My favourite days are those when the way you see the world is altered just a little. Today was one such day thanks to Ella Sonawane from New Delhi in India.
Ella is the Assistant General Secretary (Publications and Mission) at the Indian Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge (ISPCK), so when she visited us at the Anglican Communion Office I expected her to speak about, well, publishing.
What she was actually burning to share with us were stories of ISPCK's development programmes: lifeskills courses for victims of trafficking or labour exploitation: providing access to free education for impoverished children; training for Dalit women--the list goes on.
"But you're a publishing house," I protested, more than a little bemused. "Why are you doing the work of a humanitarian agency?"
"It all started when the first person came into our office asking for help," Ella explained. "My boss [the Revd Dr Ashish Amos, ISPCK General Secretary] gave him money to buy machinery so he could then earn his own money. We were soon helping lots of people and it has grown ever since."
And the publishing?
ISPCK publish theology books and gives many away free or at a reduced rate to students and colleges that need them. The profit is ploughed back into the business and about £10,000-worth into the humanitarian work.
That doesn't cover the cost of the many projects operating around India though. A portion of the cost comes from the women in the projects. They sell their newly-acquired services or products and give up to £5000 a year back to ISPCK to fund similar projects. However, this still leaves the company short £7000 a year. It's one of the reasons Ella's in the UK--fundraising.
Another reason is to say thank you to the Diocese of Derby for its past support and also to visit her friends and colleagues at ISPCK's sister agency SPCK. Ella explained that she is also excited to have been invited to attend the Church of England's pending General Synod.
Perhaps her presence there will do the same as it did for me: act as a reminder that things aren't always as they seem. Or rather, that things don't always have to stay the way they've been for hundreds of years. ISPCK was founded 303 years ago as a publisher of liturgy and theological texts. Now it does that, but also helps thousands of India's poor and oppressed build a better life for themselves.
That's not a sly comment about women bishops, by the way, it's a challenge to all Christian communities, wherever they are, to be willing to step out in faith and to think and act differently to do God's work.
(Indeed, I'll wait with interest for the outcomes of the first ever joint Assembly of the Anglicans and Lutherans in Canada...)
According to Ella, ISPCK considered its original heritage and mission as a foundation upon which to do new things. If you'll excuse the pun, they decided not to do things 'by the book' and thousands are glad of it.
Considering the foundation upon which our Church builds, imagine what we Christians could achieve if only we did the same.