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It strikes me that ‘calling’ can sometimes be a well-worn Christian phrase that perhaps doesn’t take account of the fact that when you become a Christian you are also called by God and the two are inseparable; God changes your life and Jesus commands everyone to be involved in mission. Obviously, ‘mission’ encompasses many different fields and doesn’t just apply to working overseas but we feel particularly directed to Africa and are passionate about working with the poor and marginalised.
We are also excited at the prospect of working with BMS world mission. We are both very aware of the background and the sometimes negative association missionaries have had with colonialism. Half of the BMS staff are locals in their country and they focus very much on partnerships and training indigenous people for the future. With my medical background and Gen’s communication and French language skills, working with BMS in Guinea seemed to be where God was guiding us.
As the old African prayer states, ‘when you pray, move your feet’. We believe in integral mission - that we are called to reach out to people in the form of both social action and evangelism. We want to live our lives as a celebration of Christ’s goodness; so that others can experience the potential they have, at its basic level, Hope.
Part of working for BMS is their commitment to train us in many aspects of mission. This has involved a year in Birmingham at their International Mission Centre where we have studied subjects such as; cross-cultural mission, ethics, development, theology and world faiths. Also as part of the year Rob has had the opportunity to complete a three-month course at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. This training included HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria and community health. Our year finishes in July, when we will commence language training in France. We hope to complete this by next Easter and head out to Guinea shortly afterwards.
We will be based in Macenta in Guinea near the Liberian border. The country is one of the poorest and most corrupt in Africa. 50% of the population are under 15 and literacy rates are 30 %. We feel that Long-term mission is important in order to show our dedication to the country and not a quick fix, which often does more harm than good. I will be working in community health care and setting up HIV/ AIDS prevention and education. Gen will be involved in youth and women’s work.
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