Christmas 2009 News

How wonderful to receive Newsletters from dear friends at and around Christmas. And how grateful we are that they have not given up when we have failed to reciprocate!

Mike
Although he was supposed to hand over responsibility for the UK World Outreach office at the start of October, six and a half years of development work takes time to document, especially since development continued right up to the end. So it was on December 17 that the final version of the 180 page Operations Manual was sent to the new Operations Director in Market Harborough.

Christmas was a peculiar time for Mike; a massive anticlimax with plenty to do but no energy to do it. Janet said 'Relax, and enjoy having some time', but it's not so easy when all you've been doing has suddenly stopped.

• No longer is he waking up in the middle of the night and writing a list of jobs to do the next day.
• No longer does he suddenly realise a better way to program something and go out to the office to bury himself for hours till the changes are made.
• No longer will he wake up at 4.30 in the morning with a brilliant idea that prohibits further sleep so he starts work that day at 5am.
• No longer will he still be out in the office at 9pm because 'there's still something he must finish'.
• No longer will he have to be in the office for several days over month-end to ensure that all financial transactions are up to date and all month-end transfers to missionaries have been made. It has meant that holidays and trips always had to kept away from the end of the month so as not to impact office schedules.

Janet serving the meal

Much of the work has had nothing to do with processing donations or liaising with supporters, but much more to do with development work, something that will not need to be repeated by those who come after. It would have been a doddle if there had been no development. But that's how it was, and he's completed it now.

Janet
Always supportive and understanding; always gentle and kind. Her father is 83 and doing very well. We try to go to see him at regular intervals, but our visits have not been as frequent as we would have liked, although Janet rings every week.

Tim
Continues to share a house with a number of other young professions a mile or two from home and calls in for a meal at least once a week. He is doing well working for the Civil Service and is no stranger to hard work. He enjoys regular visits to the gym and football twice a week with friends.

Ben
Has returned to enjoy the pleasures of home life for a season, though we realise that next time he moves out it will be permanent. He is working hard for an American company in Bracknell after suffering for a while in a post that seemed to be going nowhere. When Ben is motivated, nothing can stand in his way and he is doing well.

Kik, Ben and Tim enjoying a
traditional Christmas meal

We enjoy watching our sons, now 27 and 25 respectively, growing up into fine young men and pray that God will make them well-pleasing to Him.

Kik
Our Japanese friend Kikuyo joined us again in the middle of December to our great pleasure. She had stayed with us before for 5 years from about 2002 to 2007 so the whole family know her well.

Since this is going on a blog, there is no need to tell you about other events that have taken place during the year. These will be the subject of other entries.

It’s Our Turn to Eat: the story of a Kenyan whistleblower

2009, Michela Wong
ISBN-10: 0061346586
ISBN-13: 978-0061346583

If you have an interest in Africa and why most of the people of African continue in utmost destitution and poverty while their rulers drive around in luxury cars, you need to read this book.

It is the story of Kenya, and how since independence successive governments have succeeded in milking the system. Michela Wong writes brilliantly and with insight about the situation in Kenya, and about John Githongo who was appointed by the new Kenyan president in 2002 to expose corruption, and the process by which he realised that the president was running the corruption, and using John as a ‘clean’ front-man. The UN and the British government, as usual, come out of book as parts of the problem. Africans are rarely able to be really corrupt without the help of their foreign friends.

A review in the Economist (Feb 28, 2009) says 'This gripping saga is a down-to-earth yet sophisticated exposé of how an entire country can be munched in the clammy claws of corruption. It is also a devastating account of how corruption and tribalism reinforce each other, as clannish elites exploit collective feelings of jealousy or superiority in an effort to ensure that their lot wins a fat, or the fattest, share of the cake. Hence the book’s title: “It’s our turn to eat”'.

Amazon.co.uk reviews of this book

The end of the (World Outreach) line

Early in October 2009 I hand all the work of World Outreach UK Operations Director over to John Ball, one of the other WOUK trustees. I think it would be hard to find a more suitable man than John. As an ex-Publishing Manager of Scripture Union with links to Bible Society, he will bring valuable expertise to the job in areas of management, publicity and much more.

Now that what I began to do in 2003 is complete, that is developing and documenting office systems for World Outreach, it is clearly the right time to hand over.

Janet, my wife, reminds me that beginning in Summer 2003 when I began the initial work to take over the administration of World Outreach UK from the office in Dorchester, which employed 3 people, I had to work very hard to get everything going. The aim was to take all the records that were needed for the continuance of the trust from the 3-storey office in Dorchester, and to compress them into a form that could be held by a PC and filing cabinet in a small office in Reading.

During June 2003 I had made a whistle-stop visit to World Outreach offices in Singapore, Brisbane and Auckland to evaluate their computer systems and had learnt that none of them could be utilised to provide accounting and office systems for the UK office. Researching the software market in the UK also revealed that there was nothing available that was not either simplistic or over-complex for the task we faced. It seemed remarkable to me that with thousands of UK charities with similar requirements (or so I imagined), there should be nothing suitable for us in the marketplace.

So, apart from having to convert existing supporter records into a form that we could use, it was necessary to write a fair amount of software to interface to the hybrid QuickBooks package that was providing core accounting. As the months went by, the software expanded and generated work because we able to do more with the data than we had ever done before. We began to discover which supporters were interested in what and to write to them to keep them informed about their interests.

In time the World Outreach UK website was developed and it became difficult to keep all the balls in the air, especially because the office system continually developed as my understanding of VB6 programming and web systems increased. We moved to web platforms for forex transfers which greatly reduced the cost of sending money to missionaries. This development was spurred on by the comment made by one forex bureau that banks made 60% of their profits from foreign exchange. I don't know how true this is.

So while this was all going on, a lot of normal living had to be on hold. Although we managed to take holidays away at least once a year, it did mean that for 6 years the house did not get painted and the garden did not get dug, all the jobs that a man's muscles do better! Janet proved her mettle in allowing me to get on with the job and supporting me in manic working while onlookers sometimes assumed that because she didn't go out to work time must weigh heavily on her hands.

So it is going to be a great relief to pass the responsibility on to someone else. The office routines are set up, all systems are now frozen, and it only remains to complete the online documentation for 'those that shall come after', because John will eventually pass the work on to someone else.

Christmas 2008 News

"Really!" you say. "Have we not heard from them for 5 years?" It is very likely that there has been radio silence on our part for all of that time, but we will now attempt to rectify the situation.

It was in 2003 that Mike took up the responsibility of 'Operations Director' of World Outreach, an international Christian mission. Over the last 5 years the role has grown and developed, providing continuously changing challenges, which he has generally enjoyed. He has spent a lot of time writing computer programs 'to make the work easier', and hopes to spend a good part of his Christmas 'break' moving the website www.wouk.org onto a new, easier to maintain basis..

Over the years we have visited people in foreign places like Thailand, Cambodia (Mike only), Malawi, Tanzania, South Africa, Florida, Scotland and Cornwall, and even tried a short cruise to the Bahamas from Miami! Mike has this terrible idea that every holiday has to have a purpose while Janet is very happy to enjoy a rest and change of scene.

Having been a part of Whiteknights Church in Reading for about 10 years, we have this year removed ourselves back to Earley Christian Fellowship, enjoying friendship across both situations. Mike also attends the Leaders' Prayer Meeting in town at Greyfriars Anglican Church once a week, enjoying association with the wider church.

Janet continues in the calling of a housewife, looking after Mike, and keeping the house and the food supplies running. She keeps up with friends and family around the place and spends an hour every morning in a warm corner by the French windows reading theological tomes alongside the bible. We like the little house we have owned in Reading since 1995, it's warm and dry with a pleasant outlook front and back, and we feel God has been very kind to us in providing it.

Janet enjoyed the pleasures of the NHS from the 'other side of the sheets' when, while visiting South Mimms service station on our way to visit Mike's brother and sister-in-law in Norfolk, she fell into a flower bed and heard a snapping sound on the way down. A passing St John's lady diagnosed a broken arm and the satnav took us directly to the nearest A&E where it was put into plaster. Some days later, the Royal Berkshire Hospital, discovering that the arm was not healing correctly, put 2" stainlesss nails into Janet's wrist, and it took six months for her arm to return almost to normal. The lengths we go for excitement! A month previously, Mike had tripped over a kerb-stone in Morrison's car park. As he went down, a voice said in his ear "roll into a ball". He obeyed and rolled across the car-park, sustaining no damage except slight bruising. Amazing.

Tim (26) now works for DEFRA in the town centre, awarding subsidies to qualifying farmers, and enjoys applying his quick wits to using their computer systems and helping others who work with him. He's now moved out to a bedsit a couple of miles away in a large Victorian house and is enjoying a bit more freedom carving out his own lifestyle.

Ben (24) works for Slipstream at Green Park on the edge of Reading, ringing up companies to interrogate their technical experts about their computing needs. It's been a steep learning curve for him, but he's making the grade and growing into a very socially competent chap. But they both are; it's called growing up!

So, what else can we tell you? Well Mike is 63 and Janet's a bit less, and we're both wondering what the future's going to hold. For some years we have been thinking about moving to a flat, but the time hasn't been right. We both enjoy the garden, so if we move to a flat in the future we'd like there to be a mature garden around it. Ben still lives with us, and we don't want to turf him out, so he's got to be settled before we would move.

The World Outreach position involves routine office work which Mike tires of, and computer work which is beginning to become too difficult, so the writing is on the wall to pass the work to someone younger, more energetic and hopefully with a 21st century vision. At such time as this happens, we have wondered if it might be possible to live abroad again for a while and perhaps to become involved in some kind of Gospel work until it is no longer possible. We do wonder if all the bible reading and study over the years will find this kind of outlet again. It all depends on continuing good health and the will of God.

We read your newsletters with delight and great interest, so thanks for keeping up with us.

Funding the Family Business

Myles Wilson and Stewardship

Funding the Family Business, published by Stewardship for Christian workers, is packed with 25 chapters covering almost everything you need to know to establish a support base.

Early chapters look at the principles of giving: "If you are going to receive financial support, someone needs to give it, and because you can’t receive until they give, it is important to understand what the Bible says about being a giver before exploring what it means to be a receiver". The clear message is that because "it is more blessed to give than receive", support raisers are helping others to experience God’s blessing and reticence to approach potential supporters can deny them this privilege.

Later chapters deal more with the practicalities of finding supporters and asking for their commitment: "You want to make sure that those on your support team know why you want them to be your supporters, what being a supporter will involve and how they can be the best help to you in following Gods' call on your life".

As a workbook it is packed with stories, insight and exercises that will inspire, inform and guide in the ministry journey.

Testimonies
"Our support was declining and we were considering quitting. Myles' intervention and teaching completely transformed our view of support raising and set us on a fresh course with faith and vision"

"When we started looking into serving overseas, we vowed we would never raise our own support. But God had other ideas and soon we found ourselves reluctantly doing so. We then attended a Myles Wilson seminar and our reluctance was transformed into enthusiasm. We haven't looked back since and wouldn't change from it now - even if we were given the option."

"Several years ago, my wife and I  were receiving 70% of our target annual budget. We were in a financial hole, and could see no way up and out. I'm delighted to say that, with Myles as our coach, we were able to get to 95% of our budget within 6-9 months. Myles was a wonderful "coach" with a wealth of experience in this field. He not only has a firm grasp of biblical principles that lie behind the whole area of support raising, but has the personal qualities that a coach needs - encouraging all the time, but also prepared to confront and call for change when needed. He nurtured our faith in the Lord's ability to provide, and is a great teacher. He was for us a messenger from God, and we thank God for Him.

"Our mission has benefited enormously from Myles' training of both staff and mission Partners.  We have learnt not only how to go about raising support but why we want to do it.  Our aim is to develop partnerships between ourselves and churches, mission partners and the projects and ministries in which we serve, both here and abroad, and Myles has helped us to achieve that much more effectively."

"We have published a number of Myles' articles on giving and receiving in our magazine and have received more requests to re-use these in other church and charity publications than any other resource.

"For well over a decade we have used Myles Wilson to train our candidates in support raising.  His biblical, practical and enthusiastic approach has been a great help to many new candidates who can often feel unsure if they will ever be able to raise the amounts they need to follow God's call into mission.  However, despite some members coming from small churches with very limited finances, in the years Myles has trained our staff we have never had anyone not go to the field because they couldn't raise their support.   The foundation that Myles has helped us lay is to see support raising as a genuine way of getting churches, friends and family of our members involved in mission and as a blessing to the supporters where it is more blessed to give than receive."

More information

Christmas 2005 News

All this year Mike has continued to work as the 'Operations Director' for World Outreach, a job that he enjoys but spends too much time doing. The problem is that he is always thinking of better ways to do things, and so the job expands to overfill available time. He is trying to get a final grip on things as the paint drops off the house, and the garden continues to grow even when it isn't attended to.

In February, normally a quieter time for the UK office, Mike and Janet went to Thailand to see some of the World Outreach projects.

We began in Bangkok meeting up with Patricia Green the founder of Rahab Ministries who operate among prostitutes in Patpong, the red-light district of Bangkok. By daytime the area looked innocuous, but in the late afternoon as the stalls come out onto the street in readiness for the night market, we no longer wanted to be in the area.

We also visited the Good News team who, working from a three-floor townhouse in as suburb of Bangkok, run a bible correspondence course for 100,000 Buddhist Thai schoolchildren. They publish their own material and also go into schools all around the country taking assemblies, and placing Christian literature in school libraries. They have also worked among children affected by the tsunami, encouraging them to play and to laugh again.

From Bangkok we travelled to Chiang Mae in the north-west of the country. Chiang Mae is home to the largest concentration of Christian missionaries in Asia, because of it's proximity to Burma, Cambodia, Laos and, of course, China.

From there we visited two Children's Hostels for hill tribes run by World Outreach, one in Doi Sacket, and one in Mae Chaem where we happened on the annual festival and enjoyed the flower-covered floats as they came through the town, with youngsters playing all kinds of instruments, and dressed in traditional tribal costumes.

We also met up with the Brellenthins who run another Children’s' Home in Chiang Mai, and the McKnight’s who also live there.

Our last few days we spent down at Hua Hin at the Juniper Tree, a rest house for missionaries in need of recuperation. Unfortunately, by that time, we were both under the weather and couldn't wait to catch the flight home.

During our time in Thailand we were very impressed with the quality and dedication of the missionaries we spent time with and the quality of the job that thy were doing.

At Easter, we joined our church at Moorlands Bible College near Bournemouth for our traditional Easter house-party, a time of exercise in the New Forest, visiting National Trust piles, and eating well. About half our party were from overseas and we had an excellent time.

In June we collected Ben from Coventry at the end of his first year studying German and French and playing computer games. By general consensus it was agreed to call it quits and Ben began an intensive process of job hunting. He was told everywhere he looked that they needed someone with experience - at least not the experience that he had, so it was with considerable relief that he finally landed a job in a call-centre in central Reading answering the phone to elderly people who were interested in the 'Stay Warm' scheme to cap the cost of their electricity and gas supply. He has stuck this humble pursuit and won a number of rewards for good results.

In August we made our annual pilgrimage to Devon to participate in the conference that is held in the grounds of Rora House each year. Mike was particularly encouraged to follow through on a series of creationist talks by Arthur Jones, and, having now read more widely rejoices in believing that the account of creation in Genesis is literal and that the days were days as we know them now. A great weight has slipped from his mind and a quantity of other biblical truth is also beginning to slot into place.

At the end of August, Mike had his 60th birthday, a time to reflect on the goodness of God over the years, and to seek to ensure that whatever time is left should be lived to His glory.

Tim continues to work in Basingstoke at Computer 2000 which buys computer parts and software from manufacturers and sells on a low margin to the likes of PC World and E-Buyer. He normally leaves the house at 7am and doesn't return until 7pm, so it's a long day, and he works hard. Mike asked him one evening if he was undervalued, and he replied that he would work hard whether they paid him well or not. A good attitude we think.

Christmas 2004 News

We didn’t manage to write a newsletter last year because there never seemed to be time. So we need to cover two years in this one.

You’ll remember that we lived in Malawi from January 1993 until January 1995, working as missionaries under the cover of World Outreach, an international mission recommended to us by Keith and Christine Kelly. Back in the UK, in 2001 Mike was invited to become a trustee of World Outreach, and in 2003 the trustees decided to completely regenerate the UK operation.

At the beginning of 2003, Mike was continuing his self-employed work, fixing customer's computers, and teaching secondary school maths as a private tutor, but felt to offer his services to World Outreach to set up the new administration that the UK branch of the mission required. So in June 2003, Mike visited the international World Outreach office in Singapore, and national offices in Brisbane and Auckland to learn the ropes. He then set up shop in a chalet in the garden, complete with telephones and broadband, evaluating office software and importing the donor list.

From September 2003 he became Operations Director to World Outreach in the UK, responding to letters and donations, emailing missionaries, writing new software to interface with the database, and all the 101 tasks that needed doing. Intended to be a 3-day-a-week job, it kept Mike going all the time including evenings and weekends.

Meanwhile at the end of August 2003, Janet stopped working as a Practice Nurse for the Christian GP Practice in Lower Earley. She had continued her research into producing greetings cards, visiting trade fairs from time to time, and keeping up with craft magazines and new materials. She developed beautiful designs - Mike was amazed by her talents in this direction - and sold a few cards, but knew that the whole thing could not take off without a lot more input from Mike in producing a website from which to sell the cards. ‘Mary J Cards’ was started to secure income because Mike felt that tutoring and PC repair would not provide enough to live on.

Janet also became involved with an outreach to overseas ladies every Tuesday morning that alternated bible study and craft or cooking, and she sought to be a friend to these ladies.

In February 2004, responding to a kind invitation from the Sheats family in Florida, we visited all around West Palm Beach. Hiring a car we were able to visit Janet’s aunt Kate and cousin Simon, Cape Canaveral Space Centre, numerous shopping malls and eateries, and sample the obligatory Ben and Jerry’s ice-creams. The whole Sheats family could not have been more kind.

In May we enjoyed a short break with Peter and Jane Richards in Cornwall, visiting around the Lost Gardens of Heligan and the Eden Project.

In August we relaxed for a few days of spiritual refreshment at Summer Conference at Rora House in Devon.

In November we travelled up to Scotland, visiting our old stamping ground of Edinburgh on the east and Glasgow and Auchenheath on the west, with a visit to the Myerscough cottage under construction in Aberfeldy. It was great to stay with Alec and Angela Workman in Carluke, and to visit all our other friends of long-standing.

Tim completed his three years at Keele University in Staffordshire with an English and Economics degree, and eventually moved into a job with Computer 2000 in Basingstoke where he sells PCs and PC supplies to the likes of PC World, Dixons, Staples, Comet, etc. He is very motivated by the work leaving the house at 7am and not returning until 7pm.

Ben spent a gap year working as a lifeguard at the Loddon Valley Leisure Centre a mile away, and from October has been settling in to the Coventry Business School, Coventry University to study German and French. In February he went to Tanzania while we were away.

Kik, our Japanese friend continued to stay with us for the fourth year. We enjoy her company very much.

Whiteknights International Church continues to prosper and grow slowly, and Sunday evening meetings still attract overseas students from the university, some of whom are responding to the gospel.

We’re all getting older – Mike is now 59 – and we are starting to ask the question: Where do we go from here?

We have just booked flights to visit World Outreach missionaries and other friends in Thailand in February 2005, and we remain open to the possibility of new horizons. The Lord holds our future in His hands and will lead us on. Of that we are sure.