Thirty years of faithful service to children at risk is worth celebrating — and Viva is marking this milestone not with self-congratulation but with a forward-looking commitment to expand its impact. The launch of new child-focused church networks in Sierra Leone, India, and the UK reflects the organisation's conviction that the local church is the most powerful and sustainable force for transforming the lives of vulnerable children.

Viva's model — coaching local churches, providing child protection training, and facilitating collaboration between congregations — is built on a deep respect for what the church already is and does. Rather than creating parallel structures, Viva strengthens what is already there, helping churches to see and respond to the children in their communities with greater intentionality and effectiveness.

As Viva enters its fourth decade, we give thanks for the thousands of children whose lives have been changed through this work, and we pray for the new networks being established. The church that takes seriously its calling to care for the vulnerable child is the church that most faithfully reflects the heart of Jesus.