The Christians came to help me

The Christians came to help me

In war-torn eastern Ukraine, you’ve helped families survive the bitter cold, and introduced people to Jesus.

Make no sudden movements. Let one person do the talking. That was the advice about how to behave at military checkpoints in eastern Ukraine. But out comes Pastor Vasyl’s Baptist identity card, and we are immediately waved through. He hands the soldiers some apples, and quietly says, “God bless you.” These are the pastors you’re supporting on the frontline. They’re helping those caught in the country’s ongoing conflict, and blessing those around them.

A mother in Ukraine sits with her two young children.
Thank you for helping families in Ukraine keep warm over the winter.

The war has been going on for over four years now. Air strikes, tanks and shelling have caused chaos for thousands of innocent civilians. The conflict between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists has stabilised but it’s already caused horrendous damage, killing thousands and displacing 1.6 million people.

And this past winter, it got even worse, as the temperature dropped as low as minus 25C. Towns had gas and electricity shut off and, with factories being destroyed, a lack of jobs means that many people had next to no income. With no money for any form of heating, it’s Christians like you who have enabled people to survive the harsh winter.

People like Maria. I’m slightly nervous on my way to meet her, partly because my translator has just shown me the main road that goes straight to the city of Donetsk, a separatist stronghold in the region only a 30-minute drive away. But Pastor Vasyl is in good spirits. He travels around the grey zone with other pastors, helping those who have lost everything. “The worst thing the Church can do in a situation like this is nothing,” says Pastor Vasyl. “Jesus said ‘I was sick, you visited me. I was hungry, you gave me food.’” And that’s what these pastors are doing for others.

The worst thing the Church can do is nothing

An elderly woman sitting on a floral sofa with a Bible in her hand.
"I lie on my sofa every morning and read the Bible. That's what helps me to live," says Maria. She witnesses to her neighbours too.

Maria is 78 years old, and incredibly welcoming. She used to be an editor in Donetsk, but she left the city to look after her mother before becoming a teacher in a rural village. She has beaten cancer, lost a kidney and had issues with her spine. But she’s survived.

“I had two flying guests, as I call them, land right next to my house,” she tells me. “The missiles destroyed my windows. It was below zero inside the house.” Her voice trembles as tears begin to fall.

With only two habitable rooms in the house, Maria survived the bitter winter using a ceramic heater you paid for. “The Christians even cut the wood for my stove and brought me food and clothing,” says Maria.

When Pastor Vasyl first met Maria, he told her the good news of Jesus, and it changed her life. “The Christians were singing a song: ‘Help me, o Lord, to become better through all the trials I’m going through,’” says Maria. “That song helps me get through.”

Thank you

872 people gave to our Ukraine Winter Appeal

£60,440 raised to keep families warm in winter

4,000 + Ukrainians in war-torn areas helped

“She witnesses to her neighbours and she changes them, too,” says Pastor Vasyl. “What we are doing is only the road sign that points them towards God.”

“Today we can give them daily bread,” Vladimir, a fellow pastor adds. “But we hope through this, they can see Jesus.”

You’ve helped over 4,000 people by supporting the BMS Ukraine winter appeal, raising over £60,000. But you’re also giving them the opportunity to hear the gospel. “I would like to say thank you very much,” says Vladimir.  “It’s not only from me. It’s from the people that are there.”

An elderly woman standing next to chickens in front of a brick wall
Maria is just one of the 4,000 people you have helped.

Want to read more stories of how your support is transforming lives and sharing the good news of Jesus? Subscribe to Engage, where this article was original published.

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Original article featured in Issue 44 of Engage, the BMS World Mission Magazine. Written by Jon Mendelsohn, edited for the website by Melanie Webb.

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Are you sitting comfortably?

Are you sitting comfortably?

The journey of a believer in
four simple steps.

Benjamin Francis challenges believers to think about where we stand (or sit) on sharing our faith. Are we moving forwards in our journey of faith? Or are we sitting comfortably?

Benjamin Francis sits down in the last of a line of four chairs. “But even this is not the destination,” he says. “This is a journey”.

Ben is a BMS World Mission Team Leader, working in India at the forefront of disciple-making movements whose highest purpose is seeing people come to know and love Jesus. He’s using the chairs as a metaphor, each one a place where a person might stop and sit on their journey of faith. It’s a compelling picture that asks Christians to consider where they’re at on their walk with God.

The four chairs stand for ‘seeker’, ‘believer’, ‘disciple’ and ‘disciple maker’. The chairs aren’t destinations, Ben emphasises, but stops on a journey that the people in your local church congregation are all on.

Ben is passionate about disciple-making, and he holds the Great Commission close in his heart – “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28: 19). Ben believes this command of Jesus worked out in our lives will mean everyone developing in Christlikeness as they move along their Christian journey, from ‘seeker’ to ‘believer’, to ‘disciple’ and ‘disciple maker’.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations

Four metal chairs stand against a white wall, with captions above them in a black font saying 'seeker', 'believer', 'disciple', 'disciple maker'.
The four chairs stand for ‘seeker’, ‘believer’, ‘disciple’ and ‘disciple maker’. Which chair are you sitting in?

To many across the world, this is the destination of a Christian.

But that is so wrong.

It’s challenging to see Ben sitting in the final chair, saying that even this isn’t the end of the journey. Even more so, when he explains that many Christians are sitting in the second chair, the ‘believer’ chair. “To many across the world, this is the destination of a Christian,” Ben laments. “But that is so wrong”.

Ben’s vision for the Church is one of constant movement, growth and development. He wants to challenge us not to carry on just sitting comfortably in the chairs we’re in.

Which chair are you sitting in? And where do your friends and neighbours in church sit? Watch Ben’s explanation of the journey of a believer in four simple steps, then share it with Christians around you. Get them excited about sharing the good news of Jesus, discipleship-making and growing in Christlikeness.

And be encouraged! As a BMS supporter, you are enabling this message to go out into all the world, where disciples are being made right now thanks to your giving and prayer. Ben and his team are making disciples who are making disciples, in the power of the Holy Spirit and the light of the gospel. It’s so exciting that we can be a part of it.

Thank you for your generosity and commitment to God’s work in the world. Thank you for supporting BMS.

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Words by Hannah Watson, Editor of Engage. Video by Laura Durrant.

Catalyst Live: videos to inspire, challenge and encourage you

Catalyst Live:

videos to inspire, challenge and encourage you

Catalyst Live 2018 was brilliant, perhaps even the best one yet, which is why we’re delighted to bring you a selection of some of the incredible talks and performances that made the two days in Birmingham and Bristol so memorable. Check them out right here!

The talk about using your imagination to understand the Bible

Ever used your imagination when reflecting on Scripture? Yes? No? Either way, we think you should hear what the outstanding biblical scholar, speaker and author Paula Gooder has to say on the subject.

Paula Gooder: why imagination is an important tool in biblical interpretation

The performance that made us laugh, think and sing

Just when we thought they couldn’t get any better, Harry and Chris did. This outrageously talented, humble, kind and poetic comedy-music duo treated the Catalyst Live audience to stunning performances on both days. Their final performance though, at the end of a wonderful day in Bristol, is the one we’d like to show you for the time being.

Watch: Harry and Chris get everyone in the room singing

The seminal theologian on prayer, the Church and learning to listen

Stanley Hauerwas is one of the greatest theologians of our time. And we got to sit down with him for an extended interview earlier this year. How amazing is that? We played the interview with Professor Hauerwas first at Catalyst Live. Now it’s time to make it available to everyone.

Watch Stanley Hauerwas in an exclusive Catalyst Live interview

The part about a crime writer who loved Jesus

Amy Orr-Ewing knows a lot about the life and work of Dorothy L Sayers, the famed writer of Lord Peter Wimsey detective novels. After all, Sayers was the subject of her PhD. But in her Catalyst Live talk, Dr Orr-Ewing gave much more than a biographical account of Sayers’ life. She considered how Sayers was able to communicate her Christian faith to her generation, and though this was many decades ago, remains relevant today.

‘She was aghast at the feeble articulation of Christianity around her’

Loving the intelligent comment on faith and culture from Catalyst Live speakers? Then subscribe today to Mission Catalyst, the BMS World Mission magazine that is essential reading for thinking Christians. Mission Catalyst is free and produced three times a year. If you don’t receive it, now is the perfect time to subscribe. 

The speaker who posed one very challenging question to us all

“How do you live in this unpredictable time when all the rules have changed?” This was the question put to the audience by Gary V Nelson, President and Vice Chancellor of Tyndale University College and Seminary in Canada. It’s one that got us thinking. A lot.

‘We’re living in this time that we thought we’d never see’

The people who came from far and wide to Catalyst Live

One person came from Sydney. Another from Brussels. Others from around the UK. We were thrilled to speak to so many of you in Birmingham and Bristol. Have a listen to what a selection of attendees had to say about Catalyst Live.

‘It talks about the questions everyone is thinking but not saying anything about’

Keen for more Catalyst Live content? We thought so. Don’t panic, we’ll be putting all the talks and performances on the Catalyst Live website by 22 November so stay tuned for news on when they go live. That means you’ll get to hear from other brilliant speakers such as Rosie Harper, David Bebbington, Helen Coffey, Ruth Gledhill, Adrian Snell, Alistair Brown, Mark Woods, Ron Choong, Baroness Elizabeth Berridge and Rula Khoury Mansour. Until then, please share this article with your church.

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Catalyst Live was a success because of your support and your hunger for thought-provoking talks, vibrant conversation and great fellowship. We thank you for making all of that happen and we can’t wait for Catalyst Live 2020.

The kingdom builders: meet six BMS workers giving it all for Christ

The kingdom builders:

meet six BMS workers giving it all for Christ

Supporting this

Today, they’ll face everything from apathy and suspicion to persecution. Yet nothing will stop these BMS World Mission workers sharing Jesus’ love in hostile, remote and hard-to-reach communities.

The couple opening minds in a secular nation

Names: Samuel Duval and Valérie Duval-Poujol

Location: Mus, southern France

The challenge: serving in a country where evangelical Christians are almost non-existent, the Muslim community is the largest in Europe, and secularism is a hallmark of national identity.

The ministry: Facebook. YouTube. Email. And also in the church they planted. Pastor Samuel Duval and theologian Valérie Duval-Poujol embrace every way possible to tell people about their faith. People from across France are sending them questions about the Bible and Jesus, reaching out for answers. BMS workers Samuel and Valérie are listening, engaging, and telling them about Jesus.

A man wearing glasses and in a jacket and wearing a waistcoat, stands next to a woman with glasses and wearing a light blue shirt
Church planters Samuel Duval and Valérie Duval-Poujol embrace traditional and modern means to communicate their faith.

“The one thing that French people have is that they are thinkers,” says Samuel. “The French Baptists are just a few, but we have a massive impact with theology. When someone is a Christian in France, he can’t just be a regular Christian, he is a strong Christian.”

The youth worker using football and music to share his love for Jesus

Name: Ajarn Tah

Location: northern Thailand

The challenge: alcoholism and drug taking are destroying lives in the Thai Buddhist village where youth worker Ajarn Tah works. BMS workers Helen and Wit Boondeekhun brought him in to try and stop young people from drifting into addiction.

The ministry: starting a football team takes hard work, patience and, critically, players. Tah managed to form his team of ten to 13-year-olds in just one afternoon. Clearly the recruits knew what to do as they not only won their first match, they did so 6-1! And more than just the beautiful game, young people are hearing about a meaningful life. Before each match, the entire team goes to a local church to sing Christian songs, play games and hear a short message.

A woman in a white t-shirt stands next to a man in a white t-shirt in a forest.
Football ministry is helping Ajarn Tah, pictured here with his wife Ajarn Baeng, connect with young people in a village in northern Thailand.

Tah’s work in the village of Wang Daeng also sees him teaching guitar to pupils at the village school, using Christian songs to share his passion for Jesus.

The multi-tasker who's all about bringing new light

Name: Isaiah Thembo

Location: Kasese District, western Uganda

The challenge: helping people turn their lives around when they’ve dropped out of school and have no qualifications, money or hope.

The ministry: teaching skills like tailoring, carpentry, mechanics and hairdressing at a BMS-supported training centre.

“People have businesses now,” says project manager, Isaiah. “And that means they can earn money, rent a house, and send a child to school.”

A man wearing a smart suit and tie stands in front of trees, smiling at the camer
BMS worker Isaiah Thembo is supporting projects in western Uganda that help bring people out of poverty.

And Isaiah has not only helped to turn lives around at the skills centre. He’s also helped to install solar powered lighting in churches in western Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountains, where communities have no electricity. People use the churches to read and study because they have light, instead of burning kerosene lanterns which produce a toxic smoke.

“These projects are connecting the community to God,” says Isaiah. “They are helping people, and transforming hundreds of lives.”

Watch: this is the difference your support has made to a mountain village

The pastor who takes on the Amazon to connect with believers

Name: Pastor Luis Alvarado Dolly

Location: the Peruvian Amazon

The challenge: reaching rural communities accessible only by boat or through dense rainforest where Christians are very isolated. There’s also the very real threat of being bitten by mosquitoes, tarantulas and snakes.

The ministry: providing theological and leadership training to rural pastors who have never received it. Pastor Luis visits river and jungle pastors, inviting them to stay at the BMS-supported Nauta Integral Mission Training Centre where they get biblical training and lessons in how to care for their land.

Pastor Luis Alvarado Dolly looks at a camera
Pastor Luis is strengthening pastors in rural Peruvian communities.

Combining a relentless passion for the gospel with a brilliant smile and a heart for the poor, Pastor Luis is inspiring Christians to be stronger, better leaders in their communities.

The woman resisting persecution to help people find Jesus

Name: Gillian Francis

Location: Kolkata, India

The challenge: working in communities where Christians are persecuted, threatened, imprisoned, and killed. Hindu and Muslim fundamentalist groups attack Christians, angry that people are believing the gospel and accepting Jesus into in their lives.

The ministry: Gillian helps lead a huge church planting movement in villages in West Bengal by overseeing the critical and complex administrative work that’s needed. With her support, tens of thousands of people have heard about Jesus for the first time, giving their hearts to him and opening their homes to become places of worship and transformation.

A woman wearing a grey top and holding a microphone sings
Gillian Francis is playing a key role in helping house churches to flourish in West Bengal, India.
Partner with us in mission

We’re so proud to call Samuel, Valérie, Tah, Pastor Luis, Gillian, and Isaiah our colleagues. All this work can only happen with your help. If you commit to giving regularly to BMS, you can help us to plan ahead and meet the needs, both spiritual and physical, of people who would otherwise have little hope.

Become a 24:7 Partner today and commit, at whatever level you can, to stand with us every day in mission. You will also be standing with Samuel, Valérie, Tah, Luis, Gillian and Isaiah.