British businessman and peer Lord Robert Edmiston has spoken about using wealth, influence and new technology in the service of Christian mission, saying evangelism has remained the central focus of his public and private life.
In a recent episode of Evangelical 360, hosted by Brian Stiller, Lord Edmiston and his wife, Lady Tracie Edmiston, discussed how their faith has shaped their involvement in business, politics, charitable giving and global outreach.
Lord Edmiston, who is known in the UK for his work as an entrepreneur, philanthropist and member of the House of Lords, said his Christian faith began in his teenage years after receiving an invitation to church through his letterbox.
He described that moment as life-changing and said it redirected the course of his life after what he characterised as a troubled and rebellious youth.
Although Edmiston said he believed, after receiving what he understood as a word from God in his youth, that he was being called to serve as a missionary in Africa, his life unfolded differently.
Rather than going overseas in that role, he went into business and later came to see that his success had enabled him to advance the work of mission in another way - by funding, supporting and sending others to share the gospel on a large scale around the world.
During the interview, he reflected on the early struggles of his working life, including balancing family responsibilities, night study and multiple jobs while training as an accountant.
“But even in that crisis, God had a plan,” he remarked.
He later rose through the motor industry and went on to build a business that, he said, enabled him to support missionary activity on a much wider scale than he had first imagined.
Lady Edmiston said that sense of purpose gradually shaped the couple’s vision for ministry.
She recalled helping to establish Christian Vision, the organisation they founded, after sensing through the guidance of the Holy Spirit a need to support evangelism at scale, particularly in places and contexts where churches or other ministries could not easily operate alone.
She said the ministry aimed not to duplicate existing efforts, but to discern where God was leading them to serve in ways that could strengthen Christian witness through innovative methods and media.
Over time, that strategy developed from shortwave radio into digital outreach, social media and emerging technologies.
Lord Edmiston said one of the guiding principles behind their giving has been obedience to the gospel mandate to preach Christ, rather than attachment to wealth itself.
On wealth, he said: “I never made it my god … and I think that's a test God gives you … we should all honour God with our wealth, whether it be big or small … and it's God that gives us the power to create wealth anyhow.”
He continued: “If we're following Jesus, that's His command, so we cannot be wrong saying we're going to focus on evangelism ... And I knew that that was what God wanted us to do. So as soon as I got control of the business, I knew to whom much is given, much is expected.”
He argued that generosity should flow from love and gratitude to God rather than mere duty and said this conviction has shaped how he thinks about philanthropy.
“He loves a cheerful giver and if our heart is full of gratitude to Him, then it's a blessing when you can give that way,” he highlighted.
He added: “I think we're faced with the choices in life, what we do with our life. At the end of the day, we all stand before God and have to answer for what we've done with the things He's given us, like the servants, you know, who were given the talents.
“And I'm very aware of my own mortality, particularly as I get older. And the things that I presently possess have little meaning to me because we're all after what we haven't got. But still, there's something missing if you don't have God.
“Billy Graham, I think, put it this way, ‘Within every person there's ... a god-shaped void inside of us and only God can fulfil that.’ So, when you think no one can look into the face of Jesus and say the price is too high because He paid the ultimate price. So, it's just a pleasure for us to be able to give to Him.”
The couple explained that their organisation has increasingly focused on reaching people in places where access to churches or Christian teaching is limited.
This includes work in countries with restricted religious freedom, as well as online communities where traditional forms of outreach may be less effective.
They said digital media has created new opportunities to engage people with Christian content, measure response and develop long-term “faith journeys” rather than simply counting one-time interactions.
Lady Edmiston noted that this has also opened up new forms of collaboration with other ministries seeking to understand how people move towards faith in different cultural settings.
Lord Edmiston said the aim is not to build a private empire or create dependency, but to serve the wider Church and strengthen the kingdom of God.
Where possible, he said, people responding to Christian outreach should be connected to local churches, though in some settings digital communities may be the only realistic option.
Reflecting on the state of the world, Lord Edmiston acknowledged the discouragement many Christians feel in the face of political upheaval, conflict and cultural change.
Even so, he said he remains hopeful, pointing to signs of renewed spiritual interest among younger generations and to the unprecedented reach offered by digital communication.
He said Christians should remain attentive to how God may be working even in periods of instability, adding that modern communications technology now offers possibilities for global evangelism that previous generations could scarcely have imagined.
He explained: “Jesus has the clue; the Holy Spirit has the clue to how we should do things. We can just follow him. We can't push it ahead at a rate beyond which he's working … unless the Lord build the house we labour in vain. So, we need to work with him … We have to look beyond the situation to God who's above and beyond all those situations … There's so many issues and we're only a little part of the cog. God's using the church.”
Lord Edmiston has also been involved in the Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer project.
Construction on the landmark was scheduled to begin in November 2025 after its initial £40 million fundraising target was met.
The land was given by IM Properties, the Midlands-based company owned by Lord Edmiston, which also made a significant financial contribution towards the build.
Explaining the vision behind the project, he shared: “It is a testament to present and future generations of the creator of the universe who has answered numerous prayers over centuries past and still is answering them today. If we don’t remember the God who stood by us in our darkest hours as a nation, then we are condemned to have a future absent of his divine guidance and protection.”
The monument is expected to open to the public in 2028.
Lord Edmiston concluded in the Evangelical 360 episode: “Everything we have, we give away. And if we've got a project, we'll give it away to someone who can do it better than us. There's no tribalism here. I'm not trying to build a local church. What we're doing is trying to build the kingdom of God.”
