I (Donald) was born in Uganda, where I found Christ as a teen. When my mother moved to the UK and invited me to join her, I went—and helped lead the International Christian Union at college in Eastbourne, UK. I met Becky in 2004 while we were teaching in children’s church together. Becky was born in Eastbourne, and fell in love with Jesus while pursuing her Physiotherapy career in London. Feeling called to be a missionary, after spending two summers working in children’s ministry in the US, I went to Mexico in 2007 to train further in missions and worked with a Mexican church-planting team while I learned the language. But I could not forget Becky. We got married in 2013 and now serve as SIM missionaries in Mexico. Serving in Mission UK is a branch of SIM, a 125-year-old international missions organization committed to biblical truth and passionate about the gospel with the conviction that no one should live and die without hearing God’s good news. Therefore, our focus is to make disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ in communities where he is least known The Lord has been gracious to give us two sons, Ben (4) and Elliot (3).
Since 2014 we have lived in an area of Central Mexico called the “Circle of Silence,” named because of the lack of evangelical witness in the area. The region has 115 districts comprising a population of over 23 million people—the largest concentration of unreached people in Spanish-speaking Latin America. Only one in 100 know Jesus. We moved to San Luis de la Paz to assist the evangelistic outreach and native missionary training efforts of “Buenas Nuevas,” (Good News) a local church-planting network. In 2016 we founded Vida Impact Missions, a US-non-profit to further support the work of BN.
In the last five years our team saw three small churches started, 32 new believers baptized, about 77 students trained in English, over 150 leaders equipped by the word to reach their neighbours with the Gospel, and more than 1,060 lives impacted through kid’s camps, evangelism and family conferences.
Nearly half (44%) of the 23 million people in the Circle of Silence live in poverty; many engage in illicit drug-related activities. We seek to equip believers to live for Christ, form legitimate businesses or trades, and make a positive change in their community through the gospel that points them to the Redeemer.
Having done theology via distance learning, I decided to return here for in-depth Bible handling training at Cornhill. Cornhill is designed to train evangelical preachers in exegesis, exposition and communication skills. We are a part of a group of international students who plan to use the training later in cross-cultural missions and in the training of native gospel workers.
The Bible speaks of opposition faced by all Christians. Discouragement and distraction are two particular ways the ‘the father of lies’ tries to attack. Most of the 115 districts of the Circle of Silence, with populations between 2,500 and 90,000 people, have no evangelical Christian church. The situation is compounded with direct and systematic persecution of Christians caused by religious leaders and drug cartels. Pray for the few genuine disciples in the region to stand firm in their faith. Only one in 10 church ministers in Mexico have any Bible training. It is even worse in the Circle of Silence. After our training here in the UK, we plan to return to the region and, with a team of likeminded missionaries, set up a Bible training center camp for native gospel workers as part of our “train the trainer” approach. Please pray for God’s leading and the many practicalities that still have to fall into place.
Jesus commands his disciples to be his witnesses in the Great Commission. In Matthew 28:19-20 we see God’s heart and desire for every nation and people group to be represented in heaven (Revelation 7:9-10). That means taking the gospel to all peoples. So all Christians are called to be part of the going. Those who actually travel to another culture need others who serve as senders and supporters. William Carey said, “I will descend down into the pit if you hold the ropes.” Please pray for God’s provision for us as a family, so we can minister effectively.
We are convinced that those who support us and the work are one. We believe that as the work is fruitful, so will our supporters. Together, we will one day rejoice to meet those whose lives were transformed as a result of this partnership. Go to our giving page to partner with the work in the Circle of Silence.
