Safe Haven appeal

Safe Haven appeal

Help refugees on the island of Lesbos this winter

How are you hoping to spend this winter’s night?

Whatever comes to mind, you’re likely picturing being somewhere cosy, warm and safe.

You’re probably not thinking of a rough sea crossing, of biting winds and the anguish of fleeing the country you love. That’s how Bibi* spent last Christmas.

This winter, could you give a gift of hope to a refugee like Bibi who has lost everything?

Bibi is from Afghanistan. Life there was desperate. And after being forced to flee, Bibi found herself living in a tent in a Greek transit camp, on the island of Lesbos.

A clean bright space with tables chairs and showers visible
This Christmas, a BMS-supported welcoming centre outside the camp will be providing a safe space for women to wash, relax and experience the love of Jesus for the first time.
How will your gifts make a difference?
  • Your gift of £12 could provide essential food items such as pasta, beans and rice for a woman like Bibi and her family, nourishing them for a whole month.
  • £60 could provide vital hygiene items such as soap, sanitary products and underwear for ten families who have nothing.
  • A gift of £160 could enable a BMS-supported refugee centre to stay open, so BMS’ partner workers can share the gospel with women like Bibi, and they can experience Jesus’ love for the first time.

If you have a question about giving to BMS, or would prefer to give by phone or cheque:

  • Call us on 01235 517641 Monday to Friday 10 am – 4 pm. When you call BMS, please mention that your gift is for the Safe Haven appeal.
  • Email us at supportercare@bmsworldmission.org
  • Please send cheques to:
    BMS World Mission, PO Box 49,
    129 Broadway, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 8XA



Your gift will be used to support refugees in Lesbos, Greece.
If our appeal target is exceeded, we will use additional funds to support similar work with refugees in other parts of the world.

A smiling woman lifs boxes of canned goods from the back of a carThis winter, more and more frightened women will find themselves living in flimsy tents, trying to wash, dress and remain hidden behind the thin canvas to protect their modesty.

A heartfelt gift, given today, could provide a refugee from Afghanistan, Sudan or Palestine with clean clothes, good food and a safe place to wash and rest. Please give if you’re able.

Photo: With your help, BMS partner worker Haniele can provide a warm welcome to desperate women.

*Bibi’s name has been changed to protect her identity.

Afghanistan Winter appeal

Afghanistan Winter appeal

Freezing snow. Arid ground. A long dark Afghan winter.

How will Fazal* feed his family?

Freehand pen drawing of a basket with carrots, snow and berries

Fazal is desperate for any way to help feed his family. The only vegetables he has been able to grow are a few small potatoes, nowhere near enough to feed a family of ten, and certainly not enough to make sure his young children grow up healthy and strong.

Fazal’s neighbour Ruby* is a BMS Agricultural Specialist and has been working in the mountains of Afghanistan for nearly three years. Almost every family she works with shares the same story: a desperate desire to provide for their families however they can. Unemployment rates have skyrocketed following the Taliban takeover in 2021, intense droughts and natural disasters have had disastrous effects on much of the country and inflation rates have risen astronomically, making it harder than ever to get by. And so many aid workers haven’t been able to return to help them. Which is why Ruby is asking you to give to help the people she works with this winter.

How you can help
  • £16 could provide one farmer with the tools and seeds to start growing a kitchen garden full of healthy, nutritious food for their children.
  • £42 could cover the cost for one farmer to have agricultural training at the BMS-supported community orchard, to help them get the best out of their crops and make sure their families don’t go hungry.
  • £97 could pay for one polytunnel and help Ruby train farmers like Fazal to protect their crops and produce a bountiful harvest.

“You know as well as I do the pain the people of Afghanistan have experienced over the last few years. It breaks my heart to see families like Fazal’s struggling when all they want is to give their families a good life. Which is why I’m asking you whether you can give.” – Ruby




Pouring water over the roots of a small tree
Fazal is determined to do whatever it takes to feed his family this winter. But he needs your help to do it.

How to give

  • Use the giving form on this page
  • Call the BMS donation line on 01235 517641, Monday to Friday, between 10 am and 4 pm
  • Send a cheque made payable to BMS World Mission with a note that this is for the Afghanistan Christmas appeal
  • Give regularly and provide support in the longer term through BMS’ work across the world
Give regularly

Your gift will give agricultural support and training to farmers like Fazal living in rural Afghanistan. If our appeal target is exceeded, additional funds will support urgent work in the world’s most marginalised countries, based on where the need is greatest.

Appeal update January 2023:

In response to the Afghanistan government’s ban on Afghan women working for NGOs, and with our full support, BMS World Mission’s partner, alongside most international and local aid groups, has paused operations to stand in solidarity with their female staff.

Your gift will continue to make a difference through our partner’s projects in Afghanistan, which will resume as soon as is practicable. But as they work with other NGOs to lobby the government to reverse this decision, will you also join us in praying for wisdom, open-hearts and a resolution to a situation that hurts those who have already been hurt the most.

Why not share the BMS Afghanistan Christmas appeal with your church?

*All names changed for security purposes

Uganda Child Protection appeal

Every child should feel safe at Christmas

Uganda Child Protection appeal

Give a child in Uganda the gift of safety today…

How are you feeling as we count down to Christmas?  
How might the children you know answer that question? Excited? Happy? Hopeful? The sad reality is that for some children in northern Uganda, the answer to that question – and the prospect of more time at home with their family – would be ‘scared’. 

In northern Uganda, where years of civil war and poverty have already combined to make life challenging, Covid-19 has pushed families to breaking point. Sadly, in many households, it’s the children that bear the brunt. This Christmas, Child Protection Officer Valerie and Speech and Language Therapist Isaac are working to protect and safeguard children, supporting their families and stopping abuse before it can even happen. Please give whatever you can using the form below, and please continue to pray for this work. 

Read stories of Isaac and Valerie’s work below. 

Smiling woman with a small child

Isaac’s been supporting
Grace and Ephrahim
with vital speech therapy.


Your gifts will be used to support BMS’ work to protect children in Uganda and provide speech therapy. If our appeal target is exceeded, we will use additional funds to support other urgent work in the world’s most marginalised countries.

How you can help
  • £30 can help Valerie to protect children like Aber and Laker* from forced marriages and abuse
  • £70 can help set up a speech and language practice in northern Uganda, offering vital therapy through Isaac for vulnerable children and their families
  • £300 can help Valerie to give safeguarding training to teachers, local councillors and families so that abuse of more young children is prevented before it can even happen

Use the form on the left to give by credit or debit card and help children in northern Uganda today.

Or, set up a regular gift to BMS to provide long-term support for them and others across the world!

*Names changed

I'd like to give regularly
Valerie providing child protection training - BMS Christmas Uganda appeal

Valerie providing
child protection training

Share this video with your family, friends and church!

Download the video

Read Aber, Laker and Naomi's stories here

Aber's story

Aber* is a bright and hard-working 13-year-old girl, with incredible potential.

But all that was about to change. In the first lockdown, child protection officer Valerie was contacted by Aber’s head teacher. He said Aber’s family was in the process of arranging a marriage for her, so they could secure some income.

In Uganda, there are some 5 million child brides, with 1.3 million married before 15. “It’s not legal,” says Valerie, “but it’s as if it’s legal, it’s done so much. The man would be much older, and already have two or three wives.”

Valerie immediately went to Aber’s home, bringing a lawyer. The lawyer was very firm, and explained Aber must go back to school. Valerie then worked with her contacts – local counsellors, the headmaster and others. “We made sure we involved everyone who was a help to the girl and her future,” says Valerie. The head teacher even said she didn’t have to pay school fees. Aber is now back in class, and is one of the most successful students in the school.

Without this intervention, Aber’s childhood and potential would be a distant memory by now. But Aber is one of the very fortunate ones. Many children Valerie helps have already endured a lot of suffering. The need is even greater than before the pandemic. So please  – don’t delay in giving.

*Names have been changed for protection.

Laker's story

When Valerie met 12-year-old Laker*, she had recently survived terrible abuse at the hands of her uncle. Valerie couldn’t be there to stop it happening. But she could find Laker a safe new home.

Valerie got Laker the hospital treatment she needed, and helped her mother report the attack. Despite everything, Laker and her little brother are now beginning to thrive, with Valerie’s support. Valerie says, “They’re such beautiful children. They’re doing really well and smiling from ear to ear.”

There are so many very hard stories like this coming from Uganda. We urgently need your help this Christmas to go further and break these terrifying cycles of abuse. Please give whatever you can, and please continue to pray for this work.

*Names have been changed for protection.

Naomi's story

Naomi’s* father had decided she should be drowned. Why? Because she has Down Syndrome. After they fled their home, Isaac supported Naomi’s mother to start a new life and create a safe and loving environment for her daughter.

As a speech and language therapist in northern Uganda, Isaac helps families to understand conditions like Down Syndrome, raises awareness and helps children express themselves and their needs.

Your support can help to reach more children like Naomi, prevent abuse or abandonment, and allow them to flourish.

Make a one-off gift now
Give regularly

Christmas Prayer Campaign 2020

Christmas Prayer Campaign 2020

Make Jesus known in Asia this Christmas

Praying for this

In 2020, the question left weighing on millions of hearts has been, ‘Where is the hope in all of this?’ This Christmas, BMS World Mission partners across Asia are coming together to share the answer – the wonderful hope they have in the good news of Jesus Christ.

This December, you’re invited to be part of a series of joy-filled outreach events taking place across Asia. A network of passionate believers from India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Cambodia is coming together with the collective vision to reach as many people as is possible with a Christ-centred message of hope. And with plans for a series of Covid-secure festivities, celebrations and outreach events throughout December well underway, the only thing missing is you!

The BMS Christmas prayer campaign 2020 invites you to make Jesus known to people across Asia by upholding and supporting the plans of our partners in dedicated prayer. Our faithful partners (who we’ll introduce you to below!) know they fall at the first hurdle if they don’t seek God’s guidance for the month ahead. So, please join them and Christians across the UK, praying for God to shine his light at the end of a dark year. Please pray for questioning hearts to receive gladly the message of a God who reaches out and beckons them into a relationship with him this Christmas.

How you can be involved in sharing the good news in Asia this Christmas
  1. Set aside five minutes every day for the next four weeks to pray for one of the amazing partners below.
  2. Pick one of the upcoming events described below and pray it would be fruitful, bringing the plans and people involved in them before God.
  3. Share the BMS Christmas prayer campaign with your fellowship or on your social media accounts. Perhaps you could choose one of the partners to be your church’s special prayer focus?
  4. Follow BMS World Mission on Facebook or Twitter to hear updates, and stay tuned as we hope to share the fruit of this inspiring Christmas outreach with you in 2021.

Benjamin Francis, BMS Team Leader for India, working with BMS’ partner Big Life

Christmas Prayer Campaign, BMS Worker Ben Francis waves from a boat

In Ben’s words:

“I don’t have to tell you what kind of depression people have been in this year. Whether people have been affected by Covid-19 or not, there is another virus which is going round, which is fear. Only faith can cancel fear. And faith, which is the hope of eternity, is the message people long to hear.

People in India are thinking, ‘If I go out, I may contract Coronavirus. But if I stay in my house, I’ll definitely die of hunger.’ They want to know, what is the hope in all of this? And this Christmas, all our outreach programmes are focused on that: Christ in me, the hope of eternity.”

Plans to share the gospel in India

Ben’s team are planning hundreds of small events, starting from 1 December and led by fellowships of around 10 to 15 people in a socially distanced manner.

The events will include cultural presentations, dancing and singing. “The people we’re reaching out to have never experienced things like this: re-enactments of the Nativity, singing Christmas songs, seeing children getting involved – in the villages it’s a huge thing,” says Ben.

Christmas cake and tea will be shared, drawing people into fellowship and community. Ben hopes the generosity people see in his team will reflect the generosity and kindness of God. Tracts and Bibles will also be distributed to those who have questions about the meaning of Christmas.

Last year, Ben saw an amazing 600 new small fellowships starting because of similar Christmas outreach events.

Ben’s prayer points:

  • Pray for the safety of our team, because there has been some persecution in the villages. Pray also for safety for me, travelling to so many different places.
  • Please pray that the Bibles my team give out would be joyfully received. We hope to give out about 5,000 Bibles just in West Bengal to people who are asking questions.
  • We’d love to see baptisms coming out of these events, so please pray for that.
  • Please pray for safety for all involved as we follow government Covid-19 guidelines.
  • We plan to reach 50 to 60 villages, so please pray for a huge harvest!
Download Ben's prayer points

Rev Ashim Baroi, General Secretary of long-standing BMS partner, the Bangladesh Baptist Church Sangha (BBCS)

In Rev Ashim’s words:

“We are using this Christmas project to bring glad tidings to people in the Tea Garden areas and to people in the hill tribes.

During our Christmas programme, we will teach them Christmas songs and explain to them how God loves us and has come to be with us.

Some of the people live in very sad conditions, now we have opportunity to make them glad. We will let them know about Emmanuel – God with us. Many have emotional pain and fear because of the Covid-19 situation. We want to bring them hope and love in the name of Jesus Christ.”

Rev Ashim Baroi and John Karmakar from the Bangladesh Baptist Church Sangha stand in front of a mosaic of William Carey at BBCS Head Office in Bangladesh.

Plans to share the gospel in Bangladesh

Most of the people Ashim’s team hope to reach are from Hindu and Muslim backgrounds, or follow different tribal belief systems. The majority of them have never heard the gospel of Jesus. In the next five years, BBCS hopes to plant 20 new churches and invite many thousands of people into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. The team want to share the story of Jesus’ nativity in 50 villages. This ‘birthday’ celebration, complete with songs and gifts, will also give the chance for believers from Muslim and Hindu backgrounds to share their testimonies.

“We will bring them food and soft drinks,” adds Ashim. “We will distribute gospel tracts, and after the Christmas programme we will do medical camps there later in the year”.

Ashim's prayer points:

  • Please pray for us that people will open their hearts to the Christmas message.
  • Pray that they would be encouraged by the gifts that we bring and find hope to believe that all is not lost.
  • Pray for the safety and sensitivity of BBCS workers who will travel to these villages.
  • Pray that many would believe and be baptised as witnesses in the communities.
Download Ashim's prayer points

Rev Jlalduha Lalduhawma, mission worker with the Baptist Church of Mizoram (BCM) to Cambodia

Rev Jlalduha Lalduhawma from the Baptist Church of Mizoram against a beige background.

In Rev Jlalduha’s words:

“The Christmas season is one of the best times for doing evangelism in Cambodia. People are aware of Christmas as one of the important festivals of Christianity, without knowing the reality about Christmas and its background.

Taking advantage of this special occasion, we plan to gather the parents and friends of local students (both Christians and non-Christians), providing lunch or dinner with a Christmas gift and an invite to a proper worship service or fellowship. Here, we’ll tell the living story of Christmas. Besides this, we’ll have a Christmas outreach ministry to the village.”

Plans to share the gospel in Cambodia

The team at Horaios Baptist Church will share the message of Christmas through a sermon, drama, a dance group and the singing and teaching of Christian songs.

There will also be a charitable Christmas gift of food, cloths and other items to rural villages where there aren’t yet any Christian believers. The area has been specially chosen as one where there is no Christian presence. Jlalduha’s team would love to build bridges, fellowship and community there, paving the way for more outreach opportunities in 2021.

Download Jlalduha's prayer points

Jlalduha's prayer points:

  • Please pray that the parents of the students who become Christians will support them.
  • As many Cambodians enjoy the Christmas celebrations, pray that their hearts and minds would be open to understand that God has come to give us eternal life through Christ Jesus.
  • Pray for our students who will share their testimonies and for those who will preach, that God would give them boldness and powerful words that will win people to Christ.
  • Pray that after the Christmas programme many people would want to know more about Jesus.

Mr Prateep Dee, General Secretary of the Thai Karen Baptist Convention (TKBC)

In Prateep’s words:

“It is a traditional event for us in December to go preaching the gospel to many unreached fields. Yearly, many of our local churches and associations and TKBC departments reach out to the working fields and unreached marginalised areas, to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Why? Because Thailand needs the gospel. Only one per cent of the Thai population is Christian, and that’s counting all denominations of Christianity and Roman Catholicism. Though the majority of Thais are Buddhists, Thai people hunger for peace and salvation.”

Thra Tim, also known as Prateep Dee, with the Thai Karen Baptist Church.

Plans to share the gospel in Thailand

“The events we organise provide the opportunity for the community to come together,” explains Prateep. “This has been an extremely difficult year for many people. This may be one of the only occasions where they can relax, laugh, and have some food and fellowship. We will provide cultural dances and Christmas songs in our native language. There will be a short drama to demonstrate God’s love for people.”

Prateep believes this will be the first time some of the people in surrounding areas hear the name of Jesus. The planned events will give people the opportunity to ask questions, and those who believe the chance to be baptised. It’s hoped that these new believers could become the nucleus of a church plant.

Praying for this? Click here!
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Prateep's prayer points:

  • Please pray that hearts would be opened to believe in the name of Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
  • Pray that the Holy Spirit would give us the right words to speak.
  • The journey into some of the places, especially into the hill tribes, is long and deep. Please pray for the protection of the team and for strength for the journey.
  • Please pray that people will understand the meaning of Christmas and their hearts would be filled with the joy of Jesus.
  • Pray that after the events those who believe would continue to hold onto Jesus as their Lord.
  • May people feel like they can lay aside futile rituals and experience the grace of God that begins with a loving relationship with Jesus.
Download Prateep's prayer points

Words by Hannah Watson
Editor of Engage, the BMS World Mission magazine

Life’s First Cry: The Reunion

Life's First Cry:

The reunion

Supporting this

They captured our hearts as they shared the story of losing their first 11 babies to sickness in Afghanistan’s mountains. Eighteen months on, we thought you’d like to know how Andisha, Mohammad and their two beautiful children are getting on.

Navid is sleeping in his cot when we walk into the room. But he soon wakes up and, bleary-eyed, clings to his mother as he looks around at the unexpected visitors who have rudely interrupted his nap. Roya, his older sister, is nervous to meet us. She’s worried we’ve come to give her an injection… it’s apparently common to tell your children that if they’re not good the foreigners will come and give them a shot. But slowly she’s coaxed into the room. No-one is going to get jabbed with a needle today.

A year and a half after filming Life’s First Cry, we have driven the long and bumpy road back to see how Roya and Navid are doing, and to tell their parents the impact their story has made – £186,000 raised in our Harvest appeal to help more women and men like them in Afghanistan, as well as thousands of other people around the world.

A father holds his daughter and a mother holds her son.
When we first met Andisha and Mohammed, the sorrow of losing so many babies weighed heavily on them.

Little Roya is dressed in bright blue and wears the same apprehensive expression she had the last time a bunch of foreigners turned up in her house. She’s taller now and appears shy, watching us from behind her mother’s elbow, inquisitive when she thinks no-one is looking. She smiles as I roll her the toy car I found on the window sill, and even poses, hands on hips, for the camera as we’re leaving. She’s due to start school next year.

Navid isn’t a baby anymore. He’s got a real little-boy-face and big dark eyes. Like his sister, he is adorable. He wraps his hand around the cord of the microphone we have clipped onto his mother, and I worry he might snap it with his small fingers. But he doesn’t. His sister looks across at him with love as his mum talks to us about her life now, about her family’s life.

Andisha smiles more than I remember. Her children – now six and two – are still healthy and happy. She doesn’t need to fear that she will suddenly lose them, like she did the first 11 children she gave birth to. These babies survived. They’re growing. They have the hope of happy, full lives.

Life's First Cry:
The stats

£186,000
raised

19,726
People watched Life’s First Cry

377
Churches donated

A family stand in a doorway.
Now eighteen months on, the little family is flourishing. Navid is a toddler, and Roya starts school next year.

I ask her how it feels to know that, because of her story, more women and men in Afghanistan are getting the lessons that saved her children.

“I’m very happy,” she says. “I am happy that now I have children, and they’re still here and they’re healthy. And I think it’s great that more people can see this and learn, and that their children can also be healthy too! So thank you.”

What are Roya and Navid like, I wonder, now they’re getting a bit older. “My daughter is kind of naughty,” Andisha admits, laughing. “My son is very calm. They like to play, they like to play with toys and have fun.”

A mother holding her son.
Thanks to your support, Andisha and other mothers like her don't have to worry about losing their children.

Mohammad is out working when we visit, and I am sorry to miss him. But, a few days later, as we are travelling to another remote village far from his, I spot him walking along the dusty road with three donkeys laden with goods to sell. I can’t believe it is Roya and Navid’s dad, here, in the middle of nowhere. What are the chances? He chats with the local team like they’re old friends, smiling and laughing and joking. They’ve made such a difference in his life – first helping to save his children, and then bringing clean water, sanitary latrines, literacy skills and nutrition courses to his village. You’ve helped to change not just Mohammad and Andisha’s lives. You’ve brought flourishing to their whole community.

We are thrilled that Andisha, Mohammad, Roya and Navid are doing so well, and we hope you are too! Thank you for praying for them and for supporting BMS work through Life’s First Cry, so that more children in these beautiful, incredibly remote mountains, can live – like they were born to.

More people in Afghanistan need your help

You’ve already saved lives in Afghanistan. But there are more people that need your help.

By supporting this appeal, you can make a real difference to people living in rural villages without access to clean water. Your incredible response to Life’s First Cry showed us that you’ve got a real heart to help the people of Afghanistan, so please watch the video above and please donate today.

Save lives today Donate now
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Saving lives this Christmas

This winter, families in Afghanistan will be able to drink water without risking death for the very first time.

Supporting this

BMS World Mission photographer Alex Baker takes us behind the scenes of our Christmas appeal. We’re bringing clean water to Afghanistan, and we urgently need your support.

In January 2018, a team from BMS World Mission travelled to the snowy mountains of Afghanistan. They were there to see the difference that BMS’ winter appeal will make in the lives of remote communities, as clean, fresh water is piped into the heart of Afghan villages. Alex was part of that team. These are his photographs.

A village chief in a blue outfit stands in a shelter protecting a new water tap from the elements.
"They were incredibly proud of the well. They were very keen to show us that they were not only using it, but looking after it too."

“What was really clever was that the village had built this greenhouse around the well. It meant that the water would flow freely, despite it being -40 degrees outside. It really is a great example of local knowledge and expertise.”

An Afghan girl in a white headscarf looks towards the camera in her village.
“People didn’t directly share with me about their children getting sick and dying, but I heard stories."

“I already thought that the work was good – that it really helps. Providing people with good drinkable water is such a step forward.

But being there in person, I saw how something that was meant to be very functional and practical made a difference to the village’s interaction on a society level. It was giving them this point where different generations could mix and interact.”

Children in Afghanistan are dying from waterborne diseases, like typhoid and cholera.

Dirty water is a death sentence in Afghanistan.

Could you give to save lives?

Any amount you give really can make a difference.

Save lives today Click here
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“It becomes this meeting point. It’s really cold outside, but the minute you walk into the greenhouse, you feel like you’re in some kind of lovely spa. There’s fresh, clean spring water. And it’s really nice and warm in there.”

A boy in blue drinks water from a WASH project built by BMS World Mission in Afghanistan, surrounded by other children.

“Sometimes projects like this are purely functional — but the fact that so much thought was put into making this a warm, inviting space? The architect in me was impressed by that. It was a genuine gift to the village on every level.”

Afghan women wearing black headscarves gather around a tap, filling up jerry cans with fresh, clean water.
"You aren't just building a tap. You're bringing life. Life not just as a physical thing, but as a social thing, too.”

Give the gift of water this Christmas. You can get clean water to families in Afghanistan, so they don’t have to stagger through driving snow to get to a river teeming with disease.

You can provide the materials for villages to help build their own wells, empowered every step of the way by BMS World Mission-supported workers.

Save lives today Click here
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What’s more, you can hand people ownership of their well, so they can choose the best spot for this new source of life and community. Please continue to pray for Afghanistan. And give if you can — any amount makes a difference.

Words and interview by Hannah Watson, Editor of Engage, the BMS World Mission magazine.