Building Trust: Checkpoint Autumn 2021
Posted on: 24th March 2021
CMS missionaries N and R recently returned for Final Home Assignment after over 10 years working in medical education and training, and emergency nursing in South East Asia. Prior to deciding to complete their service on location, R reflected on the benefits of serving long-term. We had to wrestle with the question of short-term or […]
The benefits of long-term
Posted on: 1st March 2021
CMS missionary Andrew Buchanan, married to Abi, has taught in Indonesia for two decades. It has been continual learning. A few months ago, I taught a Masters’ level class on the New Testament in Toraja. We looked at a number of issues such as honour-shame, rituals and taboos, even literacy, to highlight the areas where local Toraja culture connects with the world of the Bible in ways that Western interpreters are not that interested in. For […]
Bible teaching in Cambodia: Challenges from Coronavirus and the rest of life
Posted on: 12th February 2021
CMS missionaries Dave & Leoni Painter have served in Cambodia for more than 20 years. Here Dave describes a general challenge of ministry, and the specific challenges that have arisen at the Phnom Penh Bible School that have come about during the pandemic. In the Khmer language, the word romkan is most closely translated by the verb ‘to disturb’, however, it is generally used with a greater […]
The pain of genocide continues in Cambodia
Posted on: 10th February 2021
CMS missionary Maggie Crewes has worked at the coal face of injustice and exploitation for decades. After many years in Africa, she is now working with vulnerable young women in a Cambodia still haunted by the Khmer Rouge. When I visited the local town of Kampot recently I saw AK47s, which were used during the war of […]
Drawing on God’s compassion and grace
Posted on: 28th January 2021
Maggie Crewes has served with CMS since 1992. Her ministries in Africa, and now South East Asia, have been at the coalface of human need and desperation. She reflects on God’s sustaining grace in her long-term mission. “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 How do […]
Teaching theology in Indonesia
Posted on: 22nd May 2019
CMS missionary Andrew Buchanan explores the differences between Indonesian and Western culture, and how that shapes the way he teaches theology in a way his listeners can understand. I remember as a young adult doing Introduction to the Bible as I started the Moore College Preliminary Theological Certificate. At the time, I was familiar with […]
Careful conversation in secure locations
Posted on: 23rd January 2019
CMS missionary J has served in support of local believers in a range of locations, each of which illustrate barriers to clear gospel communication, but also the joy of persisting with wisdom and (sometimes) caution. Different contexts produce different challenges to the principle of ‘all things to all people’. Here are two stories: the first from […]
Preaching Christ in traditional rituals in Toraja
Posted on: 16th November 2018
CMS missionary Andrew Buchanan has been serving in the Church of Toraja in Indonesia since 2002. As the church faces the resurgence of traditional grave cleaning practices, Andrew explains why and how he has recommended to ministers to take part in this ritual. The Church in Toraja ministers to a region that only came into […]
Prayer opens doors in South East Asia
Posted on: 15th October 2018
CMS workers N & R served in hospital leadership in Tanzania and now teach medical students in South East Asia. Read how the gospel is breaking down barriers as they seek to glorify God in every situation. “People will not say this to your face, but the community had lost confidence in the diocese and […]
Serving with integrity in South East Asia
Posted on: 8th October 2018
CMS worker E (serving with her husband, T, in South East Asia) teaches part-time at a university, while also being involved in community development with their neighbours. Here E demonstrates how a simple conversation can open up opportunities to serve in word and deed. What does a commitment to wholeness in mission look like when […]
