Welcome to Develop

A message from our UK Engagement Coordinator Hayley Still

When I recently wrote a devotional series on the Sermon on the Mount, I had the opportunity to reflect again on Jesus’ familiar words. They were controversial. He challenged his listeners’ understanding of what it means to be blessed and outlined a radical vision for humanity.

Jesus called his followers to reject worldly notions of success measured by power, wealth and control. Instead he invites us to live by the Kingdom values of humility, mercy, peacemaking and generosity. His message is not competition but collaboration, not about hoarding resources for the few but sharing life so that everyone can flourish.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus lifts up the humble, the merciful and the persecuted. He subverts the worldly values of domination and control, and offers a vision for a world where the voices and experiences of those oppressed or ignored are respected and honoured.

As the Sermon on the Mount continues, Jesus shows what this looks like in practice – giving generously without performance, praying without pretence, doing to others what we would have them do to us.

The injustices of poverty, human trafficking, food insecurity, water scarcity, and violence against women and girls, alongside a myriad other challenges faced by people around the world, can feel overwhelming. Yet the stories from the projects we partner on give me hope. These projects not only meet people’s practical needs but also embody the compassion and immense capacity for love that humanity holds. The projects highlighted in this issue of Develop are reminders of injustices that should never have existed, but they also testify to the transformative power of compassion.

In a world where it is so easy to become drawn into self-interest, may we be reminded of Jesus’ call on our lives to build God’s Kingdom here, shaped by love, hope and justice.