Monday, December 08, 2025
Global Mission Consultation participation
It was a privilege to be a resource person at the “Let Your Light Shine (Mt 5:26): Witnessing to Radical Hope in Catastrophic Times,” Global Mission Consultation (GMC), 26 November – 1 December 2025, Lake Kivu, Rwanda.
GMC was jointly organised by three Protestant mission societies, CWM, Cevaa and UEM. Participants came from 36 countries to explore the challenges and trends in mission today. We were splendidly hosted by the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda and enjoyed the scenic backdrop of Lake Kivu during our various breaks.
I was asked to present a paper on my research, which I titled “Let Your Light Shine” (Mt 5:16): A Prophetic Reclaiming of making in the Church’s Mission of resistance and renewal in Catastrophic Times. In my paper, I drew together my research into knitting as activism and digital eco-justice praxis among indigenous and grassroots communities. I suggested these were expressions of mission as making and that making provides distinct ways to share in God’s mending and re-making of a broken world. I brought these acts of making into dialogue with the parable of the woman lighting a lamp in a search for lost coins. She was a maker, of a household and a joyous community. Prior to the conference, I provided the talk as a 5,000 word chapter, which I understand will in time be published.
My work was well received. There were several requests for further articles. (An article I work on knitting as a making in mission will be shortly published in Colloquium journal, while my research into digital activism has been published in Theology). Further, the conference statement drew on my research in outlining contemporary trends in global mission.
While it is a long way to travel, from Aotearoa New Zealand to Rwanda, it was gratifying to draw ordinary acts of making, like knitting and content creating, into a mission framework. I return motivated to keep writing up the research. I also have some new friends and possible further connections, particularly around the digital activism research project.
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