It may all have started with a 'big bang' but it would have been a silent bang because sound does not travel through space and there was no human ear to hear it. Creation starts in the 'silence of eternity'. Each life starts silently and unseen. The template for a unique individual is laid down to be shaped by environment, the process overseen by an unseen Creator. That Creator broke the silence when he made man in his own image and gave him freedom of choice. Creation is communication. His message is the value he places on us. He has made us caretakers of his creation and of those made in his image. If we do not understand his purpose in starting the process are we qualified for safe parenthood?

'Missionaries are too valuable to lose', but they expose themselves to stress and danger because they believe God sees others as too valuable to lose. The articles in this issue tell of some whom society undervalues - those with leprosy, AIDS, TB. They tell of those who go to the disabled and to children without parents or without education. They tell of those who have risked their lives because some to whom they go misinterpret their message 'my God values you highly' as meaning 'I want to control you'.

Meanwhile they are themselves inadequately supported because others think that God has made too many people in his image. But God may be saying that if we assigned people their true value there would not be too many. 'Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves' may apply to people as well as to money. God in Christ is still in the business of repairing the ruins made by our past mistakes. Time is short if we want to join him before he places a limit on our destructiveness.