It’s amazing who you meet around the world. Toby and I have been making friends with Rt. Rev. Dr. Joseph Mar Ivanios Episcopa from the Mar Thoma church and Rt. Rev. Dr. Joseph Mar Barnabas the Suffragan Metropolitan as our visits have overlapped and we’ve shared waiting rooms, and tours together. They’re planting a Diocese of UK, Europe and Africa, have several churches in the UK and are wanting to set up a mission base in Nairobi as well. As I write this Rev.Canon Captain Richard W.Mayabi from Anglican Mission Africa comes to say hello and tells me he is off to Oxford to give a lecture at the University in May and can we meet while he is there? Mission from everywhere to everywhere.
The Mar Thomists are an impressive lot. They’ve been in Kerrala since St Thomas navigated the trading route through Kabul all the way to South India (or caught a boat and washed up there). They’ve a whollistic approach to mission that matches what the Archbishop of Kenya has set out here of Wholeness for body, mind, soul, ecology, commerce etc…
Bishop Joseph is Bishop for both Mumbai and this new missionary diocese covering a population equivalent to India itself. Their ministry includes slum outreach and school management, with a clear direction and vision for reaching everyone for Christ. It uses the Syriac liturgy, acknowledges 3 creeds, 7 sacraments, and has some mighty fine outfits to wear to match your flowing beard if you get consecated a bishop. Seminary is 5 years intense training, usually from an early age after completing an undergraduate degree. Ordination is open to men only, married or celibate, but the Bishop’s order is reserved for those with a monastic discipline. Thanks to the ministry of CMS when they came to Kerrala and the warm reception from the indigenous church, the Mar Thoma church developed into full community with the Church of England, so if all else fails…
It’s fascinating to watch three cultures come together again as Dad and boy, Bishops and their priestly guide, and members of the Anglican Church of Kenya’s hierachy, missions and congregants all come together. The ACK is also a product of CMS when it took the gospel around the world, and as a current trustee in an area where we are more than ambivalent about colonial legacies [English understatement], it’s a moment to reflect on as stories are told around tables and our place in them comes into focus.
The greatest sending countries for missions at the moment are apparently Brazil and South Korea, but India and parts of Africa may not be far behind. There are olive branches of faith to bring to Europe from all these encounters.
Your name is like honey 