Dr. Selena Headley

Vision and Mission

I am a Canadian who has been immersed in ministry in Cape Town, South Africa for over 16 years. I find great joy working cross-culturally, facilitating capacity-building spaces aimed at teaching, learning, and collaboration for local leaders who are wrestling with challenges inside and outside their communities.

Bringing my research and experience to the role of Urban Training Collaborative Coordinator, I focus on providing targeted leadership development and relational support to local leaders in the city and throughout the Eastern and Southern African region.

In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus proclaimed he would bring "Good News" to the poor and freedom from oppression through the work of God in the world at the beginning of his ministry. This declaration is a source of inspiration and a cornerstone of my ministry through relationship-building and mobilizing believers to proclaim and embody the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Mission Work

Rapid urban growth in Africa is characterized by expanding informal settlements where people struggle to secure food, housing and employment in communities with a high proportion of youth. I have the joy of intentionally journeying with local leaders, churches and communities through equipping, mentoring and discipleship to unlock fresh creativity for work in difficult urban contexts by:

• Fostering attentive listening, curiosity and a trauma- informed approach to personal, family and community stories.
• Wrestling with histories, struggles and blessings of communities with biblical and theological understanding.
• Amplifying the Good News by exploring how we live out our spirituality in life-giving actions rooted in love.
• Building communities of faith practitioners who sustain productive and inspiring ways of living in the city.

When church and faith-based leaders begin to see their cities through fresh eyes, recognizing poverty, inequality and division not as insurmountable obstacles but as challenges God invites us to address together, wonderful things start to happen. 

It is a privilege to serve alongside local leaders who are making the Gospel tangible in seeking the wellbeing of all who live in the city as we foster transformation in the spiritual, social and material wellbeing of people in the rapidly growing cities of Africa. 

Please join me to spark and ignite the hopeful imagination of African leaders in the church and society to share the gospel of Christ and build God?s beloved community.