Allison Alley, President and CEO of World Vision Canada, shares ways for Christians to shine a light through global engagement.
The start of 2026 has left many Canadians feeling unsettled. Here at home, we’re dealing with rising costs and uncertainty about the future. Beyond our borders the news rarely lets up, with war, displacement, hunger and political instability filling our screens. A natural response can be to close in, become numbed and turn away.
Shining our light, one place at a time
For Christians in moments like this, Jesus’ words in Matthew 5 still stand: “You are the light of the world.” These words were spoken in a context marked by fear, unchecked power and uncertainty – times not unlike our own today. And the call Jesus made to His followers is as true now as it was then: do not hide that light under a basket but place it on the lampstand for all to see.
Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)
We are not called to fix all that is broken in our world. We are called to live faithfully in the middle of it.
Being a shining light, I’m learning, is less about trying to do it all and more about choosing where we direct our attention: what we notice, what we pray for and how we act, even in simple ways.
That choice is not easy. Consider the crises that dominate the headlines: Venezuela, Gaza, Ukraine. It can feel overwhelming to hold them all with depth or faithfulness. Yet discipleship does not require us to absorb or respond to everything at once. Often, it invites us to pay careful attention to something specific. A place. A people. A story that grounds our prayers and shapes our response.
For me, one of those places has become Sudan.
Sudan has been gripped by violent conflict for nearly three years. Thousands have been killed. Millions have been displaced. Families struggle daily to find food, safety and medical care. The scale of suffering is immense, and yet it remains largely unseen by many of us in Canada.
Recently I spent time listening to one of our World Vision colleagues, Adam, who serves in Sudan. He spoke quietly and honestly about what children and families, including his own, are living through. Sudan is Adam’s home, but since April 2023 he has had to relocate his family multiple times across the country to keep them safe, leaving their home and community behind.
Adam’s family has now fled to Uganda, while he remains in Sudan, holding onto the keys of his house in hopes of one day returning.
That conversation stayed with me. It is where I’m choosing to direct my light, my Christian witness, in 2026.
Light as discipleship
Global engagement in times like these is not a distraction from discipleship, but one of its teachers. Being light to our world can help our churches grow deeper in prayer, faith and purpose.
Yet too often global concern has been reduced to writing a cheque once a year. Well-intentioned but disconnected from the life of the Church and the work of formation God desires.
There is a hunger for something more rooted and relational.
When we learn together about a place like Sudan and pray for specific people and communities, we allow God to widen our vision and soften our hearts.
When that prayer leads to action – whether calling for the protection of civilians, asking that barriers to humanitarian aid be removed or paying closer attention to how Canadian-made weapons are contributing to the conflict – we experience what it’s like to be His hands and feet.
When we choose to give to organizations supporting affected children and families, money can begin to loosen its hold on our lives.
Prayer becomes concrete. Scripture feels closer to real life. Faith moves from abstraction to practice.
In uncertain times the pull to draw inward is strong. Yet the witness of the Church and the transformation of God’s people have always been strongest when it resists that pull, choosing instead to see, pray and act for neighbours near and far, one place at a time.
For church leaders looking to explore meaningful global engagement for their congregations, resources are available at worldvision.ca/churches.
Allison Alley provides leadership to World Vision Canada, a relief, development and advocacy organization, supporting the world’s most vulnerable children. Allison is passionate about working towards a world where all children can live a life free from poverty and realize their full potential. She is a respected leader in the humanitarian and charitable sectors in Canada and has travelled extensively to witness and share programmatic work in over 29 countries.
Photo: Ktoma, holding her 18-month-old baby and toddler, stands among the throng of refugees from Sudan gathered under a bridge in Adré, Chad, at the border with Sudan. Over 14 million people, most of them women and children, have been forced to flee their communities in Sudan due to the widespread violence. (© World Vision)