Outreach Archives - King's Arms Church

A few weeks ago, I returned from an incredible time serving churches across East Africa at their apostolic conference and, as I’ve been processing and reflecting, I want to share some lessons these remarkable leaders taught me:

1. God is Working in the Most Unexpected Places

Imagine sitting in a room, hearing report after report of God’s movement across East Africa. Salvations and healings weren’t just occasional testimonies — they were pouring in from every nation represented. Churches are being planted by the hundreds (including in some nations I can’t name for security reasons). The Gospel is even reaching pygmy communities who had never heard of Jesus before.

It’s humbling to realise that while we sometimes wonder if God can change the seemingly Gospel-resistant people around us, He’s doing extraordinary things in some of the toughest places on earth.

2. Lack of Resources is No Excuse for Disobedience

This hit me hard. In some regions, every single worker is a volunteer. No salaries. No support structures. Yet, these leaders are faithfully planting churches and reaching the lost with whatever they have.

It made me question how often I’ve allowed “lack of resources” to become my excuse for not stepping out in faith.

3. The Gospel Challenges Every Culture

We often talk about our cultural battles in the West, but my eyes were opened to very different challenges these churches face:

FGM (Female G Mutilation) – a heartbreaking reality where young girls are brutally harmed in the name of cultural “purity”
Polygamy – imagine the complexity of discipling community leaders who have three or four wives when they come to faith

What struck me most was this truth: while every culture tempts us to compromise, God’s Word provides wisdom and grace for standing firm — no matter how difficult the situation.

4. Courage Grows Best in Team

The stories of persecution were sobering. They shared about imprisonments and street beatings. One leader shared how most of his pastors have machete scars on their faces and bodies where they have been chased by tribesman driving them out of their villages.

But, here’s what amazed me: they weren’t facing it alone. These teams stood together, drawing strength from each other in ways that reminded me of the early church in Acts.

It made me want to stir up some fresh courage buddies for the mission that I’m on.

5. The Future Belongs to Entrepreneurial Ministry

So many leaders I met were also entrepreneurs by necessity. They’re running fruit tree farms, pig businesses, and taxi services — not just to survive, but to support their church and the local community.

It confirmed my conviction that “tent-making” is going to be the future of church leadership if we want to raise enough leaders to reach our nations.

6. The Power of Praying Together

There’s something profound about praying in the same room with people you’ve only prayed for from a distance. It reminded me that we truly are one family in Christ, regardless of our nationalities or circumstances.

I’ve added several leaders to my prayer calendar so that I can continue to stand with them.

As I continue to process these lessons, I’m asking myself (and now you):

Which of these lessons challenges you the most?
How might God be calling you to step out in faith, even with limited resources?
What would it look like for you to stand firm in your cultural context?

Much love,
Simon Holley and the eFocus team

Wherever we are in life, we are building communities of some sort, be it family, a church life group or a whole congregation. In my role leading our new 3pm Blunham location, I’ve had the opportunity to learn quite a bit about building community and I’ve boiled down to these top five things I’ve been learning:

1. SMALL TALK, BIG TALK

Building community, small or large, requires people to connect and form relationships by talking to one another. To this end, we should always be asking ourselves, how am I making it easy to talk to each other in this community?

We have to make space for small talk: the weather or the football. We also have to make space for big talk, or else our community becomes just a social club. For us at Blunham, we love catching up over a coffee after services and prayer meetings, and we also love building time into our meetings to talk about the bigger things in life.

Small talk by itself won’t grow a community. Big talk only can become intense. In your community, are you building in time for both?

2. BUILDING COMMUNITY TAKES TIME

There is no replacement for time spent in one another’s company. There is no shortcut for this.

To truly know one another, we need time in each other’s company and time to develop trust to be vulnerable. Have you ever tried being vulnerable with someone you’ve only just met? Me neither. These things take time.

Communication is more about listening than talking, and so in your community, are you taking the time to listen well?

3. THE HARVEST IS PLENTIFUL

The rewards of building community are huge. One of my favourite weeks as a Sunday location was in March when we met as a community to have lunch. The overwhelming majority of the community came along and we had a great time of connection over some delicious home-cooked food. They had wanted to be part of it. This would never have been possible without having put the time in first.

4. BUILDING SOMETIMES MEANS BUILDING (FLATPACK)

One of my favourite moments in building the community at Blunham was the afternoon we literally spent doing some building! We had a delivery of flat-packed sofas and chairs to help refurbish the rear hall in the building. I made an appeal for helpers and was amazed at the number of people who showed up with their expertise, tools and time. What spurred us on was the fact that we were all working towards an endpoint we valued.

We wanted to see the room transformed, and what I learnt was that having a sense of common purpose bound us together.

5. ADVENTURE WITH PEOPLE YOU TRUST

Building a community of any sort is an adventure in itself, a step into the unknown. The future of your community might face unexpected challenges. The only way to approach this healthily is to go on this adventure with people you trust, people who you know will stand by you and fight for the community.

I have been so grateful for the community at Blunham who have been so trustworthy and dependable in all we have ventured in together, willing to help out in so many ways. I know that we can see through anything that comes our way.

Let’s continue building healthy, strong community around us as we become all that God has called us to be.

Much love,
John Wright and the eFocus team

If you’d like to see how building our Blunham community is progressing, or even considering joining us for a season as we seek to build and grow, we would love to have you! We meet on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of every month at 3pm.

Find out more at kingsarms.org/blunham

A couple of years ago my husband and I really felt God telling us to dig our roots deep into Bedford. Whether that meant we would be here for a short or long time, it didn’t matter. We knew God was telling us to serve and pray for our town, church and the region He had placed us in. I now have the privilege of leading our Re-Track outreach project which is all about helping people get their lives back on track. (Learn more about Re-Track here)

In this eFocus, we will be delving into some ways that we can love and serve our town and region that God has placed us in, making a difference in your neighbourhood:

1) Get Informed

We discovered that in Bedford, loneliness, littered streets and poverty are among the persistent issues the town is dealing with.

Every town and city will have different needs so it’s important to learn what the specific needs in your town are. Through Re-Track we are in ongoing contact with Bedford council and the Mayor to find out what the areas of greatest needs are and work towards blessing and helping in those areas where possible.

To learn more about the area/town/city you live in, you can research the following things:

Who lives in your area? What benefits and challenges do they face?
What ethnicities and social classes live and work in your neighbourhoods?
What specific challenges is your town council coming across?

2) Pray Specifically

“…Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Jeremiah 29:7

There is an importance and call for us to pray for the region God has placed us in as we can see from this verse. Prayer is so powerful and the most effective way to see God’s kingdom on earth!

Once we’ve discovered our town’s challenges, we can then pray specifically into those areas. Pray for God to lead you in prayer and show you His heart and vision for your town.

A practical way you could pray is by prayer walking around your streets and town. This can be helpful to stay focused and specific in our prayers, and to be immersed in the community we’re praying for.

3) Use your Passions and Giftings

Each one of us has unique desires and passions, with different God-given assignments to do good works. So, for many of us serving our town will look different.

Maybe you have a heart to see the lonely placed into family or the poor being looked after and provided for, or for the youth and young people of Bedford?

What is God placing in your heart to see changed in your town? What can you do practically to make a difference in that area?

4) Take Action

There are many practical ways we can take action, such as…

Loving our neighbours. There’s often so much need right on our door steps. Keep your eyes peeled on those who live locally to you. Maybe you will notice an elderly neighbour’s garden that has been left untended to that you can offer a helping hand with, for example.

Volunteering with a local charity or church outreach projects. There are so many local projects that are making a difference to the challenges our towns are facing. Recently, King’s Arms Project were recruiting volunteers to run their Winter Night Shelter supporting the homeless. Re-Track runs lots of events throughout the year that you can get involved with such as litter-picking, handing out LoveChristmas boxes, delivering Emergency Food Parcels, and more.

Starting something new. You may come across a need that you feel passionate about but there isn’t already anything in place to help. Could God be calling you to make a difference in this way?

God has placed us where we are for a reason. We are called to be a light shining on a hill and to bring light and good news to our town.

How can you dig your roots deep into where you live?

Much love,

Charlotte Knapp and eFocus team