Niel Deepnarain reports on the stirring and inspiring Awake, Arise! Scotland tour that we hosted in cities across the country last weekend
A powerful wave of encouragement and conviction swept through Scotland as the 2025 Awake, Arise! tour took place in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee. Each gathering overflowed with God’s presence, amazing miracles and blessings; stirring hearts, encouraging lives and bringing renewed hope to communities across the nation.
The tour was not merely a series of events, but a tangible move of God, marked by stirred hearts and a renewed call for the Church to Awake, Arise, and bring the hope of Jesus back to the heart of society.
Andrea Williams calls the Church in Scotland to awake, arise and stand up for Jesus
From the opening moments in Edinburgh to the closing prayers in Dundee, every meeting carried the unmistakable touch of God’s grace, love and truth. Attendees testified to lives changed, burdens lifted and fresh courage to stand for Christ in a rapidly changing culture.
The tour united pastors, leaders, young professionals, pro-life advocates, educators and everyday believers in a single, urgent call: awake and arise. These events, which included a Pastors and Leaders lunch, a day conference and powerful evening sessions, carried the unmistakable touch of God’s grace, love and truth.
And Andrea and the team got to visit Take Hold Church in Edinburgh where Andrea was able to share Christian Concern’s vision and mission with Pastor Paul and witness the amazing baptism of eight beautiful people.
Niel Deepnarain shares how we are reclaiming education for Christ
When we step out in faith to host something like this, it is not just an event: it is a move of God that shifts culture and society. Hearts were stirred, lives were touched and hope was ignited for the good of our nation. Truly, we witnessed the power of faith in action.
Andrea Williams, Chief Executive of Christian Concern and the Christian Legal Centre, delivered a courageous message for this hour. She reminded all to stand firm for Jesus in the midst of rapid cultural change. She called believers to discern the times, to carry the hope of the world, Jesus Christ, into every sphere of influence.
The message was clear, God is calling His people to stand up, speak out and shine His light in a dark world.
While acknowledging the reality of societal darkness, brokenness, disorder and the fruit of rejecting God’s way, the gatherings focused on the solution. The tour emphasised that amid fast moving cultural change, believers must not compete or compromise, but unite in love and truth.
Robert Bell shares a message of hope with attendees
The tour was blessed by a diverse group of contributors who are living out their faith in the public square. Christian Concern expressed deep gratitude for the opportunity to support these initiatives, including:
- Robert Bell, from The Heralds Trust, who brought a message of hope.
- Young adults who are making a profound difference in the workplace, including in Chemical Engineering and Architecture.
- Terry McCutcheon, from Hope for Addiction, which offers support to people struggling with addiction across the United Kingdom. Their approach is Christ-centred and built upon a biblical understanding of addiction.
- Pro-life advocates offering vital help to many and supporting women during pregnancy.
- Niel Deepnarain from Unite for Education, an initiative making a significant impact on the landscape of Scottish education.
These contributors highlighted practical ways to make a difference, proving that with Jesus, all things are possible when His people take their place in the heart of society.
Bethany Hutchison, one of the Darlington Nurses, shares about their case
We were also blessed to have some of our clients with us, including Bethany Hutchison, from the Darlington nurses, who shared about their case, Grant Mullen, a pastor who got arrested for street preaching in Dumfries, and others.
Grant Mullen shares how we supported him after he was arrested for street preaching
Awake, Arise! Scotland is more than a conference: it is a family of believers rising together in faith, joy and unity. We do not compete or compromise, we unite in love and truth to bring hope to our world.
Taking hold of the call to reclaim all of culture for Jesus, one attendee brought this vision to the creative arts: “Love Andrea’s vision for a Christian musical as that’s been a lifelong dream for me and I wasn’t expecting to hear that from a lawyer talking about the laws of the land and how that fits in with God’s laws! Keep speaking that one out, you could be the connection! There could be other people in other places with the same vision, and we could start getting some people together! It’s easy to get overwhelmed in these things and I would think, I can’t write a whole musical, but I could probably write a musical number in it.”
This same attendee was greatly inspired and moved by the sessions, saying “I didn’t expect it to be THAT inspiring! I think I also expected it to just be informative but actually it really was alive with vision and encouraging us all to think about our own calling.”
Awake, Arise! Scotland is the start of a movement that will need bold support from every faithful Christian as we are actively bringing the hope of Jesus to Scotland, and beyond.
Andrea calls attendees to shine God’s light in a dark world
The tour concluded with a strong charge to the Church in Scotland: In the midst of fast-moving cultural change, God is calling His people to awake and arise, to stand up, speak out and shine His light in a dark world. Together, in love and truth, we can see real unity. Together, we can make a difference for the good of our nation.
We give thanks for every pastor, volunteer, speaker and guest who made this tour possible. We are especially grateful for Andrea Williams’ courageous leadership and for the many local leaders who opened their churches and communities to this movement of prayer and witness. We are grateful beyond words for all God is doing.
And as we approach the end of this year, we eagerly anticipate the way the movement will continue increasing as we launch even more Awake, Arise! events in multiple cities across the UK in 2026, beginning with Bristol on Saturday 28 February.
May the fruit of these gatherings continue to bless Scotland and beyond as churches and individuals press forward in faith, courage and hope, because the best is yet to come.
The time is now.
Scotland, this is your hour.
The Church must awake and arise.