Dear friends and supporters,

In our last Postcard we promised that we would bring you up to date on some important developments in our ministry and now is the time to do that.   This takes a bit of explaining so this is a slightly longer Postcard than usual.

In June 2011 we began conversations with ECM and Redcliffe College about future ministry options.  In particular we were keen to increase our involvement in ECM after some years on the fringes.  Then in September, the director of the Nova Research Centre, Darrell Jackson, announced he would be leaving for Australia at Christmas.  The decision was taken to stop Nova’s research activity but Jim was asked to consider taking on Darrell’s MA teaching.  Discussions then took place to see how the various options might fit together.  An exciting three-part role began to take shape:

1. From February 1st Jim’s main role will be as deputy to Ron Anderson, the ECM European Director of Field Ministries.  This will involve training, troubleshooting and development activities across Europe though in practice Jim will concentrate his efforts on certain countries   Jim is excited about contributing to the development of ECM in other countries through his experience and research but also expects to learn more about the realities of mission in other European contexts.
2. At Redcliffe Jim will teach the MA in European Mission and Intercultural Christianity.  This course is taught in intensive mode meaning that this will involve just four long weekends of teaching a year.  Obviously there will be some marking and associated admin but we see this as a tremendous opportunity to influence the future generation of mission practitioners in Europe.  Jim will also continue to edit Vista, the electronic bulletin on mission in Europe, which goes out to around 800 missionaries and mission leaders across Europe.
3. In Cordoba the fraternity of pastors and missionaries continue to value Jim’s contribution as coordinator of the collaborative church planting project.  We have invested many years of our lives in the province of Cordoba and our greatest desire is to see every town having a vibrant Christian community.   To continue to make a small contribution to that effort is a huge privilege so Jim will continue his regular visits to Cordoba.

For the time being, Christine will continue as Housekeeper and Volunteer Co-ordinator at Redcliffe College, a role which she enjoys and which gives her the flexibility to join Jim in some of his work and support the children through these last years of schooling.  In fact Christine would like to increase her involvement with ECM as she is able and made a start to that by participating in the Foundations Course (see below).

We continue as missionaries with ECM and our support arrangements remain just as they were when we were in Spain.  We still depend on you for your prayers and gifts and will be sending out a support update in the next month or two.

We are very excited by these changes and our recent involvement in the Foundations course in Madrid was a real confirmation that these three activities support one another really well.  The Foundations course brings together missionaries who have been on the field for around 18 months for a week’s orientation.  It is the third and last stage in the orientation process for ECM missionaries and enables new arrivals to integrate what they have already learned with the big picture of the mission’s history, values, structures and practices.

Finally, here is an update on the family.  Grace is enjoying her course and getting very involved with her church in Sheffield, singing in the worship group and assuming co-leadership of her cluster, a group of perhaps forty students who are involved in service among the student community.  Alex has visited all the schools he is considering for sixth-form and has applied to two.  His first choice is the High School where Rosie is also a student but he will need good grades to get in there so will need to work hard for his GCSEs.  Start praying now.  And as for Rosie, she is about to choose her GCSE options and continues to delight us with her new hobby of baking.

If you have questions about the changes in our ministry please do get in touch.

With our love and prayers as always,

Jim and Christine