Hope from the Edges
Watch our latest good news stories from Brazil, South Sudan and Hull, UK!
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As this is a new way of sharing stories with you, it would be wonderful if you could take a few minutes to watch this video and send us some feedback.
Find out more about the stories mentioned in this month’s Hope from the Edges:
The blood of Christ is thicker than tribal identity
How two warring people groups in South Sudan are taking steps forward in peace – through Jesus
More than a market
Watch Daniele’s full story of meeting Jesus through a pioneering food project started by the Bayfords in Brazil
25 years of the Breakfast Club
More than 2,000 people have been part of the club – see how it started and read more of Nicky’s journey to faith
Be sure to receive Hope from the Edges every time!
More stories you may like:
Video transcript
Hello and welcome to Hope from the Edges! I’m Andy Roberts, mission director here at CMS, and in the next few minutes we’ll bring you inspiring news from three edges in our world – stories that you’re making possible through your gifts and prayers.
First we go to South Sudan where against all the odds two tribes who have been in violent conflict are actually making peace. Then we’ll go across the world to Brazil where a pioneering project is helping people find food and faith. And then finally you’ll get some encouraging news from Hull, here in the UK.
We begin in South Sudan where civil war and ensuing violent conflict has killed thousands and displaced millions. Much of the brutal fighting is between different ethnic tribes or in some cases among different groups within the same tribe.
One such case is with the Dinka people group. Two groups within the Dinka are the Twic and the Ngok. The Twich and Ngok used to be friendly but are currently embroiled in a vicious land dispute. Several CMS partners in Africa are working together to bring peace through Jesus in areas of violent conflict. They decided to try to bring pastors from the two Dinka groups together for possible peace building in a neutral place near Wau in South Sudan.
It was a huge challenge to get people there safely through hostile territory but amazingly the UN stepped in and helped provide safe transport.
We spoke to Karobia Njogu from CMS-Africa, who told us what it was like when the pastors from the two ethnic groups got together for the first time in years.
“I was told that when they landed the pastors saw each other from across the communities and they were hugging and greeting each other because they haven’t seen each other for a long time because of conflict. So for them there’s a connection between the church leaders of respective communities. I think for them the blood of Jesus is thicker the tribal blood, when Christians hold hands and see each other as brothers and sisters, like Paul says, we are one in Christ.”
After spending close to a week together these church leaders have agreed to work together for peace between the two groups. CMS partners will continue providing training and spaces to do this.
From Africa we now head across the ocean to Olinda, Brazil, and having lived there myself I can tell you that Olinda is both a city of much promise but also with much poverty.
Now, two years ago CMS mission partners Rosie and Stu Bayford launched something called a community market. The idea was to take surplus food from supermarkets that would otherwise be thrown away and offer it at a much reduced price to families struggling to make ends meet.
Through this market people are finding both food and faith – like Daniele, who met Jesus and was baptised at a local church.
“Because God has made me very happy, he has changed my life for the better. I want people to also feel what I’m feeling the difference in my life which was accepting Christ.”
Since the market started two years ago it’s served 35 families, including 64 children, and distributed more than 22 tonnes of food. Rosie and Stu, they ask us to pray for more food donations and community connections and for more people like Daniele to begin following Jesus.
Finally we go to the edges in Hull here in the UK and an amazing anniversary. Twenty-five years ago mission partners Anna and Chris Hembury started something called the Breakfast Club.
Every morning before school starts children and families can enjoy a free meal, a friendly chat and help with homework. Nicky, now 28 years old, started going to the Breakfast Club when she was only four. She fondly recalls what a difference this made in her life along with other local programmes led by CMS and Hull YFC.
“I remember discovering faith with people around me who are honest, patient and kind in helping me to understand and grow.”
Congratulations to the Hemburys and the YFC team on 25 years of making a difference.
So today we’ve seen that violence and poverty are pushing people to the edges in our world, yet God is on the move and we get to be a part of it. So until next time we’re grateful for your gifts and prayers, as together we go: with Jesus, with each other, to the edges.
Be sure to receive Hope from the Edges every time!
