Contextualisation….

At a mission's conference in Swanwick, The Hayes Conference Centre, which I am attending at the moment, I was at a very informative seminar about evangelisation, 'Relational Witness' to be exact. One of the quotes used by the Speaker was 'Contextualisation is a courtesy not a deception' I loved it because that is what we seek to do in my ministry, Friends International, a ministry to over 1 million International students in Britain.

I also appreciated what was said about friendship in this context. Friendship is: cultural, biblical, courteous, contextual and pragmatic. If we are going to achieve success in sharing our love for Jesus with others then our friendship must be all these things.

I remember that I had a few conversations with my twin about this anytime I came to Nigeria to visit a mission field, she certainly impressed me with her acceptance of this viewpoint. She did, however, try to justify the necessity of Black Majority Churches in the United Kingdom. It is discussions such as these, that I will forever miss.

I met another twin, the Revd. Roger Simpson from York at the conference who has also had twin sons, and it was good to spend valuable time with him over a meal. The conference ends tomorrow, so I look to returning to my family to be with them, most especially my wife. I remember my twin was a confirmed Anglican, but I never seemed to manage it.