Earlier this year, the first-ever BMS team consisting solely of UK Baptist ministers spent a fortnight engaging with mission in Angola.
The team comprised five UK women church leaders – incidentally, the same number of Baptist female pastors in the whole of Angola.
They encouraged, affirmed, spoke with and listened to women (and men!) in the hustle and bustle of the capital Luanda, and then in the northern, rural district of Uige.
It was here that perhaps the most outstanding moment of the trip occurred. Team leader Jane Ledingham, minister of Gildersome Baptist Church, Leeds, said, “We spoke to the congregation – about 800 women – about fulfilling their potential in Christ as women of his Church in Angola.
“It was a great time of response and re-commitment. Despite us being poles apart culturally, our message really seemed to strike a chord with those present – women who had really suffered through the years of war, who are the main wage-earners of the family, but who are often not prominent in the church”.
The women’s sacrificial living and obedience to God humbled the whole team. They hope it will impact their own ministry in the UK.
Jane explains, “It gave us all a sense of perspective, of being part of the bigger story. We were energised and God gave us all space to focus on the right priorities of our work.
“I am convinced doing this as a team was crucial too – we learnt so much from each other”.
BMS World Mission is sending a second Ministers Team to Kolkata, India in November 2008. All the places on this team have now been taken, but, if you would like information about future opportunities for Baptist ministers to go overseas with BMS, click
here.