HIV is a huge issue – no kidding.

For many of our partners the reality of working with HIV/AIDS is one of the biggest challenges they face. I read this in the Times over the weekend and thought it was worth flagging. Not sure I agree with all of it but it made me think.

The basic gist of the article, by Elizabeth Pisani, is that political correctness over criticising sexual practices such as multiple partners in Africa has prevented us finding an effective strategy to fight HIV. It also raises some big issues about how charities, agencies and NGOs have responded over the years.

Here’s a quick extract from the article or you can link to the whole thing here.

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I have spent a fait bit of my time writing recently. Whilst researching some stuff I stumbled across this quote from Tom Sine – and loved it.

“When Jesus began teaching he made it clear that his new empire would be unlike any empire the world had ever seen. It came on a donkey’s back. It’s imperial council was comprised of a handful of unemployed fishermen, a couple of IRS agents, a prostitute and some hangers on.

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When I started in CMS Ireland the first thing I worked on was a project for Sunday Schools called ‘Counting the Cost’. The project was based in DR Congo and tried to raise awareness of some of the issues facing the local church as it tried to help communities put their lives back together after decades of misrule, civil war and instability.

In the eight years that have passed DR Congo has continued to face many of the same problems – and some new ones, earthquakes and volcanoes amongst them.

I came across these pictures on the guardian website and it reminded me that some things haven’t changed – almost a decade down the line…

I realise that church law and structure are unlikely to be the most interesting subjects for most people but I’ve been encouraged to see a significant moment for mission in the Church of England last week with legal provision put in place to accommodate new forms of church that don’t fit within traditional parish boundaries.

The new legislation works through ‘bishop’s mission orders’ and a code of practice seems to give some useful ideas for groups, churches and dioceses looking to make the most of this new opportunity.

It seems, to me, to be a recognition of the need to acknowledge, accept and perhaps even celebrate pioneering expressions of mission and ministry that would perhaps previously have been been left with little support. I wonder how easily any of these ideas would translate in Ireland and what the consequences would be for the training and support of missional leaders..

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Perhaps unsurprisingly the fact that it’s Holy Week has seen faith pushed further up the media agenda.

The events of this week lie at the centre of the story we have to tell as Christians and it’s been interesting to see some of the media reaction this year. A few things have caught my eye…

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I have been reminded this week of something that I read on Jonny Baker’s blog ages ago. I lifted the quote back then and every once in a while it comes back to challenge me a little.

It’s from ‘The Christ of the Indian Road’ by E. Stanley Jones and the chunk that stood out for me was part of a conversation between Jones and his friend Gandhi. I reckoned it was worth sharing…

“Mahatma Gandhi I am very anxious to see Christianity naturalized in India so that it shall no longer be a foreign thing identified with a foreign people and a foreign government, but a part of the national life of India and contributing its power to India’s uplift and redemption. What would you suggest we do to make that possible?”

He very gravely and thoughtfully replied: “I would suggest first of all that all of you Christians, missionaries and all begin to live more like Jesus Christ”.

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So the new site has gone live! After about a month’s full-on work I’m pretty happy with the result and looking forward to seeing how it all pans out over the next few months. Big thanks to Stuart, Roger and Niall for all their work on it too. Let us know what you think…

Jools has been involved with CMS Ireland over the past few years as the host of our Summer Madness programme – but it’s only fair to say that there’s a whole lot more going on in that wee head than we get to see in the pitch black hustle and bustle of ‘the Cavern’! At the moment he’s having a bit of a think through Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger’s book, The Emerging Church It seems like a good discussion is starting in the comments.

Andrew Jones has written an interesting piece that explores how mission initiatives might be self sustaining. He takes some of Henry Venn’s (a key player in the history of CMS) ideas from the mid-19th century and looks at how they might resonate today. There is also a fuller article on the CMS-B website. Definitely worth a look.

I’m loving some of the stuff that Jon Birch is doing over at ASBO Jesus...

Is it possible that we spend a lot of the time missing the point?