This blog post was written by Sue Johns, chairwoman of the Five Talents International Board.

In preparing to write this blog, I have just read through the last three and realised what a perilous thing it is to look ahead and 'predict' what the year ahead will bring! Never was that more true than the beginning of 2020, none of us had any idea about what was about to paralyse the world. Yet again, who would have imagined that the war in Ukraine would have such a damaging impact on sub Saharan Africa. I certainly had no idea that Ukraine was the 'bread basket' of the world, providing quality staple grain and sunflower oil to so many. Our world is complex and the threads that bind our commerce together are as intricate as any tapestry.

As we, at Five Talents, start a fresh year and look ahead eagerly at all we want to achieve it is hard to contemplate the stumbling blocks that are more than likely to be strewn on our path. However, that doesn't stop us planning for the future with determination to deliver. I am truly grateful that my lifelong faith has given me the gift of optimism; that sense that with God alongside us we can achieve the miraculous. My journey with Five Talents has done nothing to dispel that, quite the opposite it has confirmed my belief that God is with us every step of the way, helping clear some of those stumbling blocks but also showering our ministry with abundant gifts.

As we have worked to become one global Five Talents family something has happened, that you might not have noticed because it has been slowly incrementally over the last few years. We have ceased to be a big small charity and instead become a small big one! Collectively we have grown our income year-on-year to a point when, with God's blessing, we are now planning a serious expansion. Within five years we aim to be serving DOUBLE the number of people through Five Talents programmes, not only in our existing countries but also in at least one new country too.

We have spent a long time, some within the family may say too long, discerning where we are being called. We have a comprehensive Strategic Framework which underpins the Implementation Plan that our CEOs have drawn up. We are primed and ready to grow! We have even considered where we want to be as an organisation in ten years time; that is a huge challenge but one we are 'up for'. (If you are interested to hear more please do ask.)

Absolutely none of this will be possible without the dedication of four key groups of people. First and foremost are our partners and Savings Groups members, who work so hard every day to teach and learn new skills, save and lend money, start new businesses and change their communities from the inside out. Next is you, the reader. You are the heartbeat of our ministry, you 'Give, Pray and Tell' and without those three key elements we would be seriously adrift. The third group is our incredible global staff team; they are the lifeblood that nourishes all we do. The final group is the Board members who are ultimately charged with making decisions. Of course, the heart of our mission is Almighty God and His Son's gospel imperative to care for the poor.

I invite you to celebrate our vision for the next five years and join us in delivering it - I am confident we will achieve it! I also invite you to look out for special announcements throughout the year as we approach the 25th anniversary of our mission (we were founded by a resolution of the Lambeth Conference in 1998). Finally, I invite you to grow with us as we all take time this year to reflect on this piece of wisdom from Cardinal John Henry Newman "To live is to change, and to change often is to become more perfect." I doubt we will manage perfection this side of heaven but that shouldn't stop us trying. Five Talents is changing but we will always retain our focus on building and nurturing relationships, with you, among our staff and trustees but preeminently with those we seek to serve.