What does faith look like when life is filled with suffering, uncertainty, and injustice? Franciscan friar Br Michael Jacob has spent 14 years finding out.

Writing for Church Urban Fund, Br Michael reflects on his ministry among asylum seekers and the homeless in Harehill — a parish that ranks 103 out of 12,178 in England's deprivation index. His calling, he says, was always towards "the homeless and forgotten." Discerning that call meant trusting God enough to act, even when he felt apprehensive.

What emerges from his reflection is not a triumphalist account of ministry success, but something more honest and more useful: a theology of presence. To be with people in their suffering. To trust that God is already at work in the margins. To resist the temptation to fix, and instead to accompany.

For UK churches wrestling with how to engage with asylum seekers and homeless people in their communities — and there are many — Br Michael's reflection is both a challenge and an encouragement. The work is hard. The systems are often hostile. But the calling is clear, and the grace is sufficient.

Read the full reflection at cuf.org.uk.