Dear friends

I write to you this year from the hustle and bustle of preparations for Christmas in Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram state in North East India. Rebecca Lalbiaksangi and I started from Wales on the 2nd of December and arrived here on the 3rd to attend the meetings of the Mizoram Synod of the Presbyterian Church of India. Both of us will travel to Shillong in two days to celebrate with the women of the Sepngi Synod in the state of Meghalaya. We will be part of their closing celebrations this year to remember the story of a young woman called Ka Nabon, the first girl here in North East India to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ as her Saviour, and that 175 years ago this year. We also had the opportunity to meet 40 families from the state of Manipur who have had shelter here in Aizawl. The whole community was preparing to celebrate Christmas together and were thankful that they were in a safe place to be able to do that. We have been following the conflict in the state and the persecution of Christians in Manipur since the beginning of 2023. We also met weekly as a church to pray for the situation with some of them. Meeting people in the flesh after praying for them was a special experience and we felt a strong spiritual union with them because of that praying. We hope to share more about their stories as we share materials about our Manipur Appeal launched at this year’s General Assembly and inspire you all to remember them and be united with them in their need.

Believing that we are called as Christians to ‘seek justice, correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless’ (Isaiah 1:17), we were proud to receive the powerful statement of the Council for World Mission (CWM) about the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East. We share their deep concern for the silence of the world, and the press and the church in the face of such suffering and carnage in Gaza while our own countries are still supplying the weapons and equipment that is being used to cause such atrocity. The call is to give priority to the basic humanitarian needs of the population there in order to save the lives of countless ordinary people.  (The full statement can be read on our website under news).  We are also encouraged to pray for peace in Gaza and the world as a whole wherever we are at 12 o’clock every day during Advent.

Every life is important and a gift from the Lord wherever they are and whoever they are, and whatever their contribution may be to society. In a society that is rapidly changing its beliefs and loosening its hold on the old beliefs, we had the opportunity again to hold on to our perspective on giving assistance to die and support those doctors and care workers among us who opposed this proposal. It is a subject that should be discussed thoroughly, and although Members of Parliament have agreed to the passage of this bill through parliament, we also hold to the importance of good palliative care for everyone and that it is adequately funded.

This year as we travel through Advent, preparing for Christmas in our churches and celebrate the arrival of ‘the Creator in Swaddling Cloths’, the theme of the Synod here in Mizoram is relevant for us to remember:

‘A voice cries, “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.   Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.  For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”   Isaiah 40:3-5

Isaiah of course is talking about John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus, and there is room for all of us to make room for Jesus to come among us. Let us think how we will make that place so that the glory and wonder of the Lord, his birth weak and poor, and his life and work among us, and his death on the cross, can be disclosed, for all to see.

As we as a Church also think about the future and try to prepare appropriately and relevantly for it, we will again in 2025 prayerfully look forward to seeing more pioneering workers to take on new missionary work in our communities.

In a conference on our use of buildings, which will be held on the 2nd of April at Gloddaeth, Llandudno. We will be asking: ‘What do these stones mean?’

We recognise that Advent, for some, can be a time of longing and memories of loved ones who have gone before us. We as the church family mourn the death of several of our ministers this year. The memory of them is very dear, and we thank God for their faithful service. We pray for the Lord’s comfort for their families and everyone who is in mourning at this time.

May I end by wishing you the Advent blessings of hope, peace, joy and love this Christmas, and all grace and strength to help you in the new year.

With love

Nan Powell-Davies

General Secretary