I agreed to be on the ‘Unreached Internship’ because I was asked to. It is as simple as that. I am in Greece for 4-5 years as my Wife secured a job here. I wish I could say it was always what I wanted to, that I have a call to the nations and mission is in my blood! Not as far as I am aware. However, I am increasingly grateful that I am here.
I love travelling but I love being settled and believe a sense of place is important, yet so is mission. My main work in the UK has been in the political and social justice space. I am now in a very different environment learning new lessons, re-learning old ones and enjoying my time. In addition to the internship, I am studying for a PhD and seeking to support a couple who are building missional communities here. I also provide support for clean energy initiatives in the UK. I hope also to add some voluntary work in a missional context.
Had you asked me a month ago I would have said I was very happy and very settled in Southeast London where we lived and had it been up to me, I would have stayed there. However, bit by bit I am seeing glimpses of God’s hand at work in the move. After all, in Acts 17v26, speaking to an Athenian audience Paul inferred God knows about whom should live where and when.
Walter Brueggeman, the Old Testament Theologian talks about God’s dealings with Israel and his people as a process of moving through sequences of orientation, then disorientation to re-orientation. This is a helpful insight to ponder in times of transition. I was settled, God has uprooted me and for his purposes is re-orientating me. It is not always comfortable, but it is part and parcel of God’s ways of dealing with his people. He knows best.
Already, I am being reminded of the centrality of the Great Commission and making disciples. It is not that I didn’t believe that before, but my focus was elsewhere. I am sure there are more lessons to learn and there will be.
The Unreached internship, still in its early days in my case,
will give me a space and context to work out my calling
and evaluate and apply the lessons I am currently learning in a community
(albeit mostly online).
It will be interesting to see, God willing, where this leads. The Unreached Internship provides a focus for me as I am involved in disparate elements of work.
Perhaps what I will find is that the opportunity to serve God in a different context changes ‘unreached’ parts of my soul, mind and heart.
Yet, ultimately it is not about me and my ‘self-development’ which is a liberal/secular notion. It is a process in which I am to be formed to be more Christ-like and be more aligned for that ‘..which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus’, as the below text from Philippians, which I have been pondering on this year reminds us.
It reminds us that there is a tension between knowing in Christ we have arrived in a good destination and yet we must go onwards and upwards. ‘Further Up and Further in’ as C.S Lewis penned and as U2 and Bono sung, “I still haven’t found what I am looking for.”
We journey, not on our own and not for our own sake.
‘Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus’. Philippians 3:12-14
Ian Geary is from the Midlands originally has lived in the United States since 2025 with his Wife, three children, a dog and the recent addition of two kittens. Ian loves curry, supports West Bromwich Albion and enjoys reading and being with his family. He attends National Presbyterian Church and is on the NWDC Committee for Younglife, a Christian youth ministry. He says he supports the New England Patriots and the Boston Sox but is an armchair fan!
Before moving to the US, Ian and the family lived in Greece. In Greece he was greatly blessed to be an intern on the Unreached Network programme and a church plant serving the refugee community in Athens. he also re-connected with The Salvation Army there.
Ian is studying a part-time PhD at the University of Aberdeen in Divinity (Theology). In Greece, he volunteered with a multi-cultural Church planting initiative and assisted The Salvation Army in Greece with their social media. In DC he is continuing his Doctoral studies and seeking part-time work. He also helps Younglife DC in a voluntary capacity.
In the UK, Ian Geary worked as Public Affairs Adviser for the Salvation Army. He previously worked in Parliament for Rt Hon Sir Stephen Timms MP, Labour MP for East Ham, (London) and who was Labour’s Shadow Minister for Employment up to September 2015. He also worked from 1998 to 2000 for the late Rt Hon Bruce George MP, Labour MP for Walsall South (West Midlands) who was Chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee.
He has been a Labour party member for many a year, having worked for AEEU and Amicus trade unions and two public affairs consultancies. Ian stood for Parliament for the Labour Party in 2001 in Aldridge-Brownhills, in the West Midlands, which included his hometown. He has stood for council twice.
Ian served on the Christian Socialist Movement/Christians on the Left Executive from 2010 to 2015 and helped in the development of the Labour Neighbours Project and Christians in Politics engagement with Theological Colleges.
He has a BA (Hons) in Politics and Religion from the University of Manchester and MA (Econ) in Labour Studies also from the University of Manchester.
Ian co-edited an essay collection published in 2015 on Labour politics and his essay collection ‘Faith, Politics and Belonging’ was published on 19 July 2024 by Wipf and Stock. (a US publisher).
