Mission partner Tim Curtis has spent an entire generation – 44 years – in translation work among indigenous peoples in the Paraguayan Chaco region. As he retires, we take a look at how God made a way for his Word to come alive in the wilderness.

Many indigenous people groups in the wilderness Chaco region of South America have long been marginalised by the majority society who are of European descent (criollos). Deforestation has all but squeezed out Énxet speakers’ traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle and they often have limited access to healthcare and education.

There has been a Christian presence in the Chaco region for over 130 years, but even so, speakers of the Énxet languages haven’t always had access to God’s Word. But now that the Bible has been translated into their languages, they know that they are included in God’s plan.

Called back to Latin America

The son of missionaries, Tim was brought up in Chile and sensed God calling him back to Latin America after university in the UK. “A verse that came very clearly to me from Psalm 32 was, ‘I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go. I will counsel you with my eye upon you,’” he remembers. He also had a dream that confirmed that he would be working somewhere quite remote.

Tim first went to Paraguay in the early 1980s. In 1982, when visiting the La Herencia project in the Chaco, Tim recognised the place he’d seen in his dream. This project was the Anglican Church’s response to a plea for help from its indigenous members amongst the Énxet, Angaité and Sanapana peoples in the Chaco region who had lost their ancestral lands. (By 1985, nearly 45,000 hectares of land had been secured for them.) Tim joined the project and for the next few years, he served several indigenous and government schools, commuting between the more far-flung ones on horseback.

First steps towards Bible translation

Recognising Tim’s love for the local people and aptitude for languages, the project director invited him to prepare for work on the translation of the Southern Énxet New Testament.

Tim became a missionary with the South American Missionary Society (SAMS), which later merged with CMS. He trained as a Bible translator at SIL and prepared for mission at All Nations Christian College before returning to Paraguay to focus on the Southern Énxet language.

From a New Testament to a complete Bible

In the early 1990s, a team of three indigenous translators was ready to begin the translation of the New Testament in partnership with United Bible Societies and the Paraguayan Bible Society. Chaco churches waited eagerly to see God’s Word come alive in their own language.

At the end of 1997, the revised Southern Énxet New Testament was launched and began to be used in homes and churches. In 2003, a new team began work on the Southern Énxet Old Testament at a purpose-built office in Rio Verde (made possible by a donation from one of Tim’s link churches). Over the next 13 years, they meticulously drafted the Old Testament and further revised the New Testament.

The full Southern Énxet Bible was launched in 2016 with church leaders and visitors from all over the Chaco region and the UK attending a special dedication event.

From start to finish, it was remarkable how people from different organisations, churches and institutions came together for the translation – in Tim’s words, “It was like the Lord was arranging everything.”

Accessible Scriptures for the Southern Énxet

The goal of Bible translation for any language group has traditionally been to get printed Bibles into people’s hands. Today, for many people groups, audio Bibles can make a huge difference to how many speakers engage with God’s Word. In 2016, Tim and the team worked with 25 Southern Énxet readers and Bolivian technicians from Faith Comes by Hearing to record a dramatised version of the New Testament.

The audio New Testament was put on players called Proclaimers, which can be charged using electricity, solar panels or wound up manually. Proclaimers have proved particularly popular among people who don’t have the opportunity to meet with other Christians, or who don’t read.

In 2024, Jesus Film Project technicians from Peru came to help Tim and a group of 22 readers dub the Jesus Film into Southern Énxet at the CMS-supported Anglican Centre at Rio Verde – the two-hour dramatisation of Luke’s Gospel has led millions of people around the world to Jesus.

The technicians also invited a group to Lima to record the Old Testament with Davar Audio Bibles. The full audio Bible is still being finalised, but in the meantime, people are listening to the New Testament, and parts of the Old Testament are being passed around on pen drives – people are eager to engage with God’s Word!

Another Bible translation in the works

In 2018, Tim joined the Northern Enlhet Bible translation team part-time, as a consultant. Several years on, the team have finished drafts of the Old Testament and recently completed the gospels and Romans. They hope to celebrate a complete Bible in the late 2020s.

At the same time, Tim continued providing logistical support for Bible studies in Rio Verde and working with Southern Énxet and other indigenous pastors and church leaders. He is also a member of the CMS-supported indigenous synod which was set up after the indigenous Anglican Congress in Argentina in 2022.

A hunter-gatherer people on smartphones

The Énxet people are traditionally hunter-gatherers , but their culture is changing. These days, some work on remote cattle ranches and farms and others have jobs in the towns. Many Christians listen to the audio Bible on their smartphones, and use WhatsApp to share Bible verses or prayers, and often have two or three verses as their background screen. Having the Scriptures different formats helps them keep growing in their faith and connect with each other.

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There’s one obvious prayer we all want answered for the people and country of Ukraine. Peace. Lasting, trustworthy peace. But, four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the war-weary country is still facing daily tragedies.

As a Christian, how do you hold on to the hope and promises of God when there’s devastation all around you? CMS mission partner Alison Giblett shares how answers to daily small prayers and witnessing incredible miracles keep her going as she chooses to keep serving God in Kyiv:

I felt very strongly at the beginning of the war that God was calling me to stay in Ukraine. Although it’s not easy, I do see purpose in me being here. God has given me peace, that if he’s called me to stay, he hasn’t called me to die.

God is strengthening my faith, growing my awareness of how much I need him and increasing my confidence in his ability to protect and provide. And he has given me much work to do!

Widows, orphans and grieving parents

I work closely with a couple who lead a chaplaincy ministry and a ministry to the bereaved women and children in their region. Their youngest son volunteered to fight at the start of the war and God miraculously protected him many times when he was sent on front line assignments. Yet, tragically he was killed in a car crash in Kyiv after returning home.

I’ve developed quite a friendship with them. Standing alongside them in their grief while they still help so many people around them. I love going to their farm to help and to visit the widows and orphans they care for in their local area.

We make regular visits to the villages taking food bags, and offering to pray for people, which is always an encouragement. Our team have built up a good relationship with the local authorities who link them up with the bereaved. I’m encouraged by their faithfulness in prayer and sacrifice, consistently being there for people. We’ve also helped to build bomb shelters and run camps for children who’ve been in occupied territories or who have lost parents.

I am continuing to invest time in learning about trauma recovery. I’ve completed courses focused on releasing people from trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is wonderful to see how God’s Word is just as powerful today to set people free whatever the circumstances.

Many men are turning to alcohol and drugs to medicate their pain, to cope with memories and experiences and numb the constant fear of being on the front line or being called up. There is a growing pastoral need for rehabilitation help.

Hope amid heartbreak

God does not promise that life will be easy but he does promise that he will always be with us, especially when things we can’t bear happen. In times of trouble, he gives us the grace we need to keep going. That is very much our testimony.

None of us would have thought that we would be where we are, or that we would be able to cope as we are. We’re only coping because we press into God and receive his strength. God is our hope. On a very practical and physical level, there isn’t much to give us hope at the moment.

There’s a Bible passage in Ephesians 5:18–20 where Paul is encouraging Christians not to lose hope. He says to speak to each other with psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit. To sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything.

The Psalms have been a tremendous encouragement to us. Psalm 91 assures of God’s protection; Psalm 46 is about God’s defence. Psalm 2 and 13 are so helpful in pouring out our woes. We find strength as we pray and worship. Together we look for the things to give thanks for.

I’m far more grateful for many things that I never even thought about before. I pray when I get in the lift in my building, that the power will stay on so I can get out again. I pray going to church in the evening that the metro will still be running so I can get back home. When I put my washing on, I pray that the power will stay on for it to finish.

It’s recognising the ways that God answers our prayers on a daily basis that enables us to keep doing all that we need to do. He enables us to remain positive, to bring hope, strength and encouragement to other people.

Glimpses of grace

A friend of mine’s son, a Christian, works in a power station. One day he had to call in sick. That day it was bombed. Sadly, his colleagues, and the whole power station, was destroyed.

A Christian soldier, a brother of one of our chaplains, was in the army. One day a series of illegal scatter bombs aimed at his group caused them to fall to the ground. He lay beside a large tree trunk; a bomb fell very close to him but on the other side of the trunk leaving him protected. However, his colleagues who were further away, were injured.

Another time, a pastor and his young family who had decided to stay in their town very near the front line were returning to their home. Many young families have understandably moved away from conflict areas. However, they felt that despite their own danger that God had called them to stay and pastor the growing church.

The father had peace that God would protect them, but the young mother couldn’t find that peace. While driving home they were attacked by a drone. It exploded above them causing a huge cloud of metal, dust and stones to envelop their vehicle. They drove through the cloud unharmed. When it was safe, they checked their car – there was not a scratch on it! After that they were both convinced of God’s hand of supernatural protection on them.

Yet another time, a drone attacked one of our chaplains. It literally landed at the front of their chaplaincy vehicle – which churches from England helped to raise money for. The front lights were damaged but they were completely fine. If the drone had been a second behind it would have hit the car and it’s unlikely they would have survived.

Unknowable future, known God

As the war continues, we’re seeing new problems arise. Soldiers returning from conflict are living with multiple injuries and concussions. We don’t know the long-term emotional and physical consequences of so much stress. There are higher numbers of cancer diagnoses, people with ulcers, digestive problems and suffering heart attacks.

We’re responding to needs as they develop in front of us. Next, I’m helping with a rehab conference in the summer and I expect to be doing a lot more with the chaplaincy ministry. There is a growing need for chaplaincy and veteran care to support soldiers’ physical, emotional and spiritual adjustment back to ‘normal life’.

I think so much of mission is about being where God wants us to be and being available while we’re there. I don’t think it always means doing amazing things, but it means being faithful in your situation. Staying sensitive to God’s heart and trusting his word.

We can look at the huge unanswered prayer of an end to this war and feel discouraged. Or, we can look around us at the many, many answers to prayer and choose to worship God through it all.

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Try to imagine being a child in eastern DR Congo. Your whole life you’ve lived in the shadow of violence.

Think of the horrors you might have witnessed – armed robbery, murder, sexual assault.

And what if your parents had also never known an extended time of peace, so they had no words of comfort for you?

Who could you talk to? Who could your parents go to, to get help coping with their anxiety, grief or anger? Or would they just have to bottle it up inside?

A beacon of light for broken hearts

In 2013 The Guardian reported that DR Congo was undergoing a “mental health catastrophe” due to millions of people living with the stress of near-constant conflict for decades. Today, there are still only a few dozen trained neuro-psychiatrists in a population of over 65 million people.

In places like Goma, where CMS mission partner Martin Gordon serves as bishop, there are only a handful of mental health professionals for millions of people.

Suicide, addiction and domestic abuse are rampant in a population which has  known only violence for so long.

Enter the church.

Bishop Martin shares that local Christians are at the forefront of recognising the need for psychological and spiritual care if the cycle of violence is ever going to be broken in DRC. He also shares some glimmers of hope gleaned in the past year since the latest outbreak of violence.

On the ground in Goma

An update from Bishop Martin Gordon

The east of Congo has known conflict for nearly 35 years, and we’re still under occupation since the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group seized the city in January 2025. They had been taking over ever greater swathes of land around Goma for almost three years prior to the invasion.

The immediate aftermath of the occupation saw 8,500 deaths, a peak in sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, public beatings and executions, kidnappings and raids on hospitals. We count the number of internally displaced people and the number of children out of school in the hundreds of thousands.

Today, although the banks, the airport, the prison and the courts remain closed, there is now more of a sense of calm. But it is an uneasy calm. Violence can flare up at any moment.

Seeking solace in church

But for us as a diocese there has been some encouragement. The Church is still seen as the one remaining institution that can be trusted and in DRC there’s always a church at the heart of every village and community. 

After Goma fell to the rebels, we saw an increased attendance in several of our parishes. Those who don’t usually come to church came asking for prayer, and those on the fringes started coming more regularly. There is a spiritual hunger.

In the weeks following the fall of the city, through the generosity of Anglicans across the world, we were able to distribute emergency cash to 60 of our clergy, 50 diocesan staff and over 200 school teachers whose salaries were not able to be paid by the central government. And we were able to rebuild or repair eight out of our 109 schools ahead of the start of the academic year. So almost 3,000 pupils can study in better conditions than before.

Thousands turning to Jesus

And in the sadness, in the pain, in the suffering, there are some real signs of hope. Because most of the diocese is under M23 control, it means getting around is easier. We’ve been able to visit parishes that have been inaccessible for the last three years to see how they’re doing and to encourage them. Land purchase and construction are less heavily policed and in the last year we’ve been able to build 16 churches and have bought 22 plots of land for church planting.

In summer 2025, we were able to hold large scale evangelism campaigns in four of our secondary schools in the city, where over 6,000 children heard the gospel and a thousand came to faith and our school chaplains are now busy following them up.

We’re seeing particular fruit in Walikale which is our archdeaconry in the forest, two days away from Goma by motorbike. Here, God has given us an open door for the gospel. We’ve been busy training church leaders, buying land, building schools and a guest house, and planting churches.

Since 2024, the church in Walikale has gone from a handful of struggling groups of believers to 17 churches, each with their own land and church building. Nineteen leaders have already finished two or three years of theological training or are in the process of being trained.

We’ve heard some exciting stories of the power of God breaking into people’s lives through monthly evangelism campaigns in Walikale.

From hate to hope

The bigger picture for us as a diocese and part of our day-to-day calling as a church is to pursue peace and reconciliation in the midst of conflict. For four years, we’ve been working with all faith leaders across the city, issuing joint media statements to change the narrative of hate and suspicion, doing weekly radio broadcasts to millions of people, and organising inter-community cultural and sporting events.

At the heart of our peace work is training religious and community leaders in self transformation. Teaching them to find peace with God and with themselves and then being sent as peacemakers to bring peace and reconciliation to their families, churches, and communities.

Joining hands for peace

After one such peace training focusing on youth, leaders from four different ethnic groups, usually at each other’s throats, took to the stage, joined hands, and gave a public commitment that from now on they would work together to bring healing to the community.

Photo: schoolchildren form an enthusiastic crowd at an evangelism campaign

Mental health mission

Increasingly within this area of self-transformation, we’re focusing on trauma healing for pastors and for leaders. This latest conflict is just another layer on top of previous trauma. We believe that the pastors are much better able to help their own congregations if they themselves have experienced de-traumatisation or found some measure of healing from past trauma.

To date we have trained around 300 young people, women, pastors and evangelists to be able to offer support for others who are traumatised.

Adopted into the family!

I’ll end with a story of healing and reconciliation that has profoundly moved many of us.

Canon John, the Archdeacon of Goma, retired in 2025 after 49 years of ministry and 50 years of marriage.

The first 10 years of marriage were hard as his wife Providence fell ill and they couldn’t have children. Eventually, they did have two children, although they’d always wanted more.

Earlier this year, Canon John was with Mama Providence in a trauma healing seminar. There was another participant called Ansh who gave her testimony around the trauma of never knowing her father.

She was now in her 30s. She had six children, but she spoke of how she missed the father she’d never known. She also told of how her husband had abandoned her. Her tailoring business had been looted in the fighting.

Everyone sympathised with her situation. But Canon John did something different. Touched by her story, he had a whispered conversation with his wife. They approached Ansh to say that they’d always longed for more children and would love to adopt her as their own adult daughter. Ansh readily agreed and immediately took their family name and started calling them mom and dad. Their only son Samuel who was at seminar came forward publicly to embrace and welcome Ansh into the family.

You can imagine the reaction of the other participants. Canon John came to my office the following week to tell me that everyone in the community knew that they now had a new daughter and earlier this year she brought two of her children to the cathedral to be baptised.

Holding on to hope

I want to end simply by thanking you all for your prayers, your interest and your support. Times are still incredibly hard in Goma.

The recent invasion adds one more layer of trauma to more than 30 years of conflict.

And many still struggle to make ends meet.

But amid the suffering, we can testify daily to the faithfulness of God, and we continue to put our trust in him, knowing that he sees our suffering and is always at work.

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Born profoundly deaf and with spina bifida, Josephat’s early life in Tanzania was a struggle.

People with disabilities in Tanzania are often considered a mistake, a curse. So, finding employment as a disabled person in Tanzania is virtually impossible. Many are reduced to begging in the streets or are hidden away by embarrassed family members. 

After losing both parents during childhood, Josephat was grudgingly looked after by extended family who made him feel like a burden. Trapped by a lack of opportunity and the belief that he would never be able to support himself, Josephat faced a future of dependency and stigma.

Everything changed for Josephat in 2003 when he became one of the first three trainees at Neema Crafts, a project started by the Anglican Diocese of Ruaha in Iringa. Neema means “grace” in Kiswahili. With help and guidance from pioneering Church Mission Society (CMS) mission partner Susie Hart, the centre was established to provide dignity and employment for people with disabilities. Today Neema has trained and employed over 100 deaf and disabled people. 

From “Hunchback” to “He is Able”

Deaf people in Iringia often use descriptive “sign names”. For years, Josephat was known simply as “Hunchback” due to the severe curvature of his spine caused by spina bifida. However, as his skills flourished at the centre, his peers soon saw a profound transformation.

Josephat became particularly adept at creating the centre’s renowned elephant dung paper, a process that involves boiling and processing elephant waste into high-quality stationery. His expertise eventually led his fellow trainees to officially change his sign name to “He is Able” – a title that reflects his skill. His whole identity and understanding of his worth changed. 

From dependency to dignity

Today, Josephat is a leader. He takes great pride in his work, especially in teaching others papermaking. This professional success has allowed him to earn a stable wage and achieve independence.

Beyond economic empowerment, the community has offered Josephat spiritual and emotional healing. Through the centre’s weekly Bible studies and the support of the local chaplain, Josephat has replaced the cultural stigma of being “cursed” with the understanding that he is loved and valued by God. 

Now comprising a crafts centre, cafe, tourist accommodation and a variety of workshops for making everything from textiles to prosthetic limbs, Neema is a beacon of light, showing the local community how much disabled people can do. 

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In 2017, Johanni was one of the first at-risk children in Honduras to receive vital care and mentoring from mission partners Lindsey and Steve Poulson. Several years later, thanks to steadfast support, she’s on a path to a bright future.

“When I was eight years old, I spent most of my time out in the street. My parents didn’t send me to school. No one was looking out for me except myself.”

These are the words of Johanni, a 16-year-old girl in Honduras. But it’s not just her story – many thousands of children in Honduras are living this today. Many children’s parents don’t have the capacity to care for them properly. Many children don’t go to school for one reason or another. Many children try to find a sense of belonging on the street and are drawn into gangs.

Back in 2017, aged eight, Johanni used to spend a lot of time in a local park. One day, she met some young adults who were different. They listened to her struggles and told her Jesus loved her. They invited her to play some fun games. Over time, these people, mission partners Lindsey and Steve Poulson, helped Johanni and 14 other children register for school. It was the beginning of a new life chapter for Johanni as well as the start of what would grow to become a life-changing project for children.

Mentoring makes the difference

This group of 15 children were the beginning of Proyecto Alas, a programme that supports at-risk children to continue in education and make good choices for the future. A key part of this programme is that each child was assigned a mentor, a safe adult to meet with for an hour a week to talk about anything and everything.

Mentors also visit them at home and pray with children’s families when possible. “My mentor listens to me, encourages me and helps me make positive decisions,” Johanni says.

Now 16 years old, Johanni is an aspiring nail artist. “Most girls my age don’t make it to high school, so I’m really proud of my achievement and growth.” She is sure she wouldn’t have made it this far without her mentor at her side, supporting her all the way. Johanni still spends time with the kids she used to play with in the park – but now, they do their homework together at Proyecto Alas.

The Poulsons are grateful to have walked alongside Johanni since the beginning of the programme in 2017 and to have seen her and others grow and flourish over the years. More recently, the Alas team have also set up a transition to adulthood programme for those who have graduated from secondary school, and Empresas Alas, a business arm that aims to make the project more sustainable. Now, 65 children and young people are connected to the mentoring programme, 10 young adults are in the transition programme and Alas’s businesses – a barbershop and a coffee shop – aim to provide employment for young adults.

Faith is an integral part of everything they do. The mentors, who are all Christians, are committed to demonstrating and proclaiming who Jesus is. “If we do that well, it’s kind of inevitable that people will want to know him,” Steve says.

One step at a time

Rather than expecting lives to change overnight, Lindsey and Steve and other mentors with Proyecto Alas invest in incremental development – walking alongside at-risk children and young adults over several years as they take one step at a time. The Alas team begin by help meeting children’s most basic practical needs, supporting them to build secure relationships and to continue their education. Without this foundation, ideas of living a stable, independent life and going to university will remain distant dreams.

It’s slow, steady work for both the mentors and the children themselves. Lindsey, Steve and others involved with the project have always known that the long-term, slow-burn work of mentoring is worth it, but seeing someone like Johanni come this far is the ultimate reward.

As Johanni’s words at the beginning of this article stand for many children’s stories, we hope the following words of hers also reflect the stories of many other children: “At Proyecto Alas, I have finally found a place where I belong, where I can be myself, and where I can begin to dream about my future.”

Pray together

Give thanks for the life-changing work of Proyecto Alas.

Pray for God to strengthen and encourage Lindsey and Steve and to bring many more children to the programme.

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Human suffering has a way of overwhelming us, often leaving us asking, “how can I make a difference?” But for some, unimaginable pain isn’t a barrier – it’s a call to action. 

In 2005, while lamenting the suffering of millions of women impacted by Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and forced marriages, CMS mission partner Ann-Marie Wilson asked God: “Who will help girls like this?” To her amazement, the answer came back as an audible voice: “You will.”

Two decades later, Ann-Marie is still answering that call. Through her international organisation, 28 Too Many, she has gathered the stories of over 3,000 FGM survivors and built a global movement dedicated to ending FGM worldwide and advocating for women’s reproductive health. 

We pause to celebrate her achievements and thank her for her long-term service as a CMS mission partner.

Here are some of the people and places that have shaped her world-wide fight.

The girls who launched a movement

Fatima: The catalyst

Ann-Marie’s fight began with an encounter that forced her face-to-face with unimaginable suffering. In 2005, she and her team found Fatima, a 10-year-old girl, alone and seven months pregnant following a rape by militia in the scrubland of West Darfur.

They rushed her to a clinic where a caesarean section saved her life. As Fatima recovered, Ann-Marie learned more about the devastating health complications that followed her FGM experience at age five. Fatima’s desperate circumstances echoed the biblical words, “for such a time as this,” from Esther 4:14. Her story was Ann-Marie’s Esther moment, serving as the launchpad for a mission to free girls from FGM and the forced marriages that often follow.

Hannah and Grace: changing a community’s mind

Just 10 and 12 years old, Hannah and Grace shifted an entire community’s view on FGM. 

When famine struck Kenya, their families relocated to a new settlement. The move allowed the girls to start attending school, where they learned about FGM practice’s illegality and severe health consequences.

The girls immediately planned to run away, seeking refuge with relatives. They bravely refused to return home until they were guaranteed safety from FGM. Their courage forced the community chiefs to meet, who guaranteed the girls would be heard. Hannah and Grace addressed the entire community, which, convinced by their testimony, decided then and there to never perform FGM again. No girl younger than them in their community has been cut since.

Mary: breaking the cycle

Mary’s life shows how devastating cycles of harmful practices can be stopped. As a teenager, her mother convinced her that FGM was a harmless procedure that would bring glory and respect. Mary eagerly awaited her turn to be cut, but her eagerness turned to terror. She spent a full month recovering.

Married at 19, Mary began to understand the full extent of the lies she’d been told when she required surgical intervention to safely deliver her first child. Eventually, her husband abandoned her and their three children. Through this ordeal, Mary came to understand that her value existed far beyond her relative worth to a man.

Now an anti-FGM activist, Mary helps run alternative rite of passage ceremonies, replacing the harmful practice with a celebration of womanhood.

Lydia: lasting educational impact

Anti-FGM efforts are often hindered by cultural taboos and a lack of open discussion about female sexuality. Recognising this knowledge gap, Lydia, a British teacher, volunteered her summer to help educate educators in Uganda.

While running safeguarding workshops in rural southwestern Uganda, Lydia made a startling discovery: only one in 20 teachers had any knowledge of FGM. Lydia trained them on how to recognise girls who had been subjected to the practice and prevent potential complications. A year later, she returned to find the teachers had successfully implemented improved school policies and safety measures. 

Her dedicated work was later scaled up into a nationwide programme promoting girls’ education and preventing female students from dropping out of school after puberty.

Global impact: from New York to Kenya 

Ann-Marie and the 28 Too Many team haven’t just changed individual lives; they’ve shifted global policy and fostered grassroots change across continents.

The UN: securing the Sustainable Development Goal

In 2012, Ann-Marie set her sights on a monumental task: ensuring FGM was included in the final document of a major gathering in New York at the full Commission on the Status of Women with over 10,000 attendees. Her team worked relentlessly: holding seminars, asking questions at key events, addressing world leaders and handing literature to dignitaries. After seven days of non-stop work, she got the result she wanted.

“Those three small letters FGM are now in the document, and therefore in the Sustainable Development Goals,” Ann-Marie says. “This is one of my greatest achievements.” 

Her work secured its place in Sustainable Development Goal 5.3: ‘Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.’

West Africa: outreach and media

In 2015, the 28 Too Many team traveled across West Africa, delivering critical reports and findings. In Senegal, Ann-Marie delivered four talks a day, including a training session to 30 women in a remote village, translated live. The rapid pace continued in Gambia, where they recorded an interview with a newspaper. The next day, the entire story, featuring their work, was printed word-for-word on pages 2 and 3 of the national newspaper. In Mali, they successfully met with UNICEF, who agreed to host the first NGO gathering in the region, providing a critical platform for stagnant anti-FGM efforts.

Kenya: teaching healthcare through cricket 

In a unique partnership opportunity, 28 Too Many collaborated with Cricket Without Boundaries (CWB) in the Central Maasai area of Kenya. CWB uses cricket coaching to deliver vital health messages, and Ann-Marie was invited to deliver FGM training to both the CWB team and the local communities.

Upon arrival, seeking permission from the stern-looking Elders was the critical first step – a refusal meant being sent home. After explaining their mission, Ann-Marie paused and asked, “I don’t even know if I have permission to speak of FGM and sexual matters in public or in mixed company.”

The Chief immediately stomped his stick on the ground and declared with a single, powerful word: “You have permission!”

With clearance secured, they delivered FGM awareness sessions to over 3,000 people across schools and community forums. They trained 25 local adults – including teachers, youth workers, and health professionals – to become ongoing FGM and cricket coaches. 

The project culminated in a celebratory day led by the Maasai Cricket Warriors, where the community publicly committed to ending FGM and pledged to carry this anti-FGM message into neighbouring villages, ensuring the movement was self-sustaining.

Ann-Marie Wilson’s journey is a powerful testament to how a single person can spark profound global change. Her achievements, the lasting change she and her team have impacted across the world, didn’t come from a place of status, power or genius, just the simple, radical act of daring to ask, “Who will help?”

It shows that when you align yourself with God’s mission, anything is possible.

If you want to follow Ann-Marie’s work, you can sign up to her updates.

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In the hours before a peace rally was held in Makol’s town, Makol was out stealing cattle. He was caught in the act. He knew his fate was sealed: he would be publicly executed.

Yet, a speech delivered by Archbishop Moses Deng at the peace rally about forgiveness and reconciliation changed everything. When the Archbishop trained with CMS-Africa in 2010, he never imagined that his words could save a man’s life more than a decade later….

Where livestock is everything

In South Sudan livestock represents wealth, social status, income, food and dowries. Cattle raiding is big business for the perpetrators and hugely damaging for the victims.

Makol was a cattle raider from Warrap State, South Sudan. He knew that stealing cattle was wrong and that people were getting hurt, but he was making too much money to stop. He also knew he couldn’t afford to get caught – if he was caught, he could be executed by firing squad in front of his community.

In parts of South Sudan, cattle raiding has been practised among pastoral communities for as long as anyone can remember. But in recent years, the traditional spears and bows and arrows have been replaced by guns and heavy weapons. Raids have become more intense, more violent and take place on a much larger scale.

In addition to cattle raiding, many tribes in South Sudan are fighting with each other over land disputes and other matters. Most people struggle to remember a time when they weren’t in conflict. Very sadly, conflict between tribes leads to more cattle raiding, which feeds more conflict, pushing communities across the country into a downward spiral of violence, costing many lives.

Discipleship with a difference

CMS-Africa is working with local churches in South Sudan to disciple Christians and raise up “Abunas”. Abunas are men and women who find their identity in faith rather than in a tribe. They are recognised for their good character and will actively work to transform families and communities.

CMS-Africa also offers trauma healing, builds relationships between church leaders from different tribes and works with congregations through individual churches’ groups and activities.

Peace comes to town

In the Bahr el Ghazal region of South Sudan, an inter-church peace committee representing multiple denominations is also working to foster peace among warring communities. In early 2021, the committee organised a series of peace rallies and conferences in Makol’s home state, Warrap. Church leaders, senior government officials and Archbishop Moses Deng – Bishop of the Diocese of Wau – visited towns and villages, to speak to communities and traditional leaders about peace. Drawing on his training with CMS-Africa, Archbishop Moses Deng spoke to each community on the theme of love and forgiveness.

In the hours before a peace rally was held in Makol’s town, Makol was out stealing cattle. He was caught in the act, arrested and put in a police car. He knew his fate was sealed: he would be publicly executed.

The governor of Warrap State, General Aleu Ayieny, planned for Makol to be killed in front of the crowd at the end of the peace rally that same day. Evening came and Makol found himself sitting in the back of the governor’s car, waiting for his punishment, while General Ayieny listened to Archbishop Moses’ message nearby.

Expecting execution, receiving forgiveness

The Archbishop spoke about peace, forgiveness, reconciliation, repentance and peacebuilding – as he did in every community he visited. When he had finished, the governor stood up and addressed him: “Your Grace Moses, I have a living dead young man in the back of my car. I have brought him here to kill him in front of these crowds and multitudes by firing squad. We have spoken a lot against this practice of cattle raiding and today we could have been making an example out of this man…. But because you have spoken of forgiveness and reconciliation, I have forgiven him.”

The governor went back to his car and instructed Makol to follow him to the gathering. Makol followed slowly, walking to his death. But standing there in front of his community, hanging his head in shame, he heard the words, “You are forgiven.” Makol was overwhelmed. Could this really be true? A moment ago, he had been sentenced to death. Now he was being told he was forgiven, and the crowd who should have witnessed his execution were celebrating with him.

That day, Makol received Jesus and was baptised.

Four years later, his cattle raiding days are behind him. He and his family belong to a local church where they are being discipled and Makol provides for his family honestly by working as a prison warden.

One disciple at a time

Peace in South Sudan will not be achieved overnight, but CMS-Africa is committed to steady, long-term discipleship throughout the communities of Bahr el Ghazal in South Sudan.

As people are discipled and Abunas are raised up one at a time, CMS-Africa is seeing lives changed and in cases like Makol’s, even saved. Could these be the first green shoots of the peace God wants for this nation?

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The post From certain death to eternal life appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

“My name is – well, I can’t actually tell you, because who I am, where I work and much of what I do must be kept secret. But I can tell you how I met the maker of stars and how this has changed my life.

I grew up in a close-knit, Sunni Muslim family in the Middle East. Every Friday, we would spend the day eating, talking and having fun together. Our house had a nice garden where we could look up and see the stars at night.

Our religion, Islam, was always part of our tradition, of school, of family life – but I always had questions.

When I was seven, I learned that according to Islamic teaching, Jesus was taken up to heaven. That night I couldn’t sleep, thinking about Jesus looking down on me.

Meeting the star-maker

In my teens, I began to learn more about my faith. I studied the Quran. I learned about the history of Islam and the conflicts within it. I began to realise that much of my faith’s history was about seeking power rather than seeking God. I kept asking: what is the truth?

I had a recurring nightmare about Judgement Day. In the dream, I panicked because I wasn’t ready to meet God. The religious practices I had grown up with never brought me peace; I always felt guilty for not doing enough to please God.

For much of my teens and early 20s, I was in a dark place mentally and emotionally. One night, unable to sleep, I went online and stumbled upon an Arabic Christian channel.

As I watched I heard the gospel and it began to make so much sense. This led me to connect with groups of Christians on social media. I spent many nights secretly reading the Bible while my family was asleep.

As I read the Bible, I began to see the prophets I knew put into context. I saw the continuity of the story of salvation and the prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament. I was moved by the way Jesus lived and his compassion, the witness of the early disciples who mostly died as martyrs, and the kindness of the Christians I met, who patiently answered my questions.

Meeting BMBs (believers from a Muslim background) and hearing their testimonies also played a significant role in drawing me to faith in Jesus.

The verse “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6) resonated deeply with me – truth is not just a concept but a person: Jesus.

I was learning more about Jesus every day, but I hadn’t yet committed my life to him. One night I had started reading the Gospel of John when something happened. As I read about the Word becoming flesh, my eyes were opened and I heard God’s voice telling me that he is my father. I cried because I knew that I had just met the living God.

My joy was indescribable. I wanted to celebrate and tell everyone what had happened, but I couldn’t share this with my family. Instead, I went outside and danced in the garden. I remember looking at the stars and saying to them, “Now I know who made you.”

Facing my family

I knew I had found the truth I had been looking for, but now I had to face my family, who were all still deeply committed Muslims. My family could see that I was a true believer and had turned my back on Islam, which caused more and more tension between us. I eventually felt I had to leave my home country. I came to the UK, where I applied for asylum. I didn’t know whether I would see my family again.

Choosing to follow Jesus meant losing my community back home. When my parents died, I couldn’t go to their funerals.

But knowing Jesus meant that for the first time, I had the assurance of eternal life. Jesus liberated me from a self-centred life and taught me to live a sacrificial life of love for others, including my enemies. Jesus gave me a voice as a woman, showed me that I am equally valued and that I can be called and used by him.

I started my theological training, but I didn’t know yet what God was calling me to do. Then one night I had a clear dream where Jesus said to me, “Preach the cross and I am with you.” I started pursuing this calling in 2012.

Following a calling

Over the past few years God has been stirring my heart to return to the Middle East and North Africa, where the vast majority of the population is Muslim. At the end of 2021, I had the opportunity to visit the Middle East for the first time since leaving. I hadn’t seen my family for 15 years, but by God’s grace, we were reconciled and they welcomed me back.

I reached out to CMS and was accepted as a mission partner in the Middle East. I am eager to lay down my life for Muslim people to come to faith in Jesus, become disciples and, in turn, disciple others.

I was recently introduced to a couple. The husband had heard the gospel but had not been discipled. He later married and shared the gospel with his wife and, after two years, she too became a believer. They have a young son. She wanted to be baptised, but her family and her husband’s family rejected them because of their decision to become believers, meaning it wasn’t safe for her to take the step of baptism.

I began meeting with the wife, who I will call M, at her home, leading her through a programme which helps BMBs to grow in their identity in Jesus. Over time, M’s trust in me has grown and she says her faith now has a backbone. Praise God.

However, she still experienced challenges in getting baptised. She was hurt and confused that even church leaders were reluctant to baptise her, fearing for their own safety as well as hers.

One day during Ramadan, M was wearing a hijab and drinking coffee in her building. Another woman, from eight floors up, was surprised to hear M calling her son by a Christian name. The two women realised that they were both believers.

I connected with this family and another one in the same building. We planned to travel out of the country for M’s baptism but at every turn we experienced resistance. One of the families in the building connected us with their priest. He said he would be willing to take the risk and baptise her.

One Saturday, seven of us gathered for the baptism. The place that was chosen is my own birthplace as well as where I first encountered Christ. We worshipped and prayed together while we waited for the priest, who needed to travel some distance.

This priest was so humble and so joyful – I was struck by his courage. He told me he could never say no to baptising someone, no matter what the risk. A beautiful liturgy was read and M later told me that when she came out of the water, she felt a huge burden had been lifted from her chest. This was the same experience that I had. I feel privileged to be able to continue to walk with her in discipleship.

Heart for the harvest

For others like me who have given up their community to follow Jesus, I pray that the Church can truly be family. I had to leave my country to live out my faith and be equipped to reach others with the gospel, but it doesn’t have to be this way for believers in the Middle East now. As it says in Matthew chapter 9, the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few.

If we can equip and train BMBs where they are, we can accelerate the spread of the gospel in the Middle East and North Africa.

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The post “Stars, I know who made you” appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

For someone like K, at one point the odds of becoming a leader in theological education would have seemed slim. As a Christian and a woman in Pakistan, you might say she is doubly marginalised.

Only 2 per cent of the population in Pakistan are Christian. And it’s traditionally been considered a male-dominated, patriarchal society.

Yet, in recent decades more and more women have taken up leadership roles in theological training, thanks in part to the work of CMS mission partner F, who has retired after 38 years of service.

F provided vital theological education for the minority Christian community in Pakistan, helping them stand strong in their faith.

Limited opportunities

For the first 14 years of that time F taught at the United Bible Training Centre (UBTC) for women in the city of Gujranwala.

This interdenominational training centre, founded in 1939, was for many years the only residential training centre in Pakistan where women could receive theological education, apart from the Salvation Army Training College. Otherwise, there was only the option of Theological Education by Extension (TEE) offered by the Open Theological Seminary (OTS).

Although UBTC was originally founded to train young women as Bible teachers and hospital evangelists, by the time F joined it in 1986, it mainly offered short Bible courses and retreats to various groups of Christian women: adult literate village women, secondary school students, school-leavers, college students, nurses, teachers, Sunday School teachers and hospital evangelists. Additionally, there was a three-year part-time pastors’ wives training course for wives of the students at the nearby Gujranwala Theological Seminary (GTS).

A generation gap

As the previous generation of workers came up to retirement age or died, the Christian hospitals in particular saw the need to train the next generation of evangelists and Bible teachers, so UBTC started a new three-month intensive course for college graduates, called the Foundations for Bible Ministry Course (FBMC). A few years later, it started a new programme, the one-year Discipleship Course for young women with only matriculation (school leaving certificate).

Many graduates of these two programmes are now working as hospital evangelists, Sunday School teachers and in various roles with Christian NGOs and para-church organisations. Several went on to do further formal theological education after the mainline seminaries opened their doors to female students.

One of these is K. Having completed her BA degree from Sargodha University, she enrolled in the FBMC in September 2006. After graduation she joined UBTC as junior staff, receiving on-the-job training in teaching and preaching.

In 2009 she completed her training and was awarded the Diploma in Christian Education, and became senior teaching staff.

After a few years, as well as teaching various Bible subjects, Christian doctrine and discipleship, she became programme coordinator for UBTC.

In 2016, K gained her bachelor of theology degree from OTS followed by a Master of Divinity degree from GTS in 2018, at which point she moved to Lahore to work with the OTS in the youth department, and soon became department coordinator.

From student to colleague

By that time CMS mission partner F had been working for the OTS for several years, while still giving some time each year to teaching at UBTC, so she had known K as a student and then as a colleague there, and again as a student at GTS, where F taught Pakistan Church History.

During her time at OTS, F had been advising on the development of a new Christian education curriculum for teenagers. Nine courses had been prepared and the final course was in preparation, called Me and My Faith. The task of writing this course was given to K and another colleague, which was completed by December 2020.

K continued teaching and preaching alongside writing and administration, and in 2023 she had the opportunity to travel to the US to study at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, from where she graduated with a Master of Theology degree in 2024.

Returning to Pakistan, she was invited to join the staff of her alma mater, GTS as a teacher, and started her ministry there in August 2024.

Founded in 1877, by the United Presbyterian Mission, GTS has been a union institution since 1954, with CMS mission partners serving there from time to time.

The first female student, the wife of one of the male students, graduated from there with a BTh degree in 1992, and the first single women students were admitted in 1996.

In 2016, the GTS demonstrated its appreciation for women’s contribution in theological education by appointing a female principal. At that time 50 per cent of the full-time faculty was female. Now K has joined in this key role of training the next generation of Christian workers.

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The post Educators from the edges appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Elinaja’s life was changed forever when his motorbike was hit by a bus one day, causing him to lose his right leg. He couldn’t walk and he couldn’t work to support his wife and children. But now, he is working to support his family once again as part of a purposeful, friendly community.

Elinaja was an able-bodied man in his early 30s with a job, a wife and four children. One day as he was returning from work, his motorbike was hit by a bus as it veered off the road. His right leg was severely injured. After six painful weeks without improvement, the doctors advised amputation.

The months that followed were some of the hardest of Elinaja’s life. Unable to work, he stayed at home, struggling to move and to support his family. He helped care for their youngest daughter, but as time passed, his hope faded. With no income and no way to afford the £900 needed for a prosthetic leg, despair crept in.

Three years passed before Elinaja found a sponsor who helped him get a prosthesis fitted at the Usa River Rehabilitation Centre. He had already been in contact with SAFI (See Ability First International) Tanzania in search of training opportunities. SAFI, led by mission partners Ben and Katy Ray, offers people with disabilities from across East Africa the opportunity to gain new skills to earn a living.

On the day Elinaja received his new leg, he visited the SAFI office to show how he could now stand and walk with a single stick instead of heavy crutches. At the time, SAFI was looking for a new trainee to join the Sawawa group (one of 12 micro-enterprises that SAFI is setting up over the coming 18 months). Sawawa produces handcrafted wooden homewares.

A week later, Elinaja returned to begin his training with Doris, a skilled deaf carpenter, who had trained with SAFI just six months previously. He initially trained on the large standing lathe and seemed to have a natural talent for woodturning. Unfortunately, standing all day on his prosthetic leg was painful for Elinaja, and so he waited at home until a suitable solution could be found.

SAFI reached out to Tools For Solidarity, an organisation that supplies refurbished tools. By chance, they had just received a compact table-top lathe – ideal for Elinaja. He was soon called in and measured up for the new lathe so it could be set to the perfect height. Two months into his training, Elinaja is now producing his own range of wooden items – bowls, pots, honey dippers and light fittings.

Elinaja is so pleased to be part of a purposeful, friendly community at the centre and to have found work that not only supports him and his family, but also gives him a great deal of satisfaction as he uses a newly discovered talent. Please pray for Elinaja and the carpentry team as we look to raise funds to build a more spacious workshop further from the cafe.

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The post Tools for transformation in Tanzania appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

When it’s not safe to go to church – even a house church – what do you do?

Eddie and George (names changed) live in the foothills of the Himalayas about 200 to 250 km from the China–Tibet border. Eddie is a pastor and George works closely with him. Eddie belongs to a high-caste, but generally poor and rural, ethnic group who are scattered over small villages that dot the mountains of this region. Most of these villages are only reachable via four-wheel drive and hiking through the mountains.

Coming to faith at the age of 15, Eddie is instrumental in a grassroots movement that is reaching his people – a previously unreached people group. He helped train 50 to 60 house church leaders who now care for some 4,000 to 5,000 of his people who have come to faith in Jesus.

Eddie’s ethnic group is classified as an unreached people group. In the past, a few of this people group have come to faith. But they usually joined existing churches in the towns that are largely attended by migrants from other parts of India. Eddie’s own people remained unreached for many years.

However, in the last 15 years, disciples of Christ trained by Eddie, George and others have taken the gospel to the villages, planting numerous house-churches. In different villages, groups of believers would meet together in worship and study of God’s word. But in more recent years after the covid-19 pandemic, the hostility from religious fundamentalists has worsened. Christian believers in the villages can no longer freely invite their neighbours to pray together without opposition, which at times has turned violent. Eddie and George could no longer freely visit the leaders and believers in different villages like they used to.

Against the odds: what they did next

Eddie has introduced a new strategy. He calls it “moving house churches.”

No longer able to freely meet, Eddie and George go hiking into the mountains where they are joined by leaders whom they can contact. On these mountain hikes, that last from a few days to perhaps a week, they spend time together in fellowship, prayer, and studying the Bible. In the mountains is where Eddie and George teach, share life together and teach these leaders.

Most of the leaders range in age from their late teens to early thirties. Many of them have gone through high school and college. Each leader is responsible for leading five to 10 house churches; with each ‘church’ numbering five to 15 believers. In total, they number 4,000 to 5,000 believers scattered over a radius of 50 to 70km from where Eddie and George live.

Sacrificing self to serve others  

Eddie and George’s passion to serve in difficult circumstances is inspiring. Eddie holds three masters’ degrees and was invited to pursue a PhD in the USA. His wife and children are already in the USA, but he has chosen to stay – for the sake of his people. In 2017, George left his job as a hospital technician to assist Eddie in the work of discipling indigenous leaders. 

Over the last few years, Eddie and George have faced many challenges – in ministry and in their personal and family lives – shaped by the  sacrifices their work demands. Both of them are in their late 40s and early 50s, yet they don’t plan on stopping their regular treks into the mountains. Eddie says he’ll continue his trips into the hills, “as long as my body allows me.”

Eddie and George are like a modern-day Paul and Barnabas. They take God’s word to the very edges. They share the gospel, pastor, lead and disciple followers of Christ in situations where traditional church approaches cannot work. 

Shared with kind permission of AsiaCMS. 

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The post Church on the move in North India  appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

When Oman* in Nepal started following Jesus, his parents threw him out of the family home. He has been ridiculed, shamed and threatened because of his faith. But rather than giving up, after training at a CMS partner college, he is making disciples and planting churches.

I’m from southern Nepal and grew up following another religion. My father and grandfathers all belonged to this religion. When my father and grandfather got sick, they prayed to their god, but he didn’t answer, and they lived in pain and suffering. As a teenager I asked them: If the god you worship can’t help us, is he really the true God?

When I was about 18, I met a church pastor, who shared the gospel with me and took me to his church. After going to church for a year, I saw someone delivered from an evil spirit and gave my life to Jesus.

Rejected but not forsaken

At home, I stopped observing our family’s religious rules. Tension built up gradually until one night, my family threw me out of the house. That night, I slept in a field and cried for several hours. I was heartbroken: it felt like the most terrible thing in the world that my parents would reject me. The next day, God spoke to me: “Your worldly parents may reject you but I will not forsake you.” Later, I reconciled with my family – they decided to let me live as a Christian and welcomed me home.

When I told people around me that I was following Jesus, they ridiculed me and called me a lunatic. But I knew that Jesus is the true God and those people would someday look for him. They were also struggling with evil spirits and the only one who could really help them was Jesus.

From apprentice to church planter

I left school and started working with my pastor as his apprentice. After a year and a half of making disciples alongside him, I realised I needed to grow and he suggested I get some training. He had in mind a three-month residential course at a longtime CMS partner training college to help me deepen my faith and become more effective in ministry. Incredibly, my family agreed I could go. [This course has been led by CMS partners. It helps people like Oman, first generation Christians in remote areas, to access training in leading churches without needing to leave home for several years.]

The training was intensive and practical. During those three months, I learned how to do ministry, preach the gospel, do things that I’m still doing now.

We had teaching on spiritual warfare, learning about our authority in Jesus. Nearly all the believers I look after now have been delivered from evil spirits, but before I had the training, I didn’t know about the weapons of spiritual warfare or how to fight.

The training also covered bitterness, hurt and unforgiveness. Around 90 per cent of the people I meet have a root of bitterness in their heart, and being able to bring this type of issue into the light and help people deal with it is very important.

One pastor also taught us about the Bible and preaching. I learned how to preach more powerfully than before through better preparation, grounding my teaching in God’s Word and structuring my sermons differently. Although I found it hard at the time, this is one of the most useful aspects of the training, as preaching is such a core part of my ministry.

When I came back from training, I started using my God-given authority over evil spirits, preaching in a different way and discipling people more effectively. After the course, I was able to start planting churches and doing ministry myself, not just with my pastor. My training gave me the tools I needed to plant three house churches in my area. One of these now meets in a church building on my family’s property – and a CMS partner came to support us as we inaugurated the church. Altogether, I look after 150 believers.

Refusing to give up

In Nepal, persecution is getting worse. For example, one day when I came out of a house church meeting, a crowd of about 300 people was blocking my way. They came with the intent of beating me, smearing me with ink – that is one of the worst punishments a person can get. They wanted to put me in jail. For 25 minutes they argued and questioned me about what I was doing there and why. They pushed me, they shoved me, they tore my clothes and threw my shoes away and they were preparing ink to smear on my face. At that moment, I felt completely alone, but God protected me. It felt like the story of Daniel in the lions’ den. I know that in the midst of persecution and suffering, God is with me.

Even so, I knew that if I went back to that village, people would probably try to break my bones. The danger is real. Recently I was invited to go to Kathmandu for a couple of months for a break, but I didn’t want my believers to think I was afraid or that I had forsaken them.

The Bible says that if you want to be a disciple, there’s a cost involved. Sometimes there might be doubt, but I recognise that God is there in the midst of these things. Jesus is alive. He will never give up. I also will not give up.

*Name changed for security reasons

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The post Oman’s story appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).