Meet South West Hub student Rachel Harrison-French, who shares her learning about participating in the life of God already at work in the world.

HH: Rachel, where are you based and what you do in your life?

RH-F: I’m based in South Devon and am part of Sherford Community Church, a church serving the growing new town of Sherford on the outskirts of Plymouth. My life sits at the intersection of community work, creativity and church ministry.

Over the past few years, I’ve been involved in several community initiatives focused on food insecurity and community resilience. During the pandemic I worked as a project manager with Feeding Devon, helping coordinate local responses to food poverty and supporting communities to develop sustainable food support projects.

Alongside that, I’ve worked as a teacher and forest school leader. That experience has shaped a lot of how I think about learning, creativity, and how people connect with place and community.

More recently, I’ve been developing my emerging ministry as a worship leader at Sherford Community Church, creating reflective and creative resources that help people engage with Scripture, prayer and worship in ways that are accessible for all ages.

You’ve been on the South West Hub pioneer course. Can you tell me how you got onto the course and what motivated you?

Several strands of my life came together in leading me to the pioneer course.

Through my work as a forest school leader and teacher, I became increasingly interested in how faith connects with everyday life and community spaces. At the same time, my involvement in community food projects opened my eyes to the realities many people were facing locally.

The Pioneer course raised questions that really resonated with me, particularly around rural mission. What does the Missio Dei look like in rural areas? How do we recognise where God is already at work in local traditions, spiritualities, and communities? And how can the church learn from rural communities about issues such as food production, ecology, sustainability, and social justice?

Those questions felt deeply relevant to Devon, and the course provided a space to explore them alongside others who were asking similar questions about mission and church in changing contexts.

Can you cast your mind back to lockdown and your work as a project manager of Feeding Devon? What were some of the highs and lows?

Lockdown was an extraordinary and challenging time for many communities. Through Feeding Devon, we were helping coordinate responses to food insecurity across the region, supporting local groups and connecting organisations working to meet urgent needs.

One of the real highs was seeing how quickly communities mobilised. Volunteers stepped forward, partnerships formed, and churches and community groups found creative ways to support their neighbours.  For example, I was involved in engaging local churches with developing food support strategies, including working alongside the lay pioneer Methodist minister in Horrabridge to help develop an affordable Food Hub, which is now also supported by the local Anglican church. We also supported the development of Food Hubs in several other towns and villages, all of which are now operating as independent organisations relying on local volunteers.

At the same time, the scale of need could sometimes feel overwhelming as many households were facing uncertainty and financial hardship. That experience strengthened my sense that the church has an important role to play in listening to communities and responding practically to the needs that emerge.

How did the pioneer course impact your emerging ministry as a worship leader?

The pioneer course has had a significant impact on how I approach worship and ministry.

One of the most memorable pieces of learning came during a module exploring different expressions of church. As part of the assignment, I created a hand-drawn board game called ‘From Pew to Pavement’. The game explored different “zones” of church life – from the traditional parish setting through to community initiatives and more experimental spaces where faith begins to emerge in places that don’t yet resemble church.

Creating the game helped me see mission less as a programme we run and more as participation in the life of God already at work in the world.

This insight has shaped how I now approach worship at Sherford Community Church. I’ve become more confident in developing creative and participatory forms of worship that engage people of all ages and all the senses. Through the Altogether services at Sherford I’ve had the opportunity to develop ideas collaboratively with our pioneer ministry team, Revs Jon and Tammy Oliver, creating spaces where people can encounter God through storytelling, imagery, reflection, and shared experience.

What does the future hold for you?

Right now, I feel very much in a season of listening and discerning where God might be leading next.

In Sherford, we are continuing to explore how church can respond creatively to the realities of a new and growing community. For example, delays in local facilities meant that access to affordable food became challenging for some families, particularly those working during the day. In response we developed an early evening food club so that households could collect food after work – a small but practical example of adapting to the needs of the local context.

I’m also exploring creative ways that churches can connect with communities through wellbeing, creativity, and outdoor learning. For example, at Sherford Day this year I’ll be offering face painting as a free gift to the community – a simple way of creating relational spaces within a local celebration. Alongside this, I’m currently studying for a Certificate in Therapeutic Skills for Outdoor Leaders. Through this I’m exploring how outdoor learning, emotional wellbeing, and creative practices can support children and young people. My hope is that over time these ideas might develop into accessible resources that churches can use to connect with schools and communities.

At the heart of this work is a simple conviction: creativity, community and the natural environment can become spaces where people encounter God in everyday life.

Finally, how can we pray for you?

Please pray for wisdom and discernment as I continue to explore the next steps in my calling and ministry.

I would also value prayer for churches and communities across Devon as they seek to respond creatively to the needs around them, and for more pioneers to be encouraged and equipped for mission in their local contexts.

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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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Andy Roberts reflects on the changing shape of mission from his personal experience of founding ReVive International in Brazil – and why true success meant stepping aside and letting local leadership flourish.

In May we had the joy of welcoming Elise to CMS House in Oxford.

Elise is the current leader of ReVive International in Brazil, the organisation Rose and I helped to start many years ago in response to the abuse and exploitation of girls in the city where we were living. Many of those girls were being harmed by the very people who should have protected them. It was heart-breaking, disturbing and impossible to ignore.

Seeing Elise here in Oxford reminded me how long the journey of mission can be. It also reminded me how much mission changes over time – if we are willing to let God disturb us, challenge our assumptions and release things into the hands of others.

Moving from “Gringo” to local leadership

I first met Elise when I went to Brazil as an 18-year-old gap year student with SAMS. I was helping with a street children’s project connected to a local church.

Elise was also part of the church where I met Rose. A few years later, when Rose and I were sensing a call from God to begin some kind of ministry among vulnerable girls in the city, Elise and her husband Felipe joined the prayer meetings around our dining room table as we asked God what he wanted us to do.

When ReVive became a reality, Elise became our first ever employee. Again, it began around the dining room table. I have often thought that some of the best things in life begin there: with prayer, friendship, food, uncertainty and a shared sense that God is inviting us into something we cannot yet fully see.

Over the years, Elise grew with ReVive. She became part of the leadership team Rose and I invested in for more than 15 years. And when the time came for Rose and I to move to the UK and follow God’s call into the next phase of life, CMS asked us a very reasonable question: would we like CMS to find another mission partner to take over from us and lead ReVive?

I remember thinking at the time: if another foreign mission partner needed to come and replace us, then perhaps we had failed in one of the most important tasks of mission leadership.

Far too often, mission work has been built around the foreigner, the founder, the person with access to money, networks or power. And then, when that person leaves, the work collapses – because knowledge, resources and leadership were never truly shared. We can dress that up in spiritual language, but sometimes what we have built is closer to our own little kingdom than the kingdom of God.

Overcoming the internalised colonial mindset

Right from the beginning of ReVive, we wanted to invest in local leadership. We had seen this modelled badly elsewhere. We had seen founder’s syndrome rear its head. We had seen people protect power rather than release it. We did not want to do that.

So, when the time came, we told Elise and the other Brazilian leaders that we believed they were the right people to take ReVive forward.

I still remember their reaction. They burst into tears. They told us they had assumed another “gringo” (foreigner) would ome and lead. They were taken aback that we were willing to entrust the future of ReVive to them.

That moment has stayed with me. Because the colonial mindset works both ways. It is not only something held by those who come from outside. It can also become internalised by local leaders who have been taught, subtly or explicitly, that leadership must come from somewhere else.

But the gospel tells a different story. The Holy Spirit is not the possession of one culture, one passport, one institution or one sending nation. God raises up leaders from the edges, through the local church, within communities, among those who know the language, the wounds, the hopes and the possibilities far better than we ever could.

And under Elise’s leadership, ReVive has thrived.

That does not mean it has stayed the same. In fact, one of the signs of healthy mission is that it keeps changing.

Challenging assumptions about children’s care

A few years ago, Jesus the Great Disturber disrupted our thinking at ReVive. For a long time, we had assumed that the answer to the needs of vulnerable girls was to open more and more residential homes. That was the model we knew. It was what we had built. It was what people supported.

But over time, God challenged that assumption. We began to see more clearly that his preferred place for children is not an institution, however loving, but a family. Psalm 68 says that God “sets the lonely in families”. That simple truth began to reshape the work and led to the closure of one of ReVive’s homes.

In recent years, ReVive’s fostering service has grown significantly, and that has been largely due to Elise’s leadership. The work has adapted because the mission required it. Faithfulness did not mean preserving the original model at all costs. Faithfulness meant listening again, learning again and allowing God to lead the work into a better future.

I was later awarded an MBE for the work we had led in Brazil – an irony not lost on me, given its attachment to empire. But it was a real privilege, and I remember receiving it on behalf of the whole team. ReVive was never just our story. It was, and is, the story of a Brazilian team, local churches, supporters, CMS, children, families, volunteers and many others responding to the disturbing, healing love of Jesus.

And that, I think, says something important about how mission is changing.

Mission today cannot be about exporting our models, controlling the agenda or assuming that leadership must come from the outside. It has to be about joining in with what God is already doing, building with others, investing in local capacity and having the humility to hand over power when the time is right.

That same lesson has continued through the story of Rosie and Stu Bayford.

Around seven years ago, Rosie and Stu were sent by CMS to ReVive as mission partners. At that time, ReVive was receiving a number of people from CMS who felt called to similar ministries. I helped do some training in mission theology and practice. 

Redefining poverty: from deficit to relationship

One of the key questions we explored was: how does our definition of poverty shape our response to it?

If we see poverty simply as a deficit – a lack of money, food, education or opportunity – then our instinct is to provide whatever we think is missing. Sometimes that is necessary. But if we are not careful, that approach can reinforce unhealthy power dynamics. We have what you need. We give it. You receive it. We remain powerful. You remain dependent.

But if we understand poverty more deeply as broken relationship – with God, with others, with self and with creation – then our response begins to change. We begin to think about dignity, participation, community, justice and shalom. We ask not only, “What do people need?” but, “What gifts are already here? What relationships need restoring? What can we build together?”

Rosie and Stu took that seriously.

As they listened, learned and looked at the wider social issues around them in Brazil, they began to dream of pioneering a community market. But because of the training and the relationships they were part of, they did not want to create a hand-out model that stripped people of agency or dignity. They developed a model where families could buy food themselves at a much-reduced rate.

They partnered with a local church in a very poor community. They worked with local people to identify families and with supermarkets and businesses to provide the food. And, over time, the market became much more than a market. It became a community.

People came not only to buy food, but to stay, talk, pray, learn and belong. Volunteers from the church helped run devotionals, worship and practical sessions. Every few weeks someone would come and speak on a relevant issue: preventing abuse, parenting, nutrition, preparing for work and much more.

And people came to faith. I remember three sisters being baptised in the church after first coming along to the market.

Now, as  Rosie and Stu return to the UK, they too have handed over leadership of this ministry to a team from the local church – a team they have invested in over the years.

That is mission at its best.

Not mission that creates dependency. Not mission that keeps the foreigner at the centre. Not mission that measures success by how indispensable we become.

But mission that joins in, builds up, shares power, releases leadership and leaves something stronger in the hands of those who are best placed to carry it forward.

This is deeply connected to where CMS is going.

Decolonising mission in practice

Our vision is to see our world made new through the love of God as we follow Jesus to the edges. Our purpose is to make disciples of Jesus at the edges. And increasingly, we are recognising that this means mission must be more collaborative, more locally rooted and more willing to be led by those who have too often been treated as recipients rather than agents of mission.

Through our mission strategy, and through work such as Acts 11, we are continuing to ask what it means to decolonise mission in practice. Not as a fashionable slogan, but as a deeply biblical commitment to humility, partnership and the releasing of gifts across the whole body of Christ.

Acts 11 is a fascinating chapter because the church in Jerusalem has to catch up with what God is already doing elsewhere. The Spirit moves ahead of the centre. The edges become places of revelation, surprise and new understanding. The question is whether the established church has the humility to listen, recognise and bless what God is doing beyond its own control.

That is still the challenge before us.

Of course, we are all still called into mission. This is not about stepping back into passivity. It is not about saying that cross-cultural mission no longer matters. Far from it.

But it is about a different posture.

The posture of modern mission

• Listen before speaking.
• Co-create rather than control.
• Build movements rather than monuments.
• Recognise that those closest to the pain are closest to the wisdom needed for transformation.

When I look at Elise, I see the fruit of that kind of mission.

I see someone who was there at the beginning. I see someone who prayed around a dining room table before there was a strategy, a structure or a name. I see someone who helped bring ReVive to life, then grew into the leader who could take it further than Rose and I ever could.

Mission is changing. It needs to change. But at its heart, it is still the same invitation: to follow Jesus to the edges, to join in with what the Spirit is doing, and to participate in making all things new.

And perhaps the real test of our mission is not whether people remember our names when we have gone.

Perhaps the real test is whether, by God’s grace, the work continues, local leaders flourish, communities are transformed and Jesus is made known long after we have left the room – or the dining room table.

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In a significant answer to prayer, a project in Cumbria that connects with people on the margins through practical hands-on workshops re-opened at the end of February 2026.

In October 2025, Carlisle’s Community Shed was forced to close for financial reasons. The team, including mission partner Garry Ion, moved the contents of the Shed into a storage unit.

Following an outcry in the local community and a special fundraising effort, the Shed has reopened its doors. Once again, people living with loneliness and mental health challenges, including people recently released from prisons, can find invaluable support.

Garry shares that the new shed is even better than the old one: “We have a spacious workshop and social area with sofas and an indoor games area.

“The original shed started in a garage during the COVID lockdown by myself and Pioneer Chaplain, Rev Chris Harwood. This time, the local community’s involvement, commitment and determination have driven its reopening.

“The new Community Shed is in a very underprivileged area of Carlisle, and it’s truly heartwarming to see the generosity and time given by the community to support its future. We have so much to be grateful for as we begin this new chapter together.”

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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 Honduras and hear about a young woman who went from street life to full life. From there we’ll go to South Sudan where a former cattle rustler was steered towards a better path. Finally, we’ll turn the spotlight on a mission partner who has spent two decades in challenging work that has taken her across the globe.

But before we begin, I want to take some time to acknowledge an anniversary none of us would have wanted to commemorate.

By the time you receive this video, we will have crossed the four-year mark since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and I want to take a moment to ask for your prayers for our mission partner Alison Giblett, who has remained in Ukraine this whole time, faithfully sharing the light of Jesus – despite missile attacks, freezing winters and growing despair.

This is most definitely mission at the edges. Let’s go to God together and keep praying for peace to prevail.

And now, let’s hop over to Honduras for a story of hope nine years in the making.

The country of Honduras faces huge challenges including rampant gang warfare, poverty and corruption.

Many children in Honduras suffer from abuse or neglect and are drawn to life on the streets, which can be both cruel and dangerous.

In 2017, a young girl named Johanni was one of these at-risk children.

She recalls, “When I was eight years old, I spent most of my time out in the street. My parents didn’t send me to school. No one was looking out for me except myself.”

Johanni spent much of her time hanging out with other kids at a local park. She could see no real future for herself.

One day, she met some adults who were different – kind and interested. They listened to her struggles and told her Jesus loved her.

Over time, these people, CMS mission partners Lindsey and Steve Poulson, helped Johanni and 14 other children register for school. This was the beginning of a new life chapter for Johanni as well as the start of what would become a life-changing project for many children.

This group of 15 children were the beginning of Proyecto Alas, a programme that supports at-risk children to continue in education and make good choices for the future. A key part of this programme is that each child is assigned a mentor.

Johanni says, “My mentor listens to me, encourages me and helps me make positive decisions.”

Now 16 years old, Johanni is an aspiring nail artist. She says, “Most girls my age don’t make it to high school so I’m really proud of my achievement and growth.”

The Poulsons are grateful to have walked alongside Johanni these nine years and to have seen her and others reach their God-given potential.

We now journey to South Sudan.

In South Sudan livestock is highly prized. So, cattle raiding is big business.

In recent years, raids have become more intense, more violent and take place on a much larger scale. It’s a crime with a huge cost.

Makol was a cattle raider from Warrap State, South Sudan. He knew that stealing cattle was wrong and that people were getting hurt, but he was making too much money to stop. He also knew if he was caught, he could be executed.

One day Makol was caught in the act, arrested and put in a police car. He knew his fate was sealed.

What Makol didn’t know was this: that night a peace rally was scheduled to take place, led by Archbishop Moses Deng. Drawing on training he’d received from our colleagues in CMS-Africa, the Archbishop spoke to the community on the theme of love and forgiveness.

The governor of Warrap State, General Aleu Ayieny, attended this rally. Having heard about Makol’s crimes, he had planned for him to be publicly executed at the end of the peace rally.

Evening came and Makol found himself sitting in the back of the governor’s car, waiting for his punishment, while General Ayieny listened to Archbishop Moses’ message nearby.

When he had finished, the governor stood up and addressed him:

“Your Grace Moses, I have a living dead young man in the back of my car. I have brought him here to kill him in front of these crowds and multitudes by firing squad. We have spoken a lot against this practice of cattle raiding and today we could have been making an example out of this man…but because you have spoken of forgiveness and reconciliation command I have forgiven him.”

The governor went back to his car and instructed Makol to follow him. Makol followed slowly, walking to his death.

But standing there in front of his community, hanging his head, he heard the words, “You are forgiven.”

Makol was overwhelmed at this mercy and grace. It wasn’t long before he received Jesus and was baptised.

Four years later, his cattle raiding days are behind him. He and his family belong to a local church and Makol provides for his family by working as a prison warden.

Join us in giving thanks for this life that was changed and continue to pray for all CMS people in mission involved in making disciples in areas facing violent conflict.

Last but absolutely not least we want to congratulate a CMS mission partner who is marking 20 years since she first began responding to a huge call God placed on her life.

In 2005, while lamenting the suffering of millions of girls and women impacted by the practice of female genital mutilation (or FGM),

Ann-Marie Wilson asked God: “Who will help girls like this?” 

To her amazement, the answer came back as an audible voice: “You will.”

Two decades later, Ann-Marie is still answering that call. Through her international organisation, 28 Too Many, which merged with Orchid Project in 2022, she has gathered the stories of thousands of FGM survivors and built a global movement dedicated to ending FGM worldwide.

Ann-Marie and the Orchid Project team haven’t just changed individual lives; they’ve shifted global policy and fostered grassroots change across continents.

You can discover the remarkable story of Ann-Marie’s 20 years in this vital work by going to the Stories section of the CMS website.

Ann-Marie’s journey is a powerful testament to how a single person can spark profound global change.

And it all began with a simple, radical act of daring to ask, Who will help?

Thank you for joining me for these stories from the edges and for your prayerful support, which makes them possible.

Please share this video with your church, small group or anyone you think 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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Cathy Ross explores the theology and stories of those who have found lament to be the catalyst for healing and something new.

Lament is often associated with Lent but it can also be off-putting with many unsure of how to “get it right”.

Canon Dr Cathy Ross, lecturer and tutor with CMS Pioneer Mission Training, will help us understand the theology and how it informs our practice.

She will share case studies of those who have found lament to be the catalyst for healing and something new.

By the end of this webinar, you will you know how to reflect on areas of your own life or in the world which cause you pain, how to present those to God and how to allow him to renew your hope.

Canon Dr Cathy Ross

Canon Dr Cathy Ross is a lecturer and tutor with CMS Pioneer Mission Training and is a lecturer in mission at Regent’s Park College, Oxford.

She led CMS Pioneer Mission Training Oxford from 2019 to 2025, before handing over the reins to Dr James Butler.

Until 2016 she was the General Secretary of the International Association for Mission Studies.

She has previously worked in Rwanda, Congo and Uganda with NZCMS. Cathy is also canon theologian at Leicester Cathedral.

Her research interests are in the areas of contextual theologies, World Christianity, feminist theologies and hospitality.

She is married to Steve, a GP in Oxford and they have three children and five grandchildren. She enjoys tennis, swimming, coffee, travel and watching the All Blacks.

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In 2017, Johanni was one of the first at-risk children in Honduras to receive vital care and mentoring from mission partners Lindsey and Steve Poulson. Several years later, thanks to steadfast support, she’s on a path to a bright future.

“When I was eight years old, I spent most of my time out in the street. My parents didn’t send me to school. No one was looking out for me except myself.”

These are the words of Johanni, a 16-year-old girl in Honduras. But it’s not just her story – many thousands of children in Honduras are living this today. Many children’s parents don’t have the capacity to care for them properly. Many children don’t go to school for one reason or another. Many children try to find a sense of belonging on the street and are drawn into gangs.

Back in 2017, aged eight, Johanni used to spend a lot of time in a local park. One day, she met some young adults who were different. They listened to her struggles and told her Jesus loved her. They invited her to play some fun games. Over time, these people, mission partners Lindsey and Steve Poulson, helped Johanni and 14 other children register for school. It was the beginning of a new life chapter for Johanni as well as the start of what would grow to become a life-changing project for children.

Mentoring makes the difference

This group of 15 children were the beginning of Proyecto Alas, a programme that supports at-risk children to continue in education and make good choices for the future. A key part of this programme is that each child was assigned a mentor, a safe adult to meet with for an hour a week to talk about anything and everything.

Mentors also visit them at home and pray with children’s families when possible. “My mentor listens to me, encourages me and helps me make positive decisions,” Johanni says.

Now 16 years old, Johanni is an aspiring nail artist. “Most girls my age don’t make it to high school, so I’m really proud of my achievement and growth.” She is sure she wouldn’t have made it this far without her mentor at her side, supporting her all the way. Johanni still spends time with the kids she used to play with in the park – but now, they do their homework together at Proyecto Alas.

The Poulsons are grateful to have walked alongside Johanni since the beginning of the programme in 2017 and to have seen her and others grow and flourish over the years. More recently, the Alas team have also set up a transition to adulthood programme for those who have graduated from secondary school, and Empresas Alas, a business arm that aims to make the project more sustainable. Now, 65 children and young people are connected to the mentoring programme, 10 young adults are in the transition programme and Alas’s businesses – a barbershop and a coffee shop – aim to provide employment for young adults.

Faith is an integral part of everything they do. The mentors, who are all Christians, are committed to demonstrating and proclaiming who Jesus is. “If we do that well, it’s kind of inevitable that people will want to know him,” Steve says.

One step at a time

Rather than expecting lives to change overnight, Lindsey and Steve and other mentors with Proyecto Alas invest in incremental development – walking alongside at-risk children and young adults over several years as they take one step at a time. The Alas team begin by help meeting children’s most basic practical needs, supporting them to build secure relationships and to continue their education. Without this foundation, ideas of living a stable, independent life and going to university will remain distant dreams.

It’s slow, steady work for both the mentors and the children themselves. Lindsey, Steve and others involved with the project have always known that the long-term, slow-burn work of mentoring is worth it, but seeing someone like Johanni come this far is the ultimate reward.

As Johanni’s words at the beginning of this article stand for many children’s stories, we hope the following words of hers also reflect the stories of many other children: “At Proyecto Alas, I have finally found a place where I belong, where I can be myself, and where I can begin to dream about my future.”

Pray together

Give thanks for the life-changing work of Proyecto Alas.

Pray for God to strengthen and encourage Lindsey and Steve and to bring many more children to the programme.

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The post Johanni’s journey: street life to full life appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Aspen is a community whose purpose is to accompany change makers, pioneers, fringe dwellers and midwives of the new to join in God’s unfolding movement to heal and renew all things.

During last week’s Assembly gathering in Glasgow a new community – Aspen – was launched with around 90 founding members and friends! It was a joyful occasion and those present were joined by around 50 online. Founding members are in several countries. The centre piece was a sculpted tree made by Phil Hoyle and members and friends wrote names on aspen leaves which were added to the tree. 

The name Aspen was chosen (or we feel it chose us) because it is a pioneer species of tree that is the first to grow in desolate spaces with its seeds spreading far from the mother tree. Its leaves shimmer in the wind, which in some cultures is a sign of going between heaven and earth and it has a deeply connected root system. 

Somewhere for pioneers to belong

Lee Barnes, Adviser for Curacy and Fresh Expressions of Church at the Diocese of Bristol and part of the Aspen working group that has helped develop the rhythm and life of the community, said, “I am really excited about the Aspen community and its potential for those who, through a prayerful discernment process, look to explore joining – if right for them.

“Both from personal experience and working with those who have the God-gift of Pioneering, I am aware how people can sometimes feel quite isolated, lonely, misunderstood, and not quite ‘fitting in’ but, at the same time, are engaged in the unfolding movement of God.

“Aspen is one place to gather, support and encourage these ‘change-makers, pioneers, fringe-dwellers and midwives of the new’. I look forward to seeing what it becomes.”

Aspen is a community whose purpose is to accompany change makers, pioneers, fringe dwellers and midwives of the new to join in God’s unfolding movement to heal and renew all things. It is part of the body of Christ. Its way of being is spread out. Aspen is somewhere for pioneers to belong, to be part of community that encourages and celebrates who they are and the pioneering practice they are called to.

Nurturing the pioneer gift

We have seen and experienced the emergence of a particular charism, a wonderful gift from the Holy Spirit around pioneering mission over the last 20 to 30 years or so. We sensed it is time to birth a community to support those people in a spread out ecumenical community in a way that builds on what we have already done and takes it into the next season. We think this may be the best way to look after the gift, and as far as we can discern, we have been called by God to do so at this time.

We want to see this ministry and charism deepen and continue in the life of the church. Communities like this have a charism, purpose, a community, rhythm of life, and a way of discerning and encouraging new vocations that grows a movement. Networks and movements do this to a significant degree and we have seen how generative that has been in the last 20 years.

But this kind of community affords more realistic possibility of longevity or a future that keeps the gift moving forwards. We expect it to be generative – new possibilities will arise through its life, and the colliding of its members. Aspen is not designed to pull people away from what they are doing but rather add value to it and enable it to flourish.

Interested in Aspen pioneer community?

There is currently no website and not a lot of information in the public domain. During this first phase it is being incubated within CMS. We won’t be shouting about it too much at this point as we want to let it grow slowly and are developing its life and structure. But equally it is not a secret. If you would like to know more do get in touch via aspen@churchmissionsociety.org 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Decolonizing Mission is available from SCM Press.

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

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Enrolment on Church Mission Society’s Pioneer Mission Training programme has now passed 1,000 students since it launched in 2010.

Starting with nine students in Oxford 15 years ago, the programme has grown into a thriving training network with learning hubs across the UK, providing options from undergraduate certificates through to PhD level. There are now multiple streams of study, including emphases on African Christianity and Asian Christianity through the new Acts 11 Centre for Global Witness and Human Migration.

The Pioneer Mission Training programme equips people called by God to respond creatively to the Holy Spirit’s initiative beyond the boundaries of traditional church. Alumni have gone on to launch ground-breaking mission projects across the UK such as a boxing church, an outreach to automotive enthusiasts, gatherings on brand new housing estates and myriad missional enterprises that combine bright business ideas with sharing the love of Jesus.

Commenting on reaching the 1,000-student marker, James Butler, leader of CMS’s Pioneer Mission Training, says. “It’s great to be celebrating this significant milestone for the Pioneer Mission Training Programme. All the training we do at CMS is done with a mission lens; we live and breathe mission. We are delighted to have a diverse teaching team and diverse student cohort giving huge value to all our students as we all learn together to follow God and engage in his mission.”

Courses combine elements of theology, church history, mission and evangelism and are rooted in the practical, such as the popular Make Good module in missional entrepreneurship, which helps participants explore how pioneering can become financially sustainable.

Diana, a pioneer priest, said: “The best course I’ve ever done. It helped me to think really clearly about the missional dimension of YEAST Scrapstore, which I was starting at the time. Now we are a charity which owns our own building and are gathering all sorts of people around us through being intentionally missionary whilst not being churchy.”

Angel, studying for an MA on the African Christianity route, said, “Studying with CMS helped me knock down walls that I had built around my own heart, to see more clearly the fields that are before me, and helped to fill me with new courage and determination.”

Another student, Liz, said: “The course has given me permission to be me. I had always thought you had to be a certain type of person to do things in the church.”

James Butler concluded: “Through our programmes we seek to give people the theological understanding, practical tools and spiritual formation to thrive in their calling, and engage with God’s work in the world, particularly for mission on the edges of society. Many of our students speak about having the ‘gift of not fitting in’ so I encourage anyone who identifies with that to consider studying with us to discover where God may be leading them.”

Known widely for decades as an innovative global mission community, CMS launched Pioneer Mission Training in 2010 in recognition that the UK is now a vital mission field. The course was founded by Jonny Baker, CMS Britain hub mission director. With increasingly online study options available, in recent years students have joined in from around the world: Peru, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Thailand, north America and across Europe.

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As a young adult, if you’d told Fiona Mayne she’d one day be a pioneer minister and planting a church on a new housing estate, she likely wouldn’t have believed you. But as she says, she started with a passion and energy to share Jesus and it’s been an amazing journey of possibility ever since.

“I’m not a Christian, so please don’t talk to me about God, okay?”

Fiona Mayne had been looking for a holiday venue for her and her children. Someone recommended a Christian-run hotel. When Fiona called to book, she made it clear she was an atheist. She was told she’d be very welcome.

As Fiona said during a recent podcast interview: “God wasn’t really on my radar.” She’d attended a Church of England school but not considered that Jesus was a real person to be known. An independent financial advisor and martial arts enthusiast, her main exposure to Christianity had been through a chance reading of The Heart of a Hooligan, the story of Dave Jeal, a football hooligan turned chaplain.

And yet, here she was, turning up at a Christian hotel in Sidmouth, where the people turned out to be very friendly. She found she enjoyed sharing meals with them.

And one night, in August 2012, she says she sat down to dinner an atheist and rose from the table a follower of Jesus. In her words, “Everything changed overnight.” Fiona felt like a new person and she was already beginning to sense a new calling.

Starting simple

As Fiona was making her unexpected journey to Jesus, close to where she lived in Weston-super-Mare a new town was coming into being with the establishment of a housing estate.

In 2014, Fiona, who’d begun attending church in Bristol and then more locally, kept finding herself drawn to this fledgling neighbourhood called Haywood Village. She spoke to her vicar about doing some outreach there. “We started off very simply with mulled wine and carols around a Christmas tree,” she recalls.

The place was still pretty much a building site, with few people and no streetlights. Eventually a school and pub were constructed. As people moved in, Fiona asked them what they might like to see in the area in terms of forming community. She was encouraged when they said they’d appreciate a space to gather and get to know each other. Fiona got permission from the school to set up a weekly pop-up cafe called Take Five – soon 100 people were coming for activities like Lego and crafts.

Fiona kept asking questions, such as, if there were to be a church here, what would you want it to look like? Kind of like this cafe, was the response. And that’s how Tea and Toast Church was born in 2017, as a regular cafe-style gathering where people could ask questions about faith.

Putting down roots

Fiona moved to Haywood Village in 2018 and began hosting a sizable Alpha course cohort in her home. As the course came to a close, the group said they wanted to keep meeting. So Fiona asked more questions: what would you like to do, that would be different to simply a social club?

“They said they wanted something mid-week, something where they could be a bit like the early Acts church, where they could come together in relationship, speak about their week, ask each other questions, read the Bible, pray. So, we started Rooted. They came up with the name and it was always over a meal. Initially it was at my house, but now it’s too big, so it’s in the school.”

Breaking new ground

These days Tea and Toast and Rooted continue to welcome a growing number of people: older, younger, families, people with special needs, Christians and non. Everyone stays together during the meeting times and people appreciate the informality and the ability to ask questions.

One woman started attending as she was caring for a disabled person who is part of the church. She ended up finding faith in Jesus and is now baptised.

As people become part of the community, Fiona says she’s noticed several people “cross the line” at some point and choose to follow Jesus.

Fiona is now an ordained pioneer minister in the Church of England, having trained “on the job” while studying at CMS. She said recently in an interview: “I’ve learned quite a lot along the way because I was at CMS… about the variety of different ways of doing church and being authentic.

“CMS is an outstanding place to learn and meet other like-minded people. As a pioneer I don’t think there is anywhere else I personally could even consider wanting to go.”

True to her pioneering spirit and job title, the next steps for Haywood Village Church are ground-breaking – literally. The church team have managed to secure a plot of land on which to build a more permanent meeting space, with rooms to let to other groups. In the meantime, the church are negotiating to use space in an empty shop unit to create a church and community hub. Fiona’s business background is coming in handy as she manages this project. She’s still committed to keeping the meeting-around-tables model even as the work scales upward.

This article drew from interviews with CMS and the churchmissionsociety.org/pioneer Pivot Podcast, a production of Luther Seminary’s Faith+Lead, which can be found on the CMS website.

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Amid the buzz surrounding the Bible Society’s Quiet Revival report,¹ CMS graduate and pioneer missioner Laura Evans, who works with people in their 20s and 30s, reflects on her own experience of sharing faith.

About five years ago, I felt the gentle nudge from God to be more intentional in the way I share my faith with my friends. I began by inviting friends over to dinner with the pre-agreed intention to discuss my faith.

It was, in some ways, nerve-wracking. However, I also found that the foundations of these friendships were strengthened and that there were wonderful moments of connection. Usually these moments occurred when I explained not what it is to be a Christian but why and how I personally became a Christian.

Perhaps the art of giving your testimony is nothing new. Yet, there are several reasons why I feel people still respond to it. Firstly, our own personal stories show who Jesus is in a way that does not cast judgment or condemn others.

1 Peter 3:15 often comes to mind: “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect….”²

That last part is particularly important in a world that feels increasingly divided. Christians must stand out in the way we build loving bridges with those around us. Our words have impact, as James well knows,³ so the language we use matters. I have found that talking about how God’s love has changed me, not how others need to change, translates who God is in a way that is more understandable.

I have also found that talking about my own personal experience of God breaks down some presumptions about what it means to be a Christian.

Sharing about an encounter with the God of love is a far cry from the headteacher-in-the-sky that God is often supposed to be. Yes, some people might write you off as crazy; it’s nothing that dusting yourself off won’t fix.⁴

Nonetheless, never underestimate the element of surprise in talking about who God really is.

I was talking to one friend about how Jacob wrestled with God⁵ in light of my own wrestling. As my wrestling was metaphorical, so they thought Jacob’s was. I ended up reading them the full story and, as well as blowing their mind a little, it helped change their perception of the way that God interacts with God’s people.

In a world of fake news and AI, I believe that people are craving authenticity. Therefore, it is important that we are authentic in the way we share our stories and talk about our faith.

I asked another friend if there was a way that I could refer to the Bible that would translate better. For example, perhaps describing it as “the word of God” would carry more meaning. Her response was that I should, “call a spade a spade”.

For her, it was more important that I was transparent and honest in what I was talking about than I tried to dilute it or dance around it.

Humble authenticity has value; it is why people do “Instagram v Reality” posts. We know that not everything we see online or in the media is real. There’s an opportunity for Christians to be the real difference in talking about our faith.

The onus is often now on people to decide for themselves what is true and not fabricated for likes or enhanced by AI. Social media algorithms often mean that our online accounts are echo chambers that reinforce our beliefs with little challenge to them. There has been a cultural move towards people deciding what their own truth is.

As a result, I have found that people also struggle more and more with the idea of obediently submitting to a sovereign God. The language itself is a barrier.

Jesus’ words that those who love him will obey him⁶ are, one friend told me, what make Christianity sound dangerous. As we talked around this, I explained that it was the beauty of who Jesus is and the fact that he calls us to love that means it’s not a red flag for me. However, I also see it from their perspective. How could you blindly obey or even trust someone that you don’t know?

Yet, people having the ability to decide their own truths means that they understand you having your “own truth”. Being respectfully and gently transparent about it is something that people value (at least in person if not online).

Showing how your own life has changed in surrender to God’s love and God’s ways kickstarts the conversation. People connect with it more than being told to accept a higher authority they have little context for.

It is, perhaps, no wonder that people are hesitant to trust alongside the frequent reports of corrupt or incompetent leadership in all spheres that has brought so much disengagement.

Talking about my own journey of surrender, and how that has conversely brought life, is sometimes challenging and difficult but equally surprising. I have also found that, having taken the initial step, people do come back to ask more questions once they know that you are an open door.

Over the last couple of years, a dear friend of mine named Charlotte (who self-describes as having no faith) has agreed that we can record some of our faith-based conversations. We hope to start releasing these in the next few months.

In some ways, these recorded conversations feel like the culmination of the last five years. I am grateful to those friends who have been willing to listen to me on the subject of my faith.

I once would have supposed people dismissive about religion “in this day and age” but I have found that people are still seeking truth. Respectfully, gently and (if I might add) authentically, surprise them with yours.

In 2024, we shared 52 stories of where people saw God at work in their lives. You can read them at https://www.hopehour.org/blog.

Laura, 35, is pioneer missioner at St Matthew’s and St Luke’s churches in south Oxford, with a remit to work among the 20s and 30s age group. She studied for a Diploma in Theology, Mission and Ministry with CMS Pioneer Mission Training.

Notes

1. https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/research/quiet-revival ︎
2. 1 Peter 3:15 NIVUK ︎
3. James 3 NIVUK ︎
4. Matthew 10:14 NIVUK ︎
5. Genesis 32:22-32 NIVUK ︎
6. John 14:23 NIVUK ︎

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The post Faith in conversation appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).