By Graeme Mitchell
NZCMS Interim National Director 

Kia ora! We’re so excited to be back in touch with you for the coming year. As we step into 2026, we do so with real expect­a­tion and trust in a God who is always faithful.

First of all, I’d like to intro­duce myself. My name is Graeme Mitchell (Mitch). I have served on the NZCMS Board since 2012 and as Chair­per­son since 2020. At the Feb­ru­ary Board meeting, the Board asked me to confirm my will­ing­ness to stay on as National Dir­ector in the interim. I have agreed to this and, at the same time, tendered my resig­na­tion as a Board member. Joanna Framp­ton has taken up the role of Board Chair­per­son, and I am incred­ibly grate­ful for her wisdom and steady leadership.

It is truly an honour to serve in this way. I step into this role aware of the strong found­a­tions laid before us and am deeply thank­ful for the faith­ful service of the NZCMS staff team.

Mission Part­ners con­tinue to serve faith­fully across cul­tures, car­ry­ing the love and hope of Christ into diverse com­munit­ies. We are sending a couple from our shores to Africa and another couple to Aus­tralia for cross-cul­tural train­ing. More and more local com­munit­ies and marae are opening their doors to our Māori Evan­gel­ists and to the Gospel. Our inter­cul­tural min­is­tries are seeing deep dis­ciple­ship take root, with many Chinese stu­dents coming to Christ and con­sid­er­ing cross-cul­tural missions.

Young adults are step­ping forward with bold curi­os­ity about God’s call through Gather to Scatter week­ends, Ser­i­ously Inter­ested in Mission groups, and our Moments Appren­tice­ship. There is a growing hunger among many to explore cross-cul­tural mission. God is on the move!

When a great leader of an organ­isa­tion moves on, Boards will often use this trans­ition time between leaders to reflect on their organisation’s status. We have done this each time there is a change of National Dir­ector at NZCMS, so rather than rushing ahead, the Board has chosen to take this time to pause, to seek God inten­tion­ally, and to listen care­fully. We are asking:

Lord, how are You calling NZCMS to serve in this chan­ging world? How do we prepare, send, and support dis­ciples in ways that are faith­ful, cour­ageous, and Spirit-led in 2026 and beyond?

NZCMS’ identity is anchored in our profound whakapapa — our story and history. We trace our roots back to that small group of clergy who formed the Church Missionary Society in 1799 in a London pub. 

They gathered with a burning conviction to spread the Gospel to the world — to disseminate “treasures more valuable than silver and gold … the offerings of spiritual peace and Christian freedom”.

That con­vic­tion remains the heart­beat of NZCMS. Everything we do flows from that calling: to partner with, send, and support New Zealand dis­ciples who will carry the treas­ure of the Gospel into the world.

Over the coming months, the Board will go through a pray­er­ful time of reflec­tion and begin to shape the pathway toward appoint­ing a new per­man­ent National Dir­ector, with the hope of doing so by early 2027. We trust that God is already pre­par­ing the right person for the right time to lead us in living out that con­vic­tion that was dis­cussed at CMS’ found­ing over 200 years ago.

We invite you to join us in prayer:

Pray that we would hear God clearly

Pray for boldness and endurance for our Mission Partners

Pray for young people sensing a call to step out in faith

Pray that NZCMS would remain faithful to our identity and courageous in obedience

We believe that it is only through prayer that God will con­tinue to share “treas­ures more valu­able than silver or gold” through this com­munity. Thank you for being on the journey with us as our NZCMS whānau.

Ka tonoa te katoa — Every­one sent!

Ngā mihi nui,
Graeme Mitchell
NZCMS National Dir­ector (Interim)