Mission Frontiers 35, 5 (September-October 2013)

The September-October 2013 issue of Mission Frontiers, published by the U.S. Center for World Mission, contains a number of articles around the theme of ‘Water + Gospel = Transformation’.

Setting the scene in the editorial, Rick Wood writes:

‘Today, almost 2,000 children will die from dirty, disease-filled water... The question for us as the Church is whether Jesus wants us to stop such tragedies or is the God of heaven only concerned with getting the message of the gospel to every person, tribe and tongue?’

For Wood, ‘demonstration and proclamation of the gospel go together’.

Individual articles can be accessed from here; the whole issue (9.4 MB) can be downloaded as a pdf here.

Encounters 42 (October 2012) on Water

The latest issue of Encounters from Redcliffe College is now available, this one dealing with ‘Christian Perspectives on Water’.

According to the introductory blurb on the website:

‘This edition focuses on the topic of water and considers missional responses in different water-stressed parts of the world. The first three articles are taken from the JRI Environment Day conference held at Redcliffe earlier in the year, and provide snapshots of local situations in Africa, as well as evaluating global concerns, whilst also including a theological perspective on water and what it meant to Old Testament Hebrews. The other two articles consider wider environmental perspectives, leading us to ponder those age-old questions again; who is my neighbour, and how should our relationships, both local and global, be conducted?’

Individual articles are available from here, or the pdf of the full issue is available here.

World Toilet Day

I know the possibilities for scatological humour – intentional as well as unintentional – are endless, but let’s go for it anyway: 19 November is World Toilet Day.

TearFund and WaterAid, among others, are drawing attention to it, campaigning for action to tackle inadequate sanitation, and calling on world leaders, including the British government, to address the problem by creating a global action plan on water and sanitation by 2010.

2.5 billion people worldwide don’t have a toilet, and that lack of a basic facility takes its toll on communities in developing countries, where every day 5,000 children under five die from diarrhoeal diseases caused by dirty water. Sanitation also provides dignity; inadequate access is a source of shame, physical discomfort and insecurity.