What do you do when God places you in a community struggling with poverty and loneliness? You roll up your sleeves and start sharing the love of Jesus – in action and in truth.

LCM Missionary Faith Edwards has been working with Revival House Church for the past three years. It’s a church of about 150 people that meets in a modest building in Manor Park, one of London's poorest areas.

“Our church is located in Newham. And Newham is one of the most deprived areas of London,” explains Pastor Geraldine, one of the leaders at Revival House.

“We have a lot of asylum seekers and refugees. We have a lot of people who are very poor, who can’t even afford to eat three meals a day, buy new clothes, or even travel on public transport. We have many lonely old people in the area who cannot attend church.”

For Pastor Geraldine, who helps to lead the church with her husband, her community has significant practical and spiritual needs as they try to reach the people least likely to hear the gospel.

“In preaching the good news of Jesus Christ to our neighbours, we must also meet their needs. Jesus’ disciples did that. They not only shared the good news but also fed the poor, caring for widows and orphans,” says Pastor Geraldine.

She says that in helping people to meet their physical needs, you are also provided with a wonderful platform to share the life-saving news of Jesus: “You’re able to reach people where they’re at, and you can build genuine relationships with them, to share the good news with them.”

Living bread for the hungry

One way the church is able to do this is through its regular food bank and food donations.

“We also take food parcels to [people who need them]. As we deliver these parcels, we make friendships. For many, that day might be the only conversation they have,” says Pastor Geraldine.

Revival House hosts a food bank every Tuesday and Friday. They started this initiative after being trained by LCM missionaries to share the love of Jesus in action and in truth with their local community.

The church opens its doors at 11 am, but people start queuing from around 10 am. For some, this will be the only food they’ll eat this week.

About 60 to 80 people from the community walk through the doors of Revival House for their food bank twice a week. Many collect the food and go. But sometimes, a few stick around to ask why they do what they do, providing church members and LCM missionaries with opportunities to share the good news of Jesus and offer prayer where appropriate.

"Initially, we faced challenges in sharing the gospel during our food bank outreach,” Pastor Geraldine explains. “We would just give out food parcels without any meaningful interaction. Once we partnered with LCM, they guided us on how to start those important conversations, making our team more effective in engaging with the community.”

And God is blessing their efforts. “God has truly blessed our efforts at Revival House. Through our food bank ministry, we have seen many people come to church; some have even given their lives to Christ,” Pastor Geraldine highlights.

Providing support for those most vulnerable

Recently, supported by London City Mission, volunteers from the church also had a pamper day for vulnerable women – women who were trafficked, exploited, seeking asylum, or financially unstable.

As these women – some from different faith backgrounds – came to get their free haircut, manicure, or pedicure, volunteers from the church and London City Mission heard their stories and prayed with them. Some missionaries even shared the good news of Jesus with them, inviting them to the church service.

Of course, these sorts of events often don’t happen overnight. Meeting people’s physical and spiritual needs usually requires some careful preparation.

Just as they had done with the food bank, LCM missionaries took the time to train all the church volunteers to have that gospel conversation and pray for people respectfully.

“LCM has been instrumental in helping us at Revival House to share the gospel more effectively,” says Pastor Geraldine. “They've provided us with invaluable training, holding multiple sessions on how to start conversations about faith. This training has significantly boosted our confidence in evangelism."

Supported in evangelism

For LCM missionary Faith, there are essentially three ways that LCM is supporting Revival House.

“We train and encourage incredible church members to share the gospel using their unique gifts and talents. We partner with Revival House and offer guidance to engage more effectively with the community. We also assist in the various outreach initiatives by providing practical support for events such as the pamper day and the food bank to mobilise the church for impact,” Faith explains.

“Seeing people grow in their confidence and faith has been so encouraging!”

On Father's Day, the church invited the community's men to a special service. About 15 men who would not normally come to church attended. They loved the service, stayed through the celebration, and even shared a meal with the church members.

“This wouldn't have been possible without the guidance and support from LCM, which has empowered us to share the gospel more effectively. It's incredibly encouraging to see such fruit from our outreach efforts," says Pastor Geraldine.

“LCM has helped us in such a way that our team is taking the steps to share Jesus on their own. Even when the LCM team is not here, church members are able to do that on their own and encourage people in our community to come to our church services.”

Our heart is to see God releasing the potential of local churches to share the gospel with those around them, particularly with people on the margins - and to see churches grow and flourish as a result. If your church is interested in working with London City Mission, do find out more by visiting lcm.org.uk/yourchurch.