updates from the mission field
The UK as both mission field and mission force
Pioneers
Date posted: 9 May 2026
“Mission on our doorstep” is a phrase we’ve heard again and again over the last decade. The idea is simple and observable: record numbers of migrants (whatever their motivation – economic, educational, political, etc.) have been streaming into the United Kingdom, and we only need to step out our front gate to see that people from all over the world are choosing to make a life for themselves alongside ours.
Because of migration, cross-cultural mission has never been easier. The mission field is literally next door.
updates from the mission field
Mission: Across the street and across the world
OMF International UK
Date posted: 11 Feb 2026
In this piece, mission organisation OMF International UK provides en readers with an update on its work.
The worker bee has represented Manchester’s hardworking spirit since the Industrial Revolution. In keeping with that spirit, OMF UK has been a hive of activity as we moved our office from Kent to Manchester in 2025.
updates from the mission field
Mission in Naples: 'Italian gospel workers are heroes'
Mark Oden
Date posted: 20 Jan 2026
In the heat of the summer of 2013, Jane and I, and our four kids (Sofia, Inez, Luisa, and Archie), moved from leafy Sevenoaks to noisy, crowded Naples, Italy, to work alongside a Brethren church we’d built links with previously.
We spent two years serving in Pozzuoli, then moved into the centre of the city to plant the Chiesa Evangelica Neapolis (the Greek name for the city, meaning "new community"). In March 2026, we intend to leave Naples, having been called to serve Chalmers Church, Edinburgh.
updates from the mission field
A Christ-centred home for the 'forgotten' - 20 years of Casa Mea, Moldova
Matthew Martin
Date posted: 28 Apr 2026
April 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of the Casa Mea project in Moldova - an initiative providing community homes for adults with disabilities, offering a Christ-centred alternative to state-run institutions. This article is drawn from an interview with UFM Mission Partner Maureen Wise, conducted during the filming of a documentary marking the occasion.
The story behind Casa Mea
Children’s ministry in Moldova: ‘My daddy fixes children’s hearts’
Abbie Watts
Date posted: 18 Feb 2026
“The love of Christ compels us.” Taken from 2 Corinthians 5v14, this verse is the strapline of Christian Mission International Aid (CMIAID) and underpins everything the Christian charity does.
I recently arrived back in the UK after spending two weeks with CMIAID in Moldova. Started by Matthew and Ruth Hillier and Dan Marianciuc, the multi-faceted organisation does whatever it takes to share the light and truth of the gospel to those of all ages and stages of life in Moldova and other Eastern European countries.
Jellyfish sting girl given urgent MAF flight
Gary Clayton
Date posted: 3 Jan 2026
A teenager who received an excruciatingly painful sting from the poisonous, transparent tentacles of a box jellyfish, was flown to hospital from a remote part of Arnhem Land, Australia in just 25 minutes – thanks to the Mission Aviation Fellowship.
By road, the tortuous journey from Nyinykay homeland to Gove would have taken about three hours – assuming that the rough bush tracks could be traversed without trouble or, during the rainy season, flooding.
One child, one prayer, one miracle
Anna-Claire Cusick
Date posted: 28 Dec 2025
I’ll never forget the day I met Baby JS. He had been born just two months earlier in Kurintza, a tiny Amazon community in Pastaza, Ecuador, which can only be reached by a flight in a small Cessna plane. His mother has severe intellectual disabilities, and he had come into the world with only his grandmother to care for him.
When we arrived on our medical outreach, Baby JS was severely malnourished, surviving on nothing but oats mixed with water. There was no formula milk; that was far too expensive for a family with no income, and unreachable without a costly plane journey.
Mission offers ‘home away from home’
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 31 Jul 2025
At 82-years-old, Roeli Elbers is still going strong spreading the gospel and serving weary travellers through her work with the Norway Seaman’s Mission.
“It’s the Lord!” said Elbers of her ability to coordinate the work of the ministry, which provides a home away from home for cruise workers and seafarers while their ships dock at Norwegian ports.
letter from Spain
Hampers of grace: witnessing to local businesses
Trevor Ramsey
Date posted: 18 Dec 2024
Approximately 50,000 English speakers live on Spain’s Costa Blanca. Many of them operate small businesses, cafes, bars, and restaurants, or provide other legal or residential expat services.
Their lifestyles are not just laid back and easygoing, as you may imagine. That may be the lot of the ‘retiree,’ but for the business owner, life is just as challenging as running a small business anywhere.
The Fourth Lausanne Congress: what's happening today?
Caleb Davison
Date posted: 23 Sep 2024
This Congress is the latest in a series of several global gatherings aiming to catalyse global mission. The first took place in 1974 in Lausanne, Switzerland, convened by evangelical leaders like John Stott and Billy Graham, while subsequent gatherings were in Manila in 1989 and Cape Town in 2010.
New radio ministry in Suriname jungle
Luke Randall
Date posted: 25 Nov 2024
A missionary is partnering with Trans World Radio (TWR) to enable the Wayana people in the jungles of Suriname to hear the gospel – 60 years after his parents first witnessed to the region.
Tom Schoen is following in the footsteps of his parents Ivan and Doris, who initially travelled to Suriname with their three children in the early 1960s. The nation is one of the smallest in South America but is very ethnically diverse.
updates from the mission field
My sponsor's words 'carried me for years'
John O.
Date posted: 9 Mar 2026
NB: The following content contains references to suicide and could be upsetting and triggering.
A childhood marked by loss
I grew up in rural Eastern Uganda. My parents were teachers and I had dreams, like any child. When I was nine, my mother became seriously ill. After a long and traumatic illness, she died when I was 12.
letter from Madagascar
Up to 2 million people needing food
Jo Lamb
Date posted: 29 Apr 2026
Thousands of vulnerable households in Madagascar are still struggling to mitigate food shortages and rebuild their lives after failed harvests and Cyclone Gezani devastated the island in February 2026.
An early food crisis warning was issued by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) on 5 March, estimating that between 1.5–1.99 million people will need humanitarian food assistance during the peak lean season from February to May 2026. The report suggests that many families are trying to cope by consuming dangerous wild foods, selling productive assets and incurring spiralling debt. Nearly 80% of Toamasina – Madagascar’s main port – was destroyed when gusts of up to 167 miles per hour ripped through the country’s second largest city on 12 February. According to the UN, 478,000 people have been affected, over 25,700 homes flooded, and 781 classrooms and 30 health facilities damaged. At least 59 people lost their lives. Response efforts began immediately, with aerial surveys and essential medical supplies delivered by Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) – the world’s largest humanitarian air operator – in partnership with NGOs, medics and local churches.
news in brief
Uganda: Evangelist murdered
A Christian evangelist in Uganda has been murdered by alleged Muslim attackers – who pretended to be motorcycle taxi drivers – after he preached at a Christian event. Alfred Kitenga was killed in Kawaala, Wakiso District while on his way home from the event with his wife.
Morning Star News reports that Kitenga was assaulted and stabbed at around 9:30pm by attackers who claimed to be Christians who had also been at the event.
The battle in Benidorm
Trevor Ramsey
Date posted: 29 Oct 2024
In the first week of October, the bars and restaurants of Benidorm’s busy beachfront and area known as 'The Strip' were bustling and alive with many UK holidaymakers, enjoying some autumnal sunshine before returning to the harsh rigours of a British winter.
There was noise and colour, raucous laughter and angry exchanges on the streets and the walkways. The bouncers and security personnel were earning their money! Groups of Stag Dos and Hen Parties roamed the streets in packs searching out the next place of entertainment.
Ukraine: Concerns that church attacks 'are not random'
Ryan Burton King
Date posted: 25 Apr 2026
Since the beginning of their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has repeatedly, intentionally, and shamelessly targeted civilians. In a country that has some of the largest (and growing!) Christian communities in Europe, it is inevitable that churches will be affected along with everyone else.
However, there is significant concern that attacks on churches – particularly Protestant evangelical churches – are not random or merely the product of indiscriminate assault.
1,500 attend teen mission event in Germany
Luke Randall
Date posted: 3 Aug 2025
About 1,500 people attended the 51st Teen Mission Meeting in Monbachtal, in the northern Black Forest in Germany.
The event, organised by the Liebenzellar Mission, Christian guest houses in Monbachtal and Entschieden für Christus (Decided for Jesus), featured seminars and workshops alongside discussions with missionaries and praise.
Astronaut sends Bible message from Artemis
en staff
Date posted: 7 Apr 2026
A Christian astronaut on board Artemis II has sent a Scriptural message to everyone on earth.
Orion spacecraft pilot Victor Glover pointed people to the two greatest commandments as his ship prepared to disappear behind the moon, losing radio contact with Mission Control for about 40 minutes.
Gafcon's G26 conference: What's the agenda?
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 2 Mar 2026
The Gafcon Global G26 Conference begins tomorrow (3 March) in Abuja, Nigeria, lasting until Friday (6 March). en will be providing coverage of the conference, with some introductory key details below.
What is Gafcon?
The Global Anglican Future Conference (Gafcon) is an international movement and fellowship of orthodox Anglican churches, bishops, clergy, and laity united around the historic Christian faith as received in the Anglican tradition.
letter from Moldova
Bălți encouragements
www.sga.org.uk
Date posted: 29 Jan 2026
At the end of 2025, a group of 26 students graduated from the Slavic Gospel Association Mission School in Bălți, North Moldova.
It was the 16th such group to complete a two-year Bible training course designed to prepare men and women for a wide range of ministries in their spiritually needy land.
Saudi Arabia: Is a door opening for the gospel?
Luke Randall
Date posted: 28 Mar 2026
Gospel opportunities are on the rise amidst surging investment in tourism in Saudi Arabia.
The Middle Eastern nation has invested almost £600 million in its tourism sector as it aims to become a key global competitor in the industry by 2030. Platform 67, an organisation which liaises with missionaries around the world, says opportunities to share the gospel on the ground have increased as tourism booms.
Iran: ‘Streets smell of blood’
Luke Randall
Date posted: 20 Feb 2026
Christians in Iran continue to meet to grieve and pray amidst ongoing unrest and state brutality, with one person on the ground revealing that “the streets smell of blood”.
Early 2026 has seen Iran plagued by mass demonstrations, fuelled by economic hardship, against the nation’s brutal Islamic regime, led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Missionary family escape Amazon riverboat disaster
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 22 Aug 2024
An American missionary and his wife who escaped a burning boat on the Amazon river with their young family have spoken about their incident, in which several died.
Ezra Brainard, a distant relative of 18th century missionary to the Native Americans David Brainard, was on the boat with wife Joanna and four children, including a young baby, on 29 July when it caught fire, exploded and sank. The couple’s two-and-a-half year old slipped away from Ezra after they jumped into the water, but someone pulled her into a canoe and took her to shore.
