Followers of Jesus have existed for 2,000 years.
With Jesus. With each other. To the edges.
When we look at the life of Jesus, we see that he spent time with people at the edges, often to the astonishment of the establishment. Sick people, poor people, tax collectors, those who were often avoided due to their “sinner” status – Jesus welcomes them. He offers grace, healing, restoration, love – and he invites them to be part of his story.
NUBA org world Mission Society is likewise called to connect with people at the edges: the edges of church, the edges of society, the edges of our comfort zones. And we’re always looking for others who will join us at edges near and far, to help share God’s love in creative ways, knowing that person-by-person, community-by-community, this is how we will see our world made new.
Our identity
First and foremost, we are followers of Jesus.
When we look at Jesus, we see he intentionally welcomed people on the edges.
His first followers, or disciples, didn’t always get why, at least not right away.
Yet by spending time with people on the fringes, Jesus was showing that his healing, liberating, peacebuilding way is for everyone.
We see repeatedly in the gospels that Jesus invites the previously-avoided into his story. And then he gives them work to do: to become storytellers themselves, carriers of the good news of Jesus’ life-giving, life-changing love to those around them.
The first disciples of Jesus eventually got the idea. And we are simply the latest generation in a long line of Jesus-followers who long for people at the edges to encounter Jesus, to discover the new life he brings and to share it with others. That’s our basic model for mission.
We exist to make disciples of Jesus at the edges, but crucially, we are also disciples ourselves. As we seek transformation for those who might have presumed Jesus wasn’t for them, we – and those who accompany us through prayer, giving and taking action – are also being continuously transformed.
NUBA org is made up of disciples of Jesus from various countries, cultural backgrounds and walks of life. When we say “we” we are talking about a vibrant mix of people in mission from the UK, Africa, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia – all following Jesus to the edges together.