Who Do You Identify With?

In the story of Jesus encountering Jairus (a ruler of the synagogue whose daughter was ill) we see how, en route to heal her, Jesus was surrounded by a massive crowd which almost crushed him. In spite of the crowds pressing in on him, he still felt power leave him when touched by the woman who hoped to be healed of her years of suffering (Luke 8:40-56). Jesus stops to compassionately affirm her before pushing on to get to Jairus’ home, only to find that his daughter has died. Undeterred, Jesus reassures them and raises Jairus’ daughter from the dead. This is quite a journey.

Who in this story do we identify with most?
• The concerned and anxious Jairus seeking urgent intervention from Jesus for his loved one?
• The desperate woman seeking anonymous healing as she was afraid of further rejection?
• The bewildered disciples who felt overwhelmed by the crowds and were simply trying to stay close to Jesus in the crush?
• The curious crowd who wanted to see miracles and be where the excitement was?
• The group of mourners and realists who wanted to associate with the pain but had no expectations of change?
• The little girl?

This question was asked of a group of 600 Christian leaders by theologian, Harvey Cox (see Further Along the Road Less Travelled by M Scott Peck). A majority of the group associated with the crowd watching, whilst the remainder identified with ether Jairus or the woman healed en route. Only two or three identified with Jesus.

Luke 8 reveals Jesus as healer and restorer, yet very few Christians seemed to identify with him, even though we are called to be like Jesus.

Why is this?

Is it possible that we have over spiritualised Jesus and idolised him to the extent that we can worship him, tell stories about him, yet not imitate him? Jesus has called us to follow him, not just in our hearts and spirits, but in our everyday lives and actions. We may ask “what would Jesus do?” but do we then do what Jesus would do?

Micah 6:8 challenges us daily to:

Act Justly: we see everyone as Jesus sees them. Each person is created in his image and is of unsurpassable value. Act justly is not a passive command – it is an intentional pursuit of justice in every aspect of life.

Love Mercy: we rejoice when people don’t get what they deserve. Mercy and compassion is expressed through unconditional love in action.

Walk Humbly: we remain humble in our walk with God and others. Kingdom authority and power expressed through being a blessing to others so that all will flourish, longing for others to be greater than ourselves. Our strength lies in our vulnerability and the reality that we need one another.

Micah Global exists to enable us to act justly together, to express compassion and mercy through all we do and say and to be a blessing to all. We exist as an expression of our corporate recognition that to work together demonstrates God’s Mission.

We thrive on our shared vision. Our work is enabled by our members' solidarity and support.

Thank you

Sheryl Haw
International Director

Linda Martindale joins the team

The newest member to the Micah staff team, Linda is excited to be a part of a global organisation that encapsulates so much of what is important to her. A journalist, writer and editor by profession, Linda also works part-time with The Warehouse in Cape Town, South Africa in the area of writing, communications and advocacy. She has freelanced for various organisations and publications in different countries mainly in sub-Saharan Africa during her time as a writer, but is most excited about being a part of seeing the ‘kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven’ and connecting and partnering with others who join with God in the work to see the end of suffering, poverty, division and injustice. “Micah 6:8 has been a bit of a life-purpose scripture in my life story, so it feels like a privilege to work for an organisation whose very DNA is about seeing that lived out by believers,” says Linda, “And I am excited to learn from and share with many of those heroes through this work and growing movement of Micah champions around the globe.” To contact Linda see here.

The Gospel and the Future of Cities Conference

Date: Saturday 15th October 2016

Location: Quito, Ecuador

Facebook Page / Registration see here.

The Urban Shalom Project invites you to attend The Gospel and the Future of Cities Conference, which is the weekend immediately prior to the UN-Habitat III conference in Quito, Ecuador (Oct. 17-20). 

Participants are welcome to stay on for the rest of the week after the 15th October conference at our UN Habitat III Basecamp to attend Habitat III. Our goals are to be a thoughtful Christian presence in the dialogue, and to pray for the people attending and the outcomes of the conference. We believe Christians have a lot to learn about urbanism at Habitat III, but we also have a lot to offer from our biblical perspective, our experience and expertise, our concerns, and our values, so let's get there and be involved!

Co-lead by ISUM-Micah Global and the Lausanne/WEA Creation Care Network, the Urban Shalom Project is dedicated to helping the Christian community engage with urban issues, and especially to be involved in the global dialogue on urbanism.

SDG's Index and Dashboard

The Bertelsmann Stiftung and Sustainable Development Solutions Network have prepared a useful website to help countries track progress against the SDGs. While this is not an official product of the United Nations or any government, the SDG Index creates a measure of the SDG starting point for 2015 at the country level. 

The SDG Index and Dashboards present the currently available data in a way that is informative, insightful, and interesting and will be updated and developed over time as data becomes available. 

Circular Economies

At present we tend to see economies work in a linear styled economy. We make an item, we use it, it breaks, we throw it away. A circular economy would build into the process steps to eliminate waste and inefficiency, and ensure re-use is possible at all stages of the cycle.

Tearfund UK have produced a resource called the Virtuous Circle, to demonstrate how manufacturing in a circular economy can add jobs, reduce waste and strengthen sustainability. Download

International School of Reconciliation, Rwanda

The International School of Reconciliation is offered annually by Le Rucher Ministries in Kigali, Rwanda and Micah encourages members to participate in this unique training.

Joseph Mulombo, a Micah contact in DRC, heard about the opportunity through Micah and attended the school in August. Joseph works for the Association for Community Development Integrated (AS.DE.COM.I) as a Pastor and National Coordinator.

Joseph shared that participants in the school came from 12 countries. He reflects "It was encouraging to know that despite the desperate situations of this world, God still works through us to help redress them." He added that the training caused him to redefine himself and his perceptions and that he will organise healing workshops for the churches and NGOs he works with. 

We praise God for this training and pray that the impact will spread far and wide as those who attended take their learnings back to their homes, churches, communities and workplaces.

First Man Standing: Website Launch

Our partner Restored will launch their First Man Standing website on 23rd September. First Man Standing is an opportunity for men everywhere to be the first in their family, club, church or workplace to stand up and speak out about building strong relationships and ending violence against women.

Restored are looking for stories of inspiring men and women to share on the site. To share your story, get involved or find our more, email Peter Grant.

You can also find a series of seven bible studies exploring how to live as a First Man Standing here.

CETI Masters in Integral Mission

Masters in Interdisciplinary Theological Studies for Integral Mission, accredited by the University of British Columbia (Canada).

This is aimed at Christian professionals who may never attend a traditional full-time degree course, but want to continue to grow in their faith, their work and their family as they participate fully in society and church life.

The course is run by CETI: Community of Interdisciplinary Theological Studies.

For further information and to register see here.

Translations of Church Pack from Restored now available

The Ending Domestic Abuse: A Pack for Churches is now available in 5 languages! This pack from Restored is designed to enable churches to address domestic abuse issues more effectively.

“Restored bring together experience, wisdom and energy for combatting this serious and often secret form of abuse. This pack shares this expertise and enables churches to play a full and vital part in the work.” The Right Reverend Alistair Redfern, Bishop of Derby

Click here for the church pack in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian.

Click here for the church pack in Hindi and here to read a blog on the Hindi version in India.

Business Solutions to Human Trafficking

Mats and Jennifer Tunehag presented a paper at the recent Christian Economic Forum in Durban in July called Business Solutions to Human Trafficking. To download and read this paper see here.

40th Anniversary Kairos Foundation

In 1976, the year of the military coup in Argentina, a group of friends gathered together to refect on the question: what does the Gospel look like as we live through this current situation, in this context?

From the 23 to 25 September 2016, a celebration will be held to commemorate 40 years of ministry that was birthed out of this group of friends asking this vital question.

The New Activist podcast from IJM

On 14 September the International Justice Mission launched a podcast. The New Activist is a place for honest conversations with people activated to seek justice.

Subscribe on iTunes, Google Play​ and Sound Cloud

Integral Mission Discussions

We value debate and discussion on integral mission theology and practice and have created space for these reflections in our newsletters and online spaces. Please send us any articles you think are worth sharing with our members. Here is one interesting article for this month's edtiion: 

De-Westoxicating Mission, by Xavier Massingue from Mozambique

Member Events

Micah Australia will hold their annual Voices for Justice events in Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra in October/November. For details click here.

Micah in the News

Click here to read excerpts from reflections from Paul Freston during the panel "Evangelicals and the Political Situation: Reality & Prospects" at the recent Micah event in Brazil.

Up and Coming Micah Events

Kenya: Integral Mission Conversation: 22 - 23 September: Postponed until 2017.

Cameroon: Integral Mission Conversations: between 28 November to 7 December - visting various cities.

Russian: Integral Mission Conversation: 25 to 27 November

Information will be available for all shortly on our events page.