Things have been quieter over the last three months on the allied professions front, but very busy with the Christian HIV & AIDS Alliance (CHAA) and the Micah Challenge campaign.

Christian Nurses and Midwives

I am in the midst of registering Christian Nurses & Midwives (CNM) as a Charity. In the meantime, it continues to grow, and there are number of Saline Solution events being planned between CNM and CMF for this autumn in the West Midlands and North Kent (watch this space for details).

Nurses' Christian Fellowship International

I am now focusing a fair bit of energy on the Nurses' Christian Fellowship International (NCFI) European regional conference this August, and in pulling together the new European committee of NCFI. Due to the new structure, the committee that will be elected in August will have greater responsibility for strategy, budgets and outcomes. I am currently co-opted on to the committee, but will be standing in my own right, as CNM is now a member body and allowed a delegate on the committee.The links between NCFI Europe and ICMDA Eurasia will increase in the coming year as members of both groups are sitting almost next to each other in the CMF office!

Christian Therapists Network

Christian Therapists Network (CTN) has now handed over the management of membership and subscriptions to Laura Risdale and myself. We are entering a trial phase to see how these arrangements will work. This is freeing up the new CTN Council to focus on ministry and development rather than administration of the network.

Christian HIV & AIDS Alliance

At the end of May, I attended the United Nations General Assembly High level Meeting on HIV & AIDS in New York on behalf of the Christian HIV & AIDS Alliance (of which CMF is an active member). This drew in delegations from most nations, plus about 800 civil society organisations. There was a significant delegation from a wide range of Christian organisations and churches – the first time a High level UN Summit has dawn in so many delegates for the Global Christian community. If the final declaration on AIDS was far weaker than it could have been, the fact that we were involved in the process means that we have more chance to holding the nations of the world and the UN system to account for how they are fighting the AIDS pandemic.

Micah Challenge

At the same time, the United Kingdom Micah Challenge (MCUK) campaign is cranking up gears. MCUK is a campaign, spearheaded by the Evangelical Alliance,World Vision,Tearfund and many other major British churches and mission agencies to mobilise the British church to lobby the British government and world community to meet their commitment to he UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The eight MDGs centre around a global commitment to halve poverty, turn back the tide of HIV & AIDS, drastically reduce rates of maternal and child mortality, and a number of other goals, by 2015. This is a long-term, Christian campaign to which CMF is fully committed, and we are involved in the steering committee. Watch this space for news on the campaign and related events in the next few months.