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TransmissionThe magazine of Us. The new name for USPG January 2013

The Revd Dr Sam Wells Page 4

There’sno longer a them;there’s only an us.

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Welcome to the first edition of the new Transmission.

e changed our name from USPG to Us on 20 November

last year, and we invite you to journey with Us as we enter a new era in living the gospel.

Inside this magazine you will find stories about people and communities whose lives are being transformed thanks to the support of the local church and Us.

We hope you will be inspired and encouraged to engage more deeply with the communities to which you belong – locally and globally.

This is your magazine! Please send Us your comments – and tell us about how your church is reaching out and putting faith into action.

WWe are a church-based charity working alongside people and communities worldwide. Wherever we work, our goal is to express the love of God in practical ways.

In BritainUs., Harling House, 47-51 Great Suffolk Street, London SE1 0BS020 7921 2200info@weareUs.org.ukwww.weareUs.org.ukRegistered charity number 234518

In IrelandLinda Chambers, National Director Us Ireland, Egan House, St Michan’s Church, Church Street, Dublin 7+353 (0)86 858 6337Us@ireland.anglican.orgwww.weareUs.ieRegistered charity number CHY7998

Transmission is the magazine for supporters of Us. The views expressed here may not always represent the official position of Us. ISSN 0967-926X

Edited by Mike BrooksDesigned by Monika Ciapala Printed by Grange

Transmission is mailed out free of charge, although donations towards the cost of publication are appreciated.

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Us worldwide

Self-help groups are empowering women

Church reaches out to homeless in flood-hit PakistanA donation from our Rapid Response Fund enabled the Church of Pakistan to provide shelter and food for families who lost their homes following devastating floods in Multan.

An estimated 150,000 people were forced out of their homes

after the canal system in DG Khan city overflowed due to heavy rains.

Bishop Leo Rodrick Paul, Bishop of Multan, told Us: ‘This farming community was already reeling from the effects of severe flooding in 2010, which was economically devastating. So all their hopes

have been lost and their economic recovery presents a huge challenge. Many of those affected are left with only their livestock, their most valued asset in sustaining their daily life.’

The church is working with local authorities to assist communities.•

Debi Haldar (pictured) lives in Kandi, a small community in southern Bangladesh.

She bought her fishing net with a loan from her local church, and started renting it out to generate an income.

She has now repaid the loan and is using the income to send her children to school and buy medicine for her family.

But there is another vital

ingredient in Debi’s story. It is not just the loan that helped to transform her life, it is the friendship of the women’s support group she belongs to.

Katharine Hamilton, of Us, met Debi while visiting Kandi to observe the work of the church.

She reported: ‘The Church of Bangladesh is empowering women through self-help groups. It was wonderful to see.

‘I learned there are 24 such groups in Kandi. One woman told me the group had brought transformation to her village. Neighbours were now talking to each other more, sharing ideas and getting along better, and husbands were asking their wives for advice for the first time.’

We are working with the Church of Bangladesh to develop initiatives that benefit women.•

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The Revd Dr Sam WellsVicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, speaking at the Us launch, on 20 November 2012 at St Margaret’s Church, Westminster.

In the good old days we used to think being a missionary was about recognising a difference between us and them – us, who had resources, skills and the gospel, and them – who had hunger and not much else.

Today, it turns out that many of the people we used to call them are closer to Jesus than we are. The miracle we’re celebrating is that Jesus astonishingly includes, enjoys and uses us. Indeed, we realise there’s no longer a them; there’s only an us. We’re all mission partners now.

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Us worldwide

Brazilian painting is a ‘stunning and hopeful vision’

Evelyn Grain is only a few weeks old, but it seems she is old enough to show surprise that USPG has changed its name!

Baby Evelyn and mother Jess were attending an Us world church evening at St Boniface Centre, in the Parish of Chandlers Ford, Hampshire.

Jess told Us: ‘When we saw the photo we thought the expression on Evelyn’s face was extremely comical. It looks like she’s shocked

by the name change but, in fact, it’s more likely she was worried her milk had run out!’

Over 50 people attended the event, which included folk singing, delicious food and a talk about the church in Myanmar.

Organiser Una Grain said: ‘The work that Us undertakes makes the best use of resources during a time of global economic hardship.’

Send photos of your Us event to mikeb@weareUs.org.uk

A colourful artwork is inspiring members of the Church of Christ the King, in the City of God, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro once notorious for drug and crime.

The artwork (pictured), by Luiz Coelho, is a series of seven paintings showing over 30 saints and other figures from Christian

history, all depicted as local residents.

Mary, St Francis of Assisi and Mary Magdalene, and modern day peacemakers such as Dom Hélder Câmara, are seen in a transformed version of the City of God.

Parish priest and Us partner Nicholas Wheeler, who has been in

the City of God since 2008, said: ‘The artwork is a stunning and hopeful vision of a world where, in spite of appearances, God is making all things new.’

Church initiatives in the City of God include job skills training, a recycling project, a community centre and youth groups. •

What do you mean, USPG has changed its name?!’

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Us worldwide

South Africa trip was a transforming experienceUs volunteer Dominique Iste, a theology graduate from Cambridge University, spent 11 months at St John’s Church, in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

The experience inspired her to explore a calling to full-time ministry. She is now a pastoral assistant in London.

She writes: ‘My time in South Africa was a transforming experience. I learned so much. Amid ordinary life, I discovered gifts I didn’t realise I had.

‘With one of the St John’s clergy, I visited a parishioner in hospital. I had never seen anything like it. Bed after bed held an emaciated body. The floors were

washed with black water. The smell was acrid, I thought it would choke me. Yet, in the midst of this, I met a man who was delighted to have a visitor. The more we spoke to him, the more his cheeks lit up with colour.

‘I found God in simple encounters. I remember a woman in Gqebera Township. Her grandson lay dying, with TB and AIDS, and she was feeding him because he couldn’t move. He must have been my age. All I could do was sit with them while she offered prayers in Xhosa (local language).

‘I got used to feeling out of my depth. I spent a lot of time in townships with support groups.

Women from the church taught residents how to knit, crochet and sew. I learned with them. The women were full of joy, and the beautiful prayers they sang left me in no doubt of God’s presence. But one week I was left speechless. One of the women, who had shown me great love, shared her tragic story. Her ten-year-old daughter had been raped by her boyfriend; the girl became pregnant, and he committed suicide. Nothing I could say would help. All I could do was continue to accept her kindness as we met each week.

‘In South Africa I realised there is great power in simply sitting with people and daring to love them.’•

With the Us volunteer programme you can spend up to a year with the world church. For information, email Habib Nader: habibn@weareUs.org.uk

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What does community mean to you?Community means I am part of an extended family that accepts me and is there for me in times of trouble and times of joy.’Nancy Robson, Odibo, Namibia

I lived in a community where every child saw every adult as their mother or father, so there were no orphans. The community was a safety net for every person.’Florence F PhiriLusaka, Zambia

40 Days of Community Join Us this Lent as we explore the meaning of community. www.weareUs.org.uk/lent

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Community means diverse people becoming God’s family together.’The Revd Mark CollinsonAmsterdamThe Netherlands

Every person has God-given gifts. This means no community is so poor and helpless that it can’t improve its situation.’Dominga B AnosanQuezon CityPhilippines

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Inner transformation is vital. The transforming agent is Christ’s love’

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Us partner Fr Andrew Devadason reports on the church's work among tea plantation communities in Hatton, central Sri Lanka.

uch of our work among Hatton’s tea plantation

communities focuses on young people. I believe they can be agents of change. And we are already seeing this happen.

Ambishna won a place at university to study management. This is totally new. Until recently, the children of tea plantation workers have not been able to reach this level of education.

I had known Ambishna for around four years before I got to visit her at her parents’ home, and it was there I found out just how dedicated and committed she is.

I found a small house, high in the hills, with no electricity. It was evening, so it was dark inside their home. I realised Ambishna had earned her place at university working late into the evenings with only the dim light of a kerosene lamp. Having to study in such conditions, it is little surprise she was tempted to give up many times and seek a job as a domestic aide or making garments. But thanks to the support of people like Us, we were able to stand with her and overcome these hurdles.

Another one of our young people is Thilega, who we trained in English and computing. She is now in charge of a small school for plantation children while studying for a teaching qualification.

She is also a poet and an artist. She let me read one of her poems.

M We get together, in fellowship, and draw inspiration from each other.

It was a very deep poem. It was called ‘Will it change?’ and it spoke about the circumstances of her community. She asked: ‘When will we have this change?’ So I told her: ‘Thilega, this change has already come because of you; you are part of the change.’

BeautyThe tea plantations have been here since around 1870, introduced by the British, and have been an important part of our economy. The landscape is beautiful, but my heart breaks because behind this beauty there are forgotten communities that are exploited and in pain.

Generally, the women pick the tea, while the men work in the factories, turning the green leaves into the finished product for export.

This is a mountainous area. The ground is very slippery. The plantations are infested with leaches, and there are snakes as well. The tea pickers carry their bags on their backs, with a strap around their forehead to leave both hands free, which can cause pain.

But few go to hospital because it is a long journey and they would lose pay. Their pay is already low.

These people are the backbone of Sri Lanka’s economy, and yet their lives are so difficult.

Another young student is Kanapathy, who struggled hard to win a place at university to study Plantation Management. He told me how his family often went without food so they could pay his tuition fees. To get to his first school he had to walk half-a-kilometre across mountainous terrain. His second school was a 90-minute bus journey.

But he and his family endured all these difficulties. We encouraged him and supported him as we could. And he is so grateful. He says he wants to be a role model and help his community as much as he can.

Most of our programmes are aimed at empowering women and children. But we are not just focused on human rights and welfare. Inner transformation is also vital. Changed people will make a better society. And the transforming agent is Christ’s love.

I want to thank everyone who is supporting Us for helping to make this happen.•

Tea plantation workers and Fr Andrew with community animator Nisha, Hatton, Sri Lanka.

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Top: Lusungu Nkhoma with Patrick Nampandeni, of St Luke’s Hospital, Malosa, Malawi. Bottom: Lusungu speaks to the community.

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Better health starts in the community, not the hospitalUs health programme co-ordinator Lusungu Nkhoma is based in Malosa, Malawi. In this article she explains how villagers are taking action to support themselves.

hen we started this new way of working with villages,

they expected us to do what every other NGO does: provide hand-outs, because that’s what they’re used to. So we talked to them and said: ‘It is up to you! Take development into your own hands!’

It took a little while for people to take hold of the idea that development is also their responsibility, and not something we push them into.

We set up small teams, including representatives from the church, community and local Anglican hospital or clinic. We then visited the villages.

We go as individuals, rather than imposing ourselves as people in authority. We are not there to teach, but to listen and learn. People have a lot of stories to tell. They identify their concerns and their hopes.

In Chaluanda, on Likoma Island, Lake Malawi, a villager told us about her stomach problems. She didn’t have a pit latrine (basic toilet) at her home, so she had to go to her mother’s house or, more often, use a nearby bush. All the woman’s family were doing this.

While we were talking, the woman’s children told us they wanted a pit latrine. But rather than do this for them, we let the conversation go on, and eventually it was decided that the family’s elder son could dig the latrine

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Action on health

Health concerns in Malawi include malaria, HIV, diarrhoea, respiratory infections, asthma, hypertension.

In nine months, teams linked to St Martin’s Hospital, in Malindi, have visited 36 communities, representing nearly 35,000 people.

Thank you to everyone who donated to our Harvest appeal, which focused on Lusungu and our work in Malawi. We raised £19,000 for our work around the world.

We plant the idea, but they grow the idea and keep it alive.

himself. Now it has been done, with just the roof to go on, and they have plans to install a hand-washing point nearby.

MalnutritionDuring another visit, to communities near St Anne’s Hospital, in Nkhotakota, villagers talked about malnutrition. These discussions led to the community working with the hospital to provide lessons in nutrition.

These examples might sound small, but they are happening time and time again. After every visit to a village, something spontaneous happens. People feel heard and empowered. They feel encouraged to find their own solutions, perhaps starting a credit scheme or buying mosquito nets. The ideas come from them; we are just facilitators. We plant the idea, but they grow the idea and keep it alive. Better health starts in the community, not the hospital.

The training for this approach came from Us. And Us provided a vehicle to make it easier to reach some of the more remote villages.

My job is a calling. I am a Christian and my work is a part of me. I pray before I start work and

before I go into every community. I ask God to help me connect with the villagers and interact well.

I am inspired by how the communities have welcomed this work. We encourage people to use their own energy and as soon as they understand this they work hard to do their part.

I like the togetherness. There is a real vision for encouraging communities to think about health in a different way – in a way that brings in their whole lives – rather than simply expecting hospitals to cater for them. The change has been gradual, but it is happening.•

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We find ourselves in context after context where ‘us’ mysteriously shifts its boundaries, drawing in people who love the kingdom without knowing the king. In that respect, this wonderfully ambiguous and unspecific title – Us – is a good place to be because, again and again, when we try to do the work of the kingdom, try to confess to the Lordship of Jesus, we find ourselves in strange company, quite rightly, as our Lord himself did.

My hope and prayer for us – that’s Us with a capital U, and us with a small u – is that we will go on discovering those porous and fuzzy boundaries where God mysteriously gives us people who have the same aspirations, the same vision, the same love, and allow us to share very deeply with them as we seek something of the transformation of the world we live in.

Archbishop Rowan WilliamsSpeaking at the launch of our new name, Church House, London, 20 November 2012

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I’m born to live. I live to die. I die to live eternally.’Bishop Dhilo Canagasabey, of Colombo, Sri Lanka, explains how confronting death during his country’s civil war brought his church closer to Christ.

here is a day I will never forget. During the civil war,

I was driving back to Colombo when I saw the vehicle of a fellow priest coming the other way. I slowed down and, seeing me, he also stopped. We were chatting when a man came up and told us to go away with filthy language. We didn’t want to argue or cause trouble, so we went on our way.

The next thing we knew, an army convoy came down the road and we heard a huge explosion – 24 soldiers died – and we realised the man chased us away because he knew about the booby trap. The Lord’s protection was upon us.

From our experience of war, we came to realise that life is short, and that we belong to each other only temporarily.

If you come to a church in Sri Lanka, you will see Sinhalese and Tamils, rich and poor, drinking from the same cup. For me, this represents our hope and our challenge. We are called to be a link between these two communities, and to be fully engaged in the ministry of reconciliation.

I am Tamil and my wife is Sinhalese. We’ve been married 28 years and, in those 28 good years, we’ve celebrated that which we have in common and that which is different. We have respected each other’s language and culture, and together we’ve brought up two children who are neither Tamil

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We die unto a self-centred life and say 'yes' to an other-centred life.

nor Sinhalese. I see them as Sri Lankans. What I’ve enjoyed within my own little family I want to see in the bigger family of my nation.

We have been mandated by our baptism to love our neighbour as ourselves. At baptism we die unto a self-centred life, and say ‘yes’ to an other-centred life.

dies…’ Though death can be very painful for those we leave behind, it is also a powerful thing that can bring change and wholeness into the lives of broken people.

I have a motto for life. Firstly: I’m born to live. I’m not here by accident. When God gives me life – when my little heart starts beating in my mother’s womb – he has already planned my life. I’m called to discern that life, to live that life, and to fulfil the purpose for which I was brought into the world.

Secondly: I live to die; I don’t live to live. Many people in affluent countries live to live, and don’t take seriously that death is something they will have to meet one day.

Thirdly: I die to live eternally. I am ready to meet my Creator when he calls. I’ll be happy because I will see him face to face, and I’ve so many unanswered questions. I know my wife and children will miss me, but I know we will meet each other one day in the heavenly realms because we’ve been assured of our life in eternity.•

Bishop Dhilo Canagasabey

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Civil war

A 25-year civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers ended in May 2009 with the defeat of the Tigers. The war claimed more than 80,000 lives.

MartyrsDuring our years of civil war, some clergy became martyrs after taking a stand against the violation of human rights. But I am reminded of John 12:24: ‘Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and

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We would love you to stand with Us. We believe everybody is precious, unique and loved by God, and everybody has a part to play in sharing the gospel. When we stand together, people feel supported and transformation begins.

Here are some of the ways you can stand alongside Us:

Pray for Us and our work – perhaps using our prayer diary each day;

Donate to Us – either on a personal basis or through your church;

Invite Us – ask for a Speaker to talk at your Sunday church service or to a small group;

Read our publications and tell others about our work – and pass on Transmission when you have read it.

How can I play my part in Us?

Am I really needed?

Thank you

How will I know my donations are being used wisely?

What can I donate to?

Yes, you most certainly are! The work of Us provides a way for you to express your calling to share God’s love. You may not have time to work with churches around the world yourself, but your participation – through donations, prayer and giving your time – is an expression of your calling to support life-transforming work. We need you!

Thank you for your participation, and for enabling Us to support people in practical life-changing ways. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement.

Thank you for trusting us to be good stewards of the gifts you give so generously. Thank you for standing with Us.

Please donate to our work as a whole, rather than to a specific piece of work, because this gives us the flexibility to apply your gifts where the need is greatest.

Previously, through our Projects scheme, we invited supporters to direct their gifts towards particular countries or pieces of work.

However, we found some Projects were more popular than others, which meant some pieces of work received very little funding. By contrast, by supporting the work of Us as a whole, you will help to ensure that all of our important work can flourish.

Of course, if your church has

an historical connection with a particular part of the world, we understand that your church may still wish to support our work in that country. If this is the case, please do let us know when your church makes a donation.

We will report back to you on the whole range of our work through our magazine Transmission.

We also produce an Annual Review which shows how we have spent your money. And you can always find out more about our work on our website and via Twitter and Facebook.

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Annie's storyAnnie gave birth last year to a healthy baby boy. Both mother and baby are doing well thanks to the nurses at Annie’s local clinic near Bollopbhpur in Bangladesh.

Annie’s nurses were trained at Bollopbhpur training school for nurses, which is run by the Church of Bangladesh, with the support

of Us. Together we are giving young women vital nursing skills that will enable them to provide for themselves and their families, and care for women in their communities.

In a country where women have few rights, this training is a God-send.

Your regular gift of £12-a-month will help local churches around the world to express the love of God in practical ways, benefiting people just like Annie.

Please visit www.weareUs.org.uk/donate and set up a Direct Debit today.

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Us. The new name for USPG

40 Days of CommunityJoin Us this Lent as we explore the meaning of community through study, reflection and daily meditations.

For your church: A five-week Lent study course, suitable for small groups or Sunday services

For you: A booklet of daily meditations for Lent.

Order study packs and meditation booklets: 020 7921 2200info@weareUs.org.ukwww.weareUs.org.uk/lent