UK Mission Trip Recap
This past August, I had the wonderful opportunity to join the mission’s team from Redeeming Grace on their third-annual trip to Leicester, UK, in partnership with North Evington Free Church (NEFC). NEFC is a growing church revitalization in a neighborhood called Spinney Hill which is surrounded by a vastly Muslim population of northern-Indian immigrants. For the past few years, NEFC has been putting on an intensive “mission’s week” annually to focus on community outreach and engagement. Participating proved such a special time to dive deeper in relationships with local brothers and sisters, serve in unity with our diverse Christian family from around the world, and commit to engaging and caring for a community that generally has little-to-no Gospel witness; all in the pursuit of glorifying God’s name.
Each day was full of activity from start to finish, providing ample opportunities to rely on the Lord for His sustaining strength and energy. In the mornings, the community was invited inside the church grounds to partake in a variety of events that catered to many age groups, while the afternoons consisted more-so of going into the community and meeting people where they are at. We then reached the evenings to find them daily filled with a different fellowship event to further build relationships with one another or with community members. Throughout the events of the day, we would try to connect people with local church members as well as into relevant ministries that occur regularly through the year. We utilized the remaining, albeit very limited, “down-time” for prayer, fellowship, preparation, and rest.
It was so amazing to see how God has been working and continues to work in the church at NEFC and their locale. Despite being in an area filled with opposition of many kinds (and alternative community events during the week), many neighbors nearly immediately joined in with the ministries put on by the church. The holiday club had record numbers for the week, including ~50 unchurched children, who joined daily and more importantly who were thrilled to learn several Bible verses and stories about the true Jesus! Even some adult men, who can be particularly resistant to connection, were joining our events, opening up about their lives, and excited for the prospect to continue building relationships with others in the church! Finally, there was tremendous encouragement upon hearing numerous testimonies from the families about how much they appreciate and recognize the love and care shown to them by the church. Among other things, we continue to pray that they will recognize that this love and care only exists because Christ first loved us.
Thank you to all in Redeeming Grace for faithfully supporting and praying for this trip. I believe I speak for the whole team in sharing that it was such an encouragement to us, NEFC, and the Spinney Hill neighborhood, and we are delighted to share in that encouragement with you all. And, we are all excited to see how God shows His faithfulness in bringing about fruit as we play a role in His work!
Please enjoy a few photos from the trip, credit to Mark Lindgren! Note that pictures from the missions work cannot be posted for security reasons.
