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Through city centre preaching and working in our local areas this year, BCM’s team of City Missionaries has had thousands of meaningful, spiritual conversations, with opportunities to share the gospel and offer Christian literature. We currently have City Missionaries working in Small Heath, Yardley, Kings Norton, Bearwood, Quinton, and Oldbury, as well as occasional ministry in areas such as Perry Barr and Kingstanding. As a team, we have noticed an increased openness among young people. Some young people are disenfranchised with societal changes in the UK which they do not like, and their interest provides a door for sharing our Christian faith with them.

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Jonathan Hackett, Evangelism Co-ordinator

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I have spent much of my time setting up my book table outside Aldi and Asda, where people approach me to talk. I offered New Testaments in English and other literature in different languages spoken in the area. Each week I seem to have met people from all over the world. I recently read that there are 195 nations in the world and 187 of them have made Birmingham their home, which is quite amazing. Living in a multi-faith society has many challenges, but there are also many opportunities to engage with people about the gospel. We are blessed in this country to have the freedom to share our Christian faith with those around us.

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Bernd Scholz, City Missionary for Bearwood and Capehill

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Preaching at our open-air meetings in various locations in the city centre has consistently led to more than a handful of deep conversations with those we meet on any particular day. As I have worked across Birmingham, I have often been directly approached by young people, who seem actively concerned for their souls, motivated by a recognition of a moral decline in our society and conscious of God and their spirituality.

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Peter Sherwood, City Missionary

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In April we held our first service at the Masefield Estate Hall, which has been given to Kings Norton Baptist Church to benefit the community. We have visited every single house on the estate, and I have talked with more than 220 local folk.

On Sunday evenings at Kings Norton Hospital, and on Thursdays in Cadbury College, I work as part of the chaplaincy teams. One student at the college recognised me from a visit to his primary school, which must have been seven years before, and said that the sketchboard assemblies we delivered had really helped him in his faith, a sweet encouragement.

As I write, this Thursday I go to the funeral of a man I have known since knocking on his door in a tower block 20 years ago. He invited me in and valued the contact, coming to church occasionally. He was a tough Geordie with mental health issues, making relationships difficult for him. He is one of the longest ongoing contacts I have had, a conscientious man who recognised the rightness of the Christian faith. I saw him through a few house moves around the city, attending churches in Erdington and Moseley, and I believe he came to a saving faith.

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Francis Williamson, City Missionary for Kings Norton