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).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Church Mission Society has announced its backing for the UK Government’s Global Charter on Children’s Care Reform.

At its core the Charter calls for the rights of a child to a family and the progressive ending of the institutionalisation of children in favour of family-based care models like fostering. Church Mission Society joins UNICEF, Tearfund Ireland, World Vision and the Wonder Foundation in backing the Charter which in total has received support from organisations in 32 countries for its campaign.

This visionary initiative lays out a groundbreaking framework to transform the lives of children globally so that all children are cared for in families, free from violence, exploitation and other harmful practices. Inspired by the then Foreign Secretary, the Rt Hon David Lammy MP, the Charter calls on governments, civil society, faith groups and individuals with lived experience of care systems to join with world leaders to harnesses decades of international progress to ensure all children can grow up in a safe, nurturing and loving family environment.

Church Mission Society is an experienced operator in this field and supports mission partners like Elise and Jon Fletcher who live in Khlong Toei, Bangkok’s biggest slum community. They said, “Poverty is the biggest cause of children ending up in orphanages in Thailand and we work with the Thai government advocating for reform of the care system. Our aim is that every child in Thailand can grow up in a safe and nurturing family.”

Collectively, the vision of the signatories and supporters of the Charter is to strengthen families and prevent unnecessary separation, ensure safe, family-based alternative care and end the use of institutions for children around the world. Industry experts, academics, civil society groups, UNICEF, the UN Special Representative on Violence against Children and young people with lived experience of living in care have all contributed to bringing the Charter to life and turning the vision into reality.

The Charter urges world leaders to act together to uphold the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, invest in families, children, care leavers, and inclusive services, and end violence against children and harmful practices like orphanage tourism with the aim of delivering lasting change for future generations.

Andy Roberts, CEO of CMS, said: “Every child deserves the best start in life within caring families and communities, but globally, there are over five million children living in institutions which harm their short-term and long-term development. The majority of children living in institutions are not orphans – they are there due to poverty, lack of services and other solvable factors. Care reform is an investment in human capital and national growth as well as being more effective and cost-efficient than using institutions.”

Prior to becoming Director of Mission and more latterly CEO of CMS, Andy Roberts was co-founder of Revive International, a pioneering charity providing a home and protection for abused and vulnerable girls in Olinda, north-east Brazil. When the charity was given the green light to launch a ground-breaking fostering service, Roberts said, “From the moment we set up ReVive, our vision has been of a day when we could close down our children’s shelter homes because children were being cared for within a strong, quality, fostering service. We strongly believe that children should be brought up in families, where their hope can be restored and they can look forward to a future free from abuse inside a loving, caring family.”

Andy concluded: “As a global community, it is our collective responsibility to ensure that no child is left behind and that every child has the opportunity to thrive in a safe and supportive environment. CMS pledges its full support to the UK Government’s Global Charter on Children’s Care Reform and commits to working alongside other stakeholders to make these principles a reality to create a brighter, safer, and more equitable future for children around the world.”

ENDS

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We go with a CMS mission partner in Asia to a steadily growing church within a marginalised community.

So much rice-snack was prepared that all the space in the small kitchen and the next room was taken up – all chopped on boards, arranged in pots, and served onto plates, along with other snacks and drinks.

An hour later, it had all gone. The rice-snack ran out – and that was a good thing.

In these cramped back streets, the flat roof terrace is normally quiet. Amy (name changed) hangs out washing in the mornings; the clothes are dry before noon, and the roof is again empty and quiet – except for the noise of horns and engines from the main road into the city, only a couple of blocks away, and the sound of children playing in the street.

Tutorials on the terrace

Yet, on some afternoons Amy’s house is suddenly noisy. Recently, Amy started inviting children for tuitions and other activities. There is huge demand for after-school tuitions, to help children do better in their exams. In this community, many of the parents never went through school themselves. So, there is no way they can help their children with homework. And tuitions are not something the families in these streets could afford.

But Amy did get an education. And, since she began to follow Jesus, she has been wanting to make a difference. So, with her husband’s agreement, she started offering free tuitions. In the afternoons, many of the parents are still working, but with their parents’ permission these local children happily come on their own, or with siblings and friends.

Christmas for the community

Last Christmas, Amy wanted to do something special for the season, so she mentioned this to her fellowship. She is part of a new local-language fellowship, made up of people who have only recently begun to follow Jesus; and their fellowship is connected with an English-speaking fellowship which has been running for several years.

So, one special afternoon, people from both of these fellowships turned up with all the ingredients for enough rice-snack for dozens of people. They prepared rice-snack, cold drinks and tea, sitting on the floor to chop vegetables.

Soon, there were two dozen excited children on the terrace, enjoying stories, games, singing, dancing and, of course, the food. Adults joined too; some lingered to chat over tea. Unexpectedly, that vast quantity of rice-snack actually ran out – and that was a good thing.

Church at the edges

After Christmas, Amy carried on with tuitions at her home. Week by week, friends from her fellowship have helped provide snacks – on a smaller scale! In this region, some small churches and groups of new believers have experienced hostility, aggression and claims that it is illegal for them to meet (unless they are properly registered). But it is a blessing that this small, new fellowship has started out with some good relationships with the wider communities around them.

Local Christians have been supportive. The English-speaking sister fellowship provides prayer, encouragement, volunteers – and the helpful status of being part of an officially-registered organisation. The local-language fellowship has been able to meet early on Sunday mornings because another local church – believers who have migrated here from another region – has let them use their building for a very low rent. That church had been praying about outreach to local people, but were not sure how to make connections. This collaboration has been an encouraging answer to prayer for both the local-language fellowship and the migrant church.

And yet traditional Sunday services are not necessarily the most important meetings. More people are comfortable coming to people’s homes on weekday evenings for Bible study and prayer. So “house-church” meetings may well be the way forward for this growing fellowship – including meetings in Amy’s house. Being part of this movement has given Amy a new confidence to take initiative, both within the local-language fellowship and in making her home a centre for community connection.

CMS partners making it possible

These healthy connections between Christians of different communities cannot be taken for granted. Behind this fellowship, there is a background of prayer, outreach and collaboration over many years.

The fellowship started through the initiative of local CMS partners Philip and Lyla (names changed). I got to know Philip when I was teaching him five years ago – before they started this local-language fellowship. He is from a small town in a neighbouring region, born into a Roman Catholic family. Lyla is from the local community, born into a family of another faith; and her family became followers of Jesus when she was a teenager. By the time they married, he had studied theology, become involved in various ministries and moved to this city. She had worked for a Christian NGO in various locations. Together, they felt called to train and encourage young people, especially young pastors. Through this training and support, they have played an important part in planting 20 new churches – including Amy’s fellowship.

What I find encouraging about this fellowship is the infectious enthusiasm of those who have chosen to follow Jesus. Amy is used to running her home; but now, supported and encouraged by others around her, she is using her gifts in new ways and having an impact on many people – especially the local children and their families.

It helps that this fellowship does not depend on one authority figure; rather, they are encouraging people to get involved and developing a team of leaders with different gifts and roles.

As the fellowship grows in numbers, it is a challenge to work out how best to organise themselves. They could try to copy existing churches, with their kinds of services and meetings and structures, but moves in that direction have not been comfortable for them. At least for now, what seems to work best is small meetings in people’s houses. Jesus used to do a lot of ministry that way. It seems like he still does.

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Anna and Chris Hembury were already connected with local kids in a deprived area of Hull through running an after school club when they had an idea: a breakfast club where children could come and eat in a family atmosphere before school. This September marks 25 years of that Breakfast Club.

Mission partners Anna and Chris moved to Hull in 1997 to work with the local community in an area suffering from high unemployment, child poverty, addiction and mental and physical health problems.

They could see potential, despite many people writing off or ignoring those who live there, and got to know around 60 local kids through a Monday after school club.

But they wanted to see the children more regularly in order to deepen the relationships and share Jesus in a more relevant way through eating and sharing life together.

They also wanted to show local kids and families that God was busy every day, not just on a Sunday.

Small beginnings

In September 1999, Anna and Chris and a few volunteers came together for Breakfast Club’s first day. Everyone chipped in for supplies and eight children sat down to eat toast and cereal together.

At first only kids from the after school group came, but they soon started inviting their friends so numbers grew steadily. That Christmas, Anna and Chris decided to put on a cooked breakfast and invite parents as well.

Following that cooked breakfast, the club gradually became a space for parents and children to attend together. Now, 25 years on, around 50 people including parents come to Breakfast Club every weekday.

Anna and Chris estimate that between 2,600 and 2,800 different children, parents and teachers have attended the club over the past 25 years. There are even parents at the club who remember coming as children themselves!

Beyond cereal

Breakfast Club isn’t just a place for children and parents to gather and enjoy some family atmosphere and food before school. It has also become a place where people build friendships, find support and can see God at work every day.

Through volunteering at Breakfast Club, a number of older Christians have found their faith rekindled and discovered fresh purpose.

Additionally, Breakfast Club has opened the door for further community-building through curry nights, community fundraising events and banquet meals for local mums.

The club is also valued beyond those who attend – Anna and Chris share, “The school sees it as a real asset as they refer families to the club…”

Sharing Jesus

Just as they’d hoped, Breakfast Club did help Anna and Chris to get to know the local kids and their families better and made it easier to share Jesus’ story with them in relevant ways. Anna and Chris explain they “felt called to share our everyday lives with people and show a living relationship with Jesus over time”.

For many years now, Anna and Chris have also taken several of the kids from Breakfast Club away on camp with Frontier Camps in the summer, for a great holiday and to learn more about Jesus.

Over the past 27 years, Anna and Chris have seen a number of young people in the community commit their lives to Jesus, many of whom have been part of Breakfast Club.

One of those young people was Nicky.

Nicky

Anna and Chris first met Nicky when she was about six years old, when she started coming to the after school club and then Breakfast Club. They soon built a friendship with Nicky and her family and over time they became more like family than friends.

Nicky remembers “small daily experiences, like learning to read at Breakfast Club”. Nicky grew up with Bible stories at the after school club and the Breakfast Club, and later, weekly meals with other young people at Anna and Chris’s home, youth club, summer camps and a couple of trips to Greenbelt.

Over many years, Anna and Chris have been a stable presence through the ups and downs in Nicky’s life, and they were always there, especially Anna during Nicky’s teenage years.

Nicky says that Anna, Chris and others working with them, “have supported me and my family in every aspect of life, helping to make sure we always had community and friendship”.

Over the years, Nicky saw Anna and Chris’s relationship with Jesus in everyday life and saw the faith behind their work in the local community.

Gradually, Nicky’s own faith grew quietly and she came to know Jesus more and more for herself.

Baptism

When Nicky decided she wanted to be baptised, she wanted to do it at summer camp, a place where she’d taken so many steps of faith before.

Anna says: “Camp was church to Nicky in a way her local church wasn’t able to be at that time – an inclusive, supportive family, the good news made relevant, other young people to figure out faith with.”

So, at the evening meeting on the last night of camp, Anna and Chris used what was at hand – the big steel buckets which they used for washing the pots after meals. They poured three buckets of water over Nicky – baptising her in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

They reflect, “It was a profound act, not only for Nicky on her faith journey but also because you could see by their faces, her example made this a possibility on the journeys of all the other children there.”

Nicky is still very much involved with camp, now as a leader. She shares her faith with others through leading the camp crew, spending time with the young people during the week and leading reflections and giving one of the short evening talks.

Still going strong

And what of Breakfast Club?
Anna, Chris and the volunteers are still up bright and early each day, faithfully setting up, cooking, sharing food and fun.

Day by day, they continue to build friendships and invest in the community, living out the love of Jesus on the margins.

Anna and Chris comment, “In terms of faith the community is able to see that God is busy every day and perhaps even that Jesus is someone who can be trusted.”

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The post Celebrating 25 years of breakfast (and baptisms) appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Owen was on the streets, taking drugs and rejected by family. His story could have been similar to that of many young men in Honduras: drawn into gangs, crime and destruction.

But today Owen is studying at university and running a barbers’ shop with CMS mission partners Lindsey and Steve Poulson, who work with children and young people at risk.

Here Owen and Steve tell Owen’s story…

My name is Owen. I am from Honduras. I’m 24 years old and I’m the owner of Barbería Marquez Alas.

Rejection

I grew up in a disintegrated family and I was rejected by my mother. That was really hard and I decided to go to the streets.

God gave me the gift of being a good student. Despite being on the streets, taking drugs and doing very bad things, I still got very good exam results. That meant I could join a project where I could live in a children’s home here in Talanga, a town north of Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.

When I went into the children’s home, my family wanted nothing to do with me. For the 13 years I lived there, neither my mum nor my dad, nor any of my family, visited me. And that really was hurtful, because I wanted them to see that I was not a failure.

Steve: I met Owen as a teenager when he was living in the children’s home. Owen had lots of difficulties growing up, but he’s always been very responsible and willing to work. A few years ago, he started to learn to cut hair and practised on me. I went through a couple of years with pretty bad haircuts. But now, it’s got much better.

I realised that having my hair cut by Owen was a great opportunity to chat with him, so that ended up being our times of mentoring. We would come together every couple of weeks or every month – he would cut my hair and I would hear about his life.

Switching off from God

Owen: I always heard about Jesus. When I was a small child, my uncle and aunt would take me to church and Sunday School. I also joined a Bible study group for children. About four years ago I left the children’s home, and with it the safe bubble where I’d grown up. I started to spend time with people I had met at school and they weren’t necessarily a good influence.

My life completely changed. I started going out to parties, spending time with women and doing things that didn’t honour God. Although I was able to work, I would still go out at the weekends and abuse my body. I knew it wasn’t pleasing to God, so I sort of switched off that part of my life.

Steve: When Owen left the children’s home, I was still able to go and get my hair cut by him, so we stayed in contact. I had always said, “Why don’t you come and join us and start your business, your barbers’ shop, with Proyecto Alas [the project Lindsey and Steve work with]?”

Proyecto Alas

Lindsey and Steve Poulson work in mentoring, creating safe spaces for at-risk children and young people to grow. They explain what Proyecto Alas is all about:

“Gang violence, corruption and poverty affect many Honduran young people. Many experience trauma at home and have few opportunities to change their circumstances. They feel abandoned to make a life for themselves and seek belonging in the only place they can think of – the street.

“Proyecto Alas started as a mentoring programme for children and young people. We bring together a consistent and caring adult with a child or young person, and that adult walks alongside them. There’s so much research showing even just an hour a week one to one in this positive environment can really make a difference.

“Proyecto Alas has grown and now includes an education programme for children to get homework help, a psychologist who provides support and a youth group at the weekends.

“We’ve also started businesses, such as Owen’s barbers’ shop and a cafe, that bring in support for the project and provide employment opportunities for the teenagers as they get older. Through employing people in our businesses, we’re able to give them a dignified way of helping themselves. It’s really exciting to see coffee shop staff, for example, paying for their own education.”

Sick of it all

Owen: There came a point when I realised I was sick of this monotonous life. I went into a time of very deep depression, and I tried to just finish it all. I started praying again because I was sick of what my life was turning into. And I started searching for God again.

One morning I woke up crying, feeling terrible. I said to God, “I don’t want this anymore… God, what do you want for my life?” The Lord gave me the opportunity to start receiving discipleship. And also to be part of the barbers’ shop project.

Steve: At the beginning of 2022 Owen was in a really low place. One day he called because he was losing his job and his home. We managed to arrange a place to stay, and we worked together towards opening the barbers’ shop.

While all of that was going on, we were getting to spend more time with Owen. He was coming to prayer meetings at our house and at one of those he re-dedicated his life to the Lord. There was a 180-degree change in his life. From searching for meaning in drugs and a whole host of things he shouldn’t be doing, he started seeking Jesus.

180-degree change

Owen: Over the past year, there’s been a big change in me emotionally. I realised that even though I was going out to parties, it was something I didn’t want. I was hiding a hole in my heart. When I stopped going out, I was able to stop filling that hole with things that really weren’t healthy for me. I am very thankful to God that I’ve gone at least six months with no alcohol and no drugs.

God has given me the strength to keep going every day, get up every day and never give up.

Although I didn’t grow up with my father or mother, God always put people around me. And thanks to God, those people have helped me to grow spiritually and through my education. Now whenever I wake up, I say, “God, may your will be done today. I want to follow you.” And when I go to sleep, I say “thank you”.

“It’s amazing to
see how Owen
is really taking
charge of his
own life under
the guidance of
the Lord….”

Lindsey and Steve Poulson,
mission partners in Honduras

Passing it on

Steve: Owen is now an example for our other children and youth. He’s been through what they are going through. So it’s great to see him studying social work at university Monday to Thursday and then Friday to Sunday running the barbers’ shop.

Jesus has changed Owen amazingly. It’s not been easy. It’s been a long journey with many ups and downs. But we know we need to just keep going. Never give up. Jesus never gave up on me. So why should we give up on Owen and the other young people we work with?

Owen: I’d like to serve as an example for the kids [at Proyecto Alas] and be a help to them. Because it might not be easy, but asking for help from God and just keeping on going every day makes it worth it.

I don’t just want to be an example of someone who’s graduated and has their own business. I want them to see that I’m someone who serves the Lord. Because everything that I have has been given to me by God.

Recently I got a tattoo on my leg saying “I just didn’t give up,” because Jesus has always been there and he didn’t give up on me.

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The post The cutting edge appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Five year old Matthew (name changed) has become the first child to benefit from the pioneering fostering service now being offered by ReVive, a charity set up by Church Mission Society mission partners in Brazil.

ReVive provides homes and protection for abused and vulnerable girls in Olinda, a city of around 400,000 people in the north-east of the country. The new fostering service, which was officially given the green light to proceed by the authorities in November 2021, is the fulfilment of ReVive’s vision to see vulnerable children cared for within a strong, high-quality, fostering service.

Tony Lewry, ReVive’s fostering coordinator said: “We are so incredibly excited to be launching our fostering service here in Olinda! We successfully started our foster parent training at the beginning of June and now, six months later, we can begin placing children in loving homes. There are so many vulnerable children in our city who desperately need a safe place to live. Our service will not only offer a safe place but a family environment which will create the atmosphere each child needs to overcome the challenges life has thrown at them.”

Initially, ReVive aim to be catering for children up to the age of six, but with experience the team hope they can increase the scope of the service they can offer. Lewry said, “Our hope is that by 2030 fostering is the primary form of full-time child-care in the city.”

Andy Roberts, Director of International Mission at Church Mission Society and co-founder of Revive, said: “Now seeing Matthew living in a safe home with loving parents justifies the many frustrations, long meetings and bureaucracy that at times we thought would defeat us.”

Currently fewer than five per cent of children in the care system in Brazil are cared for in foster families. However, the ReVive team were faced with multiple issues on the way to this landmark decision. Lewry explains, “Public awareness of fostering is low and politically, passing fostering legislation is understandably seen as a low priority.”

Revive now runs two homes and has supported over 75 girls by providing accommodation, protection and education, taking them out of danger and helping them to rebuild their young lives.

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The post First foster family found! appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

I used to sleep in church. My mum would take me to church when I was young and I remember I didn’t want to be there.

My first impressions of hearing about Jesus weren’t very good.

Growing up, I was a very angry person. I had a terrible attitude, I didn’t listen to people. My whole world was going to work with my mother at a large local rubbish dump. When I got a bit older I started smoking, drinking, stealing from people so I could buy drugs. I didn’t like being around my mum. I didn’t want to work.

I saw no purpose to my life. I was just existing. It’s not like I had any hopes or dreams; I was just living for the moment. I didn’t think about tomorrow. I wasn’t making good decisions. Nothing really mattered. Then one day I came to Street Kids Direct (SKD) and I met a guy called Jonathan, who listened to me talk about my life and he encouraged me to get closer to God.

The best decision I ever made

I hadn’t realised how much I needed someone to talk to, and it was good to learn that I could also talk to God. I realised God was the only one who could help me change my life. God was the best person I could have ever met. I decided to follow Jesus.

Things didn’t change for me overnight. It took years. My friends tried to respect my decision and the fact that I wasn’t doing the same things I used to, but a distance grew between us, and this was difficult. My family saw good changes happening in me, but it has taken my mum a long time to get used to the idea that I had changed. We are still on that journey together to be honest. But I still think it’s the best decision I ever made.

Because the thing is, God never abandons you. There have been times when I have been distracted from faith, or I’ve struggled to understand, or I doubt. I think we all do. But sooner or later, you always find the light in the dark.

The most important lesson I’ve learned from God is forgiveness. God is the perfect example of forgiveness and I have had to learn to forgive, to let go of some things from the past and move forward. To not let things build up.

When things are tough, I pray and I talk to the people God has put in my path. The people around me like Duncan (SKD’s leader) and Azaria (a CMS mission partner) have helped me think differently, to see life differently. They know life can be difficult and thanks to them and God, I think I have changed a lot. I feel God has done a lot for me in my life and I try to reflect that. I am not a millionaire so I cannot pay them back for what they have done for me, but I thank them for not giving up on me. You can’t give up on people or assume they will never change. You have to give them a chance to be different.

I know what it’s like

I want other people to know that following God’s way is the best option. I think the best thing I can do is listen to other people’s stories and share my story. Because I know what it’s like to feel alone, to feel empty and angry at the same time. I know what it’s like to always feel like you need something more, but you don’t know what so you look for quick fixes to make you feel better. I know what it’s like to be outside of God’s things, to not know where to turn. But I want them to know it’s never too late. You can be happy.

That’s the thing. I do feel happy. It’s hard to describe, really, but I feel like a different person. It’s difficult to put into words, but it’s something that God has given me and it can’t be compared. It’s a love I feel and I feel good in myself. And I think the most important thing is just to keep going, with the help of God and others.

Give now

Many people might have ignored or given up on Danilo, but God never left him and neither did the people in mission who continue to walk alongside him. Please give to help more people like Danilo become disciples of Jesus.

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When life got too much for Katerin, trusted mission workers were there – and are now mentoring her back towards a thriving life.

By Lindsey and Steve Poulson

TALANGA, HONDURAS – Katerin sits at one of the corner tables of Cafe Alas, sipping from her fruit smoothie as she chats with her mentor, Lorena. Katerin has had a difficult last few weeks, but on this Tuesday afternoon she can just be a typical 17-year-old hanging out in a coffee shop.

Cafe Alas is a place Katerin can relax, enjoying the cosy environment complete with comfy sofas, greenery and calming instrumental music. Here she shares with Lorena the joys and challenges of her life during their weekly hour together as part of the Proyecto Alas mentoring programme. 

Dramatic turnaround

One month ago, Katerin was hospitalised after she attempted suicide by overdosing on some medication.

The pressures of being a single mother of a nine-month-old, helping her mother run their home as the only daughter and taking classes at the weekend to complete school grade 8 had just felt like too much.

But because of the good relationship between Proyecto Alas and the family, Katerin’s mother called the directors for help, and an ambulance was arranged to rush an unconscious Katerin to hospital – just in time to save her life. Thankfully, Katerin is now on the road to recovery.

Breaking taboos

Mental health is still a fairly taboo subject in Honduras, but thanks to Proyecto Alas, Katerin is able to receive the support she needs.

In addition to her weekly hour with her mentor, she has regular sessions with the project’s psychologist, who is helping her process her emotions and learn strategies for resilience.

She is also starting to work as a part time cleaner in the coffee shop, which not only provides her a steady income to support her baby’s needs, but also a stable routine to support her own health.

A safe place for the community

Cafe Alas has become a popular place for Katerin and other children and young people who are part of the Proyecto Alas mentoring programme, as it is conveniently located in the same building. The coffee shop was reopened in this new location in April 2022, with the main objective of earning funds to help support the programmes of Proyecto Alas with at-risk children and youth like Katerin.

The coffee shop currently provides part-time employment for seven young people, and is proving to be a “safe place”, not only for kids and their mentors, but for the wider community as well. 

Pray together

Please continue to pray for Katerin, as well as the other children and young people who are part of the projects that Lindsey and Steve are working with. Pray too for Lindsey and Steve as they support Proyecto Alas and help to manage the coffee shop.

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The post Life-saving love appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

A few years ago, Jay Lilley would have told you there was no way he would ever be working for a church. Yet now he is a youth worker running groups in churches and schools in Essex, and is studying with CMS on a youth work pathway. He explains what changed…

By Jay Lilley

Church under duress

I’m a working-class boy from East London. I went to church under duress when I was a kid. I had to go because my sister needed to be baptised and confirmed to go to a Catholic school. And then from about 12, I didn’t go to church anymore. The area where I grew up was not the nicest – kids ran in gangs and you could get yourself mixed up in really bad stuff.

I was a soldier for a while, then left the army and got a job that paid well and gave me a house and a car. But the company went bankrupt. I lost pretty much all I owned and was homeless for a while. Eventually I moved to be with my now wife and worked two jobs. I worked a lot and was motivated by the money more than the job.

Church across the street

We lived across the road from the Good Shepherd church, and David Harrigan (a pioneer minister who trained at CMS) was one of our neighbours. We used to say hello and have a chat in the morning. At that point, I was boxing but had an injury and wasn’t as fit as I should have been going into a fight. David said, “Well, we have this spiritual boxing community at the Good Shepherd. You should come along.”

So I went to the Good Shepherd Boxing Community, which David had started. It wasn’t to do with faith for me – I needed to be fit for a fight. I was used to a boxing gym, where you go in, you work out and you spar. It’s on your own, motivated by your trainer. But the boxing group was a community. You were going there to be with people. And it was more about the love side of it than the fighting side. For me, it was completely different.

After about four weeks, David invited me to come to church one Sunday. I’d always had this gap in my life and when I told my wife I’d been asked to go to church, she said, “Why don’t you go and check it out?”

I went and sat right at the back. When I came home I felt different, weird. I said to my wife, “I’ve got a feeling this thing I’m missing is a spiritual connection.” But I didn’t go for a few weeks because it scared me. Then I saw David on the school run, and he encouraged me to come back to the boxing group.

I started going to church more. The people at the Good Shepherd were from the boxing community and lived in the same flats as me. They were my kind of people. I just didn’t know my kind of people went to church.

Boxing baptisms

The community is more than just boxing. We come together from the same kind of backgrounds. We talk, eat together, share stories and pray together. These guys, like me, have not been around church, probably ever. Or if they did, there weren’t good memories. So to see them ready to be baptised and give their lives to Jesus was incredible.

When five of the guys were baptised, David transformed our church – he put ropes around the pillars and turned the middle of the church into a boxing ring with the pool in it. It was like a boxing event, but with a baptism. It was amazing.

The church did an Alpha course, which David said might be good because I had questions. After that finished, our group said, “We’re not done yet.” So David started a new community, which was where I reaffirmed my faith. It is called Soyanna, a Sri Lankan word meaning the way, or journey or path (named because one of our group is from Sri Lanka). My children got baptised a few years ago, so did my wife. And their godparents are part of the Soyanna community. It’s a big part of our lives and it’s been a big part of my journey.

Finding vocation

Having been mixed up in bad things when I was younger, once I came to faith I wanted to give back to someone. And one Sunday the youth worker explained, “We have an outreach group where the leaders have left because the group are unruly. We’re looking for people to sign up.” So I joined the team. And the second I got there, I finally felt some peace in doing something as a vocation.

When the youth worker moved, the church offered me the role. And David introduced me to Graceworks, an organisation who do Christian schools work and support churches in my area. They were looking for a schools worker, and even though I’m not churchy and I’m a bit on the edge, they hired me.

Appetite for learning

I was already part of St Cedd’s [pioneer ministry training hub] in partnership with CMS, but I wanted more depth. David suggested I get in touch with CMS. I was accepted, so I’m studying for the Certificate on the youth work pathway, and preparing to be a lay pioneer minister.

I hadn’t done any learning since I was about 16, so it’s taken a while to learn how to write essays. My search for knowledge is much bigger now, I’m reading more than I’ve ever read. At the moment I’m doing my youth module with another person from Australia. Our tutor also does youth work, so it is great to learn from him.

Putting learning into practice

I try to do as much stuff I learn from CMS as I can. And it’s because CMS and especially pioneering is so relational. I think that when you look at the church, young people are not usually interested, but the idea I’ve taken from CMS is that being relational and being something different is what young people are looking for. It’s helped me loads within my ministries.

The boxing community is still going and growing, though I don’t go as much as I used to because of my workload. Soyanna is ever growing. My youth work is ever growing. And that’s basically my life at the moment, which is so amazing!

Take part

Do you have a passion for mission but feel that, like Jay, you’re “a bit on the edge”? Check out CMS Pioneer Mission Leadership Training – available in person and online.

Visit CMS pioneer training website

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The post Giving faith a fighting chance appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

More stories of Jesus bringing hope

The post Rosie and Stu Bayford, Brazil appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Mission with children and young people with additional needs and their families

by Mark Arnold

One in five of the 13 million children and young people in the UK have additional needs of some kind.¹

That’s approximately 2.5 million children/young people, yet even before the COVID-19 pandemic at best only 10 per cent of them had any kind of contact with church. More recently, the #LeftInLockdown research carried out in 2021 by the Disabled Children’s Partnership highlighted that over 90 per cent of disabled children still found themselves socially isolated despite lockdown easing.² That includes isolation from church.

Many children and young people with additional needs, and their families, have found the last couple of years overwhelmingly difficult, as much of the vital support that they had relied on has been cut back or stopped altogether. I’m co-founder of the Additional Needs Alliance and over the course of the pandemic we asked families to tell us how it had been going for them. Words like “horrendous”, “exhausting”, “anxious” and “lonely” were common.

Practical and missional

So, what does being missional, reaching out to children and young people with additional needs and their families, look like for us as church in 2022? How can we respond to the needs of these struggling families? Before we can even think about supporting them spiritually, we need to be thinking about how we can support them practically – we need to show them the gospel before we can tell them the gospel.

We could offer to do some shopping for them or pick up a prescription. We could arrange to deliver a meal, or take a cake around as a welcome treat. We could create a small team to provide occasional respite support for a family, or accompany them to some of the many, often intimidating, meetings that they attend. Perhaps transport is an issue; we could help there too. Most of all, we need to keep in contact, making sure that no family feels forgotten. As a parent who responded to the Additional Needs Alliance survey put it:

Notice us. We will always cope and be “OK” because we don’t have any other choice. See beyond the bravado and offer us something to make sure we know you’re taking us with you.

And as we think about those practical ways to provide support, we need to be aware that many families will have had years of rejection, exclusion, discrimination and negativity, and that might have been from the church, too. I’ve heard too many stories of children and their families being told that they are no longer welcome as their child might be “a health and safety risk”, or that “this isn’t a special needs church”, or even a disabled child, a child for goodness’ sake, who was told by their Sunday school teacher, “Don’t come back.”

As always, we can learn from the examples that Jesus gave us: how through his encounters with people he showed us how to be loving and inclusive of all, creating belonging and community for everyone, leaving no one out. Children and young people mattered to Jesus during his ministry on earth; he healed them, he raised them from the dead, he rebuked anyone who turned them away and he didn’t discriminate against any of them. Neither should we.

Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46–52)

A favourite Bible story of mine is when Jesus met Bartimaeus, a man who was blind and who begged on the road near Jericho. Jesus had been going around teaching, preaching and healing people, and a large crowd was travelling with him. As he passed by where Bartimaeus was begging, Bartimaeus heard the commotion and asked what was going on. Someone told him that it was Jesus and his followers, and so Bartimaeus shouted out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”³ What happened to Bartimaeus next is what can commonly happen to children, young people or adults with additional needs; Bartimaeus was told to be quiet, to keep out of the way, to not be a bother. But the more they tried to stop him, the more Bartimaeus kept crying out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus heard him and asked Bartimaeus to come to him.

You can imagine the scene: Bartimaeus is in front of Jesus; a large crowd is gathered around jostling for position to see what happens. The expectation is reaching fever pitch among the people who have heard about the miracles that Jesus has been performing. Then Jesus does something unexpected, something that takes the crowd by surprise, something that teaches us about how we should be with someone who has additional needs. Jesus asks Bartimaeus a question, “What would you have me do for you?”⁴

The crowd must have been incredulous; it’s Bartimaeus, he’s blind – you’ve been going around healing people, so what do you think he wants from you?! Now I’m sure that Jesus, as a human being, knew that Bartimaeus was blind; and I’m sure that as God made flesh, he knew what Bartimaeus wanted from him, but Jesus didn’t assume. Jesus didn’t decide on Bartimaeus’ behalf; he gave Bartimaeus the dignity and respect to allow him to ask for himself, for his own voice to be heard. Bartimaeus said, “I want to see,” and so Jesus restored his sight; but in Jesus’ encounter with Bartimaeus – the way he was with him, the question he asked him – he teaches us some very valuable lessons, 2,000 years later.

Ask

A starting point for missionally reaching out to families with children and young people with additional needs is to work “with” them and not “to” them. So often, children and young people, and their families, can have inclusion “done unto” them poorly by well-meaning people who could have done things much better if only they had asked. By using the simple ASK approach below, the input of children and young people with additional needs, and their families, can help us know the best way to reach and support them. It recognises that helpful phrase, “Nothing about us without us.”

A. Ask – Simply ask. Get in touch with families of children and young people with additional needs and ask them to help you to get this right in your church. Tell them that you really value their input and that together you can make a difference. You might have to apologise if your church hasn’t sought their input before or has ignored their previous suggestions. Ask them what barriers they have experienced – there will probably be some you haven’t thought of – and agree to work on removing them together. Other adults with additional needs or disabilities in your church might provide useful pointers here too.

S. Seek – What solutions can they think of? Are there ideas that have been helpful for them/their child or young person in other settings, such as school, home or other clubs, that could be adapted to work in church? We don’t have to invent the wheel, there is likely to be a perfectly good one rolling along elsewhere in a child’s life!

K. Know – Learn from the families and from the children and young people themselves. They know most about their/ their child’s best ways of experiencing and navigating a safe and successful way through the world and will have a wealth of knowledge to share that can help us in our church context; let them be your guide!

The language we use when journeying with families or the young people themselves is vitally important too. Do we include a box on a form for something that asks, “Does your child have any special needs?” and then be surprised when that box is left blank and yet a child subsequently arrives who needs support? Think about those families that have been told that their child isn’t welcome at church anymore; how likely are they to declare their child’s additional needs again?

Ask families how their child best likes to be supported and helped, what they enjoy doing, what positive things people say about them; these are all questions that are much more likely to help us get to know a child or young person better, unlock useful and helpful information, and be great conversation starters. A useful tool to help with this is a “one-page profile” and sample templates for these can be found in the resources area of the Sheffkids website: www.sheffkids.co.uk. I suggest you try using these with all of the children and young people that you journey with; you will find out more about them than you might think!

So, as we reach out into our community, looking to minister and be missional with children and young people with additional needs and their families, practically showing them the gospel of love, let’s recognise how difficult the last couple of years in particular have been for them, let’s apologise for when we’ve got it wrong, let’s ask them how we can help, and let’s journey together with them to support them practically and spiritually in the future.

Resources

If you would like a study pack to help you as a church to journey with this some more, including video resources and 10 study questions to explore, to help you to create a church where everyone belongs, you’ll find everything you need here: https://theadditionalneedsblogfather.com/2019/07/18/10-ways-to-belong/

About the author

Mark Arnold is the additional needs ministry director at leading national Christian children’s and youth organisation Urban Saints and is co-founder of the Additional Needs Alliance, a vibrant and fast-growing online community. He is an enthusiastic national and international advocate and ally for children and young people with additional needs. Mark blogs as the national award-winning The Additional Needs Blogfather, and is father to James, who is autistic and also has learning difficulties and epilepsy. Mark is on Twitter at @Mark_J_Arnold

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Notes

1 Department for Education, “Reforms for children with SEN and disabilities come into effect,” GOV.UK, 1 September 2014, accessed 4 October 2021, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/reforms-for-children-with-sen-and-disabilities-come-into-effect.
2 Disabled Children’s Partnership, #LeftInLockdown – Parent carers’ experiences of lockdown,” 2021, accessed 4 October 2021, https://disabledchildrenspartnership.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/LeftInLockdown-Parent-carers’-experiences-of-lockdown-June-2020.pdf. Further information in https://disabledchildrenspartnership.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/The-Loneliest-Lockdown.pdf.
3 Mark 10:47 (NIV).
4 Mark 10:51 (RGT)

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