The Pure in Heart: An Epistle from the Romanies

"This is a record of how 'church' happens even when the institution isn't looking - how people are gathered together around Jesus Christ by the sheer force of the Spirit's leading. God constantly goes ahead of us in mission - not least in communities many Christians don't know about, or even don't much want to know about It is a moving and inspiring testimony to God's creative liberty at work in our times." Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury "As the Romanies began to share their stories, many of us found ourselves in tears as we realized our own poverty. They were such a blessing to us in bringing us back to hear from God. For 'God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.' We heard the challenge to lay down our cleverness and pride and come in simplicity, as these wonderful people had. On Sunday we truly saw the power of God at work and seeing that has challenged us to come back to simple faith in Jesus." Revd Shiela Porter, St George's - Deal. "Martin tells a very moving story of discovering where God is at work in mission and following where he leads. It is significant that the resulting fresh expression of church among the Romany community in Kent stretched him to new understandings of mission and the church and to rediscover practices for identifying and developing indigenous leadership. We believe these lessons are transferable to many other mission contexts in our plural culture today." Bob & Mary Hopkins - National Fresh Expressions Team