Ruth Sayers, Britain
Church worker showing Christ in the community through helping people get back into work, assisting with Bible studies, pastoral care and more.
I seek to show Christ to those around me, to be a warming presence in an area of deprivation and disadvantage. I support unemployed people through a work club, helping people get back into work, and represent a local church at community events and meetings while also working within the church, helping with Bible studies and pastoral care.
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Ruth’s story
I was brought up in a Christian family and, as a teenager, attended a Baptist church which made mission a priority. I enjoyed supporting missionaries, and yet I always knew that God had a call on my life and one day it would be my turn to serve. For much of my working life I was a senior administrator at Surrey University, which was good preparation for the work I did in the Middle East giving administrative support over many years. My first placement with CMS was in Egypt where I worked with the Diocese of Egypt and the Horn of Africa. This was followed by two years spent in Bethlehem and then Jordan, working with the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf in Salt.
After nearly nine years in the Middle East, I was offered the opportunity of working in Plymouth. However, I initially knew very little about the city or the issues affecting the area. I have been on a steep learning curve, seeing lives that are devastated by unemployment and a sense of feeling forgotten. What is the gospel for these people? The churches in the area are small, there’s a shortage of clergy and churches aren’t by and large seen as having a significant role within the community. It has to start with being rooted in local areas and walking alongside some of the most disadvantaged people.
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