Beyond the desk job
CMS staff member Hannah Tickle reports on a memorable trip to Paraguay
Photo: Mission leaders and CMS staff representing four continents gathered to learn from each other in Paraguay
As part of the team putting together the latest CMS mission leaders’ gathering, Hannah Tickle swapped her Oxford desk for Paraguay…
First let me introduce myself: I’m Hannah and I work as the administrator and event coordinator for the mission team at Church Mission Society. My day-to-day work involves supporting our mission managers across the world with logistics and administration, but September brought a change to routine as I accompanied a group of CMS staff to come together with key partners in Asunción, Paraguay.
This was our annual gathering of those leading some key areas of CMS’s work around the world, each with a specific focus.
Some of the group I had met before, when they gathered in the UK in summer 2025, others I had only seen online, and the rest were completely new faces. We were hosted by the Anglican Church of Paraguay, who created a great space for us to get to know each other better as we spent time talking, learning, praying and eating.
Although the work these partners do is varied, times together to share and learn are deeply encouraging. Whether they are building networks of pioneers in Latin America, discipling followers of Jesus under pressure in the Middle East or promoting peace in Africa, all of these leaders are working with CMS to see long-lasting positive change.
Throughout our gathering, we were all inspired as we prayed and dreamed of movements being created – longing to see the work that CMS is involved in continue to build. We all want to see local communities grow through discipleship and become transformed through the Holy Spirit – beyond just the people CMS has initial contact with. Throughout our time in Paraguay, we heard testimonies of this from around the world.
One particularly exciting story came from a leader from Zanzibar, who told us how she uses the training she has received through CMS-Africa to train other women to own small businesses and build a community together. When I spoke to her at the end of the gathering, she was excited to take what we had been learning about back to Zanzibar. I found hearing her story in person moving, as it’s a reminder of the change we are seeing in God’s name.
Opportunities like this for me to visit the places and people we work with are a special reminder of what and who I am working for – encouragement that fuels me when I’m sitting at my desk in Oxford.
This trip held particular excitement, as beyond the meetings we went to visit the Paraguayan Chaco, where CMS supports several Enxet and other indigenous communities through Misión Indígena [a CMS-supported network bringing together those working with various indigenous groups across Latin America] and the Diocese of Paraguay. The churches in Maxlawaya and El Estribo are pieces of CMS and SAMS history that I’m privileged to be connected with.
Some of the most important moments for me were during that visit to the Chaco, as we met people and glimpsed how that history still has an impact today. What felt like most of the community in the two villages came out to greet us. I was more than happy to shake hands and say thank you for having us; about all I can say in Spanish! On the second morning of our Chaco visit, we were taken on a walk through the forest to visit Iglesia Anglicana San Mateo, led through the “wilderness” by the pastor, Rev D Victor González. The walk could have taken 15 minutes along the highway; instead, we spent 45 minutes walking through the forest, stopping to point out plants used by the local people for medicine or particular birds’ nests and other evidence of wildlife. It was in those moments I really appreciated God’s creation and how he provides for all of us.
Now that I’m back in the Oxford office, I still have the reminders from my trip around me, including the last of the Paraguayan snacks I brought home with me and a small, handmade mug I bought from a ceramicist we visited. Seeing and hearing how local communities and leaders are growing movements through faith in Jesus and building relationships both locally and now on an international level is an endlessly encouraging reminder of what CMS is doing in Paraguay and around the world. I’m excited to continue playing my part in what God is doing through CMS.
