BMS Coronavirus world response

BMS Coronavirus world response

You are playing a key role in the global response to the Covid-19 Coronavirus through your support of BMS World Mission. 

Supporting this

Coronavirus has changed the world – and every one of us has been affected. Yet, while the pandemic threatened to disrupt our local and international bonds, you have been standing with your brothers and sisters across the globe and saving lives.  

You have been at the heart of the global Baptist Coronavirus response through your support of the BMS Coronavirus appeal. As of November 2020, you have helped more than 36,000 people, in 24 countries, across four continents. You have so far donated more than £288,000 to help thousands of the world’s most vulnerable people survive this pandemic.  

And, with your support, BMS will continue to respond for as long as help is needed. 

The impact of your gifts has been experienced by people in countries across the globe, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Chad, Colombia, Greece, Mozambique, Nepal, Peru, South Sudan and Yemen. You have kept hospitals running, fed the hungry, counselled the fearful, prayed with the isolated, healed the sick and helped to stop the spread. 

Coronavirus global response: you helped more than 36,000 people

The Coronavirus pandemic has impacted every single one of us, and many of our global neighbours do not have access to the health and social care systems we are blessed with here in the UK. You have chosen to make a difference to tens of thousands of these people through your generous giving. Thank you for sacrificially choosing to help others when things in your own life may have felt uncertain. 

BMS is continuing to accept financial gifts to support the global Christian Covid-19 Coronavirus response. Visit the BMS Coronavirus appeal page if you would like support this critical work. 

Most of our mission workers and partners remain in their countries of service, following social distancing measures and continuing to bring hope and help in the communities to which they are called. We are so thankful for your ongoing support for all of our team and our work across the globe. 

Image of a cross stopping dominoes falling and text 'You can help. Visit the BMS appeal now. Coronavirus appeal.'
Go to the appeal

Our local response

BMS UK staff continue to work from home wherever possible. Our commitment to churches and supporters remains as great as ever, so you will continue to enjoy resources, hear updates and receive news about your part in God’s work around the world.

If you need to get in touch with us, you can give us a call, drop us an email, or write to us using these contact details. We want to do everything possible to support you and your church family at this time.

BMS workers on home assignment are following Government guidelines and continuing to share stories of their work with UK churches through virtual speaking engagements. BMS Speakers are also available for virtual visits. If you would like a mission worker or BMS Speaker to ‘visit’ your church, please contact Meg by emailing mchester@bmsworldmission.org  on phoning 01235 517631.

BMS Coronavirus response

This is what we have achieved, together: 

  • Kept hospitals running in Nepal by providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for staff and contributing to hospital running costs 
  • Provided emergency food parcels for vulnerable families in Sri Lanka 
  • Provided food and hygiene parcels to people with little to no daily income in Nepal 
  • Enabled the BMS-supported Guinebor II hospital to continue saving lives in Chad, safely 
  • Counselled frontline workers, Coronavirus patients and affected families in Afghanistan, as well as providing PPE. Averting suicides and spreading positive key messages across the country 
  • Helped slow the spread in Mozambique by providing soap and handwashing guidance to thousands of children and teachers 
  • Provided food parcels and basic PPE to at-risk families in Albania 
  • Supported the provision of medical care in Yemen
  • Enabled pastors to continue supporting their communities (which had been impacted by Covid-19 and Cyclone Idai) through the provision of phone credit in Mozambique 
  • Improved food security in northern Uganda through the provision of seeds
  • Set up a Covid-19 hospital in northern Chad, providing the initial equipment and medicines needed 
  • Provided food parcels and soap to vulnerable families in Bangladesh 
  • Delivered food parcels and basic hygiene items to struggling families in Tunisia
  • Supported preschool education in Mozambique by supplying workbooks for children and support for teachers 
  • Provided food parcels for vulnerable families in Peru 
  • Distributed more than 28,000 meals to people struggling to find work in India 
  • Provided food and basic hygiene items for struggling families in western Uganda 
  • Provided face masks and food parcels for health centres in Mozambique 
  • Helped provide food and hygiene supplies for those struggling in Lebanon 
  • Provided face masks for refugees living in Lesvos, Greece 
  • Provided food supplies for struggling refugees in Turkey 
  • Provided small grants and training for people to re-start and strengthen businesses in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru 
  • Provided food and medical support for vulnerable families through churches in Palestine 
  • Provided food and raised awareness of Coronavirus in Nigeria 
  • Provided food parcels in South Sudan 
  • And more! 
Outside a Chadian hospital.
Your support is enabling crucial temperature screening at a BMS-supported hospital in Chad.

Thank you for your continued support

The actions of faithful Christians like you are even more important in times like these, as we seek to do more to fight the threat to life, health and wellbeing posed by the Coronavirus pandemic. We ask that you continue to pray for the world as it responds to Covid-19. Here are some prayer points to guide your prayers, which you can download and share with your church family. Please feel free to download the prayer points PDF and email or message it to your fellowship or small group. 

  • Pray for the response to the virus around the world. Pray that God will enable the work of our partners to continue where possible, and that our workers who are actively fighting the virus will remain healthy.
  • Pray for our mission workers and UK staff. Pray for those who have travelled back to the UK, that they are able to continue their crucial work remotely.
  • Pray for people spending time in quarantine or self-isolation. Pray that they might receive the support they need, and that they might stay safe. Praise God for the commitment of those in voluntary isolation, that they will play a real part in slowing the spread of the virus.
  • Pray for governments and world leaders globally. Pray that the Lord will bless them with wisdom and that they will make proactive decisions that will benefit their countries, and the global community.
  • Pray that God will slow the spread of the virus. Pray in the name of Jesus that those who are ill will be healed and pray that God will bless the work of the people and organisations who are working on a treatment. Please pray especially for the medical workers around the world who are risking their own health to treat the most vulnerable. Pray that they will stay healthy and that their work will be fruitful.
Support the global Coronavirus response
Download the prayer points

Prayer resources

In addition to the prayer resources available below, we have a wide range of video updates from our workers and other resources to help your church engage with the global response to Coronavirus.

Visit our online church resources page to download these copyright free for your recorded or live online service.

Take me to the online church resources page

Women of God, past and present

International Women’s Day:

Women of God, past and present

Ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March, we’re celebrating great women, past and present. With the help of BMS World Mission workers Louise Lynch in Bangladesh and Laura-Lee Lovering in Peru, we’re taking you back in time, to remember three incredible women in mission history.

Brave BMS missionaries made history in the 19th and 20th centuries, setting off courageously for places they’d only read about. Travelling for months to reach the shores of India, Bangladesh or China, many didn’t plan on making it back. We’ve heard the stories of great men like William Carey and William Knibb. But what about the women? We asked two of our mission workers, the fabulous Louise and Laura, what they made of these extraordinary, and all too often forgotten women.

Introducing…

A black and white picture of a woman.

Hannah Marshman (1767 – 1847): “Outstanding among the wives”

Noted as being “outstanding among the missionaries’ wives,” Hannah Marshman was more than just a wonderful spouse as remembered in her obituary.

Recorded as being the first female missionary in India, this passionate woman single-handedly set up a boarding school and became a pioneer of education for Bengali girls. The school went on to fund Baptist missionary work in the area. All this while becoming fluent in Bengali and having 12 children!

Hannah Marshman died in 1847, remembered as “having consecrated her life and property to the promotion of this sacred cause and exhibited an example of humble piety and energetic benevolence for forty-seven years”.

Louise and Laura, how would you feel about being remembered as a “missionary’s wife”!?

Louise: I feel for Hannah. But I think I know how she feels. Here in Bangladesh I’m normally introduced as ‘Peter’s wife’.

I like the fact that Hannah just got on and did things. You have to remind yourself that actions speak louder than words. And having said that, my contribution is respected here.

Laura: I’m a single girl, so the whole idea that I’d come under the title of someone’s appendage is mildly insulting.

But, there’s nothing wrong with just doing the work regardless of the title. That’s what really liberates people. Many women here have laboured on and not worried about the title. Time and time again, they’ve been praised. That’s inspired me. It’s about what you do and how you’re able to show God’s love.

A BMS World Mission worker smiling into the camera.
BMS worker Louise Lynch serves alongside local Baptist churches in Bangladesh.

What do you think of these women missionaries of the 19th century?

A BMS World Mission worker smiling into the camera.
BMS worker Laura-Lee Lovering works with local pastors in the Peruvian Amazon jungle.

Louise: I have utter respect for the people that have gone ahead of us. We wonder how people managed to live, with the heat and the mosquitoes, trying to keep themselves healthy – let alone do anything!

And many women missionaries are talked about with fond regard in Bangladesh. They are the ones that people name.

 

Laura: I’m completely in awe of them! With all the diseases, they didn’t have all the vaccines, they certainly didn’t have a health insurance number to call. Some had children whilst out there, just from a biological point of view it was difficult – then you add in everything else!

I’d like to think that I would have been brave enough to go on mission 100, 200 years ago. I really respect the fact that when they went out, they went out for good.

Introducing…

A black and white picture of a woman with the words Dr Ellen Farrer above and Processed by BMS underneath.

Dr Ellen Farrer (1865 – 1959): “First in her field”

Overcoming the prejudice faced by working women of the era, Dr Ellen Farrer began to challenge society’s disapproval when she was accepted by the Baptist Zenana Mission in India as its first female doctor. The mission reached out to Hindu women from the wealthier classes, who were secluded in zenanas – private apartments to segregate female family members from the rest of society. She soon won the trust and love of these women, who preferred to be seen by a female doctor. Administering aid during a famine, fighting annual outbreaks of the bubonic plague, expanding the dispensary she worked at into a hospital and translating textbooks for nurses and midwives were just some of Ellen’s achievements during her incredible lifetime in India.

Celebrate International Women’s Day in your church!

It’s International Women’s Day next Sunday 8 March so we’ve made a great PowerPoint resource with all these amazing stories for you to share in your church! Download the PowerPoint and inspire your church family with stories of these incredible women from BMS’ past and present!

Download the PowerPoint!

Would you have any advice for women looking to go on overseas mission?

Louise: There are some real practical challenges. But I think there’s a huge advantage to being a woman in mission. You can talk to other women and have an impact on their lives. Letting women help me dress up in a sari has been a great way of opening up conversations. My advice is to walk with the people, experience their life, their frustrations. I have to manage the difficulties around some of the cultural protocols, but people here have a lovely attitude and I get given lots of opportunity.

Laura: Don’t fixate on being a woman on overseas mission. We’re not here to fight for women’s liberation, we’re here to see the kingdom of God be extended. And if through that we can show to both men and women that women have a big part to play, then great! But that’s not the main reason.

The best thing you can do is be who you are, do a good job and bless people. Let them see that God is using you. That’s the strongest message for women – and for men.

Introducing…

A black and white picture of a woman with the words Dr Ellen Clow above and Processed by BMS underneath.

Dr Ellen Clow (1901 – 1984) “Determined to make a difference”

A kick-ass surgeon and incredibly brave lady to boot, Dr Ellen Clow devoted her life to mission in China. Unperturbed by the Japanese invasion of the north of the country, it was reported that Ellen remained at The Women’s Hospital in Taiyuan where she worked despite being “menaced by soldiers and looters” in raid after raid.

Even the news that a shell had destroyed a bedroom she’d vacated earlier that day couldn’t persuade Ellen to leave, and as the hospital building shook and rattled, a patient grabbed Ellen’s hand and said, “You are good to stay with us.” Many women in the region were said to have owed their lives to her skill. Ellen’s commitment to God’s mission in China and Hong Kong was unwavering throughout her life, and she returned twice to serve overseas before her death in 1984.

Feeling inspired?

Have these inspiring women encouraged you to explore your calling overseas? Check out our current overseas vacancies and get in touch with our team today!

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Coronavirus outbreak: pray for China and Italy

Coronavirus outbreak:

pray for China, Italy and the world

Praying for this

A global health emergency has been declared by the World Health Organisation as the coronavirus spreads across China and and other parts of the world. Please pray for China, Italy, and other countries affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

For all our latest updates on the Covid-19 Coronavirus world response, please click here.

Over 3,000 people have died and over 80,000 cases have been recorded nationally, after confirmation on 30 January that the virus had spread to every region in China. There have been over 17, 000 cases of the virus recorded worldwide, and over 300 deaths, most of which have been recorded in Italy and Iran.

The city of Wuhan, where the virus is thought to have initially broken out, was put under effective quarantine on January 23, two weeks after the new virus was identified.

“Our hearts cry out for those who have lost loved ones to the coronavirus and for all those impacted by the virus in China, East Asia and now worldwide, as it is declared a global health emergency,” says BMS’ Roger Pearce. “Please join us in praying for the continued safety of mission workers across the region, and for the eradication of the virus.”

Please pray for China, and for the other countries affected by this virus. Pray for God’s hand of protection over all doctors and nurses, governments and health authorities working across the world to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Pray for China

  • Pray for healing for those currently affected by the virus, that they would respond well to treatment and that they would recover quickly.
  • Pray for all those being kept under quarantine across the world. Pray that no symptoms will appear, and that God would bring them peace until they can return home.
  • Pray for the medical workers across the world fighting this virus. Pray that they would remain safe and strong while they carry out this vital work.
  • Pray for China. Pray that God will protect this nation and stop the virus spreading further.
  • Pray for authority figures working to combat the spread of the virus. Pray that they will be wise, and that their efforts will be fruitful.
Download the prayer points
Map of the Hubei province, China.
The coronanvirus outbreak began in the city of Wuhan, in the Hubei province of China. Please pray for China, and for all those affected by the virus across the world.
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