International Partners
FISCH (Future for Iringa Street Children)
Our friends Rich and Lissie Gercke set up the charity in 2007, having both gone out separately for GAP years and met each other in Iringa, Tanzania. In response to the needs of children Rich and Lissie met on the street, they felt led set up FISCH with the help local Tanzanian people that they met out there and knew shared the same heart for these children. Iringa is situated in the southern highlands of Tanzania, with a population of about 250,000.
FISCH seeks to provide a holistic response to the needs of street children. This means not just physical (food/shelter), but social, educational and spiritual too. They try to support children back to living with relatives, and into education to equip them with the skills to become self-sufficient, to give them a hope for a future, all within the context of sharing and demonstrating the love of Jesus.
What is the need and opportunity? In Tanzania, life in the villages is becoming harder and harder. 18% of children (0-18) are either orphans or vulnerable children. In Iringa, this number is higher than other regions at 24% (that’s almost 1 in 4). FISCH try and meet some of these needs by providing a number of different programmes from their main site – Breakfast club, Saturday feeding Project, Sewing training, Counselling, Short-term accommodation, Food parcels, FISCH Church, FISCH Football club and much much more.
Some of the difference FISCH makes each week:
- Since Sept 2007 FISCH has fed between 70-100 street children every Saturday
- 20-30 children who sleep on the streets visit their drop-in centre daily to receive breakfast and use the facilities
- FISCH support children back into full time education, and some have now even progressed onto University!
- In the last 5 months FISCH has supported 17 children who were living on the street through short term. accommodation and rehabilitation, back to living with a relative in a family unit.
- In Tanzania, FISCH employs six full time staff who are all local people, including one former street child.
Click here for FISCH’s latest newsletter! | Click here to watch an update video
For more info, you can speak to Lissie or Rich Gercke by emailing rich@gofisch.org and check out: www.gofisch.org
Ronel Geldenhuys
Serving with: Ellel Ministries, South Africa
Focus of ministry: Bringing healing and discipleship across East and Southern Africa through the power of Christ (Isaiah 61:1-3 and Luke 4:18).
What & where has God called you to? Ronél’s upbringing in apartheid South Africa shaped her deep passion for healing and reconciliation. Drawn to diverse cultures and restoring broken lives, she joined St Saviour’s in 2000 while working as a pharmacist in the UK. A 2005 cycling fundraiser to support pastors in South Sudan affirmed her long-standing call to Africa. In 2006, she joined Ellel Ministries South Africa and became a mission partner of St Saviour’s. Now Deputy Director of Ellel Ministries Africa, Ronél oversees teams in East and Central Africa, and supports work in South Africa, Rwanda, and Kenya. Ellel’s vision of transformation through healing and discipleship aligns with her heart to equip church teams for holistic ministry. She also ministers internationally online, including in Russia and Ukraine, and promotes ethnic reconciliation in South Africa. Currently pursuing a Master’s in Intercultural Leadership at All Nations Christian College, Ronél values rest through nature, games, birding, and good coffee.
What is the need and opportunity?
The then retired Anglican Archbishop of Rwanda, Emmanuel Kolini, invited Ronel to Rwanda in 2007 with this request: ‘We are a traumatized Church trying to heal a traumatized nation, please help us.’ It still motivates her today, because Africa faces immense needs for healing, both emotional and spiritual. The demand for training in discipleship and healing for pastors and leaders is great. Ellel Ministries provides vital debriefing for global missionaries, offering a safe space for processing and healing. Recently Ronél coordinated 2 missions collaborating with Anglican church leaders in Karamoja, Uganda, reaching out to a poverty-stricken, nomadic people group known as the ‘forgotten people’. You can read about one of their trips at https://ellel.uk/news/exciting-times-in-uganda/. Ellel’s approach emphasizes restoration not as an isolated event, but as an integral part of ongoing discipleship. Short-term mission or volunteering in Ellel Africa may be an opportunity to deepen your calling from God.
How Can We Support This Work?
Your support enables Ronél to minister cross-culturally building local teams to serve in their nations. We invite you to join in prayer, interceding for wisdom, protection, and provision. Your support contributes to her upkeep and enables her to be effective in her devotion to God’s call. She deeply values St Saviour’s as a community who received her when she was a foreigner as well as a place where she was enabled to walk in her destiny. Together, we can see individuals healed, communities transformed, and the Kingdom of God advanced.
Slides from Ronel’s last visit: Download PDF.
Contact details: ronel.geldenhuys@ellel.org
Whatsapp: +27 832938750
Website: www.ellel.org.za (SA) https://ellel.uk/ (Ellel Global)
Tom and Mojdeh Hawksley
Serving with Elam Ministries
What is the focus of your ministry?
Elam Ministries was founded in 1990 with a vision to strengthen and expand the growing church in the Iran region and beyond. We do this by:
• Training Persian-speaking leaders for effective and fruitful ministry,
• Equipping the church with Bibles and resources for evangelism and discipleship
• Sending the Gospel into the Persian-speaking world through evangelists, church planters, and media.
Tom and Mojdeh have served with Elam for over 30 years and have been privileged to witness the ministry’s growth and impact firsthand. Mojdeh has contributed through Bible translation, editing a Christian magazine, and—over the past decade—leading Elam’s women’s ministry. Tom has served in a variety of roles involving student support, administration, and communications, with Bible teaching remaining a consistent passion throughout.
What and where has God called you to?
God called Tom and Mojdeh to serve the Church in Iran. Their journey began in the 1980s, ministering to Iranians in Karachi, Pakistan, where they first sensed a growing openness to the Gospel. That openness has only increased. According to a 2020 academic study, over half a million Iranians from a Muslim background have come to faith in Christ.
There is a great hunger for biblical teaching among these new believers. Mojdeh plays a key role in ministering to women, leading residential conferences across the region to provide spaces of healing, teaching, and encouragement. Her team also hosts one-day seminars, offers resources through social media, and supports women through pastoral counselling.
Tom previously traveled regularly to a country near Iran to teach and support local churches. Due to a current travel ban, he now continues his ministry part-time online, and remains involved in mentoring and discipleship, especially among men.
What is the need and opportunity?
While digital platforms have opened new doors for Scripture access and Christian teaching, the demand for physical Bibles remains high. Elam continues to print and distribute Scriptures throughout the Iran region.
Training is another crucial need. New believers are eager for grounding in discipleship and sound Bible teaching. While digital training is growing, in-person, residential courses remain the most impactful. Tom and Mojdeh have had the joy of teaching and mentoring hundreds of Iranian believers through these formats.
Counselling is also a growing area of need. Many Iranian Christians are processing deep wounds and life challenges. They need spiritual guidance, listening ears, and the space to find healing through Jesus—with the support of mature believers.
You can find out more on the Elam website – www.elam.com