Mothers and babies in Afghanistan need your help. That’s why BMS World Mission is asking you to get your church to support Life’s First Cry.
Our new appeal is perfect to use in your harvest service or giving Sunday and, more importantly, it has the power to help us save the lives of mothers and babies in Afghanistan’s mountains. Life’s First Cry shares the hidden struggle mums and babies in remote villages face just to survive childbirth – a story that is both heartbreaking and inspiring. Watch the video to see what we mean.
Andisha, one of the mothers featured in the video, gave birth to 11 babies. Each one of her precious children died within their first few months of life. For more than a decade, Andisha was a mum without any children. It doesn’t need to be this way, and yet this is the story of so many families in Afghanistan.
It’s a story that you’re helping to rewrite when you support BMS. And that’s why we’ve made Life’s First Cry – and why we’ve put Andisha’s family at the heart of it. It’s so easy to use, and we hope it will capture your church’s heart and lead you to pray for and support our work in Afghanistan. Please download our Leader’s guide and get planning your service or fundraising event today.
We’ve got loads of resources to help you support Life’s First Cry!
As well as the powerful feature video, we’ve created a 30-second trailer to share in your church and on social media to advertise your Life’s First Cry event, and a beautiful reflection video to give your church time to pray about what they’ve seen and heard.
In our Leader’s guide you’ll find suggestions for a fun service starter and all-age service activities, a sermon outline and fundraising ideas – from an Afghan-style harvest supper to a sponsored walk for mums and babies. We’ve also created an interactive PowerPoint quiz to help your church imagine what it would be like to be a parent in a remote village in Afghanistan.
You can find everything you need to support our life-saving work in Afghanistan at the bottom of this page.
Will your church help us?
Life's first cry resources
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Transport your church to remote villages in Afghanistan’s mountains and meet people who are alive because of your gifts to BMS by ordering a free copy of the Life’s First Cry DVD.
It contains the moving feature video (including Welsh, subtitled and British Sign Language versions), the reflection video and trailer, as well as loads of resources to help you run a great Life’s First Cry church service. Access PowerPoint-ready files on the disc via your computer and play in any standard DVD player.
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Mothers and babies are dying in Afghanistan. Come with us to meet families in remote mountain villages and discover how, when you give to BMS World Mission, you can save lives.
This is the main feature video and is perfect to play as part of your Life's First Cry church service or fundraising event. This video is also available in Welsh, with subtitles and with British Sign Language.
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Planning to run a church service or event to raise money for Life’s First Cry? Thank you! Our Leader’s guide is the perfect place to start. As well as listing all the available Life’s First Cry resources, our Leader’s guide is full of service ideas and inspiration to help you fundraise. It also contains a sermon outline. Take a look!
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Play this 30-second video in your church and share it on social media to promote your Life’s First Cry event. Together, we can get more people supporting BMS’ life-saving work in Afghanistan.
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Featuring a beautiful poem by Lucy Berry, this short reflection video is perfect to show your church when you take up your offering for Life’s First Cry, after watching the feature video.
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Challenge your church to think about what it would be like to give birth in remote Afghanistan using our interactive 'what would you do?' quiz. We think they'll enjoy the experience – and learn, too! Details for how to run the quiz can be found in the Leader's guide.
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Download or order a copy of this beautiful A3 poster to advertise your Life’s First Cry event. It contains a picture of 12-day-old Umed, who is alive because of your support for BMS.
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Order gift envelopes (order per pack 25 envelopes) to make giving (and Gift Aiding!) to BMS’ Life’s First Cry appeal easier. Pass them around or place them on seats at your Life’s First Cry service, harvest supper or event and encourage people to donate to the work of BMS in Afghanistan and around the world.
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Use this advert to promote your Life’s First Cry event when designing your church notice sheet.
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Please download and complete this remittance slip when sending in funds you have raised for Life’s First Cry.
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Use these sticky labels (each sheet contains ten labels) to create an instant collection jar out of any jar or box. Save money every week, and then send what you’ve raised (or, ideally a cheque for the amount made payable to BMS Life’s First Cry) to BMS World Mission, or put it in a gift envelope at your Life’s First Cry service.
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Mothers and babies are dying in Afghanistan. Come with us to meet families in remote mountain villages and discover how, when you give to BMS World Mission, you can save lives. This is the British Sign Language version of our main feature video.
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Mothers and babies are dying in Afghanistan. Come with us to meet families in remote mountain villages and discover how, when you give to BMS World Mission, you can save lives. This is the subtitled version of our main feature video.
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Mae mamau a babanod yn marw yn Afganistan. Dewch gyda ni gyfarfod teuluoedd mewn pentrefi mynyddig a phellenig a darganfod sut rydych chi, pan rowch i'r BMS, yn achub bywydau. Cyfrannwch at O Gri ein Geni yma www.bmsworldmission.org/cry a rhannwch y fideo gyda'ch eglwys I helpu gadw mwy o famau a babanod yn fyw.
