New chapter for mission startup
New chapter for mission startup
Photo: “The olive branch embodies a thriving community of faith and life, responding to societal needs and truly representing the gospel.” (Hellenic Ministries)
“A new chapter in global missions” is how one of our current MA students describes the startup of a new UK support base for Hellenic Ministries.
by Marcus Letts, Regional Director Hellenic Ministries UK,
In early April 2025, a quiet yet historic moment unfolded at Church Mission Society in Oxford as Hellenic Ministries UK (HM UK) held its inaugural Annual General Meeting. This event marked the formal launch of a new regional support office dedicated to mobilising UK churches and individuals for global missions with a regional focus in Greece and the Near East.
The symbolic choice of venue – a missionary society with over 200 years of heritage – underscored HM UK’s desire to stand in continuity with a rich legacy of missions movements sent from the UK, while forging a fresh expression adapted to the unique challenges of the 21st century.
This partnership is no coincidence. The UK has long been a launchpad for global missions, and HM UK stands on the shoulders of giants. Like the founders of CMS, HM UK seeks to galvanise a movement of believers committed to Jesus’ Great Commission – with a vision to “multiply Christ-centred community” – this time focused on Greece and the wider Near East.
These organisations are also linked in a more practical way: I am currently studying for an MA in Theology, Ministry and Mission with CMS Pioneer Mission Training as well as being the inaugural regional director for HM UK.
Following five years of serving with the refugee community on Lesvos – in the context of both an unprecedented humanitarian crisis and an historic movement to Christ – my family (wife Emily and three sons, Seth, 11, Lucas, 8, and Daniel, 4) and I have returned to the UK on an extended furlough.
Alongside theological training and the building of a support office and sending base for Hellenic Ministries in the UK, I have a part-time role as a lay pioneer in our local parish church in South Somerset.
I am also keeping busy with a kind of ad-hoc 21st century tent-making in the form of various short-term consultancies for Christian community projects. This helps to compensate for a significant drop in support since our relocation to the UK.
A legacy of mission, a vision for the future
Despite the excitement of our UK launch, Hellenic Ministries is nothing new. Founded in the early 1980s by Costas and Alky Macris following decades of service in the jungles of Papua, HM has over 40 years of fruitful ministry in Greece, rooted in a commitment to the poor, the marginalised, and the spiritually hungry.
Today, that work continues through a dynamic international network that includes regional support offices in the US, Australia, Canada, South Africa – and now the UK. In this wider context, HM UK will serve as a vital support hub, connecting our members with strategic opportunities to pray and give, go and send.
Greece’s unique location – as Europe’s #1 tourist destination and an entry point from the Near East – makes it highly strategic. In fact, HM UK believes Greece can become a sandbox and launchpad for a bold new era in global missions in this generation.
Despite its infancy HM UK is hoping to drive innovation and development globally, beginning with a dedicated platform for short-term missions: Mediterranean Mission, launching fully in 2026.
Initially designed to help train and send UK-based believers, Mediterranean Mission will feature immersive programmes from one week to one year in duration – including a 90-Day Discipleship Training School, ongoing refugee and humanitarian volunteering on Lesvos and Samos, and the opportunity to learn and apply the principles of modern-day disciple-making movements during Oikos Experience: an annual summer outreach to rural villages.
Alongside mission mobilisation, HM UK is also helping to pioneer sustainable business models for community development regionally.
One such initiative is Origin Box, launching via a crowdfunding campaign in October 2025. Origin Box promotes integration enterprise: ethical and ethnically diverse products with a purpose.
It will connect artisan enterprises founded by marginalised and minority communities across the wider Near East – such as refugees, Roma, rural poor and vulnerable women – with global markets through seasonal campaigns featuring curated ethical gift boxes.
Already working with local integration enterprise incubators in Athens and rural India, Origin Box seeks to provide sustainable income and business incubation to the marginalised in the Near East whilst resonating deeply with a generation of ethical consumers seeking ethnically diverse products with a purpose.
To join the journey, visit hellenicministries.org/uk or contact regional director Marcus Letts by emailing marcus.letts@hellenicministries.org
