Displaying items by tag: Outreach

An African proverb says, ‘If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito.’ Jesus said the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed; a very small seed produces a large plant. Most major movements and spiritual awakenings started with one person or a small group. A mission worker who had the opportunity of introducing people to Jesus, then discovered the impact they had on others when he reconnected with a man he led to Christ years ago. The man described family members and co-workers that he had shared the Gospel with who had come to the Lord; his brother had become a Middle East pastor. When we sow the seed of God’s Word it does not return void. If we sow abundantly, we reap abundantly. God is faithful and will honor the little things we say and do in His name.

On 12 April, 1.6 billion Muslims will begin thirty days of prayer and fasting for Ramadan. Tens of thousands of disciples around the world will pray for them to come to know Jesus and experience new life in him. You are invited to join ‘Beyond’ for a regional update focused on the Islamic world and hear how God is working among Muslim peoples, the challenges and strongholds they face, and how we in the UK can get involved in reaching them with the Good News. The free online multi-week trainings are called Disciple-making Movement Nuggets. Each session focuses on one component - giving a short, practical piece people can ‘try out’. If they find it helpful, they can be connected to more detailed training and coaching. See also

ECM UK is an international, interdenominational mission agency whose ministry primarily focuses on planting churches in areas of Europe where there is little or no evangelical presence. They work in over twenty countries, planting churches, training people in leadership development and managing social care ministries. Nearly all ECM missionaries are volunteers, raising their own financial support and prayer cover. ECM also has partners in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, France, Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands, all reaching out to unreached Europeans. See

There is refreshing news of Covid infections decreasing, and talk of a financial recovery as affluent households are ready to spend again. However, families on the very lowest incomes have been more impacted and will face even more hardships in 2021. The Body of Christ plays a vital role in ministering to those around us in distress and shining the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This challenge will be discussed at a free London City Mission webinar, ‘Hope for those in financial distress’, on 25 March. It will be a chance to put questions to a panel of missionaries and a training director. They will discuss how churches can build new connections with people, and opportunities to develop a culture of loving, committed gospel outreach.

London City Mission (LCM) is helping churches to reach out to people who belong to socially-excluded groups - prisoners, those who are homeless, trafficked into the UK, or with addictions. For many who experience rejection and hostility, a crippling sense of shame and unworthiness is a far greater obstacle to coming to church. Imagine that you’d like to go to church but have not been able to access a shower and clean clothes for the past ten days. How might people react to you? Gently edge you to one side, outright reject you, or offer awkward sympathy? To overcome this fear of rejection, LCM is helping churches to look outward, stepping beyond their comfort zone and seeking ways to connect with people far beyond the church community. They also want to help the church to consider how it can improve their welcome to people who have experienced social exclusion and help them feel comfortable amongst Christians.

The trials brought on by the Covid crisis have created a window of incredible opportunity. International evangelical agencies are hurrying to distribute the gospel to the most dangerous places on the frontlines of persecution where people have had their world shaken. Their hearts are open to the Good News. Wherever Satan is spreading death and destruction, God is there, working in the hearts of those affected. In the darkest periods of life, the lost can see clearly that the world has no answers for them. They see God is the answer. In these times, their willingness to turn to Him is greatly elevated.

Her atheist parents were surprised when three-year-old Akiane began describing dreams and visions from God. She spent her early years in rural Illinois. No money, no friends, no television or radio, no babysitters - a quiet simple life. She spoke of colourful dreams and visions about heaven, Jesus, and God’s amazing love. Her parents realiszed her focus on God was not inspired by anything in the isolated world they lived in. Akiane had supernatural encounters with the living God and expressed them through her gift of art. ‘Nobody told me who God was; I found Him myself. He’s been there for me through the years. I don’t belong to any denomination or religion. I belong to God.’ As Akiane has got older, some early dreams and visions have faded. ‘Although I have forgotten most of my early heavenly contacts, my recent visions continue in a special way’, she says. ‘I alone know how important Jesus is for me.’

14-year-old Mohammed, a Muslim street child without parental supervision, attended a local Sunday school for the entertainment and free food. Then he was challenged to receive Jesus. He said, ‘I waited until I got home, then at 3:00 am I said, “Lord Jesus, please help me. I am desperate, helpless, hopeless. I cannot take it any more. I need you.” Then within half an hour I slept, and I woke up in the morning excited. I took one of the many New Testaments from Sunday school and put it in my school bag and went to school and started telling people about my experience.’ He was thrilled that he had found the answers to his troubling questions, not where he expected in Islam, but in Christianity, and he boldly told everyone about Jesus. This turned more than a few heads. God had a plan for his life; to read his wonderful story, click the ‘More’ button.

For hundreds of years, the Church has worked hard at translating, publishing and distributing the Bible. Only around 250 million people are still waiting for Bible translation to begin in the language they know best. But all this is just groundwork for the main task of seeing the nations become disciples of Christ through engaging with the Bible. Technology provides audio Bibles, Bible study apps, and videos dramatising Biblical content; these are a great blessing, especially where Bibles are hard to acquire, where literacy is low, or where it is a security risk to have a hard copy. Bible engagement is a challenge to every church across the nations. Pray for God to increase the number of all those who work in the gap between the Bible and the world: Bible teachers for children and adults; those who present Bible truth through music, art, dance, drama, fiction and other forms of storytelling and learning; and scholars and commentators.

Centres of Hope are Christian schools open to anybody regardless of faith background. They want to show Jesus’s love to the community, and they don’t attach conditions to entry. But they do want to make sure that they show Jesus as the real source of hope. Young children and teenagers do separate activities. The young ones dance and sing songs about Jesus and watch biblical stories and funny sketches by staff. The teenagers watch a Christian movie and then discuss it. But like everywhere, Syria has taken measures to prevent coronavirus spreading. Many centres temporarily closed, and staff refocused efforts towards humanitarian and emergency aid. Now the centres are re-opening, and they are praying that they will reach even larger numbers of children to show them the love of God and to tell them the good news of salvation.