Dear friends in Christ and brothers and sisters of GAFCON.
Greetings to you in the Name of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil 1:3-6)
The Lord is faithful to keep His promises to us, and we constantly need to remind ourselves of His promises. A central one to the Bible’s message is this:
“Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them” (Rev 21:3).
No matter what may come our way, our Lord is faithful and is with us. I write to remind you of this great promise today. As Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, He is with his followers until the end of the age, and as Hebrews 13:5 says:
“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
It seems trite and overused to say we are living in ‘unprecedented times.’ But the reality is that we are. These times are still ‘unprecedented.’ But they are not unique. The history of the Church is full of the changes and chances of life and the followers of Jesus continued on with His ministry and His message. So, in the midst of these times, we press on towards Christ and His purposes for us. We go forward. Always Forward. Everywhere Forward!
In 2008, as I sat in the midst of clergy, laity, bishops, and leaders, I couldn’t help but get caught up in the GAFCON moment and the Gafcon movement. The GAFCON moment for me happened so fast. And it was so spectacular. Followers of Jesus from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation praising God and crying out for mercy, for repentance, for clarity. At the time I was a priest leading a church plant near Atlanta, Georgia. I had come to know and experience firsthand the crisis of leadership and faith in the Anglican Communion. This crisis is well documented and has been well discussed. But in just a brief moment that GAFCON experience launched me to a greater trajectory: the Gafcon Movement – a call to repentance, to renewal, and to the reformation in the Anglican Communion while taking the saving message of Jesus to the ends of the earth.
We are a movement of faithful Anglican followers of Jesus who not only see the ecclesiastical deficit in the Anglican Communion, but who also see a tremendous Gospel deficit. The Gafcon movement is restoring biblical integrity to the Anglican Communion and giving its time and energy to that Gospel deficit in the world. We are seeking to proclaim Christ faithfully to the nations. There are billions of people in this world who have not heard the good news of the Gospel. There are billions of people who have not even met another “living and breathing” Christian friend or acquaintance. I am passionately excited about Gafcon’s efforts to share the Gospel of Jesus, not only in our own provinces, but to the unreached peoples all around the world. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6).
This month let us give thanks to God for the service of Canon Charles Raven, Gafcon’s Membership Development Secretary, who has worked so diligently to see the formation of the nine networks equipping our movement to become reality to the ends of the earth. These networks are assisting with equipping the saints to do the work of Gospel ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit in and through our provinces.
Recently, I was on a call with leaders of Christian mission agencies committed to assisting our Anglican leaders around the world with good deeds and good news, so that we may be equipped to see more people come to know Christ. What an interesting, chaotic, and exciting time we are living in due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the world went on lockdown, the Gospel did not. It still goes forward. It is as Jesus said when the Pharisees asked him to rebuke his disciples, “I tell you,” he said, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:39-40). The Gospel is unstoppable. Those who have believed it can’t help but share it – to faithfully proclaim Christ to the Nations.
I ask you to continue to pray for the Gafcon archbishops and bishops. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, under the leadership of Archbishop Ben Kwashi, our General Secretary, these archbishops and bishops are committed to the Gafcon movement seeking to make decisions and planning based upon the Bible and not the latest cultural fads. And all this, whilst serving God’s people and their own nations, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic challenges we face as a result.
God has not given us the New Testament to keep on our shelves as a history book, but to apply its teachings in His mission to the world. While many Anglican leaders seek to discard the plain teaching of the Bible, we seek to apply it under and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Lord bless and keep you and make his face shine upon you and grant you His peace!
In Christ Jesus,
The Most Rev. Dr. Foley Beach
