A group of 11 students from Apeldoorn Theological University had chosen an elective subject 'Mission in a Metropole'. To do so, they travelled with a few tutors to All Nations Christian School, in Easneye, fifty minutes by train above London. There they participated in the curriculum and life at All Nations. Part of this was a Fieldtrip to Southall in north-west London.
Education
All Nations is a training institute for missionary workers. You can study theology (focusing on missiology) there, and you can follow a short ten-week introduction. But the special thing is that from the moment you enter All Nations, you become part of a living community. You are assigned to a tutor group, you participate in chores, you can attend as a single person, but you can also attend as a family. And cross-cultural communication of the Gospel is constantly being worked on in all teaching programmes.
Fieldtrip
The 11 students rotated into the programme. Only the tutor groups were not there, but a way was found to accommodate this by incorporating some moments of conscious reflection within the group itself, with the Dutch supervisors. Participating in the programme meant, among other things, the Fieldtrip to Southall, London. That neighbourhood is home to more than thirty-five different nationalities. A quarter of the residents there are Muslim, a quarter are Hindu, a quarter belong to the Sikh community. Of the rest, about 10 per cent are Christian. As a Christian, how do you move in such a community? Led by David Watson, a missionary worker who belongs to St Johns Church (Anglican), a tour was made of a number of places of worship in the district. An imposing Sikh temple, the Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha was visited, and we were given a catechetical lesson on the Sikh faith there. In the mosque, we talked to the imam for an hour and in the Hindu temple, we also got detailed explanations.
Following Jesus
Of course, this did raise some questions, which David Watson addressed in a penetrating way. He indicated that spending time with people builds relationships. He also gave beautiful examples of how this leads to encounters with the Lord Jesus Christ, and how people then dare to follow Him in faith.
The 11 students are now continuing their studies back in Apeldoorn. But the hope is that what they experienced in All Nations will influence their lives and work.
