- Missions
Jody Carrell knows the local church as a community that turns things around.
About 10 years ago, she was in a difficult season, so she started attending a Minnesota congregation on her way to work.
“I just knew anytime I’d been involved in church in my life, I felt a wee bit more hopeful,” Carrell said.
On only her second Sunday, a woman befriended her, becoming a steady, consistent support during that rough patch. As Carrell grew in the faith, she started a gospel-based addiction recovery ministry on the Minnesota-Wisconsin border.
During that work, Carrell sensed a need to obey God in an unknown purpose. In January 2022, some global workers from the United Kingdom spoke about how post-Christian and least-reached those countries are. While the couple shared, Carrell undoubtedly detected God’s direction.
“I literally thought the person behind me had tapped me on the shoulder,” Carrell said.
Going from America to apprentice in ministry
That tap was God’s hand, so Carrell applied for an apprenticeship with The Alliance for TransAtlantic Theological Training. AT3 and Converge place American global workers in U.K. churches, which gain additional servants while imparting leadership skills for ministry in post-Christian contexts.
Carrell arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland, in February 2023 as an apprentice at Oxgangs Community Church. She oversees a community meal team, runs a Bible study and mentors women one-on-one. Since then, she has also baptized three women.
That’s God at work. Ministry in Scotland requires building relationships among people who are slow to trust. Many of these working-class people think Jesus and the church are only for the middle class.
But Esther Grant, a friend of Carrell’s who attends Oxgangs, said Carrell enables others to love Jesus and experience transformation.
“She has made women on the fringes of our church fellowship feel valued and included,” Grant said. “She is constantly looking for opportunities to share her faith with whoever God brings across her path.”
That devotion and love have potential in the United Kingdom and Ireland, a region that is just about as unreached as anywhere on the planet.
Related: See the overall effort Converge has developed in the UK and Ireland.
Lynsey Campbell, who also attends Oxgangs, has seen Carrell offering others the hope she herself finds among Christ’s people.
“Jody has an honesty in how she shares her faith,” Campbell said. “Jody wants others to know the goodness of God and how His grace is available to them, too.”
A Minnesota church once turned Carrell’s life around. Now, through a tap on the shoulder, she’s at Oxgangs in Edinburgh, which means more people can learn that the church helps turn lives around.
“I’m planting a lot of seeds,” Carrell said. “It’s my job to be planting seeds, nurturing them as much as I can so they grow.”
Converge is asking God for a gospel movement among every least-reached people group – in our generation. Learn how we are playing a role in accomplishing the Great Commission and how you can be involved.
