibly dispersed by Stalin across the USSR. After
1990, this community became the entrance point and platform for
Korean mission workers who planted new churches, some of which
are the largest in Kazakhstan country today.
Follow the latest news
and conversation from
Interserve at
@interserve_uk
In January we’ve been praying
for #India. Get your #365prayer
calendar here:
kitab.org.uk/2015-prayer-calendar
to join us as we #pray
Passionate about #antitrafficking?
You could #GO and serve the
affected with us! Explore –
[email protected]
30K Cambodian women have
been trafficked into forced labour
We want to see this number fall.
Do you? #PRAY #GIVE #GO
3,001,169,000 The number of
people living in the world today
who haven’t heard of Jesus
#PRAY #GIVE #GO
1,715,048 Syrian child
refugees in Lebanon, Jordan,
Iraq, Turkey, Egypt and others
in N. Africa #PRAY #GIVE #GO
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Every Monday we are
posting a new blog that will
help you prepare. Join the
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7
PRACTICAL THEOLOGY
Two sides of
the same coin
Greater secularism is not the antidote
to violent Islamism. Only the gospel
guarantees a free society, writes
National Director Steve Bell.
One is aggressively violent,
the other aggressively
alluring – but both are
enemies of the gospel.
T
his year has given us more proof – if any
were needed – that we are living through
a ‘clash of civilisations’, as Samuel P.
Huntingdon once put it. The satirical weekly
French newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which has a
track record of mocking religion and criticising
Muhammad, Islam and ISIS, was singled out
by Islamic extremists and twelve Parisians lost
their lives. Five more people died before the
attackers were finally apprehended. What we
in the UK might not know is that these were
only the most high profile examples of attacks
by groups inspired by ISIS who are exporting
jihadism in France.
What’s the answer to this senseless killing? The
Western media seems to have captured the
public mood with cries for greater secularism.
Part of that must be, so the argument goes,
total freedom of expression, especially in the
press. Hence the widespread demonstrations in
the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, which
saw 3.7 million people gathering across France
to hold placards proclaiming, ‘Je suis Charlie’.
The historical roots of all this are found in the
Europe of the 1600s, which went through the
8
process known as ‘the Enlightenment’, which
was assumed to promote rationality, creativity
and tolerance. European culture and politics
has been marinating in these values ever since.
One outcome is the assumption of ‘postChristian’ Europe that secularism is normal,
while becoming increasingly intolerant of those
with a faith-based (‘deistic’) worldview. In an
increasingly globalised world, the clash of the
ideologies of ‘faith’ and ‘anti-faith’ is becoming
more and more inevitable.
But contrary to the common perception,
secularism is not the answer to Islamic
extremism – it merely provokes it. In fact
secularism is, if anything, more insidious
than Islamism. The West’s tendency to paint
secularism as ‘good’ and Islamism as ‘bad’
disguises the fact that both ideologies
represent two sides of the same coin – one
aggressively violent, the other aggressively
alluring – but both enemies of the gospel.
And if anything, it is secularism that poses the
greater threat to Western culture because it is
eroding it from the inside like a cancer, while
provoking disdain and retribution from Islamists.
Far from being benign, aggressive secularism is
essentially anti-Christian. It systematically and
relentlessly seeks to marginalise faith in the
public space, and even eradicate the remaining
remnants of the Judeo-Christian heritage
that has shaped Europe. Back in January, we
heard the Lords Chancellor and Chief Justice
proclaim: ’Christian belief about family life
is incompatible with JP [Magistrate] duties.’
Secularists have attempted to rename the
Red Cross; change the name of Christmas to
‘Mid-winter Festival’; remove the Nativity from
schools; and sack Christians for wearing a cross
at work or offering to pray for colleagues. It is
now hardly surprising that ‘religious traditions’
are seen by secular libertarians (such as the staff
of Charlie Hebdo) as fair-game for mockery and
disdain.
The secularist’s cry for total freedom is also
completely misplaced. Total freedom – such as
the freedom to say whatever you want – is an
illusion for a truly civilised society. Ask yourself,
why was it that even the French media blurred
out the image of the injured French policeman
being shot in the head as he lay wounded in
the street outside the Charlie Hebdo office?
Libertarians need to ask themselves why even
the French media chose (for the common good)
not to show that moment. It seems that some
things are still sacred after all.
Liberal democracies promote ‘freedom of
speech’ to the status of a human right. But
this is a distortion of the meaning of ‘freedom’
according to the Judeo-Christian heritage,
which gave us the freedom in the first place.
The biblical law of Moses is clear that all ‘rights’
come with balancing ‘responsibilities’. It is only
aggressive secularism which denies that this is
the case.
Recently I engaged in conversation with
parliamentarians at Westminster about ‘antiterrorism’ legislation. My advice was that the
best way to make Britain a safer place is to
back-track and allow proper and appropriate
space in public life for the Judeo-Christian
heritage which we have been jettisoning for 50
years.
The gospel, and the gospel alone, guarantees
the equality, fraternity, liberty (and even
security) which Enlightenment thinkers thought
they could deliver without God.
ABOUT STEVE
Steve Bell is an in-demand writer and
speaker with a passion to help ‘ordinary’
Christians discuss good news with
‘ordinary’ Muslims in an attitude of grace
and truth. For regular insight on mission
to Muslims today, visit his blog Grace For
Muslims (www.graceformuslims.org).
9
‘I got a glimpse of God’s heart
for the poor’
Serving with our On Track programme,
David Cornish (PICTURED ABOVE, CENTRE)
spent a year serving with Freeset in
the slums of Kolkata, India.
The economic reality in the
very poorest parts of India
is either starve or sell your
eldest daughter.
10
David, what took you abroad to serve in
India last year?
I was working with an organisation called
Freeset in Sonagacchi, the most infamous
sex district in Kolkata. Huge numbers of
girls come down from Nepal, Bangladesh
and rural West Bengal to work in the sex
trade – probably around 10,000 at any one
time. The dream of Freeset is to see all
10,000 women set free from it – and
making sure they don’t get replaced by
others.
So how do women end up there and what
help does Freeset offer them?
Tragically the vast majority of girls end
up there because a family member sells a
daughter into the trade. It’s usually called
‘domestic work’ but it’s understood what that
really means. The economic reality in the very
poorest parts of India is either starve or sell
your eldest daughter. Freeset was set up to
offer training and jobs in businesses like bag
and t-shirt making and give the women better
choices. At the moment it helps around 200
women.
You went from one of richest places in the
world to one of the very poorest. How does
it feel to make that leap?
It’s hard to reconcile they exist in the same
world because they’re so different. But in other
ways, it showed me that perhaps they’re not
so far apart. Perhaps the amazing thing of
Sonagacchi is that, walking round, it’s just like
a normal community – there are kids playing in
the street and there are men selling stuff. The
one thing that’s different is that on both sides
of the street, all the way down on both sides,
there are women waiting for clients.
So did working there make you feel helpless
or hopeful?
Both, at the same time! Getting to see
transformation in people’s lives was really
exciting. If Freeset wasn’t there, a lot people’s
lives would have been a lot worse. It felt like
what we were doing mattered. And the work is
growing. Freeset recently launched a ‘business
incubator’ – starting new businesses to train
women from at-risk areas rather than women
who are already working ‘in the line’ in the
red light areas. The closer I got to the end of
the year, the more I wanted to push it back.
Leaving, I felt like I had only got started.
you can’t see the stars but after the rain, it’s
completely clear. Every time it rained I
thought of this verse, understanding
profoundly the reality that Jesus is going to
come again, wash this world clean, and all the
problems that look so overwhelming at the
moment will be gone.
What do you think the year did for you
personally?
It was an amazing year. I definitely got a
glimpse of God’s heart for the poor. I hope it’s
really changed me to be more generous and
to hold wealth much more lightly. I hope that
I’ll always prioritise people over my agenda. I
want to live a life that shows distinctly that I’m
living it for Christ.
What do you think your abiding memory
will be of the year?
At the start of the year I came across a poster
that said, ‘He will come to us like the rain’
which is from Hosea 6:3. It didn’t rain for the
first three months I was there, which is normal.
But I didn’t really notice it until, suddenly,
it did. Kolkata in the rain is beautiful. It
transforms the city. Everyone pushes to the
side and huddles under things, there’s space
and everything is washed clean. Normally
the sky in Kolkata is dirty with pollution and
On Track gives you the opportunity to
spend from two weeks to 24 months
serving abroad in God’s mission. From a
summer team, to a gap year to a chance
to test your missionary calling, we can
help. Start on the back page of this
issue of Go.
11
GB Team News
‘Why do so many
jihadists come
from the streets
of London?’
An Interserve Partner based
in London
When an article under this headline
appeared in the London Evening Standard
in October, it immediately caught my
attention.
That’s because this article was talking about
the very community that I work with – the
mosque that many of the suspects are
linked to is five minute’s walk from our
centre. One young man was arrested this
month from an estate that I visit regularly.
Poverty, a language barrier between Arabicspeaking parents and their locally educated
children, and gang culture are given as the
main reasons that young people are left
angry and vulnerable to online influences.
In our experience these are all true.
But it’s no good just identifying the
problem; we need to help bring real
solutions. As the Evening Standard article
also says, ‘It’s a wake-up call… we need to
do more.’
The work we do teaching English to parents
and working with children and young
people has the potential to help break
this cycle. Often we struggle to maintain
relationships with young people as they
get busier at secondary school with more
12
homework. After school clubs, Saturday
Arabic and Qu’ran classes and parental
pressure to do well at school don’t leave
much free time. But we long to see Jesus
transforming their lives and giving them
purpose. Please pray for us in these key
interventions.
First gospel in
Britain’s ‘second
language’
Peter Smithers with Word of Life
in Oldham
Until recently, a million British people had
no way of hearing the gospel story of Jesus
in their own language. It sounds hard to
believe, but it’s true. Mirpuri (sometimes
called Pahari) is the mother tongue of
1.5% of the UK’s population, making it
Britain’s unofficial second language. It is the
language of the hearts and spirits of the
majority of Britain’s Pakistani population.
Yet until now, no translation of the Bible
in Mirpuri has ever been attempted – not
even a single gospel. Mirpuri is an unwritten
language, so we have had to take an
innovative route to make Luke’s gospel
accessible – a set of three DVDs featuring
an extended version of the ‘Jesus’ film, with
a Mirpuri narration of the scripture text of
the gospel. We’re delighted that, after years
of prayer and hard work, part of the Bible is
finally available in Mirpuri. One of the first
Mirpuri speakers to watch the DVDs, Karim,
enthused, ‘I felt goose bumps and a feeling
of warmth as I heard the story of God in my
mother tongue.’
the series and will be available shortly.
‘Our country puzzles about how to respond
to home-grown religious fanaticism,’
says Rev Canon Phil Rawlings, director of
the Manchester Centre for the Study of
Christianity and Islam. ‘Will the church take
up the challenge to share the alternative –
the way of Jesus so relevantly portrayed in
St Luke’s gospel in Mirpuri?’
The gospel can be obtained from Word of
Life (word-of-life.org), a ministry dedicated
to providing Scripture materials to share
with those who would not normally read the
Bible. Genesis is the next DVD planned for
More mission to
Muslims through
Friendship First
Our Friendship First course is continuing
to grow as churches all across the UK are
discovering this great resource for sharing
Jesus with Muslim neighbours.
Sales of the course pack grew by 50%
in 2014 and courses in cities including
Manchester, Birmingham, London and
Dublin have attracted over 1,600 people.
‘If you’d have told me a year ago that I was
going to be making friends with Muslims, I
would have laughed’, said a recent course
participant. Another, a Muslim-background
believer, said: ‘Up until now I just feared
them. But God has given me a love for my
own people again, and a heart to get to
know them.’
Friendship First is an interactive six-session
DVD-based course for anyone looking to
discover how to share Jesus with Muslims.
Learn more about the course and order
from: friendshipfirst.org
Feedback from the course shows that people
are being inspired and equipped, resulting
in more mission to Muslim people in their
neighbourhoods.
Please pray for Interserve partners working in Muslim majority communities across
the UK. Ask God that their work would build bridges, calm tensions and lead to many
Muslims finding Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
13
Dispatches
Stories from the front lines of the Interserve world
Heightened security for schools
At the beginning of January, Pakistan’s schools and colleges
reopened after an extended closure. The tragedy at Army Public
School, Peshawar on 16 December 2014 killed more than 140
people including about 130 children. It means that all schools
are now required to have high walls topped by rolls of barbed
wire. There are security gates, armed guards on duty and a
sniper on the roof watching for intruders. Parents and children
alike have been very fearful at this beginning of the new term.
Some schools have not yet opened as they are required to finish
all the new security provision before inspectors visit and issue a
certificate. Of course those who were behind the attack in
Peshawar would be glad for education to continue to be
disrupted, so please pray with us for safety and protection and
for the confidence of children, teachers and parents to be
restored, as well as for healing and comfort for those who
survived the December attack.
Abandoned and adopted
Let me introduce you to a little girl – we’ll call her Karina, writes
a partner in Asia. This little baby was born to a Russian homeless
woman who at my request came to the rehabilitation centre run
by some friends about a month before she delivered. Sadly, the
mother set out to leave one day after giving birth, saying she did
not want the baby and would give it to a children’s home. This
would not have been a good thing for little Karina, so my friends
decided to adopt her. The mother officially gave up any claims
on her baby signing a statement to say so and left. Karina is now
about six weeks old and couldn’t be more loved. My friend,
already a mother of three grown up children, has suddenly
regained new life and vigour. I am the honoured Godmother and
whenever I ask how their baby is they say, ‘She is your baby as
well!’ – so she is my baby too!
14
Tributes paid to Hester Dain, the ‘Marathon
Missionary’
A large number of Interserve home partners gathered at the
funeral of Hester Dain (née Quirk) at the end of February in West
Sussex. Her life of service to others embodied the very essence of
Interserve’s commitment to long-term mission worldwide.
In all, Hester gave over 60 years of her life to mission. Beginning
with a teaching post in Lahore, Pakistan in 1952, her missionary
journey took her to India and Bangladesh before she returned to
serve the BMMF (later Interserve) office in the UK. While based in
New Delhi, Hester travelled widely and is remembered very fondly
by many for her care and wise counsel. Later in life she married
Bishop Jack Dain, UK Director of BMMF.
‘Hester always impressed not just with her poise and ability but
with her care for people and her love for her Lord,’ said Basil
Scott, who led the tributes. ‘Hester never regretted leaving all to
follow where God would lead her. And why should she when you
consider the places she went to, the roles she fulfilled, the people
she met and the amazing things she saw God do.’
A dream fulfilled, a legacy passed on
It was our parent’s wish that after they died, the proceeds from
the sale of their home would be used to help missionaries, writes
Interserve supporter Myles Wilson. They spent their entire
married life committed to supporting mission so it was fitting that
their last gift to mission would be their largest. They dreamt of
providing somewhere where missionaries could go for a break, to
recharge the batteries away from the stresses of life in the region.
Following our mum Annie’s death in 2005 (our dad Joe had died
10 years earlier) we started looking at how their wish could be
best fulfilled. It took some time but eventually we discovered an
organisation set up by Interserve workers to care for missionaries
in one country in south Asia. After lots of discussions, my brother
David, sister Ruth and I were delighted last year to release
the funds so that a fantastic property could be bought on the
outskirts of one of the country’s major cities. A safe and peaceful
place, it perfectly fulfilled our parents’ dream. At time of writing,
over 140 people have already stayed in the guest house. We feel
blessed by God that he facilitated this transfer of funds from one
generation to the benefit of the next.
Your financial gifts make a huge difference to our work around the world. For more
information about supporting Interserve through a legacy, please contact Alastair McIver
by email at [email protected].
15
HOW LONG WOULD
YOU GO F OR?
LONG
TERM
INTERSERVE.ORG.UK/LONGTERM
lo n g t e rm
SHORT
TERM
INTERSERVE.ORG.UK/SHORTERM
Up to 24
months
3 Years +
The Bible tells us to go and make disciples of all nations
(Mt.28:19). This is no small task and we all know that this
is not something that can be achieved overnight. We believe
that this requires significant, long term investment into
people’s lives.
Business As Mission: Creatively use your teaching, business
and medical skills for God.
Early Retirement: Invest your life experience in mission.
Anti-Trafficking: Raising up the marginalised,
disenfranchised, disabled and trafficked.
Fighting Extreme Poverty: Sharing life with the homeless,
hungry and thirsty.
Unreached People Groups: There are still 7,701 U.P.G.’s in
the world (see www.joshuaproject.net). Help us change this.
Church Planting: Working in frontier church planting
situations with the local, national church.
At various times many of us are challenged to get involved in
mission. Our On Track programme helps people who are not
able or not ready to commit long-term to make an impact
serving God cross-culturally.
YOU COULD BE...
INVESTING
IN THE
MARGINALISED
BEFORE YOU
START YOUR
CAREER
Exploring
mission and
whether it’s in
your future
INVESTING
IN ORPHANS’
Helping children
with disabilities
in Cambodia
HAVING A TRIP
TAILORED TO
YOUR SKILLS
AND PASSIONS
LIVES IN INDIA
Summer Teams (2-4 weeks): You will be amazed by what
God can do in a short time.
INTERSERVE.ORG.UK/ADVOCATE
God is challenging more and more people to serve in the
UK. Whether you are planning to travel abroad in the future
or see the UK as your mission field, there are opportunities
for you now.
Personalised (2-12 months): Fresh out of education?
Planning a Gap Year? Looking to finish your career in style?
Whatever your situation, you could serve in a placement set
up around your skills and passions.
Mission Electives (2-4 months): See your elective as
something bigger. Work with missionary doctors and explore
mission for your future.
On Track Plus (12-24 months): This is a stepping stone
from short to long term mission. A bespoke adventure aimed
to challenge, equip and mentor you for the future.
INTERSERVE UK
The world is on our doorstep. Our teams are working in
cross-cultural communities, serving the local church and
providing both expertise and passion. You could be, too.
PRAYER GROUPS
It is no understatement to say that without the prayer of our
supporters we could not do what we do. Even if you are not
the one ‘going’, your prayers make all the difference.
ADVOCATE
We can use our skills and passion to mobilise more people
to go, give and pray. Join our network of encouragers to see
how you can help bring about God’s great mission.
16
TO DISCUSS ANY OF THESE OPPORTUNITIES
CALL US ON
01908 552700
OR EMAIL
[email protected]
Twitter:
@interserve_uk
Facebook:
facebook.com/
interserve