Although it is a few weeks since I came home from the EBF Council in Lisbon (see previous post for more details!), I remain haunted by some of the stories I heard there. In particular, the accounts from the churches in Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. In both these contexts, Christians - and Baptists in particular - come under real and sustained pressure. We heard the story of one brother who had had to escape from Turkmenistan, because the threat to his life and the life of his family was so great. After enduring imprisonment and torture, he went into hiding. Eventually making contact with the US Embassy, they told him that, as long as he remained in the country, they could not help him. He and the family escaped to Russia and lived for 10 months underground there. However, that became unsafe as well, and they were eventually smuggled out to Scandinavia, where he now lives, and where he devotes his time to maintaining a radio service to Turkmenistan, broadcasting Christian teaching, and encouraging those who remain.

There is one registered Baptist church in Turkmenistan - a church that is recognised by the government, and allowed to meet in restricted circumstances. Under their umbrella, there exist five congregations. But the other congregations are not allowed to meet together. And so they meet in relays through the week. Each day, some of the fellowship meet together. And they face opposition, arrest, the threats of imprisonment and torture.


Similarly in Azerbaijan, there is pressure. At the Council meeting last year, we were being asked to pray for Pastor Zaur, who had been arrested and accused of keeping a firearm in his flat. This year, he was able to be with us. He showed us some slides of home - and of the feast that the village, most of whom are not part of his very small congregation, had put on in hnour of his return. Physically, he's a small man, quite slight. And he told the story of how the police who had arrested him had filed a report saying that he was violent, and had beaten up the five of them who had come to arrest him. And he laughed as he told it.

There was a lot of laughter.

The Turkmen who came to the Council were there for the first time, and to celebrate their coming, they had brought a traditional hat worn by authoratative figures - as they put it themselves, it looks like nothing so much as a dead animal; round, white, and very furry. They presented it to our General Secretary when the Council his reappointment for another period of service. He promised to wear it whenever he is being official - and we very much hope he doesn't, since he looks extremely silly in it.

There was a great deal of laughter.

This bringing together of stories of persecution, danger and dogged faith with laughter, new friendships and the gratitude of these brothers for the support they had been offered has left me with such a lot to think about. The claim of Christ to Lordship is deeply political - if Jesus is Lord, then nobody else, no other regime, no other leader, can have the total and complete loyalty of a disciple. That is what makes this small and apparently weak churches such a fearsome threat, and why there are such determined efforts to get rid of them.

And part of how it all works out is through laughter. Because these folk know - dare to trust - that the Kingdom into which they are being called through the Lordship of Jesus will come, they can afford to laugh at the pretensions and even threats of "the kingdoms of this world". They don't do it lightly. They pay the costs. But they do it deeply. And they invited us into that joy and celebration. And it remains with me, making the prayers in which I regularly lead our congregation for those who suffer for their faith much more connected; I have faces and names now for these people. They need our support, our voice, our encouragement. But we need them too - to teach us holy laughter and celebration in the face of danger and suffering.

It brings a new meaning to the words of Ps 23; Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and staff they comfort me. You prepare a table before me, in the presence of my enemies.

Thy Kingdom come.

Celebrating Harvest in the City

Miles from the nearest field of corn ripe for Harvest it would surely seem more than a little strange to be celebrating the traditional Harvest to the strains of 'Come, ye thankful people, come' which is why we didn't!
Blended with a lively mix of fun and laughter the serious message of thanking God when he sends rain to water the earth was the theme our Harvest Musical - 'The Little Black Cloud' performed by members of the congregation to an appreciative audience. (pics on our website)
Supper followed with everyone contributing to the common meal with a dish of their choosing. Reflecting the diversity of cultures represented the table fayre tempted the taste buds and only a very few crumbs were left at the end of the evening.
In slightly more serious tones our Harvest worship reminded us that amidst our thankfulness for all that God provides we as Christians are called to make our own response.
Addressed by Revd Dr John Weaver, President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, we were reminded through his illustarted sermon that 'God is Green' and that climate change is having a dramatic effect on the world and will continue to do so unless we act and changes our ways and campaign for others - especially our politcal leaders - to do the same. (MP3 recording on website).
Spotlighting the work of Christian Aid and its partners working in Burkina Faso members of the Northern Homegroup introduced the evening congregation to one man's persistence to improve the farming potential in his community and reminding us that through our persistence as individuals and as a community of God's people we can make a difference to society and the world too.
If we do then surely we might truely be in a position to 'raise the song of Harvest home'.

European Baptists get together

Last week about 120 of us from around Europe got together for the European Baptist Federation Council. The EBF is the organisation that links together Baptists from various countries around Europe - Europe here being a pretty elastic term, since, as one of our members observes, Baptists are better at mission and fellowship than they are at geography, and the EBF comprises 53 member unions from across UK, Continental Europe - as far East as Tajikistan - and taking in Iraq, Israel and Egypt. (To find out more, check http://www.ebf.org/about-ebf/)
It is always, therefore, an interesting gathering. We come from very different contexts, with different histories, outlooks and practices. And there are places where our theologies are very different.
The leading theme of this Council was creation care. We had the opportunity from hearing from Rev Dr Ernest Lucas, a scientist turned biblical scholar, who teaches at Bristol Baptist College, and who has made a study of this issue for many years. He led us through a significant and serious paper on the biblical basis for taking our care of the created order seriously. It was a tough discussion - and tougher for those for whom English was not a first language.
Nevertheless, it was disappointing, in the subsequent discussion groups, to learn that some of my Baptist brethren (and yes, I do mean the exclusive term) regarded Ernest's approach to Scripture as unbiblical and even unChristian, and that his argument that creation care is part of the calling of disciples was a distortion of the gospel. The narrowness of their vision of the calling of God to the people of God that some people were holding on to was hard to hear. If Jesus has indeed come to bring life in all its fulness, then that must have something to say about the quality of life that we share with others on the planet - even the quality of life that those of us in the privileged world impose on others.
A conversation at the table at the end of the week focussed on what aspect of our faith would we be willing to die for (there were good reasons for this, which I will discuss in another post). Thinking it over later, I realised that while identifying what we might die for is a good way of getting to grips with what our priorities are, recongisning what we are willing to let others die for might be a helpful way of seeing where our sinfulness is. As one of our deacons reminds us; "Jesus tells us to love our neighbours. My neighbour in Bangladesh is drowning because of climate chaos. What does that tell me?"