DR Congo: Ebola

The World Health Organisation has declared a public health emergency in DR Congo due to an outbreak of a rare strain of the Ebola virus for which there is no vaccine. CMS partner Bisoke Balikenga shares that the city Bunia, where he runs a peace centre, is affected by the crisis and asks for prayer. Lift up all those who are caring for those who are ill. Pray for people to take wise precautions to help stop the spread of the virus. Ask God to protect Bisoke and his colleagues from the virus.  

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In the heart of a slum community in Bangkok, mission partners Elise and Jon are walking alongside families to break the cycles of poverty, proving that those pushed to the margins are at the very centre of God’s story.

by Elise and Jon Fletcher in Thailand

We have been living in Khlong Toei, Bangkok’s biggest slum community, since 2014. Living alongside people like Praew,* we help to run the Keeping Families Together (KFT) programme – an 18-month programme designed to strengthen families to prevent separation. We support families with income generation training, education opportunities and health access, helping adults to improve the lives of children in their care. 

Praew, 48, moved to the slum community one year ago when her husband died of a stroke and she was unable to pay rent and provide for her 12-year-old daughter. The only option was to move in with her adult daughter and family who rent a single room. Praew quickly found herself caring for three grandchildren whilst suffering from chronic ill health. The only income in the home was from selling drugs and life was highly chaotic.

When our KFT caseworker first visited, Praew was feeling overwhelmed. None of the grandchildren were attending school and the bureaucracy involved in arranging a school transfer for her daughter was too much. We were able to negotiate with the local Catholic school to waive fees and accept all four children immediately. With weekly home visiting, we’ve slowly seen Praew come out of her shell. She’s been able to articulate some dreams and commit to working towards small goals.

Families join the KFT programme for a period of 18 months. Every situation is different but the families are supported to do their own work to improve long term outcomes for their children. Progress is often slow but support from caseworkers and peers can make all the difference. We cover nine modules, the first focuses on the importance of attachment and belonging. Soon we will move to a module on ‘child protection’; knowing the risks and how to guard against abuse is crucial. Most adult participants carry their own trauma related to abuse, so breaking the cycle is key. 

We alternate between monthly training days and family fun days – we recently went to the beach! For many of the kids, it was their first experience of the sea. It was a privilege to see families enjoying time together in nature, away from daily concerns. Playing, eating yummy food and swimming in crystal clear water.

Change doesn’t happen overnight

The children in Praew’s care are now attending school irregularly and their KFT caseworker is working closely with them to incentivise attendance and change habits. There are many pressures working against the very poorest families. Even in slum communities, hierarchy pushes people to the edges. 

In a few months, the KFT families will learn to track income and outgoings. They will work on business and debt repayment plans, and will receive income generation grants to begin working towards financial stability. Praew is a good cook and she hopes to set up a food stall outside her house. It is easy to recognise the image of God in Praew as she comforts a child or sweeps the small home. Our prayer is that she comes to recognise this innate worth in herself and impart that to her family and wider community. 

God at the edges 

Our God consistently upholds the cause of the marginalised, even entering into the physical life of the poor through the person of Jesus Christ. Those seemingly pushed to the edges are actually at the centre of God’s story. As Gustavo Gutiérrez writes, “the preferential option for the poor is not optional; it is rooted in God’s gratuitous love.” That Praew is blessed and bears God’s favour, is a truth that stands regardless of her own profession of faith. 

We hope that one day she will know Jesus as friend and liberator but for now, God is here in the joys and the sorrows, the crowding and the daily injustices of slum life. God does not turn his face from human sin and suffering waiting for us to change, but dwells in our midst – Emmanuel, God with us.

*Name changed to protect privacy

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Where the church is small and under pressure, CMS partners are helping to design relevant training for church leaders who have never been able to access it before.

By Chris and Suzy Wilson who have served with CMS for 10 years in Ethiopia

“When I came here, it was not clear to me that Jesus is my God. But I understand that he’s the one who brought me from darkness to light.”

These are the words of an Ethiopian man, a refugee who is from an ethnic minority group, after being given the opportunity to take part in intensive theology training. His quote shows the difference that this kind of training can make for people who have the potential to become Christian leaders, but who have had their lives upended by violent conflict.

Learning, interrupted

Ethiopia hosts one of the largest refugee populations in Africa. In the western areas of the country, refugee camps accommodate women, men and families displaced by conflict from South Sudan, Sudan, the Great Lakes region and beyond.

Remarkably, churches have rapidly emerged and grown within these camps, yet they face many challenges, as many of these refugees originate from contexts where access to theological education and leadership training has been severely limited and/or suddenly disrupted. 

Faith growing in fragile contexts

This rapid expansion of the church in refugee settings is not new in the church’s history. Time and again, Christian faith has taken root and flourished through persecution, migration and displacement. The book of Acts recounts how, following Stephen’s martyrdom and the scattering of believers, the gospel spread from Jerusalem throughout the Roman Empire. Church history demonstrates how God often works through displacement: Christianity took hold in Ethiopia through Frumentius’ shipwreck, in Ireland through Patrick’s kidnapping and in Georgia through Nino’s captivity.

Even today, God continues to work powerfully in disrupted and fragile contexts, as evidenced by the rapid growth of Christianity among South Sudanese refugee populations over the past 50 years.

As churches expand in refugee camps and many people spend several decades there, a clear need has arisen for theological training that is faithful, accessible and contextually grounded. Additionally, since many refugee camps are geographically remote and language barriers are significant, local Ethiopian churches have limited capacity to invest in these refugee congregations. Therefore, there is a genuine need for theological educators with strong English or Arabic skills (languages commonly spoken) who can collaborate with church leaders from refugee communities.

Responding to refugees

After we returned to Ethiopia following COVID-19, Chris taught at St Frumentius’ Seminary in Gambella to help students catch up on classes they had missed during the lockdown. Due to conflict and instability, several refugees were unable to travel to Gambella, so Chris made two teaching trips to deliver these classes in a refugee camp. While there, many church leaders requested that he return to provide training to help them with their preaching.

Since 2022, we’ve been responding to this request. Over many trips, conversations and thinking on the go, we’ve designed a course for preachers in refugee camps with no prior theological training. The course integrates biblical studies, Christian doctrine, homiletics and discipleship, all delivered with space for discussion and reflection on their relevance to camp life.

During this period, we have run this course for leaders from more than 10 ethnic groups across several refugee camps in western Ethiopia. God has blessed us with a small but great teaching team, including both international and local theological educators. In particular, we’ve been working closely with a man who was one of Chris’s students in Gambella, and it’s been a profound encouragement to see him develop as he has served as a course coordinator, translator, and, more recently, a co-teacher. He’s been invaluable both in helping us develop the course and in delivering it to church leaders in their mother tongue.

Transformation through training

In January 2026, we conducted a new initiative. With generous support from SIM Ethiopia and one of our link churches in the UK, we organised two weeks’ intensive training for a group of leaders from a small ethnic group that has only five Christian churches. God truly blessed this effort, with both instructors and trainees noticing a marked improvement in the quality of preaching. One of the instructors, Dr Simon Harrison, said, “It was amazing to see the clear impact of the training on the participants over the two weeks. Some went from never having preached before and being unsure of the gospel and who Christ is, to being able to preach a Christ-centred sermon that clearly presented the gospel.”

At the end of the training, interviews with the trainees reflected a similar story. One trainee said, “I learned so many things in that training – one of them is I found out Jesus is my Saviour. The second thing is – when I came here, it was not clear to me that Jesus is my God. But I understand that he’s the one who brought me from darkness to light.” Another added, “When I came from there, I didn’t know how to preach at all, but now I have learned to preach.”

It was a real joy to spend time with and invest in young leaders from a community where following Jesus is fraught with difficulties. Given the very positive response to this training, we hope to run more intensive training courses for leaders in places where the church is small and under pressure.

Pray together

Please join us in praying for our brothers and sisters who are displaced, for refugees leading church communities in extremely challenging situations and for wisdom for our team as we partner with them.

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Based in Southeast Asia, co-mission partner Patrick* works with a local institute that provides training for local mission workers and rural church leaders on topics like discipleship, evangelism, and church planting.

by Asia-CMS

In 2025, Patrick worked with many inspiring individuals, including a woman named Pastor Grace.* She was sent to the institute Patrick works at to attend some training modules, which is how Patrick learnt about Grace’s testimony.

She first learned about Jesus at the age of seven from her grandfather. At 13, Grace was unfortunately hit by a car in an accident that witnesses said was un-survivable. Yet, she walked away with minor injuries, describing a man in a white robe protecting her.

Growing up in a remote, jungle village, Grace faced hardship. She dropped out of school at 14 to help her family farm rice and a few years later, she went to Malaysia to work as a housekeeper. Before leaving, she prayed specifically to be placed with a family of exactly four members.

“I had no control over the agency, but I had control over my prayer,” she shares.

Grace was assigned to a household of that exact number and miraculously, despite the agency she worked for trying to ban her Bible, the Christian family she was placed with intervened, allowing her to keep it!

She worked in Malaysia for several years, constantly growing her faith through reading and prayer. After a while, Grace felt the Lord telling her to return to her country for a new plan. She settled back in her village and attempted to work odd jobs wherever she could find them.

“For the next two years, Grace grew very unsure of her next move. She spent a lot of time questioning what God’s plan for her was and why she had to come back home,” shares Patrick.

It was only when Grace got involved with ministries at her small local church that she understood the reason for her return. She realised how deeply the people in her district needed Jesus and began praying that God would use her!

After spending many months serving among her local community, Grace’s superiors recognised her potential and sent her to Patrick’s training institute, so she would be better equipped to lead others who wanted to follow in her footsteps.

As of today, Grace is now a pastor who is training 25 leaders in her church. Together with her team, she travels to surrounding villages to evangelise and run programmes that benefit the children and youth of those areas.

*Names changed to protect privacy

Pray together

Asia-CMS ask our prayers for:

• safety and logistics for ministry travel and events – for leaders and trainers traveling long distances to training centres, especially given difficult or flooded road conditions
• protection and provision for trainers and leaders – for God’s protection and financial provision for the trainers and leaders who are serving voluntarily by faith with minimal stipends.
• effectiveness and impact of Patrick’s institute – that every training session will be conducted under the Lord’s authority and anointing, and that all current students will finish strong. Pray for God to send new students who have a passion and vision for missions.

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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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How should we pray for Iran and the Middle East?

We invite you to join us in prayer for the Middle East as the situation across the region continues to deteriorate, bringing significant hardship and uncertainty to the whole region.

It can often be hard to know just what to pray in times of crisis, so our colleagues working across the Middle East offer these pointers to guide and resource our prayers.

Download an updated slide deck to share with your church

Prayer update on Lebanon

10 April 2026

From CMS’s partnership officer, based in Beirut.

• We pray for justice and mercy from heaven above as we see no justice around.
• We pray for God’s providence for all those who lost loved ones and the families who lost their children, parents and property. Tonight many many people will be homeless and with no families.
• We pray for the rescue teams in the country with the limited resources they have to meet such a massive attack.
• We pray for the church to be able to support and provide for those who need the help.
• We pray for healing… the situation is very traumatic.
• We pray for all the enemies of our beloved country, may they see what damage they are bringing to the people and the land. May they know the Prince of Peace who can give his peace.

19 March 2026

In Lebanon, the situation has become a serious and growing crisis. Ongoing war and attacks from Israel have displaced nearly one million people from South Lebanon, most of them Lebanese Shia. Many have fled toward Beirut and surrounding areas and are now living in the streets, in their cars, or wherever they can find temporary shelter.

Hospitals are overwhelmed by the large number of injured. With limited capacity, some have begun prioritising Lebanese patients, leaving others – including many injured Syrians – without medical care.

The economic situation is also extremely difficult. Fuel prices have risen from $0.90 to $1.50, driving inflation in basic necessities, including food. Many people are unable to work due to the ongoing missile attacks and bombing, while schools remain closed and daily life grows increasingly unstable.

In response, the Lebanese church has opened their doors to receive members of their congregations who fled from the South, hosting them in church retreat centers in the mountains.

At the same time, many Syrians who had previously fled war in their own country and found refuge in Lebanon are now facing new hardship. Some are being forced out of the homes they rent so that displaced Lebanese families can move in, leaving them with limited options for shelter.

In parts of the Gulf, the war has also caused airports to close, and the ongoing missile attacks across the region continue to create fear and uncertainty.

Prayer requests for Lebanon and the region

• Please pray for the large number of displaced people from South Lebanon who are now living in the streets and in extremely difficult conditions as they seek to survive during this crisis.
• Please pray for the Syrian community in Lebanon, who are facing increasing hardship and prejudice as many lose their homes and are unable to receive medical care when needed. Pray for the church as it seeks to serve and support many among them.
• Please pray for the church in Lebanon, that it will be strengthened and equipped to continue helping those in need – not only for their congregations, but also people from different backgrounds – demonstrating Christ’s love and compassionate care.
• Even in the midst of pain and suffering, many are knocking on the doors of churches, sensing that the church offers a different hope. Ask God to strengthen those serving them to faithfully reflect the love, compassion and peace of Christ to all who come seeking help.
• Please pray for peace in Lebanon, and specially that the country would be protected from civil conflict between Sunni, Shia, and Christian communities, and that people would not turn against one another or blame each other for the current situation.
• Please pray for the wider region, that the missile attacks and violence would cease and that stability and peace would be restored.

Pray for peace, protection and wisdom:

• for diplomacy, dialogue and de-escalation: for violence to cease, for protection from harm and for peace in Iran, Lebanon and across the Middle East
• for respect for human rights and the dignity of God’s children to prevail
• for leaders and decision-makers worldwide to act justly, quickly and decisively to provide much-needed practical support for suppressed civilians

Pray for justice and freedom:

• for the Lord’s protection for Christians imprisoned in Iran on account of their faith and for them to soon be released
• for conditions allowing freedom of religion in Iran, including for all Christians to be permitted to gather for worship freely and establish churches in Iran
• that Christians across the Middle East would not face increased persecution because of heightening instability

Pray for Iranians in exile:

• for Iranians living outside the country who long to return to live or to visit, pray they would soon be able to return without fear
• for Iranians who have been forced to flee in recent years, and are ‘in limbo’ seeking asylum and safety in other countries

Pray for Christian witness:

• for God’s light to shine through the church in Iran, bringing true freedom, healing, dignity and hope
• thanking God for the growing church in Iran, pray for the Body of Christ in Iran to thrive
• that Christians in Iran, Lebanon and across the Middle East would be a compelling testimony to others at this time of turmoil, pointing more and more of God’s children to the Lord

The post How should we pray for Iran and the Middle East? appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

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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The post “He is able”: Josephat’s journey appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Iran: peace in uncertainty

Please pray for peace, protection and wisdom for the people of Iran amid violence and uncertainty. Pray for unfair arrests to cease and for innocent prisoners to be released. Pray for leaders and decision-makers worldwide to act justly, quickly and decisively to provide much-needed practical support for suppressed civilians. Pray for God’s light to shine through the church in Iran, bringing true freedom, healing, dignity and hope.

The post Iran: peace in uncertainty appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

North Africa: drawing close to God this Lent

Please stand in prayer with mission associates leading a church in North Africa as they host a Lent course looking at forgiveness. The course includes a range of activities designed to deepen course participants’ understanding of the Scriptures. Please pray for each member of the group to be able to draw close to God through this course and to experience and celebrate his forgiveness this Lent.

The post North Africa: drawing close to God this Lent appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Ethiopia: successful training

Recently, partners Chris and Suzy Wilson, who work with Christian leaders in peacebuilding, asked for prayer for an upcoming training course for Christian leaders in refugee camps.

Chris and Simon were due to spend two weeks investing in a group of Christian leaders all from Simon’s ethnic group, teaching in their own language.

Now having completed the training, Chris writes, “It was, by some distance, the most impactful training course we have been involved in during our time in Ethiopia. All three instructors observed a clear change in the sermons the trainees preached during the course.”

Praise God that the training was such a great success, and please pray for these church leaders as they serve their congregations through volatile times. 

The post Ethiopia: successful training appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).