mid-month news June 2026
Jimoharries@gmail.com
Dear Friends,
Please find my news below.
With Mum
On the left, my sister with Mum. It is beautiful to watch one’s sister in action caring for her mum! On the right, myself with mum lying in bed. Mum is thinner, walks less confidently, and talks less, than she did when I saw her last back in October 2025. I think in my many hours at her bedside so far, I have heard her say just two words. (I am in UK from 2nd to 30th June, so as to spend time with mum.) I have been able to sit with mum, feed her by spoon, give her drinks, and so on. Pray for mum to continue to have a deep peace from God despite all that she is going through. Mum’s nursing home is near Fareham in Hampshire. I am VERY GRATEFUL to my hosts here in Fareham.
Tanzania Teaching Completed
I completed my two weeks of teaching Biblical Interpretation to 20 students at the Mennonite college in Tanzania, at the end of May.
Anti-Colonialism
‚Colonialism‘ has done a lot of damage to Africa. For example, in leaving people bequeathing languages that are not their own. Yet, the total picture is complicated. Many people who point out the problems of coloniality these days conveniently forget the brutality of pre-colonial reality in Africa. Inroads made by the Gospel of Jesus in the hands of a general civilizing mission from the West, have clearly massively reduced mortality rates, leading to surges in population levels of many countries in Africa. In other words, for all its faults, colonialism has brought enormous benefits to Africa.
I am these days engaging in various de-colonial networks. One thing has shocked me. Some decolonial activity assumes the bad colonialists to be Westerners. Then, as if by default, the good-guys are the Muslims. This seems to tie in with a report I have read: https://christianconcern.com/comment/mps-report-reform-ehrc-islamophobia-free-speech/ We all know, that Muslims hate criticism of themselves. They are trying to put themselves above criticism. This means that all criticism has to be of Christians, because they can take it. Isn’t that amazing. Jesus being crucified again …
Not ‘always’ different – avoiding racism
Much marks me out, in my life with African people. Not least, my skin colour. In addition, all that is associated with that skin colour: conceptual superiority, English, bags of money, a propensity for naïve generosity, and so on. ‘Oh to be a bit more “normal” (African style)!’ I often tell myself. Oh to be able to do something for and with people that they will be able to continue themselves! ‘I wish I could work in a way that local people will understand’, I say to myself. How to do this? This is why I do vulnerable mission: frequently endeavouring to relate to people consistently and over a long term, using their languages, and their resources, only. This is a counter to racism, trying to make myself as a white man ‘equal to’ the Black African man, in African community. Avoiding coming across as a white saviour, super-European! Please pray for our ongoing promotion of ‘vulnerable mission’.
Bible Translation Forum
I participated, over zoom, in a Bible Translation forum, held in Germany, 29th to 30th May 2026. On the 29th, I gave an Andacht (short devotional word) on being salt in the world. On the 30th, I presented my paper. In my paper I pointed out that African Christianity can be quite different from correct ‘Western’ Christianity. The differences are such, that when Western Christians realise what is going on, they could easily condemn African Christians for having wrong-teachings. I said that we need to recognize what is going on. I called it a ‘bifurcation’ of theology, African bifurcating from traditional theology. I also suggested, that people translating Bibles are some of the people most likely to understand this. I called on Bible translators to be a part of helping people to recognize the issue: Western theology is built on a long history. African people simply have not gone through that history. Whenever they think for themselves, they will come up with theology that is different from that of the Western and Orthodox churches. Theologians either need to recognize the legitimacy of Christian theology devised without deep comprehension of church history, or to provide a means of informing it. Or, a mixture of both of these things. To listen to my presentation, go here.
Elephants in Rooms
Please pray for decisions on how to go forward in major new developments I am facing in the months ahead.
One ‘elephant in the room’ in the UK these days … slowly being revealed by the UK (Christian and other) media, is Islam. See for example here: https://mailchi.mp/christianconcern/bn-luke-salmons-06-06-2026?e=4f63249f5a
There is another ‘elephant in the room’, that is giving birth to elephants. That is, a globally-widespread naivety about language and translation. Many of my supporters will know, that we have been drawing attention to this for a long time in the AVM (Alliance for Vulnerable Mission).
How does this work? In a simple sense, when Islam is presented to the West using Western languages, the very process of translation can act to remove a lot of its barbs. When people talk about Islam using English, they ‘borrow’ Christian vocabulary, terms like ‘religion, prayer, faith, peace …’. Yet, what is important, is not how what is foreign can be presented to the West using English. It is, how does it work out in practice where it comes from? The former is often a reflection of how Islam is presented, not using ‘Christianized’ English, but in its own language, especially Arabic.[1]
You will see, that addressing the linguistic ‘elephant in the room’, will expose other elephants in the room.
The AVM has historically engaged the issue of language outside of the West. When African people, for example, use English in global-communication, then their ways of life appear to be very Western. Our point in the AVM is that this process conceals important areas of African ways of life that REQUIRE ATTENTION rather than to be ignored if Africa is to move forward other than as a protégé of the West. Yet, as I explain above, the very same process of hearing people in their own languages, is also (would have been also) required to comprehend ‘elephants in the room’ that are in the West today.
How Western Christians Erred
Some truths are painful to hear. What I write below may be an example of this.
Today’s immigration is much to do with economics. Immigrants who get onto Western soil can easily become 10x or more wealthy than they could ever have become otherwise. Who can blame them for coming?
So, what’s the painful truth? It is that the West has long known that it’s level of material thriving is exceptionally high, yet Western Christians have largely ignored this imbalance.
Some may object, that the ‘others’ have not been ignored! In a way, they would be correct. There have been major efforts at promoting development. There have been, and are, many engaged charitable and NGO efforts endeavouring to distribute wealth and correct the imbalance.
Most of the above efforts have fallen into a trap. The trap is, that when you from a position of wealth advocate something, the non-wealthy say ‘yes’ regardless of whether it makes sense. They’re happy to get the money. If you then continue to hand-out money on the basis of feedback received, you will continue to hand out a lot of money. But you will also continue to be blind and deaf. You will not see what is ‘actually’ happening, as recipients present themselves as nice and pleasing to you. All stops can be pulled out to ‘give’ things, leaving almost no energy for knowing things that are important to know.
I hope God will one day forgive us … But the failure of ‘true mission’, Christian mission that crosses cultural barriers by engaging people using their own languages (i.e., not allowing our ‘more-money’ to blind us) has been sorely missing. We’ve instead engaged in what I call ‘shadow boxing’ – always engaging people as if they are simply the same as us.
Pray for Mozambique
I feel an affinity to Mozambique having been just over the boarder in Tanzania a few times. It seems that Muslims are being very destructive, just across the border.
Here is my UK phone number, that will work until the end of June: 07534959720
Jim
[1] I refer to ‘Christianized English’ because often when Islam is described using English, terms used are borrowed from a more familiar alternative ‘religion’ Christianity. This can easily make Islam seem to be very Christian-like, and to conceal its true colours.
