Navigating the Storm (Letter from Mike Betts)
We are living through turbulent and unprecedented times and have, no doubt, all found ourselves trying to absorb the latest information, projections and Government instructions. There is much to grapple with, both in the public arena and our own individual lives, as we come to terms with major decisions and the implications. There is much to process.
In our church families, we are adapting and changing with great speed in response. A big ‘shout out’ to all the eldership teams, church planters, trustees and other key leaders who serve our churches. A big ‘shout out’ also to those serving within the NHS, police, Government & community in any way. We applaud all you are doing.
As an Apostolic Team, let me say that we are clear in our belief that God has called us too much fruitfulness for His glory over the coming years. Whilst seeking God as to how we should view all that is happening at the moment and what decisions to make for us as a family of churches, I felt very clearly God starting to speak to me, which i summarise in the video below.
There are 4 key things flowing from this that I feel God is saying to us:
This is a time of change. Over time, further shape and wineskin changes will need to be made in order to serve where God is taking as a family of churches.
We were already looking ahead at the next 2-3 years, at expansion; releasing & mobilising more mission and ministry. These current unplanned and unforeseen circumstances simply bring implementation and time lines of future considerations into the present day.
We believe that there will be ‘no loss of the life of God’ itself within the RM family. Certain things may have to be jettisoned in the present climate; for example not going ahead with The Call this year. These things, whilst disappointing, do not stop the life of God working through us into the future.
We confidently believe we will find ourselves faced with new unexpected and vibrant opportunities for the gospel to be brought to more and more people. This season is not going to be defined by reduction but by expansion - just in a different way to how we first might have thought.
In response to the above, during this unprecedented season we want to invite you to:
Pray with Us
We would really appreciate your prayers as we navigate the next steps for our family of churches.
Now, more than ever, we need to pray and prayer in large numbers is, we believe, vital at this time. We held a hugely successful ENOUGH event on the 9 April, where we saw thousands of people, 30+ nations and multiple networks joined together in prayer, asking God to move across the globe.
We are planning to build on this and gather again to pray on the 15 May. Please join with us and encourage others too also. Find out more at prayersofmany.org
Share the Gospel
Our ‘Everyone a Witness’ aspirations are very important for us to take hold of right now; sharing the gospel through all possible means. People are open, fearful and hungry and we have the answer in Jesus!
Can we encourage you to put sharing the gospel right at the front of all you are doing alongside corporate prayer?
These YouTube resources produced by a number in our family will help encourage you and help practically.
Give in Faith
COVID-19 for some will bring financial challenges and we are sure you are working through the impact of this in your situation. We are standing with you and praying for you in this.
We have always tried to lead our family of churches with openness, integrity and vulnerability and therefore want to bring you up to date with our family finances.
For the Relational Mission charity that facilitates the activity of the apostolic team and initiatives such as ENOUGH, COVID-19 has brought a number of practical and financial challenges, predominantly relating to the Call Conference. The cancellation of the event will lead to significant unrecoverable costs. In addition we have lost a key opportunity to draw to a conclusion our Call to Give offering, that has largely been on hold since the virus outbreak.
We are making incremental changes over these next few months (furloughing, streamlining & focusing activity etc) in line with the prophetic emphasis we have outlined. While this will help financially, it will still leave us with a significant deficit in excess of £100,000. In June / July 2020 we will need to make some key decisions about our future operation.
Alongside this, despite the challenges brought by COVID-19, we are very mindful of what God has promised as a family of churches, the vision He has laid ahead of us and the need to gather resources for the season of expansion ahead.
One of our ‘ways of life’ is being a ‘Real Family’ and this is a moment when we are asking if you will stand with us and see what the Lord will do through an offering brought by faith. When 5 loaves and 2 fish were placed into the hands of Jesus, it was enough to feed a multitude in a time of obvious need. He took what they brought, they blessed it and distributed it and there was more than enough released. We feel we want to ask Jesus to do the same and as we give into his hands, we want to ask him, Lord let there be more than enough as there was then.
With this in mind we are looking to continue with our Call to Give offering that we shared with your earlier in the year. Over the month of May 2020 we will be bringing visibility to this publicly, encouraging people to give during the month, leading up to a final gift day on 29 May 2020.
Can we ask you to prayerfully consider how you and your church can respond in faith to this?
Updated information regarding this offering and how to give can be found at relationalmission.org/thecall2give from the w/c 4 May 2020 onwards.
We are excited to see what God provides through this and we will then make whatever changes are needed to the way we navigate things in the coming season.
Thank you so much for partnering with us in the gospel and the advance of His kingdom. I am convinced that much fruitfulness will come out of these days. As we prioritise prayer and sharing our faith, we will see more churches planted across the nations, in many new and creative ways.
With much love in Christ
Mike Betts
On behalf of myself, Maurice & Stef (Relational Mission Apostolic Team)