Why Micah?

The new Micah Global Board met for the first time on the10th to 12th February 2016 at All Nations Christian College, UK. Together we envisioned what we believe and work towards in Micah. We asked one another tough and probing questions such as: why does Micah exist and what is Micah? I wanted to share with you the answers that came from this discussion as it so inspired us and I am sure it will do the same for all Micah members around the world:

Micah exists because we believe in the world transforming mission of God through his church for the sake of his kingdom.

Micah is a movement of learning, acting, uniting and articulating together to transform mission.

What do we mean by “transforming mission”? The way we understand and practice mission needs to transform as well as all we do (Gods and thus our mission actions) need to be transforming / changing lives.

Our vision of communities living life in all its fullness, free of poverty, injustice and conflict, enables us to focus in on the issues of concern that Micah 6:8 calls us to.

As we wrestled with some of approaches to advocacy that Micah should focus on a number of points stood out:

We need to together speak truth to power

We need to encourage and advocate for the church to rise to the challenge of standing and speaking out for justice in their communities and nations

We need to spur one another on to live out and demonstrate the transformation we speak about.

This was a very inspiring time together and we hope that in the coming months we can together develop creative ways of being a catalyst for transforming mission in our localities and beyond.

This newsletter highlights a number of opportunities and stories where this is already happening and we look forward to walking with you as we plan more together.

Grace and peace

Sheryl
International Director

Changemakers at Mission-Net

Over 4 days of New Year's 2015/16, more than 2,100 participants gathered at the European Mission-Net congress in Offenburg, Germany to be 'connected'. Micah was part of the Global Market at a pan-European booth with staff from Micah national movements of Germany, Switzerland and France. The team challenged and encouraged young people from all over Europe to be ‘Changemakers’ within their communities. At the booth they were asked to take a blue or red pill and decide - like in the movie "Matrix"  - if they care about justice and poverty or not. We used this to talk about these topics and presented the SDGs by responding to the questions: 'What are they about and why are they important?'  and 'What do they mean for me as a young person?'

Participants were encouraged to sign commitment cards, demonstrating how they would contribute to achieveing the SDGs and be a Changemaker in their community.

With "Ingredients" of integral mission, the SDGs were represented as a strong possibility to bring change in politics, faith and in daily life as well. we aimed to encourage a paradigm shift in the understanding of poverty and development. Small yet important steps on how this change can get practical were shown in little cards with a selected SDG and a bible verse.

A way to emphasize this was the political offering on December 31. Young people from all over Europe read in their mother language how they already are Changemakers. Katja Hofmeister from Micah Germany and Claire Balverde from Micah France then talked about the vision of Micah and the SDGs. ‘What do the SDGs have to do with my daily life?’, ‘how can I engage?’ and ‘what does this commitment cost?’ were some of the questions they asked.

It certainly needs the young generation to be a strong voice in their local community and do advocacy work so that indeed no one is "left behind" and that youth and young people from all over the world benefit from the SDGs. Mission-Net offered an opportunity to see how this can be put into practise and engage practically with the younger generation.

Seminars on poverty and integral mission, mentoring and networking with other NGOs and mission agencies rounded off the weekend.

- Katja Hofmeister, Micha Deutschland (Micah Germany)

Micah Events

Haiti: Courage for Change
18th - 19th February, 2016
Quisqueya Chapel, Port-au-Prince

Côte d'Ivoire: Intentionally Missional
17th - 19th March, 2016
Venue: tbc

Nepal: The Local Church - Agent of Transformation
28th - 29th March, 2016
Coop Foodland, Lalitpur
More info: info@micahnetworknepal.org.np

Moldova: National Integral Mission Conversation
8th - 9th April, 2016

Guest Speaker: Johannes Reimer

Germany: Human Dignity: Faith- Lifestyle - Politics
Micha-Vernetzungstreffen 2016: "MenschenwürdeHochDrei - Glaube-Lebensstil-Politik"
22nd - 24th April, 2016

Christian Community Development Conference
Doing Church God’s Way: Rethinking Faith and Development
Micah European Regional Consultation

30th May – 3rd June, 2016

Christian Conference Centre Schoenblick, Schwaebisch-Gmuend, Germany (near Stuttgart)
More info: http://ccdnetwork.de/

Save the Dates:

Latin America Regional Consultation
Location: Honduras
Dates: 8th - 12th September, 2016

More details coming soon

Asia Regional Consultation
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Dates: 7th to 11th November 2016

More info to follow

 

Member Events

Global Connections Integral Mission Forum
Are We Really Inclusive?
February 23rd, 2016
6 Marshalsea Road, London, United Kingdom
A Biblical and practical response to including people with disabilities in our relief and development programmes.

Faith2Share Leadership Consultation:
Transforming Communities Together
17th - 22nd April, 2016
SAIACS Bangalore, India

Humnanitarian Disaster Institute, Wheaton College, USA
4th Annual Disaster Ministry Conference:
Caring for the Vulnerable

7th - 10th June, 2016
Wheaton College, IL USA

International School of Reconciliation for peace practitioners
9th - 26th August, 2016
Kigali Rwanda.
Languages: English and French
Micah highly recommends this 3 week intensive training for all who want to see their nations healed from the pain of conflict and prejudices.

AIDSLink International - Facilitator Training
For practitioners working with people affected by HIV/AIDS
English:
Johannesburg, South Africa: 18-24 March
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: August 26 - Sept 1
Russian:
Novosibirsk, Russia: 21-27 April
Almaty, Kazakhstan: 8-14 June

Resources

Family Impact (Africa)

Family Impact is passionate about resourcing individuals, couples, churches and organisations with materials on God’s plan for family, marriage, parenting and life! They have recently made a number of key resources available for download on their website for free. Please head to http://familyimpact.org/resources/family-impact-resources/ to download and use them in your family, small group, church or organisation. If you have any questions at all or to give feedback, please contact info@familyimpact.org.

We hope these resources are a blessing to you and help you and others discovery the beauty and transformational potential of God’s plan for family!

Reminder: The GlobalChurch Project

The GlobalChurch Project founder - Graham Hill - has travelled the globe to meet and interview hundreds of church leaders from the Majority World. The GlobalChurch Project resource website is their voice.

Each interview is accompanied by small group resources, curriculum for college classes, books, blog posts and more. Whether you're a pastor, a student, a teacher, or a church planter, these voices are for you.

All Micah members are entitled to a 20% discount on subscriptions.

Smart CSOs: Resources for Advocacy

Stefanie Linner (National Coordinator, Micah Germany) has shared the following web site for a resource site as we grow in our understanding an application of advocacy initiatives.

The Smart CSOs Lab is an international network of more than 1000 activists, civil society leaders, researchers and funders aiming to fundamentally rethink and redesign how activists and change agents in civil society can effectively work towards a systemic change.

Recommended Reading

resource

As the world faces a growing refugee crisis here are a few books that give us some Biblical insights by Patrick Johnstone and Dean Merrill

1) Jesus was a Refugee
2) Serving God in a Migrant (about to be released
3) Facts, Fears and Faith in a Migrant Crisis