An Update from SOMA
SOMA UK is moving back to West London and it’s on a bit of an adventure. Now based in The Mission Hall, South Acton, (part of Christ Church W4) it is being headed up by former local vicar Richard Moy (who came to help on our staff retreat last year with his wife Nicola). We caught up with Richard to ask more about the vision:
If you don't know much about SOMA it has been described as the 'SAS' or Paratroop Regiment of the Church of England. It's a small organisation that makes a big difference! It was founded after the 1978 Lambeth conference to enable renewal ministry and evangelism in places where it was hard to be a Christian, or sometimes just hard to be. When I found out that SOMA UK was originally based in West London (Hounslow) I was excited to see that in many ways it was coming home.
You can immediately see the benefits of being near to Heathrow Airport. Our teams, including many connected to St Stephen’s, go out to places less reached around the world and connect church leaders and others to a wider world beyond them. This can bring huge hope and encouragement and give a sense to some wonderful brothers and sisters around the world that they have not been abandoned.
However, the world has changed a lot since SOMA UK was formed. Among other things we’ve become aware that the spiritual resources in many of the countries that SOMA UK reaches can often be greater than the spiritual resources that appear to be present here in England. We know, for example, that the average Anglican in the world is an African woman in her twenties. And yet while we’ve got used to that idea, we often don’t get to hear those vibrant voices in our own churches. What spiritual riches might we discover if we amplified those voices here? Might it help the body of Christ here in London to wake up if we connected better to places where there is real pain in the body of Christ? SOMA tries to minister to the nervous system of the body of Christ. That connects us in radical ways. If one part is in pain the whole body sits up!
Over the coming years, SOMA UK hopes to take teams right around the globe to minister in places less visited and bring back stories of hope, endurance and faith to our shores as well. If you’d like to follow our adventures please link to us @somauk on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook or check our our website www.Somauk.org which is being updated soon. But what we’d really like to do most is make it possible for teams of all ages and backgrounds to benefit from these experiences. Perhaps you know some young people or young adults who would benefit from this sort of experience? Could you sponsor someone to make it happen?
When I got this job I had a phone call with Jez Barnes. He told me that the thing about the SOMA UK teams is that they always benefit the sending church as well. Not only do the people who go benefit, but also those who specifically pray for them sometimes have their lives transformed as well. When we learn how to pray through the really tough things that come up on missions it also helps us pray for our day-to-day lives. We were thrilled to hear that, and long for SOMA to help the church here in the UK too!
We are so grateful for our partnership with St Stephen’s Twickenham and the churches you are connected with. Please pray that God continues to resource us in this ministry and we pray too that this wonderful ministry might continue to overflow among you here in West London.
Big blessings,
Richard
(Richard Moy, Christ Church W4)
