MISSION LINKS
Mission and Overseas Development
The parish has two main on-going
involvements in mission overseas:
- Christian Aid
- Church Mission Society (CMS), and
particularly our link Partner in Mission in Nigeria
An agency of the churches in the UK and
Ireland, Christian Aid works wherever the need is greatest, irrespective of
religion. It supports local organisations, which are best placed to understand
local needs, as well as giving help on the ground through 16 overseas offices.
Christian Aid believes in strengthening
people to find their own solutions to the problems they face. It strives for a
new world transformed by an end to poverty and campaigns to change the rules
that keep people poor.
Out of every pound received, 75p is spent on
tackling poverty on behalf of the poorest people in the world; 11p is spent on
campaigning and education, to change the structures of inequality that keep
people poor; 12p is spent on fundraising; 2p is spent on administration.
More information may be found on the Christian Aid Home Page
CMS
is a mission agency working in partnership with churches in Africa, Asia, the
Middle East and Europe. Established
in 1799, the Society's goal remains the same - to spread the Gospel to every
part of the world.
CMS six main priorities are:
- leadership training and theological education;
- support for small and struggling churches;
- evangelism and church planting;
- dialogue and witness with people of other faiths;
- community development and health care;
- work among refugees and migrant peoples.
You can lean more about CMS at the CMS web page.
Susan Essam, our Link Partner in Mission
Deaconess Susan C Essam Susan has been working in Jos since her arrival in Nigeria in December 1983. For some eight years Susan travelled widely, teaching and preaching and leading TEE
(Theological Education by Extension). When the Rt. Rev Dr Benjamin A Kwashi was
consecrated and enthroned in February 1992 as Bishop of Jos, he asked Susan to
work with him. Under his leadership the church has taken on a new lease of life,
and God can be seen working in and through his people in amazing ways.
Susan is the Bishop’s Administrative
Chaplain and also finds herself involved in many aspects of church life
including teaching, preaching, writing and editing. Music has come to the fore
again in recent years and she is Director of Music at St Luke’s Cathedral, and
Head of the School of Music at the Diocesan Christian Institute. Since February
2000 she has also been Acting Dean of the Christian Institute.
Susan was born and brought up in
Northamptonshire. She read music and gained her teaching qualifications at
Southampton University. On leaving University she taught in Norfolk. From there
Susan went to Lincoln Theological College, and later worked in the Diocese of
Worcester, becoming an ordained deaconess in 1980.
The CMS Link Scheme connects congregations in Britain with world-wide mission through a CMS Partner
in Mission. It brings British churches into closer partnership with churches in
another culture. It also brings the experiences of Christians of other cultures
into our worship and witness here in Britain.
Through our link with Susan, we gain a
greater understanding of God’s work in the Jos Diocese of Nigeria, a very
different culture from the Diocese of Coventry! We contribute to that work
through prayer, letters and financial support. We are challenged in our own
mission and learn much from Susan and her colleagues through both Susan’s
letters and her occasional visits to the parish.
The Rt. Rev Dr Benjamin A Kwashi is now Archbishop of Jos.
Please click the link below to view Susan's latest Newsletter....
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