November 2008

Letter from the Manse

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 23^rd of November at 6:30pm, following a Methodist tea (see advert elsewhere in this Inform), the new UK registered charity “UNCLE” will be being launched at the Circuit Mission Service at Royston. In this act of worship we will be being joined by Michael and Maureen Hawksworth, who are now back in the UK having been our Methodist Mission Partners in Kathmandu in Nepal. In this case, UNCLE stands for “Uplifting Nepal’s Children with Love and Education”, and this is the charity which will be owning the UK based work of supporting the Glorious Ministry and the Himalayan Holy Church in the coming years. It will both free the churches of the Southern Section of any commitment to carry on supporting the work in Nepal, whilst also providing an independent means of enabling the wonderful work that has already been done by so many to flourish and grow.

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 Nepal by providing funding for their education and further education, a healthy and sustaining diet and their medical fees

· the relief of financial hardship for those living in poverty in Kathmandu

· advancing Christianity in Nepal for the benefit of the public through the provision of places of worship, accommodation and financial support for those in Christian Ministry, support for the public celebration of Christian religious festivals and other means to enlighten others about the Christian faith”

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