Could you sit in a church pew next to someone who had robbed you? Could you worship alongside a member of a community that, for years, had been locked in a deadly conflict with yours?

In Turalei, northern South Sudan, a bustling town of around 100,000 people, a newly planted church is answering that question every week.

On Sunday mornings, the congregation is made up of both Dinka and Nuer believers. They come from opposite sides of an ongoing violent conflict but share the same service. Afterwards, children play together outside while the adults sit in the shade, eating together and talking.

A few years ago, people on both sides of the dispute would have called this impossible. So, how did it happen? Their explanation is clear: “God has done this.”

The border dispute

The conflict between the Dinka and Nuer communities in this border region began in 2017. While rooted in historical disputes over grazing lands and water sources – realities increasingly under pressure due to changing climate patterns – the tension has been compounded by local political and economic factors.

People from the Dinka and Nuer tribes could tell you many stories about how the long-standing conflict and years of cattle raiding has displaced families, disrupted trade and cost hundreds of lives.

One of the more recent incidents took place in late 2023, when under the cover of darkness, four young Dinka men crossed the border into Nuer territory. Local residents caught the young men in the act of attempting a cattle raid, and a skirmish broke out. Two of the Dinka men were killed. The remaining two fled, seeking refuge with Garang Turoah, a respected spiritual leader among the Nuer community. In line with Nuer tradition, Garang granted them sanctuary. Their lives were spared, but the Nuer community held them indefinitely, refusing to let them return home.

Finding common ground on disputed land

Paul Lueth, a local church planter and theology lecturer, knows the weight of this longstanding division firsthand. A Dinka from Turalei, Paul and his wife Regina Atany (both working with CMS) have lived through the ongoing instability of the border conflict. With no clear path to resolution, Paul and other Christian leaders on both sides recognised that if things were going to change, the two communities needed to start talking.

Paul worked with church leaders from both sides to host an initial meeting in early 2024, hoping a shared Christian faith could help the groups move towards reconciliation. Leaders from both tribes – including Garang Turoah – sat down together.

They started their gathering with prayer and worship, before launching into a discussion about how to peacefully share the disputed grazing land. They were surprised to find that their shared faith gave them common ground and helped them move forward. As one of them put it during that first meeting, “What is this Jesus, that we are able to speak to each other beyond tribes?”

Following this, the Nuer leaders made a formal gesture of reconciliation: they released the two young Dinka would-be cattle raiders they had been holding for several months.

Sustaining the peace

To build on this initial breakthrough, Paul, Regina and other local Christian leaders have spent the last two years running joint training sessions for both Dinka and Nuer believers.

Because traditional church buildings are scarce and often targeted for destruction during border raids, Paul has focused on training both Nuer and Dinka women to lead house churches. The teaching reinforces that the church is a community of people rather than a physical structure, transcending tribal identities.

At the same time, Regina Atany has been hosting savings and microfinance groups where people from both tribes sit side-by-side to learn and work together to build financial stability for their families. Regina also uses these gatherings to run a discipleship framework called Disciple-Making-Disciples, equipping women to share these peacebuilding tools across the border with neighbouring communities.

The ultimate result of this quiet, relational work is the new congregation in Turalei. What began in late 2025 as a small group of Dinka and Nuer pioneers has now grown into a steady, weekly community of over 450 people and counting, where former enemies are choosing to build a peaceful future together.

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A unique theology training centre is equipping a new generation of leaders to transform Latin American communities.

Today, many indigenous people in Latin America are pushed to the edges of society, facing severe poverty and neglect.

Within this landscape, the local church faces a tough challenge to mentor young leaders who can navigate the pressures of the modern world without losing their cultural roots. This is where CMS comes in: helping provide the vital training and support these communities are asking for. Investing in indigenous leaders is crucial to the future of the church and the future of mission.

A journey of faith

Iliana left her community for the first time to study at CeFA (Centro de Formación Anglicano), a CMS-supported training centre for indigenous mission leaders.

The physical distances students must travel to reach CeFA are vast. Individuals journey from different provinces across Chaco, Formosa and Salta, representing the Wichí, Toba and Chorote communities. Because public transportation is non-existent in these remote areas, the logistics are a major challenge; the centre actually hires local pickup trucks to act as taxis just to get students to class.

Geographical distance is only the first hurdle. At the centre, students face the challenge of learning alongside peers from different indigenous languages and backgrounds. But instead of geography dividing people, students unite over their shared faith and goal to help more people learn about Jesus.

“I was 19 years old when I started,” Iliana reflects. “And although it was my first time away from my family and my community, God showed me from the beginning that I was not alone.

Inspired by my father’s example of service, I clearly felt the calling to prepare myself to better serve in God’s work.”

Head, hands and heart

CeFA offers theological and pastoral training contextualised to the unique needs of indigenous communities. The goal is two-fold: to provide students with solid biblical knowledge, and to create a nurturing space where they can develop Christlike character and explore their unique gifts.

To create well-rounded leaders, the curriculum is delivered in three distinct streams:

The academic programme includes a Bible overview, church history, creation care, safeguarding, Christian living and studies on Ephesians and Isaiah.

Afternoons focus on practical subjects such as understanding the spiritual world and the life of Christ. At weekends, students put their skills to use serving in local Anglican congregations.

Each day begins with collective devotions. Character is also formed through the daily routine, with rotating work groups responsible for meals, cleaning and maintenance.

This holistic environment offered Etelvina, a young Toba woman, something far deeper than a qualification.

“Coming to CeFA was a surprise for me and a clear sign from God, because I never imagined that someone would invite me, coming from such a remote place,” Etelvina says. “I arrived with doubts and wounds, but God began to heal me and strengthen my faith. Through the classes, community life and daily service, I grew and came to understand that God uses every situation to shape us. I now desire to share what God has done in me, serving others and being an instrument of his love.”

A growing global movement

Beyond the walls of the CeFA centre, the work of indigenous mission training continues to grow as CMS partners answer the call from indigenous communities asking for theological preparation and support. Today, partners are seeing the fruit of that vital investment:

We celebrate with students who are leading in their churches, strengthening theological teaching and pastoral care as they lead a missional movement.

CeFA graduates from different ethnic groups are transforming their communities, utilising training in communication to strengthen local initiatives.

Elsewhere in the region, in the Paraguayan Chaco, we are supporting local ethnic groups with practical tools, including an electricity course that offers vital new development and employment opportunities in remote locations.

In Paraguay and Argentina more than 500 indigenous adults and youth have completed discipleship courses (many translated into the Wichí language), strengthening and growing a culturally rooted faith.

Planting seeds for the future

By the time Iliana graduated at the end of 2025, her vision had grown and her confidence to teach her faith had strengthened. This internal shift will now benefit an entire people group.

“As the only Chorote student, I am very proud to represent my people,” Iliana says. “This journey is not only mine, but an expression of the faith and hope of my whole community.”

Today, Iliana’s deepest desire is to encourage other young people to study God’s Word. With the skills she has learnt at CeFA, she will inspire the next generation of indigenous leaders to respond to God’s call to mission in Latin America.

Pray together

Thank you God for brave young people like Iliana and Etelvina who are answering your missional call to lead in their communities. We pray for the students and teachers at CeFA as they pursue your heart for mission in Latin America. Amen

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Elise and Jon Fletcher live in a slum community in Thailand where they are sharing Jesus with their neighbours through daily life. This reflection invites us to pay attention to what Jesus is saying to us through the people and places around us.

Elise and Jon Fletcher live in Khlong Toei, Thailand’s biggest slum community, where 100,000 people are living in material poverty, unaware of their God-given worth.

Elise and Jon have immersed themselves in the life of this vibrant community and share Jesus’ love for people living on the margins through everyday life. They turn up and show up for people living and working alongside them.

Elise writes:

When we first moved to Thailand, we inherited a collection of odd plates. They were perfectly functional, if slightly garish, but we made do. After a year or so we found ourselves feeling homesick in IKEA and caved in to buying a matching set – plain blue, not plastic!

Once we were more settled into the community, we began to receive gifts of food. If a neighbour was cooking something good, they would bring over a plateful so we could enjoy it too! Though we didn’t dare compete with samples of our Thai cooking, we soon learned who appreciated our occasional baked offerings! One thing niggled. People didn’t return the plates… and they seemed shifty when I returned theirs! I bought a stack of paper plates to get around this problem and let the donated plates stack up by the front door for neighbours to take back if they wanted them. We still had eight of the 12 matching plates so all was well…

Then, one day I handed a plate back to a friend who feigned shock that it was empty… it was a lightbulb moment as I realised where I had been going wrong. I had underestimated the reciprocal nature of community life. Not that people wanted anything in return, but that it was natural to give out of whatever we had, whether that be a few bananas from a bunch or the excess rice that would go to waste. This could be an everyday thing, not just a grand gesture when we baked brownies.

A few weeks ago, I commented on the delicious smell of a soup cooking in a clay pot outside the home of a new neighbour. We hadn’t talked before but I learned that she had moved here from the countryside to cook and clean for two grown-up sons. As I drove away, I suspected I’d be tasting that soup later in the day. Sure enough, my new neighbour appeared at the door with a bowl later that morning. She wasn’t home when I returned it filled it with lamyan fruit so I left it on her outdoor cabinet.

That bowl has moved back and forth every few days (changing colour occasionally, as I’ve learned that the specific plate is not what matters!) Though we’ve not exchanged many words, my new neighbour and I have bonded over shared food. As I passed her house the other day she had a suitcase packed and told me that she is going to care for her sister who is very sick. Every time I see her plate in our cupboard, I am reminded to pray.

We are now down to four matching plates that get used most days. But they are mixed in with ten or so randoms, which I’ve learned is exactly how it should be; we are right back where we started! As plates circulate between houses, I’m reminded of how much we need others and how diversity makes life richer. Though there are certainly members of our community excluded from the circle of reciprocity, by participating we can help to expand its scope and reach.

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Lebanon: Christians in crisis, yet supporting others

We recently launched our appeal for people in Lebanon, where ongoing violence has caused hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes in search of safety. One of our colleagues, Jad (name changed), says, “It’s not just the scenes of devastation, but also the sounds, the fear and immense feeling of loss.” Pray for CMS church partners and other Christians as they respond to the crisis – by providing emergency food packs, medicine and trauma support – while living through the same crisis themselves. Find out more [churchmissionsociety.org/Lebanon].

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Lebanon: relief for displaced families

Lift up the millions of people who have had to leave behind their homes, livelihoods, communities and friends as it’s unsafe for them to stay in their homes. Ask God to lead them to safety, to intervene on their journeys and enable them to meet people and organisations who can help them. Ask God to equip his Church to open its doors to help shelter, feed and comfort people in need.

The post Lebanon: relief for displaced families appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

South Asia: theological education

Former mission partner F, who has spent many years teaching theology in South Asia, writes: “Praise God for a successful Langham Expository Preaching workshop (tracks 1, 2 and 3, from basic to advanced) from 22–27 June. Please pray for the facilitators and participants as they complete the training and return home. May their preaching be more effective and transformative as a result of this training, so that the church can be built up and equipped as witnesses to Christ Jesus.” 

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Bold. Broad. Boundless: God’s mission – always full of surprise!

An in person gathering to celebrate, learn and pray together for CMS’s mission around the world.

• Date: Saturday 10 October 2026
• Time: 10am to 3pm
• Venue: St John’s Walton, Chesterfield S42 7LT

Guest speakers:

• Andy Roberts (CEO, CMS)
• Jason and Tracy Day (Thailand)
• Andrew and Lisa Peart (Bolivia)

The church will provide a sandwich and cake lunch.

Take part

To book your place contact Bob Lunt robert.lunt539@hotmail.com

• See all events

The post Bold. Broad. Boundless: God’s mission – always full of surprise! appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Find out more about the stories mentioned in this month’s Hope from the Edges:

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Video transcript

Hello everyone and welcome to Hope from the Edges. I’m Andy Roberts, CEO for CMS.

In the next few minutes, we’ll bring you inspiring updates from three different edges of our world, stories of resilience, transformation and hope that your gifts and prayers are making directly possible.

First, we go to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where local church leaders are stepping onto the front lines of a critical health crisis. Then we cross the ocean to Brazil. For a mission story that happens to be very close to my heart. And finally, we’ll return to the UK to celebrate a remarkable story of community resilience and a grand reopening in Carlisle.

We begin today with a sobering situation unfolding in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The country is currently facing its 17th Ebola outbreak in 50 years, with over 1,000 suspected cases. And more than 200 tragic deaths already officially reported. The epicentre is in Ituri province, but confirmed cases have reached the major city of Goma and crossed borders into Uganda.

If you’ve kept up with CMS mission efforts in DRC, you’ll know this crisis is compounding severe humanitarian and political instability. Over 10 million people are currently living under the control of M23 rebel authorities. An ongoing conflict has forced the closure of local airports, severely restricting the flow of vital medical supplies and response teams. In these incredibly vulnerable, volatile spaces, the Church is proving to be a primary safety net and lifeline.

CMS mission partner Martin Gordon, the Bishop of Goma, reports that local churches are uniquely positioned to respond because they remain among the very few institutions truly trusted by the community. This local trust is a matter of life and death. Widespread public mistrust of health authorities has unfortunately fueled scepticism about the virus’s existence, even leading to two treatment centres being set on fire.

Drawing on their hard-worn experience, the Diocese of Goma is mobilising rapidly. They’ve already circulated vital pastoral guidance on tracking symptoms, introducing strict hygiene and sanitation standards. And managing medical referrals safely. Plans are also underway to equip local schools and churches with temperature screening equipment, launch awareness conferences for clergy and teachers, and partner with local journalists to actively combat misinformation. Because this involves a rare strain of Ebola, for which there’s currently no approved vaccine or cure, containment through community education is our most critical line of defence.

Bishop Martin is calling for urgent prayer for protection over health workers and wisdom for church leaders. To learn more and to stand with them, please visit our website.

Now let’s travel to Brazil for a story close to my heart about how the posture of mission is changing and the beautiful fruit of local leadership.

Many years ago my wife Rose, who is from Brazil, and I felt a call on our hearts to help protect vulnerable girls from exploitation. We founded Revive International. Now, when I had first arrived in Brazil as an 18-year-old gap year volunteer, a young local woman named Elise became my translator. She also joined our dining room table prayer meetings and eventually became Revive’s very first paid employee.

When the time came for Rose and I to move to the UK after 15 years, we faced a choice. Rather than bringing in another foreign leader. We chose to step back and entrust Revive entirely into the hands of Elise and the local Brazilian team. We wanted to intentionally dismantle the mindset that subtly implies that leadership must come from the outside. And when we told them, they burst into tears. Under Elise’s leadership, Revive has thrived. The team have listened to where the Holy Spirit has been moving, bravely transitioning the work away from large residential institutions or safe houses, toward pioneering a growing fostering service. It is a living testament to Psalm 68, which reminds us that God sets the lonely in families.

The same shift towards collaborative, locally rooted mission is beautifully reflected in story of CMS mission partners Stu and Rosie Bayford. During the seven years serving alongside Revive, they partnered with a local church to pioneer a community market in an underserved neighbourhood. Rejecting a dependency-heavy handout model, they built a system where local families could buy food at deeply reduced rates, preserving agency and dignity. The market grew into a thriving community hub, a space for shared prayer, parenting workshops and other seminars. Through these relationships, three local sisters came to faith and were recently baptised.

And just like Rose and I did years ago, as Stu and Rosie now return to the UK, they have handed full ownership of this market over to a dedicated team from the local church.

This is mission at its best, where all parties are listened to, working in genuine partnership, building up each other’s gifts, and stepping away so local leaders can flourish.

Finally, let’s return to the UK to see this exact same pattern of local empowerment and resilience at work. In Cumbria, the Carlisle Community Shed, a project involving CMS mission partner Gary Ion, has been a vital lifeline, connecting with people on the margins who are navigating loneliness or mental health challenges. Through practical, hands-on workshops, the shed provided a safe space for people to find community and purpose. And to explore faith in Jesus too.

However, in October 2025, the project hit a major financial roadblock and was forced to close its doors. The tools were packed away, the contents were moved into a storage unit, and the doors were locked. But the story didn’t end there. What followed was an incredible outpouring from the local community, refusing to let the space of hope disappear.

A powerful local outcry sparked a special fundraising campaign. Thanks to that local determination and prayer, the Shed recently celebrated a grand reopening. Gary shares that the new location is even better than before, featuring a spacious workshop, a dedicated social area with sofas and an indoor game space.

Thank you so much for joining me for these updates from the Edges. And for the prayerful and financial support that makes these breakthroughs possible.

Please consider sharing this video with your church, small group, or anyone who needs a reminder of how God is moving in our world today. Until next time, we are so deeply grateful for your partnership as together we follow Jesus.

With Jesus
With each other
To the edges

ENDS

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The post Hope from the Edges June 2026 appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

The Bishop of Goma, Martin Gordon, has joined Church leaders in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in calling for urgent international support and prayer as the country faces its 17th Ebola outbreak in 50 years.

Speaking from Goma, Bishop Martin, a Church Mission Society (CMS) mission partner, warned that the outbreak, officially declared by the Congolese government on 15 May, has already resulted in over 1,000 suspected cases and more than 200 deaths. The outbreak’s epicentre is in Ituri Province in the north of the country, with confirmed cases now reported in Uganda and in Goma itself, the largest city in eastern Congo.

Churches across DRC are now playing a critical role in the response. Through extensive networks of schools, clinics, and local congregations, churches remain among the few institutions trusted by communities. Bishop Martin explained, “The church is on the frontline. We are at the heart of every village and community, and we are one of the few institutions still trusted to tell the truth.”

Drawing on experience from the devastating 2018–2020 Ebola outbreak, church leaders are already mobilising. The diocese of Goma has circulated pastoral guidance outlining Ebola symptoms and encouraging best practices for hygiene, physical contact and medical referrals. Plans are also underway to equip churches and schools with temperature screening equipment.

Adding to the challenge is widespread public mistrust of health authorities and treatment centres. Many communities remain sceptical about the existence of Ebola, while restrictions surrounding burials have intensified tensions. “During the last outbreak, there were nearly 500 attacks against health facilities and 25 frontline medical staff were killed,” Bishop Martin recalled. He continued, “Already, two Ebola treatment centres have been set on fire.”

A major awareness and mobilisation conference for clergy, evangelists, teachers, and church staff in Goma was scheduled, and there are plans to expand training efforts across the wider diocese in the coming months. Church leaders are also renewing partnerships with journalists and community leaders to combat misinformation and promote life-saving public health messaging.

Bishop Martin emphasised that financial support will be essential to sustain these efforts. “We need support to strengthen awareness raising, equip frontline churches and schools, and help communities respond effectively,” he said. “But above all, we ask people to pray – for rapid mobilisation of resources, protection for health workers, effective treatment development and for churches to continue to be voices of hope.”

The current outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is currently no approved treatment or cure. Researchers at the University of Oxford said a vaccine it was developing could enter clinical trials within two to three months. The crisis is unfolding amid severe humanitarian and political instability. Recent cuts to USAID have weakened health monitoring systems, while approximately 10 million people are living under the control of M23 rebel authorities in eastern DRC. Ongoing tensions between the Congolese government and M23 forces have also kept Goma and Bukavu airports closed, severely restricting access for medical supplies and personnel.

Andy Roberts, CEO of CMS, said; “Bishop Martin and other church leaders like him have shown extraordinary courage. When a health crisis of this magnitude strikes an area already experiencing socio-political vulnerability, the Church is often the primary safety net. They are not fleeing the danger; they are moving toward it with love, practical help and hope. We urgently ask the global community to lift them up in prayer, for protection over church workers, wisdom in stopping the spread, and for the necessary medical resources to reach the region swiftly.”

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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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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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