Archie Poulos is a lecturer at Moore Theological College and a director of the Ministry Training Strategy. He has also been an active member of CMS (the Church Missionary Society) for more than 30 years. This week, Archie will be blogging from CMS Summer School in Katoomba.
CMS Summer School 2011 is only a little more than a day old and already there must be close to 2000 adults here and almost that many children. There is a real buzz about Summer School and already so much has happened. Here are some snapshots from the last 48 hours.
Church planting is no panacea
Rev Hugh Palmer, Rector of All Souls London, has been teaching us from 1 Corinthians. Going against the tide of popular sentiment, Hugh began his talk series by declaring that church planting doesn't solve church problems. In his words: "The problems in Corinth are not the problems of death (which church planting is meant to rectify). They are the problems of life - don't think it's easy riding a bucking bronco!"
He went on to remind us that it is the cross that divides humanity into those who are perishing and those who are saved. Hugh's emphasis on the eternal destiny of every person spurred me to remember the urgency of our gospel proclamation.
United in the gospel
This reminder of the urgency of the gospel message affected the way I caught up with friends over the first couple of days at Summer School. Summer School is great for catching up with friends, but what really unites us is the gospel that is our salvation and our message. Many of my friends have been gripped by this truth - and now they are back from the mission field for Home Assignment, or preparing to go to the mission field for the first time.
At a missionary session yesterday, I heard Liz Burns share about the need for Scripture teachers in schools in Tanzania. Many of the friends I spoke to after the session were thinking that perhaps they could go and teach Scripture in English as short-term missionaries. Other friends said that they were thinking about going long term.
Prayer for mission
At the main session on Sunday we joined together in prayer for Sudan, which on Sunday, January 9, began a referendum on the mainly Christian South becoming a separate state from the predominantly Muslim North. My mind goes back to East Timor and the bloodshed after their referendum, and so it was a privilege to pray with so many others for the Sudan and for God's care of these people.
From prayer for the Sudan to prayer for worldwide gospel proclamation. yesterday, we were asked whether we could commit to doing a small thing: to pray for a missionary once a week. That doesn't seem too onerous or like it would involve too much preparation. But then a CMS member Phil said that there's now not enough space on his fridge to fit all the photos of missionaries he prays for regularly. So Phil has invested in a digital photo frame which he has uploaded with missionaries' photos and put in the most prominent part of his house. The cycling photos of his missionary friends jog his memory to prayer.
What a great way to remember to pray!
