FAQs

Go as a team

A group of people from your church, church cluster or Association could go overseas as a team to engage in mission, see www.bmsworldmission.org/churchteams for info. If you are already organising your own Church Team, BMS can help with the team's training. Church Teams can accommodate all ages but there are also BMS Youth Teams for those aged 16+.

 

For medical or legal professionals in your congregation, BMS has Medical and Lawyers' Teams, which work in Bangladesh and various projects in Africa.

 

Send your minister

Send your minister on a trip overseas, either for his or her sabbatical, or as part of a team. Their lives - and yours as a church - will never be the same again!

 

Students and people of student age

Students can make the most out of their gap year by going on an Action Team or as an individual volunteer. BMS also has language and other placements available for students to live alongside people of another culture.

 

As a church, you could also receive an Action Team as part of their tour in May and June. But you need to ask early - they're very popular because Action Teams excite churches in a big way.

• Where entry may be difficult for Westerners, we may be able to support national workers, for example in Bangladesh and Indonesia.
• Supported partner workers (SPWs) bring expertise to particular areas of work, for example, pre-school education programmes (PEPEs) in Brazil and church planting in Indonesia. Already knowing the language and culture, SPWs can get to work right away without years of study.
• The number of SPWs in Sri Lanka has grown - and in this way BMS has a people presence. In the current religious climate it is not possible for an expatriate to be involved directly in evangelism.
• In Nepal the number of SPWs in Nepal has also grown, probably indirectly, because of the political situation. SPWs understand the landscape, the political mood of the country and how to stay safe and healthy on their travels.
• Some of our partners grasp the concept better than others, welcoming the opportunity for BMS to help their own local people to do mission, rather than depending on expatriate input.
• In some countries there are many people willing to go and serve, but do not have the financial support to make that happen. BMS has, for example, partnered with Brazilian Baptists to send their mission personnel to Peru, and with Ukrainian Baptists to send their people to Portugal.

A response to God

A call to mission is a call to being a Christian. Everything we do and say is mission. It is not static; we are moving on with God on a journey that may lead to actual travel or making a decision to do or be something where we are.

 

Every Christian is called to mission.
We are all called, the only question is where to!

 

The call requires obedience

Where we live and work, and therefore engage in mission, is part of our obedience to God. It may be in the UK but could be anywhere in the world. We need to hear what God is saying to us - through Scripture, trusted friends, minister, or any other means or people he chooses to use - and then do our part in making sure we are in the right place.

 

A sense of belonging

The call to mission in a different place can often mean you have a sense of belonging when you arrive in your new situation. If you have this sense of call it will help you to overcome the difficulties of learning a new language and adapting to a new culture. God always equips us for the tasks he calls us to.

Yes and the positives are -

For all mission personnel and long-termers in particular:

• E-mail, Skype and mobile phones allow mission workers to stay much closer to people and events 'back home'. This often reduces stress and makes people feel less remote.
• Health issues and emergencies can be dealt with almost immediately.
• Churches are better informed about what their mission workers are getting up to and can pray more intelligently. 

 

For short-termers:

• It has made it easier for short-termers to cope while they are away with support from their families and church.
• It has helped their re-entry because they have retained close links with what is going on at home.
• BMS can support short-termers from the UK as some would not receive a personal visit from a BMS Regional Secretary or other personnel.

 

Yes and the drawbacks can be:

• It can lessen the readiness to integrate into a new 'home' if you have one foot firmly in each place.
• Maintaining relationships with many people across the world can compromise a commitment to a new place and leave you with less energy for relationship building.
  

Of course not! We may occasionally take a hard decision that we can't contribute anything worthwhile, but we usually use our network of relief agencies (such as Baptist World Aid or Operation Mercy) to see if there are specific ways in which we can make an effective grant through others, as happened recently in Pakistan and Niger.

BMS tends to give relief grants through established partners, in around 40 countries - usually in response to proposals describing what they plan to do. That makes it easier for BMS to judge how much to give. If the need is to build houses in Sri Lanka after the tsunami, then the amount may be £100,000; if it's to provide medical support for a localised but potentially deadly outbreak of meningitis in Congo, it may only need £500.

Lebanese families, displaced by bombing in southern Beirut in 2006, sheltered in places like Beirut Baptist School and the Arab Theological Baptist Seminary. As both are run by a BMS World Mission partner, it was only natural that we gave them a relief grant to help feed those seeking refuge.

No - it's just development

Just as medical care is medical care and writing books is writing books.

 

Development need not be Christian 

Many secular organisations do excellent work, improving the lives and opportunities of the world's poor. Christian and secular organisations can both give micro-loans to help start a business that will, in turn, feed families and provide employment. Both can build latrines or engage in engineering work to help construct roads, bridges or dams.

 

Christian development can demonstrate the love of Christ

But just as medical care and writing books are each capable of not only producing good ends in themselves, in the hands of God's people each can become the means whereby Christ is made known.

Development is always about improving the quality of life for the poor and Christian development has a greater vision: that through the love shared and the dignity offered by development activity, each person might come to experience life in all its fullness and be reconciled to God.

Mission is first and foremost a mindset within which all activities can be missional, that is engaging with and transforming the non-Christian society around it.

Not a combination of the apostle Paul and one of the archangels but, if possible, most of the following:

• A mature Christian who can offer something to churches overseas such as a gift of teaching, pastoral care, or working with children. Someone who also has a reasonable theological and missiological understanding (though we can help with this) and who is willing to serve and promote national churches.
• A person of emotional maturity who is able to cope with the stress of living overseas. Someone who is able and willing to work alongside and under national people (and with their BMS line manager!)
• People with an adaptable lifestyle - for example, those who are willing to adjust to a new culture and not impose Western culture. A desire to live simply with an appropriate lifestyle for the receiving culture and a willingness to stay in a remote area is always useful!
• A sense of call to serve overseas. This comes last in the list but obviously overarches the others. The sense of call, however, cannot override other issues such as health, children and parents, as some situations may prevent service overseas no matter how strong the 'sense of call'.

Why don't you ask personnel to raise their own individual costs?

Our funds, raised from churches and individuals, are allocated to provide mission allowances and support. If personnel had to raise their own funds, some would be well provided for whilst others would struggle. Our mission personnel tell us they are grateful they do not have the stress of having to come back to raise funds and are able to focus on their work without unnecessary worry for their families.

 

Why doesn't BMS use volunteers instead of paid support staff?

Because of the size and complexity of our mission operations, we need to have a trained staff of professionals to ensure the work continues efficiently. Our charity accounts show that we are one of the most efficient charities of our type in the UK with less than 6p in every pound spent on governance and fundraising costs. 

 

Why does BMS keep money in the bank?

BMS does keep a minimal amount of money in reserves - but only to meet emergencies and in accordance with the Charity Commission's best practice guidelines. We don't want to be in a situation where because of a short-term problem (eg economic recession) we have to bring mission personnel home. We also want to honour God by paying both our personnel and suppliers on time.

Yes - of course -

 

For the people who go?

We have so many testimonies - both spoken and written - that proclaim how short-term mission experiences have revolutionised people's lives and their relationship with God. 

 

For the community they go to?

It doesn't take long for a building to be put up, for an operation to take place, for a team to work alongside others in running a youth conference or for a conversation to take place that leads someone to Christ. These acts all express the love of God and leave more than just a sign of God's love in the midst of a community.

 

For our long-term personnel and wider BMS strategy?

Short-term workers fill strategic needs and their role is vital in work that BMS is undertaking all over the world. For some long-term mission personnel the presence of short-term volunteers to teach their children is vital in enabling them to stay and serve. Also, of course, many long-term personnel found their short-term mission experiences were a crucial stepping stone to making a longer-term commitment.

 

Short-term mission is contagious!

People come back for more and more, for longer and longer placements and their enthusiasm gets others involved…

Give spiritual support

• Use the BMS prayer letters and e-mail updates. Informed prayer is key for our support of workers.
• Remind people to pray by showing the mission worker's photo on a PowerPoint slide or OHP before a service begins.
• Workers may like to receive copies of service tapes or devotional books.  Ask them!

Give practical support

• Keep in regular contact. Nowadays you can use e-mails, letters, phone calls and text messages.
• Send gifts such as new books that you are reading, music, and items which aren't available in the new country. This applies to all the family - adults and children.
• If a mission worker has rented out their house while overseas, is there anyone who could keep an eye on it?

 

Give emotional support

• It's hard to come back from long-term work overseas if no one seems to care where you've been or what you've done.  One or two people prepared to listen to the ups and downs, with all the minute details, are a true gift from God.

 

Give financial support

• We hope every supporting church will contribute towards the support of its mission personnel.  Figures are available if you'd like to know costs. (Ask your Area/National Co-ordinator in the first instance.)