Cornwall Christians rekindle mission efforts of 20 years ago

From l-r: The Reverend Gordon Smythe, Reverend John Hibberd, Reverend Daniel Cozens and Archdeacon Bill Stuart-White at the launch of Walk Cornwall 2

In 1993, Christians from across Cornwall took part in a six-week walk mission set up by local church leaders and facilitated by Through Faith Missions.

It is this effort, dubbed The Walk of 1,000 Men, that has reignited another wave of evangelism under the name of Walk Cornwall 2 (Kerdh Kernow 2).

The evangelistic outreach got underway on Saturday with the commissioning of over 150 mission team members outside Camborne Wesley Methodist Church.

The Archdeacon of Cornwall, the Venerable Bill Stuart-White, welcomed the team members, who come from all across the UK.

Once again Through Faith Missions is working with Cornish churches eager to take the Christian message out into the community over the next three weeks.

In a moving address, founding evangelist, Reverend Daniel Cozens, encouraged team members to be gentle in their work but also to remember that spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ was a matter of urgency and a priority.

"Leave the people you meet with His words, and His words will grow," he said.

The commissioning service outside Camborne Wesley Methodist Church

The outreach commences in West Cornwall and will progress eastwards to meet people 'where they are', whether that's in their places of work, the pub, or local community centres and other hubs.

With that in mind, team members will be running pub quizzes, breakfasts, pasty lunches, curry nights and skittle evenings in 'non-churchy' venues as well as teaching and preaching at church services.

On 29 September, during 'A Night of Colour' in Truro Cathedral, Through Faith Missions founder Daniel Cozens will tell his life story and what Jesus means to him.

On 12 October, there will be an all-day, open air festival with over 100 performers at the Truro Piazza on Lemon Quay.

The Reverend John Hibberd, senior evangelist from Through Faith Missions, is co-ordinating Walk Cornwall 2.

He said: "No matter how well each of our churches may be doing, recent Census information revealed that a large number of people no longer regard themselves as Christian — with many now saying they have 'no religion' at all.

"The challenge is clear. This 'bad news' calls for the 'Good News', with a need for Jesus to be made known in a living and vibrant way, so that many people who've never considered him can do so and respond."

More evangelists will be commissioned at another service marking phase two of the outreach on Saturday.