It’s not often you hear of churches being taken over by beauty salons. But that’s exactly what happened at one East London church recently, all to reach those on the margins of society.

On a rainy day, London City Missionaries Marlen and Amanda-Lee, alongside volunteers from LCM Church Partner The Liberty Church, came early in the morning to transform a modest church space into somewhere that women could get their hair cut, enjoy beauty treatments for their hands and feet, and hear the good news of Jesus Christ.

Just days before, Marlen and a local church member had contacted a range of hostels, refuge houses and temporary accommodation that hosted survivors of domestic violence or human trafficking and a recovery house where women battling substance abuse lived.

As the rain drizzled down, over twenty women facing vulnerable situations arrived for treatments and heard the gospel – many of whom were homeless, exploited for sex work, fled abusive partners, were struggling with addiction, or were seeking asylum.

“As these women waited for their treatments, we talked to them. It was an opportunity to get to know them better,” recalls Marlen. “I explained to them the meaning of prayer and why we pray, which led us to talk about Jesus,” she continues.

The fruit of the women’s work was evident: “Prompted by the Holy Spirit, our team asked three of the women we were speaking to if they wanted to follow Jesus. To our great joy, they said yes.”

Marlen says the encouragement didn’t stop there; there were others that came to share their own views on religion but left wanting to explore more about Christianity.

London City Mission (LCM) exists to make Jesus Christ known in every community in London. For nearly 200 years, it has been working closely to build up and resource local churches across the city to reach their communities.