How well do you remember the 1960’s? As I was only born in
1963 I have to confess that the Beatles are a vague memory, and flower power
was nothing but an excuse that my Mum used once to put flowered patches on the
knees of my jeans when I wore them through. However, those memories that I do
have, are supplemented by the television of that era which seems to live on, with
shows such as The Prisoner, Thunderbirds, The Avengers and many others still
gracing the schedules of the huge number of television channels that we now
have available to us.
One show that you may remember is “The man from U.N.C.L.E.”.
You may also remember that its ground breaking premise was that it starred
Robert Vaughn and David McCallum as Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, an
American and a Russian agent who contrary to the global politics of the time,
worked along with Leo G. Carroll who played Alexander Waverly, the British head
of the U.N.C.L.E. organization, to take on the forces of THRUSH. THRUSH posed
such a threat to the world that they needed to be tackled by all the world
powers working together. And what was the threat that THRUSH posed that was so
terrible? Well their aim was to conquer the world, and to impose their will on
all the nations. Because, as Napoleon Solo himself said in one episode,
"THRUSH believes in the two-party system: the masters and the
slaves".
In case you were trying to remember, U.N.C.L.E. stood for “United
Network Command for Law Enforcement”, and I have to
say that I find the idea of a united global organisation that is committed to
oppose a system of haves and have-nots really is one that I can warm to. What
is so upsetting is to look at the world that we have now, forty years later and
to see that we are in so many ways developing into a world of masters and
slaves. The rich and powerful industrial nations of the west, specifying the
trade rules that prevent the developing world from being able to get a fair
price for their goods. The World Bank imposing on effectively bankrupted
nations conditions which force them to do things in the way that the west wants
them to; when it was often the policies of the those same western nations that
bankrupted them in the first place. Despite the huge progress that the
different fair trade organisations have made in the past few years, we know
that this is a drop in the ocean of what is required for a truly fair and equal
sharing of the good gifts that God has given us. Yes, we seem to live in a
world of masters and slaves.
In terms of putting things right, we know that fair trade
has an important part to play, but this is only part of the total solution that
is needed. One of the other ways that the inequalities can be addressed is by
helping people in the developing world to help themselves to become
self-sufficient. This can be by their production of goods that can be sold in
the west at western prices, with the money all being returned to them so that
they may benefit fully from the fruits of their labours.
Likewise, if we can enable them to properly educate their
children, this provides another route out of poverty, as it enables the setting
up of better paying industry at home, and the migration of workers to better
paying parts of the world, who can then in turn, send money back to bolster up
the communities that they come from.
Our support of the many different organisations, who work
towards these ends, is part of our calling to contribute to moving the world
away from a system of masters and slaves, to one where everyone sees that we
are all God’s Children, responsible for sharing the good gifts that God has
provided. As we read the Gospel accounts, we are constantly being presented
with examples of Jesus challenging us to stand alongside the weak, the poor and
the vulnerable, so that they may be raised up. He also showed us how we are to
call the rich and the powerful to repentance, for he taught a Gospel of radical
social justice, and showed us how embracing this is a key part of what being a
Christian is all about.
So, looking at the state of our planet, is now the time for
us to really set up our own version of U.N.C.L.E.; to conquer the imbalance that
we see exists in our world? Well actually, it is funny that you should mention
that . . .
On the evening of the 23rd of November at 6:30pm,
following a Methodist tea (see advert elsewhere in this Inform), the new
Without boring you with the 16 pages of detail in our Model
Trust Deed, suffice it to say that the purposes of UNCLE are “to assist
with:
·
advancing the education and health of children
living in orphanages in
·
the relief of financial hardship for those living
in poverty in
·
advancing Christianity in
If I were to share with you that UNCLE’s overall financial
target is to raise a figure in the region of £150,000 over the next ten years,
then I hope you will see that this is definitely a long term vision that is
being put into practice. But we believe that we have been called by God to this
work, and that he will enable us to do this work in his name. I say “we”, I
mean Paul Harris, Graham Blair, Geoff Grainger and myself as trustees, and the
myriad of people who have said that they will support us in this venture. It is
so appropriate for us to have Michael and Maureen with us to share in our joy
on this day, for we simply would never have made it without them. It is also
right that this work should now be allowed to grow independent of the churches
in this section that have supported it so well so far. The churches need to be
allowed to explore the other areas of mission that they wish to devote their
energies to, and the new minister also needs to be able to lay before the
churches his or her own concerns that they would like to support, without being
hampered by any existing commitments. Whilst at the same time, as UNCLE, we
need to be able to share our vision with a wider audience, whilst growing the
different commercial possibilities that we hope will enable that goal of
self-sufficiency to become a reality.
The aims of UNCLE may be slightly smaller than those of the
fictional U.N.C.L.E. of the 1960’s, but they are similar in many ways - to
prevent a world of masters and slaves, of haves and have-nots. Please pray for
all involved in this venture as we set out on the next part of our Nepali
journey. “The men from UNCLE” know that God has guided us so far, and we know
that he will carry on guiding us in the future, hopefully with the assistance
of some “women from UNCLE” who will join us along the way. We believe that we
are stepping out in faith in this work that God has called us to, and everyone
is welcome to help us.
Namaste and God Bless.
Ian