In Juba, South Sudan, many more families are taking home healthy babies following changes at a local hospital over the past 18 months.

When mission partner Nicci Maxwell arrived in Juba in mid-2024, the mortality rate on the neonatal ward at Al Sabbah Children’s Hospital was at 15 per cent, meaning up to 35 families each month were grieving the loss of a newborn baby.

A paediatrician with a particular interest in newborns, Nicci was determined to change this, and senior management at the hospital was committed to supporting any progress that could be made.

Nicci has been grateful to work with a core group of nursing staff dedicated to the mothers and babies they care for.

Together, during the 18 months since Nicci arrived, staff at the hospital have improved overall cleanliness and facilities, even adding a high dependency unit to better support the sickest babies.

As a result of their hard work, the mortality rate on the neonatal ward at Al Sabbah hospital has dropped to just below five per cent at the time of writing.

Where 18 months ago, on average 35 families a month were grieving the loss of a child, that number has now dropped to 12. And in Nicci’s words, “There is so much more to do!” 

Nicci supports and trains local staff alongside caring for babies and children at Al Sabbah Children’s Hospital and in the local refugee community.

Wanting to improve paediatric care more widely as well as locally, together with colleagues from Al Sabbah and representatives of the WHO, Nicci is involved in the production of a Paediatric Pocketbook.

This will be an accessible guide to the important basics of paediatric and newborn care for health workers across the whole of South Sudan. This exciting development will hopefully benefit children all over the country.

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Over 6,000 school children and others heard the gospel, and well over 1,000 responded in faith, in Goma during a recent evangelism week.

Fourteen of these new believers have since taken the step of baptism, and 72 believers have been confirmed. Some people are talking of a spiritual awakening in Goma!

This news is particularly encouraging when viewed against the backdrop of the situation in Goma over the past several months.

After M23 rebels took control of the city in January 2025, many people saw friends and relatives killed in front of them and thousands of people fled Goma.

Many months later, violence has decreased and the rebels remain in control.

The streets are nearly empty, businesses are struggling and banks and courts remain closed.

According to mission partner Martin Gordon, Bishop of Goma, the Church is seen by many as the one remaining institution that they can still trust.

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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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“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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Dr Harvey Kwiyani, founder of the Acts 11 Project, a Church Mission Society initiative, has called upon the Church to disentangle itself from the legacies and logic of imperialism and proclaim a gospel that resists privilege, inequality and exclusion.

In his new book, Decolonizing Mission, Kwiyani argues that while imperialism and colonialism have been associated with the expansion of Christianity for over 500 years, the gospel of Jesus Christ subverts idea of empire. Kwiyani says: “The good news is not imperial. It does not conquer. The mission of Jesus liberates. It does not colonise.”

Throughout the book Kwiyani traces the history of Christian mission alongside the history of empire, showing the influence that one had on the other. He imagines what mission without imperialism would look like, and sheds light on the connection between colonialism and mission and invites us to realign our missional methods with God’s.

Kwiyani explains: “In first-century Judea under Roman rule, proclaiming good news to the poor and freedom to the oppressed was dangerous. Jesus was not merely comforting souls – he was confronting empire. Jesus announced a new social order rooted in God’s justice and mercy.” This is the gospel Kwiyani challenges the Church to reclaim – a gospel that resists the logic of conquest, domination, and superiority.

In Decolonizing Mission, Kwiyani uses historical vignettes to that show how the gospel has never required conquest to spread. From the beginning, Jesus entrusted this movement not to kings or soldiers but to the marginalised and overlooked, colonised people like his Galilean disciples. The true mission of God has always relied on love, humility, vulnerability, and the Spirit’s power.

Kwiyani explains: “I dream of a global mission movement of Christians from formerly colonised lands as well as the rest of the world. This is the task of the Church today: to proclaim a post-imperial gospel. A gospel that resists baptising privilege. A gospel that stands with the poor. A gospel that disrupts injustice, embodies compassion, and embraces the non-coercive love of Christ.”

Professor Esther Mombo, of St Paul’s University, Limuru, Kenya, said: “Decolonizing Mission is essential reading for anyone committed to a faithful, humble, and culturally sensitive witness in the 21st century. It challenges us to lament past wrongs, repent of lingering imperial impulses, and embrace a mission that truly reflects the kingdom of God – one defined by love, equality, and freedom.”

Kwiyani concluded: “The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a tool for expanding empires – it is a prophetic summons to dismantle them. It proclaims that the love of God liberates, heals, and decolonises. To be faithful to God’s mission in the world today, we must decolonise mission.”

Decolonizing Mission is available from SCM Press.

See churchmissionsociety.org/events for details of upcoming book launches.

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David Hubbard is a CMS supporter preparing to cycle through Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in 2026 in memory of his father, a CMS mission partner. As he tells Emily Wilson in this interview, his 5,000km East African ride is more than a challenge – it’s a tribute to his father’s life in mission. And a way to raise money for CMS.

David, what inspired this incredible, intrepid undertaking? 

My parents, Laurie and Wendy Hubbard, went to Kenya as mission partners with CMS in 1966, my dad served as an Anglican vicar in the Kenyan towns of Nyeri and Nanyuki for about seven years. I don’t know what drew Dad to Kenya – he was open to anything – but I know that his dad had also done mission work for many years in Nigeria back in the 1920s or 30s.

I was born in Kenya, my wife Rachel was born in Kenya too. My family left Kenya before I turned five, but I have a few childhood memories of Nanyuki. I do remember that on a clear day you would see the very beautiful view of Mount Kenya in the distance.

When Dad died this year we were thinking, what can we do in his memory? And this idea came about. 

I understand you’re a competent and keen cyclist but why such a long way, and why East Africa? 

Any excuse for a long cycle ride, especially in Africa, if I’m honest! But I was thinking, while it’s a fun thing to do, and it’s a challenge, how could I honour my dad and encourage others along the way? 

After discussing with various people, and realising that CMS [still] has links in East Africa, I came up with the idea of cycling a kind of loop around Lake Victoria. I’ve cycled in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania before. My family and I visited Kenya this summer and I had a chance to do some cycling and plan some of the route. I brought out a folding bike in a suitcase, which held up remarkably well on the rough roads! 

How long do you think the cycle will take? 

My hope is I’ll do it in two months. I can use leave or school holiday time in order to have enough time away from my jobs teaching and with Friends International.

Starting in Nairobi, Kenya, I will travel north to Nyeri, near Mount Kenya, to visit a family that my dad knew well, before heading across the semi-arid area called Laikipia, hopefully seeing some wildlife along the way! I’ll meet up with my son-in-law’s family in Busia County, visit the CMS-Africa team, then head into northern Uganda to visit CMS’s work with refugees. From there I will then travel south across the border into Tanzania. I hope to visit schools in Iringa and Morogoro where I used to work. I want to help do some staff training with teachers whenever I get the chance, as teacher training opportunities are quite limited. 

In Tanzania I also hope to visit CMS mission partners Ben and Katy Ray before crossing north back into Kenya to complete the 5,000km loop. 

There are various personal connections – former colleagues, friends, family – but I also want to give as much time as possible to see school projects, CMS projects and to link with other people where I could do anything useful. That would be great. 

Why do you think your father stayed connected to CMS’s work for so many years after he returned from being a mission partner in Kenya?  

“I think he was motivated by a few things. One, he made connections with people. He’d fallen in love with people, their warmth, their kindness. But he also saw the need to care for them, he was very generous and supported CMS and individuals in Kenya for much of his adult life. There are so many physical and economic challenges in that part of the world. 

Two, his work for CMS when he returned from Kenya. He got involved from a different angle. As an area secretary in Kent in the 80s he was encouraging other people, visiting churches and groups to raise awareness of CMS’s work. He believed in what CMS does and what you stand for. Along with my mum, he went to CMS conferences and kept up relationships. You want to support people who have been through something similar to you. 

How will you stay motivated on your ride? 

Firstly, knowing that Dad would be really, really happy and supportive of it. 

Dad maintained contact with, and a passion for, CMS all the way through his life. When you do these things there’s always going to be times when you think, “What am I doing this for?” It’s good to know that this trip is bigger than I am. It’s not just a jolly, a physical challenge or even all about fundraising for CMS – it’s something that will hopefully achieve something really positive.

I want to go and see these people. People are moved when you make the effort to visit them. Whether they are missionaries or local partners, friends, family. They really, really appreciate it. And I know I’ll learn much from meeting them, too.

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Will you give today to honour the legacy of those who have gone before us and to keep mission going for the next generation?

Donate Sponsor David via JustGiving

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The post A ride to remember 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).