Sunday, December 25, 2016

Frustrated Ryan



"Ryan's face was contorted with rage. He looked at the classroom board. Finally, his eyes were fixed his Maths teacher Mr. Theo who was rigorously teaching Trigonometry. The students of class 9A were so keen in jotting down the points. Everyone was listening intently except Ryan. He hated his maths teacher Mr. Theo from the core of his heart. His presence in the class made him sick. He didn't want to hear Mr. Theo's voice. Ryan's mind was screaming at him for revenge. Ryan’s dad punished him by grounding him forever. It’s all because of Mr. Theo." narrates Sis. Esther Dara in this story in The CALL.



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Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Parental Mentoring of Children



“Some time back I had an opportunity to witness and try out pottery making...
In pottery, the thumb finger plays a major role in changing the shape of the pot. I realized that the thumb finger is the mentor, whom God gives in our life. When God is moulding our children, keeping a shape in mind, we are like the thumb finger in His hand helping them to come out in the expected shape. Just like the thumb finger has the power to change the shape of the pot, we as mentors, have the power to change the shape of our children.
Mentoring our children and helping them to become a person that God wants, is a herculean task. God has entrusted this great responsibility in our hands as parents, trusting that we will do it sincerely and faithfully.” writes Sis. Sheela Duthie (Secretary to the Executive Director) in this article in The CALL.


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Thursday, December 15, 2016

Proven Gold



‘Proven Gold’ in the Calltoon column of the 'Mentoring Special' issue of The CALL is a treat for children and teens. It is an interesting and inspiring story of Betty, written and cartooned by Sis. Angeline Mariyosh (Headmistress, GEMS English School-Sikaria).


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Saturday, December 10, 2016

Why We Do Not Mentor?



“The world at present experiences a dearth of leadership. Leadership crisis is being felt everywhere in the world. No matter whether it is political organization, business center, social institutions, or missions and churches, all are grappling with leadership crisis...

But today many people especially leaders, no matter where they work fail to produce their successors and future leaders to a great extent. There may be various reasons for this failure in raising next generation leaders.” writes Bro. T. Emerson (Associate Director, GEMS) in this article in The CALL and goes on to talk about those reasons.


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Monday, December 5, 2016

To Go Beyond Oneself



“I sought God only in the times of trouble. But later I realized that this is not real and that I am living a fake Christian life. The verse Mathew 6:33 kept on speaking to me that whatever you do, wherever you go and whomever you meet, in all the scenarios seek Him first and seek Him alone. 
Until that moment I didn’t know that the hand of the Lord was on me, moulded me, guided me, strengthened me and rescued me from all things that I’ve been through in my life...” writes Bro. Jeremiah in this article in The CALL.






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Wednesday, November 30, 2016

To Go Beyond Oneself



“Jesus led His disciples into experiences and hardships that shaped their character and faith. Jesus taught His disciples about faith; but one evening, He took His disciples to the other side of the sea, knowing the risk of the storm and high waves. A mentor should instruct the mentees and the instruction has to be given in a practical way. 
Discipleship and mentoring, both involve instruction-based relationship. Jesus Christ not only made disciples but also mentored His disciples. Mentoring is about showing someone what God wants them to be and developing them to go beyond themselves.” writes Bro. Jeyasingh David (Secretary, DCLM School) in this article in The CALL.


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Friday, November 25, 2016

Have your Paul & Know your Timothy



““Teaching helps to understand what to think but mentoring trains to know how to think”. The true mentorship gives astounding results in every aspect; it enhances individuals, families, churches and the society. Everyone, irrespective of age, has a call to be mentored and / or to mentor others.
The Greek word for “Mentor” conveys the meaning of “advising or imparting wisdom on someone”. However, this is only a part of mentorship and the Bible gives us the vivid picture of mentoring. God is not only our Maker but also a Mentor.” writes Dr. Ashok Kumar (Executive Director, GEMS) in this article in The CALL and goes on to share five prominent truths of mentorship.


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Sunday, November 20, 2016

Pass the Baton



"One thing that every leader must recognize is that, they develop not only second level leadership to take on their position, but also impart the vision. When they don’t have a succession plan, leadership vacuum gets created. There are two major reasons for this. One is a sense of insecurity among the leaders - a fear of losing their position - that stops them from building second level leadership. 
Second is a desire to be indispensable to the organization where they like people become dependent on them for everything. They seldom share their vision and knowledge, keep things confidential like ‘guru mantra’ and when they are gone, a tremendous vacuum is created..." writes Bro. D. Augustine Jebakumar (General Secretary, GEMS) in the article 'Pass the Baton' in The CALL.


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Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Mentoring Special Issue of The CALL




The words that my mentor spoke into my life, when I left for Bihar 16 years back, has been a guiding light through my young years. He reminded me the words that Paul exhorted his young assistant Timothy, “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example…” (2 Timothy 4:12)

This Mentoring Special issue is for teachers, parents, children, youths, missionaries, pastors, leaders and working professionals. This is both a mentorship manual and an enjoyable material for the casual reader.

“Teaching helps to understand what to think, but mentoring trains to know how to think” reads the article ‘Have your Paul & Know your Timothy’ pointing out to the purpose of mentoring and encourages everyone to mentor and to be mentored with five principles. ‘To Go Beyond Oneself’ in the Red Hot column takes this truth further by showing what selfless mentoring looks like.

‘Why We Do Not Mentor?’ dwells into the reasons behind failures in mentoring and recommends corrective measures to handle the dearth of leadership.

‘Proven Gold’ in Calltoon and ‘Frustrated Ryan’ in the Children’s Chronicles columns bring a double treat for children and teens with interesting and inspiring stories. In ‘His Hand, Upon Me’ a GEMS MK shares how God’s word and His grace acts in his life to mould him towards God-ordained destiny.

‘Parental Mentoring of Children’ in the Get Equipped column practically teaches the principles to follow at home. ‘Mentoring Girls to Become Deborahs’ chronicles the work of GEMS in training young girls through DBTC (Deborah Bible Training Center).
Reminding the call of God to be His witness at the workplace, the Tentmaking article ‘The Mantle & The Marketplace’ prescribes the ABC’s of mentoring to sustain and develop the momentum of ministry at the marketplace.

“Mentoring is not only about developing people to take up the leadership position, but imparting the vision” prompts the lead article ‘Pass the Baton’ which presents the practices of leaders in the Bible in mentoring people to carry forward the vision and mission.

The Chairman & CEO of PepsiCo India Shivkumar in a recent interview on dealing with the Millennials (whom he says are 2/3rds of the country) is vocal about this different generation – they do not believe in hierarchy & top-down leadership, they want to race against time and they believe in progress, the values of the organization & open communication.
It is this generation that God is calling us to mentor and to raise as mentors.  

The quote on the cover by Janet Thompson says, “Mentoring is: Sharing Life's Experiences and God's Faithfulness”. The Message version of 2 Timothy 4:12 ends, “Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity.” Let’s mentor through our life and be mentored to reflect God's Faithfulness.

Mem(nt)orable Reading!
Mariyosh Joseph
Chief Editor, The CALL


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Friday, September 30, 2016

The CALL Editor Receives the ICMA Bennett Memorial Award!



The Chief Editor of The CALL, Mr. Mariyosh Joseph received the Bennett Memorial Award for Innovative Media Outreach at the 7th Kingdom Media Conference held at Bangalore on 23rd September 2016.


He received the award from Dr. Jerry Johnson (President) & Dr. Bill Blount (Chairman) of National Religious Broadcasters.



Mr. Mariyosh was recommended for the award by Christian Institute of Management for his work with The CALL magazine, GEMS and contributions in media and missions at large.

The CALL thanks all the subscribers, contributors and well-wishers for your support and trust.

Saturday, August 6, 2016

Media Special of The CALL



This issue of The CALL magazine, the Media Special is released and will be available in print shortly. 



A young boy was brought to be counseled. Surprisingly, he not only knew and accepted Christ solely through the Internet (he is from a place that is hostile to the gospel); he had also grown much in the knowledge of the Bible. But the sad thing was internet had taught him a very wrong eschatology.

The greatest challenge today to Christian media is the standards of world media as (in the words of Malcolm Muggeridge) “their light is darkness, their facts are fancy, their documentation is myth”. This Media Special issue of The CALL is an attempt to bring a biblical perspective to media and in this issue you will read articles on social and digital media, broadcast media and print media.

Majority of this world’s population is now identified as either digital migrants or the digital natives. ‘Facebook Vs Face the Book’ throws light on this issue and gives a balanced biblical view to use and to conquer social media for Christ.

Christianity has a long and rich tradition of music from the Bible and history, but sadly a lot of Christian music has become a “performance or entertainment” rather than a message with all the attention on the musician or the music. The News & Views article ‘Biblical Perspective to Christian Music’ not only deals with this issue but the author shares his own testimony of how he left the cinema music industry and became a missionary. Likewise the Red Hot column carries an interview with Brother Raju a song writer & Worship leader, who answers honestly questions on the deplorability of Worship being used as a platform for personal fame.  

Cyber bullying and facebook depression are on the rise and quiet often children get abused online by strangers. Recently Godfruits ran an article on how three teens died in mysterious ways and the investigation led to an App that they downloaded; which allows users to stay anonymous with features of instant messaging and sending pictures & videos. These children participated in a challenge through this app which led them to their death. This is the danger when the virtual meets the real. The article for youths, ‘Web-O-Sphere’ warns on the dangers of indulgence in social media and lays the rules & checklist to safeguard oneself from becoming prey and polluted.

In MK Memoirs column article ‘From Missionary Family to Mass Media’, a missionary’s daughter shares how God’s providence took her to the Mass Media and on the need for Christians to be there to change the trend of news & programs for viewership to present truth.

Born as digital natives, this generation of children are not only comfortable with gadgets but crave & cling to them. ‘Danny and his Xbox’ in the Children’s Chronicles column narrates the story of a boy whose gaming becomes an addiction to the point of giving him nightmares. While this warns children on the effects of gaming addiction, the Standing @ the GAP column article ‘Clean as Comics and Cartoons?’ raises the mounting concern over the contents of seemingly harmless animation movies, comic books and character depictions and sounds the trumpet for parents and elders to watch out for the content children are exposed to.

In the Movie Review of ‘Life of Pi’ Dr Vishal Mangalwadi presents the postmodern challenge where “truth” has been reduced to “story” and how it no longer matters which story is true, but only what one chooses to believe; and its effect on the presentation of the Gospel.

The Tentmaking column carries a PROFITeer’s testimony, ‘Creativity for the Creator’, of how one’s creative talent when correctly identified and nurtured can be greatly used for God’s glory and His purposes.  The Magnifying Glass column chronicles the origin and developments of GEMS Media Ministries.

“The danger comes” says the General Secretary Brother Augustine Jebakumar, “when man lacks discernment about two important aspects: the source of the message and the intention behind it.” Feeding and fueling narcissism are the various forms of social media. And scientists have found a new unit to measure narcissism, N=S/h, Selfie per hour! This generation has moved from ‘I think, therefore I am’ to ‘I shop, therefore I am’ to now ‘I pose (& post), therefore I am’!

In his book ‘Christ and the Media’ Muggeridge nails it when he says, “The problem of the media is but a symptom of a deeper problem – the problem of the human heart, alienated from God.” One of the greatest challenges is for this Selfie Generation to find the value of their true self in the Saviour, “who, though he was in the form of God... emptied himself, taking the form of a slave… And being found in human form, he humbled himself” (Philippians 2:6-8).

Let this image obsessed tinsel world meet with the Imago Dei!

Mariyosh Joseph
Chief Editor

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Missio Dei Special of The CALL




  

“Where there has been acceptance of the gospel through preaching, my complaint is that there has been some motive” writes Arun Shourie in his book ‘Missionaries in India’. I wish he understands the motive behind missions, the love of God! God’s love is the motive of missions and that’s why it is ‘Missio Dei’, the mission of God. Unless one experiences the love of Christ in his life, he cannot be a true missionary; the love that sent Jesus Christ to die for our sins.


Missions is the grateful expression of a disciple lived out in complete submission to the One who saved and called Him to carry His message of love, forgiveness, salvation and hope. The picture and verse on the Cover signify this truth, that when we were gone astray, He opened the eternal way, by bearing our sins and with this thankfulness we show forth His praise to all generations. The article from the Director’s Desk, ‘The Missionary Call’ presents this as the threefold love, love for God, love for Neighbour and love for the Lost.

God seeks not only the able, but the available and equips them to be capable to fulfill His mission. Two Get Equipped articles, each focus on Training and Cultural Anthropology in Missions. It is the call for every believer to take the gospel to the ends of the world and to provide such an opportunity to train laymen and women for missions, GEMS started a new program, Missionary Preparatory Training Course (MPTC) and the Magnifying Glass column is focused on this initiative.

The Tentmaking column poses the question “Are we serious enough with the Mission at the Marketplace?” sounding the clarion call that “it’s time for the Christians at marketplace to live out as Salt and Light leading the professionals to taste the love of our Lord Jesus and to bring them to the light of salvation.” Deploring the deplorability of “Christian ministry (that) present God as the ultimate capitalist whose paramount attention is on successful living evidenced by financial prosperity”, the New Gen Thinking column article, ‘Call Centers for Christ’ addresses the practicalities of workplace evangelism and presents the big need to reach out to the BPO industry.

The Children’s Chronicles column ‘Use Me’ will be doubly exciting for children; it is cartoon with coloring pages. When their exams get over, parents, teachers and wardens can teach the children the truth of the story that God has called children too to partake in His mission and let them have the fun of coloring.

The field focus of this issue is on the Rohtas Hills and one article talks about the Oraon people of the hills giving an anthropological and apologetic view and another article brings out a beautiful testimony of a tribal woman who left witchcraft to become a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Missions is about God; and He uses people to fulfill His vision and it is imperative that the carriers of the gospel are cared for. ‘Caring for God’s Servants’ is a Standing @ the GAP article that shows the need and the nitty-gritty of Member Care from recruitment through retirement.

Just eleven days after her husband Graham Staines, the missionary in Orissa who was burnt alive with his two little sons, Gladys answered to an interview on what would she say to young people considering missions, “once you are sure of that (your call from God) then just be prepared for whatever, even if it costs you loss. We must learn not to hang on to our own lives; we must learn to allow God to use us… So if the Lord has called them and they are sure of their call, then... don't stay at home.”

The fulfillment of the purpose of this issue is perfectly presented in these words of the lead article ‘Embracing God’s Global Vision’, “If the youth catch the vision of the nations and if missions becomes the talk of the church and at every meal in houses then an entire new society will be born and the family and church will fulfill this heavenly vision.”
Missional Reading!
Mariyosh Joseph
Chief Editor



Click to read this issue online - Missio Dei Special