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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.”

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.’

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.”

Emily Pollok

Date posted: 23 Dec 2024

Certain things just make sense together. Batman and Robin. Tea and biscuits. But, church and wrestling?

‘Wrestling and faith evolved alongside each other for me,’ explains Gareth ‘Angel’ Thompson, founder of Kingdom Wrestling, a ministry that combines throwing down in the ring with sharing the gospel – all for the glory of God.

Milla Ling-Davies

Date posted: 1 Apr 2024

Christian Unions (CUs) have seen an increase in the number of students professing faith during their mission weeks.

In February, as they do each Spring, nearly 100 CUs across the UK held mission weeks on university campuses – a series of themed evangelistic events spread out over five days. While CUs have often seen students profess faith in the days and months following mission weeks, this year they saw many make a commitment during the weeks themselves.

The Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) is planning at least ten new congregations and ten new church-planting projects over the next decade. The “bold vision” for mission was approved at this year’s General Assembly in Belfast.

Referencing a major PCI report, Church Planting – The Next Decade (or ‘10+10 in 10’), Council secretary Rick Hill, pointed to the growth and positive developments of projects and congregations in Balbriggan, Belfast, Wexford, Carrigart, and Kilkenny. Ben Walker, minister at Saintfield Road Presbyterian Church, said the PCI is “seeking to enable and encourage the creation of Christ-centred, worshipping communities throughout Ireland”.

Lydia Houghton

Date posted: 18 Jul 2025

Smuggling Bibles to believers in communist countries – that’s how Open Doors UK & Ireland began. 70 years on, the organisation has become an international ministry working for the good of the persecuted church.

In 1955, Dutch missionary Brother Andrew set off for Poland with a suitcase containing his Bible and hundreds of tracts entitled “The Way of Salvation”. Behind the Iron Curtain (the divide between Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe and the West during the Cold War) he discovered churches desperately in need of Bibles, support, and prayer.

Jonathan Lamb

Date posted: 16 Jul 2025

Delegates from 16 countries representing 90 different Bible-teaching events and almost 50,000 believers are attending the 150th celebrations at the Keswick Convention.

They are participating in a special track – the Keswick Fellowship International Consultation.

A Christian beacon of hope for rough sleepers and homeless people which helps more than 10,000 people a year has a fresh lease of life after renovation work.

Webber Street, London City Mission’s (LCM) Day Centre has been at the forefront of offering practical care and compassion with gospel hope for more than 60 years.

Milla Ling-Davies

Date posted: 2 Jul 2025

Amid recent reports of a “quiet revival” and renewed exploration of Christianity in the UK, the question remains: Why the growing interest? A new report from the Evangelical Alliance has helped reveal the answer.

The Evangelical Alliance’s (EA) “Finding Jesus” research, conducted in 2024 and released this June, found that UK adults are investigating Christianity primarily due to a need for meaning and hope – often prompted by a personal crisis.

Amid OMF’s anniversary celebrations, “harm caused by several alleged perpetrators” at a school run by the organisation is being investigated.

The OMF website says: “Complaints have been received by OMF UK relating to harm caused to former Chefoo School pupils by a number of alleged perpetrators.

The latest Synod of the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) has seen its three bishops present a detailed paper on why they have Anglican bishops, presbyters and deacons.

Lee McMunn writes: ‘Their substantial report traced the Biblical and historical roots for why we do what we do. We concluded that Anglican orders are very much fit for purpose, are for the blessing of the Church and should be joyfully embraced. As a result of our discussions, we resolved to establish a vocational Diaconate for godly and gifted men and women who have been properly identified and trained.’

Milla Ling-Davies

Date posted: 19 Jun 2025

A high school in Belfast has seen a wave of students start exploring Christianity and come to faith – their Christian Union (CU) growing by over 100 people in the last year alone.

Belfast High CU (BHCU) has existed for over 30 years, and nine years ago there were just over 20 attendees. There has been steady growth and encouragements in the years since, until this year the CU jumped from 60 people meeting weekly in a lecture theatre to over 160 in the larger assembly hall.

Balham in London was once famously described by the late comedian Peter Sellers as the “gateway to the south” in a much-loved comedy parody of American travelogues.

Now decades later those words are proving prophetic as Christ Church Balham (CCB) seeks to reach out and plant a new church some six miles to its south. CCB is part of both the Co-Mission reformed church planting movement and the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE).

Milla Ling-Davies

Date posted: 26 May 2025

American missionary Franklin Graham, son of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, is bringing his evangelistic tour to the ExCel venue London this June – despite recently provoking concern among some UK evangelicals.

The event comes as part of Graham’s God Loves You Tour, which aims to partner with local churches to share “the simple message of God’s love”. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) are hoping to draw thousands to the venue, as they did when it was last held there in 2023.

Lydia Houghton

Date posted: 24 May 2025

A Christian association is seeking to fill a reported gospel need in farming communities.

Tony Baskerville, Cheshire-based tenant farmer on the Rode Estate, Scholar Green, and elder at Grace Church, Sandbach, says that farmers are feeling increasingly marginalised. “There is a tremendous opportunity to reach out to them in genuine Christian love,” said Baskerville.

Lydia Houghton

Date posted: 23 May 2025

In response to the increasingly prevalent liberal and progressive ideologies appearing in universities, a “new and unique” Christian college has been launched.

Selden College will be based in Oxford and has a twofold vision: to recover the heritage of Christian higher education, and to glorify God in this arena.

The Grace Baptist Partnership, a network dedicated to planting, training and revitalisation, is celebrating 15 years of mission and outreach.

Representatives from more than 20 churches gathered at Dunstable Baptist Church for the annual Grace Baptist Partnership (GBP) Prayer and Praise gathering. The structure of the event flowed with the ministry emphases of GBP, namely growing leaders, planting and revitalising churches, and reaching nations.

It has been a season of vibrant, missional events weeks for Christian Unions. With around 100 CUs taking part, the gospel message has been heard by thousands of students, and hundreds are exploring further.

Students in the University of Warwick Christian Union were some of the first to hold their events week this year, which was centred on the theme of “Hope”. Halfway through the week, Ben (name changed), a CU member’s housemate, decided to attend an event. His curiosity had been piqued after he heard the events week was taking place and he arrived with questions. Interested, but by no means certain of the truth of what he had heard, he said to CU members afterwards: “I don’t know why God loves us”.

Jim Sayers

Date posted: 22 Mar 2025

“There is nothing inherently admirable about people with money. Why, then, do so many gospel churches favour the rich?” That was the challenge given by Steve Kneale at a recent conference, challenging leaders to a “religion that is pure and undefiled” (James 2:27).

Many ministries target the rich and successful for “strategic” reasons, but does that mean we have shown favouritism in our giving to mission? It is much harder to fund gospel work among the poor; there is no payback and lots of help is needed.