One of the verses in the Bible that has helped shape what Proclaim Trust has become is the one when God says to Moses in the book of Exodus, ‘Go back to Egypt…’. Moses was a Jew who was raised in Egypt. He totally understood that culture because he was immersed in it. Then, at the age of 40 an incident happened which forced him to leave Egypt. Then, after another 40 years, God said to Moses ’Go back to Egypt…’. God wanted Moses to go back and bring the Jews out of Egypt where they had been held captives for hundreds of years. God knew that Moses was the right man for the job because he understood their ways. In 1999, when I was at Bible college, I was praying one day while reading Exodus: ‘God open doors so I can reach out to people who don’t know you… Help me know how to go about this…’. Then I read the words from Exodus, ‘Go back to [your] Egypt’! They hit me like a ton of bricks! For me, ‘my Egypt’ would be the drug, club and crime world. This was my back-story; this was the culture that I understood because I’d been immersed in it for over 15 years. From that day on, part of our focus has been to go back to ‘my Egypt’. Over the years this has consisted of taking teams out to Ibiza and to dance music festivals in the UK and reaching out to clubbers. Holding events in prisons and providing copies of ‘Once an Addict’ to inmates. Doing outreach events on council estates and hosting our annual Fixed conference. My Egypt has become an area of strength in our missional endeavours because I understand this culture. In fact, I know I’m the right man for the job. Just like Moses was. What’s your Egypt? What’s your back-story? What culture have you been immersed in? Could that be an area of strength for you? Maybe you’re the right man – or woman – for the job, to reach out to that particular culture? God said to Moses, ‘Go back to Egypt.’ Maybe he’s saying it to YOU too! Barry
The Right Person for the Job
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