I am finally reading Marilynne Robinson's novel, Gilead. I had heard that it is remarkable because she captures the inner experiences of ministry so well. My bookmark sits at page 22, holding my place while I gather these thoughts, because what I heard is true. The form of the book is a letter written by …
Where are the frontlines of missions today? That might not be a fair question. I’m not exactly sure how we would go about giving a straightforward geographical answer to that. But I’m using the question to (hopefully) bait you into some surprise when I suggest that we spent a Sunday afternoon on the frontline of …
Just a mile down the road from my home, housed inside the lovely red brick buildings of Westminster College, is the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide. The goal of the Centre is to "encourage people...to engage with, encounter, and enquire about the global nature of Christianity in its historical development and in the contemporary world." …
The short version: this excellent book is both insightful and accessible. Jesse Zink is specifically focused on the surprising growth of Anglican Christianity amongst the Dinka people of (the southern) Sudan during the conflict of the 1980s and 90s. He connects this growth to three factors brought on by the Second Sudanese civil war: increased …
Continue reading Christianity and Catastrophe in South Sudan, by Jesse A. Zink
The short version: this is an excellent book which situates Apolo Kivebulaya (c. 1864-1933) decisively within his East African context. You will get Kivebulaya’s story here, but this is more of a ‘study’ than a straightforward biography. The value of spending so much time on how we understand Kivebulaya, rather than just on the man …
Continue reading The Mission of Apolo Kivebulaya, Emma Wild-Wood
In a pandemic setting, a gathering of 4,200 people from just under 200 countries sounds like a terrifyingly bad idea. We have had a whole different set of opportunities through Zoom events during lockdowns, but what have we missed? What will we lose if we do not gather as we did before all this? It …
A few years back, Caleb and I took a trip to see Christiane while she was living in East Africa. There was a lot about this trip to hold onto, but our visit to the UN Refugee Camp in Kakuma stands out. This was a first step into a world that I knew only from Hollywood …
Continue reading They Are Singing Paul’s Song in South Sudan
In May of 1930, Festo Kivengere is about 10 years old and has just passed his first set of school exams. The school gifts him a copy of the Gospel of Luke and he carries it everywhere, reading while he and his friends watched the cattle under their charge. There is so much to love …
The short version: a helpful study of the preaching of a fascinating and inspiring figure. Because this is the published version of Olwa's PhD thesis, most of it makes for fairly tough reading. The first three chapters have broader appeal but if you want a brief introduction to Kivengere, you are probably better off with …
Continue reading Missionary of Reconciliation, by Alfred Olwa
Michael Haykin is one of my favourite Church historians and I am often encouraged and helped by what he says. Today, he posted the following call on Facebook: This kind of realization is the impetus behind our family's direction and is the reason that I am here studying in the UK. I would only add …
Too Small A Thing 