Picture: preparing for public worship, under threatening sky, which did not soak us!
Mission – possible!
We are glad to report that the 2024 Bushbury mission was greatly blessed, and many prayers were answered. There were three partnering churches in Bushbury; Saint Mary’s, the Good Shepherd, and Saint James’.
Prayers were very much answered, and in the two mission teams deployed we were very much aware of the faithful prayer support from the TFM prayer network, and many individual Christians. In particular we were aware of a general peacefulness which, perhaps, we had not anticipated. In addition, there were many good and fruitful discussions about faith matters with the general public, usually based around the TFM standard survey questionnaire. This year there were just over 450 completed survey forms and quite a few professions of faith, plus requests and permissions for follow-up by the local churches.
In terms of answered prayer we can also report that public worship and public witnessing was also greatly blessed, there was street safety, and blessed weather conditions, especially at crucial moments.
Hitting the target
Our partnering churches hosted us wonderfully, and gave us clear mission objectives. This was really helpful, and reminds of that old saying: “if you don’t have a target-you won’t hit it”. Having clear objectives gave us a real sense of being in partnership with, and servants of, our hosting churches.
As the mission teams departed on the Sunday afternoon, we are well aware that a new season of hard work begins for our partnering churches on the Monday morning. So what have we learned in 2024 that is notable?
Softer ground
The first thing that we noted was that the spiritual ground seemed to be softer this year than it was in 2023. We believe that God has graciously blessed and honoured the work in 2023 and that some of the fruits of that 2023 mission were gleaned in this 2024 mission. We repeat, this year there seemed to be more Shalom, and people seemed to be more open and more relaxed, leading to many more fruitful and open exchanges.
Picture: preparing for public worship, Scotlands Estate, Bushbury.
Survey learnings
The second conclusion that we have drawn is perhaps slightly more concerning. The survey responses appear to reflect further drift towards secularism if we accept the survey results at face value. So, in response to the question ‘what do you believe about God’ those who describe God as ‘just a force’, increases from 5% to 8%. Those who see God as ‘a personal God’ declined from 48% to 44%, and those who say ‘non-existent’ has increased from 14% to 16%. Please see the full tabulated results below.
To the question ‘what do you believe happens at the end of our lives’, those who answer ‘we die and that’s it’ increased from 11% to 16%, but interestingly matched by a slight decline in those who believe in reincarnation, which declined from 18% last year to 14% this year. Similarly, those who believe ‘we all go to heaven’ declined from 15% to 14%. Respondents who declare themselves completely unsure increased from 22% last year, to 34% this year.
To the question ‘what do you believe about Jesus’ those who say he is ‘a messenger from God’ declined from 30% to 29%. Those who say He is ‘the only son of God’ declined from 41% to 38%.
Heartening result
Perhaps the most heartening result was that amongst those who answered the question ‘if you could know God personally, would you be interested?’, there was a marked increase from 40% last year to 57% this year. At least two people responding directly to the author, stated that if God exists, it would be logical and sensible to try to get to know Him. So perhaps this statistically significant jump is a good sign, albeit it may reflect, in part, just a straightforward recognition that if God exists it must logically be important to get to know Him. This probably does not reflect a powerful increased desire to actually know Him, but at least people are thinking more critically, and that must be a good thing!
Conclusions
So, what is our conclusion from the 2024 Bushbury mission? Firstly, that those people we engaged with are more open, and perhaps more honest or relaxed than they were last year. And also accurate in answering, in the sense that they are being more direct and feel more comfortable about being more open.
The second key conclusion is perhaps not surprising, and is based only upon anecdotal evidence; it is that the young, and the foreign- born, who appear to be more open than the older, indigenous, white and British- born, who appeared to be more set in their ways, and more resistant to God’s offer of love and acceptance.
So we praise God for a happy mission, and for probably over 500 really useful conversations and the associated encouragement for people to think seriously – and to seek seriously – concerning their relationship with God.
Our praying now is refocused around the follow up and discipling tasks being undertaken by our partnering / sponsoring churches. We praise God for the harvest gathered in July, and the harvest yet to be gathered. To Him be the glory ……
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If you’d like to know more about short-term outreach mission opportunities, please visit TFM’s website: https://tfm.uk.endis.com/
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