Edinburgh, Scotland | A Community Supporting Movements in Unreached Scotland

Leaving Russia to follow God’s call in Scotland and taking root in one of Europe’s hardest soils

With only about 3% of the population following Jesus, Scotland has become a 21st century mission field.

Novo staff Ryan and Amy, along with their three teenage kids, moved from Moscow, Russia to Edinburgh, Scotland during COVID. Transition to a new country during a global pandemic proved deeply challenging. Still, they set out to cultivate relationships with both believers and unbelievers in Edinburgh as well as other parts of Scotland, looking for people who wanted to follow Jesus and learn to make other disciples.

Scotland has a very complicated legacy of Christianity, and as the epicenter of much of the European Enlightenment, it has become a staunchly secular nation. With only about 3% of the population following Jesus, Scotland has become a 21st century mission field. Mission and multiplication of disciples is hard and often slow. There are many deeply embedded cultural obstacles to sharing one’s faith with others. However, like a gardener tending a few plants and helping them grow, Ryan and Amy are seeing gradual fruit in the affinity groups where they focus on making new disciples.

A “Community of Practice” breathes new life into weary disciple-makers and now a multiplying movement is emerging

It’s a bit like a recharging station, where disciple-makers who’ve been faithfully praying and building relationships with non-believers can get filled up again.

In other cities of Scotland, they have come alongside local believers to help them experience paradigm shifts and growth—both internally through inner healing and spiritual formation and outwardly on the journey of making new disciples and forming teams. To sustain these disciple-making efforts, Ryan and Amy formed a regional leadership team with a few believers, and host a monthly in-person gathering for fellowship and encouragement. They call this gathering a Community of Practice, something they learned from their mentor in Disciple Making Movements, David Broodryk. It’s a bit like a recharging station, where disciple-makers who’ve been faithfully praying and building relationships with non-believers can get filled up again. Scots from a number of locations—and all different stages of learning to make new disciples—come together for an entire day to eat, laugh, and grow together, all while engaging in worship, prayer, learning, goal setting, and holding each other accountable.

From that place of being filled up by Jesus and one another, they return home ready to minister to artists and students, the intellectuals and working class, the villagers and urbanites, those who’ve been wounded by the church as well as those currently attending church (who they encourage toward becoming disciple-makers). Their motto is, “from the harvest to the team,” as they work to see people far from God move to following Jesus, then to becoming fellow disciple-makers in their own relational networks all around Scotland.