Missionary family escape Amazon riverboat disaster
Nicola Laver
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.
London churches unite for mission
Luke Randall
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.
Ben Stansfield to lead Global Connections
Luke Randall
Ben Stansfield has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of Global Connections, (GC) replacing Chris Wigram who had served in an interim capacity in recent months.
GC exists to equip the UK church and mission community in the world. Ben has spent over 25 years working for international charities, church ministries and discipleship ministries, so has helpful experience ahead of taking on the role.
Where are our missional youth leaders?
When my youth leader invited me on a trip to Taizé, I had never heard of the place. But, it was France. It would be my first time abroad, and I was excited, thinking I would see the Eiffel Tower.
The one dampener was that we were going by coach and ferry (for £35, an amazing price even then!), but the unfortunate Zeebrugge ferry disaster had taken place months earlier, causing ferry travel to experience heightened public scrutiny. But I and other young people went with the youth leader, other church leaders from the area, and some of their young people.