Osinachi’s cry

Osinachi's cry

Praying for this

Friday 25 November begins the annual 16 Days of Activism campaign, now in its 31st year, to end violence against women and girls. As the Gender Justice Co-ordinator at BMS World Mission, these are 16 days I cannot ignore.

Through my role, I work with our partners across the continents to combat the scourge of gender-based violence. It is work that this year has been haunted by song lyrics, sung in northern Nigeria’s Igbo dialect. It is a resounding battle song – a war cry, an outcry calling for the world’s attention – ”Can you hear my voice this time?”

Ala di Mara nma, obu ebe di anya (There is a beautiful home far, far away)
Ebe ndi-nso bi ona enwu ka ihe (Where the saints are living it is like a shining light)

The voice behind this popular song of ‘The Cry’ is Osinachi Nwachukwu, a 42-year-old Nigerian gospel singer and a mother of four children. Her story was reported on BBC news in April. Osinachi had been in an abusive marriage for years and was allegedly beaten to death on April 8 2022 by her husband, Peter Nwachukwu.

Women in Mozambique walking along a dusty path.
Almost one in three women have experienced some kind of gender-based violence.

In the wake of Osinachi’s death, her family members and colleagues accused Nwachukwu of domestic violence, and it came to light that pastors and members of Osinachi’s church knew about the situation but did not speak out Osinachi’s mother revealed that her daughter had left her marriage for over a year but returned when her husband came with pastors to beg her to come back. She advised her daughter to leave her husband, but Osinachi insisted on returning to him, claiming that the Bible doesn’t allow divorce.

The news of Osinachi’s murder jolted me out of any sense of complacency regarding gender-based violence. Before I joined BMS, I worked as a lawyer for one of BMS’ partners, the Uganda Christian Lawyers Fraternity (UCLF). Recently, my former colleagues told me about a case that they pursued all the way to the Ugandan High Court. Without their persistence and Christ-inspired determination, there is no way in a patriarchal society like Uganda the case would ordinarily have made it so far.

A woman smiling
Annet Ttendo-Miller is passionate about bringing liberating justice to women across the world.

The victims, a young a girl called Alice and her friend Sifa, were poisoned, and strangled to death by Alice’s boyfriend. On a visit to his house, he served Alice and Sifa fizzy drinks and pork that contained rat poison. Once they were incapacitated, he strangled both Alice and Sifa to death.

Once the matter came to court, UCLF lawyers followed the trial to its conclusion, traced witnesses and provided the family with legal assistance in making statements and testifying. Counselling was also offered to family members of the deceased. Following evidence provided at trial by the witnesses, the accused was convicted of the murders of Alice and Sifa. As Christian lawyers, UCLF were able to play an important part in responding to the outcry following the violent murder of these two young women.

Before working for UCLF, I worked in a similar role in Mozambique with the Mozambican Association of Christian Lawyers (AMAC), another BMS partner with a strong history of tackling gender justice issues. In the last year alone, AMAC has handled 12 domestic violence cases and 500 beneficiaries in the community have received trainings on topics related to domestic violence, child marriages, Children’s rights and protection, land rights and marriage laws.

Education is such a powerful tool in the fight against gender-based violence and AMAC’s legal education officer António Chico Gouca Manuel has been a key figure behind a revolutionary new app used by hundreds of Mozambicans in the last 12 months. The app, called Juris, offers access to up-to-date information on subjects such as the legal age of marriage and marital rights and duties to a section of society long denied such knowledge.

I hear examples of this gender distortion in so many of my conversations with BMS partners, including recently with Dil Bahadur Karki, the head of KISC EQUIP in Nepal. He told me that, “parents invest more on the boys’ education than the girls’ because they think girls get married and go away… Parents even have the tendency to send their sons to private schools and daughters to public schools because they think private schools provide better education.”

Dil’s solution aims to improve girls’ attendance and long-term commitment to school by ensuring 60 per cent of their scholarships are awarded to girls. All the school’s activities are co-educational, a rarity in Nepal, and they seek to address the gender gap through education seminars for parents of all their children.

A banner stand advertising an app called Juris
BMS' partner AMAC hope their app, Juris, will teach women about their rights.

Sometimes, like in Nepal, awareness raising and awakening needs to be of the educational variety. Other times we need to be hit between the eyes. And that is exactly what Valérie Duval-Poujol did in 2018.

Valérie works with BMS’ partner the French Baptist Federation. Four years ago, she launched ‘Une Place pour Elle (A Place for Her)’, an activist movement built around symbolic acts. As Valérie explains, “the acts are so that we never forget these hundreds of murdered women and all the victims of psychological, physical and sexual violence… We cover a chair with red fabric to make visible the place that should have been occupied by this woman, this neighbour, this friend who is no longer there. Through this strong symbolic gesture, speech is freed; passers-by, of all generations, all those who see the ’place for them’ are made aware of this tragedy, encouraged to help the victims of this violence, the taboo is broken.”

School girls run down a dirt path in Nepal.
Your support is helping make sure girls in Nepal get the cherished education they deserve.

As a Christian, I believe the right to life is God-given and no one has the right to take away a life. When the story revealing the circumstances around Osinachi’s death broke out, the public were shocked and queried how such a gifted and well-known singer could suffer domestic violence for so long without respite or redress. Sadly, Osinachi, Alice and Sifa join a catalogue of cases of women across Nigeria, Uganda, and the world, whose untimely death and injuries were because of domestic violence.

Osinachi, Alice, and Sifa’s blood and the blood of millions of women cry out demanding justice. The words of Psalm 10 come to mind:

“Why are you far away, Lord?
Why do you hide yourself
When I am in trouble?
Brutal people
Hunt down the poor
Strike and murder some innocent victim.
They say, “God can’t see!”
He’s got a blindfold on.”
“God won’t punish us!”
Do something, Lord God,
And use your powerful arm to help those in need.
But you see the trouble and the distress, and you will do something.
The poor can count on you and so can orphans.
Now break the arms of all merciless people
Punish them for doing wrong and make them stop.”
(Poverty and Justice Bible, CEV)

Together, we can change this. You are your sisters’ keeper. Will you come forward and stand with those who are in this fight and not allow the women who have been killed to be forgotten?

Rest in peace our sisters, a prayer and demand for justice and dignity for all.

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Words by Annet Ttendo-Miller, Gender Justice Co-ordinator, BMS World Mission

Persistence pays

Persistence pays

Praying for this

Annet Ttendo-Miller is passionate about God’s calling for justice and empowering people to speak up for their rights and liberties.

You might have met Annet before – she has served overseas with BMS World Mission as a lawyer in both Uganda and Mozambique and we’re excited to welcome her back as our Gender Justice Co-ordinator, taking on a crucial part of our new strategy: facilitating gender justice in all the work we do. Read on for Annet’s reflections on the parable of the persistent widow and how God calls us to cry out for justice, which is an edited extract from the upcoming issue of Mission Catalyst, BMS’ magazine for delving deeper into issues of faith.

Uganda and Mozambique both have laws that allow widows to own land. However, an illiterate woman who lives in a village, and has no resources to fight for her rights is at a distinct disadvantage. In such patriarchal societies, it is commonly believed that women should not own property. Women are not allowed to inherit land – not even the house that they live in. If her husband dies, a woman is often left having to fight against family to reclaim her land. Many women simply lose hope and give up. Most people in the community are not aware of laws and do not know their legal rights.

In the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18: 1-8), a poor, powerless widow comes before a judge who did not fear God and did not care what people thought of him.

A woman smiling

As he did not acknowledge God or other men, this judge was clearly a law unto himself, and acted without accountability. He dismissed the widow and her pleas for justice multiple times without concern. Yet somehow, poor and powerless as she was, the widow found the patience to tolerate this situation without losing hope. More than that, she acted boldly in approaching the powerful judge after already having been dismissed. And she even persisted the more, coming back again and again to put her request before him.

A woman sat at a desk
Annet is passionate about helping women across the world understand their rights.

The widow did not remain silent when there was no man to defend her. She found her voice in the court room and advocated for her rights. This widow was bold and unwavering, though she understood the oppressive structures that determined her place in society. With persistence, strength, resistance, at last her voice was heard! Judgement was given in her favour; here we have a story of an unnamed widow being celebrated. This passage has a great lesson for us to learn, what it means to keep faith and never give up. The parable ends with Jesus accrediting her faith and asking whether he would find (such) faith on earth when he returns (Luke 18: 8).

Jesus focuses the parable on the point that we are “to pray always and to not lose heart” (Luke 18: 1). The purpose of the parable is to encourage Christians to persevere in their faith against all odds. At the heart of that persistence lies the truth that God is faithful. Because God is faithful, we can endure suffering and frustrating situations with an expectant hope that God will see us through. Because God is faithful, we can boldly come before him to ask for help. We can even boldly approach those who do not know God, those who are powerful, who are cruel, or corrupt, knowing that God is for us. Because God is faithful, we can persist through rejection after rejection, knowing that our faith in him will pay off.

A group of people sitting down.
The team at AMAC help people in Mozambique to know what rights they have.

BMS partners Uganda Christian Lawyers’ Fraternity (UCLF) and the Association of Christian Lawyers in Mozambique (AMAC) are providing legal aid services to the poor and marginalised. Christian lawyers play a vital role in helping widows to enforce their right and training communities about the laws that protect women and representing vulnerable clients. These Christian lawyers fellowships are responding to the biblical call to do justice, with compassion, for the poor.

A woman in front of a building
Annet's work as a lawyer in Uganda and Mozambique has shown her how important God's calling for justice is.

With God, persistence pays. Because of this, the parable of the persistent widow has been a comfort and an inspiration as I took part in God’s justice mission in Mozambique and Uganda. The parable shows that God’s will is at work even in a corrupt world. We see that as Christians our role is to work toward that hope at all times. We cannot right every wrong in the world in our lifetimes. But we must never give up hope, and never stop working for the greater good in the midst of the imperfect systems where our work occurs.

As I look back on the work of Christian lawyers, I am assured that we must pray and never give up in our God-given mission. With God, persistence pays. Please persist in your prayer and support of the justice ministry that BMS, the Christian lawyers and indeed each of you, are involved in. Do not just speak up for yourself. Speak up for those who are heard the least. And let justice and fairness flow like a river that never runs dry (Amos 5:24).

You can find even more from Annet and from other challenging contributors in the upcoming issue of Mission Catalyst magazine, BMS’ magazine for delving deeper into issues of faith. This issue is focused on decolonising Christianity, and contains contributions from Nana Natalia Lester-Bush, Dr Renie Chow Choy and Rev Wale Hudson-Roberts. If you haven’t already, why not subscribe today?

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Words by Annet Ttendo Miller, BMS’ Gender Justice Co-ordinator,
for the upcoming issue of Mission Catalyst magazine.

Hope after trauma

Seeking abundant life:

Finding hope after trauma

Almost everyone in Mozambique has experienced trauma at some point in their lives. And while we might not be able to stop it happening, your support of BMS World Mission is helping combat the effects – and helping people live lives to the full.

Most people Lucy knows have experienced trauma at some point in their lives. Maybe it was from one of the many cyclones that have struck Lucy’s native Mozambique in the last few years. Perhaps it was because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It could have been any number of things that come out of a life lived in poverty. Either way, Mozambique is no stranger to trauma. And Lucy wants to do something about that.

But before we’re hear Lucy’s story, we need to introduce Liz. BMS World Mission worker Liz Vilela works with the BMS-supported PEPE preschool programme, helping give vulnerable children the educational foundation they need. But during the Covid-19 pandemic, Liz started reading more deeply about trauma and how it affects us – and she found that it was incredibly relevant for a lot of the children she worked with.

People sat at a table

Liz is a qualified play therapist, and she knows well from her work just how serious an effect trauma can have. “By age three, a brain has reached 80 per cent of its adult volume,” says Liz. “So when professionals say nought to three years is the most important time in a child’s life, that’s why, because that’s the time when their brain grows the most.”

And the effects of trauma can be displayed in many different ways depending on the child: for some, they’ll get angry quickly and misbehave. For others, they’ll struggle with socialising and even talking. In a country that has experienced so many challenges over the years, Liz knew that by educating people about trauma and its effects on children, she could make a real difference.

A woman holding up a piece of paper

Liz decided to start a trauma-informed training course. She invited the PEPE National Co-ordinator, as well as others from local churches who worked with children, as it spoke into the work they were already doing. “If you have a trauma-informed lens on, you look at a child differently,” says Liz. “Rather than asking ‘Why are you doing this?’ You ask, ‘What have you been through?’” And while the group started by looking at how trauma affected children, members also began to see the effects of trauma in their own lives. From there, they were able to see how trauma had affected other people in their communities – which is where Lucy comes back into our story.

Lucy heard about the course through a friend of Liz’s who she worked with. While Lucy was doing the trauma-informed training, her neighbour spoke to her about the trouble she was having with her teenage son. He was acting out, never at home, not doing what he was told, and his mother didn’t know what to do. From the training, Lucy knew that just dealing with the boy’s behaviour and not what was causing it wouldn’t solve anything in the long run. So she tried to speak to him about it, and when he struggled to open up, got him to write it down. He wrote a letter to Lucy and shared that he didn’t like it when his parents fought, and he didn’t feel that home was a safe space, which was why he didn’t want to be there. When Lucy spoke to her neighbour about what she’d read, she was surprised at her son’s feelings – but it really helped her to understand his behaviour and how she could help him. “Through him just communicating how he was feeling, they were then able to help them build a better relationship,” says Liz.

While we should rejoice in Lucy’s success, Liz knows that there’s still a lot of work to be done. “People say that people in Mozambique are very resilient… but people who live in poverty, if they go through a situation, they can’t just sit down and cry about it, they have to just keep going,” says Liz. “So they are resilient because they have to be, but at the same time, it’s not necessarily out of choice, it’s out of a lack of choice.”

Which is why the trauma training groups are built to grow. In the last session of the course, everyone is asked to bring someone along to see if they would be interested in doing the training. Two cohorts have done the training already, with a third beginning very soon, and Liz prays more will follow. The hope is that the training will open more hearts to kindness and compassion and lead more people to live the abundant life that Jesus intended for them. And through the generosity of BMS supporters, Liz knows that this is more than possible. Thank you for all you’ve done to support Liz and her family serving in Mozambique, enabling children and their parents to live lives that are shaped by more than the hardest things they’ve lived through.

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Words by Laura Durrant.

Covid-19: Thank you for saving lives

Covid-19:

Thank you for saving lives

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 Power of Play

The Power of Play

Supporting this

I could have spoken with them for hours. Creative therapy is making a difference across the world, from Lebanon to Mozambique, Uganda to Thailand, and although each context is different, with every BMS World Mission worker and partner I spoke to, I discovered the same thing: children who have been through unimaginable pain. And how you’re making new ways of healing possible.

She sat in the corner and stared at the wall in her first session. Fatimé was completely disengaged from the world before she started music therapy. Her epilepsy medication makes it difficult for her to stay awake for a whole session, but at least it stops the fitting. BMS music therapist Bethan Shrubsole has been working with Fatimé for seven months. She’s made real progress since the beginning: now she can look directly at her family.

For the uninitiated, music and play therapies might seem like a modern fad, only available to those in the West, and involving expensive, luxury items like sensory toys. But by speaking to BMS therapists from Chad (where Bethan works with Fatimé) to Thailand (where Judy Cook works with Sam), I’m finding the truth is much more encouraging.

Thousands of miles away, lives a little boy whose experiences are very similar to Fatimé’s. Sam is blind and has epilepsy. He also has a brain condition similar to cerebral palsy. He’s been at Hope Home for almost all his life, where BMS worker Judy Cook can give him the support he needs. He’s non-verbal and doesn’t know how to play with the other children. But he likes feeling different textures in his physical therapy sessions, he likes laying on his mat and making scratchy sounds with his fingers. And he loves music. More specifically, he loves The Beatles.

A boy with severe disabilities receives therapy.
Music makes Sam's physical therapy so much more effective.

“He’s quite hard to calm down sometimes,” says BMS worker Judy Cook, who founded Hope Home. “But music has always helped.” And for a boy with wild emotions like Sam’s, who can sometimes get so cross he hits himself, keeping calm is an incredibly important part of his therapy. “We put Hey Jude on and it was like a switch went on in his head,” Judy says. The music makes him smile and laugh, and stops him screaming. Playing Hey Jude isn’t going to cure Sam of his epilepsy, but, along with the other therapies Judy and her team are giving to Sam and the other children under her care, it is already making his life better.

A sensory playground helps support trauma victims in Lebanon.
Play therapy is helping children recover after the devastating blast in Beirut earlier this year.

And it’s not only children with additional needs like Sam and Fatimé who can benefit from creative therapies. BMS partner the Lebanese Society for Educational and Social Development (LSESD) has been helping children in Beirut in the aftermath of the devastating blast that rocked the city earlier this year. Many of Lebanon’s children have never experienced trauma like this before and don’t have the coping mechanisms to deal with it. So LSESD has started with one of the basics: play.

Daniella Daou and her team at LSESD have set up a sensory playground for children in Beirut, with stimulating play stations, art and storytelling spaces. “The point of the playground is for children to have fun, to de-stress and to express what they’re feeling,” says Daniella. They also have a psychologist present who watches the children’s behaviour and looks at their artwork to see if they’re showing signs of trauma. And the playground isn’t only there to help the children, it’s there to give respite to their parents.

They can take a break while their children play, and can speak to the on-site psychologist to see how their children are coping. Giving their children the opportunity to play in the face of such a tragedy is a key part of their healing process.

Play therapy can also help parents and children to bond and to express love and care in a beautiful way. BMS speech therapist Lois Ovenden tells a story of a mother and son who came to a play therapy session she was running in a clinic in Uganda a few years ago. The boy’s condition was too severe for Lois to give him all the help he needed. “He couldn’t walk, he couldn’t see,” says Lois. “He couldn’t have been more than two.” But for one session, Lois showed his mother some play therapy techniques she could use to interact with her son. “It was so beautiful watching them together,” she says. “The incredible love she had for her child – it almost filled the room.”

A child receiving play therapy Uganda
Lois Ovenden was able to show parents in Uganda how play could help them bond with their children.

Lois only showed the mother some simple techniques, like how touching her son’s face and letting him feel different textures could establish a connection and help him experience fun and beauty. Small things. But they made the boy smile and he started to make soft cooing noises. Lois could tell that he knew his mother, how much he loved her. The beautiful bond they shared, expressed in the only way he could.

Many other parents were sceptical though. They thought that play therapy was only available to those who could afford expensive western toys. But according to BMS play therapist Liz Vilela serving in Mozambique, the opposite is true.

“The best way to connect with a child is for them to use what they’re used to,” says Liz. And BMS therapists are showing this across the world. In Uganda, Lois encouraged parents to make toys out of banana leaves so they can play together with their children. In Chad, Bethan uses an Arabic song in her sessions with Fatimé, because it’s the language her family uses, and it’s what she engages with the most. Meeting people where they are helps families build stronger relationships and it makes creative therapies accessible to so many more people.

A child in Chad receiving music therapy
For children like Fatimé and Mohammed (pictured), Bethan's music therapy sessions have made a real difference.

Talking to Lois, Judy and Liz, I was constantly reminded of Fatimé. A child disengaged from the world, brought to a fuller life through music and play. Before she started therapy, she did nothing but sit in the corner, separate from everyone around her. But after seven months of sessions, she can now look at her siblings. She claps along to songs. They’re small steps, but for Fatimé and her family, they mean hope. I ask Bethan about her hopes for Fatimé. How would she like to see her progress? “I want her to be able to say ‘Mama’,” she says. For Fatimé, that’s a huge ask. But for a mother to hear her little girl say ‘Mama’ for the first time? That makes all the effort worth it.

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Words by Laura Durrant

What we achieved this year, together

BMS World Mission Coronavirus appeal:

What you achieved this year

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.

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.

Action Team Photo Competition 2020

This is the world through their eyes:

The 2020 Action Team Photo Competition

Action Teams is the BMS World Mission gap year with a difference, and each year, we ask the young people who serve overseas to get behind the lens and capture the best of mission on the frontline for our photo competition. They sent in these photos to inspire, yes, but also because of the stories behind them. Of all they shared and experienced this year, this is what they wanted you to see.

Behind each of these pictures is a team of passionate young people, dedicated to sharing the good news of Christ’s love on their gap year. We hope you can see God’s incredible creation in these photos, and that they encourage you to see God’s handiwork in your every day, just like these Action Teamers did. We hope you enjoy the winners of the Action Team Photo Competition 2020!

First place: Street Barber

Street barber in Delhi. Winner of the 2020 Action Teams Photo Competition.
Taken by Miriam, Team Delhi.

Congratulations to Miriam of Team Delhi, for taking the wonderful winning photo!

“When we first arrived in India, we were struck by the number of street barbers and thought they perfectly summed up the efficient chaos of what we saw in India,” said Miriam on her inspiration behind taking the photo.

The judges loved the personality shining through the barber’s face. “I was really drawn to this photo because I think we’ve all developed a greater appreciation for the incredible skill of barbers and hairdressers, like this man, during our time in lockdown,” said one of the judges. Well done Team Delhi!

Second place: Children at the Window

Well done to Team Kolkata on scoring second place!

“I was taking photos of the school we served in and church it was connected to,” said Zoe, who captured this wonderful image. “I just loved the way the boys were sitting, watching the craziness of the after-lunch rush around them.”

The judges were really struck by the colours in the photo and loved how Zoe captured this moment of quiet in the middle of busy school life. Congrats Team Kolkata!

Liking this? Click here!
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Children in Kolkata. Second place in the 2020 Action Teams Photo Competition.
Taken by Zoe, Team Kolkata.

Third place: The Cross

A large cross in Kosovo. Third place in the 2020 Action Team Photo Competition.
Taken by Esther*, Team Kosovo.

The judges loved this photo taken by Team Kosovo. Congrats on getting third place!

“I was really impressed with how the photographer managed to capture such a simple yet powerful insight into life in Kosovo,” said one of the judges. “In a country where much of BMS work is sensitive, it’s so inspiring to know that Christ’s love is being displayed like this.”

Well done Team Kosovo!

Want to be inspired by more photos like these?

If you’ve enjoyed these photos, then you’ll love the beautiful photos from our brand–new Mission Worker Photo Competition, featured in the next issue of Engage, the BMS World Mission magazine! You won’t want to miss out on this. Keep being inspired by God’s work across the world, and sign up for Engage today.

Runners up

Face Time

A Mozambican boy taking a selfie. Runner up in the 2020 Action Teams Photo Competition.
Taken by Elana, Team Mozambique.

Portrait

A woman in Delhi. Runner up in the 2020 Action Team Photo Competition
Taken by Miriam, Team Delhi.

Boudha Temple

A temple in Nepal. Runner up in the 2020 Action Teams Photo Competition.
Taken by Hannah, Team Nepal.

Holiday Club

Three children in Mozambique. Runner up in the 2020 Action Team Photo Competition.
Taken by Elana, Team Mozambique.

The Kosovo we knew

A river in winter in Kosovo.
Taken by Esther*, Team Kosovo.

Recess

A group of children in Nepal. Runner up in the 2020 Action Team Photo Competition.
Taken by Hannah, Team Nepal.

Where the mountains meet the sky

A plane flying over a town in Nepal. Runner up in the Action Team Photo Competition.
Taken by Hannah, Team Nepal.

*Names changed.
Words by Laura Durrant.

From the corners of the world

From the corners of the world:

The incredible workers you support

Supporting this

The pastor who embraced a town in mourning. The passionate teacher carving a brighter future. The man holding the doors of justice open for the oppressed. This is BMS World Mission. These are the workers your support.

A pastor who embraced a town in mourning

Pastor Amilcar is one of the kindest people you could meet. He can’t walk ten paces through the streets of Pisac, Peru without locals stopping to kiss him on both cheeks. He’s got a kind word for everybody, asking after relatives and how business is going. He’s not from this town, but Pastor Amilcar’s gentle reflection of Jesus’ love for this place has meant that, one by one, people here have come to know Christ. Taking Amilcar almost by surprise, a fledgling church has formed in Pisac, borne out of his witness. This village in the Andes is a long, meandering drive from the city of Cusco, where Pastor Amilcar faithfully leads his congregation. So why would a busy pastor embrace such an unassuming place, over an hour away?

Pisac may be a small town, but it’s got a heavy history. In 2010, a flood broke the banks of the Vilcanota river, which splices its way through the Sacred Valley of the Incas in which the town is nestled. You can feel the water’s power each time you cross the bridge connecting the two sides of the town. The flood killed 12 people, many of them parents to young children. This is why Pastor Amilcar is drawn back to Pisac. He’s committed to mourning with families who are still recovering.

“After the tragedy, people needed help. They needed clothes and food, but all these things were temporary. People really needed help that would last,” says Pastor Amilcar. That help has come in the form of sharing Jesus’ love with people in Pisac, but Pastor Amilcar knows he couldn’t do anything he does without BMS supporters. “Thank you for your love for people you don’t know. God bless you. Because of your support, families here will have their lives transformed.”

A Peruvian man.
Pastor Amilcar has spent the last ten years spreading Jesus' love in the Peruvian town of Pisac.

This is what your support of BMS’ church planting ministry looks like. It looks like life springing from the shadow of death. It looks like supporting Pastor Amilcar. It looks like embracing a town in mourning.

The passionate teacher carving a brighter future

Esther Sarker’s Facebook feed is a riot of colour. She’s always posting craft ideas, visual aids and activities for children – a kind of digital mood board for her job. Some people are born to teach, and Esther is one of them. It’s clear from the way she convulses into giggles at some of the funny things her pupils say. From the student workbooks she’s meticulously illustrated by hand. And from the compassion she radiates when she finds out that one of her pupils from a poor, rural area in Bangladesh only owns one outfit to wear to school.

A Bangladeshi woman with a Bangladeshi child.
Your support means that Esther is able to bring children in Bangladesh a brighter future.

Esther is a recent recruit to the Social Health and Education board of the Bangladeshi Baptist Church Sangha. It’s a project transforming futures for Bangladesh’s children, starting at the very youngest age, by equipping local teachers to provide preschool education to marginalised areas.

For Louise Proctor, BMS’ Educational Consultant heading up the project, Esther’s input has been indispensable. She understands the local context that Louise has had to adapt to over four years. “Esther can get more of a real picture of what’s happening,” says Louise. “She’s starting to build up relationships with the teachers, and we’re hoping that they’ll begin to open up more to her, and share their stories and difficulties.”

Esther’s faith infuses everything she does. It’s important to her that Hindu and Muslim children, as well as Christian kids, are getting to know who Jesus is through the witness of the preschools. “We can spread that light,” says Esther. “Our society has needs. And rural areas have little chance to access education. If our country wants to develop, then children are our future.” Jesus taught that space should be made for little children to come to him. And by supporting BMS education projects, you enable teachers like Esther who take that teaching seriously – teachers who love their jobs, who love Jesus, and who want to share his love with the children they teach.

The man holding the doors of justice open for the oppressed

Luis Alfredo Manjate is a man with a plan. As the Executive Director of BMS partner the Mozambican Association of Christian Lawyers, he wants nothing more (and nothing less) than to turn the Mozambican justice system around, and ensure people’s rights are upheld. Excited to have found a calling where he can marry his profession as a lawyer with his faith, Luis is passionate about working for a Christian organisation which holds the doors to justice open for widows, for orphans, for the vulnerable. And with an arresting gaze, and a smile that creeps in at the corners of his mouth when he wants to check he’s being understood, Luis is a lawyer you’d want on your side faced with any kind of trouble. “It’s a great privilege to be here in an environment where you can talk about God,” Luis says. There are cases he’s received, where, instead of turning reflexively to litigation and courthouse disputes, he’s been able to resolve the conflict by giving advice, praying for the parties involved and sharing the Word of God. For Luis, bringing justice means bringing peace.

“The support that has been given to us has meant we can make justice real to people,” Luis says, as he thanks all BMS supporters who have helped make his work possible. “The privilege we have of providing justice for people is being fulfilled.” By supporting BMS justice ministries, you’re binding up the broken-hearted and bringing peace to the oppressed. You’re sharing God’s love with people when they need it most. And you’re fuelling workers like Luis who have their hearts set on serving God and the people made in his image.

A Mozambican man
“The support that has been given to us has meant we can make justice real to people,” says Luis Manjate.
Your support is going even further…

If you’ve donated to the BMS Coronavirus appeal, then you’ve helped provide food parcels, hygiene products and other necessities to vulnerable families in Peru, Bangladesh and Mozambique. Thank you so much for your incredible generosity. If you haven’t donated yet, then give today and be part of the global Coronavirus response.

Want to support the global Coronavirus response? Click here
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Originally published in Issue 47 of Engage, the BMS World Mission magazine.
Words by  Hannah Watson.

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

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.”

A girl in a marketplace.

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:

  1. Wisdom for our Republic’s President and his Government, that they make good decisions to protect the nation
  2. Unity for the churches, that they work together in preaching the gospel and helping people in the struggle against the Coronavirus
  3. Strength and protection for the BMS team here, as we work in an uncertain situation
  4. My daughter, as she continues taking medicines to fight tuberculosis, that God would heal her
  5. My family, that we continue standing firm in faith in God
  6. The Baptist Convention of Mozambique, as they lead in this uncertain time, when churches’ Sunday services are prohibited
  7. The farmers I work with, as they prepare for harvest in uncertain times, under fear of Coronavirus
  8. 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!
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Mozambique: back on its feet

Mozambique:

back on its feet

Supporting this

When BMS World Mission videographer Jake Barrell visited Mozambique in July of last year, it was to be much more than just a filming trip. He was visiting a country devastated by a cyclone just three months earlier, a country where his parents, Mark and Susanna, serve as mission workers, and a country standing proudly back on its feet. This is Mozambique, and these are his photos.

“I went to Mozambique three months after Cyclone Idai. A lot of the relief agencies had gone, so it was really inspiring to see the BMS team being such an active part of the continuing relief efforts that need to happen after the immediate response.”

People watch a woman writing
The BMS team in Mozambique hold justice clinics in bustling marketplaces, where anyone can come to get free legal advice.

“The team helped a lot with distributing food packages, but the main thing they’re involved with is document recovery. A lot of birth and marriage certificates have been washed away or destroyed in the cyclone, so they’re looking into ways to get them restored.”

A woman looking at a leaflet.
“I kept walking around and saying to the lawyers who were there, ‘This is so great!’ You could see change happening.”

“This next photo is of Lídia, who was a beneficiary but who now works supported by BMS. She’s the face of our partner, the Mozambican Association of Christian Lawyers (AMAC) – she’s the first person you meet when you walk through the door.”

A woman sits at a desk and smiles at the camera.
Lídia’s mum was tragically killed in a car crash. With legal aid from AMAC, Lídia received the compensation she was owed, and is now training to be a lawyer alongside her work, supported by BMS.

“She’s really jolly, really joyful, and worked on the justice clinics they were doing after Cyclone Idai. With this image, I wanted to communicate that warmth. She’s got a great smile.”

A man smiles at the camera.
“I’ve got a very soft spot for Carlos, who is the Mozambique Team Leader.”

“Carlos is a very humble, lovely man. He does a lot of work supporting agricultural projects, so I wanted to capture him in that kind of scene. We drove for about 30 minutes and chatted as the sun was setting. It’s probably one of my favourite photos.”

A girl in a marketplace.
“I shot this just walking down the street. It was one of those happy accidents.”

“We heard one thing quite a lot when we were interviewing people, that Mozambican people take everything in their stride. That was something I had in the back of my mind taking photos: that these people are strong, they are powerful, they have faced so much.”

Jake’s photos are a joyful portrait of a country getting back into action, with the BMS team right at the centre.

Our workers in Mozambique were able to respond in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai thanks to the generous giving of incredible supporters. You can make a difference before disasters strike. Support disaster recovery today, so when disasters strike, we can strike back.

Support disaster recovery today Click here
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Words and interview by Hannah Watson, Editor of Engage, the BMS World Mission magazine.

Building blocks of recovery

Building blocks of recovery

Elias thought his brother was dead. Cyclone Idai destroyed everything he had. But with your help he regained hope, enough to overflow to Mozambique’s future generations.

Lectures weren’t on that day. But no-one had told Elias. He got to his college and it was empty – that was when he heard the winds blowing. Jumping into a car and getting a lift home, the car was slightly lifting, momentarily floating in the air on the way. He felt his feet pulling away from the floor as he ran into the house to find his brother. Parts of the roof had already been ripped off, and rain cascaded in through holes in the ceiling. He immediately thought the worst. He thought his brother was dead. Thank God, he wasn’t. He found his brother hiding. They ran to find shelter, but Elias had lost all his official documents; all the books he needed for his studies. He lost everything he had.

A church with the roof ripped off and interior destroyed.
Roof ripped off, all the furniture destroyed, the walls riddled with damp, this was the state of a Baptist church in Beira after Cyclone Idai.

This storm became what we know as Cyclone Idai, the natural disaster which hit Mozambique, and global news headlines in March. Shortly after, Cyclone Kenneth struck, leaving further damage in its wake. For Elias, BMS World Mission’s immediate relief response of food, shelter and clothes got him back on his feet. But what next? Before the cyclone, Elias was a theology student. He was also a preschool education programme (PEPE) teacher, in one of the 60 preschools in Mozambique funded by your support. But now he had lost all his coursework, and the preschool where he worked was in ruins. His future, as he had planned it, had been derailed.

Heaped rubble on the floor after Cyclone Idai.
Escolinha Joias de Africa was one of the PEPE schools reduced to rubble by Cyclone Idai.

Back in the shelter with his brother, Elias saw children start to pour in, taking refuge from the raging 120mph winds. Some of them had lost their homes, some their siblings, others their parents. They were all traumatised. During their seven weeks in the shelter, Elias prayed and played with them. “Everyone around me started to call me ‘pastor’ because I was praying,” Elias says. “I was so happy because the children learnt a lot.” They were children without an education, and children who’d had no other chance of learning about God’s love.

A man smiles at the camera with a Baptist church behind him.
Elias is just one of the Christians that you’re supporting to bring hope to younger generations in Mozambique.

Like Elias’, these children’s futures had been derailed. So many schools were now just heaped rubble on the ground. “Without school, children wander and waste time on the streets, learning from older kids who also aren’t in school,” explains Elias. “But at PEPE, children learn a lot. One of the mothers was so taken by her children’s transformation she wanted to come to church. That’s why I’m captivated by this work.”

A group of boys smile at the camera in Mozambique.
These children deserve a better future than wandering the streets. Will you give them one?

And that’s why the immediate relief you provided is just the beginning of Mozambique’s recovery story. Long-term relief means ensuring children have a future – and for that they need an education. Your generosity has enabled BMS to dedicate over £17,000 to rebuilding PEPE schools destroyed by Cyclone Idai. The team is led by BMS mission worker, Sergio Vilela. He’s using his previous experience in construction as a firm foundation for restoration. “I’d like to thank the UK Church. People were so generous after the cyclone,” he says. “We are able to help here only because the Church gave so generously.”

You’re also providing fullness of life. Alongside reconstructing PEPE schools, you’ve supported a play therapy project for children suffering from trauma. For children just like the ones Elias described staying in the shelter. “When I heard that UK churches had started to support us, I thought – wow! I could see we were united in the body of Christ,” says Elias. “We thank God and UK churches for the love you’ve shown us.” And everyone here at BMS thanks you too for your faithful generosity. Thank you for giving hope to those in need.

EDUCATION IN MOZAMBIQUE

In Mozambique, only 45 per cent of children complete primary school. Most drop out to help their parents at work, look after their siblings or simply because school is too hard and their parents, who perhaps never received schooling, are unable to help them.

This is why BMS began the PEPE project in Mozambique, to give children the head start they need to thrive. PEPE provides children with education through play, song and, in many cases, gives them their only meal that day. It’s run by local Baptist churches, by people like Elias, who know their communities’ needs and are filled with God’s love.

Like this story? Click here
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A teacher teaching a child how to write numbers on a blackboard at a school in Mozambique.
Your giving is working to restore the PEPE schools damaged in Cyclone Idai.

Share the story of Mozambique with children at your Sunday School and join us in putting the building blocks of recovery together. Print off our information sheet and all-age craft activity.

Take me to the Sunday School activity

Words by Melanie Webb.

A letter from Mozambique

After the cyclone:

A letter from Mozambique to UK Christians

Supporting this

How Mozambicans are regaining hope thanks to the incredible help they received from BMS supporters after Cyclone Idai.

Dear friends,

After the cyclone, I went out in the rain to see how people were. There was rubble everywhere. We lost everything – everything we had worked for over whole lifetimes. From one day to the next, it was gone. Our stores and crops were destroyed by the cyclone, so our immediate worry was food. But what’s affecting us most is a lack of hope. Smiles have disappeared, heads are hung low.

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

Thanks to the aid churches are sending to Beira, some feel like they have the strength to start again. At CBM, we have collected and distributed food. Those we could feed are no longer worried. Instead they can focus on gathering the materials they need to rebuild. The problem is that materials are expensive, and most people have lost their jobs because so many businesses were destroyed.

A church with no roof in Mozambique after Cyclone Idai.
This church lost its roof after the cyclone hit. But BMS supporters stepped in, and your gifts have enabled the roof to be rebuilt, so it can return to being a fully functioning church.

People aren’t sleeping. They want to get back up again. They want to work. I try to speak hope into people’s lives. We can lose material things, but we can’t lose faith in God. He is our refuge. We have so many reasons to praise God. I praised God amidst the destruction, because he had protected us – we thought the cyclone was going to be much bigger than it was.

This photo demonstrates how extensive the damage was after Cylcone Idai. Only a bare skeleton of a church building in Beira remains.
This photo demonstrates how extensive the damage was after Cylcone Idai. Only a bare skeleton of a church building in Beira remains.

I ask that you continue to pray for us – don’t forget about us and continue to give what you can.
Then, even when the media has forgotten about us, we’ll keep smiling, because you have remembered us.

Thank you,
Anibal Ramos

Anibal Ramos works with BMS partner, the Baptist Convention of Mozambique (CBM) in his native Beira. You’ve enabled him to play a crucial role in the relief efforts, working alongside BMS team leader in Mozambique, Carlos Tique Jone, in the devastating wake of Cyclone Idai.

The story of recovery

You gave an incredible £82,000 to help people like Anibal in the wake of Cyclone Idai.

But our desire for restoration didn’t stop there. You enabled BMS to give a further £17,600 to rebuild preschools and churches which host preschool education programmes.

Want to do even more? Give to BMS relief ministries
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We were able to act because you gave generously. Give to BMS relief ministries today and help some of the most marginalised people in the world recover from devastating natural disasters.

Thank you for giving people in Beira the strength they need to start again.

First featured in Engage, Issue 45. Written and edited for the website by Melanie Webb.

Mozambique: The relief response begins

Mozambique:

The relief response begins

Supporting this

The Cyclone Idai relief response has begun. But Beira still needs your prayers and support.

After our initial call for prayer and support, BMS World Mission supporters donated over £70,000 towards relief efforts in Mozambique. Thank you so much for your generosity. You’ve helped us kickstart the relief response in Beira. But the people there still need you.

The city of Beira still needs your support. Donate now.

“I have conveyed your prayers, support and encouragement to all those I’ve met from the CBM and they have been extremely grateful to know the world is standing with them,” says Rachel Conway-Doel, BMS Relief Facilitator. Rachel recently returned from Beira after flying out in March to help the Baptist Convention of Mozambique (CBM) assess the need created by the cyclone. 200,000 homes have been destroyed, and over 1,000 cases of cholera have now been reported, with at least two reported deaths. Cholera vaccination programmes have begun in Beira and other cities in Mozambique, with over 900,000 vaccines being shipped to Beira alone. Mosquito nets have also been provided to many people, including all our supported partner workers, to help combat a rise in malaria cases.

Destruction on a Beira street, with upturned trees and paving slabs
Your support is vital for the Cyclone Idai relief response.

The Cyclone Idai Relief Response

The long-term relief response in Beira will take the form of reconstruction of infrastructure, agricultural recovery and legal education support. As the devastation caused by Cyclone Idai shifts out of the media spotlight, we know you won’t forget about the people of Beira. Please continue to pray and give so people there can rebuild their lives.

“I have lived nearly 30 years in Beira and have never seen anything like this,” says BMS worker Carlos Tique Jone, who was in Beira when the cyclone struck. He and his family are safe, and he is working with CBM to help facilitate the Christian relief response. Watch the above video to hear a thank you message from Carlos, and see how your prayers are already having an effect.

Pray for Mozambique

We asked some of our supported partner workers in Beira what they wanted prayer for. Here’s what they said:

From Agira, Fernando and Lídia, who work with the Association of Christian Lawyers (AMAC) in Mozambique:

  1. Pray that their families will be protected from cholera and that the vaccination programme can reach everyone.
  2. Pray for Lídia’s house. Part of her roof and wall has been damaged and as she is both studying, working and living alone, this is hard. Pray for her and her house to be protected.
  3. Pray for the people AMAC serve – beforehand they were vulnerable people, and now they will be more vulnerable because of the cyclone.

From Constância, Elídia and Anibal, who work with Baptist Convention of Mozambique:

  1. Pray for the many mothers and widows whose homes are uninhabitable and who don’t know how to restore their lives.
  2. Pray for Mozambican churches, facing huge financial needs as they start to rebuild. So many churches have been affected, and so many members are in financial need themselves that rebuilding is going to be a massive challenge. Pray for all of the Christians struggling to rebuild their own lives while also helping their churches help others.
  3. Pray for jobs. Many companies have closed, so many people have lost their jobs. Pray for the Mozambican economy and its effect on ordinary people.

If you want more prayer points for your church, please visit our previous update: Pray for Beira.

Thank you for remembering Cyclone Idai survivors. Please keep praying for the relief response in Beira. And if you want to do even more, you can help our brothers and sisters in Mozambique by giving today to Disaster Recovery and Relief. Thank you.

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Words by Laura Durrant.

Cyclone Idai: Mozambique needs your prayer

Cyclone Idai:

Mozambique needs your prayer

Supporting this

On Thursday 14 March, Cyclone Idai hit the city of Beira, Mozambique. Please join us in prayer for those affected.

Beira suffered high winds, heavy rains and flooding and 90 per cent of the city may have been affected. Hundreds of people have lost their lives. BMS World Mission has made contact with local partners and is in the process of assisting relief responses. Please pray for Mozambique at this time.

The destruction

Debris from the cyclone is piled shoulder-high beside roadways that have been covered by sand blown in by heavy winds. Buildings have lost their roofs, and trees are uprooted.

Flooding from burst riverbanks and heavy rain pose a threat to the safety of survivors. The outbreak of waterborne diseases is a concern, due to the disruption of water supplies, as is the lack of shelter, food and clothing. Cases of cholera and diarrhoea continue to rise.

The aftermath

President Filipe Nyusi announced that search and rescue operations to find survivors from the cyclone had come to an end. As of 30 March 2019 it has been reported that 501 people died as a result of the cyclone.

Devastation is extensive, with around 100,000 houses identified by the authorities as having been destroyed. Efforts are now concentrated on rebuilding infrastructure and helping those affected.

A vector graphic map shows where Beira is located in Mozambique.
Beira was at the centre of the devastation caused by Cyclone Idai.
Debris is piled up on a sandy road.
Debris from Cyclone Idai is piled shoulder-high, and roadways are covered in sand.

The intervention

BMS is assessing the best way to assist in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai. “We are supporting the Baptist Convention of Mozambique (CBM)’s relief response by strengthening capacity support and lending our help to its relief programme,” says Rachel Conway-Doel, BMS Relief Facilitator.

Rachel was able to attend meetings with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) on 30 March 2019. She said of the meetings, “It is encouraging to hear of all the work that is being done — but much more is needed.”

BMS will continue to consult with CBM on how British Christians can best support the Mozambican Church in its response. Thank you for all your generous giving and faithful prayers as we do so.

Updates on personnel

“We were getting messages from a friend saying that her windows had broken. Water was coming into the lounge and kitchen and she was worried. We also got a message from a friend who thought that the roofing on her daughter’s bedroom had come off,” says Liz Vilela in her latest blog post, describing the cyclone.

A tree is uprooted from the ground, breaking the pavement,
Trees were uprooted by strong winds.

We have been in touch with our mission personnel on the ground:

  • Carlos Tique Jone is in Beira assessing damage to buildings. “I praise the Lord that I am alive,” he told BMS.
  • Jane Edwards has flown into Maputo instead of home to Beira.
  • Sergio and Liz Vilela are safe. Sergio has returned to Beira to assist relief efforts.
  • Annet and Damien Ttendo-Miller are currently in Uganda.
  • Mark, Susanna, and Lizzie Barrell are at their home in Maputo.

Please pray especially for our local workers in and around Beira. BMS has been in touch with:

  • Pr Moises, General Secretary
  • Anibel
  • Carlos
  • Fernando and Lidia, Association of Mozambican Christian Lawyers (AMAC)
  • Staff at the AMAC office
A terracotta church building against a blue sky that has lost its roof.
Liz and Sergio Vilela's church is the Igreja Baptista do Aeropuerto in Beira. It lost its roof and suffered damages in the storm.

Pray for Mozambique

  1. Pray for all those in Beira, including BMS World Mission worker Carlos Tique Jone and his family. Pray that those who need help would receive it soon and that God would use his people to bring relief and help even now.
  2. Pray for those who have lost family members and homes. Pray that God would bring them the help they need and that we who have not been affected can find ways to be useful and merciful to them.
  3. Pray for God to strengthen those helping and comfort those traumatised.
  4. Pray for all BMS mission personnel and local workers, that they will be safe and be used by God in the lives of their community at this very difficult time.
  5. Pray for the relief response following this tragedy. Pray that Beira will recover quickly.
  6. Pray for a compassionate, sustainable and God-inspired response from the international community, including our community of churches.

Thank you for your love for Mozambique. Please keep praying for the people of Beira and for our partners there. If you would like to do something more, you can help our Mozambican partners on the ground with relief and recovery work by giving to BMS Disaster Recovery now.

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A life transformed

A life transformed:

Lídia’s story

Your support for BMS World Mission transforms lives every day. We wanted to share Lídia’s story with you, so you can see how important your giving really is.

Lídia wanted to help people. She dreamt of becoming a lawyer, to help the men and women she saw suffering around in her in Mozambique. But as she grew up her worldview changed. She saw deprivation and experienced her own struggles, raised by a single mum in a house that flooded every time it rained. She saw lawyers as liars. While the rich got richer, she seemed to have no opportunities and little hope. She gave up on her dream.

And on 4 May 2017, life as she knew it changed forever. That was the day Lídia’s mother was killed in a car accident. It could have meant the end of any hope for Lídia and her three sisters. Initially, it looked like it was. But for Lídia’s perseverance, it might have been.

Lídia lost all sense of direction in her life. Her mother was dead. The collision had been the fault of the other driver but Lídia’s family didn’t know that they could get compensation. They didn’t understand the law that was there to protect them from situations just like this.

A woman in front of a white wall.
Lídia dreamt of being a lawyer from a young age.

Stories like Lídia’s have been heard hundreds of times by the BMS-supported Association of Mozambican Christian Lawyers (AMAC). This is not just a case of lack of education: the law is written in Portuguese, a language that half of the population don’t even speak.

Which is why AMAC’s work to provide legal education, advice and representation is so vital. And why, thanks to your support, BMS stands alongside AMAC with funding, expertise and justice mission workers. “While injustice continues to rob people of the opportunity for dignity, hope and a future, we must continue to take the imperative of Proverbs 31: 8-9 seriously,” says Steve Sanderson, Deputy Director for Mission. Speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves is an imperative that AMAC take seriously too. So when Lídia met Fernando, a member of AMAC at church, she soon realised that she had found someone who could really help her.

A man sits at a table outside
AMAC holds events at churches to provide legal education to local people who need it most.

Lídia explained her situation to Fernando, and he told her about AMAC. About how they work to help people like her get the access to justice they need. He told her that if she went to AMAC, they would be able to advise her. With AMAC’s help, Lídia’s family won the case against the driver and were given 180,000 meticais (£2,300) in compensation. They put the money towards a house, one that didn’t flood when it rained. Where their family could start rebuilding their lives.

AMAC showed Lídia that her opinion of lawyers was wrong. The lawyers she met at AMAC were people of compassion, people who wanted to serve those who needed them most. And Lídia knew that this was where God had been leading her. When she heard of a vacancy for an Admin Assistant at AMAC, she applied and got the job. And working for an organisation dedicated to giving a voice to the voiceless was enough to reawaken the dream she’d had as a girl. Lídia is now in her second year of studying Law with Criminal Investigation at university. Ever since she was young, she had wanted to help people. By working with AMAC, she’s been given a chance to do just that.

Have you been inspired to support BMS' justice ministry?

If you want to help more people like Lídia, sign up to be a BMS Justice Partner today, and support our mission workers fighting injustice across the world.

Become a 24:7 Justice Partner
A woman sits behind a desk.
Your support for BMS has given Lídia the opportunity to help people just like her.

Lídia knows that AMAC is so much more than just its amazing and inspiring staff and lawyers. AMAC is also you. Your support through BMS provides funding, legal experience and capacity building to AMAC. Your prayers for, and giving to, our justice ministries around the world make stories like Lídia’s possible. You and your Mozambican brothers and sisters gave Lídia a lawyer when her family needed one. Gave her an opportunity to serve. Thank you for your support. Thank you for a life transformed.

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Cyclone Idai update

Thank you for your continued prayers for the city of Beira after it was struck by Cyclone Idai. We have been touch with our personnel and partners in the area and can confirm that Lídia is safe.

Find more updates on the continued relief efforts here.

Words by Laura Durrant.

From the frontline: stories to inspire you

From the frontline:

stories to inspire you

From giving critical medical aid at night, to helping a rural community grow crops, our mission workers have had a very busy, challenging and blessed start to the year. We thought it was time to share some of their news with you.

The surgeons in Chad who came to the rescue after dark

Andrea and Mark Hotchkin in traditional Chadian dress in front of a sand coloured wall
Andrea and Mark Hotchkin dedicate every day to helping others in Chad, no matter where they are in the country.

We’ll paint a picture for you. One day you’re in a fancy hotel in Chad’s capital city, N’Djamena attending a Ministry of Health meeting. Then just a few days later you’re hours from the nearest town, it’s late and you’ve spent the day driving from village to village assessing healthcare provision. Word reaches you that two local people are seriously unwell and no-one has made any effort to get help.
This is what happened recently in the lives of BMS World Mission surgeons, Andrea and Mark Hotchkin. If you didn’t already know how amazing they are, you certainly will when you read their latest blog.

Read the Hotchkins' blog

Giving hope for a better future

A woman dressed in black stands behind a table covered in neatly arranged clothing
You’ll probably never meet Shama, but thanks to your support for BMS you’ve helped her and her family.

Consider this: you have five children, your husband is unable to find work and one of your children has tuberculosis. You have to spend every day not knowing how long you have to make the small amount of income you do have last. This is the life that Shama has known in Delhi. But thanks to your support for BMS workers James and Ruth Neve, Shama and others have been given hope of a new life-changing income. To find out how, read the Neves’ latest blog by hitting the button below.

Read the Neves' blog

A night of praying with women in pain

Evening street scene in Bangkok with neon lights
The light of Christ is being received in Bangkok’s red-light district, helped by BMS worker Ashleigh Gibb.

In the red-light district of Bangkok, women are learning they are children of God and that he loves them. BMS worker Ashleigh Gibb writes in her latest blog about a special event at a hotel where women who work in some of Bangkok’s bars gathered for a meal and prayer. Please read Ashleigh’s blog, and please continue to pray for her and the people she meets in one of the world’s darkest places.

Read Ashleigh's blog

‘The seeds we received are a gift from God’

Carlos Tique stands in front of a house and some green foliage
By supporting BMS worker Carlos Jone, you’re helping people in Chassimba, Mozambique not only fight hunger, but also earn their own money.

There’s a rural village in Mozambique called Chassimba, where your faithful support for BMS work is transforming lives. Men and women are not only being given seeds to grow crops, they’re learning how to take care of them better. And with increased production comes an income. BMS worker Carlos Jone visited Chassimba recently, and shares in his latest prayer letter the beautiful response he received from villagers.

Read Carlos' update

News in brief from around the world

  • In Guinea, BMS worker Ben*, along with a professional football coach, visited football training sessions to strengthen links with non-Christians. Ben has also started to meet with a prison group as he continues to show God’s love among the marginalised.
  • In France, the BMS Action Team has been helping at a refugee centre for women, supporting youth work, forging friendships and developing their language skills. Check out all their news on their blogs page.
  • In Peru, BMS worker Laura-Lee Lovering has been kept busy through attending the Peruvian Baptist Assembly (her seventh!), catching up with BMS short-term volunteer Becky Richards, and meeting Action Teamers.
  • In Mozambique, BMS worker Sergio Vilela has put in a lot of miles (around 3,000 in two weeks) meeting people through our partnership with the Mozambican Baptist Convention. Meanwhile, fellow BMS worker, and Sergio’s wife, Liz Vilela has been doing great work with child protection training, which she touches on in her latest prayer letter. Please check it out and pray for the Vilelas!
Want your church to support life-changing mission work?

Your church can get behind our mission work by becoming a Church Partner. It’s ever so easy to join and gives your church the chance to focus on a region or ministry, or on specific people.

We’d love to talk to you, so please don’t hesitate to contact Jo in the Church Partners team with any questions. Call her today on 01235 517600 or email her at churchrelations@bmsworldmission.org

If your church isn’t in Church Partners, talk to your minister today. Get involved, be inspired, express your heart for mission!

These stories are just a snapshot of what our mission workers and partners have been up to. In countries like Uganda, Kosovo, Bangladesh, Nepal, Ukraine, Albania, Lebanon and India, your support is being felt through training, nourishment, heating, education and much more. We thank you today for all that you do for BMS, for your giving and prayer, and your encouragement. Thanks to you, God is meeting the needs of people like you and me around the world. We praise God today for your support and give thanks for our incredible mission workers.

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*Names changed for security reasons.

Fighting domestic abuse in Mozambique

Fighting domestic abuse in Mozambique

Praying for this

You are helping bring access to justice in one of the poorest nations in the world, by supporting BMS World Mission and giving poor people the empowerment of knowledge.

You can’t report a crime if you don’t know you’re a victim. And that’s often the case for people in Mozambique. In a country with a tumultuous past, it’s not unusual for many people not to understand the law. Not to know your rights. But BMS workers and partners in Mozambique are changing that.

BMS lawyer Mark Barrell is working with the Association of Mozambican Christian Lawyers (AMAC). “The aim of AMAC is to provide access to justice to the most poor and vulnerable people,” says Mark. And in a country with only around 2,000 lawyers in a population of 30 million, AMAC’s work couldn’t be more necessary. The lawyers from AMAC work hard to provide advice, education and sometimes legal representation to those who need it.

A group of Mozambican lawyers.
The staff at the Association of Mozambican Christian Lawyers are committed to bringing justice to people who need it most.

“We support many different people in different circumstances,” says Mark. “But often the people we help will be women, whose status in Mozambican society can be very low.” AMAC regularly works with women who have been left by their husbands or partners and who don’t have the means to support their children. Women whose husbands have passed away and whose families are trying to take their homes. Women who are regularly subjected to domestic abuse. Women like Isabel*.

Isabel was abused by her husband. But she didn’t understand what domestic abuse was, or that it is illegal. Fortunately, AMAC was there to help.

AMAC regularly partners with local churches to hold education sessions where local people can learn about issues ranging from domestic abuse and inheritance to employment law. Isabel attended a session on domestic violence and was taught about what is defined as abuse, and why it’s wrong. Isabel spoke to a lawyer on the AMAC team, who quickly realised that she was a victim of domestic abuse. She was taken to the police station that same day to report the crime.

“Often it can be difficult to get the police to take any action,” says Mark. “But on this particular occasion the person they saw launched an investigation very quickly, and it was soon referred to the local court.”

Just a few months later, Isabel’s husband was brought before a judge. The court placed a restriction on him, and he was told that he could face imprisonment if Isabel reported any further abuse.

With the help of the AMAC lawyers, many vulnerable people have been helped out of difficult situations.

There are so many more people just like Isabel in Mozambique who need AMAC’s support. Please pray for this vital work, so that more people can live without fear. Pray for:

1. Mark and Susanna Barrell, as they continue serving with BMS in Mozambique.

2. The work of AMAC, that it will continue to bring support to the most vulnerable people in Mozambique, and the wonderful Mozambican Christians who are partnering with BMS to make a difference.

3. Victims of abuse like Isabel in Mozambique and across the world, that they might know hope, justice and fullness of life.

4. For Mozambique as a country, that its people will be able to learn more about correct legal practices and learn their rights.

*Name changed

Download the prayer points

If AMAC hadn’t been there, there’s no telling how long Isabel would have continued to suffer. But now Isabel can live without fear, and also in the encouragement of knowing that AMAC will keep helping other people like her. And that they are determined to keep bringing access to justice to those who need it.

Please pray that AMAC is able to carry out their vision, and bring help to the people who need it.

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Time for action: the latest blogs from our Action Teams

Pictures from recent Action Team blogs

Time for action:

the latest blogs from our Action Teams

Read the latest blogs from our Action Teams to see what they’ve been up to so far during their time overseas!

From teaching English to local children to navigating their way through a different way of life, our Action Teams are already making an impact on the people they’re serving. We’ve created a list of their recent blogs posts for you, so you can catch up on all they’ve been up to!

1. Team Thailand

The Action Team in Thailand have dinner with their supervisors
Team Thailand experience some local cuisine with their supervisors, Helen and Wit Boondeekhun

From the bustling city of Chiang Mai to the rural village of Wang Daeng, Anna, Jonny, Keziah and Paul are experiencing the full variety of life in Thailand. Read their latest blog post to find out how they’ve been connecting with their new neighbours and dealing with the consequences of praying for rain! And while you’re there, check out Jonny’s vlogs – we think they’re great! It’s all great inspiration for prayer!

Read Team Thailand’s blog

2. Team Delhi

Imagine having to completely adapt to a new way of life in a matter of weeks. That’s what you have to do when you’re part of an Action Team – and it’s no different for Amy, Cody, Hannah and Orla! In their latest blog post, they’ve created a list of unusual things you might spot in Delhi, from locals armed with selfie sticks to cows in the middle of the road! Take a look at their blog to see how they’re adapting to life in Delhi, how you can pray for them, and what it’s really like to live in such a fascinating city.

Read Team Delhi’s blog
The Action Team in Delhi take a selfie in a tuk tuk
Team Delhi practice their selfie-taking skills to try and fit in with local people!

3. Team Mozambique

Visa problems aren’t ideal for your first two months overseas, but they didn’t stop Alex, Andrew, Jack and Rebekah, from serving the local community. From teaching English at the local Christian school, Rei dos Reis, to running a bible study for local children, they’re already a real asset to their new neighbours. Thank you for praying for their visa situation and praise God for the privilege of serving in Mozambique.

Experience a graduation ceremony from Rei dos Reis school!

Read Team Mozambique’s blog

4. Team Kolkata

The Action Team in Kolkata let off a lantern
Team Kolkata experiencing all the lights of Diwali

All Action Teams lead busy, rewarding lives, and Cameron, Emily and Erin in Kolkata, India, are no different! They’ve been teaching English to children at a local Christian school, as well as helping them put on their Christmas play and getting involved with an organisation that helps women living in slums to find employment. Head to their blog to read all about it and see some pictures of the wonderful children they’re teaching. Be inspired to pray for them when you do!

Read Team Kolkata’s blog

5. Team Peru

Perued

(verb)

To have your plans change at any moment without warning; something Becky, Bethan, Katie and Marika experience a lot! They’ve still managed to get stuck in at a local Christian School, teaching English and battling it out at the school Olympics! Have a look at their blog to get a better idea of what life is like for them and how you can offer prayer support.

Read Team Peru’s blog
The Action Team in Peru take a selfie while competing in a school sports day
Team Peru competing with Bethel Christian School at their Olympics

6. Team France

The Action Team in Francetake a selfie in front of the Louvre
Read Team France's blog to find out what it's like to be on an Action Team!

Ever wanted to find out what makes an Action Team tick? Now you can! Caitlin Esther, Jonny and Tafadzwa answered your questions about what they’ve been up to in their latest blog post. Give it a read and see if your question was answered! And even if it wasn’t, you’ll get a look at what it’s like to be part of an Action Team – and some prayer points too!

Read Team France’s blog

We love hearing about what our Action Teams have been up to, and how they’re helping transform lives all over the world. If you want to stay up to date with everything our Action Teams are doing overseas, like their Facebook page, or follow them on Instagram. Check them out today and be sure to leave them some encouraging comments!

If you’re interested in joining an Action Team yourself, or know someone who would be, click here find out more!

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Buffalo, corn, radishes and chillies: a recipe for success

Buffalo, corn, radishes and chillies:

a recipe for success

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A widow is able to provide for her three daughters. People in Afghanistan are eating vegetables in their village for the first time. Ugandan farmers can fund school fees and medical bills. Agricultural training is transforming lives, and it’s all down to your support for BMS World Mission.

In countries facing political instability and natural disasters, it’s hard for people in rural areas who survive by farming to make a living and support their families. But BMS-supported agricultural training is changing that. By donating cattle, training farmers to grow chillies and bananas, and helping women rear buffalo, men and women can earn a living long into the future. Because of you, BMS workers are with these communities every step of the way, helping them improve their quality of life.

Here’s what you are doing to help farmers and families to thrive.

1. Mozambique: cattle and corn

In the rural village of Chassimba in Mozambique, men and women are learning how to better grow corn. Overseen by BMS worker Carlos Jone, this training is transforming lives in the community.

John and Amelia are two of the people who gained skills in growing corn. John used the money he made from selling his crop to produce bricks, which he used to build his new house. Amelia, a widow, managed to grow so much corn that she filled her barn to the brim. Now she has enough to support her family for the rest of the year. Amelia’s also now involved in growing vegetables with other farmers in the village, and is earning enough to support her three children through school.

We’ve also donated cattle to the village, and these are being used to teach ploughing – helping many more people provide for their families.

“Thank you for your supporting farmers in Chassimba,” says BMS worker Carlos. “You’re fighting hunger and food insecurity, and the results are visible – there are no longer hunger problems in the community.”

This thank you dance from the villagers in Chassimba is for you.

2. Afghanistan: lettuces and radishes

At high altitude in the mountains of Afghanistan, growing vegetables presents unique challenges, and in some places they’re not even grown or eaten at all.

You’re helping to change that. With your support, people are learning about the nutritional benefits of vegetables and how to grow them.

In one village, agricultural experts set up a demonstration garden on the land of a man called Almas*, where other villagers could learn and experiment in growing vegetables. Almas’ uncle came to visit, and when he saw the garden, he couldn’t believe his eyes. He said, “I am 66 years old, and have never seen vegetables grown here; these people are just telling you stories!”

Some time passed, and Almas’ uncle came to visit again. Dinner was served, with plates of fresh radishes and lettuce being presented, all of which had been grown locally. Almas turned to his uncle and said, “Thanks be to God that now at the age of 66 you have tasted vegetables grown here in this village!” Now, when Almas’ son harvests vegetables from the garden, the uncle comes and takes some of them to his own home.

More and more people in remote mountain villages are now living healthier lives through growing vegetables. And it’s all down to you.

You’re fighting hunger and food insecurity

3. Nepal: buffalo and goats

Goma’s buffalo died in the 2015 earthquakes, and she had to completely rebuild her house. She and her husband had used the animals to support their two daughters through school. Life was now looking very precarious.

Thankfully, Goma managed to get hold of three buffalo and some goats, and she got a place on BMS-supported livestock training, to learn how to better look after her animals. She learnt about animal health and shed management, and now she’s able to get more from her cattle than she ever did before.

Goma collects around 20 litres of milk from the buffalo every day, and then sells it at a local collection centre. She and her husband are able to continue supporting their two daughters, who are studying in Kathmandu, and provide for themselves, too.

4. Uganda: bananas and chillies

In Gulu, Uganda, BMS workers have trained 100 families to start farming chillies and bananas. Each household received in-depth training, including land preparation and how to plant the bananas and chillies. Once they were ready, the farmers used their new skills and knowledge to grow the crops.

And they were hugely successful. All the bananas are being sold in local markets in Gulu. And the dried chillies are now being bought by a wholesaler in the capital city, Kampala, that exports them all over the world.

This is having an amazing impact in the lives of these families. One of the challenges for many farmers in the area was not being able to pay for big medical bills, or having to pull their children out of school if fees were put up. But now, this is no longer the case.

Namazzi* benefited from growing bananas. Because the banana harvest is continual, Namazzi is able to take her bananas and sell them at a local market throughout the year. The new income acts as pocket money for the family each week, so they can make sure there is enough food in the house, as well as covering small medical bills.

These are just a few examples of the transformations you’re making possible through your giving. You’re helping farmers learn new skills, provide for their families, and live healthier lives. Thank you.

*Names changed to protect identities.

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Annet couldn’t get a visa to enter Britain – please help her

Our mission worker couldn’t get a visa to enter Britain – please help her today

I'm praying for this

Annet Ttendo Miller should be in the UK right now, telling people about the brilliant work God is doing in Mozambique through BMS World Mission. She’s not here because her visa application was turned down, which is why we need you and your entire church to pray for her.

It was meant to be so special. BMS lawyer Annet would finally meet her father-in-law, and he would get to hold his granddaughter for the first time. All that Annet needed was a visa to enter Britain.

She didn’t want to move here, or stay a long time, she just wanted to come with her British husband – BMS worker Damien – and their daughter, Patience. She wanted to visit in-laws, her friends and colleagues at BMS, and to tell people about God’s work in Mozambique. And then she’d go back home and continue fighting for the oppressed; for women who have been abused, for the vulnerable without a voice.

A man in a multicoloured shirt stands next to a woman in a blouse, holding a baby
Annet and Damien Miller were all set to visit Britain with their daughter, Patience, when they were told Annet’s visa application had been turned down.

But the Millers’ visit hasn’t happened as Annet’s visa application was turned down. A new application will be submitted, so today we’re asking you to pray for Annet, Damien, and Patience, because we believe in a God that listens.

• Pray that God will make a way for the Millers to visit the UK. Pray that Annet and Patience will get to meet Damien’s father, and that churches will hear about the vital legal work being done in Mozambique.

• Pray that Annet and Damien would have a strong sense of God’s presence during this stressful time. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to be with them at work and at home.

• Pray thanks for what God is doing through Annet and Damien at the Association of Mozambican Christian Lawyers (AMAC). Please pray for more people to hear about the association, and that they ask for help.

The time when Annet was pregnant and told to leave Britain

Annet moved from her native Uganda to Mozambique in 2012 to lead the launch of the BMS-supported legal ministry, AMAC. She married Damien in 2015 and they had hoped for Patience to have been born in Britain.

When they arrived in June 2016 for a visit, Annet was pregnant and had a five-year visitor visa to the UK. She was allowed into the country, but only after being detained for hours, and having had her visa cancelled because it was suspected she would misuse NHS funds.

Allowed to stay in UK for just a few weeks, Annet and Damien had to fly to Uganda, seeking the care every expectant mother deserves. Patience Michelle Miller arrived early in Kampala, premature, but healthy, a blessing from God during a difficult time.

A woman with a grey jacket and black top stands in a garden smiling and with her hands crossed
Annet Ttendo Miller is working to help the oppressed in Mozambique. Please join us in praying for her today.

Hear more about the life-transforming work Annet and Damien are involved in

You may have already watched the video above. What we were all anticipating was for more stories about AMAC’s work to be shared by Annet and Damien in the UK.

“It is a huge disappointment for them, and us, that their visit has been postponed,” says BMS Regional Leader Mark Greenwood.
“They are doing priceless work in Mozambique. Our prayer is that you will hear them tell you all about it in the UK, in your church.”

God called Annet and Damien to Mozambique because he has a heart for justice. They stand alongside person after person who is alone and needs support. Now it’s our turn to support them with prayer.

Please share this article with your friends. We want the Millers to feel lifted up in prayer from churches across the world, not just for their visa and family situation, but for God to use their lives for his kingdom.

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