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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Join us for Tea for Tanzania!

Join us and Bishop Martyn Snow for an afternoon of stirring stories, a slice of mission life and inspiring conversations over a cuppa and cake.

Saturday 16 May, Leicester

Reserve your free place

More stories of what Jesus is doing at the edges

The post Dave and Tricia Rollett, Tanzania appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

In November 2025 I made a wonderful, and deeply encouraging, 10-day trip across Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar and Uganda. It became a living, breathing picture of what it means to follow Jesus to the edges.

by Andy Roberts,
CEO of Church Mission Society

In Tanzania and Zanzibar, I had a special opportunity to see firsthand how CMS work is developing among communities with significant Muslim populations. 

CMS projects in action in Arusha 

My first stop was in Arusha, Tanzania, where I spent the day with CMS mission partners Ben and Katy Ray. Having previously served with a CMS flagship pioneering disability project Neema Crafts in Iringa, they have recently begun a new project with SAFI (See Ability First International), and I was blown away by what they’ve managed to build.

They have created an incredibly professional and creative environment including:

• a cafe
• a carpentry workshop
• an atelier
• a shop selling high-quality handmade products

The unique feature of this ministry is that every single staff member is deaf.

In a world where people with disabilities are often marginalised, overlooked or forgotten, SAFI is doing the opposite – it is lifting people up, empowering them and releasing their God-given gifts.

Spending the day with the SAFI team was humbling. We heard powerful stories of transformation, shared lunch together and worshipped through signed worship songs. 

Ben and Katy are now exploring how SAFI’s holistic, dignifying approach can contribute to building bridges  between Christian and Muslim communities, especially as most of their staff come from Muslim backgrounds. 

They are dreaming of expanding to Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, where CMS is beginning  cross-community, cross-faith work in a Muslim-majority area. Empowerment, relationship and compassion speak loudly in Muslim-majority contexts – and their model fits beautifully.

The dream for Dar es Salaam: Where the CMS cross-community, cross-faith work begins

We next flew to Dar es Salaam and were warmly welcomed by Rev Joseph Mayala who leads an enormous Africa Inland Church (AIC) congregation of more than 1,000 people right in the centre of the city.

In many places in Africa Christians are in the minority and under pressure for their faith. This persecution causes division, isolation, poverty and trauma. CMS partners are training church leaders to lead discipleship groups to support and encourage isolated believers. As well as offering economic empowerment training to give people the tools and confidence to lift themselves out of poverty through income generating projects. 

This training is for the whole community, not just Christians. CMS partners are training church leaders to help communities boldly live out their faith and to connect with Muslims around them. 

CMS has begun work in Dar es Salaam by working with Christian leaders, providing some training  to help them see Muslim people not as enemies or threats, but as people created in the image of God, worthy of friendship and love.

We met one pastor who shared how the training had totally reshaped his worldview. Previously he had considered Muslims “off limits”. But now his church has:

Over 40 small groups of Christians and Muslims meeting together building relationships, sharing meals, studying scripture, and learning from one another.

This is discipleship in its most surprising and beautiful form – the ministry of reconciliation made real in everyday life.

Women’s Groups: Grassroots community-transformation 

We then visited several women’s empowerment groups across Dar es Salaam – groups of Christian and Muslim women gathering together to receive economic training and support.

The impact was moving:

• Christian and Muslim women launching businesses together
• new friendships forming across deep divides
• families being lifted out of poverty
• women finding freedom from harmful spiritual practices
• many women coming to faith in Christ

One woman told us that she had previously turned to demonic practices to provide for her family. But after joining one of the empowerment groups she found faith in Jesus, received business training, started a flourishing enterprise and is now being discipled by her church to grow as a new believer.

This is holistic mission at its best – new disciples, transformed communities and emerging movements.

Across every group we visited, the refrain was the same:
“CMS has brought transformation to our communities.”

It is precious to see such direct, tangible appreciation for CMS’s work. It made me grateful for the vision, the prayers and the generosity that make it possible.

Get involved

Support the people at the edges like the SAFI team in Tanzania and disciple-makers in Zanzibar…

• More about how you can pray
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• And there are other ways to get involved

Why this trip matters for CMS 

This trip to Tanzania reminded me of several things:

• CMS has credibility and favour in East Africa
• the cross-faith, cross-community work is already shaping lives, deepening discipleship and healing divisions
• holistic mission works – empowerment, friendship, shared life and practical love open doors in Muslim-majority contexts
• we have potential new mission partners interested in joining this work

God is doing something new and beautiful in Tanzania and also in  Zanzibar – and CMS is right at the heart of it.

People and relationships are at the centre of mission work 

While in Tanzania, it was strategically important to visit the Archbishop of Tanzania, Archbishop Maimbo. Archbishop Maimbo is also the Bishop of Zanzibar, one of the key areas we’re hoping to develop further. CMS has deep historic ties with the Anglican Church in Zanzibar, and we’re eager for the church to join in the new cross-community, cross-faith work we are embarking upon. 

There was just one small complication: finding him! 

An Archbishop on Pilgrimage

Every now and again, the Archbishop goes on a pilgrimage through remote parts of Tanzania, walking hundreds of kilometres over about ten days, moving from village to village.

He prefers walking to travelling by car because: “You meet more people on the road – and you really meet them.”

It’s a powerful philosophy of ministry.

He travels with a substantial group of people making up a walking procession: 

• clergy
• youth
• members of the Mothers’ Union
• musicians
• dancers
• a security team 

The whole procession moves like a joyful parade – singing, drumming, blowing trumpets, waving flags. They arrive in a village and immediately hold an open-air service with baptisms, marriages and plenty of dancing.

The eight-hour hunt for the Archbishop 

We had a rough idea where Archbishop Maimbo might be, so very early in the morning we boarded a tiny minibus and began the eight-hour journey into the hills to find him.

As many will know, Tanzanian roads are  narrow, winding, and overflowing with lorries.

Hours later, after only a few navigational misadventures, we finally heard drumming in the distance. And then – there they were: the Archbishop and his colourful procession singing their way into a village.

Welcomed, paraded and put to work

We were warmly welcomed, paraded to the front and immediately swept into the middle of an open-air service.

There were baptisms, marriages, dance groups, music… everything joyous and loud and alive.

Then I was asked to preach. (It’s always wise to keep a sermon up your sleeve!) I spoke on the very first question in the Bible:

“Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9)

I shared how God continues to search for each of us. Even when we walk our own way, hide, or turn our backs, God still calls out: “Where are you?” Still seeking. Still loving. Still inviting.

New connections and opening doors for CMS

After the service, we were able to speak with the Archbishop about CMS’s work in the region.

He responded warmly and opened the doors for CMS in both the Diocese of Zanzibar, and of Dar es Salaam.

We then joined his procession for the next stretch of the journey to another village – singing, clapping and dancing all the way.

Along the way, we visited several homes where people with disabilities lived. We prayed with families and offered simple gifts of food and money – small acts of compassion, but deeply appreciated.

After all that, we hopped back into the minibus for the eight-hour return journey – with a roadside stop for roasted goat.

Relationship building in Zanzibar 

The next morning we were back at the airport, boarding a small plane en route to Zanzibar. The local Anglican diocese welcomed us warmly.

Zanzibar is about 98 per cent Muslim, which made visiting the early work of the cross-community, cross-faith project especially meaningful. While the ministry is not as developed here as in Dar es Salaam, the potential is clear – and I can already see how some of Ben and Katy Ray’s holistic work could fit beautifully in this context.

A joyful, unexpected, kingdom-filled adventure

I travelled across four countries, and the people left the deepest impression:

• deaf artisans signing worship songs
• pastors building bridges across religious divides
• Muslim and Christian women launching businesses together
• new disciples taking their first steps of faith
• local leaders saying, “CMS – you have changed our community.”

It was a privilege to witness it firsthand.

These are exciting times – and I’m grateful to God for allowing CMS to play even a small part in his unfolding story.

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The post An Autumn visit to Africa  appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Spiritual hunger in the Middle East leading to “discipleship gap” say local Christian leaders

Behind today’s worrying headlines, and amid turmoil, displacement and deep trauma across the Middle East, Christian leaders in the region report an extraordinary spiritual awakening – one they say is gathering momentum at a pace not witnessed in generations. Now, many of these leaders are calling upon their counterparts throughout the world to join with them and “prepare for the harvest”. They caution that without joint efforts, there’s a risk of a “discipleship gap” developing.

In a recent interview with Church Mission Society (CMS), S,* a regional leader who serves with a CMS partner organisation, describes a “massive and genuine search for God” emerging from the heart of crisis. She explained war, migration, political instability and global shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic have created a moment of unprecedented openness to Jesus: “Although the world is in chaos, God has been preparing the scene for the biggest revival ever. People have been dragged out of the normal rhythms of life and into deep pain – and in their pain, they are truly searching for God.”

Shaking leads to awakening

According to S and others, the spiritual hunger now visible across the region began during the global pandemic and continued amid tumultuous world events and ensuing instability: “Everything is shaking,” she said. “But in the unseen, God has been preparing hearts.” In several Middle Eastern nations, people displaced by war and/or disillusioned by corruption are encountering faith in Jesus for the first time. One woman told S that if she had not lost her home and been forced to flee from Syria, “I would never have met Jesus.”

A surging movement – and a massive challenge

As large numbers – reportedly tens of thousands – of people living in the Middle East begin exploring Christian faith, the need for support structures is becoming acute. As crackdowns on religious freedom and missionaries in some countries increase, many new believers, especially those from Muslim backgrounds, cannot safely or comfortably attend traditional churches. “They need love, acceptance, a safe community,” said S, adding, “They need help discovering their identity in God. And many churches in the region simply aren’t equipped for this.” This reality has led to a rapidly expanding network of house churches and online Bible study groups across the region where believers live out their faith more secretly. Yet, a frequent question these days is, with such demand, who will lead these groups and guide these men, women and children in following Jesus?

Andy Roberts, CEO and previous mission director of CMS, said, “Though people are turning to Jesus in large numbers, the risk is that without steady, contextual, locally-led discipleship, a huge portion will turn away due to pressures they often face from their communities. There is in a very real sense, a discipleship gap growing in the Middle East, which means that if we don’t act at this pivotal moment, this could adversely affect the future of the body of Christ there.” In light of this, CMS is currently making it a mission priority to equip and encourage believers in places where they are still in a pressured minority.

Making the most of this moment

Roberts outlined four key strategic efforts being put into place so as not to lose momentum:

• Equipping and Discipleship – Training local believers to disciple the growing number of seekers and new Christians.
• Raising Quality Local Leaders – Empowering young, skilled leaders who understand the culture, trauma and challenges faced by new believers from another faith background.
• Innovative Digital Outreach – Using social media and modern communication tools to reach audiences who cannot access physical churches.
• Planting Home Churches – Establishing safe, discreet communities where people can explore faith and grow spiritually.

S emphasised that the key to sustaining the movement lies in unity, humility and collaboration across Christian organisations. She also says, “We cannot continue with ‘business as usual. The harvest is huge. We must work together in new ways. God is connecting modern day Esthers, Josephs and Daniels – ordinary people with an extraordinary purpose.” She added: “Revival will come from the nameless and faceless, grassroots; small groups are good but they need to be connected.”

S concluded: “This is a unique opportunity. We are about to witness the biggest harvest the world has ever seen. We believe churches and individuals in the UK have a vital role to play. We need partnership. Each organisation has an edge – something they do best. If we bring those strengths together, we can meet the enormous needs on the ground.

“Evangelism and salvation are important but growth in Christ is just as important if not more so. We have to nurture the seeds that have been planted or they will get snatched away.”

[* Name withheld for security reasons]

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

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

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

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

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

Limited opportunities

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

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

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

A generation gap

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

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

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

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

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

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

From student to colleague

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Video transcript

Hello and welcome to Hope from the Edges. I’m Andy Roberts, CEO of CMS. In the next few minutes we’ll bring you inspiring news from three edges in our world, stories that you are making possible through your gifts and prayers. First we’ll go to Tanzania, where new opportunities are making all the difference to people with disabilities. From there we’ll go to North India to see how Christians are creatively responding to the challenge of persecution. And then finally we’ll meet a man in Reading here in the UK, who is doing something amazing for mission in honour of his parents.

[00:00:39] First let’s go to Usa River, near Arusha, Tanzania, and meet a man called Elinaja. Elinaja was an able-bodied man in his early thirties with a job, a wife and four children. One day as he was returning from work his motorbike was hit by a bus as it veered off the road. His right leg was severely injured. After six painful weeks without improvement the doctors advised amputation. Suddenly disabled, he was no longer able to find work. He could no longer provide for his family and despair crept in. Three years later a sponsor paid for Elinaja to get a prosthesis fitted, which allowed him to walk with a stick instead of heavy crutches. On the day he received his new leg he visited the SAFI office. SAFI stands for See Ability First International and was started by mission partners Ben and Katy Ray to provide training for people with disabilities so that they can earn a living. Elinaja was invited to join Sawawa, a micro enterprise group producing handcrafted wooden homewares. Elinaja seemed to have a natural talent for woodturning, but standing all day at a lathe on his prosthetic leg became too painful for him to continue. SAFI reached out to Tools for Solidarity, an organisation that supplies refurbished tools. By chance they had just received a compact tabletop lathe ideal for Elinaja to use. He completed his training. And now he’s producing his own range of wooden items. Bowls, pots, honey dippers and light fittings. Today Elinaja is part of a purposeful, friendly community at the SAFI centre, taking part in devotions, praying and singing along with other members of his community. And he can support his family once again. Ben and Katy have plans in place to start 12 micro enterprise groups like the one Elinaja joined. These will help dozens of people with disabilities like Elinaja find dignity and hope.

[00:02:32] Next let’s go to North India, to the foothills of the Himalayas. This area is home to a people group who were once considered unreached by the gospel. Where they live is also almost unreachable, geographically speaking, due to the mountainous terrain. Despite this, in recent years due to grassroots mission efforts, close to 5,000 members of this people group have decided to follow Jesus. Eddie, whose name has been changed, is one of them. He came to faith in Jesus 35 years ago at the age of 15. Over the years he became a pastor and has helped train 50 to 60 house church leaders for this area. Each leader looks after 5 to 10 house churches. Recently, the rising hostility and threats of violence from religious fundamentalists means these Christians can’t meet together in groups of more than a few. This has led Eddie to introduce a creative idea, what he calls Moving House Churches. Eddie, his colleague George and other house church leaders get together for fellowship, prayer and Bible study while hiking in the mountains for a few days or a week at a time. This is truly church on the move, and this remarkable story shows how resilience and creativity can overcome oppression in places where followers of Jesus are in a minority. You can read more about it on the CMS website under the Stories tab.

[00:03:52] Finally, speaking of resilience… Let’s meet someone embarking on a huge challenge to raise financial support for CMS. David Hubbard from Reading is preparing to cycle 5,000 kilometres around East Africa’s Lake Victoria at the beginning of 2026. David is doing this incredible sponsored challenge in memory of his parents, Laurence and Wendy Hubbard, who served with CMS in Africa from 1966 to 1973, and Laurence was also later the regional secretary for CMS. David’s cycle will take him through Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, and he’ll get a chance to spend time in places where his parents lived and worked as well as visit current CMS mission partners and projects. We are so honoured to see David preparing for this inspiring fundraising endeavour, and we’ll be praying for him on his journey.

Do you have a fundraising idea, or would you like to borrow one of ours? Find out more at churchmissionsociety.org/fundraising.

[00:04:52] Thank you for joining me for these stories from the edges and for your prayerful support, which of course makes them all possible. Please share this video with your church, small group or anyone you think of who could use some fuel for their faith.

Until next time, we are so grateful for your gifts and prayers as together we go:

With Jesus
With each other
To the edges

ENDS

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The post Hope from the Edges October 2025 appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

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

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

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

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

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

Against the odds: what they did next

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

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

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

Sacrificing self to serve others  

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

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

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

Shared with kind permission of AsiaCMS. 

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

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

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

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

Rejected but not forsaken

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

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

From apprentice to church planter

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

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

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

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

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

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

Refusing to give up

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

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

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

*Name changed for security reasons

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What if God called you to a place where in 20 or 30 years you might see two or three people come to faith? If you knew this, would you still go? Mission partner M reflects on how to keep going in tough contexts.

My family and I live in North Africa, in an area where it is really hard to follow Jesus. Local people can’t be open about their faith.

Our aim is to be a blessing to the people around us here, particularly more remote communities in mountainous areas. We’ve been here for 10 years, living alongside local communities and sharing day-to-day life with them – experiencing the ups and the downs along the way.

My wife is training as a counsellor, to be better equipped to sit with women in these communities and help them to walk through the most difficult times. The local culture has quite a fatalistic approach, so people tend to take the view that if suffering comes you just have to live with it. However, for a lot of people who have been through really difficult loss and grief, or who have experienced traumatic things, they need help as they can’t just sit with that suffering.

If not us, then who?

Some aspects of our calling can be very challenging. We are quite isolated, and can’t share Jesus openly. Walking with our friends and neighbours through difficult times can mean carrying heavy burdens with them. Yet if we do not walk through this and show the light of Jesus, who will?

Following a call to mission in this context means learning to let go of a Western approach that is very results and productivity driven. That approach is to look for success in big growth and clear numbers. We simply don’t see that where we are.

Just stay faithful

Before living in our current area, I lived in West Africa, again in a place where mission was slow and hard. I had the immense privilege of spending time with an older missionary towards the end of his life. He had been thrown out of the country where he had served and longed to see people meet Jesus. He had stayed faithful to the call of God throughout his life. I have never forgotten his advice to me as I was beginning my mission journey in such contexts: “You just need to stay faithful to what God has asked you to do – don’t worry about the fruit, that’s up to him.”

In our work, we of course have times of wondering, “What are we doing with our lives?” In these times it can be tempting to think of giving up. However, then we come back to another question – who will stay if we go? Who will walk alongside our friends and neighbours? We don’t want to say that it all depends on us, but if the few of us who are following Jesus here leave because it’s too hard, who will remain?

Find refreshment

We have been learning how to manage too – finding Christian community with other foreigners here is really helpful. We have also learned that we need to take small breaks, to build in rest and refreshment, alongside debriefing with those supporting us. Knowing we have a network of faithful people prayerfully supporting us from afar is an encouragement. Over years working in this context, I have learned that one of my personal giftings is to keep going when things get tough – to put my head down and keep stepping forward. And I can do that literally too, hiking in the mountains close to where we live.

Walking with others

One of the ways God has been using me is also to walk alongside others, helping them to think through and discern God’s call. We are able to welcome young pioneers, people who are sensing God’s call to go and serve the Lord in tough places. We want to be able to come alongside them, to train and help them to fulfil God’s call on their lives. In that way we can seek to multiply the number of people being the light of Jesus in difficult places.

I’m able to walk with these groups in the mountains and be intentional about exploring the reality of this life. As we walk, I can listen, and I can talk, share stories and challenge people. A key question we often raise is, “What would you do if God called you, and you spent 20 or 30 years in a place to see two or three people come to the Lord in that time? If you knew that was what might happen, would you still do it?” Out of a team of eight to 10 people, maybe God will call one person to a place like this for the long term.

At the end of the day, as we consider the challenges for ourselves and with those who come to learn about our life, the question we come back to is: “What else do we live our lives for?” Jesus has called us to this work and we follow him. He never promised it would be easy, but we stay faithful, knowing the truth of his words in John 16:33: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

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The post An uphill climb appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

“Jesus is my life,” says 60-year-old Badar, who is not giving up on his call, despite rejection and ridicule.

by Sarah Stone

Sixty-year-old Badar was a witch doctor before he met Jesus. He’s animated as he speaks. Clearly passionate and full of life. Asia-CMS partner Raj says he loves working with Badar for this very reason.

“Knowing God is the greatest joy of my life,” says Badar. “Knowing that he is the creator who created everything, who sustains us with the fruits and the vegetables that come out of the ground, and also that all parts of our bodies are created by him – that gives me joy.”

Badar is leading a small church in his village in remote, rural Nepal. He’s faced a lot of opposition from his community for choosing to follow Jesus, but Jesus is someone he’s unwilling to give up.

After faithfully following Jesus for 15 years, Badar is seeing some of those who ridiculed him come to know Jesus for themselves.

Faith out of desperation

It was in a time of desperation that Badar came to faith. His son was sick, and there was no treatment. “We went to doctors, [other] witch doctors, shamans, Buddhist priests – and we didn’t get any cure,” he says. “Then somebody from Beautiful Gate church told me about Jesus and the healing we could receive.”

Beautiful Gate is a church set up by and for people with disabilities. Pastor Adhikari was paralysed in 1984 when he fell from a tree while collecting fodder for his animals.

After the accident, he and his wife were ostracised from their community because of stigmas around disability in Nepal. Forty years on, they’re leading a thriving church, welcoming people of all disabilities and none to worship Jesus with them.

A new purpose

Badar found help for his son at Beautiful Gate church. But he also found his new purpose for living.

“Before coming to Christ, I had a lot of anxiety, I had a lot of pain, struggles in my heart and life,” he says. “But after coming to Christ, those things started to cease for me, and it was a kind of new way of life compared to my ancestors’.

“I was trained for 40 days at Beautiful Gate, and also for a month in India.” Through this training, Badar was equipped to minister to others.

Over the years, some of those who have found Jesus at Beautiful Gate church have planted daughter churches back in their home communities. Badar leads one of these seven churches, supported by Asia-CMS partner Raj.

“Brother Raj comes to our church from time to time, and he encourages us,” says Badar. “He shares the Word with us, and his presence is very encouraging in my ministry.”

Vital encouragement

Having encouragement is so important for pastors like Badar, who are outnumbered and can face a lot of opposition. Less than 2 per cent of Nepal’s population are Christians, and in remote areas the percentage is even lower.

Life for these Christians is increasingly challenging, with anti-conversion laws making it more difficult and dangerous to share Jesus.

In remote villages, Pastor Raj says Christians and their God are often blamed when something bad happens. “Many people come against us and there are lots of challenges,” says Raj.

“Many times people do not allow us to do the fellowship. [When someone in the family is a believer,] if anything happens to the family, they blame God. That is one of the big challenges our leaders face…. It is a huge pressure we are feeling.”

Badar says he hasn’t experienced any extreme persecution, but the stories he tells us show that he has faced rejection and ridicule for his faith in Jesus.

He describes how people have challenged him: “They say, ‘Why are you bringing this? These people are unholy…. So don’t come to us.’ It’s rare for people of my faith background to come to Christ.

“People have talked behind my back. They have ridiculed me for my faith in Jesus. They misunderstand me, and they accuse me, saying that I have followed this path for the sake of money – they claim that I follow Jesus because I get dollars. But no, it’s not that and I’ll continue on this path despite the ridicule that I face.”

“God has a time for everything”

Fifteen years into his ministry, Badar has seen miracles – and a few of those who mocked him for his Christian faith have come to know Jesus.

“Those people who have ridiculed me and rejected my message, two of them have come to know the Lord. One of them was a witch doctor like me, and now he has also taken baptism. So it seems God has a time for everything.” Badar says it’s important to be a living, loving witness for Jesus and to trust God to work in people’s hearts.

“I feel blessed when these people come to know Christ, and I see the change. I come to realise that we just need to trust in the living Word of God, and when we trust in that, things happen.”

Following Jesus and trusting he will work in his time and his way is challenging for all of us. But in a context like Nepal, it’s even tougher. Does Badar ever feel like giving up? Maybe surprisingly, he doesn’t. Why? Because, in his words: “Jesus is my life.”

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The post From witch doctor to pastor appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Following a few decades of relative freedom to share the gospel, Nepali Christians are sensing a net tightening around their liberty. Yet, though they increasingly feel their outsider status, they aren’t giving up, as Naomi Rose Steinberg discovered on a recent trip to the country known as the Land of Truth.

Arriving in Kathmandu, I was surprised to learn that the time difference between Nepal and the UK is five hours and 45 minutes. Depending on who you ask, there are differing reasons for this unusual variation from the standard increments: some political, some geographical, some cultural. A typical response to the question is: “It’s complicated.”

Nepal in many ways is a complex country, facing multiple challenges: economic struggles, political precariousness and a geographically landlocked position between the influences of India and China. All of these and other factors have recently contributed to making it an increasingly tricky place to be a Christian.

Christianity in Nepal

The rapid growth of Christianity in Nepal in the decades since the country became a democracy in 1951 has been phenomenal, particularly since the 1990s. In proportion to population, it remains one of the fastest growing churches in the world. I’m told that in Kathmandu, you can’t walk more than two or three streets without being near a church, many of these being house churches or groups that meet in multi-use buildings.

However, there is a growing uneasiness among Nepali Christians, as anti-conversion laws become more stridently enforced due to pressure from other religious groups.

Nepal is officially a secular country, but many Christians told me that, as a minority religion (less than 2 per cent of the population) followers of Jesus are increasingly and often arbitrarily discriminated against. This is making them more wary of overtly sharing the gospel.

On the outside

The Christians I talked to described how they have been made to feel like outsiders in various ways. This included family opposition, with one man telling me how he’d been thrown out of his house and made to sleep in a field, and a young woman relaying how her mother used to beat her for her faith. I heard stories of funerals being held by families when a relative turned to Jesus.

There is also cultural and societal pressure; Christians are often viewed with scepticism and suspicion. There is a perception that Christians have abandoned their culture for something Western-influenced, even though the church in Nepal is led mostly by indigenous people.

Nepali Christians are sometimes accused of being in cahoots with Western Christians for monetary gain. One local partner told me that this perception grew after the catastrophic earthquake in 2015: “Many well-meaning Christian organisations came to help, but there were reports of Bibles being put in sacks of rice that were given to suffering people and this was viewed as coercive.”

The same partner shared that Christians are being scapegoated for economic and social ills that Nepal is facing. This is partly due to the influence of Hindu nationalism, which has been on the rise in neighbouring India with reports of ensuing violence against Christians.

Growing hostility

Some of the Christians I met have contended with threats of violence from their communities. One rural pastor told me he came out of leading a church service to find 300 people waiting for him, angry and shouting. “They threatened to beat me and smear me with ink,” he recalled.

Smearing ink on someone is a sign of abject shame. The pastor was taken into police custody but later released. When I asked him if this kind of intense opposition makes him think about giving up being a pastor or following Jesus, he said, “The Bible tells if you want to be a disciple you have to pay a price, there is cost involved. Maybe I am just paying the price of being a disciple of Jesus.”

Counting the cost

In the face of growing opposition, Nepali Christians are demonstrating patience, resilience and adaptability.

Some tell me that while they can no longer safely go door-to-door, hold evangelistic events or hand out Christian literature, they are discovering the importance of building relationships and being good living witnesses for Jesus.

They point out that others can see the love they show for people, how Christianity breaks down barriers of gender and caste, and how Christians treat people with dignity. And this is still drawing people to Christ; the church is still growing, though perhaps not as quickly as before.

CMS, alongside Asia-CMS, has long been committed to helping people in Asia deepen and strengthen their faith so they can withstand storms of antagonism and keep sharing the gospel from the margins.

The pastor who had been threatened credited his ability to withstand pressure in part to training he’d received from a CMS partner. In recent years, deep discipleship has become an even greater priority.

Given the increasing opposition Christians are facing in Nepal, and having seen firsthand the difference this commitment to discipleship has made in people’s lives, it seems that maximising these efforts couldn’t come at a better time.

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The post Nepal: a complicated time for Christians appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).