Heart of Mission is a podcast about God's amazing global mission. The Heart of Mission podcast is packed with valuable global mission conversations that you won't find anywhere else – hear from CMS missionaries, global mission experts, and pastors. Listen in for insightful conversation, talks, panels, live stories and more, all focussing on God's global mission. For a world that knows Jesus.
The Mission of the Whole Church | Mark Fairhurst, Branch Director QNNSW
S9E06-After nearly 20 years with CMS, including eight years as Executive Director of CMS Queensland and Northern New South Wales, Mark Fairhurst reflects on mission, the church and the privilege of helping people discern where God might be calling them.
Mark shares the story of Adam and Helen, CMS missionaries in Japan, whose plans for ministry changed after a difficult season. Their story is a reminder that God can redirect our plans and use our gifts in unexpected ways.
But this conversation is about more than missionaries. Mark challenges churches to see global mission as part of their core DNA—not simply something to be interested in or support, but something the whole church is called to embrace and actively send people into.
He also explores what it means for CMS to remain a “society”: a fellowship of churches and Christians who share responsibility for the spread of the gospel. Missionaries are not lone-rangers, but are sent, supported and upheld by a wider community of believers.
Mark reflects on the unique role of CMS Summer School, including the challenges of having three conferences cancelled in four years, and why these gatherings remain so important for encouraging, equipping and strengthening the church. As Mark prepares to finish his time with CMS, he leaves churches with a clear challenge: keep mission at the heart of church life, grow a vision for God’s heart for the world, and look beyond ourselves to people of every nation, language and culture.
30 Aug 2026
Urban Mission in Darwin | Derek & Rosemary Snibson, Missionaries
S9E05-What does it look like to walk alongside Aboriginal people in the Top End and share the hope of Jesus?
After more than seven years of ministry in Darwin, Derek and Rosemary Snibson are retiring from CMS service. In this episode of The Heart of Mission, they reflect on a ministry marked not by quick fixes or grand programs, but by relationships, patience, listening and a willingness to learn.
Derek and Rosemary share stories of walking alongside people in hospitals, prisons, rehabilitation centres and local churches. Even amid significant challenges, they have found a surprising openness to God, the Bible and Jesus. God is at work in unexpected places—raising up Aboriginal leaders and opening hearts to his healing and grace through Jesus. Their ministry has also changed them. They speak honestly about learning to suspend judgment, listen deeply, respect cultural differences and recognise their own need for love and care from the community. Instead of trying to have all the answers, they have discovered the joy of standing alongside others in weakness, dependence and faith.
You don't necessarily have to move across the country or become a full-time missionary. Every Christian can learn to step outside their familiar world, listen to others and discover what God is already doing.
23 Aug 2026
The 1%: Learning to serve Japan | Matt & Bex Ooi, Missionaries
S9E04-Matt and Bex serve high school students in Japan through camp ministries and after-school programs. Before Japan, the couple spent years leading the RICE movement in Melbourne, mobilising thousands of young Asian Australians toward faith — work that could easily have continued to "flourish" at home. Instead, they found themselves drawn toward Japan's much harder, slower mission field, where only 1% of the population is Christian despite 450 years of Christian history.
Matt and Bex share the story of their calling, including Bex's breast cancer diagnosis just weeks after committing to full-time ministry, the strange grief of feeling like outsiders in a culture they physically resemble, and the deep encouragement of watching people like Jim, Kay, and Mia take steps toward Jesus in a culture where faith carries real social cost.
At the heart of the conversation is a challenge for anyone discerning their own future in ministry: is your goal effectiveness, efficiency, success … or availability to God, wherever he calls? Matt and Bex don't pretend the answer is easy, but their story is a compelling picture of what it looks like to trust God's timing over your own sense of usefulness.
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