Each of the young Anglicans who write on the Five Marks of Mission were at the Edinburgh 2010 conference in June of that year. The articles were then reworked in Toronto a year later, so what you read here is the fruit of much labour, writing, and rewriting. These articles are also open and honest reflections from a range of young Anglicans in a variety of contexts. Here we see a glimpse of the strengths and struggles of the Anglican Communion. There is no space for complacency. The title of the book created much discussion. I still remember the excitement we all felt when our first contributor, from Hong Kong, explained to us the meaning of the Chinese character for ‘life-widening.’ We all thought that this captured the essence of how we long for mission not only to be but also to be experienced; as life–widening. Our God is a God of love, life and spaciousness so we long for the missio Dei to be practised and received as life-widening. We hope that this book may disturb, challenge, comfort and enrich your life. We think it will disturb and challenge as you read of the hardship and injustices experienced in many parts of God’s world and creation today. We think it will comfort and enrich as you read stories of change and renewal, and as you meet the writers through their writings.
