Go boldly: From world mission to out-of-this-world mission...
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 1 Dec 2025
With billionaires racing to colonise Mars and build orbital resorts, one theologian is asking: “Who will bring the gospel to outer space?”
Stephen Stallard is author of “The Final Frontier of Mission: Space Tourism, Lunar Colonies, and the Future of Interplanetary Mission” – a chapter in the book New Frontiers in Missiology (2025).
The local church at the heart of God’s global mission
Oak Hill College
Date posted: 28 Oct 2025
Oak Hill College and UFM Worldwide joined forces with The Upstream Collective to help people explore the vital place of the local church in mission.
Kentucky-based Upstream Collective’s mission is to help churches send well - doing this through equipping the church with tools and relational support and by sending the church as a missions agency that prioritises relationships.
Sporting boost for uni missions
Brian Glynn
Date posted: 27 Apr 2025
Christian students are sharing encouragements following on from university missions which were supported by the organisation Christians in Sport (CiS).
Grace, a student leader at Exeter, reflected on the joy of seeing her peers engage with the message of Jesus. “We’ve loved having Graham Daniels [General Director of CiS] opening up the book of Luke during our evening events,” she said. “It’s been a real encouragement seeing many students come along to hear the gospel for the first time, through an invite from Christian friends or just by picking up a flyer.”
Gospel makes waves by the sea: United Beach Missions
en staff
Date posted: 28 Sep 2025
Beach missions are alive and well – at least if these photos are anything to go by!
Some of the UBM (United Beach Missions) team can be seen getting ready for outreach as the summer season hit its peak.
140th anniversary of the Cambridge Seven's mission to China
OMF
Date posted: 4 Jul 2025
This year marks the 140th anniversary of the Cambridge Seven sailing for China in February 1885.
The OMF website explains: “This group of seven Christians from Britain caught the imagination of the church and the nation as they gave up riches, fame and comfortable lives to go and share the good news of Jesus in China through the China Inland Mission (CIM), now OMF International.
Brighton beach 1865: When evangelical global mission changed forever
OMF UK
Date posted: 27 Jun 2025
It is now 160 years since Hudson Taylor launched his famous and transformative missionary movement.
It was on 25 June 1865 that he prayed on Brighton beach for 24 “willing, skillful workers” to take the gospel to those with the fewest opportunities to hear it in the inland provinces of China.
Blackpool: FIEC leaders meet
John Woods
Date posted: 20 Nov 2025
More than 1,100 church leaders, missionaries, and gospel workers gathered in Blackpool for the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches' (FIEC) Leaders’ Conference to consider mission in the UK and to the ends of the earth.
While the church can sometimes pay only lip service to mission, this conference provided a substantial rather than perfunctory engagement with the theme. The main plenary sessions were rooted in a proclamation of the first two chapters of Acts. There was a welcome emphasis on the fact that the mission is God’s mission, that it has the gospel at its core, has the local church at its heart, and flows out of our weakness, enabled by the power of the Spirit.
New life in Christ for Sally, one of London’s many homeless
London City Mission
Date posted: 11 Dec 2025
New data from the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) shows a sharp rise in street homelessness in London.
There were 3,028 people living on the streets between April 2024 and March 2025 – a 27% increase from the previous year and a 90% rise over the past decade.
Aid cuts worry Christian charities
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 23 Dec 2025
Christian charities that provide international aid are facing up to further cuts to the UK’s foreign aid budget planned for 2027.
After being reduced from 0.7% to 0.5% of Gross National Income (GNI) in 2021, spending will further decrease to 0.3% of GNI in 2027 to fund increased defence spending. As such, foreign aid spending will be the lowest it has been since 1999.
Bradford as 2025 City of Culture – opportunities for mission
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 11 Feb 2025
Bradford 2025 has kicked off the New Year as the UK’s City of Culture, providing a perfect opportunity for gospel-focused churches to reach a wider audience.
The West Yorkshire city was announced as 2025’s UK City of Culture in May 2022 but has since been maligned by many (for reasons ranging from its gloomy weather to economic decline and racial problems). Almost a third of Bradford’s population is under the age of 20; and according to the 2021 census, four in ten people identified as being from an ethnic minority across Bradford District as a whole (significantly higher in the city centre).
MAF marks 80 years of humanitarian flight
MAF
Date posted: 15 Nov 2025
Marking the first Lady Mayor’s Show in style: Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) joined the iconic procession to welcome Dame Susan Langley as the new Mayor of London on Saturday 8 November.
Dressed to impress in aircraft costumes spanning ten metres, and capes printed with scenes from isolated communities, the MAF team marched from Mansion House to the Royal Courts of Justice to greet the newly installed Lady Mayor.
'Go Tell It,' convention attendees urged
Bangor Worldwide Missionary Convention
Date posted: 3 Sep 2025
International speakers were in Bangor, Northern Ireland, at the end of August to participate in the 89th Worldwide Missionary Convention under the theme "Go Tell It."
With meetings held over eight days, the interdenominational, evangelical event is of considerable significance in the missionary life of Northern Ireland.
London churches unite for mission
Luke Randall
Date posted: 17 Jul 2024
Churches from across London are planning to unite next year for a London Mission Week, aiming to share the gospel with people in the city. The outreach initiative is supported by a variety of representatives from organisations including London City Mission, the Evangelical Alliance, the Church of England and London Mission Collective.
The event’s website revealed that cultural gatherings undertaken by the London Project – which exists to share the gospel with people in the city – have revealed a clear desire among the global church to collaboratively evangelise to the people of London.
First City Mission marks 200 years
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 21 Feb 2026
The world’s first official City Mission, Glasgow City Mission, is celebrating 200 years of service in Scotland’s largest city.
Established in 1826, Glasgow City Mission was founded by young Glaswegian David Naismith at just 26 years old. Moved by the poverty he witnessed in Glasgow, Naismith put the gospel into action by caring for people’s physical, emotional and spiritual needs.
6,000 young people in London mobilised for mission
Milla Ling-Davies
Date posted: 9 Sep 2024
This summer, the stands of Wembley Arena, normally filled with fans singing football chants, were instead filled with 6,000 young people singing the praises of God.
This was the launch event of The Send UK & Ireland - a new collaboration between churches and mission agencies for the purpose of inspiring teenagers and young adults to live missionally in five key areas: secondary school, university, family life, workplaces and the nations.
Churches gear up for Life ’26 nationwide mission
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 1 Jan 2026
Churches across the country are preparing for a focused period of evangelism. Life ’26 is a nationwide gospel mission, starting in March, where church fellowships will share the gospel with their communities. A Passion for Life (APFL) oversees the mission. This year, the theme is a question: “Ever feel like something’s missing?”
Alex Hillman, APFL’s Communications and Operations Lead, told en: “Over 250 churches, from Thurso in the North of Scotland to St Helier in Jersey, will be joining together to share the gospel with friends, family, neighbours and people in their communities, under a common banner [and] with a shared mission campaign identity.”
UK festival proves mass evangelism can last
Luis Palau Association
Date posted: 10 May 2025
Despite the positive and Biblical intent to reach as many as possible with the gospel, mass evangelism campaigns are often criticised as ineffective - but one festival in Teesside has proven otherwise.
Large-scale evangelistic events, while often drawing crowds and delivering powerful messages, can appear to be impersonal, and reducing the introduction to faith to a one-time event rather than fostering a lasting, transformative relationship with Jesus Christ. They are also criticised for being short term in nature - after the event ends, there is little ongoing engagement or support for the new believers.
From Russia to Wales: ‘The ministry is God’s, not mine’
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 10 Mar 2025
You almost couldn’t get two more different places than the bustling metropolis of Moscow and what Ricky Wilhelm describes as the ‘sleepy seaside town’ of Penarth, Wales. Yet, married missionaries Ricky and Brandy have seen the gospel powerfully at work in both.
Ricky and Brandy grew up in Oklahoma and were married at age 19. Inspired by a visit to their campus from missionaries in Russia, the couple decided to enter the mission field and spent the next eight years of their life working with the Udmurt people in the Volga region of Russia. ‘Love for the people came quite slowly,’ Ricky explained. ‘It was hard … Americans are admired in many ways but not necessarily loved by other cultures.’
‘Exciting’ London Gospel launch
en staff
Date posted: 29 Mar 2025
A galaxy of leading evangelical organisations is supporting what is described as an “exciting” new edition of Mark’s Gospel for mass distribution across London.
The giveaway Gospel is soon to be published by Grace Publications, in collaboration with Holman/Lifeway and London City Mission. Designed in what is described as “a contemporary zine format”, it combines “keen affordability with compelling graphics and design.”
Mission Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow: GBM day
Naresh Mistry
Date posted: 23 Nov 2025
Grace Baptist Mission’s (GBM) Annual Mission Day had as its theme “Mission Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”.
Attendees gathered to celebrate 164 years of dedicated service by missionaries supported by the churches. Missionaries from diverse regions shared stories of encouragement and challenges. Ray Evans from Grace Community Church, Bedford delivered a compelling closing message drawing from Acts 16.
Gospel shared in Manchester Christmas market
The sounds and smells of the Manchester Christmas market wafted their way through the city centre. As people rushed to and fro on their way to keep appointments or get in some Christmas shopping, a sound was heard – the message of the season – good news on the streets: the Saviour has been born!
Amongst the hustle and bustle, a team from The Open-Air Mission had set up and was busy sharing the message of God’s love. A few people paused to listen, others took tracts and spoke with team members. Also set up was a ‘Free Bible and Literature’ table, which proved to be a magnet for people. As people walked by, they stopped at the table to browse the literature, then they would take a booklet or Bible.
1,100 attend Pentecostal rally in Bradford
Luke Randall
Date posted: 2 Sep 2024
In a show of unity 'not seen for over 20 years', 1,100 people attended a Pentecostal rally in what was the culmination of a 10-day mission event in Bradford.
The event, run by Sharing of Ministries Abroad, (SOMA) saw missioners descend on the West Yorkshire city, specifically focusing on reaching people within the BD7 postcode, with various outreach events staged with the help of St John’s Great Horton, St Wilfrid’s and St Columba’s churches.
Caffeine and Kingdom?
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 25 Mar 2026
Can coffee fuel evangelism? If it’s Tommy’s Coffee, then “yes!” say directors Luke Porter and Joel Barwick, who founded the kingdom-building coffee ministry last year.
The coffee cart, based in St Thomas’ Church, Newcastle, first started serving customers in May with a mission to simultaneously caffeinate and connect with the city’s residents.
A Passion for Life ignites church outreach
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 23 Mar 2026
More than 340 churches are taking part in a nationwide evangelistic mission around the Easter period.
Churches as far north as Thurso, Scotland and as far south as Jersey (plus a church in France, en has been told!) are participating in Life’26 – facilitated by outreach organisation A Passion for Life (APFL) and covered in detail in both the January and February print editions of en.