Dave Maguire - Missionary Report back June 2026
Thank you Jesus for the privilege to serve him and co-labour with him and his church from all different areas and places. Ministry this year has been with provisions coming to help serve the poor and evangelise around our local area of Danes here in Romania with wood for the poor and food for the hungry. Each month we visit Ukraine in the cities of Chernovitz and Odessa again with food and provisions; working with Baptist/Pentecostal/Nazarene/Charismatic churches in all these places in unity and bold faith and courage in war zone conditions of bombs and drones exploding and moving across the skies.
We all keep our eyes on Jesus and the poor who we all serve and not on external fears. Life and ministry is also to encourage and preach the gospel in all these places with prayer ministry in signs and healings in the name of Jesus with many healed, set free and saved in these heavy traumatic conditions.
Life is to equip the saints also in small Bible schools. Battles with broken vans continued but so also has been God’s grace and provision to not give up and see God’s amazing provision to repair and even give better than before. Thank you for all your continued prayer support and love, to do and live this life of love for God and others. Finally, this spring has seen the release of a book I’ve written inspired to do from a prophecy I received last year and now has been published and put out on Amazon - A smile on Gods face.
Rodica ministers to many ladies one on one and serves quietly and faithfuly.
Sabrina continues to mature into young adulthood and has one year of studies to do at school.
This time is now 20 years of marriage
30 years of service to the Lord in Romania
And 60 years of living
Praise the Lord
Embassy Newsletter - July 2026
Dear friends,
Since our last report to you all in Whitfield Parish, we have had an eventful few months!
The Embassy women’s apartment block opened and we can now house 13 women instead of 4. Our referrals have become increasingly diverse and include women from all walks of life and backgrounds including those rescued from abuse. The privilege of caring for them is now being shared across three female staff because our team has grown. Our women are engaging quite well in family meals and social events and even today one of the women was teaching the others how to make jewellery. One of the women is part way through an Alpha course at a local church and enjoying it. There’s a lot to work through for the team as some of the women have a lot of fresh trauma to unpack. Please pray for protection and for lots of opportunities for the gospel.
The Village for men opened too and we now have 21 men living with us and we are continuing to interview for more residents. There will be 41 men in total soon but we need to recruit a few more staff and raise more funds to pay them first! Men are also engaging well and we’ve had the joy of seeing a few into work and a good handful checking out church too. A couple have made decisions for Christ and we’ve seen most of the men progress in confidence. We have been experimenting with a worship night which went really well. We plan to do these more frequently. We still have a way to go finishing the gym, boxing space, workshop and allotment but have managed to complete the sports pitch and bee hive.
In both sides of our work, we keep hearing from men and women how much they love the quality of the accommodation, how the staff team make it feel like a family and that people are experiencing peace for the first time.
It’s not been without some challenges. We are still trying to iron out housing benefit, electricity supply, have had to cast a couple of unwanted spirits out of one man’s apartment and one of the women seems to be into some quite dark stuff too. Please pray as we are on the front line and inevitably there’s a spiritual reality as well as the practical side of the work.
We also have a plot of land being lent to us for 250 years elsewhere in Greater Manchester to build our first ever move on accommodation for ex-residents of our supported care. These people will have normal tenancies and we’ll be their social landlord. It’s a pilot project because there’s so few private landlords left. If this works out well, the local authority has other plots to offer us too. It’s all a leap of faith as we have no budget for this.
Again, please pray for wisdom as we are getting asked for help from further afield than Greater Manchester for a second village. We are cautious but trying not to say God’s “no” for him, without first considering in prayer the opportunities. Please join us in asking for wisdom and discernment.
Sid Williams
Co-founder & Director
07939 909640
[email protected]
Registered charity in England & Wales, No. 1174728
EMBASSY UPDATE 18.7.26 - 23 men, 11 women, 15 staff (and counting!) and 40,000 bees...
Dear friends,
It’s been a busy few months for us at Embassy… but it always is!!
Embassy Village has been open for 4 months now and we have 23 men living with us! We are continuing to interview for more residents and there will be 41 men in total soon, but we need to recruit a few more staff first!
Firstly we’re recruiting a Male Night Concierge (33hr per week over 3 night shifts), would you like to join the Embassy team and make a huge difference in our city? Please see our careers page here for more details and email [email protected] for an application pack.
Our men are engaging well and we’ve had the joy of seeing a few into work, starting training courses, some people discovering Jesus and a good handful checking out church too, we’ve also seen so many men progress in confidence. We have been experimenting with a worship night which went really well. We still have a way to go finishing the gym, boxing space, workshop and allotment but we have completed the sports pitch and see guys regularly playing games with staff. One of the biggest encouragements has been the community that has built up around the Village with residents supporting each other and regularly meeting to play pool and socialise. We’ve even had a resident buy board games for the village hall, excited to get to know his new friends. We're baking together, watching the football, and enjoying the village but also have been off site to plant trees in the countryside and even fishing in the canal! We also have 40,000 bees now living at Embassy Village, and the first of our fortnightly beekeeping sessions went really well!
The Embassy women’s apartment block has also opened so we can now house 13 women in total and we’re up to 11 already! Our referrals have become increasingly diverse and include women from all walks of life and backgrounds including those rescued from abuse. The privilege of caring for them is now being shared across three female staff because our ladies team has also grown! Our women are engaging well in family meals and social events such as jewellery making and family dinners, where the women even take responsibility of cooking for the other residents and staff. One of the women is part way through an Alpha course at a local church and enjoying it. One is training to be an interpreter, others are now at college and work. There’s a lot to work through for the team as some of the women have a lot of fresh trauma to unpack. Some amazing stories of progress that we can't really disclose here but they are very heartwarming!
In both sides of our work, residents keep telling us how much they love the quality of the accommodation, how the staff team make it feel like a family which is huge for those who are estranged from their families. Men and women tell us how they feel safe and have experienced peace for the first time.
We are in search of a Treasurer to join our Trustee board! This is an opportunity to help shape our strategic direction, strengthen governance, and support the delivery of safe, secure housing for those in need. As a Trustee, you will volunteer alongside a passionate board to ensure Embassy remains sustainable, impactful, and true to its Christian mission. We welcome applicants from a wide range of backgrounds. In particular, we are seeking individuals with experience in housing and finance. Please go to our careers page here for more info and contact [email protected] for an application pack.
As ever we would love the opportunity for some of the team to come and visit your church or business to share some of our story and to inspire others to get involved. Please take a look in your diary and do get in touch, we would love to make it happen!
If you are able to help towards our increased running costs please click the link to give.
Thank you for making Embassy a reality and for helping to end the cycle of homelessness, we really couldn’t do this without our dedicated supporters and are so blessed by you all!
Sid, Tess and the growing team…
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If you would like to opt out of receiving our communications, please email [email protected]
Sid Williams
Co-founder & Director
07939 909640
[email protected]
embassyvillage.co.uk
Registered charity in England & Wales, No. 1174728
OPEN DOORS July 2026 The Underground Church
Imagine you are meeting in a house church with more than 100 people. You’re all crowded into a room together. Most of the people are young, attending a local college, and all are keen to learn more about Jesus and worship Him together. Bibles lie open around the room
This isn’t a normal house church. There’s a reason that the windows are closed and the floor-to-ceiling curtains are drawn. The church worships in the dark, in secret, because it is not allowed to exist. And now you’ve been discovered by the police.
Jinyi and her husband, Zhang*, had planted a church in central China a couple of years earlier, and the numbers steadily grew as more and more young people joined the church. But leading the church was always dangerous. Jinyi and Zhang knew this day could come. Because their church was illegal.
In China, Christians are only allowed to attend registered churches in the Three-Self Patriotic Movement or the Catholic Patriotic Association. In practice, these denominations are heavily monitored, with the Chinese authorities determining who can lead services, censoring what is preached and sometimes even filming the congregation. Many Christians start underground house churches, so they can preach the gospel and learn about Jesus without the Chinese Communist Party intervening. Increasingly these churches become a target of the authorities.
“Everything fell apart quickly,” Jinyi remembers. The church was immediately shut down and the police detained the assembled believers. Most of those arrested were released after 24 hours, but some were kept for a full week. Zhang was singled out. As often happens with raids, the church leader bears the brunt of the punishment. He was fined 60,000 renminbi (£6,500, about six months’ average salary in China) and sentenced to 3.5 years in prison.
“With surveillance everywhere, even a visit or a message to me can bring danger.” Jinyi
Sadly, Jinyi found that, when her church was targeted, other churches were too fearful to offer support. They knew they might be implicated by association. “When you feel targeted and isolated, knowing that somebody cares for you and makes the journey to be with you is crucial. Open Doors partners see time and again the transformative power of simply being present with those who are persecuted.
“During two years of accompanying Jinyi with our presence, prayer and support, we have witnessed her life being rebuilt and renewed,” says a local Open Doors partner. “Behind her, the faith of many others is being reignited.”
“The Lord has not forgotten me” There are now ten underground small groups with a total of more than 70 young people who are growing in faith and extraordinary courage. They look to Jinyi as their guide.
TEAR FUND
Middle East Crisis Appeal
Conflict in the Middle East is escalating, pushing an already fragile region into a deeper humanitarian crisis. In Lebanon, violence has forced more than a million people from their homes. In Gaza, increased border crossing restrictions and food prices are making it harder to reach people in need.
In Lebanon, shelters are filling up quickly and people fleeing their homes have nowhere to go. Our church partners are rapidly scaling their emergency response across the country to deliver life-saving aid. In Gaza, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are facing life-threatening illnesses that should be easily treatable. Our partner is doing all it can, providing urgent health care using the limited medical supplies they can source within Gaza – but it is still nowhere near enough.
The suffering across the region has devastated lives.
People are displaced
- In Lebanon, families are fleeing their homes with nothing, seeking shelter in schools, cars and tents, and struggling in the biting cold.
- In Gaza, more than 90 per cent of people have been forced to flee their homes, and most have been displaced repeatedly.
Food is scarce
- In Gaza, more than 60,000 children are acutely malnourished and face increased risk of death if untreated.
- Families in Gaza are in real danger of running out of food and aid unless Israel fully reopens all border crossings and allows unrestricted aid to enter freely, immediately and at scale.
- In Lebanon, displaced families are in urgent need of food, amidst spiraling food prices.
- Hospitals in Lebanon and Gaza are struggling to cope with the huge numbers of people who are sick or injured.
- Shelters in Lebanon are in urgent need of water, sanitation, and basic supplies.
- In the West Bank, we are providing emergency funding to local hospitals, and distributing food and essential supplies to those affected by the violence.