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Megan and Cristo Rodrigues-Casado
Serving in OXFORD , England (The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics) |
Email: [email protected]
Missionary
I was brought up in the midlands of England in a mining community to atheist and agnostic parents. There was a nominal Christian influence in the British schools but I believed that there may be a God and no one knew Him. As I entered my teen years a good friend had recently recommitted his life to the Lord and I found his explanations of creation and prophecy and the nature of a grace based gospel intriguing. I could not deny his changed life. I was saved a few months later, but spent my first year as a Christian walking in rebellion. I thank God for His grace even in my rebellion. Everywhere I went I had the opportunity to learn God’s word and worship. As I returned to Mansfield after traveling for University, I knew only a life serving Christ would be worth living. I had had enough carousing and I was ready to begin a walk submitted to His Lordship. I began serving in church any way that I could, which led me into youth, children, and family ministry. Down the road, my calling to work with young people led me to be trained as a teacher to pick up a Master's in Translation Theory and to eventually work in religious education. I met my wife, Megan, at Bible college in York. We fell in love and married in 2008.
Megan is currently teaching science at a local school and serves in church.
We have 3 young children:
Stephanie, who loves arts and crafts
James, who loves Star Wars and making things
Leah, who likes animals, being cute, and coloring
We all like being outside, walking and traveling together.
Megan is currently teaching science at a local school and serves in church.
We have 3 young children:
Stephanie, who loves arts and crafts
James, who loves Star Wars and making things
Leah, who likes animals, being cute, and coloring
We all like being outside, walking and traveling together.
The People
In August of 2024, we moved from Mansfield to Oxford, where we now live and work. We attend Calvary Chapel Oxford and are grateful to have landed in a church with strong Bible teaching, great worship, fellowship, and mature leaders, especially when so many churches in the UK are straying from sound teaching. We serve in Children and Youth ministries and take part in leading a Home Fellowship. We are blessed by our church and see it as a huge confirmation of our calling to Oxford.
Megan, Stephanie, James, and Leah are involved with Emmanuel Christian School. We did not know anything about it before we came and had no intention of joining the school, but after looking to connect our homeschooled kids with sports and music, we were astounded at how central God, faith, the Spirit, and Christ are at the head of this school. Parents are from diverse church and non-church backgrounds. We see this school as a second church family, and there are unique opportunities to help “train up a child in the way he should go”. Megan teaches science to the older children and serves as an assistant in the younger classes.
Our move to Oxford has been a series of open doors and confirmations. We have found Oxford to be an incredible place of blessing with multiple layers of Christian communities - church, school, and parachurch ministries.
Thanksgiving: Each member of our family is grateful for what God is doing in our lives. Our kids are grateful for their school (normal complaints aside), their church, their friends, and their life in Oxford. Despite uncertainty, we are overwhelmed by a clear sense of confirmation, connection, equipping, and calling. We perceive a repeated favor of God’s grace on our lives despite the challenges we face. We are greatly aware that the reality of what we do here is fully dependent on God. We covet your prayers, and we thank you for the crucial support from CCHV without which we could not have taken the steps of faith that we have.
Megan, Stephanie, James, and Leah are involved with Emmanuel Christian School. We did not know anything about it before we came and had no intention of joining the school, but after looking to connect our homeschooled kids with sports and music, we were astounded at how central God, faith, the Spirit, and Christ are at the head of this school. Parents are from diverse church and non-church backgrounds. We see this school as a second church family, and there are unique opportunities to help “train up a child in the way he should go”. Megan teaches science to the older children and serves as an assistant in the younger classes.
Our move to Oxford has been a series of open doors and confirmations. We have found Oxford to be an incredible place of blessing with multiple layers of Christian communities - church, school, and parachurch ministries.
Thanksgiving: Each member of our family is grateful for what God is doing in our lives. Our kids are grateful for their school (normal complaints aside), their church, their friends, and their life in Oxford. Despite uncertainty, we are overwhelmed by a clear sense of confirmation, connection, equipping, and calling. We perceive a repeated favor of God’s grace on our lives despite the challenges we face. We are greatly aware that the reality of what we do here is fully dependent on God. We covet your prayers, and we thank you for the crucial support from CCHV without which we could not have taken the steps of faith that we have.
The Ministry
Volunteer/National Roles: I am involved with areas in the field of education. I am a member of the Christian Coalition for Education (CCfE) a national group that has a voice on Christian issues in education. I am a director of the Association of Christian Education (ACT), whose aim is to connect, resource, and influence by supporting Christian teachers in the UK. They conduct surveys, run a podcast, and release a quarterly journal. I am also the coordinator of the Religious Education Network (REN), which advocates for high-quality religious education in the UK.
The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics (OCCA): As a speaker/tutor at OCCA, I regularly speak in schools across the country and in the OCCA 1-year course. At this time, there seems to be an openness to the gospel in England. Young people in the UK are less likely to be atheists than their parents were.
Young people are being encouraged to find themselves by themselves, a burden no one can bear. I call this the inward turn. Many are leaning into more “traditional” forms of religion. I call this the backward turn. Still others are turning to paganism, shamanism, and wicca. Crystals and spells are popular among confused and scared youth racked with anxiety. I call this the downward turn. But we are also seeing a turn toward Judeo-Christian beliefs, and I thank God for what I call the upward turn. I see this as the need of the moment –to ensure the gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ is spoken to this searching generation.
I also have a role in Religious Education, where I help secondary schools (age 7-18) write curriculum on world religions. This role is a unique opportunity to raise the quality of education for teachers and students across the UK. I am also connected to chaplains in many different schools through The Independent Schools Chaplaincy Association (TISCA) that supports the work of chaplains in schools throughout the UK. I have written for their magazine and will speak at their annual conference in 2026. TISCA and the school chaplains play a crucial role in the life of the Christian faith in UK schools and have a unique opportunity to minister.
The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics (OCCA): As a speaker/tutor at OCCA, I regularly speak in schools across the country and in the OCCA 1-year course. At this time, there seems to be an openness to the gospel in England. Young people in the UK are less likely to be atheists than their parents were.
Young people are being encouraged to find themselves by themselves, a burden no one can bear. I call this the inward turn. Many are leaning into more “traditional” forms of religion. I call this the backward turn. Still others are turning to paganism, shamanism, and wicca. Crystals and spells are popular among confused and scared youth racked with anxiety. I call this the downward turn. But we are also seeing a turn toward Judeo-Christian beliefs, and I thank God for what I call the upward turn. I see this as the need of the moment –to ensure the gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ is spoken to this searching generation.
I also have a role in Religious Education, where I help secondary schools (age 7-18) write curriculum on world religions. This role is a unique opportunity to raise the quality of education for teachers and students across the UK. I am also connected to chaplains in many different schools through The Independent Schools Chaplaincy Association (TISCA) that supports the work of chaplains in schools throughout the UK. I have written for their magazine and will speak at their annual conference in 2026. TISCA and the school chaplains play a crucial role in the life of the Christian faith in UK schools and have a unique opportunity to minister.