As we look forward to working in the Dominican Republic building houses with the Samaritan Foundation, we are reminded of the inspiring Elio Madonia who started this incredible work there.
Elio Madonia was one of those rare individuals who chose action over indifference. In a world where it is easy to overlook hardship – whether at home or across the globe – Madonia dedicated much of his life to helping those most in need. As head of The Samaritan Foundation, he focused his efforts on building homes for impoverished families in the Dominican Republic, transforming communities and inspiring countless others along the way.
Madonia’s journey began in 1988 during a vacation with his wife, Lena. After taking a wrong turn, they stumbled upon the slums of Charamicos, a sight that left a lasting impression. Rather than turning away, Madonia felt compelled to act. He connected with a local pastor and visited families living in the area, deciding to build simple homes for those in need. That decision marked the beginning of a lifelong mission.
The first village, Maranatha, grew from a cluster of makeshift homes into a thriving community, eventually including hundreds of houses, along with a church, school, and medical clinic. What once had been a struggling slum became a place where families could live with dignity and hope for the future.
Initially, Madonia funded the work himself, viewing it as a personal responsibility rather than an organized effort. But as word spread, support began to grow. Volunteers and donors from Canada, the United States, England, Australia, and beyond joined his cause. Mission Direct were privileged to be among those who partnered with Madonia and The Samaritan Foundation. Over the years, the work expanded, and Madonia helped build multiple villages and more than a thousand homes for families in need.
Despite the scale of his achievements, Madonia never considered his work a sacrifice. He often described his time in the Dominican Republic as some of the most rewarding years of his life. Guided by faith and compassion, he believed true happiness came not from material possessions, but from helping others and creating lasting change.
Those who worked alongside him remembered his humility and sincerity. He never sought recognition, yet his compassion was evident in the joy he shared with families receiving their new homes. Elio Madonia left behind more than houses and villages – he left a legacy of kindness, generosity, and service. Through his efforts, thousands found shelter, stability, and hope, and his example continues to inspire compassion in others.
Reflections on 2025
Mission Direct · Kumi, Uganda
Every year in Kumi tells a different story, but the thread running through all of them is the same: faithful, sustained partnership between Mission Direct, local churches, schools, and communities, walking alongside each other to create lasting change. 2025 was no exception. It was a year of significant building progress, of a porridge fund that kept growing, of chickens changing lives, and of trees being planted in the hope of a greener future. Here is some of what that year held.
Building at Wiggins Primary School
Wiggins Primary School, a government school serving over a thousand children in the rural community south of Kumi, joined Mission Direct’s family of schools for the first time in 2025. With twenty teachers but only thirteen homes, six classrooms had been pressed into service as accommodation and the children left to learn in buildings from the 1940s, roofs leaking, lessons lost to the rain.
The project for 2025 was to change that: to build four new teachers’ homes, constructed by volunteers working alongside Joseph and his local team across three visits through the year, each team handing on to the next as the walls slowly rose.
Team 1 in April laid the foundations and built the first walls, welcomed on day one with singing, dancing and extraordinary warmth…all before a single brick had been laid. The familiar rhythm of a Mission Direct build quickly established itself: Joseph and his skilled local team teaching volunteers the craft, the shout of “mortar, mortar, mortar!” carrying across the site, friendships deepening over shared porridge at break time.
By July, Team 2 arrived to find a completed floor slab waiting for them. Walls rose course by course through the weeks that followed – this was the largest single structure Mission Direct had built in Kumi – until roof timbers were delivered to site and the contractors took over between teams. The Kumi Express team in September found the roof already on, and turned their hands to plastering, painting, and finishing work.
By December, the homes were nearing completion. Contractors then began refurbishing the vacated classrooms, ready for children to walk into them at the start of the new school year in February 2026. Alongside the new build, leaking roofs on existing teachers’ homes were repaired and new windows and doors fabricated and fitted…teachers who had long learned to dread the rain would fear it no longer.
Four classrooms, returned to children. Class sizes reducing. Each year group properly streamed. One thousand children with a better chance at an education.
Alongside the building work, volunteer teachers engaged with staff at Wiggins, sharing ideas and resources. Around £500 was given towards books, science equipment and maths sets. A Scripture Union group was established at the school. Diana sewed buttons onto school uniforms at break time. The work, as always, was never only about bricks.
Feeding Hungry Minds
The Porridge Fund
Hunger is not a peripheral issue in education, it is central to it. A child who has not eaten cannot concentrate; a child dizzy with hunger will not retain what a teacher says. The Porridge Fund has long been one of Mission Direct’s most practical and direct interventions in Kumi, and 2025 brought a significant expansion.
The programme, which had been running at Kumi Primary and Kumi Bazaar schools, was extended this year to include Wiggins Primary School and Ngora School for Deaf Children. Four schools. Four hundred bowls of porridge, every single school day. That is £20 per day, roughly £4,800 per year and just short of 100,000 bowls across a full year.
The results at Kumi Bazaar speak for themselves. In the 2024 Primary Leaving Examinations, 86% of Bazaar’s candidates achieved a Division 1 result, placing the school ahead of every private school in the area. It is a government school, in a poor district, and the commitment of its teachers is the primary driver of that success. But the Porridge Fund plays its part, ensuring the children who sit those exams are not doing so on empty stomachs.
“Since we have started providing some food for the candidate class, the exam results have improved significantly.”
The Chickens That Changed Everything
Some of the most significant change happening in and around Kumi in 2025 has been driven by something modest: a chicken. The Chicken Programme, run by Atutur PAG and funded through the St Albans Diocese Harvest Appeal, has been running for a number of years and continues to bear fruit well beyond what was originally imagined.
The model is straightforward: women attend a day of training – including animal husbandry, health and managing a small enterprise – and at the end of the day, they leave with chickens. By July 2025, seven hundred and sixty-five people had received that training, and over three thousand chickens had been distributed between them.
What those women have done with them is remarkable. Eggs sold, flocks grown, school fees paid, medical costs covered, nutrition improved. Women who started with a handful of birds have joined Village Savings and Loans Associations, building financial resilience week by week. Ajulang Loyce sold her chickens and bought three sheep. Others have invested in additional land, hired labour for their gardens, and expanded into new crops. The income is circulating locally, creating employment and economic activity beyond the original beneficiaries.
“This project has caused a multiplier effect in the households of these women and also in the community, extra monies used to invest for the future, to avoid the syndrome of hand to mouth.”
The programme is expected to reach self-sufficiency by the end of 2026. When it does, it will continue not because of outside funding, but because the women of Kumi have built something of their own.
Chickens also featured in the work of the Kumi Mothers Union this year. Alongside food support for isolated elderly people and single-parent families, the teams brought seeds and chickens – small but meaningful steps towards self-sufficiency for people who have very little and no state safety net to fall back on.
Planting for the Future
Trees, Orchards and Bees
At Ngora School for Deaf Children – one of only three specialist Primary schools of its kind in Uganda – a quieter, longer-term kind of change has been taking root. Ngora’s motto is “Never Give Up,” and it earns that motto. Deaf children are often the last in a family to be sent to school; boarding fees that seem small by UK standards are beyond the reach of many families; resources are stretched and food has sometimes run short. Signing all day uses more energy than most people realise.
In 2025, Mission Direct’s support at Ngora has taken several forms: new classroom floors laid to replace dangerous, pot-holed surfaces; dormitory beds repaired; the solar lighting system restored after failure (prompting a joyful message from Head Teacher Stella Patience; “There is no more darkness”); and Ngora added to the Porridge Fund, ensuring regular food support each term.
But the project with perhaps the longest reach is the expansion of the school’s orchard, apiary and tree nursery, made possible by the St Albans 2023 Harvest Appeal. It is a project with multiple, interlocking benefits: the orchard provides food for the children; the tree nursery sells seedlings into the local community, generating income for the school; the bees support the environment and in time will produce honey; and the whole project is woven into the curriculum, giving children learning through their own hands.
Similar tree-planting work is taking root at Kapolin Church, where the church and local individuals have donated land for a climate change initiative. In a region where unpredictable rainfall and environmental pressures are felt acutely, every tree planted is a statement of hope – a small investment in the long-term health of the land and the people who depend on it.
The trees face the challenge of the dry season, but they are there, growing.
People, Always People
Behind every project and every statistic in Kumi is a person. The year has been full of them.
Dinah, deserted by her husband with five children, received a home built by volunteers as well as food, a jerry can, seeds, and oxen hired to plough her land. Susan was introduced to Team 2 before they had even arrived, a community’s way of saying: this person is waiting, this person matters. Christine and Richard’s home, begun by one team, was completed by another – the family photographed standing outside their new walls. Magdalene, identified after the Express Team had already left, will have her roof replaced thanks to funds they left behind.
Margaret, a young deaf girl at Ngora, passed her Primary Leaving Examinations this year and will move on to a specialist secondary school. Kevin – a girl’s name in Uganda – was supported to start a tailoring business. Kumi Prison continued to be a place of worship and practical care, with volunteers describing visits there as among the most profound experiences of any trip.
There is also the ongoing story of the school results. Young people at Kumi Bazaar, Wiggins, Kumi Primary and Ngora are sitting examinations, passing, moving forward – quietly, in their own way, building futures. Mission Direct does not build those futures. The teachers do. The students do. But Mission Direct can make the conditions a little more possible.
A Year in Review
At the end of 2025, four teachers’ homes at Wiggins stood nearly complete. Four schools had received daily porridge. Hundreds of women across the Kumi district had learnt to tend chickens that are changing their families’ lives. A young woman started a tailoring business. A deaf school has light again. Trees were planted and started to grow.
None of this is a beginning. It is a continuation — of relationships built over many years, of trust earned slowly, of partnerships that have proved their depth. 2025 is simply the latest chapter in a much longer story.
When you hear about the Mission Direct work building and feeding and planting and caring in Kumi, Uganda, it is important to pause and ask a simple question: who are the people helping to make this possible? Volunteer teams come and go, each trip bringing new energy and fresh eyes to the work. But there are two people that are consistently present – who are there to greet volunteers on arrival and who will be there for the people of Kumi long after they leave. Their names are Richard and Janet Bacon.
Richard spent his career in property. Janet spent hers in accountancy. Between them, they accumulated decades of professional experience – the kind that teaches you not just a discipline, but a way of thinking: how to manage a build, how to read a balance sheet, how to make things work in the real world. When they retired, they had every reason to put their feet up.
Instead, God’s path, lead them to choose to go to Uganda.
Their path to Kumi is also a personal story. Both had been widowed; both found their faith at the centre of their lives; and it was through their local church that they found each other. When they came together, they brought not just their individual histories but a shared sense of calling. Separately they had each walked alongside mission partners and understood deeply what it means to serve communities overseas. Together, they chose to commit themselves to the work of Mission Direct in Kumi…and they have not looked back.
Between them, Richard and Janet draw on their professional experience to support the full span of what Mission Direct’s work in Kumi requires. Richard is Country Manager for Uganda and the construction manager on the ground. He oversees every build, he knows the site, he works alongside Joseph and the local team, and ensures that what gets built gets built well. He is the steady hand behind the teachers’ homes at Wiggins, behind the repaired roofs and the new windows and doors, behind every wall that has slowly risen across the years.
Janet brings her accountancy background to bear in a different but equally vital way: driving and overseeing fundraising initiatives to keep the work alive. The Porridge Fund, the Chicken Programme, the homes built for families like Dinah’s…Janet understands not just the heart of the mission, but the mechanics required to make it happen.
Both roles are entirely voluntary. Richard and Janet are unpaid. They fund their own travel to Uganda. They give their time freely, and they give it generously – sustained not by their own strength but by God’s.
In Kumi, they are known simply as Mama Jan and Papa Richard. Those names say everything about the relationship they have built with the community there. This is not the relationship of managers with a project, or donors with a cause. It is something warmer and more lasting than that. Something genuine that they feel the Lord has called them to do.
Richard and Janet are a consistent, regular presence in Kumi – the people who always come back. When a new team of volunteers arrives, Richard and Janet will be one step ahead, ready to welcome them. Even from the UK, in between trips, they are in almost daily contact with their friends and partners in Kumi. The relationship does not pause because there are air miles between them.
Ask Richard and Janet what they are trying to achieve in Kumi, and they will not speak about projects completed or targets met. They speak about momentum. About getting a ball rolling. About giving a community a lift, not doing the work for them, but creating the conditions in which the people of Kumi can drive things forwards for themselves and their neighbours.
This is what you will read in ‘A Year in Kumi’. The Chicken Programme that is on the verge of self-sufficiency. The school results that speak for themselves. The trees planted in the hope of a future that will outlast any single trip or team. The women who started with a handful of chickens and now invest in land and hire labour and send their children to school.
None of that happens without the long game being played. And alongside the people with whom we partner in Kumi and with the strength and direction from God, the long game is what Richard and Janet are there to play.
Maureen, a volunteer staff team member just returned from Cambodia, came back with her faith renewed; not just in the mission, but in what’s possible when the right people work together with the right intentions.
“The Cambodia trip restored my faith in working with a partner who carries out its promises,” she reflects. The work started by the November team had been completed to a high standard…high ceilings, tiled floors, electric fans, and a shaded canopy creating exactly the conditions young children need to learn and thrive. A design so well considered, Maureen believes it should stand as the blueprint for every classroom that follows.
Despite the heat – a relentless 35°C – the small team of three threw themselves into the work, painting classroom exteriors, laying bricks for perimeter fencing, and connecting warmly with the children at every school they visited. They were particularly moved by the SMILE orphanage, impressed by the care and facilities on offer.
Some moments were harder. A visit to Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields cast a long shadow, as it always does. “It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve made these visits,” Maureen says. “It is extremely chilling.” But understanding Cambodia’s history, she believes, is essential to understanding its present.
And the present holds some wonderful stories. A question asked on a Friday morning about what could be done with a patch of wasteland next to the school had, by Monday, become a levelled volleyball court; 21 truckloads of soil, a local farmer with a tractor, and a community that simply got it done. “The look on the children’s faces when they arrived at lunchtime was a picture.”
There was also the story of a young woman who grew up in Happy Village, was supported through university by Serve Cambodia, and now works for them as an accountant. Quiet, lasting impact…exactly the kind Mission Direct exists to support.
As Maureen puts it: “It is truly amazing to see what can be achieved if you just have the faith to believe anything is possible.”
What drew you to this type of work?
I was drawn to this type of work many years ago due to experiencing a certain amount of disadvantage in my own life, but also having a father who was an example to me in his faith and compassion.
I grew up in a pretty poor household. My father was working class and lost his job in the 1980s. He was out of work for a decade.
My mother is German and I have a German name – Wilhelm – which caused me challenges growing up. At school I was both the German and the poor kid. I got my cousin’s hand-me-downs from Germany – fashion was years behind there compared to the UK. We didn’t have a TV or phone until I was nine or ten, and we never had a car.
So, I grew up understanding the limitations you have if you don’t have money and are an outsider. This wove into me a strong sense of wanting to help people. I understood and still understand what it felt like to be on the outside, to not have the things other people take for granted.
Although my father had very little, he prayed with me and my brother every day. He took us to church, and he read stories about Saints from the past. Throughout his life he cared for other people who were poor or facing lack of fairness or justice. In many ways he modelled a way of being that inspired me.
What’s a project or moment that exemplifies why Mission Direct’s work matters?
The school with the three classrooms in Zambia is a good example (referred to in part 1) because it demonstrated that we completed projects that other organisations had left unfinished and abandoned.
Another example comes from last year in Uganda. When our volunteers visited a medical clinic in Kumi, they were shown many oxygen tanks but only one regulator. This meant that the staff at the clinic regularly needed to choose between different patients who required oxygen because only one person could receive it at a time. This meant that they were making life and death decisions simply because of a lack of equipment.
When the volunteers heard this, they donated enough money to purchase four more regulators so that up to five patients at a time can have oxygen treatment if they need it. They had the means to do so and were motivated by compassion because they were there, and they were able to resolve the situation immediately. Countless lives will be saved as a result of a decision that was only possible because volunteers witnessed the problem first hand.
A final example is the Harvest of Hope School in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Phnom Penh is built on a swamp, and this school is situated in one of the poorest areas of the city, which has undergone a great deal of development. Parts of the city are like any first world location with hotels, good roads and beautiful places to go – while other areas are still very poor. As a result of the development work, the water table has changed and many of these poorer areas now flood regularly.
Mission Direct had worked with the school before and due to remaining in contact and regularly visiting it, we were able to be aware of the developing problem. It was decided that the school could not be moved because there was no alternative available land in that community, so we demolished and rebuilt it after raising the existing plot of land sufficiently so that it would no longer flood. This has meant that the children in that area can continue to receive a high-quality education in a safe and hygienic environment.
If you go to church for most of your life, you will hear about missions. I remember in my youth thinking, I am meant to do something with my faith – what will I do?
But you can do quite a lot. You can sacrifice a holiday and be part of changing lives, and your own in the process. It takes people out of their comfort zone and the artificial restrictions in their lives. People discover they’re capable of far more than they thought.
How do you see Mission Direct’s role in international development evolving? What does responsible partnership look like in practice?
I’ve worked in international development for over 30 years. In that time, I’ve done training and visited lots of countries to see different approaches, and things change. We have to keep learning and adapting.
There are two books that have really shaped my thinking: ‘When Helping Hurts’ and ‘Toxic Charity’. Those books are about the unintended consequences of poorly conceived charity – the dehumanisation and lack of agency it can create in the people being ‘helped’. It’s not good enough to have good intentions. You need to think carefully about how your help actually impacts people. This is only possible when we follow the lead of those who know what is best for their community. So, when we work overseas, we are partnering with inspiring leaders to help them to realise their vision for their community and not ours.
People ask us why we don’t just send the money, but that doesn’t always work as well as people think. Practically being side by side with our partners means much more to them, and we are able to achieve so much more together working in real and tangible partnership.
What’s missing in a lot of international development work is the relational part. This really matters. When people go on our trips, this isn’t their employed job. They’re giving their time voluntarily. None of our overseas staff are employed by Mission Direct either. Everyone wants to be in that country. They’re there because they’re committed to the communities where they are serving and because they are motivated by faith.
What keeps you motivated during challenging times?
In my job all the problems filter to the top. That’s the nature of leadership. But I know what we’re doing matters, which motivates me. It becomes personal.
One of many standout organisations we support is Mission With A Vision in Kenya. They take in girls who have been rescued from forced marriage and were at risk of female genital mutilation. They won an award from the Kenyan government for excellence, and yet they’re struggling to survive financially. We’ve been fundraising on their behalf.
It’s painful to watch them going through these struggles because these girls are reliant on them. But the results speak for themselves – girls are growing up protected by them and leaving with qualifications, jobs and futures, or getting married to someone they chose rather than being forced into marriage. This pathway for girls who were trapped is working. This an example of what keeps me going.
What would you say to someone considering supporting Mission Direct?
If you’re not able to travel and join a team, there are other ways to support us. Pray for us – we can sign you up to receive a prayer email so you can see what our current prayer needs are. You can also financially support our work. By doing so, you’re contributing to everything we are doing – to our ability to support all these different projects.
When we build a school and look at how many children use it over 20 years, it works out as around £10 per child. We work with more than one school and do many other things also. So, supporting us and the work we do can go a long way. Your donation genuinely makes an impact.
We’re a small organisation intimately involved with the partners we work with. We’re able to have that level of care. We’ve not become too big where we lose that personal connection.
We generally don’t struggle to fund individual projects – the challenge is funding ourselves, which of course is essential. Without core funding for our operations, we can’t support any of these partners or send any volunteers. That is often what small organisations like ours need most.
What first connected you to Mission Direct?
Back in 2008 our church in St Albans had a fire, and our church hall burned down. As our church started raising money to rebuild, we knew we wanted to bless others at the same time – if we were being given a new building, we wanted to help be part of someone else’s building journey too.
We asked, “Where do we even start? Who can we partner with?” Three different people in my church, independently, suggested Mission Direct. That caught my attention.
I got in touch and asked, “Is there something that needs some money – and can we be part of that story?” Mission Direct told us about a couple in Zambia whose church was full of over 250 children – 120 of them orphans/vulnerable children desperate to go to school. They had a vision to open a school but no means to even buy land to build on. Just as our church in the UK was praying for the right project to give money to, this couple and their friends were praying in Zambia for a miracle to be able to build a school. Mission Direct were responsible for our finding each other and a long distance relationship that is still strong over 15 years later.
Initially our church gave £12,000 to purchase a plot of land. In 2010, we gave money to build classrooms and 23 people from our church went with Mission Direct to Zambia to help build the classrooms. The effect on those that went was so great that more church members and their friends quickly signed up to go later in the year and the following year and the year after that – each time providing more money to help build more of the school.
Today, the Crown of Life School teaches over 650 children from nursery through to the end of senior school in multiple classrooms and provides a free lunch for those who need it and so much more.
What surprised you most once you got involved?
I think I knew from day one that Mission Direct’s attention to detail, organisation and commitment to partnership was phenomenal, as I coordinated the early support from our church. My daughter, Shan, and I were able to join a trip to Zambia in 2023.
The trip deepened my love of Mission Direct and its vision for long lasting change to transform lives – in our case this was shown by providing access to free education for children who would otherwise not be able to go to school.
Can you share some moments that have really stayed with you?
One rhythm on trips is that we spent time working on the building site in the mornings then visited projects in the afternoons. We spent one afternoon with street children who came to a centre for a meal, meaning a couple of hours off the street for them and time to play.
We had fun playing rounders, hopscotch and skipping. For a while, it just felt like any other group of children having fun – but then the bell went and it was time for them to go back to the streets. I genuinely wanted to weep. These were young children living alone on the streets in Zambia.
I learned how incredibly hard it is to get children off the streets once they’re there. What I really loved, though, was seeing how the Crown of Life School – and so much of Mission Direct’s work – is
about reaching children before they ever get to that point. It’s about helping these children when they are young, before they end up on the streets.
Another afternoon, we visited homes near the school and an HIV/AIDS clinic. I vividly remember a teenager looking after two small children. The mum came back from the clinic whilst we were there, and we sat with her for about an hour listening to her story. It wasn’t her house; she was house sitting in a building site to protect it. Her husband had died of AIDS and she had been rejected by her family. There was no food in the home. She was boiling water so the children would think a meal was being prepared and hopefully fall asleep before they realised there was no food to be had.
We told her about the school: “Come to the school today and we will give you a parcel of rice, margarine, basic staples – and clothes and shoes for the children.” The aim was simply to get her there, so she could meet the school and understand that her children could attend the school for free; I was so pleased she went and this encounter has stayed with me.
What was the most challenging aspect of your experience?
One of the biggest challenges for me was fundraising for our building project. However, by asking for money for bricks we were also raising the profile of the work of Mission Direct. We found people were very happy to give money once we were brave enough to start fundraising, either by selling at car boot sales or cleaning toilets. It reminded me that in order to bless others we also need to be willing to be vulnerable, to ask, to trust that people want to be part of the story too.
How has the experience influenced your life since returning home?
The woman boiling water for her children so they would think food was coming is never far from my mind. It makes me question my own needs and wants – “Do I really need this?” – in a very practical way.
I’m encouraged by sharing good news stories and Mission Direct gives you a lifetime of good news to share. My daughter and I will always remember what we did and the sense that we were part of something that has, and continues to, change lives.
Just the other Sunday a man in our church, Pete, who has been on a Mission Direct trip, shared that a past student at the school has recently been selected to stand as an MP in Zambia. This is a child who without the Crown of Life School would never have been able to afford to go to school.
What would you tell someone considering getting involved?
I would say, without doubt, that you couldn’t choose a better organisation to partner with and put your trust in. Mission Direct know how to look after you. Not just with beds and food but with pastoral care, spiritual growth and plenty of fun and enjoyment thrown in too. Everything is so well organised, but with enough flexibility to adapt if needed.
For some volunteers, it might be their first time leaving the UK, which can feel daunting. Mission Direct offers a safe, carefully planned trip where you’re supported every step of the way – from your initial enquiry to returning home and reflecting.
Whether you’re able to travel yourself or want to support through your church like we did, there are ways for everyone to be part of the Mission Direct vision. It will be a positive life-changing experienced that you’ll never regret.
At Mission Direct, we believe that lasting change happens when people come together with shared purpose.
Our new Mission Makers series will shine a light on the inspiring individuals – from UK volunteers and overseas partners to community leaders, staff, supporters, and faith leaders – who help make that vision a reality. Each story celebrates their unique journey, their heart for service, and the difference they’re making both locally and globally.
So let’s begin by sharing the first part of a heart-warming story from our CEO, Wil Horwood.
What first connected you to Mission Direct?
I’d never heard of Mission Direct before I saw the job advert towards the end of 2018. I’d been working in a missional context since 2008, most recently as chief executive in a network of charities around the world, but I was getting more involved in global governance rather than frontline work.
What attracted me to Mission Direct was that it seemed a practical, hands-on organisation that wasn’t just about governance and strategy. It provided a clear opportunity for me to see the benefit of my work in real time rather than from a distance.
What surprised you most once you got involved?
I was most surprised by how profoundly it affected me once I joined one of the trips. A month after I joined as CEO, I went to Zimbabwe to join a team in Mutare.
As a group of volunteers, we were such a range – mature adults, a former full-time missionary, an engineer who worked for a UK water authority, young adults, people from very different walks of life. Despite coming from such different backgrounds, as we were in Mutare we came away feeling as if we had all managed to leave something very personal behind. There were opportunities to do things that were not in the plan.
Before I got into non-profit work, I worked in marketing and graphic design. I had a background in fine art before that. In Zimbabwe, I got an opportunity to design and paint a mural of wild animals for a severely disabled boy called Simba in his bedroom. I spent time with him in his home.
This boy and his family were well known to our volunteers. They were living in a small two-roomed house. He was wheelchair-bound, couldn’t speak, but could indicate preferences through gestures and noises. He loved wild animals.
Mission Direct volunteers had previously converted the house to be disabled-friendly – adding ramps, replacing dirt floors with concrete rather than the original dirt floors. Now I got to paint this mural of the wild animals he loved specifically for him. It was so personal.
The engineer on our team also got to use his specific skills in an unexpected way. He helped the school who had got food from a nearby farm. Their farmland was on the top of a hill and their water was at the bottom of it. He helped set up an irrigation system so the elderly ladies didn’t have to make that climb constantly.
Can you share some moments that have really stayed with you?
In the same trip in Zimbabwe, we visited a family at their home with a charity that did outreach work to make sure single-parent poor families were looked after. A lady lived there with two sons. One was at school. The other was tied up to a stake outside with no trousers on. He lived like that. It was clear the rope he’d been tied up with had been tied for a long time. He pooed there, ate there.
Seeing that was a real wrench. We asked about it and this woman had struggled to control this child who had severe mental health challenges.
Both of my children have forms of disability, and although I sometimes get really frustrated with the NHS, this woman felt like she had no option. She had been given a bag of tablets from the doctor but had never opened them. Even though she had sought help, she didn’t know what to do with it.
It shows how much there is still to do. We may not be able to solve that problem, but we reported it as a concern to the local organisation working with that family.
In Zambia, I visited a number of schools. One was a school that’s quite near where our volunteers stay. It’s linked to the Zambian Evangelical organisation – we stay on their land. When I arrived, they had three classroom blocks that had been half-built. When I asked them about it, it turned out they’d had three different far-off funders who had each funded half a building – no roofs. Somehow these buildings had been left incomplete by different organisations, and none had try to finish a previous half built building.
Nearby there was another school that was derelict, one the government had built and then abandoned. Failures from government and distant charities left these communities without proper facilities.
We finished those three classroom blocks and helped them expand their primary, to secondary and nursery provision with over 1,000 children. That’s the power of individuals coming together and going there to see the situation.
That school has gone through tough times and nearly closed during the pandemic. Now it’s thriving. Because of the relational element of how we work, we’ve stayed with it. Once we go through the process of finding partners and building relationships, we don’t want schools to become reliant on us, but we keep in touch.
Also in Zambia, there’s a lady called Chitalu who had been a homeless teenager. She wanted to help other homeless girls. She bought some land and we helped her build a rescue home.
When you open the gate, it’s green inside – grass and trees. Outside, there’s no grass anywhere, but inside this compound it’s like an oasis. This woman is like a mother to about 20 teenage girls, some of whom had been rescued from trafficking. She makes sure they’re fed, that they go to school. They sing, they have their own music studio. It’s a real oasis and I’m proud to say that Mission Direct helped her realise her vision.
What would you tell someone considering getting involved?
If you’re thinking about it, then do it. You really won’t regret going on a mission, and if you’re worried about anything, fear not. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to raise the money. It’s safe – we will look after you.
You’ll likely have unexpected encounters where you get to draw on something personal to you, like I did in Zimbabwe with my background in art, or like that engineer who got to use his expertise with the irrigation system. You bring your own gifts and skills, and you’ll find ways to use them that you never expected.
Mission Direct has launched Mission Is Possible a nationwide campaign designed to inspire more people to volunteer overseas in 2026, helping us expand support for communities across Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean.
For over 20 years, Mission Direct has connected volunteers from the UK with locally led projects overseas, working alongside community leaders to help build schools, improve homes and create safer spaces for children to learn and thrive. This new campaign invites churches, small groups and individuals to see ‘two weeks’ not as a holiday, but as a chance to join in long‑term, faith‑fuelled transformation.
“We believe two weeks can be the start of a completely different story, both for volunteers and for the communities they serve,” said Wil Horwood, Chief Executive of Mission Direct. “Mission Is Possible is our invitation to people across the UK to put faith and compassion into real, practical action in 2026.”
The campaign comes at a crucial time as Mission Direct works to rebuild volunteer numbers following the pandemic.
“Like many organisations, we saw a drop in volunteers during and after COVID-19,” Wil explained. “But we know the need hasn’t diminished – in fact, communities are ready for partners to join their work. This campaign is about reconnecting people with the transformative power of serving alongside others.”
The campaign will feature inspiring volunteer testimonies, weekly newsletters, and coordinated social media activity on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
One returning volunteer, who joined their first trip at age 62, shared: “When we tell people ‘it will change your life’, we mean it. I started with two volunteering trips – now I’m part of the Mission Direct team, helping to continue this work across many countries.”
Our goal at Mission Direct is to significantly increase volunteer numbers so it can strengthen existing partnerships and extend support to new communities. Each overseas trip is grounded in long-term relationships with local churches, schools, and community organisations, with projects identified and sustained by local leaders.
“Our faith leads us to believe that no community is beyond hope and no volunteer is ‘too ordinary’ to be used by God in remarkable ways,” Wil added. “Mission Is Possible is about ordinary people saying yes to an extraordinary God and discovering that they have more to give than they realised.”
The campaign also seeks to widen participation – reaching younger adults, families, professionals, retirees, and those exploring faith for the first time. Volunteers are matched to roles that suit different skills and energy levels. No construction experience is required – just willingness to serve.
Alongside overseas volunteering, Mission Is Possible showcases other ways to get involved: through prayer, giving, fundraising, or sharing Mission Direct’s story in churches, schools, and local communities. The aim is simple: to make mission possible for everyone, whatever their stage of life or faith.
“Whether someone travels overseas, prays for our work, gives financially, or simply shares our story with someone who’s ready – every contribution matters,” said Wil. “Mission is possible because people engage in different ways, and we need all of them.”
Keep an eye on our social media channels for campaign updates.
We’re thrilled to share some exciting news: Mission Direct has won the Newcomer Award at the Big Give Christmas Challenge 2025 Awards.
The award celebrates first-time participants who made a lasting impression during the campaign. Mission Direct was recognised for its “fresh ideas and enthusiasm” and for balancing “creativity with capacity as a small team.”
This was Mission Direct’s first Big Give Christmas Challenge, and the results exceeded expectations. The charity:
The campaign focused on Mission Direct’s work empowering children to rewrite their future through education. With a small team we created compelling video content featuring partners in Zambia, made creative promotional materials (including a giant pencil that travelled to events), and ran coordinated communications across email and social media.
“The Big Give Christmas Challenge seemed to be the perfect solution to our challenges with organising a successful Christmas fundraising campaign,” explained Wil Horwood, Mission Direct CEO. “The structured timeline helped us stay on track, the match funding element proved attractive to donors, and the credibility of the Big Give platform helped attract new supporters. Thank you to everyone who supported us.”
An added bonus – Mission Direct has received £1,000 in unrestricted funding from Big Give to support our ongoing work.
Following this success, we now plan to participate in the Big Give Christmas Challenge again in 2026 with an even larger target. Watch this space!
We are delighted to announce that Graham and Kathryn Dunwell will be our new country managers for the Dominican Republic for our teams in 2024. If you want to know all about Graham and Kathryn here is all about them in their own words.
Who We Are
Graham and Kathryn are married with two children named Troy and Precious. They are a devoted Christian family, passionate about sharing the love of Jesus. They come from a background in hospitality; they had a café and catering business in Wakefield for several years, where they partnered with their local church to reach out to the lost and broken in the city. Some years later, through a miracle encounter, they connected with a Christian charity based in Manchester that helps people have a second chance in life through a holistic approach of bible study, discipleship, practical life skills, and job training. They moved to Manchester several years ago and used their experience to support the charity’s ongoing work; this God-given opportunity inspired them to pursue a full-time commitment in ministry.
A Season Of Preparation
Kathryn is passionate about studying the Bible, so she attended university to study theology and deepen her understanding and relationship with God. Graham continued at the charity until COVID hit and the work was halted; during this time, he began to seek the Lord for his next season he felt led to join Kathryn at theological university. During Kathryn’s second year of university, she got placed with a church planting network in Manchester; they were recommended to apply for a church planting role in the city centre. Their theological training and practical experience in church planting have been a season of preparation for what God was calling them into next.
Their heart was getting stirred to work as missionaries overseas; after much prayer, speaking with their pastor, and decerning their next steps as a family, they felt called to the people of the Dominican Republic. An opportunity opened to work for Mission Direct as an overseas country manager.
Following The Call
They will oversee missionary teams on short-term mission trips where they will engage with various local projects supporting children and low-income families. Education, food, and healthcare are significant issues in the Dominican Republic. They will live in Sosua, an area known for being the sex capital of the Caribbean, where they aim to help contribute to combating the sex industry and supporting the ongoing women’s ministries. Their responsibilities will include serving different partner ministries, leading missionary teams, and assisting with projects such as building schools, food programs, drug rehabilitation, accommodation, healthcare, job training, and education.
An Invitation To Make A Difference
The Dominican Republic and neighbouring Haiti have many significant needs, Graham, Kathryn, and their children are dedicated to positively impacting these communities with the love of Jesus.
“We would love you to be part of the journey. We are trusting God for more prayer and financial supporters with a heart to reach the lost and help change the future of many hurting individuals through the love of Jesus and extending God’s Kingdom. You can even join us in person and be practically involved in the missionary work and witness firsthand the difference you are making in the lives of others on one of Mission Directs mission trips.”
“We appreciate your prayers as we prepare for the mission field!”
