Leadership a la Nev Wilshire from the Call Centre.

I watched with total amazement the other night BBC3's the Call Centre.

 The leadership approach of Nev Wilshire the CEO of Save Britain Money Group http://www.nevillewilshire.com/. 

At times he made David Brent of the Office seem sane and balanced. He seemed to break every HR law known to man. In his arsenal of faux pars were firing staff for not singing, inappropriate comments to female staff, allowing junior managers to bully, and parading a fragile young girl through the sales force to find her a date "coz she was being a miserable bastard". 

And yet I loved him, and thought he led a really happy ship. This workplace was no corporate suit outfit. He wanted laughter, he loved banter, he created speed dating nights, and staff briefing peptalks called "Shit Sandwiches" where the staff cheered and clearly wanted to be there. The place turned on his character, a classic level 4 leader. No blank faced products of Jim Collins here. This was Nev's Ship and he wanted the crew to be happy, because " Happy people sell things". 

A call centre is a place for the thick skinned and in deprived South Wales getting a job in a former mining community in Britain's service industries is a tough call. The office culture is key to not only the companies success but also the ability of people to be able to sell. 

His paternalistic approach to leadership wasn't learned in a book, it is instinctive and is the Xfactor that makes workplaces and churches good places to be and empowers people to find their place and thrive. 

As I watched Nev he exhibited strong pastoral skills. He cared when people were unhappy. He was committed to people finding their place in the organisation. He guarded people who were vulnerable from bully's and philanderers, he watched over his flock.  He wanted good leadership, he wanted results, and most of all he knew his workforce was his key asset. He took care of training himself and wanted to ensure that his leadership pipeline was well attended to. He set the tone, style and ethos of the place by getting people to sing-a-long to the Killers. Many would clearly hate him but his personal pain meant he understood people and gave people second chances. But what grabbed me most about Nev was his authenticity. He was believable and love him or hate him he was real, and people could access him, and so they trusted him. 

All these issues are things that leaders might well reflect on. 

Who sets the social tone of your organisation? 
Who is the gateway in and the pathway out. 
Who is working with the overlooked, sad people are infectious and set an atmosphere. They need care. 
Is the organisation regularly celebrating all our successes. 
Is there plenty of laughter and does banter do good or is it a tool for bullying of the weak. 

Lastly am I the leader authentic, accessible and believable. 

The Cwmbran Outpouring - The Humble Poor Believe

I first heard of the recent events in Cwmbran three weeks ago from an Elim Pastor friend here in Derby. He told me over lunch one day of a local Elim church in Wales that had seen a man walk out of his wheel chair and then subsequently people had been coming to Christ every day for a month. 

Now a Pentecostal Church claiming it is having a Revival / Outpouring/ Visitation is really nothing new. I have been around this sort of stuff since 1994 when I was deeply impacted by the Toronto or Fathers outpouring in 1994. So when three weeks later I hear of the numbers who were coming to Christ was not abating I decided to go and look for myself. I went with my Elim Pastor friend and also the Pastor of a New Frontiers Church in the City. 

So what did I find....  Is it Revival, is it a move of God? 

Firstly, I have to say I have been in meetings far more powerful in terms of the manifest presence of God. However I was hugely impacted by this event on several fronts. 

1. By the Humility.

 Cwmbran is not a nice middle class, typical home of evangelical Christianity. It is a very poor Welsh town in the Valleys. The two buildings of note near the "Tin Pentecostal Cathedral" were Lidl's and Aldi's sure sign you aren't in the smartest neighborhood.  The area is surrounded by poor social housing and the first thing that impacts you when you arrive at Victory church is, this move of God is touching people from the poorest areas of society. The first that I have seen in my lifetime among a people group I long to see reached with the Gospel. Never have I seen so many tattoo's in a church service!

The humility of it's Pastor Richard Taylor also impacted me. He was clearly submitted to, God, his denomination and to his peers. He has clearly realized he had been given something from God that he had to steward it with a Holy submission. He publicly invited correction from General Superintendent of the Elim Churches John Glass to oversee him and the church while this move was happening. 

2. By the Simple preaching of the Cross of Jesus and the power of the Gospel to save.

Here I was deeply challenged. Never have I heard a congregation cheer when the text of a Bible is read.  John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life, was announced. 

For this congregation this was a personal reality; they sang, clapped, prayed and gave God glory like people who had genuinely been saved from Hell. These were the humble poor as Wesley said who had believed. My favorite quote of the night from Pastor Richard was, "how the Gospel works is like this; Jesus washes you in His blood so God by His Holy Spirit can get inside of you and change you from the inside out". 

When talking on Revival and comparing what is happening with other movements he said, "we aren't having gold dust and diamonds, the only diamonds we have here are these precious souls."  

I had stepped back into the simple Gospel that I heard as a young man of 25. The Gospel that changed me from a sinner to a saint and put a love for Christ in my heart. It was simple message, full of the cross, full of the love of Christ. It was a "Primitive" Pentecostalism, a  foursquare Gospel, Jesus was healer, savior, baptizer in the Holy Spirit and future coming King. The message that has seen 800,000,000 souls world wide caught up in the greatest move of God in History since the Spirit first fell on a mixed group of believers in Bonnae Brae Street. 

3. It was rooted in a stream of Revival. 

It is too early to call this Revival or awakening, I do not know if it has spread to other churches in Wales or elsewhere. In an internet age the possibility humanly for that to happen is easy. However Pr Richard Taylor was drenched in the Welsh Revival narrative and clearly longed with all his heart for God to do it again. This church had clearly prayed and sought God. it had dug ditches to it's community and were church planting in other areas. As they sung I could hear in my heart, the distant sound of another song that had thronged the Valley's in the past in 1904, whispering in the rafters of the Tin cathedral. 

Here is love vast as the Ocean, loving kindness as a flood. when the prince of life our ransom shed for us His precious Blood.... 

My hear leapt, would the valleys come aflame again, Lord our nation needs a Holy touch from the King. 

4. They were reaching the people no-one else is reaching. 

It was this fourth area that gripped me. Leading a City Mission, we work day in day out with the neediest of our City. Chaotic lifestyles, cynical rejection of any God, as life is tough. Drugs, drink and casual sex is the lot we see people live for on the whole. To be honest we see pitiful little fruit for our extensive labour. Here in Cwmbran these people we love so dearly were coming to Christ in their hundreds. From where I sat, I looked at a dual heritage girl in her early twenties, tattoos on her arms, teeth missing where methadone had done it's work of destruction. As the Gospel was preached I watched the tears stream down her face as she received Christs love. My mind went back to the accounts of Whitfield preaching to the miners in Bristol, where this Hymn was written. 

He speaks, and listening to his voice,
 new life the dead receive;
 the mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
 the humble poor believe

Is it Revival? An outpouring a major move of God... I don't know, but what I do know is this where once they were blind , now they see, and Lord my prayer is do it in Derby, do it in our nation. 

Why I hate Starbucks Suspended Coffee's, Comic relief, and Chuggers. (High Street Charity Fundraisers) And why Christians should avoid them because of the resurrection.

I chucked this title on Facebook today as my thoughts were deeply focused on John 20: 24-29 The encounter of St Thomas and the Risen Christ.

My thought's were particularly rooted in the sheer physicality of His presence among the disciples in their time of greatest fear and loneliness. I was most struck that he invited Thomas to touch His wounds. I had been contemplating  upon the picture by Caravaggio and felt myself deeply drawn by the Holy Spirit into this piece of art.

 The look of invitation to touch and to experience Christ's proximity is stunning. The sheer physicality of the finger touching the wound and yet still Thomas avoids his even more intently loving stare.

Touching the poor is not a vicarious experience, it is a sacrament that Christ invites us into, for those who know His resurrection love. Woundedness is not a vicarious experience it is an intensely felt reality. God in Christ allows our wounds to pass through New Birth with us so that others can observe Christ healing us through the process of sanctification. Our lives being transformed  by the Holy spirits power is Gods living heremeneutic of the Gospel to a world that needs to touch and see for itself.

Charity translated from the Greek word Agape is a self giving, self losing, other centered, giving of one self for the good of others motivated and empowered  by the love of God.

So why do I hate suspended Coffee's? Personally I love Coffee but I find myself questioning who is the benefactor of this seemingly gracious act of purchasing a coffee for someone less fortunate to have. Surely this is a really noble thing? Possibly it is, but the resurrection messes everything up for me. The wounds of Jesus and His invitation to touch them messes this suspended Coffee thing totally up. The reality is that the road to heaven is full of mixed motives and Alms giving is probably the most rocky of all rocky roads.

 You see I can buy a thousand coffee's and feel very virtuous and not have to share life with the benefactor. I can text a tenner to Lenny Henry but never touch someone with AIDS. I can get the bloomin chugger off my back as I walk down the Street by giving them a minute and a tenner a month. I can do all that and never touch a persons wounds. But, more than that they never touch mine.

Working with the poor is an invitation to come and be with Christ among His beloved. He really, really does love them and for those who touch them and come and be with him among them they find healing. Healing from our self centredness, healing from our materialism, healing from our isolating ourselves from their very real world. Healing from our blindness to the reality that this is the majority of peoples lives. Healing from our living a vicarious Christian life through professional Christians. Healing from the truth that we are very lonely people who live in a performance driven world. Healing from our ravenous need of stuff to validate our being.

You see the truth is I hate these things not because they are bad, (Comic relief has raised nearly a Billion quid) I hate them because they reveal my desperate poverty and lack of real charity....

Right off to Starbucks for a free cuppa .                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Coming Out of My Anglican Closet....

Coming Out of My Anglican Closet 

It was just over two years ago that I had a profound spiritual encounter.  I was participating in a Communion service at one of the Anglican churches that I preach at regularly.

Placing a piece of bread in the hands of the communicants coming forward to take communion, I uttered the words of the liturgy "The body of Christ broken for you."  As I did so I began to weep, this was not a usual weeping, but a weeping that went to the core of my being. I suddenly became very conscious of the presiding Christ in this act. I had touched something very ancient, and deeply merciful. 

Afterwards, as I reflected on this holy fear filled my heart " Oh heck this isn't just a remembrance." 

15 months ago, I went to Ffald Y Brenin House of Prayer and Retreat Center in Wales. I have blogged on this elsewhere. Here again I had a profound encounter of liturgy in the power of the Holy Spirit. From this encounter I began to embrace in my personal prayer life contemplative prayer, liturgical living, forming a rule of life, daily office, and other discipline's in prayer. 

However, it was discovering Common Worship the daily prayer cycle of the Church of England that I found beautifully crafted liturgy.  For several months I have used this very helpful liturgy to daily walk with the Lord. 

As the months passed, I remember a Baptist minister friend of mine say to me;

"Ally I'm sure you're a closet Anglican." 

His question hit me like a brick.... Was I?

 At first I think it would have been easier if he said I was Gay or a Hindu, as I was a non conformist of the most rabid sort. Raised as a Christian in the Restoration movement, ardent in my position on believers Baptism, the priesthood of all believers and holding to an Anabaptist position of Church and State.  I am a committed Evangelical and Charismatic as are many Anglicans. So, I began to ask myself some hard questions. Was I an Anglican after all, some discovery's awaited me? 

My theology, was moving as I aged, an encounter with my bookshelves.

Studying at Master level of theology opens you up to many other thinkers and perspectives on theological and Biblical interpretation. As I gazed at my book shelves several  prominent writers shone back at me. The first NT Wright, John Stott, J I Packer, all Anglicans, these giants had shaped my Biblical theology.

Then there were the missiologists that were influencing me.  Michael Moynagh, Steven Croft, Graham Cray, Chris Neal, Johnny Baker, Leslie Newbiggin, Rolland Allen...Evangelist's...... Oh No.... Nicky Gumbel, J John, and Michael Green. heck, all Anglican's........

However it was in the area of Social Action that I was most being drawn to Anglicanism. Their polity of commitment to geography and the church in a place as apposed to a gathered church was rapidly becoming my firmly held belief. I believed that God did want an expression of his church in every community, however their focus wasn't just about a building but to be involved in every area of life.

 Anglicans have a  holistic Gospel. One of their organisations that I had really fallen in love with was the Church Urban Fund. This organisation was fighting poverty at the most grass roots level. I particularly liked the fact that finance was not the decider of where they did mission and the diocesan structures helped that to happen. 

Next the prophets began to speak. 

As I prayed, I began to hear the call, feeling the draw of God towards Anglicanism. 

Letting go of my family of Community Church Derby and Salt and Light Ministries was very hard, I love all they are about as a family of Churches, full of missional zeal. Could I be an Anglican and not lose friends? 

Little did I know that God knows my heart. It was this January that he spoke prophetically to me through Roy Godwin of Ffald Y Brenin that: 

"I was to make myself of no reputation, to go and be among the poor not just live among them, and that God would give me many brothers." 

Reassurance now flooded my heart God had started to speak not only to me but others were hearing it as well. I then received other prophetic words in the next three weeks. 

This was no longer a vague sense or a possible journey but an issue of obedience. God was calling me to move from Community Church Derby and join an inner city church in Normanton in Derby. Simultaneously I sensed god calling me to ordination as a Pioneer Minister in the C of E. 

The leaders of EMCF, Mark Mumford, Aled Griffith and the guys who form the Apostolic Team I was a part of have been wonderful, affirming and blessing what God is speaking. They have been gracious and enormously patient with me, (with a hint of mockery about me wearing robes). 

5 years at CCD have been wonderful. It is a brilliant church, with a great vision and excellent leadership, we love this gracious family of God. It has been a place of healing, support, love, fun and wonderful encounter with the Holy Spirit's power, we will miss it. 

My wife, Nicky has been amazing as well wonderfully following me in this journey, patiently understanding that this is Gods call on my life and laying down her life for that. 

So the proposed journey is this. Next Saturday I get confirmed as an Anglican at Derby Cathedral. From Easter we will begin to worship at St Augustin's Church once a month making the final move in July/ August when we are prayed out of EMCF. 

Nicky will still go to CCD once a month for a period of time after September as we still have many friends there. We will be staying as a part of the Salt and Light family as a couple, attending Celebrations and Transform Camps. 

So what of the future journey?

I will be staying I hope long term at Derby City Mission as Chief Executive. 

Firstly finishing my Mth, and the process towards ordination will hopefully unfurl in the coming months.

My hope for the future is to walk with the Fresh Expression agenda across denominations seeing great cross fertilization of mission across the City. 

 Secondly to see Social Action, increase at community level through local churches through closer links with the Church Urban Fund. 

 Lastly through Derby City Mission to see Fresh Expressions of Church emerge all over Derby's most deprived areas.

 If God will be gracious to me my prayer is.

That this life, that he so graciously saved 27 years ago from a life ruined by sin, might be used for the rescuing of our City's poorest, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. 

Approaching Lent for New Monastics, Prayer, Penitence, Almsgiving and Self Denial

 Approaching Lent Prayer, Penitence, Almsgiving and Self Denial. Some Helpful Aids to guide you through the discipline of lent for New Monastics. 

The 40 days leading to Easter are possibly one of the most marked events in the Christian Calendar and through the Centuries Christians have celebrated it in many ways. The season of lent is based on the 40 days that Jesus sent by the Holy Spirit into the desert to fast and pray and to engage in Spiritual warfare with the Devil. The Early church and especially early monastic movements saw this as a key time of spiritual warfare and gave themselves intensely to prayer and fasting for Evangelistic as well as other forms of breakthrough. The stories accounted by Bede of  St Cuthbert  of Lindisfarne on how he would wage war in Lentide against the Demon hordes are wonderful reading. Here it is in pdf for free. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/bede/history.pdf

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; 9 and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ” 11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.1. 

Lent has traditionally been marked by 4 areas of spiritual discipline. 

Penitence: Ash Wednesday has traditionally literally been marked by the burning of the previous Easters palm crosses to make ashes.  These ashes are then placed on the head of the penitent believer as they confess their sins in repentance towards God. ELnt is a time of inner reflection and allowing the Holy Spirit to access the deepest area of our lives and causing us to say  Lord Have Mercy Christi Have Mercy Lord Have Mercy. 

Prayer: Many at this time would engage in extra prayer and I have to confess that for me,  far and away the best liturgical tool is Common Worship of the Church of England. Using this you can keep up to 4 offices a day, regular pauses with God to reflect and invitie him into your day. It comprises of many different forms of prayer from Lectio Divina, prayer of examen at Compline, extempore prayer and intercessions at all four offices, as well as guided reading of scripture and recitation of the Psalms. The day begins with the Benedictus the prayer of Zecharaiah and the evening with the Magnificat the prayer of Mary, camping points of promise every day. There are also spaces within each office to practice the presence of God in just waiting for his presence in silence a wonderful discipline to embrace. Liturgical prayer is a wonderful antidote to shopping list praying. Anyhow it exists as an Iphone and andoird app, as well as being available on line here is the link.  http://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/join-us-in-daily-prayer.aspx 

Self Denial/ Fasting. 

Denying our deepest desires to embrace the presence of god is a discipline that reaps enormous rewards. Human motives are very mixed in Fasting. Many do it to lose weight or because they think it curries favour with God. No fasting is simply denial of legitimate desire because you have a greater desire to seek first the kingdom of God. So how does it work in Lent normally on shrove Tuesday we clear all the temptation out of the house by having a bit of a feast hence the tradition of pancakes! Then Ash Wednesday the fasting begins it may be food, it may be TV, Alcohol, social media a whole host of things but generally. The aim is to fast so you have more time for God. You let go of things to embrace others. 

Lastly Almsgiving. 

I generally observe that this is the area most neglected. Yet it is central to Lent that we remember the poor. In 2013 in Derby many many are in poverty and the prophet Isaiah had a lot to say about fasting, and especially in relation to  justice and the poor. 

 58 :1 Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. 

2 Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God. 

3 “Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers. 

4 Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high.

 5 Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself?

Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? 

6 Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 

7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? 

8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator [180] shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. 

9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, 10 if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. 

11 The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. 

12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.

13 If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs; 

14 then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.2

This Lent I would really encourage you to embrace this area of Christian Discipline, the area of Almsgiving, and here is a great tool to help you from the Church Urban Fund. 

http://www.cuf.org.uk/sites/default/files/church_resources/lent/Lent%202013%20FINAL.pdf

References: 

1. Harper Bibles (2011-11-22). NRSV Bible with the Apocrypha (Kindle Locations 57469-57484). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

2. Harper Bibles (2011-11-22). NRSV Bible with the Apocrypha (Kindle Locations 33617-33632). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition. 

The Japanese Martyrs 6th of February

Today in the Church Calendar we celebrate the martyrdom of the Japanese Martyr's. One of the saddest things about the division between the Catholic and Protestant is that we don't get to hear about each others missions. 

I remember avidly studying the life of Hudson Taylor and being amazed at how in the 19th Century he had contextualised the Gospel into Chinese Culture. However this was not new missiological methodology. Francis Xavier the most amazing missionary possibly in History carried the Gospel throughout the far east and his methods in Japan are worth of note.  Here is the wiki article on him. 

Francis Xavier, born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta (7 April 1506 – 3 December 1552) was a Roman Catholic missionary born in the Kingdom of Navarre (now part of Spain) and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was a student of Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits, dedicated at Montmartre in 1534.^[1] He led an extensive mission into Asia, mainly in the Portuguese Empire of the time. He was influential in the spreading and upkeep of Catholicism most notably in India, but also ventured into Japan, Borneo, the Moluccas, and other areas which had thus far not been visited by Christian missionaries. In these areas, being a pioneer and struggling to learn the local languages in the face of opposition, he had less success than he had enjoyed in India. It was a goal of Xavier to one day reach China.[1]

In Malacca in December, 1547, Francis Xavier met a Japanese man named Anjirō. Anjirō had heard of Francis in 1545 and had traveled from Kagoshima to Malacca with the purpose of meeting with him. Having been charged with murder, Anjirō had fled Japan. He told Francis extensively about his former life and the customs and culture of his beloved homeland. Anjiro helped Xavier as a mediator and translator for the mission to Japan that now seemed much more possible. "I asked [Anjirō] whether the Japanese would become Christians if I went with him to this country, and he replied that they would not do so immediately, but would first ask me many questions and see what I knew. Above all, they would want to see whether my life corresponded with my teaching."^{[citation needed]}

Anjirō became the first Japanese Christian and adopted the name of 'Paulo de Santa Fe'.

Europeans had already come to Japan: the Portuguese had already landed in 1543 on the island of Tanegashima, where they introduced the first firearms to Japan.^[10]

He returned to India in January 1548. The next 15 months were occupied with various journeys and administrative measures in India. Then, due to displeasure at what he considered un-Christian life and manners on the part of the Portuguese which impeded missionary work, he traveled from the South into East Asia. He left Goa on 15 April 1549, stopped at Malacca and visited Canton. He was accompanied by Anjiro, two other Japanese men, the father Cosme de Torrès and Brother João Fernandes. He had taken with him presents for the "King of Japan" since he was intending to introduce himself as the Apostolic Nuncio.

Shortly before leaving he had issued a famous instruction to F. Gaspar Barazeuz who was leaving to go to Ormuz (a kingdom on an island in the Persian Gulf, now part of Iran), that he should mix with sinners:

And if you wish to bring forth much fruit, both for yourselves and for your neighbors, and to live consoled, converse with sinners, making them unburden themselves to you. These are the living books by which you are to study, both for your preaching and for your own consolation. I do not say that you should not on occasion read written books . . . to support what you say against vices with authorities from the Holy Scriptures and examples from the lives of the saints.

Francis Xavier reached Japan on 27 July 1549, with Anjiro and three other Jesuits, but he was not permitted to enter any port his ship arrived at^[10] until 15 August, when he went ashore at Kagoshima, the principal port of the province of Satsuma on the island of Kyūshū. As a representative of the Portuguese king, he was received in a friendly manner. Shimazu Takahisa (1514–1571), daimyo of Satsuma, gave a friendly reception to Francis on 29 September 1549, but in the following year he forbade the conversion of his subjects to Christianity under penalty of death; Christians in Kagoshima could not be given any catechism in the following years. The Portuguese missionary Pedro de Alcáçova would later write in 1554:

In Cangoxima, the first place Father Master Francisco stopped at, there were a good number of Christians, although there was no one there to teach them; the shortage of laborers prevented the whole kingdom from becoming Christian.^[10]

He was hosted by Anjiro's family until October 1550. From October to December 1550, he resided in Yamaguchi. Shortly before Christmas, he left forKyoto but failed to meet with the Emperor. He returned to Yamaguchi in March, 1551, where he was permitted to preach by the daimyo of the province. However, lacking fluency in the Japanese language, he had to limit himself to reading aloud the translation of a catechism.

Francis was the first Jesuit to go to Japan as a missionary.^[11] He brought with him paintings of the Madonna and the Madonna and Child. These paintings were used to help teach the Japanese about Christianity. There was a huge language barrier as Japanese was unlike other languages the missionaries had previously encountered. For a long time Francis struggled to learn the language.

Having learned that evangelical poverty had not the appeal in Japan that it had in Europe and in India, he decided to change his method of approach. Hearing after a time that a Portuguese ship had arrived at a port in the province of Bungo in Kyushu and that the prince there would like to see him, Xavier now set out southward. The Jesuit, in a fine cassock, surplice, and stole, was attended by thirty gentlemen and as many servants, all in their best clothes. Five of them bore on cushions valuable articles, including a portrait of Our Lady and a pair of velvet slippers, these not gifts for the prince, but solemn offerings to Xavier, to impress the onlookers with his eminence. Handsomely dressed, with his companions acting as attendants, he presented himself before Oshindono, the ruler of Nagate, and as a representative of the great kingdom of Portugal offered him the letters and presents, a musical instrument, a watch, and other attractive objects which had been given him by the authorities in India for the emperor.^[12]

For forty-five years the Jesuits were the only missionaries in Asia, but the Franciscans also began proselytizing in Asia as well. Christian missionaries were later forced into exile, along with their assistants. Some were able to stay behind, however Christianity was then kept underground as to not be persecuted.^[13]

The Japanese people were not easily converted; many of the people were already Buddhist or Shinto. Francis tried to combat the disposition of some of the Japanese that a God who had created everything, including evil, could not be good. The concept of Hell was also a struggle; the Japanese were bothered by the idea of their ancestors living in Hell. Despite Francis' different religion, he felt that they were good people, much like Europeans, and could be converted.^[14][15][16]

Xavier was welcomed by the Shingon monks since he used the word Dainichi for the Christian God; attempting to adapt the concept to local traditions. As Xavier learned more about the religious nuances of the word, he changed to Deusu from the Latin and Portuguese Deus. The monks later realized that Xavier was preaching a rival religion and grew more aggressive towards his attempts at conversion.

With the passage of time, his sojourn in Japan could be considered somewhat fruitful as attested by congregations established in Hirado, Yamaguchi and Bungo. Xavier worked for more than two years in Japan and saw his successor-Jesuits established. He then decided to return to India. Historians debate the exact path he returned back by, but due to evidence attributed to the captain of his ship, he may have traveled through Tanegeshima and Minato, and avoided Kagoshima due to the hostility of the Daimyo.^[10] During his trip, a tempest forced him to stop on an island near Guangzhou, China where he saw the rich merchant Diogo Pereira, an old friend from Cochin, who showed him a letter from Portuguese being held prisoners in Guangzhou asking for a Portuguese ambassador to talk to the Chinese Emperor in their favor. Later during the voyage, he stopped at Malacca on 27 December 1551, and was back in Goa by January, 1552.

On 17 April he set sail with Diogo Pereira, leaving Goa on board the Santa Cruz for China. He introduced himself as Apostolic Nuncio and Pereira as ambassador of the King of Portugal. Shortly thereafter, he realized that he had forgotten his testimonial letters as an Apostolic Nuncio. Back in Malacca, he was confronted by the capitão Álvaro de Ataíde da Gama who now had total control over the harbor. The capitão refused to recognize his title of Nuncio, asked Pereira to resign from his title of ambassador, named a new crew for the ship and demanded the gifts for the Chinese Emperor be left in Malacca.

In late August, 1552, the Santa Cruz reached the Chinese island of Shangchuan, 14 km away from the southern coast of mainland China, near Taishan, Guangdong, 200 km south-west of what later became Hong Kong. At this time, he was only accompanied by a Jesuit student, Álvaro Ferreira, a Chinese man called António and a Malabar servant called Christopher. Around mid-November he sent a letter saying that a man had agreed to take him to the mainland in exchange for a large sum of money. Having sent back Álvaro Ferreira, he remained alone with António. He died at Shangchuan from a fever on 3 December 1552, while he was waiting for a boat that would agree to take him to mainland China.

The Japanese Martyrs 

The men, women, and children who died for the faith from 1597 until 1873 in that country. The faith arrived in Japan in 1549, when St. Francis Xavier landed at Satsuma. He was recalled to India in 1551, but he converted more than three thousand Japanese in that brief period. Thirty years later there were 200,000 Christians and 250 churches in Japan, with Jesuits and other missionaries working to spread the faith. Hideyoshi, the acting highest-ranked official of the emperor, the governor, called a taiko, had tolerance for the faith, despite the fear of his court. Many in Japan believed that the Europeans intended to invade the country, and that the Church was only a vanguard. On Feb­ruary 5, 1597, twenty-six Christians, including eight European missionaries, were publicly crucified at Nagasaki. Hideyoshi ordered the martyrdom in 1597 , and when he died the following year, a period of cooperative calm prevailed. For the next decade and a half the Christians flourished, with 130 Jesuits, joined by 30 Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians, and some secular priests staffing missions. Unfortunately, Tokugawa Ieyasu, a virulent enemy of the Church, became the shogun of Japan and published an edict abolishing Catholicism.Persecution began again, furthered by Tokugawa’s sons and heirs. In 1622, the “Great Martyrdom” took place at Nagasaki, claiming the lives of more that fifty Japanese and Europeans. Between 1624 and 1627, hundreds more were slain, imprisoned, or exiled. Most were burned alive, crucified, or beheaded, some with small children in their arms. In 1637, some 37,000 Japanese Catholics and their allies entered a fortress on Shimabara Peninsula in northern Kyushu to protest persecution of the Church and tyranny of the local daimyo, or hereditary clan lord. They were slain to a man by the shogun’s troops, aided by a Dutch ship’s cannons. In 1640, four Portuguese ambassadors were arrested and martyred for the faith, and their lesser-ranked entourage exiled. In 1642 and 1648, Jesuits and Dominicans tried to enter Japan and were martyred with unspeakable cruelty. The last known priest who tried to enter Japan was an Italian, Abbe Sidotti, who was arrested in 1708. He was imprisoned on the Kirishitan Zaka, the “Hill of the Christians,” and died there in 1715. There are two large groups of martyrs in Japan, representing the thousands of Christians who died for the faith from about 1614 to 1664. The first party of martyrs was headed by St. Paul Miki, who received canonization in 1862 by Pope Pius IX. A second gathering of martyrs was composed of thirty-six Jesuits, twenty-six Franciscans, twenty-one Dominicans, five Augustinians, and one hundred seven lay men, women, and children. They were beatified over the years by several popes, including Pius IX and Leo XIII. Pope John Paul II has also beatified and canonized several individual martyrs in Japan.2

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[1] Francis Xavier, Acessed at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Xavier on 7th of February 2013 

2. Japenese martyrs, acessed at : http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=4773on 7th of February 2013 

Today in the Christian Calender we Celebrate the Life of BRigid of Kildare Celtic Saint, Bishop, Miracleworker and Abbess,

 Today in the Christian Calendar we Celebrate the life of Brigid Celtic Saint, Bishop, Healer and Abbess of Kildare

Died:  Feb 1^st 451

Brigid of Ireland said, “I would like the angels of Heaven to be among us. I would like an abundance of peace. I would like full vessels of charity. I would like rich treasures of mercy. I would like cheerfulness to preside over all. I would like Jesus to be present.” [1]

Brigid was probably born at Faughart near Dundalk, Louth, Ireland. Her parents were baptized by St. Patrick, with whom she developed a close friendship. According to legend, her father was Dubhthach, an Irish chieftain of Lienster, and her mother, Brocca, was a slave at his court. Even as a young girl she evinced an interest for a religious life and took the veil in her youth from St. Macaille at Croghan and probably was professed by St. Mel of Armagh, who is believed to have conferred abbatial authority on her. She settled with seven of her virgins at the foot of Croghan Hill for a time and about the year 468, followed Mel to Meath. About the year 470 she founded a double monastery at Cill-Dara (Kildare) and was Abbess of the convent, the first in Ireland. The foundation developed into a center of learning and spirituality, and around it grew up the Cathedral city of Kildare. She founded a school of art at Kildare and its illuminated  manuscripts became  famous, notably the Book of Kildare, which was praised as one of the finest of all illuminated Irish manuscripts before its disappearance three centuries ago. Brigid was one of the most remarkable women of her times, and despite the numerous legendary, extravagant, and even fantastic miracles attributed to her, there is no doubt that her extraordinary spirituality, boundless charity, and compassion for those in distress were real. She died at Kildare on February 1. The Mary of the Gael, she is buried at Downpatrick with St. Columba and St. Patrick, with whom she is the patron of Ireland. Her name is sometimes Bridget and Bride. Her feast day is February 1.[2]

Brigid’s association with nature and fertility is certainly an inheritance from Ireland’s pagan past, baptized. Her foundation at Kildare (in Irish, cill dara, “church of the oak”) was built under an oak tree sacred to the Druids, next to a holy well to which women had long come asking for deliverance from barrenness, and the nuns under Brigid’s care tended the eternal flame the initiates of the goddess Bride had lit. Ages before today became her feast day in the Calendar of Saints, this day was celebrated by the Celts as Imbolc, the inauguration of the spring season of lambing and of cattle coming into milk. Imbolc means “in the belly,” a reference to the ewes’ bellies full to bursting with pregnancy. Of the many miracles attributed to St Brigid, the most notable are those associated with fertility and abundance and hospitality–increasing the yield of milk in times of drought, making butter churns overflow. My favorite, because of the way it epitomizes the triumph over dualism that Brigid symbolizes, is the legend that angels mystically transported her back in time and across space to serve as the wet nurse and foster mother for the Christ Child. Here is a great wonder indeed: A virgin suckling the Virgin’s Son![3]. Difficult for us to countenance and legend will be mixed with fact.

miracles:

Several of Brigit’s miracles occurred on Easter Sunday. On this day, a leper had come to Brigit to ask for a cow. She asked for a time to rest and would help him later; however, he did not wish to wait and instead stated he would go somewhere else for a cow. Brigit then offered to heal him, but the man stubbornly replied that his condition allowed him to acquire more than he would healthy. After convincing the leper that this was not so, she told one of her maidens to have the man washed in a blessed mug of water. After this was done, the man was completely cured and vowed to serve Brigit.

On another occasion, Brigit was traveling to see a physician for her headache. They were welcomed to stay at the house of a Leinsterman. His wife was not able to have children that survived except for two daughters that had been dumb since their birth. Brigit was traveling to Áth with the daughters when her horse suddenly startled, causing her to wound her head on a stone. Her blood mixed with the water here. Brigit then instructed one of the girls to pour the bloodied water onto her neck in God’s name causing the girl to be healed. The healed sister was told to call her sister over to be healed as well, but the later responded that she had been made well when she bowed down in the tracks. Brigit told the cured sisters to return home and that they also would birth as many male children that their mother had lost. The stone that Brigit had injured herself cured any disease of the head when they laid the head on it.

One of the more commonly told stories of St. Brigid was when she went to the King of Leinster to ask for land to build a convent. She told the king that the place where she stood was the perfect place for a convent. It was beside a forest where they could collect firewood and berries. There was also a lake nearby that would provide water and the land was fertile. The king laughed at her and refused to give her any land. Brigid prayed to God and asked him to soften the king’s heart. Then she smiled at the king and said “will you give me as much land as my cloak will cover?” The king thought that she was joking and because Brigid’s cloak was so small he knew that it would only cover a very small piece of land. The king agreed and Brigid spread her cloak on the ground. She asked her four friends to hold a corner of the cloak and walk in opposite directions. The four friends walked north, south, east and west. The cloak grew immediately and began to cover many acres of land. The king was astonished and he realized that she had been blessed by God. The king fell to the ground and knelt before Brigid and promised her and her friends money, food and supplies. Soon afterwards, the king became a Christian and also started to help the poor and commissioned the construction of the convent. Legend has it, the convent was known for making jam from the local blueberries which was sought for all over Ireland. There is a new tradition beginning among followers of St. Brigit to eat jam on the 1st of February in honour of this miracle. ^[8]

It was also said that once an elderly woman appeared at her door begging for food and Brigit turned her down as the only piece of food she had in the house was a dish of butter. The old woman replied to Brigid saying even that would do. When Brigid turned away from the door she saw on the table three dishes of butter. It seemed that the lord had rewarded her for her kindness.[4]

Lessons from the life of Brigid.

Living, Missionaly, and contextually in a pluralistic culture. Brigid was an Irish Christian and as Christianity crosses culture, the message of the Gospel is always contextualised within it. In her role as Bishop she would reach out to the Druidic population around demonstrating the power of God and taking their symbols and stories and baptising them so the message of the Gospel could be heard.

The eternal flame of Bride became the symbol of the welcoming Holy Spirit as the Monks and Nuns practised radical hospitality. The Rush cross symbol of fertility became the symbol of New life from Christs death on the cross.  In a world of druids she would perform miracles on Christian feasts of healing instead of death through human sacrifice at the druids feasts of solstice’s. The Tri-une God was not a God who wounded but healed and did not have to be appeased. We may struggle with some of the miracles attested to her but remember the days and the context. The Gospel was being proclaimed to a mystical people who could only conceive of god in these ways.  God moves in mysterious ways and signs that attest to His being are they way He rolls !

Lastly Brigid was an Apostolic leader, she church planted and exercised the office of Abbess and Bishop over the Nun’s and Monk . The issue of her authority was never questioned according to her gender but rather to her Holiness of life and the anointing of God upon her life. Oh that the church today would see women in the light of Patrick and Columba.

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[1] Brigid Irish Saint accessed at : http://christian-way.com/brigid-of-ireland-i-would-like/ On 1^st of February 2013

[2] Brigid Catholic online Accessed at :  http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=453#top on 1^st of February 2013

[3]  Patheos the life of Brigid, Acessed at : http://www.patheos.com/blogs/egregioustwaddle/2012/02/bacon-and-butter-and-bathtub-beer-why-the-church-needs-st-brigid-bad.html  on 1^st of February 2013.

[4] Wiki article on Brigid of Kildare, accessed at:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigit_of_Kildare on 1st of February 2013