Posted: 19th February 2026
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.
