33 years ago, Andy Hawthorne and the team started heading into schools in Manchester, UK, sharing the hope of Jesus through music as The World Wide Message Tribe. Little did they know how God was going to grow and multiply this mission to not only reach the least, last and lost across the UK, but to also reach the nations.
As God opened doors and connected Andy with like-minded mates on a mission, today The Message truly is a worldwide movement, with seven international hubs passionately heading into schools, communities and prisons every day with the gospel, whilst also training up the next generation of evangelists through Advance.
We continue to be amazed by all God is doing in and through The Message and wanted to encourage you with a snapshot of the transformation he’s been doing around the world.
Andy and the team’s legacy, keeping creative mission, young people and schools work at the centre, is what inspires Daniel Eduardo, Hub Leader of Message Brazil. Earlier this year, the team ran their first ever schools tour, heading into three schools with truth-packed lessons about identity and invited every student along to the evangelistic end-of-week gig. Here, the young people came for an evening of music, testimonies and the gospel – which 40 responded to! And God keeps opening doors for more schools tours, with another happening this autumn outside of Rio. He’s also made a way for the team to launch their first Eden team into a favela in Santa Marta. We’re so excited to see how they share the love of Jesus in word and action with those living and working in the favela so please be praying for them.
Serving the poor through Eden is a heart shared by all our hubs, particularly in Canada. In Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Fari and the team lead an Eden team in partnership with Coastal Church. Through their work in the community and running the Eden Café, they’re supporting people from tough backgrounds and helping them get skills and discipleship, find a community and discover Jesus. People like Jason.
Addicted to drugs and living on the streets, Jason was at rock bottom when he prayed to God for help. ‘I heard a voice telling me to go to Union Gospel Mission and there my new life started’, he said. ‘I got help for my addiction and met Pastor Fari who introduced me to Coastal Church, the Eden team and the Eden Café. I started coming along to Alpha being run by the Eden team and it was an amazing experience. After I completed my recovery programme, I applied for the training and employment programme at the Eden Café and got on! Here I completed discipleship courses, grew in my faith, developed new employment skills, found life-long Godly friendships and loved coming along to church each week, as well as taking part in prayer walks and outreach with the Eden team. I now have a permanent job with the Eden Café and I’m so thankful God heard and answered my prayers because discovering Eden has been a blessing; it feels like a home with a good family.’
In each country, reaching the least, the last and the lost looks a little different as we adapt to the needs of those in each community. In South Africa, we have Community Hubs which act like Eden in communities where people struggle with gangsterism, addiction and poverty. Providing safe places for young people to come for educational support, sports activities and discipleship, the hubs shine the light of Jesus in their neighbourhoods. Throughout the year, the teams run Respect ME sessions, Bloom events to empower and support young women, and Genetik Sessions creative workshops. But this summer, Message South Africa have been especially busy, running three holiday clubs in the Parkwood (Cape Town), Citrusdal (Cape Town) and Jozi East (Gauteng) Community Hubs, and sharing the hope of Jesus with over 280 young people!
And this work is now spreading across Africa! This winter, we’re so excited to be launching a brand-new hub in Uganda. Headed up by Racheal Mutesi, the team are already heading into schools to share the love of Jesus. As they’ve been doing this, they’re seeing how God is using them. In one school, the team felt a deep sense of discouragement and despair among the students and teachers. They discovered that one young person tried to take their own life by setting fire to the school dormitory. Although the girl thankfully survived, there was enormous damage to personal belongings and the building. Not only that, half of the students were pulled out of the school due to malpractice from a teacher. ‘The headteacher had lost hope and inspiration to push the school forward but God, by his grace, led us here’, Racheal said. ‘We led students through worship songs, shared testimonies and told the young people about Jesus – and over 100 students gave their lives to God that day and many stayed after school to talk and pray with the team about things they were facing in their life.’ Do be praying for Racheal and the team as they launch the new hub at Festival Bombo and continue sharing Jesus in Uganda and beyond.
Message Germany have also been seeing young people come to know Jesus, both locally and in Czechia and Austria, thanks to their growing international connections! Creative mission team NGHTNDAY served at an International Summer Camp with young people from Czechia and Germany, where they were able to lead Genetik Session music workshops. Young people from all faiths and backgrounds came along and, over the course of the week, our team prayed that God would move in the lives of all the young people who came along and for opportunities to be bold in their faith. On one of the days, team member Matthias was helping Carl write some song lyrics. As they chatted, Carl opened up about how he was feeling lost and overwhelmed, so Matthias grabbed the opportunity to share about the hope and love of Jesus, and shared his testimony. Matthias then encouraged Carl to think about what gives him hope to add this to his lyrics.
Later, Carl ran up to Matthias and showed him the lyrics which were changed to ‘I’ve found the solution… the only answer is God’! Matthias was able to keep journeying with Carl giving him a Bible and plugging him into a local church! How beautiful.
We love seeing young people give their lives to Jesus, and here in the UK as well as over in the Netherlands, we’re also equipping young people to be bold and share their faith with others through Advance Youth. Partnering with local churches for Love Where U Live community mission and outreach, the Dutch Advance Youth have been prayer walking and sharing the gospel with those they met. They’ve shared the gospel with over 400 people and one young person said, ‘It was so cool that I could pray on the street for someone’. And it’s not just young people we’re training and equipping for evangelism. Through our Advance small group mentoring groups, men and women are learning how to share the gospel in their everyday conversations. One group member Julitta said, ‘When I first heard of Advance, I wasn’t sure it was for me because I’d never dared to share about Jesus in conversations and never knew what to say. But I’m now encouraging others in my church to also join Advance because I’ve seen God answer my prayers for openings. I feel so on fire for Jesus and equipped to share him after just a few months being in Advance’.
Through Advance, we’re now in over 90 nations, reaching hundreds of thousands with the good news of Jesus in a language they understand. It’s truly beautiful to see how God has taken a vision of a small band from Manchester, and turned it into a real worldwide Message Tribe.
Read more about what’s happening in our international hubs at message.org.uk/global