The challenge of Jesus: Give them something to eat!

As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

“Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Matthew 14: 15 – 21

Here are Jesus, his disciples and the crowd in a deserted place. After having listened to Jesus for long hours, the disciples suggested him to send the crowd away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves something to eat. These people were undoubtedly hungry. The disciples were worried and suggested their solution, but Jesus' response will amaze us. ‘’They don’t need to go away. It is up to you to feed them!’’ said Jesus.

What a challenge! To feed five thousand men, besides women and children.

Through these words, Jesus is drawing the attention of the disciples, the Church and all Christians on some very important things:

First lesson, we shouldn’t concern ourselves only with the spirit of people, or only with the salvation of their soul, but with the body, the soul and the spirit of those we bring to Him. What do we do with those who have physical needs? How do we react to the physical needs around us? Disease, hunger, unemployment, lack of water, wars and violence etc.
Give them something to eat. We must announce a holistic gospel which takes into account the whole person (body, soul and spirit.) God takes care of the whole person and we also must take care of the whole person.

The second lesson, is that Jesus fed the crowd to show that God is capable, that we must put our trust in Him to meet the physical needs of the people around us: 5 loaves and 2 fishes became utterly sufficient for more than five thousand people.

Third lesson, the disciples have just distributed. God will always provide, and wants us, as Church and as children of God, to help him distribute. We are dispensers of God’s graces for the world.

People will eat and there will remain leftover pieces if we put our trust in the Lord and if we stay available to Him.

Give them something to eat.

May this be our challenge today.

Pastor Frederic DJODJOUHOUIN
Bénin

Europe: Responding to refugees

As political leaders continue to work out a response to the challenge of the continuing influx of refugees entering the Europe, European Christians continue to advocate for a unified response which welcomes refugees and seeks to see them treated with dignity and compassion.

At the occasion of their General Assembly last month, theEuropean Evangelical Alliance have issued a Call to Action to the evangelical community in Europe, which states:

At the end of our General Assembly titled “From Exclusion to Inclusion,” we want to exhort the Evangelical community to embrace the stranger, be it the stranger newly arrived from outside Europe or the “stranger” of different ethnicity, culture or faith they have lived near for years…

You can read the full Call to Action here (English and French).

On October 29th, a group of 35 bishops and church leaders from 20 countries gathered in Munich, Germany to discuss refugees and the role of the churches in Europe with a recommendation for safe passage to those seeking refuge.

You can read the full Communiqué published by the World Council of Churches here.

COP21

From 30 November-11 December 2015, the UN Climate Change Conference, COP21, will be taking place in Paris. Forty thousand participants are expected, making it one of the largest climate conferences ever organized. COP21 is crucial, as it aims to reach an international agreement for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and keeping global warming below 2°C.

Micah USA have published a helpful series of blogs which explains more about the COP21 process and why it is so important.

Training Opportunity: CLAVES

Training of Trainers:
Strengthening ourselves to face difficult situations through play

Claves will run a training course (in Spanish) for health, education and social professionals on the prevention of sexual violence against children and teenagers. This is implemented through group recreational workshops developed by educators in their institution of reference.

The course is conducted through a combination of online and on location training.

Module 1: Theoretical, methodological and experiential deepening in the proposal "we strengthen ourselves through play"
Module 2: Healthy development of childhood and adolescence
Module 3: Mistreatment and sexual violence against children and teenagers
Module 4: Biblical-theological reflection
Module 5: Keys in games and prevention

Deadline for registration and requests for partial scholarships:15th December 2015.

More Information can be found on the CLAVES website here.

Creative Space: Mosaic

Mosaic Creative
Creative Facilitation Course
2nd – 4th December 2015
Oxford, United Kingdom

This an opportunity for those working in church and community mobilisation to refresh and build on their group work skills with new ideas, tools and approaches for creative facilitation.

More information: email [email protected]

Micah Events

Bangladesh: Integral Mission and the Church
A national Integral Mission Conversation
Dates: 25th to 28th November 2015
Guest Speaker: CB Samuel

United Kingdom: Theme TBC
A national Integral Mission Conversation
Location to be announced
28th January, 2016

Haiti: Theme TBC
A national Integral Mission Conversation
18th – 20th February, 2016

Nepal: Theme TBC
A national Integral Mission Conversation
29th – 31st March, 2016
This event was postponed in 2015 due to earthquake
Guest Speaker: Johannes Reimer

Germany: CCD Conference
Doing Church God's Way? Rethinking faith and development.
Europe Regional Consultation
30th May – 3rd June, 2016

Member Events

Accord Network 
Developing Excellence Forum
9th – 13th November, 2015
Colorado Springs, USA

Christian Community Development Association
CCDA National Conference
11th – 14th November, 2015
Memphis, TN, USA

Restored
An Introduction to Domestic Abuse for Church Leaders
Friday, 20th November, 2015
London, United Kingdom

MissionNet
28th Dec 2015 – 2nd Jan 2016
Offenburg, Germany
The 4th Mission-Net Congress in Europe where more than 2500 young people from almost 50 different countries are expected over the New Year 2015/2016. Micah will be present at this event with several of the national Micah expressions throughout Europe attending.

A Rocha New Zealand
Ecology and Hope Conference
with Celia Deane-Drummond
Friday January 8th, 2016
Carey Baptist College, Penrose, New Zealand

ForMission College
A Sustainable Future
Saturday, March 5th, 2016
Hollymoor Centre, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Useful Resources

New Urban World Journal
Business as Mission
This is the 2nd edition of the ISUM journal for 2015. Includes feature articles from Paul Thompson and Lynne Taylor, Mats Tunehag, Judith Johnston and Ian Allsop as well as book reviews, regular columns and reports from the urban mission world. Free download as PDF.

Global Connections
Code of Best Practice for Church to Church Partnerships
Designed to provide guidelines for churches interested in forming partnerships with churches, denominations and organisations in cross-cultural settings. These brief guidelines have been developed by a group of Church leaders from a variety of backgrounds, all of whom have significant experience in cross-cultural partnerships.

Tearfund Reveal Resources:
Being an Advocate [PDF]
A helpful bible study leading into discussion and action about the role of Christians to be advocates; speaking truth to power. Theological foundations and practical tools.

Micah USA
Prayer to Change the World: Audacious Prayer centred of the Sustainable Development Goals to end extreme poverty.
A helpful prayer guide to help understand the SDGs and how we can pray powerfully for our leaders, the Church and ourselves as we seek to use this framework as a tool to seek an end to the travesty of poverty worldwide.

We want to hear from you

Micah members are invited to share content in the monthly Micah newsletter.

Why not tell us about yourupcoming events or trainingopportunities? Share a testimony? Introduce a publication or article on integral mission?

Please send your submission to[email protected].