We\u2019d assumed we would spend decades in Africa. But the people God had laid on our hearts were inaccessible at that time due to war. So God opened an unexpected door to one of their diaspora communities in Britain. We moved into their neighbourhood – a needy inner-city area with a catalogue of social problems. We had worse culture shock than we\u2019d ever had in Africa. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the community we live in, people have often been taught that Christianity is wrong, and they tend to assume Western culture is Christian. Our task was to challenge the negative preconceptions and show by how we lived that Christians are different from mainstream Western culture.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat would we do if this was an African village? Which of those things can we try here? How can we become part of the community?\u201d When we began ministry, AIM had not worked among a diaspora people in Britain before, so we sat down to write an action plan. We knew we could teach English, volunteer in a homework club for kids and help with replies to official letters. But God also gave us opportunities to visit people in hospital and at the police station; put plasters on childrens\u2019 grazed knees in the street; listen to problems families kept secret from the community. He enabled us to help neighbours with DIY jobs – even when we didn\u2019t know what we were doing!<\/p>\n This kind of ministry depends on trust built up long term through shared lives. But the people group we worked with are often suspicious and notoriously difficult to work among. Only God could have given us the love we still have for them, despite much discouragement and little fruit after many years.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Our wonderful, international Training in Ministry Outreach (TIMO) team\u00a0 <\/span>– the first outside Africa – witnessed to the reality of God\u2019s global family. Together, we could do things just the two of us would never have tried and multiply our friendships. Discouragements and frustrations of ministry are halved when they are shared.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In this context, half of the workers\u2019 task is to mobilise the local church to take on the long term work. They must reach out with love; welcome inquirers and prepare to nurture and integrate new converts. For us, staying in the right area and church has meant we can continue beyond retirement.<\/p>\n This community is often very resistant to the gospel. Even in the diaspora, converts can face severe persecution and sometimes physical danger. But more are coming to faith in Jesus, largely through the internet. We\u2019ve known one family through it all – their eldest son\u2019s baptism certificate hangs in our study.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A missionary couple share the blessings and challenge of working among Africans in the UK.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":38583,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"wpupg_custom_link":[],"wpupg_custom_link_behaviour":[],"wpupg_custom_link_nofollow":[],"wpupg_custom_image":[],"wpupg_custom_image_id":[],"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"aim_location":[794],"aim_ministry":[748],"aim_media_types":[],"unreached_people":[],"class_list":["post-38574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-stories","aim_location-united-kingdom-europe","aim_ministry-diaspora"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGod calls Christians to witness <\/b><\/h3>\n
God calls, equips and enables <\/b><\/h3>\n
God gives love and patience <\/b><\/h3>\n
God uses teams <\/b><\/h3>\n
God entrusts the Church <\/b><\/h3>\n
God is building his kingdom <\/b><\/h3>\n