A BMS year in review

The difference you made in 2021

A BMS year in review

Join us for a year in review, exploring all God did amidst the challenges of 2021. Rejoice in what he’s achieved through you and your part in the BMS World Mission family.

You raised your voices

At the beginning of the year, you stood with us as we petitioned for equitable access to the Covid-19 vaccine across the world. We’re so grateful to everyone who added their names to the petition (over 3,000 of you!) for joining us with our colleagues at The People’s Vaccine Alliance and the Baptist World Alliance in raising awareness of this crucial justice issue.

You subscribed

Engage, the BMS magazine, was packed full of stories you made possible in 2021! We celebrated Engage’s fiftieth issue in 2021, and got to share stories of how you’re saving lives from a disease the world forgot in Chad, of people coming to faith in Thailand and of bringing justice to people wrongly imprisoned in Uganda. If you want to hear stories like these, make sure you subscribe to Engage!

You gave

BMS supporters have been incredibly generous this year – and your giving has made an amazing difference. Whether you helped raise over £47,000 to help feed vulnerable families in Uganda, Afghanistan or Peru, or were part of the amazing response that raised over £287,000 to help those at risk of Covid-19 in Nepal at the 2021 Baptist Assembly, you can be certain that your gifts have changed and saved lives this year. Thank you!

You prayed

A man walking past a mural — Photo taken in 2020.

While we had much cause for joy this year, we also experienced much sorrow. As the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August, you prayed for the safe evacuation of BMS mission workers, and for local people to stay safe in the country. While we’re pleased that some of our partner’s work has been able to continue, we ask that you continue to pray for this nation, and for peace and stability to be seen there.

BMS stories you loved this year!

Love your neighbour: Lessons from Kosovo – five ways you can love your neighbour

Are you willing? – BMS workers Paul and Sarah Brown reflect on ten years in Thailand

The hospital, the miracle and the impossible secret – bringing people to faith in Chad

Food for thought – you’re helping feed school children in Nepal

They are not alone – coming to Christ in the face of persecution in India

You took a stand

You took a stand with your brothers and sisters across the world by sharing the BMS I Will Stand Harvest appeal in your churches. Thanks to your support, you helped raise over £139,000 to help provide Bibles for people who’ve never heard the gospel before, give Bible training to new believers, and support church planters as they share the Word of God.

Thank you!

You’ve done all this and more in 2021 – thank you so much for being part of the BMS family this year. We can’t wait to see how God moves through all of you in 2022! Why not share this story with your church, so they can see what they’ve been part of this year?

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Words by Laura Durrant.

A roadmap to safety

Vera, Nagammah, and the gift of hope

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Meet Vera and Nagammah. They live a thousand miles apart, but their stories both end with hope, after you helped them to get their Covid-19 vaccines, against all the odds.

Nagammah doesn’t know much about her family background, or her true age. Her identity card lists her as being 67 years old, and had she been in the UK as the Coronavirus pandemic hit, she might have been among the early recipients of the Covid-19 vaccine. Instead, she was in her home country of Sri Lanka as the world began to spiral into chaos, and the wealthiest nations began to scrabble for and stockpile vaccines. With no birth certificate, no family support and no letter inviting her to receive her dose, Nagammah was facing the threat of Coronavirus alone.

Over a thousand miles away in Albania, Vera did have a vaccine waiting for her. But all around her were whispers of fear and confusion about the origin of the new virus, as well as misinformation about the vaccines intended to protect against it. Looking around the streets, numbers of people taking precautions such as mask wearing and handwashing were also falling, especially in poorer districts in the capital of Tirana. Being over 70 years old, with a number of serious health conditions, Vera’s life would hang in the balance if she were to catch the virus.

By April 2021, the worst had happened: Vera was seriously unwell and struggling to breathe. Taken to hospital, where she was placed on oxygen, Vera didn’t know whether she had contracted Covid or not – no-one had the time to stop and explain it to her. It was only after three weeks that she finally felt well enough to leave the hospital ward with its anonymous nurses in their big white suits. Once back at home, Vera felt frightened and unsure. All she’d seen and heard left her more in the dark than ever. Surely, she came to think, the vaccine couldn’t be for someone like her.

A woman in Albania holding a hygiene pack. — Your generous giving was a lifeline for vulnerable people in Albania like Vera.

If you gave to the BMS World Mission Global Covid relief appeal this summer, you were there for Nagammah and Vera, and the local health workers who likely saved their lives. Because you gave, a BMS-supported vaccination centre was kept running in Colombo, Sri Lanka – one that Nagammah heard about through her church. But it wasn’t just the clinically vulnerable that were receiving life-saving help.

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A man receiving a vaccination. — People in Sri Lanka can safely receive the Covid-19 vaccine, thanks to the funds you raised.

Hygiene packs — The hygiene packs handed out from our partner in Albania included all the essentials you need to feel safe.

The centre also got the vaccine to people like P Jayanthi. In her 50s, P Jayanthi was working in a fast-food restaurant when the pandemic hit. Suddenly, the busyness of work became a daily threat as the bustling restaurant filled with customers, with no respite in the evening when she returned home to a shared boarding house. It was only when volunteers told her about the vaccination centre that you’ve helped to run that P Jayanthi realised she didn’t have to choose between earning an essential wage and her health. “[Volunteers] helped me fill in the forms and gave us a bottle of water while we were waiting… Then they took me to get my vaccine and there was even an army doctor to whom I could speak about my concerns. I realised that I had nothing to fear,” P Jayanthi told centre workers, her eyes creasing into a smile.

In Albania, it was also kindness, understanding, and meeting people where they’re at that helped Vera. It was Tek Ura, the BMS-supported church and community centre in Tirana, that Vera turned to when she was unwell, and it was workers there that helped her feel confident enough to get her vaccine when she felt better. Vera came along to one of the “Staying Safe, Living with Covid” sessions that your generous gifts helped to run. These sessions reached hundreds of people with vital information about how they can stay safe as the pandemic continues on. At her session, Vera received a hygiene pack containing face masks, hand sanitiser, antibacterial spray, cleaning cloths and soap – all those things that so many of us came to rely on through rising cases and multiple lockdowns. Kindness and care enabled Vera to feel that the gift of good health was hers to enjoy. And it’s allowed her to re-join her church and community with confidence. As for Nagammah? She went along to the centre in Sri Lanka with a close friend. “We got the vaccine sooner than we thought,” says Nagammah. “The registration process was perfect… Many people helped us because we are old.”

Whether you’ve donated to BMS’ work fighting Covid, supported our health ministries, or prayed for BMS workers during the past year, you’ve been part of Vera and Nagammah’s stories. And not only theirs – this is just a small snapshot of the incredible impact your support has had in so many precious lives. Without you, Vera and Nagammah and people like them may never have got their protective vaccines, or been given a roadmap to safety. Thank you for your generosity in ensuring that they did.

Hear more stories like this!

If you’d like to hear more stories of people you’ve helped through the Global Covid relief appeal, or through BMS’ ministries all around the world, you’ll find them in issues of Engage, the BMS World Mission magazine. Subscribe now so you don’t miss your copy.

Words by Hannah Watson, Editor of Engage magazine.

How to vaccinate the world

Join Hannah and Laura from BMS World Mission’s Advocacy Team, as we journey through one of the biggest issues facing the world today: just access to the Covid-19 vaccine.

Looking to the past

How many people do you know today who have suffered from polio? I imagine the answer is probably no-one, or at least very few. Cases have decreased by 99 per cent since the 1980s, and what was a tragically widespread disease is now only found in three countries in the world. And the reason? The vaccine was never patented, allowing for it to be made accessible worldwide and saving countless lives. In a recent blog post, BMS surgeons Mark and Andrea Hotchkin argue that the same attitude is needed to eradicate Covid-19.

A man and a woman outside a hut in the desert. — Andrea and Mark Hotchkin provide vital healthcare in Bardaï, Chad.

“Could you patent the sun?” These are the famous words of Jonas Salk, the creator of the polio vaccine, when asked who would own the vaccine. It’s a phrase being used by The People’s Vaccine Alliance, of which BMS is a part, to campaign for intellectual property waivers on the Covid-19 vaccines. Waiving the patents means vaccines can be manufactured across the world. Those waivers, however, are currently being blocked by Western countries, and have been since 2020. “It seems that for the rich nations it is unthinkable that this should be proposed. It is apparently just not the way our world works,” say Andrea and Mark. “But it doesn’t have to be this way.”

The struggles of the present

A woman in PPE — Rachel Conway-Doel is BMS' Overseas Team for Relief but is also a trained vaccinator in the UK.

So how do you go about co-ordinating a relief effort that is clouded by such complicated issues? Laura sat down with BMS’ Overseas Team Leader for Relief, Rachel Conway-Doel, to ask how she’s been facilitating BMS’ Coronavirus relief response since the beginning of 2020, and how BMS is supporting just access to the Covid-19 vaccine.

Laura: When you see what happened with the polio vaccine, how does that relate to what’s happening today with Covid-19 vaccine?

Rachel: So, this is the point of the People’s Vaccine Alliance (PVA). Their big thing is access to the vaccines – and one of the biggest things around that is the international intellectual property sharing. If the blocks aren’t lifted, it means that more manufacturers can’t make vaccines, and that means restricted supply, which means fewer people get vaccinated.

L: How does that link to BMS’ role in terms of the Campaign for a Covid-free world?

R: We’re part of the PVA, which is calling for equitable access – and intellectual property waivers are one of the biggest ways we’ll be able to achieve this. So it totally aligns with our petition, and it needs all the noise it can get. Because without the noise, the heads of state and big organisations won’t feel like it’s as central an issue.

On the ground

Many of us in the UK feel instinctively that vaccines are safe – but all around the world, fears about being made to have a recently developed vaccine are very real. Hannah spoke to Daniel and Regiane Clark, BMS workers in Peru, to hear why, in many contexts across the world, vaccine hesitancy is grounded in culture and history.

Hannah: Can you tell us how the Covid pandemic affected life in Peru?

Regiane: Since the pandemic started last year in March, the lockdown was very strict for Peruvians. The army was patrolling the streets, and you couldn’t go out… It was very difficult, and very hard, especially because 70 per cent of the population are informal workers who work out in the streets.

Two BMS mission workers and their daughter smiling into the camera. — Daniel and Regiane Clark have been advocating for the Covid-19 vaccine in Peru.

Daniel: And many don’t have bank accounts, or access to the internet.

H: Did you hear of many people becoming ill with the virus, and being hospitalised?

R: We did, but most people were dying at home… They would prefer to stay at home and be treated with natural medicines and by relatives, because the hospital might not have spaces.

D: There’s still a history and a legacy from the [Peruvian dictator Alberto] Fujimori era, of women who were sterilised. Some women were forced to be sterilised, or a lot of them were Quetchua-speaking but were given documents in Spanish, and they thought they were signing up to one thing. But they were signing up to not have any more children.

H: I’d like to ask you about the webinars you’ve been preparing – I think there was one around family health in the pandemic, focusing on good practices and myth-busting?

R: I think most people want the vaccine… but they have doubts. Maybe they had bad experiences in the past. The problem is, there is information going around Peru and in other countries in South America, confusing people. People think they could get side effects, or other kinds of diseases that would be worse by having the vaccine.

H: So when you are doing a seminar like that, what content would go into the web events?

D: These are new things… the one that will take most time is the one around debunking myths and reinforcing good health.
I think it’ll be true of other countries – not just Peru – that people do have a reason not to trust… you’re having to engage with what is quite a legitimate fear, a legitimate concern.

The workshops planned by Daniel and Regiane are just one of a number of ways that our partners are seeking to make just access to the Covid vaccine a reality. If you’d also like to be part of making a difference, why not sign our petition, the Campaign for a Covid-free world? Your voice will be added on those calling the UK Government to make decisions for the good of everyone, not just the wealthiest nations, when it comes to equal access. And we’ll keep you in the loop with how else you can be involved in supporting vaccine rollouts in the places we work, too.

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Words by Hannah Watson and Laura Durrant.

A tale of two crises

Ten years on:

A tale of two crises

Ten years of fighting. Ten years away from home. Ten years with the constant threat of danger and death. But also, in spite of the heartbreak, ten years of God’s incredible love. This is the Syrian civil war, ten years on.

It may have largely disappeared from our news feeds, but the Syrian civil war and subsequent refugee crisis are still raging on – and in many ways, are worse than ever. According to the Lebanese Society for Education and Social Development (LSESD), BMS World Mission’s partner in Lebanon, the number of Syrian families in Lebanon now living in poverty has increased from 55 per cent to 90 per cent over the last year. But even in the midst of these devastating crises, our partner has seen God at work.

It's estimated that one in four people in Lebanon is a Syrian refugee.

Crises within crises

BMS World Mission has been supporting Syrian refugees in Lebanon since 2011, when we first provided vital food and hygiene kits to families in desperate need. Over the last decade, we’ve continued offering crucial food support, and have also helped get Syrian children back in education at BMS-supported learning centres. But since the Syrian crisis began in 2010, the situations in both Syria and Lebanon have grown more and more desperate with each passing year. Today, around one in four people in Lebanon is a Syrian refugee. And Lebanon itself has faced a financial crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic and the tragic Beirut blasts, all over just a couple of years.

Our partner tells us that these challenges mean that both Syrian and Lebanese families are struggling more than ever to find work so they can afford basic necessities like food and rent. Rabih*, a Syrian man, told our partner that, “I believe that the refugee crisis has worsened the economic crisis… If I make any money, I feel that a Lebanese person is more deserving of it.”
In the midst of such tragedies and despair, it’s hard to see how this situation could come to any kind of positive conclusion. But that’s where you come in.

A father stands in the centre surrounded by his two young sons and daughter in a camp supported by BMS partners LSESD. — "If I make any money, I feel that a Lebanese person is more deserving of it.,” said Rahib, a Syrian man supported by LSESD.

Your faithful generosity

Throughout these crises and tragedies, BMS supporters have responded with incredible compassion and generosity. You might remember our Syria’s Forgotten Families harvest appeal back in 2016, which raised an incredible £435,479.90 – the biggest response to any of our harvest appeals to date.

Because you refused to forget Syria, you’ve made a real difference to people like Nour*. Nour and her family regularly struggled to get enough food on the table, and in the tough economic climate, her husband often can’t find work. But thanks to your generosity, her seven-year-old daughter Samia* was able to start school at a BMS-supported learning centre back in 2019. Even though the Coronavirus pandemic struck a few months into her schooling, Samia was still able to keep learning with lessons sent over WhatsApp. “I thought they would not care about our family much,” said Nour. “I was surprised when […] the teachers actually called to help with the lessons.”

Not only is the centre providing Samia with the education she deserves, it’s also a lifeline for Nour herself. She receives food parcels from the centre every week, and it’s also become a place she can go to unburden herself of her worries.

“I eagerly waited for one of the staff to call me because I can cry and laugh and vent to someone,” said Nour. “My husband is burdened already, I cannot add to his sorrow, so whenever the teachers called, I felt relieved.”

Nour’s is just one story from among many who have received vital help from the centre. And without your support, that just wouldn’t have been possible.

*Names changed

Thanks to your support, we were able to get food parcels to struggling Syrian families.

Another decade of despair?

Despite the light of God clearly shining in the lives of many Syrian refugees in Lebanon, the conflict in Syria and the fragile situation in Lebanon are both far from over. Please keep praying for Syria, and for the work of our partner in Lebanon, that we might see God’s powerful justice at work.
Pray for the many families receiving relief from the BMS-supported learning centre. Pray that the Lord will provide for both Syrian and Lebanese people involved in this project. Pray also that they wouldn’t struggle to find work or put food on the table, like Nour’s family did.
Pray for the children receiving schooling at the learning centre, that the ongoing economic crisis wouldn’t cause children to drop out of school in order to find work.

Pray for our partner in Lebanon, that they would feel God’s presence with them as they work through so many challenges.
Pray for the ongoing situation in Syria, that discussions with the UN would be constructive and that peace would soon become a reality.

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Words by Laura Durrant
Photos: MERATH

Love your neighbour: lessons from Kosovo

Love your neighbour:

Lessons from Kosovo

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Trying to love your neighbours well during lockdown? Robert* and Rose*, BMS World Mission workers in Kosovo, are convinced it can be done! Here’s their advice for UK Christians.

Robert and Rose have learned a thing or two about loving your neighbours across social divides and physical separation. Called to teach in Kosovo four years ago, their ministry has blossomed into far more than they ever could have imagined. What began with them simply helping out at church has led to them nurturing friendships between different people groups, where historically there has only been animosity. By the grace of God, Robert and Rose are taking small steps to encourage everyone to love their neighbours.

With strict lockdowns across the UK, it can be really hard for us to imagine the part we can play in building up the people around us. We asked Robert and Rose for their advice on how we can love our neighbours – even when we can’t meet in person!

1. There’s power in your words

A group of pre-school children from Kosovo.

Robert and Rose teach a diverse mix of different ages and people groups. They make sure that all their students know that they’re precious and unique, and they were so encouraged by one of the boys from their preschool classes who reciprocated this attitude at home.

He’d been off school ill, and when he came back, it transpired that his father had blamed “the dirty Roma children” as the cause of his illness. Instead of accepting his father’s words, this little boy told him that wasn’t a nice thing to say and that at school, they are all treated equally.

Robert suggests: “There are so many divisions in society at the moment. If you hear your family or friends disparaging other groups of people, be prepared to defend those people.”

2. Go out of your way to meet new people

Sometimes your neighbour isn’t who you expect. Robert and Rose’s whole ministry is built on nurturing friendships between people who have been divided by war. And while you might not have any actual enemies, could you find someone you work with or go to church with that you haven’t spoken to in a while?

Use this in your own life: Is there another church in your neighbourhood that your congregation doesn’t have a lot of contact with? Ask your minister if you can get in touch with them to organise a joint virtual prayer meeting! You could even celebrate the BMS Day of Prayer together on 31 January!

3. Be prepared to give things a go

Step outside of your comfort zone and try something new to love your neighbour, even if you’re afraid it might go wrong!

Rose suggests: “It might be that your neighbour has Covid and you’ve never spoken to them, and you try and take them a dinner and they send you away. That could happen, but if you’re prepared to take that step, you could make a massive difference.”

4. Listen to people’s experiences

It’s incredibly hard to broker peace between people who’ve historically been at war. “Trying to find a way to honour the experiences of both sides is something we’ve had to work out,” says Rose. While we may not be dealing with the extremities of war, we’ve all had different experiences of this pandemic. Many of us have lost loved ones, some of us have lost jobs. There’s no immediate fix but we can listen to and validate each other’s experiences.

Use this in your own life: Be a listening ear. Be compassionate with people sharing the difficulties they’ve faced in lockdown, and make sure you pray for them.

5. Nurture grace in all you do

“Without being shown grace, we wouldn’t have been able to do what we’ve been able to do,” says Rose. It’s not just about showing kindness to your neighbours but being open to receiving grace in your own life. Let yourself be loved by others, and nurture grace in all your relationships.

Use this in your life: Express grace through your words when moods are running low and tempers short. And be open to receive the love and grace of others – see what a difference that can make in your life!

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A poster from a children's classroom in Kosovo, saying 'Welcome'. — “Without being shown grace, we wouldn’t have been able to do what we’ve been able to do,” says Rose.

Want to hear more?

Keep up with everything Robert and Rose have been working on! Sign up for their prayer letters right here.

*Names changed for security reasons.
Words by Laura Durrant.

Our God who hears

A testimony to answered prayer in 2020

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We stand at the beginning of a new year, more aware than ever how little our country, our global neighbours and our world leaders know about what lies ahead. So, what better way to begin 2021 than in prayer, with the BMS annual Day of Prayer on 31 January? And what better way to come to prayer than to come encouraged by this story, all about how God answered our prayers in 2020!

Last week, we asked BMS World Mission’s General Director Kang-San Tan to pen a prayer for the year ahead. It was a big ask. What do you pray for when faced with a year as uncertain as 2021? And where do you begin, with a world still in the grip of the Coronavirus pandemic?

Thankfully, our General Director was more than up for the challenge, and we shared his beautiful prayer in our email update (if you don’t receive them, sign up here!) And as we did so, we knew we weren’t asking without basis or confidence. We’ve been so privileged to see firsthand how our prayers for our world, our work and most importantly, for those we work with and for, have been answered.

Kang-San’s prayer for 2021 asked for three things: flourishing for new communities, for our workers to be the fragrance of Christ in everything they do, and for God’s Kingdom to come, his will being done on earth and in heaven. Let’s take a look at how we saw God working powerfully in each of these ways in 2020 and allow this to give us confidence as we ask again for his provision in 2021.

Flourishing communities

CHURCHES AND SUPPORTERS

This past year has undoubtedly posed extreme challenges for churches, seeking to livestream services, record online talks and set up ‘Zoom coffees’ in place of meeting together. It seemed impossible to replace the easy fellowship we enjoy from mingling in our church halls or working together on a Harvest offering table. So it was wonderful to hear that, across the year, so many had found ways to adapt and meet the challenges. Over 230 churches found ways to raise money for the BMS Harvest appeal, Operation: Chad, many of them remotely. Some churches organised online collections, and many superstar fundraisers set themselves unique sporting challenges they could do within their four walls to raise money – you can check out Will and Tom’s achievements on our Facebook page, or Ana Sophia Clark’s garage 10k in Issue 48 of Engage!

PROVISION AND PROTECTION

From our mission workers to our UK staff team, across our supporters and in churches, so many have faced serious challenges to health, disruptions to normal working conditions and difficulty in travelling throughout 2020. It would be wrong to overlook how difficult it has been for all of us in each of our individual ways, but in all this, it’s also been remarkable to see God’s provision and protection. Whether it’s been upholding people in their physical needs, putting loving community around the lonely or sending his Spirit to sustain and to guide, we’ve heard some wonderful stories of God’s strength keeping people throughout this year.

Sharing Christ

THE CHRISTMAS PRAYER CAMPAIGN

In the midst of lockdowns and social distancing, outreach events seemed like an impossible dream. That is, until four BMS partners across Asia came forward with a plan to reach their neighbours across India, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Thailand with the gospel at Christmas. You joined us in prayer for these Christmas outreach events, and we’re now hearing exciting testimonies about the fruit of this incredible endeavour. There have been baptisms, gifts and Bibles handed out and the proclamation of gospel hope in a time of real crisis. We hope to share more in the upcoming issue of Engage, the BMS World Mission magazine, so subscribe here to ensure you don’t miss it!

ONE MILLION LIVES

A huge answer to prayer in 2020 was seeing that the faithfulness and generosity of supporters has enabled us to reach our goal of transforming one million lives worldwide!

Back in 2016, BMS launched an ambitious plan. We wanted to transform the lives of one million people by the end of 2020. The last of those five years posed challenges none of us could have foreseen, but with God’s guidance and your support, we amazingly saw that target achieved. You equipped the global Church to reach out and share Jesus’ love with one million people in some of the world’s least evangelised, most marginalised and most fragile places. Stay tuned to hear more over the next few months about all you’ve achieved!

Four BMS workers engaged in evangelism and church planting across India, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Thailand gathered in a group montage against a blue background.

Doing God's will

CORONAVIRUS AND BEIRUT

In 2020 alone, we handed out more relief grants than ever before – and it was all down to the generosity of BMS supporters. In moments of real trial, nations around the world dealt with the devastating effects of Covid-19, many on top of other political, economic or humanitarian crises. Thanks to your gifts, over 36,000 people received practical aid and spiritual support, all in the name of Jesus. You helped build a satellite Covid-19 hospital in Bardaï, Chad and shored up other hospitals across Chad and Nepal. You handed out face masks, PPE and soap, and provided psychological support to those in despair. After the blast in Beirut last summer, you rebuilt broken homes, enabling 40 families to be rehoused, and gave out emergency meals. We praise God for your joyful obedience to his will and calling to give, even out of hard personal circumstances for many in the UK.

Food distribution in Beirut after the blast

Last but not least, we’ve also had the privilege of praying with you, our supporters. As the UK entered its first lockdown back in March of 2020, it became clear to the BMS team that asking for requests and praying for the things on your hearts would be an absolutely essential part of our work this year. Our weekly prayers for supporters and churches have been a real time of encouragement and blessing. And if you saw prayers answered this last year, we’d love to hear how you are doing.

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We pray that seeing these answers to prayer in 2020 has encouraged you for the year ahead. Please do join us in prayer for our Day of Prayer on Sunday 31 January 2021. Follow the link to our Day of Prayer page for all the information you’ll need, as well as for handy resources like a PowerPoint and PDF download, designed to be easily shared in your church service.

Words by Hannah Watson

You've done amazing things this year:

Thank you for saving lives

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You have helped more than 36,000 people in 24 countries across the globe. And you’re making a difference right now.

Yemen. Afghanistan. Chad. Nigeria. South Sudan. Bangladesh. Ghana. Mozambique. These are some of the least developed countries in the world. These are some of the places where your gifts to the BMS World Mission Coronavirus appeal are making a huge difference.

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

You are part of a global effort to respond to the Coronavirus pandemic. Covid-19 continues to threaten livelihoods, push people further into poverty, and disproportionately impact our world’s most vulnerable communities. While the pandemic rages on, BMS will continue to respond. And we can only do that because of you.

Key facts: your response so far

You’ve helped more than 36,000 people in 24 countries across four continents
You donated more than £288,000 to the global Baptist response
You enabled BMS to give 30 relief grants so far, in our most complex and wide-reaching relief effort ever

How you have made a difference

You’ve provided Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for frontline workers, given emergency food supplies, provided soap and handwashing guidance, helped to build a satellite Coronavirus hospital, provided phone credit to pastors to reach their congregations, counselled patients and frontline workers… and more! And you’re still helping right now in some of the world’s most fragile communities

Right now, you’re part of co-ordinated responses in Lebanon, Greece, Turkey, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Yemen, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Chad. You’re providing food parcels, hygiene supplies, face masks and medical support. You’re standing with refugee communities and displaced people who lack the basic resources they need to survive this pandemic. And you’re also helping people in South America get back on their feet by providing small grants and training for people to re-start and strengthen businesses.

The food parcel you provided for Mashura was an absolute lifeline for her whole family.

Mashura lives with her husband and three children in a small one-room house in the Satkhira District of Bangladesh. This is her story, in her own words.

“Before this pandemic, our family was doing well. I used to support my family by raising cattle and chicken. Recently, we are in a crisis of food scarcity due to this Covid-19 pandemic. Earnings are completely cut-off due to the lockdown.

“I had to sell everything because of the Coronavirus outbreak. My husband lost his work and there was not enough food for everyone. We needed help so much and we were waiting for help from someone. We prayed to God to help us.

“When this situation was going on, we heard about the [BMS-supported] project providing food items for many people in need. Thanks to the infinite grace of God, I was also included in the list of food distribution. In such a situation, after receiving this food package, my family’s food needs have been met. There is no need to go to the market with risk. Me and my family have benefited a lot.

“I would like to thank the concerned donors for their help with food during this pandemic.”

A Bangladeshi woman receives aid from BMS' Coronavirus appeal — Thanks to your support Mashura was able to feed her family.

You've provided so much across the world in response to the coronavirus pandemic

By sacrificially supporting BMS in this time of global crisis, you have partnered with Baptist organisations across the world to help where it was and is needed most.

Some of the things you made possible this year include:

Providing food and soap for 1,200 people in Uganda, who were not only facing the threat of Coronavirus but were also affected by flash floods.
Empowering 8,770 children and teachers in Mozambique to help stop the spread of Covid-19 through the provision of soap and handwashing lessons.
Ensuring medical workers in Nepal and Chad had the PPE and face masks they needed to tackle Coronavirus in their hospitals.
Providing 2,604 people in Peru with vital food parcels.
And so much more!

Coronavirus response in Bangladesh — From Bangladesh to Peru, Uganda to the Philippines, you've made a huge difference across the world by supporting our Coronavirus appeal.

Thank you for saving lives across the world during this pandemic. And thank you for enabling us to continue responding to the needs our partners are sharing with us. You really are still making a difference.

Read in-depth stories of the way your gifts to the BMS Coronavirus appeal saved lives in Afghanistan and empowered women in Mozambique on pages 8 to 11 of Engage, Issue 48.

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The stories that broke Ben’s heart

The stories that broke Ben’s heart:

Bringing hope back to India

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“I heard stories of people boiling leaves to feed their children,” says BMS World Mission worker Ben Francis. “My heart broke.”

When India went into lockdown in March, many people were left with a sense of dread. Workers in cities had no way to earn a wage, and people in remote villages already living on the bare minimum now had nothing. How can you provide for people, both physically and spiritually, in the face of such despair?

I’ve known Ben for a couple of years now, and every time I speak to him, he’s so joyful in the Lord. He can’t wait to share with you how many people he’s told his testimony to, how many people he knows have recently accepted the love of Christ into their lives. This time, though, it’s different. His joy is still there, but I can tell that the effect the Coronavirus pandemic is having in India is weighing heavily on his heart.

As we chat over the phone, Ben shares with me about the rural villages he works in in Odisha (formerly Orissa) and West Bengal. Lockdown meant that families of often six or eight people were living on nothing. Many of them live in villages only accessible by boat and with no transport running from the cities, so there was no way to bring more food in. And with many people who were now out of work travelling for hundreds of miles back to those villages, they were faced with even more mouths to feed. It wasn’t Coronavirus that was killing people, it was starvation.

For many people, it seemed there was no hope. But, thankfully, they were not forgotten. So many amazing supporters prayed for India and gave to the BMS Coronavirus appeal, and thanks to you, we were able to help towards the distribution of over 28,000 food parcels to people out of work in Delhi and Kolkata. Thanks to your support, Ben and his team travelled into as many villages as they could to bring life-saving food to families in desperate need, living in remote villages. But that’s not all they brought with them.

BMS worker Ben Francis — Ben Francis is always joyful in Lord, but it's hard to feel joy in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Food parcels being distributed in Odisha — Ben's team were able to help bring life-saving food parcels to rural villages in Odisha (formerly Orissa).

“I didn’t want to use this opportunity to preach the gospel,” says Ben. For anyone who knows about Ben, you’ll know that the Word of God is never far from his lips. But when reaching out to people nearing starvation, he felt God was just asking him to provide physical necessities like food and medicine. It wasn’t long however before he realised that the love of God was just what people wanted. “People started asking ‘Why are you doing this?’ And we were able to share our story,” he continues.

In a situation without hope, God opened doors that had never been opened before. People who had never before wanted to hear the Word of God were listening to Ben’s testimony. People were asking for prayers for healing and for their families. To people living in darkness, God had become a life-saving light. “A lot of new people have come to the Lord,” said Ben. “Those people now have hope.”

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Thank you so much for helping Ben bring the light of Christ to so many people. The need in India is still great. Ben and his team couldn’t stay in each village forever, but they knew they were leaving the people there with a message that would keep them going through the darkest times, and with the knowledge that Christians cared. I know Ben, and I know that he will be so grateful for your prayers, so that he can continue to bring the hope of a God who can provide to the people who need it most.

Will you commit to praying for people in desperate need in India?

Please pray for:

People who have recently come to Christ. Pray that they will stay strong in their faith and be able to share their faith with many others.
People who have been left without food due to lockdown. Pray that the Lord will provide for them and that they will know his protection.
India, as it grapples with rising Coronavirus cases. Pray for healing for people suffering from the virus and pray that God will provide for people who are out of work.
Ben Francis and his family. Pray that the Lord will give Ben strength, and that he will be able to keep sharing the gospel with people who don’t yet know God.
The many people across the world Ben trains in disciple-making and leadership. Pray that they will be empowered in the Lord, and that they will be able to share his Word with many people.

Download the prayer points and share them with your church

Words by Laura Durrant.

A Q&A with Monty Lyman

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Dr Monty Lyman, author of The Remarkable Life of the Skin, spoke to Mission Catalyst magazine about life on a Covid ward earlier this year. The interview is a fascinating read! If you want to hear from more engaging Christian thinkers, why not subscribe to Mission Catalyst today?

You’ve written a book about the skin. We’ve all been told that we need to wash our hands more because of Coronavirus, and my hands are in not a good state from all the hand sanitiser. Is our skin ever going to recover?

Thankfully, our skin is incredibly tough and resilient, and our whole top layer of skin, the epidermis, replaces itself every 30 days. So, I think even if we continue fairly regular hand washing practices, it won’t affect them in the long term. But I highly recommend moisturisers, cheap moisturisers are shown to be just as effective as the really expensive ones that you get in shops.
We’re spending billions on new treatments and vaccines for Covid-19, which is great, but actually the most powerful anti-viral for these kinds of coronaviruses is just soap and water. Essentially the individual soap particles completely destroy the outer membrane of the Coronavirus, so it’s probably the most effective weapon we’ve got.

It’s really interesting, in hospital a lot of the doctors are saying that cases of norovirus and other infectious diseases have dropped massively and it’s almost certainly because of increased hand washing.

What was it like working on the Covid wards, knowing you were at risk of catching the virus?

To begin with it was scary. It was scary when we saw that our senior consultants, including some professors who seem to know everything, had never seen this disease before. When the influx started, we were in A&E all looking at patients coming into the wards, and we were looking at CT scans of people’s chests and seeing something that we’d never seen before – damage across the whole lungs, really severe pneumonia that we’d only see rarely, and almost every patient coming in had the same thing.

It was also scary that it’s a disease that we didn’t have any treatments for. We had oxygen, but that wasn’t necessarily effective, and we just didn’t know whether a patient was going to get better or deteriorate and require ICU. Probably the hardest bit about it as well was the fact that patient’s relatives weren’t able to come into the ward at all.

But actually, on the positive side, there was a lot of camaraderie. It’s easy to moan in the NHS but, when the Coronavirus crisis kicked off, we increased our intensive care unit capacity massively, we repurposed whole wards, we got retired doctors and medical students in as incoming junior doctors – it was really impressive what we managed to do as well. So, it was equally terrifying yet exhilarating.

Monty’s whole interview was included in the latest issue of Mission Catalyst, BMS World Mission’s magazine for thinking Christians.

Subscribe today for intelligent and challenging commentary on the most important issues facing Christians today straight to your doorstep, three times a year. And it’s completely free – how could you say no?!

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Are there images that will stay with you from having worked in that environment?

I think one of the hardest things was when I was assessing an 80-year-old man who started on oxygen on my ward and had moderate Covid symptoms. He’d just come off a Zoom call with his family and he asked me whether he’d be able to see his children and grandchildren again. And I couldn’t tell him whether he would or he wouldn’t, I had no idea. And it was humbling.

I think on a big scale, we feel in western society anyway that we’ve defeated a lot of disease, especially a lot of infectious diseases, and we’re on our way to overcoming cancer and ensuring we live long, healthy lives, but actually this disease has exposed that that’s not the case at all.

Chances are we’re going to have more pandemics in the future, what does our health system need to look like in order to continue to cope and perhaps better cope with pandemics like this?

We need a cohesive strategy with investment, cross-party. We need more long-term investment, it’s very easy for governments of all shapes and sizes to think about the short-term in terms of investing in a pandemic response. Our issue was that we just thought about influenza, we hadn’t thought about coronaviruses, even though the warning signs were there with SARS and MERS and other outbreaks of the past. So we need, with all of healthcare, to have a long-term, big picture view and we need to invest in preparing for another pandemic, because it will come.

I think this is also a big opportunity to look at inequalities in healthcare across society. People from Black and Asian minority ethnic groups and low-income groups have been more adversely affected and we need to look into the reasons, we need to have a full investigation as to why this happened and have a large public health discussion about inequalities in healthcare as well.

Within your ward and within the NHS, what did people think about the clap for carers?

It was mixed. People were positive about it, but there were also those who were saying we should have more support, and that energy should have been put more into things like PPE and investing in frontline workers. But it’s complex. Personally, I don’t have an easy answer because actually the PPE issue in our hospital was ok.

It’s been great to see public appreciation for what we’re doing because we were put at risk. I know fellow staff members who went into ICU, I know members of staff who died. I got Covid myself and was out for a couple of weeks and it’s good to see that recognised. I think maybe this could be linked in with having a more coherent plan in terms of PPE, and maybe the country needs to have a more streamlined way of stockpiling and distributing protective equipment around the country. So we do need to be better prepared for it and could have been better prepared for it. But credit to the hospital managers who managed to deal with the national PPE shortage pretty well.

Want to hear more thought-provoking Christian voices like Monty’s? Subscribe to Mission Catalyst magazine today!

Monty Lyman is a doctor and the author of The Remarkable Life of the Skin. He worked on the frontlines of the Coronavirus pandemic and is currently writing a book on pain, which will be published by Penguin in 2021.

What we achieved this year, together

BMS World Mission Coronavirus appeal:

What you achieved this year

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Back in March of this year, BMS World Mission launched our Coronavirus appeal, and thousands of UK Christians responded generously to the urgent need. In a world thrown into chaos by a virus whose unpredictable course left many feeling shaken and confused, it was hard to know where to help first. Saving lives required decisive action, which you knew as well as we did. And so, with your help, we stepped in to make a difference everywhere we could…

From Peru to Nepal, Afghanistan to Mozambique, your donations reached right around the globe, directly helping people in 14 countries across four continents. That amounted to over 28,000 people whose lives were sustained, protected and transformed through a heartfelt response from generous UK Christians. Whether it was picking up the phone, posting in a cheque, starting a fundraiser, or donating through our website, those simple actions have raised over £230,000, an absolutely amazing total that will have a long-lasting and life-saving effect for so many around the world.

Download the video and share with your church

Coronavirus hasn’t just endangered the health of those who contracted it, but countrywide lockdowns have also threatened to destroy the livelihoods of many people around the world who rely on subsistence farming or daily wage labour to survive. In such a large-scale crisis, your gifts were able to stretch far and wide because BMS was at the forefront of co-ordinating the global Baptist response to the Covid-19 Coronavirus.

By working with the Baptist World Alliance Forum for Aid and Development (BFAD), we ensured that your gifts delivered a multi-faceted response, whether that was supporting the making of over 31,000 masks in Mozambique, responding to the mental health crisis caused by Covid-19 in Afghanistan, providing emergency food rations to those trapped in desperate hunger due to lockdown in Sri Lanka, or getting PPE to hospitals in Nepal and Chad.

Want to hear in-depth stories about how you changed lives?

Sign up to get the next issue of Engage, and receive our special ‘Coronavirus heroes’ issue. Hear from people like Gloria, who went from losing everything to being part of the team sewing over 30,000 face masks for a hospital in Mozambique!

This co-ordinated response meant that we handed out more relief grants in 2020 than ever before, and that you were able to help people who hadn’t received aid from anyone else. People like Athilatchumi. Her livelihood collapsed during Sri Lanka’s strict lockdown when her daughter’s job in a local factory was put on pause, and her husband couldn’t sell the produce he caught from his work as a fisherman. As she told our partner in Sri Lanka, “We haven’t received such support from anyone else during this crisis”.

What might have happened to Athilatchumi, her husband and five children without your intervention doesn’t bear thinking about. But luckily, we don’t have to. Athilatchumi and 28,000 others are safe and well thanks to your giving, whether they be workers who lost jobs, people going through mental health crises, those who needed ongoing medical treatment — or drastic intervention after contracting Coronavirus — or key workers who needed protection and support.

Thank you for supporting our Coronavirus appeal

Download the video and share with your church

By choosing to give to the BMS Coronavirus appeal, you’ve played a crucial part in saving thousands of lives across the world. Thank you for standing with your neighbours wherever they are found, and making a difference in this time of crisis.

Spread the word!

We at BMS are convinced that this is such good news – for people around the world who experienced God’s love in action through your witness, and for those of you in the UK who gave. We’d love for you to share this Coronavirus appeal update with your church. Why not download the Coronavirus thank you video and keyworker thank you video on this page to play in your service and truly thank your congregation for all they did — whether you’re meeting online, or in person.

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Words by Hannah Watson.
Videos by Joshua Mutton and Laura Durrant.

Good World News

Good World News:

God is still at work

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It’s easy to despair at the state of the world right now, which is why we wanted to remind you that God is still at work in powerful ways. We checked in with Ben Drabble, who heads up our Supporter Care Team, in his home office, to see what good news he has to share from our partners and projects around the globe. Turns out, God is doing some amazing things – and in many of them, he’s chosen to work through you!

Want some good news? Check out this video!

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1. Baptisms in Bangladesh

Earlier this year, we found out that up to 80 people are preparing to be baptised in Bangladesh, thanks to BMS World Mission partner the Bangladesh Baptist Church Sangha. That’s 80 people who will be accepting the love of Jesus into their lives! Your support and prayers for our work in Bangladesh have made this possible.

These are your brothers and sisters in Christ, and you’re part of their story. If that’s not good news, we don’t know what is!

Up to 80 people were baptised recently in Bangladesh

30,000 face masks were sewn in Mozambique

2. Coronavirus global response

BMS supporters have given over £200,000 to our Coronavirus appeal to help people around the world in the fight against Covid-19. We are so thankful for your incredible generosity!
Here are a few ways your support has made an incredible difference in more than 22,000 lives during the Coronavirus pandemic:

You’ve enabled women in Mozambique to sew a whopping 30,000 face masks! All these masks will go to Maputo General Hospital and will be used to curb the spread of the virus.
You’ve supported the creation of a satellite hospital in Bardaï, Chad, built on the site of a disused police station. You’ve helped purchase specialist equipment, refurbish the police station, and fix up the water supply.
You’ve helped provide food parcels, hygiene products and PPE to people across the world, from Peru to Sri Lanka, Tunisia to Nepal.

If you want to find out more about what your support has achieved, visit our Coronavirus news page to stay updated.

3. Solidarity Sunday

Churches across the UK held Solidarity Sunday services via Zoom and other online platforms back in May! It was so amazing to see UK Christians joining together in prayer for the global Coronavirus response, and we’re so thankful for everyone who took part. You’ve played a real part in saving and protecting lives.

And if you didn’t get a chance to hold a Solidarity Sunday service in May, all the resources you’ll need to hold one are still on our website. Check them out today!

4. Resources for your church

We’ve made it possible for you to request a member of the BMS Speaker Team to join your online service, whether that’s a passionate Speaker Team volunteer, a member of our UK staff team with behind-the-scenes insights or one of our mission workers straight from the frontline! If you want to hear stories from the heart of mission, contact Carolyn Ogi, our Church Engagements Administrator, on 01235 517631 to request a BMS Speaker today!

We’ve also got tons of brilliant resources you can use in your church service, whether you’re keeping things online or beginning to move things back to your church building. From inspiring sermons and video messages from mission workers, to PowerPoints to guide your prayer for the world, we’ve got a resource that will work for your church. Find them all right here.

PowerPoint slide with the text "Join Christians across the UK to pray for the global Covid-19 Coronavirus response"

5. Operation: Chad is coming!

Operation: Chad, our 2020 Harvest appeal, is coming!

We’ll be transporting you to Guinebor II hospital in Chad, and we can’t wait to share stories of the incredible staff there who dedicate their lives to providing healthcare in a country with 1 doctor for every 25,000 people! Stay tuned for updates on how you can join Operation: Chad very soon!

Thank you so much for all of your support for BMS World Mission over these last few months. You are a crucial member of the BMS community – and we hope that this instalment of Good World News helps you to remember that! Don’t forget to download the video and share it with your church!

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Words and video by Laura Durrant.

Covid and the care home: A wake-up call for the West

Covid and the care home:

A wake-up call for the West

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It was reunion day at the Chênes Verts nursing home in the Parisian suburb of Gif-sur-Yvette – a long-awaited moment for residents and their families who had gone two months without any visits. It had taken staff almost three weeks to work out how to safely re-open the doors of the care home in this new world, one governed by Covid-19. But finally, on 11 May 2020, the first three visitors were able to see their loved ones face-to-face, and the emotion was palpable…

BMS World Mission worker Christine Kling has been visiting the Chênes Verts nursing home regularly since becoming a part-time chaplain there in 2017. Amongst her other pastoral responsibilities, she counts her visits to residents in their 70s and 80s, many living with dementia, depression, or other serious health conditions, as an important part of her job. In the West, our interest in nursing homes is likely related to whether we’ve ever visited one, had a relative move in or perhaps worked in the sector. But recently care homes have been front page news, with questions raised over whether they have been woefully underserved by governments in the Coronavirus pandemic.

Refreshingly, Chênes Verts has always been front page news for the residents of Gif-sur-Yvette. “The care home is the only one in the town and everyone has known a relative or a friend staying in it,” says Christine. Many people’s childhood memories include singing Christmas carols to its residents. The care home is at the heart of the community – a rare position for most care homes in Western culture. Christine lists underpaid staff, the difficulties of the job itself: the pain, long hours, night shifts and a lack of recognition as just some of the well-worn issues many Western countries have yet to address. But the arrival of the Coronavirus forces us to confront them.

Indeed, we’ve been required to confront many things this year. And as Chênes Verts prepared to welcome back visitors for the very first time, we could become inured to the talk of strategies, of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), of five-step plans and coded alert levels. But take a step back, and it’s heartbreaking to think of a world where something as simple as an aged parent being visited by a son or daughter must now be handled like a military operation.

Two women in PPE — Christine mobilised a group of volunteers to sew 40 surgical gowns from old bedsheets for the care home staff. More gowns are still needed, as PPE is in short supply.

The risks to health of opening Chênes Verts care home back up were high, but the emotional toll of refusing family visits was just as high a price to pay.

An elderly woman with two people in PPE. — Full PPE has to be worn to protect the residents at the care home.

So, on 11 May, visits were by appointment in a dedicated room. Social distancing measures were in place, of course, along with temperature screening and the compulsory wearing of masks. “The elderly residents didn’t always understand why they could not touch their visitor, why it was only one relative at a time and for 30 minutes,” says Christine. “There were expectations and stress from both sides after having waited for so long – a lot of emotions – so we had to be sensitive and caring.”

An elderly woman in a chair — Irma, a care home resident, had been a member of the French Resistance in her youth.

An initial screening test set the opening of Chênes Verts back, as it revealed asymptomatic cases of Covid-19 among residents and staff. Ten of the residents were discovered to have contracted the virus, and devastatingly, three passed away in one weekend. Thankfully, a number of others are on the road to recovery. “Death is very much part of care home life,” says Christine. “Every six months we have a memorial service to remember the ones who left us.” But, in the context of Covid-19, death feels different. “After having fought for two months to keep the residents safe, the staff feel like we’ve lost a battle.”

How does Christine offer up support in such difficult times, and how can we as Christians do the same? “Fear, grief and stress characterise the overall mood in France,” explains Christine. “In a secular country where death has been ‘sanitised’, managed by experts at hospitals, care homes, etc, for many years, this crisis has been some sort of awakening in rediscovering human vulnerability and finitude. For the time being I am listening to the staff and residents when they want to speak, to acknowledge their pain and grief. If people want to pray, I offer prayers.” And as Christians offering comfort in uncertain times, we have the additional promise that we will never be alone.

“The Holy Spirit, the comforter, the helper, is with us always, teaching us how to love others as Jesus loves us,” Christine says. She’s been reading John 14 with her church, and is very aware of both the challenges and opportunities created for Christians in the West by the Coronavirus crisis. “Covid-19 might be the new challenge for the Church to reach out to the ones in need, to dare to care.”

The care home is just one place where Christians can share this love and serve the local community. Indeed, reunion day at Chênes Verts was only possible thanks to the bravery and help of volunteers who stepped in to co-ordinate the visits, sew gowns and gather enough PPE. “The first day of the visits was a very special day. The laughter behind the masks and the sparkling eyes provided moments of happiness but also a little balm for the heart,” says Christine. “When it is possible to come together again, we will remember this day at Chênes Verts.”

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Words by Hannah Watson. Inspired by this blog post, written by Christine Kling

In crisis: ‘Look for the hope no-one but God can give.’

In crisis:

‘Look for the hope no-one but God can give.’

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Genesis Acaye used to sleep in his shoes. Living in an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp during the civil war in Uganda, he never knew if he would have to outrun soldiers in the night… or walk with them if he was abducted. These are his lessons for living through a crisis.

Thankfully, since the end of the civil war, Uganda has seen a number of years of blessed peace. BMS World Mission worker Genesis has been able to support local farmers in re-learning vital farming methods almost lost through those years depending on the support of IDP camps.

But the years of hardship felt in Uganda have helped its people prepare for future crises. As the UK and Uganda alike steel themselves against the Coronavirus pandemic, we spoke to Genesis to see what advice he had for UK Christians in these trying times.

God will intervene and give wisdom to people who will come out with answers

Many people in the UK have not lived through a crisis of these proportions before, but in Uganda, whole generations faced many years of civil war. Can you tell us about the struggles and uncertainties you faced?

Life was very hard. Every family in Northern Uganda in one way or another was affected by the war and lost at least one relative. We would walk every evening to go and sleep in town and then go back home in the morning. The soldiers would only guard the town; therefore, everyone was crowded in the town or in the bush trying to survive. The rebels would move from home to home looting and abducting people. They would kill those who tried to escape, the weak ones, or to scare people from escaping.

I remember when I was at school, we used to sleep fully dressed up with a jacket, shoes and trousers, ready to run at any time or ready to walk when abducted. Students had been abducted before from my school and the trauma was there, that at any time rebels would come and abduct students. At night you would be half asleep and half awake. Any small sound would cause you to check around or run. If you were travelling, you just had to rely on God that you didn’t enter an ambush because many lost their lives in ambushes.

Everyone at some point in their life will have a moment where they need everlasting hope and comfort that no man can give, only God

How has the experience of already having gone through extraordinarily tough times prepared you for the Coronavirus pandemic?

In 2000, we had Ebola in Gulu, and many lost their lives. We are living the life of 20 years ago again and the news from around the world, especially Europe and the USA, makes us worry. What if the spread increases, shall we be able to contain it? We are scared, but we have hope in God.

I know that the Coronavirus will affect the world and us for some time, but I believe at one point it will go. God will intervene and give wisdom to people who will come out with answers to the virus. The war has prepared me to look at what takes place around the world, therefore I pray that God will comfort and heal the families affected.

What is the situation like under lockdown in Uganda?

Farmers are already facing challenges due to the lockdown. Most of them get their seeds from town and there is no transport, as motorbikes are not allowed to carry people even though it’s the most common form of transport in the rural areas. Farmers have to cycle for 45km or more to buy hoes and seeds, etc, and those who cannot ride have to pay more or resort to low yielding seeds. Access to seeds is already a problem as well as an increase in the prices for the seeds. If the farmers miss proper planting in the first rain, then we are looking at famine around June and July.

The communities are very worried too: there are no church services, no school, no public and private transport. Only those riding bicycles and motorcycles, on foot and driving trucks carrying goods are allowed to move. No-one is allowed to carry anyone, not even a sick person unless permission is requested.

You can help people in Uganda, and across the world, right now.

Your support can provide farmers in Gulu with seeds that could prevent life-threatening famine. You can also get food parcels to people who’ve been affected by floods elsewhere in Uganda, as well as providing PPE, hygiene products and mental health support across the world. We need you to make all this possible. Please, give to our Coronavirus appeal today.

How can UK Christians draw near to God when things are tough?

I learned to trust in God every day and every night during the war and up to now, I know that humans still have limits and at some point, the cross is everything. Even if the Coronavirus was not there, everyone at some point in their life will have a moment where they need everlasting hope and comfort that no man can give, only God.

Trust God every day in all the ups and all the downs. The valleys come to us at different times and hours and ages, but remember to trust in God. Some of them are so painful and you may feel so lonely, but remember to trust in God, for he said: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways… As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55: 8-9).

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways... As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than yours thoughts Isaiah 55:8-9

How can Christians encourage and support people in their community at times like this?

Christians can stay connected and united and pray to God at such a time. You are available and you have a role to play. Whatever position and capacity God has given to you, use it well to serve others. Do what you can according to what God has given you.

We lived in the IDP camp for 27 years, being fed by people around the world whose hearts had been opened by God. They supported us generously for all those years. Some of us are alive now because we were fed, supported and prayed for by those people. I am reaching out now to farmers with seeds through BMS support so that in three months, they will have food to eat. You can do the same as an individual, a family, a church and a wider community.

Is there a Bible verse or a prayer you can teach us in the UK, to lean on when life seems uncertain?

Job said this on the worst day of his life: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1: 21). Remember we live because God allows us to live – despite what is happening around us, lean on the Lord, for his faithfulness endures forever.

Whatever position and capacity God has given to you, use it well to serve others. Do what you can according to what God has given you

How can the UK pray for Uganda at this time? And for your project and the farmers you work with?

Pray the spread of the virus will be reduced and stop eventually and that life will go back to normal in Uganda and all over the world.
Pray for wisdom on how to support the farmers at risk of famine during this time.
Pray for good rain so that the farmers can plant the crops that will provide food for the community.
Pray that additional resources will be available to support the farmers in terms of seeds to feed their community, because at the moment most of the items have their prices doubled, making it harder for the poor communities to access them.
Pray for victims of flooding in Kasese, having to deal with the loss of their homes and livelihoods as well as the Coronavirus pandemic. Pray that they will receive the support necessary to rebuild.

Pray for the world on Sunday 31 May

Join Baptist churches across the UK on Solidarity Sunday, 31 May, to pray for Uganda and the world during this global pandemic. Find everything you need here.

Praying for Uganda? Click here

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.

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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.

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.

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

Coronavirus appeal prayer points

Use these prayer points in your online, streamed or recorded church service to pray for the global response to the Covid-19 Coronavirus pandemic.

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Coronavirus appeal prayer PowerPoint

Use these PowerPoint slides copyright free in your online, streamed or recorded church service to pray for the global response to the Covid-19 Coronavirus pandemic.

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Remembering the Easter bombings: prayer for Sri Lanka – PowerPoint for your church

One year on from the Easter bombings, we’d love the Church in the UK to lift up Sri Lanka. Use this copyright free PowerPoint presentation in your online service to pray with us for Sri Lanka.

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Video: life under lockdown in Nepal

This short video showing empty streets in Nepal can be used to raise awareness of how our neighbours around the world are being affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, and how your support through the BMS Coronavirus appeal is already making a difference.

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In crisis: ‘when everything looks like darkness, God continues to be God’

In crisis:

‘Even when everything looks like darkness, God continues to be God’

Praying for this 51

The Coronavirus could cause unimaginable suffering in countries like Mozambique, where almost half the population live below the poverty line. The World Health Organisation has warned that Africa could become the next epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic. Here’s what the situation is like for our neighbours in Mozambique right now, and how you can pray.

As a young man, Carlos Tique Jone was forced to fight in the Mozambican civil war. He prayed for God to protect him, and God did. Last year, his city was shattered by Cyclone Idai, and he didn’t know if he would live or die. Now, Carlos, along with the whole world, is facing the threat of Coronavirus.

By supporting BMS World Mission, you’ve been partnering with Carlos since 2012. You’ve helped him in his day-to-day work leading the BMS team in Mozambique, as well building up local churches and helping people in Beira and the surrounding area start small businesses and support their families. You helped him deliver much-needed practical relief after Cyclone Idai. And now you’re helping the BMS team in Mozambique stop the spread of Coronavirus, by providing soap and advice on effective handwashing for families that are part of BMS-supported preschool projects across the country (reaching a total of 4,250 children and their parents).

A building with rubble to the side of it after Cyclone Idai. — Cyclone Idai caused widespread destruction. You helped BMS respond to the disaster.

Carlos is an incredibly wise, generous, humble and servant-hearted man, who has been part of so much life-transforming work in Mozambique, one of the least developed countries in the world. We caught up with him as part of our series – In crisis: lessons from the World Church – to find out how Coronavirus is affecting the country, and what we in the UK can learn from him at this time of global crisis.

Quote - “Isaiah 43: 1-3 helps me to understand that, in every moment and in every place, God is with me”

This isn’t the first crisis you have faced. What has kept you strong during hard times in the past?

Our faith in God almighty is what has kept us strong in the past. Now, as we are facing the Coronavirus threats in our country where there isn’t a good health service, this is the time when our faith in God is tested and we must stand firm in him, because he cares for us all the time. Isaiah 43: 1-3 helps me to understand that, in every moment and in every place, God is with me.

In the midst of Coronavirus, how can Christians encourage and support people in their community?

As Christians we have the message of hope for our communities at times like this, because we know who our God is and to whom our life belongs. So, let us spread the gospel of Jesus, sharing with people the hope of a good life in God’s presence. Christians have to share the love of God with desperate people and take care of those who are in need. We don’t need to be afraid of what will happen to our lives, we must just believe in him.

What is the situation like in Mozambique right now?

The situation in Mozambique is still calm and under Government control, as the number of infected people is still small, just ten people – nine in Maputo City and one in the north of the country. However, people are worried about the real number of infected people, as the Government hasn’t got the capacity to test all those who have symptoms or who come from high-risk countries.

Right now, we are in a state of emergency for 30 days from 1 until 30 April. Schools and universities are closed and all gatherings with more than ten people are prohibited, including church services. People are worried about their future, as they don’t know how long this situation will last and how they will survive. Many people depend on selling goods daily to feed their families and the Government’s measures don’t allow them to work in the street and small markets.

BMS team leader in Mozambique, Carlos Tique Jone — You've been partnering with Carlos since 2012. Please stand with him again today by praying for Mozambique.

People in Mozambique and around the world need your help right now

People in countries like Mozambique – places with extremely limited health provision and high rates of poverty – need your help now more than ever. You can help give Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), soap and hygiene items, emergency food, and other much-needed resources to struggling people around the world today. Find out more and give to the BMS Coronavirus appeal.

You’ve lived through crises before – like last year’s devastating cyclone. Can you tell us about the struggles and uncertainties of living through that? Has it helped to prepare you for the Coronavirus pandemic?

There is a significant difference between Cyclone Idai and the Coronavirus, because Coronavirus spreading to more people depends on our behaviour. The cyclone was a natural disaster, which no-one could spread and which affected people without looking at social status. But the Coronavirus will affect more poor people than rich people, as the poor can’t protect themselves because all the protection products are very expensive in our country.

To be honest, each crisis affects us in a different way, and I can’t say that our experience with Cyclone Idai is helping us to struggle against the Coronavirus, as we are still recovering from the great aftermath of Cyclone Idai. So, the uncertainty of Coronavirus is a big challenge for us, and we don’t know what to do, but we just wait and trust in God. However, the cyclone prepared us to understand that all protection comes from God, so we must trust in him and be calm, as without God in our lives, we are nothing and our lives are insignificant. So as Christians, we are trying to avoid being panicked and we share the message of hope in WhatsApp groups or by text message to help those who are in fear for their future.

Carlos Tique Jone quote: “Coronavirus will affect more poor people than rich people, as the poor can’t protect themselves”

My family is struggling with the Coronavirus threats with mixed feelings, because our daughter has got tuberculosis and we know now that she has weak immunity and she is vulnerable to infection. So, this situation affects us seriously, as every day we think about what to do to avoid other family members getting infected with tuberculosis or another disease. It’s a hard time for my family and we just look ahead, trusting in God. Psalm 46: 1 helps us to understand that God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble – like in the moment that we are facing now.

The Coronavirus is a great threat for us here in Mozambique because we grew up in community life and it is very difficult to stop children going out and playing with their friends or to avoid someone visiting us. Our hope is just in God almighty who cares for us. The scriptures help us to find strength and hope in this uncertain time, like Psalm 27: 1, Nahum 1: 7 and Habakkuk 3: 17-19 – “our God is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.”

How has your relationship with God developed as he has taken you through deep valleys?

My relationship with God has grown as I have understood that without God in my life, I am nothing and I can’t do anything to protect myself. Now, I have learnt that God is my God all the time, even when everything looks like darkness, God continues to be God.

Are there any lessons you can share with the UK Church?

Yes, there are many lessons which I can share with the UK Church. First, as Christians we need to trust in God and not in man or good hospitals, medicines or specialised institutions. The Coronavirus has demonstrated that our knowledge is nothing in some situations. We need to trust in God not only when life is going well, but in every time and circumstance.

Secondly, we must understand that we are travellers on this earth, going to heaven where our Father is. Everything we have here we’ll leave in a second when God calls us to him. While we are alive, let’s do good things for all people – love them and forgive them.

Thirdly, let us put our lives in Jesus Christ, our Lord who won death for us, and not in our wealth.

Carlos Tique Jone quote: “While we are alive, let’s do good things for all people”

How can we pray for Mozambique, and for you and your work?

Please, pray for:

Wisdom for our Republic’s President and his Government, that they make good decisions to protect the nation
Unity for the churches, that they work together in preaching the gospel and helping people in the struggle against the Coronavirus
Strength and protection for the BMS team here, as we work in an uncertain situation
My daughter, as she continues taking medicines to fight tuberculosis, that God would heal her
My family, that we continue standing firm in faith in God
The Baptist Convention of Mozambique, as they lead in this uncertain time, when churches’ Sunday services are prohibited
The farmers I work with, as they prepare for harvest in uncertain times, under fear of Coronavirus
Wisdom and faith for me, as I lead the BMS team in Mozambique

In crisis: lessons from the World Church

In case you missed them, read wisdom from Sri Lanka and Nepal today.

Praying for Mozambique? Click here to let us know!

In crisis: ‘God will give us the strength we need’

In crisis:

‘God knows exactly how long our trials will endure and he will give us the strength we need to get through them’

Praying for this 21

A year ago, the Easter Sunday bombings devastated Sri Lanka’s Christians. Now the country is facing the threat of Coronavirus. Roshan Mendis, Head of Asia Pacific Baptist Aid, believes that the Sri Lankan Church has lots to teach UK Christians at this moment of global crisis.

Our brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka are no strangers to tragedy. After surviving 30 years of civil war, on Easter Sunday last year (21 April 2019) they were targeted by bombs that reduced churches and hotels to rubble and stole hundreds of lives.

Long-time BMS World Mission partner Roshan Mendis has lived through these national crises, as well as suffering heartbreaking personal loss. Now, he’s involved in co-ordinating the global Baptist response to Coronavirus, alongside BMS and Baptist agencies around the world. (Find out how you can make this possible through the BMS Coronavirus appeal!)

We asked Roshan about faith, fear, and living through crises. His answers moved and inspired us – we hope they do the same for you. This interview is the second in our series, ‘In crisis: lessons from the World Church’. Read wisdom from Nepal here.

You can help Sri Lankan families survive Coronavirus

We are providing vulnerable families in Sri Lanka with much-needed food parcels to help them get through this pandemic. Help these families and others in desperate need around the world by giving to the BMS Coronavirus appeal now.

Quote. “God is in the midst of the engulfing waters, the raging fire”

Life is uncertain for everyone right now. Is there a Bible passage that you’ve turned to that has helped you through hard times?

I recall reading James 1 the morning after our daughter passed away and questioning God and also realising that God was bringing about something in my own life. Teaching and perfecting me as well through the grief and sorrow. Isaiah 43: 2 has also been a powerful verse to remind me that God is in the midst of the engulfing waters, the raging fire that he promises to bring us through – not out of. When we are in a trial, it seems like it will never end, but God is a God of all time; he knows exactly how long our trials will endure and he will give us the strength we need to get through them.

I have learnt that as we accept the trial and tough times, God is able to take that very pain and transform it into a passion in our lives – fulfilling his word in working out all things (both good and bad) for good as we stay faithful to him.

Quote: “Fear forces us into realising our interconnectedness and dependency”

If we are feeling afraid, should we fight that? Can fear teach us anything?

In my experience, fear is a normal feeling that is part of the human make-up. The key is how we respond or react to that feeling of fear. Fear teaches us a valuable lesson about our own vulnerability and fragility in a situation and the fact that we don’t have the capacity to deal with the challenge before us. Covid-19 is one such example in which we realise our own limitations. This forces us to reach out to some other source for support or strength to meet that challenge and cope with that fear. Fear forces us into realising our interconnectedness and dependency beyond ourselves.

I wouldn’t call myself a brave man, by no means. I really don’t think I am. I am not the type of person who will jump in to someone else’s fight or readily volunteer for any public activity or rise up to speak on the spur of the moment, but somehow circumstances in life have brought me into situations which other people have looked on as bravery on my part. The saying attributed to Mark Twain says, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” If someone has absolutely no capability to fear, then he really has no capacity to be a courageous leader. It is that ability to act ‘in spite of’. In my ministry, I found myself in situations in which I was forced to act in spite of fear.

“The Easter bombings made many of us feel a sense of vulnerability that we had not felt during the conflict years – it felt like anyone could be the target”

Many people in the UK have not lived through a crisis of the proportions of Coronavirus before, but Sri Lanka has experienced a lot of unrest, from years of civil war to the devastating Easter bombings. Can you tell us about those struggles?

Uncertainty has been for a long time a part of the fabric of daily life in Sri Lanka due to the conflict that lasted for almost 30 years until 2009. For many of us who were in the midst of living and working in that context, the aversion to risk that began to be evident in the humanitarian sector as well as within global thinking was almost amusing. The absence of conflict since 2009 had to some degree caused many of us to slip into a state of assuming that era had passed, until the Easter bombings rocked our city last year. The effects of this, apart from the grief of the many lives that were lost, rebirthed in many minds the trauma of the war and made us realise that old wounds had still not been fully healed. We saw cases of individuals reliving those days and affected by past trauma. The Easter bombings made many of us feel a sense of vulnerability that we had not felt during the conflict years. It felt like anyone could be the target.

The resultant closure of churches left many feeling a vacuum in their faith with the absence of public worship. Even currently, one of the biggest challenges of many churches and congregations both big and small is the inability to gather together as a congregation. The deadly Easter bombings in Sri Lanka that caused churches island-wide to be shut down and congregations to be barred from meeting was in a sense a precursor for many of us in Sri Lanka for what has been the present reality. It was also a good opportunity to highlight and educate congregations of the error of the understanding they had grown up with, that the gathering at the building on a Sunday constituted church. One of the quotes that as a local church in Sri Lanka we used to refocus the mind of the congregation was to circulate an image on social media of our empty church with the words “THE CHURCH HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!” This was a good preparation for many, for what became the scenario as the nation went into lockdown for Covid-19.

People stand and mourn before a list of the dead in the Easter bombings, Sri Lanka

“Brushes with death, working in hostile environments… and experiencing personal loss and grief have all contributed to being able to face difficult situations”

Has going through extraordinarily tough times before prepared you for the arrival of the Coronavirus?

I believe the experiences of serving in difficult circumstances have developed my resilience. As I look at some of those growing up in leadership now and also encounter Christians in other nations that have grown in an environment of safety and relative comfort, I find that many of them, when they face a challenge, get quickly discouraged and come close to quitting. The tenacity to stay in a tough situation, the determination to see things through to the end, is often diluted by a mindset that anticipates a level of ease and comfort in leadership and discipleship.

Living out one’s faith in strong and highly resistant non-Christian communities makes the new believer realise early in their Christian walk the realities of taking up the cross and following Christ. I would not limit these experiences alone as a preparation for facing the Coronavirus, but these experiences of brushes with death, working in hostile environments, motives being suspected due to your faith, having to serve in the midst of conflict, and experiencing personal loss and grief have all contributed to being able to face difficult situations. Sadly, the ease of belief for most Christians in western nations makes their resilience in the face of personal or national trial falter and can result in them questioning even the goodness of God.

Team prepare food parcels for vulnerable Sri Lankan families during the Covid-19 crisis — You're helping to fund food parcels for vulnerable families in Sri Lanka by giving to the BMS Coronavirus appeal. Thank you!

Are there any lessons the Sri Lankan Church can share with the UK Church?

For sure there is – I believe the nature of our faith and belief and understanding of discipleship is one that the UK Church can learn from. To realise that discipleship is costly, that it is not simply about God meeting our wants and needs but it is a journey that demands a price from us as well. In addition, the acceptance of the reality of spiritual warfare in our daily Christian walk in a context where evil spirits, charms and occult practises are a commonplace part of the religious psyche of people. This enables an understanding that looks beyond the physical/material realm to a spiritual realm that I have observed is often a missing element or understanding in the West.

The realisation of these makes one understand that dependence on our own strength and ability in such a context is futile and therefore the only recourse and strength is to draw on God.

“The Church must be to their neighbours the hands and feet of God, by offering practical help and support”

How can Christians encourage and support people in their community at times like this?

In addition to prayer, I believe that like Nehemiah experienced, God calls us to be the answer to our own prayers. I think it is important that Christians are seen as people of hope and service. The Church must realise that its role is not in the building, in corporate worship, but our worship – our service – is in the public spaces and out in the community. The Church must be to their neighbours the hands and feet of God, by offering practical help and support. I heard of a church that stood outside a supermarket store and gave away toilet rolls! Another that made masks and distributed them to the community. Another that telephoned the elderly in lockdown. Others that distributed groceries to households that had lost jobs. We heard of believers in China who risked their lives, caring for the sick as volunteers, in the faith that were they to die they could claim Paul’s word’s – to be with the Lord is better than life.

Please pray for Sri Lanka in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic

We asked Roshan how we can pray for Sri Lanka right now. Here’s what he said.

Please pray:

For pastors impacted by the alienation from their congregations
For many households whose income has been impacted and businesses and industry that has been hampered in local production
Against certain elements seeking to stigmatise and bring in racist elements into the conversation around people affected by the virus
For the impact of the Coronavirus on our churches both economically and as a community
For the economic impact on the nation with a significant loss of jobs
For the many households that are rent payers at risk of being evicted
For those driven to despair to receive the psychosocial support that they need
For wisdom for the government leadership to work together. At this time due to an impending election, parliament was dissolved and so there is an absence of a voice for people
For required equipment and testing kits
For my role in helping to co-ordinate the global Baptist response to Coronavirus, and for wisdom for the whole response team

Pray for Sri Lanka in your online service!

One year on from the Easter bombings, we’d love the Church in the UK to lift up Sri Lanka. Use this copyright free PowerPoint presentation in your online service to pray with us for Sri Lanka. Click the button below to download it!

Download the PowerPoint

Praying for Sri Lanka? Click here to let us know!

In crisis: ‘Tougher situations always give us something new to learn’

In crisis:

'Tougher situations always give us something new to learn'

Supporting this 5

How a deadly earthquake is helping Nepali Christians prepare for the Coronavirus pandemic – and what we can learn from those who have lived through crises before.

Right now, everyone on the planet is united by the Covid-19 Coronavirus. For a majority in the UK, living with such uncertainty was unthinkable. At times like these, we can only look to those who have gone before. BMS World Mission has the immense privilege of partnering with Christians, churches and organisations around the world who have lived through great trials – and who have unique perspectives, comfort and wisdom to offer us all here in the UK at this time.

First up in our new series, ‘In crisis: lessons from the World Church,’ is Rev Vijay Thapa, General Secretary of the Nepal Baptist Church Council. At the time of writing, Nepal is in complete lockdown and there are five confirmed cases of Coronavirus in the country. Many people rely on the day’s wages to feed their families, and as Nepal has limited resources, the impacts of Covid-19 could quickly become devastating.

Here’s what Rev Thapa has to teach us about the crisis, its impacts in Nepal and how we as Christians should respond.

A green graphic reading "Tougher situations always give us something new to learn."

How is Coronavirus affecting life in Nepal?

People are worried about Coronavirus, especially medical staff, because they don’t have enough safety equipment to save themselves. Every person is in their house. Believers are doing worship services in their houses with their families. We are using video apps to connect with each other. Pastors and leaders are worried for their flocks – if there is an infection of Coronavirus inside the church, how can we deal with this situation? We have no answer.

Nepal is one of the least developed countries in the world. That is to say, still today, large numbers of the population are deprived of health education and communication facilities. To afford their daily meal, they have to work every day. In urban areas, most of the people are living in a rented house running some kind of small business like a shop, small hotel, etc. However, nowadays, the country is going through a lockdown situation, which is directly affecting this group and leading towards financial crises.

What life is like under lockdown in Nepal

Download this video to use copyright free in your online service

Most people in the UK have not lived through a crisis of these proportions before, but in Nepal, you lived through a life-changing disaster just a few years ago. Can you tell us about that?

Yes, in the year 2015 Nepal encountered a massive earthquake of 7.8 on the Richter scale. It claimed the lives of thousands of people. The dreadful picture of that moment is still alive in the memory of every Nepali citizen. People went through a shortage of food, proper communication, and medical treatment, and most importantly, they lost their loved ones. Life was full of uncertainties – we thought that we might be killed at any time – but the best part was that we have a lot of space outside to escape from the danger of an earthquake.

A purple graphic reading "We are victorious in Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour."

Do you think that incredibly hard experience has made you better prepared for the arrival of the Coronavirus?

Experiences always teach us something. This time, people are more aware and familiar with the results of such kinds of crises. They collected all the necessary belongings like grocery items, medicine, hand wash, face masks and other daily necessities when Covid-19 was spreading in different countries across the world. Many people who had been living in city areas have already left to their villages to escape the masses and danger of communicable disease.

Stand with our Nepali brothers and sisters

You can provide safety gear for medical workers treating Covid-19 in Nepal. Join the global Christian response to Coronavirus.

Give now to our Coronavirus Appeal

How has your relationship with God developed as he has taken you through deep valleys?

This kind of crisis always reminds us that every situation is not in the control of mankind. The ultimate help and solution come from God. This makes us closer to God, and we spend more time in prayer. We try to seek the will of God and ask his mercy upon us. Such a harsh situation prepared us to be strong enough to fight another inevitable challenge.

Tougher situations always give us something new to learn. However, the most important thing is that we should not stop looking upon him. God is the master of everything; so we need to spend our time in prayer, Bible study and fellowship. Even in crises, we need to be united with a heart of solidarity to face the situation, because we are victorious in Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour.

A blue graphic reading "The role of Christian people is crucial at times like this."

How can Christians encourage and support people in their community right now?

The role of Christian people is critical at times like this. We can offer ourselves as volunteers to assist the local bodies. We can educate our people, neighbours and relatives about this disease and its prevention techniques through awareness programmes. We can offer something for needy people as a relief and we can develop a long-term plan to help sustain their life.

Most importantly, we can pray for them.

What Bible verse would you like to offer the UK Church right now?

2 Chronicles 7: 14: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

We have to repent of our sin before our Almighty God and humble ourselves and seek his face day by day, every moment, by prayer, fellowship and reading his Word and obeying it in our daily life. This is for us and all the Christian people all over the world.

Pray for Nepal in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic

We asked Rev Thapa how he would like us to pray for Nepal at this time. Here are his requests.

Pray for the needy people who are not able to afford their daily meals because of the lockdown situation.
Pray for Nepali people who are stuck far away from their homes in different parts of the country, or in foreign lands.
The church fellowship and its ministry have been stopped. Pray for the safety of Nepali people, and Nepali Christians.
Pray that this situation will make us closer to God.
Pray for the speedy recovery of those already confirmed to have Covid-19 in Nepal, and for other people who are in quarantine and isolation.

Use this in your online service!

We’ve put this story into a copyright free PowerPoint presentation for you to use in your online service. Click the button below to download it!

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Thank you

The difference you made in 2021

A BMS year in review

You raised your voices

You subscribed

You gave

You prayed

You took a stand

Thank you!

A roadmap to safety

Vera, Nagammah, and the gift of hope

How to vaccinate the world

Looking to the past

The struggles of the present

On the ground

Ten years on:

A tale of two crises

Crises within crises

Your faithful generosity

Another decade of despair?

Love your neighbour:

Lessons from Kosovo

1. There’s power in your words

2. Go out of your way to meet new people

3. Be prepared to give things a go

4. Listen to people’s experiences

5. Nurture grace in all you do

Our God who hears

A testimony to answered prayer in 2020

Flourishing communities

Sharing Christ

Doing God's will

You've done amazing things this year:

Top Stories of 2020

1. Pictures from the frontline: An oasis of healing

2. Surviving lockdown: tips from Afghanistan

3. The accidental pastor

4. Sahel surgeons: The most dramatic day

5. Picking up glass: the human stories behind the Beirut blast

Covid-19:

Thank you for saving lives

The food parcel you provided for Mashura was an absolute lifeline for her whole family.

The stories that broke Ben’s heart:

Bringing hope back to India

Will you commit to praying for people in desperate need in India?

A Q&A with Monty Lyman

BMS World Mission Coronavirus appeal:

What you achieved this year

Thank you for supporting our Coronavirus appeal

Spread the word!

Good World News:

God is still at work

Want some good news? Check out this video!

1. Baptisms in Bangladesh

2. Coronavirus global response

3. Solidarity Sunday

4. Resources for your church

5. Operation: Chad is coming!

Covid and the care home:

A wake-up call for the West

In crisis:

‘Look for the hope no-one but God can give.’

Many people in the UK have not lived through a crisis of these proportions before, but in Uganda, whole generations faced many years of civil war. Can you tell us about the struggles and uncertainties you faced?

How has the experience of already having gone through extraordinarily tough times prepared you for the Coronavirus pandemic?

What is the situation like under lockdown in Uganda?

How can UK Christians draw near to God when things are tough?

How can Christians encourage and support people in their community at times like this?

Is there a Bible verse or a prayer you can teach us in the UK, to lean on when life seems uncertain?

How can the UK pray for Uganda at this time? And for your project and the farmers you work with?

BMS Coronavirus world response

Our local response

BMS Coronavirus response

Thank you for your continued support

Prayer resources

In crisis:

‘Even when everything looks like darkness, God continues to be God’

This isn’t the first crisis you have faced. What has kept you strong during hard times in the past?

In the midst of Coronavirus, how can Christians encourage and support people in their community?

What is the situation like in Mozambique right now?