A passion for passionfruit: ending poverty in Uganda

A passion for passionfruit:

ending poverty in Uganda

When it comes to passionfruit, Siwako Muhindo knows exactly what he’s looking for. Ripe fruits are heavy and firm, with smooth purple skin. If you cut one of them open, you can see the orange flesh inside – sweet, fragrant and perfect for lifting your family out of poverty.

Siwako Muhindo and his wife Jane Biira earn 60,000 Ugandan shillings a month from selling passionfruit – more than enough to buy food for their seven children and pay for their school fees. But back in 2021, life looked very different for Siwako and Jane.

“I always looked down on myself, and the community around me could not value me because of my poor financial situation,” says Siwako.  “Most of the time my children would not attend school because I could not afford to provide them with enough materials, and I failed to pay the fees. I used to wake up early in the morning to find work in other people’s gardens to be given food to feed my family. Sometimes when I failed to find work my family would starve or have one meal a day – a bad situation that troubled me for many years.”

A group of people standing in front of a Baptist church in Kasese district with blue sky in the background.
Village savings groups that meet in churches are empowering people across Kasese District.

One day, Yofeli Muhindo, who works for a partner of BMS World Mission in Uganda, told Siwako and Jane about a local village savings group. People living in poverty often can’t afford the interest rates on loans from a bank, and banks aren’t prepared to risk lending to them. Village savings groups bring people together every week to save up small amounts of money so that villagers can take out affordable loans. The total money saved is then shared between group members at the end of the year. Siwako was so inspired by Yofeli’s message and he knew that a village savings group was the way to raise himself and his family out of poverty.

After only five months, Siwako could take out loans. Each group member also received 130,000 Ugandan shillings at the end of the year, which Siwako and Jane used to start a food stall. In 2022, the group shared 160,000 Ugandan shillings, which helped Siwako start his passionfruit business.

Now, Siwako and Jane have enough food to eat and can afford to send their children to school. Last year, the group even shared enough money for Siwako to buy a goat!

“The village savings group has really changed our life from a helpless situation where we could fail to provide food and other needs for our family,” says Siwako. “We are now respected in our community, and people have seen a big change in our lives. We are greatly encouraged to save more as we see a bright future ahead.”

A green passionfruit being held in someone's hand.
Not all passionfruit are purple – some are green!
Joshua addressing church-based trainers and village savings group leaders inside Bwera Baptist Church.
Our partners are training people to run village savings groups in churches like Bwera Baptist Church.

But Siwako knows that none of this would have been possible without God working through the local church. “We praise God for the wonders he does in our lives through his people. God bless the Kasese Association of Baptist Churches Development Committee, Justice Livelihoods Health, and BMS for the good work and support they have offered to transform my life and my entire family.”

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Your generous giving and faithful prayers have made such a difference to the lives of people like Siwako and Jane. They are so grateful for your support, and for the love shown to them by our partners. If you would like to keep giving to the work of BMS’ partners in Uganda, then why not consider becoming one of our 24:7 Partners.

Words by Chris Manktelow 

Your prayers answered!

Day of Prayer 2024

Your prayers answered!

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Your prayers make a real difference across the world. As we gather for the BMS World Mission Day of Prayer on 4 February 2024, take a look at how your prayers from last year have been answered!

You prayed: We give thanks for the safe space that BMS partner All4Aid provides on the Greek island of Lesbos. We pray that as well as practical support, centre users will experience a deep sense of God’s love.

We give thanks to God for how you gave so generously to our Safe Haven appeal to support refugees in Lesbos, Greece. In the most recent issue of Engage, the BMS magazine, we shared about how your support has provided women like Bibi* with food, hygiene items and a warm place to rest and make friends. Our partners in Lesbos, All4Aid, remain determined to provide a safe space for women like Bibi and to share the love of Jesus with everyone who uses the centre. With the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza and unrest in Eritrea, Afghanistan, and Sudan, the work of our partner All4Aid could not be more vital right now. Your support will continue to help refugees rebuild their lives and encounter the love of God as we begin this new year.

A woman using a washing machine at a refugee welcome centre in Lesbos, Greece. The woman has her back to the camera and is wearing a grey headscarf and a cream coat.
You’ve helped provide a safe haven for refugee women on Lesbos to wash their clothes.

You prayed: Almost one in three women have experienced gender-based violence. We pray for those who are in this fight and who will not allow women who have been abused to be forgotten. We pray for justice and dignity for all women and girls.

A Ugandan woman in a blue and white stripy top with a white collar stands in front of an office. She is smiling to the camera.
Amazing Valerie from JLH is helping to bring justice to children in Uganda.

Our partner in Uganda, Justice, Livelihoods and Health (JLH) help to protect young girls from child marriages. They raise awareness of gender injustice and train cultural and religious leaders in the Kasese and Gulu districts of Uganda. One of the girls they work with is a young 14-year-old mother. She and her baby have found a new home where their needs are being met. They have also received sponsorship from good Samaritans in their village to continue her secondary school education. God has answered your prayers, and women in Uganda and across the world are now being treated with the dignity that they deserve.

You prayed: Please pray that we would uphold creation stewardship across all our work, and invest in projects from Uganda to Afghanistan that are combatting food fragility and loss of soil fertility.

Your prayers for God’s creation have made great strides in both protecting our planet and helping those in need. Not only have you helped farmers in Uganda grow bountiful crops in the face of climate change, but you’ve also helped bring a buzzing beehive to the highlands of Afghanistan! BMS worker Ruby* hopes that the beehive will help the community orchard she works on thrive, and bring abundant, healthy food to the local community. Life is still incredibly hard under the de facto leadership of Afghanistan, but we pray that these bees will be a symbol of hope for many.

Bees crawling out of a blue beehive in Afghanistan.
A buzzing beehive in the highlands of Afghanistan!

You prayed: Many women are becoming disciples in North Africa. We pray for BMS partner BigLife to identify four women to be sent to mentor and disciple women there coming to faith in Christ.

A woman in a blue patterned sari worshipping in church. Four other women are in front of her also worshipping.
Women praising God in Kolkata!

Over the last year, several men and women in North Africa have expressed an interest in seeking the Lord. One person gave their life to Jesus and was baptised. God continues to grow the Church in North Africa, especially amongst university students. One student has even started a home group, and he is rejoicing in the Lord, because God has opened so many doors for sharing the gospel in 2023.

In India, a man from a Hindu background has recently become a believer. When he heard the gospel for the first time, he repented of his sins and decided to follow Jesus. His life changed completely, and he was baptised on Christmas Day. Praise God for his salvation! Your generous giving and prayers will help Christians mentor and support these new believers as they begin their journey of faith.

You prayed: BMS has the privilege of telling stories of both joy and difficulty around the world. We pray that BMS would do this sensitively and wisely, honouring those who have trusted us with their life stories.

Over the last year, the BMS Communications Team have worked hard to tell stories sensitively and to honour the people who have entrusted us with their stories. God has even given us opportunities to share how we use stories with the people that BMS works with. Our Days of Plenty appeal featured Barbara, a farmer from Gulu in Uganda. When a BMS filming team visited her, they showed her and her family how they had used her photo in a previous edition of Engage magazine – she and her children were delighted! We are always learning how to improve how we tell stories ethically, and we continue to ask God to guide us in this area of our work.

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Three Ugandan children smile as they look at photos of themselves in a magazine. A third person, out of shot is holding the magazine for them.
Barbara’s children loved reading about themselves in Engage!
What’s more inspiring than abundantly answered prayer?!

If you’re keen to pray with us next Sunday, 4 February, on the BMS Day of Prayer, you can find all the resources you need to run your service right here. We can’t wait to see how God moves through your prayers in 2024!

*Names changed for security reasons.
Words by Chris Manktelow and Laura Durrant.

Help save lives in Ukraine this Christmas

2023: A BMS Year in Review

2023: A BMS Year in Review

Reflecting on the impact you made possible

From conflict in Israel-Gaza and earthquakes in Nepal and Afghanistan, to the extraordinary faith, hope and love shown by BMS World Mission partners and supporters, 2023 has been a year of great highs and lows. God has been faithful through it all, and the new year gives us an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the BMS community. This is our review of 2023.

Transformed Lives in Thailand

A young man in a pool preparing to be baptised
Your support for Helen and Wit means believers like Thew are thriving in their faith.

In 2023 we launched the Thailand Spring appeal and were completely blown away by your generous giving. Because of you, lives across South Thailand have been transformed. You’ve empowered people to pursue their dreams, much like Thew and Suree with their new food stall selling fried chicken and sticky rice. You’ve equipped individuals like Ajarn Arreat to answer the call God has on their lives – Ajarn is one of our newest BMS-supported workers, and she’s faithfully dedicated herself to helping run the church in the village of Ban Dara. Most importantly, you’ve partnered in helping people discover how deep God’s love for them truly is, restoring and healing them. When Helen and Wit Boondekhun first arrived in Thailand over five years ago, there were no churches or believers in the region. Thanks to you, there are now three blossoming churches in the surrounding area, and the church in Wang Daeng is in the process of building a new church site, as they’ve outgrown their current one!

A Season of Change in Chad

Kalbassou and a number of hospital staff are standing around discussing the results shown on the paperwork Kalbassou is holding

It’s been a season of change for the Guinebor II (G2) Hospital in Chad. We waved goodbye to the Shrubsole, Chilvers and Spears families, who are leaving the G2 in the capable hands of Chadian staff and BMS mission workers Claire Bedford and Kalbassou Doubassou. The hospital has also installed new solar panels to replace the dirty and expensive diesel generators that it relied on for electricity during power cuts. Your donations provided 25 per cent of the funds for the solar panels, and we are so grateful for your generosity. BMS mission workers and Chadian staff at G2 and Bardaï hospitals would not be able to care for the sick and share Christ’s love without your prayers and support.

Bringing abundant life in Uganda

Barbara loves her children and wants them grow up happy and healthy. But drought and companies that force farmers to sell at low prices mean that she can’t always afford to pay school fees for her children. Your support for Days of Plenty, the BMS Harvest Appeal for 2023, helped Barbara avoid exploitative middlemen by selling her crops through the co-operative Cek Cam. She also received seeds and agricultural training from BMS partners. Now she can afford to send her children to school and train other women on how to kick-start an abundant harvest. You can learn more about Barbara’s story by checking out the video above!

Women on the Frontline

A compilation image of women from across the world.

At the end of the year, you joined us in praying for COP28, the United Nation’s annual climate conference, hosted in the United Arab Emirates. Sahara told us about how Nepalese women are bearing the brunt of natural disasters and Susan in Uganda shared about how conflict over scarce water is causing domestic violence. You also faithfully prayed for our gender justice champions and joined in with 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. Your dedicated prayers help BMS partners come alongside women in faith and action as they both steward God’s beautiful creation, and boldly champion gender justice in their communities.

Hope amid Disaster

A crowd of people stand around a large lorry in the mountains of Nepal as it unloads relief aid for the village
A recent earthquake in Nepal has had a devastating effect in the districts of Jajarkot and West Rukum. Your support is bringing vital, long-term relief to people in desperate need there.

War broke out this autumn in Israel-Gaza, and in Armenia. It was tragic to watch these conflicts unfold on our TV screens, but your prayers and generous giving do make a difference. Our partners in the Middle East and Europe are deeply grateful for your prayers, and your support is helping displaced Armenians rebuild their lives. We would also like to thank you for how you gave so generously after earthquakes struck Türkiye and Syria, Afghanistan and Nepal. Your prayers and donations meant that communities received the food, shelter and mental health support that they need in the aftermath of disaster.

Thank You!

Thank you so much for the difference you’ve made in 2023. Without your generous giving, faithful prayers and dedicated volunteering, our work would not be possible. As 2024 begins, you can be sure that your support will help even more people across the world hear the good news about Jesus and experience fullness of life through Christ.

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Words by Chris Manktelow and Ed Axtell
BMS World Mission

Living life through the lens

Living life through the lens

On a 2022 BMS World Mission story-gathering trip to northern Uganda, local-born photojournalist Jesse Johnson James Muto opened up about the heart behind his shutter clicks.

I was born the son of journalist in Gulu and have watched my hometown grow from a municipality and into a city. My father used to come home with his camera, and I’d play around with it. I really connected with the idea of viewing people through the lens. 

A photographer from JLH standing outside the offices, smiling.

I dreamt of owning a camera of my own. After getting myself a job as a bricklayer, I eventually made enough money to buy my first, a Canon 1300D. 

A Ugandan farmer standing in her crop field, smiling

Moving through the different communities for this assignment and seeing so many smiles brought me such joy, which I really tried to capture in these photos. My father reported on the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency that lasted over 20 years and caused so much unrest in this part of the country. It left people traumatised and without hope or happiness. 

BMS worker sitting outside a house with an old lady, holding a clipboard

I love that we are moving now from that point of depression and anger to a point of joy. It gives me hope when I see people happy with the lives they’re living. I just hope that we continue progressing until we reach where we want to be. 

An older Ugandan man sitting outside his home smiling

I felt privileged to capture the lives of women working so hard to change the stories of their families, that really stood out for me. In the past men were the ones who used to work hard in farming, but now the story is changing, the narrative is changing. 

A group of three Ugandan ladies standing in a field smiling

We are seeing women working so hard to change stories of their families. And as a storyteller, I love being part of passing on the stories of their lives, these stories inform, they educate, and they also build connections between people. 

A Ugandan lady with a large bunch of green bananas on her head, smiling
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Interview by Laura Durrant, Editor of Engage, BMS World Mission
Photos by Jesse Johnson James Muto

Thank you!

Your support is making the transformation captured by Jesse possible — thank you. Stirred to join BMS partner Justice Livelihoods Health to empower farmers in Uganda? It’s not too late to host a Days of Plenty service at your church! Visit the Days of Plenty appeal page to find out more.

Meet your team

Meet your team!

Everyone who works at BMS World Mission partner Justice Livelihoods Health (JLH) has a faithful passion to help those in need. And this harvest, you can join them! Meet your new teammates below, and find out more about how you can help transform lives in Uganda.

In Gulu, Uganda, a dynamic team is changing lives every day. Their aim? To see everyone in their community thrive, by helping them with access to legal justice, abundant livelihoods and flourishing health. You may have heard of them before, because the story of how they’ve come alongside farmers like Barbara is the focus of this year’s BMS World Mission Harvest appeal. And when you partner with them, they’re not just a team. They’re your team. Get to know them below!

Meet the JLH team and discover their vision for a flourishing Uganda!

Jimmy and Phionah Okello

A man and a woman standing outside of a building, both are smiling

“When I think about JLH, I think about gospel hope, transformation and a new life in Jesus Christ.” – Jimmy

Roles: Jimmy is a pastor and works in church engagement, Phionah works in accounting.

Jimmy and Phionah are passionate about seeing Christians in Gulu thrive. With their JLH hats on, Jimmy runs training for local church leaders to help their ministries go from strength to strength, and Phionah offers crucial accounting support for the JLH team. You’ll also find Jimmy and Phionah serving at University Community Church, where Jimmy is the pastor and where Phionah serves on the worship team, bringing the light of Christ to students at Gulu University.

“The thing I love most about my job is that I get to be the lubricant that helps the JLH machine keep running.” – Phionah

Susan Blanch Alal

a woman in a coloured and patterned dress, standing outside of a building, smiling

“Something that I enjoy about my job is ensuring proper co-ordination of JLH programmes, creating linkages with other partners and mentoring and coaching staff.” – Susan

Role: Programme Co-ordinator

You’ll find Susan overseeing all the different projects JLH runs, from speech and language therapy to child protection, borehole drilling and agricultural projects. Susan is often out in the field meeting the people that JLH support, and helping make sure everything is running smoothly across the board!

Benon Kayanja

A man standing outside of a building, smiling.

“When I think about JLH, I think about social justice, securing people’s livelihoods and good health.” – Benon

Role: BMS mission worker, Head of JLH

Benon’s vision is for a Uganda transformed through God’s power. Based in Kampala, Benon’s role is to head up the JLH team. As well as overseeing the running of JLH, he also works with Baptist churches in nearby Kasese, encouraging and supporting them in their local ministries.

Wilson Okelokoko

a man in a dark blue shirt, standing outside of a building smiling.

“When I think of JLH, I think of partnership and teamwork.” – Wilson

Role: Cek Cam Manager

Wilson manages the Cek Cam (pronounced ‘chek cham’) storehouse, helping farmers store their produce safely before selling it on at local markets. His job is crucial in making sure that farmers get a fair price for their crops. When farmers can earn up to 30 per cent more by selling through Cek Cam, Wilson plays a hugely important role in helping local families improve their livelihoods.

Genesis Acaye

a man in a red and blue checked shirt, standing in a farmers field, smiling.

“My favourite thing about my job is interacting with farmers, sharing ideas and learning from one another how to grow crops, get better yields and better livelihoods.” – Genesis

Role: Agriculturalist, BMS mission worker

You’ll often find Genesis visiting local farmers, delivering training and giving advice to make sure their crops are growing as well as they can. He travels to different farms on his trusty motorbike, building relationships and offering help where needed. In a country so affected by wildfires, droughts and erratic weather, his bountiful knowledge of Uganda’s flora is pivotal to helping crops thrive and growing plentiful harvests!

You're part of the team

Your support is crucial to helping the JLH team reach people in need across Uganda. Each staff member is supported by BMS donations, and they truly can’t do it without you. If you want to join the JLH team in bringing abundant life to farmers in Gulu this harvest, why not host a Days of Plenty service at your church? Visit the Days of Plenty appeal page to find out more.

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Words by Laura Durrant
Editor of Engage, the BMS World Mission magazine

Days of Plenty

Days of Plenty

Bring lasting hope to farmers like Barbara this harvest

Wildfires. Famines. Climate change. And years of civil war that left farmers rebuilding their lives from scratch.

Life in Gulu, Uganda isn’t easy. But the people who live there can see a brighter future ahead. Hear how BMS World Mission’s local partner has found a life-changing solution to the challenges facing farmers like Barbara in the Days of Plenty Harvest video. Then, learn how you’re invited to join in, making incredible change happen.

Barbara sitting outside her home with her four children

Barbara loves her children and would do anything to see them grow up healthy and strong. This harvest, your church is invited to come alongside hardworking farmers like her to bring lasting hope to their families. Could you save the date to host a Days of Plenty service this harvest?

How will your gifts make a difference?
  • A gift of £12 could enable a farmer like Barbara to sell their crops through Cek Cam and earn up to 30 per cent more for their family.
  • With £38, you could buy a specialised crop like onions for a household to plant, kick-starting an abundant harvest.
  • £86 could cover a week’s wages for a worker to meet the spiritual needs of people in Gulu, as well as helping their physical needs.

Gifts to the Days of Plenty appeal will be used to support BMS agricultural work in Uganda. If our appeal target is exceeded, we will use additional funds to support urgent BMS work in other parts of the world.

I want to help

…in days of famine they will enjoy plenty
Psalm 37: 19



What is Days of Plenty?

Days of Plenty is a video appeal resource, created by BMS for your church. Use it at harvest time or throughout the year to help your congregation engage with the urgent challenges facing by farmers in Uganda. Collect a harvest offering or encourage individuals to give using the price points above, and see how you can bring about lasting transformation for Ugandan families in real need.

Days of Plenty resources to download or order

We’ve created all the resources you’ll need to support Days of Plenty, taking the hard work out of hosting a harvest service. They’re copyright-free and free to download, ideal for online services, in-person gatherings, youth groups, prayer meetings and mission Sundays.

There is love here

Inspirational church ministry from Uganda

There is love here

Praying for this

Jimmy and Phionah Okello are an amazing and faithful couple. And their student ministry in Gulu, Uganda, is a clear example of abundant life, blessed by God. BMS World Mission’s Writer, Laura Durrant, caught up with them on a recent trip to Gulu, where she got to experience this wonderful ministry that you support, first-hand.

There is love here. That’s what I think when we pile out of the car and hurry into the building of University Community Church (UCC) in Gulu. It’s a building I know well, having seen it in photos many times during my time at BMS World Mission, and I’m a bit overwhelmed to be here experiencing it in real life. Even more exciting though is being greeted by Phionah Okello on the door as we rush in to take our seats – the service is about to start. Phionah, and her husband Jimmy, are well known in the BMS office back home. To meet them in person and experience their ministry first-hand is such a privilege, and I’m excited to learn more about how God is leading them.

A church building in Uganda made out of half brick wall and half bamboo walls.
Jimmy and Phionah planted University Community Church eight years ago.

Jimmy and Phionah knew from their university days in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, that God was calling them to minister to students – and for Phionah in particular, it’s a beautiful completion of her own journey to faith. When she first went to university, it felt like her first experience of real freedom after spending most of her education at boarding school. She planned to work in a bank and make lots of money – but that all changed when she met some Christians on campus. “I felt like they came at the right time and I came to know the Lord at the right time,” Phionah says. “Imagine if no-one had come to me, I would be lost, completely lost forever.” Phionah and Jimmy met at their church in Kampala, and remained involved in the campus ministry for a number of years. That’s until they felt the Lord calling them to move up north and plant a church at Gulu University.

Two photos put together of a Ugandan woman and man smiling at the camera.
Jimmy and Phionah followed God's call to minister to students in Gulu.

Eight years later, they’ve built a warm, strong community at UCC – but ministering to students isn’t without its challenges. “It’s so transient and it can be discouraging,” explains Phionah. “Because every three years almost half of the church is gone and you have different people.” But despite the impermanence of the context they’re in, they’re able to offer a safe space for these young people experiencing a huge change in their lives to share their struggles and find hope. “What we’ve seen is that because of our stability, we’ve become a light in that community,” says Jimmy. And that light doesn’t just touch Gulu. The university isn’t just a mission field, it’s also a mission base. Jimmy and Phionah are able to disciple the students they meet to become disciple-makers, so they can continue to share the gospel in their new communities once they leave university.

Many churches in the UK struggle with engaging with young people, but Jimmy and Phionah don’t have a secret formula when it comes to their student ministry. They simply spend their time building strong relationships with the young people in their community, and are available to help them whenever they can. “If you build a relationship of trust, [the students] can listen to you and bring their issues to you,” Jimmy explains. It’s a principle Jimmy and Phionah take to their work outside of UCC with BMS World Mission partner Justice Livelihoods Health (JLH), where Phionah helps with administration and finance, and Jimmy runs outreach and training for local church leaders. “I get the opportunity to share some of my skills and abilities in leadership, which I use at UCC to equip other pastors in different churches,” says Jimmy. “Being able to share with them from what I have so that they’re able to lead more effectively and be equipped is really a beautiful thing.” For Jimmy and Phionah, emulating God’s love is the foundation of their ministry.

People praying in church in Uganda
A woman speaking in church in Uganda. She's wearing a pink top.
The community is thriving at UCC and many students have come to faith and grown in faith thanks to the ministry here.

There is love here. Not just at UCC, but in this community, in this city. I see love in the worship and welcome we receive at UCC. And I see it throughout the rest of the week we spend in Gulu, in the devotions shared between colleagues at JLH, in the worship of a church savings group, in the laughter shared between a mother and her children, the stories shared between a grandmother and her granddaughter. It’s my main take away from our visit to Gulu: that with God’s unfailing love abounding, any life can be lived with abundance.

Jimmy and Phionah would love for you to pray with them, for UCC and their wider ministry.

  • Please pray for a permanent building for UCC, so they can continue to provide a safe and stable environment for the students they minister to.
  • Pray for students to have open hearts to the gospel message and that they would develop personal relationships with God.
  • Pray for the Lord to bless Jimmy and Phionah with wisdom in their ministry, so that they can continue to bring people to faith and create disciple-makers in Uganda.
  • Pray that God will raise up more leaders within UCC to help share the load of the ministry.
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Words by Laura Durrant, Editor of Engage, the BMS magazine.

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

A global cost of living crisis: your response

A global cost of living crisis: your response

Thank you for bringing hope

In the midst of a global cost of living crisis, you helped people like Richard to survive, thrive and have hope. Read on to find out how your gifts have helped families across Uganda, Lebanon, Nepal and beyond.

Relief, hope and delight. When Benon Kayanja first heard about the response of BMS World Mission supporters to our Global Cost of Living Crisis appeal, launched back in July, he couldn’t have felt more encouraged. Benon is one of BMS’ mission workers based in Uganda, and, like many of our workers, he’s seen first-hand the devastating impact that the Ukraine war has had on families around him. Fuel and food prices were on the rise, sometimes more than doubling. Wisdom from leaders was that the only way to handle the crisis was to live more frugally. But people like Richard, a farmer living in Gulu, were already struggling to feed their families, sometimes surviving on just one meal a day. With exploitative middlemen ready to make a tidy profit from farmers who could no longer afford to transport their crops to market themselves, it felt to Benon and his colleagues that bridging the gap to meet essential needs was impossible.

Benon Kayanja is one of BMS’ mission workers based in Uganda.
Benon Kayanja has seen first-hand the devastating impact that the Ukraine war has had on ordinary families.
Richard, a farmer in Uganda, stands in front of his crops.
Your gifts will help farmers like Richard to support their families through the crisis.

Wonderfully, BMS supporters read Richard’s story and responded with incredible generosity – despite many families in the UK facing their own worries about escalating living costs this autumn. You raised over £96,000 to support projects in Uganda, Lebanon and Nepal that are helping families to weather this crisis – as well as shoring up similar work right across the world.

“As the planting season begins again in Uganda, my team is excited for all the support we can bring to small-scale farmers,” explains Benon. “Thanks to the incredible amount raised through this appeal, we are able to increase the number of farmers we can provide seedlings to. This will have an amazing knock-on effect, meaning a greater number of farmers can provide vital food and help generate income for their families.”

But Benon’s plans to bring transformation don’t stop there. Together with his colleague, BMS Agriculturist Genesis Acaye, he’s devised a way to help farmers avoid exploitative middlemen altogether, protecting their precious profit margins. They’re calling the project Cek Cam, meaning, fittingly, ’abundant food’.

How does Cek Cam work?

Cek Cam cuts out the middleman and buys produce at a good price. Excellent storage facilities mean communities of farmers are able to store their produce, wait until they have a large enough quantity and identify when the market prices are high. Produce sold through Cek Cam results in a competitive price which is split fairly between the farmers so they can buy more seeds. In fact, farmers like Richard earn as much as 35 per cent more when they sell through Cek Cam. Thank you for making all this possible. The plans are to help over 1,000 farmers by the end of the first year!

“Seeing the farmers doing better gives me joy,” adds Genesis, who uses his extensive agricultural experience to mentor farmers out in the fields of Gulu, northern Uganda. “Richard is among the farmers who have worked really hard to help their communities. We have given him the skillset to grow his sugarcane, and I’m also really happy that we have been able to help him with transporting his crops to market at a reduced cost. Thanks to your support, initiatives like Cek Cam are really making a massive difference.”

BMS Agriculturalist Genesis uses his extensive experience to mentor farmers.
BMS Agriculturalist Genesis uses his extensive experience to mentor farmers.
Doreen, Richard's wife, smiles with her crops.
Richard and his wife, Doreen (pictured), have been able to transport their sugarcane to market at a reduced cost.

But in a crisis with a truly global impact, your gifts have stretched beyond Uganda to support vulnerable families in places like Lebanon and Nepal, too. In Nepal, farmers have been given access to veterinary training and breeding goats that will boost their income. And in Lebanon, families are feeling hopeful for the first time in years. “I am 100 per cent sure that God is here and he listens to our prayers,” says Maha*, a Syrian mother whose family you supported through the appeal.

When Maha and her husband Mahmoud* fled Aleppo in 2013 with their three small children, they left behind everything they had ever known. Their first winter in Lebanon, the family of five slept on one mattress with a single blanket to keep them warm. Things haven’t been easy in Lebanon since their arrival, but there have been two big changes that have given Maha renewed hope. One is the presence of a BMS-supported Church Learning Centre that has given her children back the education that was snatched from them when they left Syria. The other is the family’s faith in Jesus. “The kids are still at the centre,” says Mahmoud, “and are very happy there. They feel valued and they love their teachers dearly. They’ve kept on learning English, Arabic, and mathematics, and they have art lessons. The centre has been our safe haven.”

A BMS-supported Church Learning Centre in Lebanon has given Syrian refugee families renewed hope.
A BMS-supported Church Learning Centre in Lebanon has given Syrian refugee families renewed hope.

“Jesus does not give up on us,” Maha continues. “Now I have faith that God has a better plan for me.” As the war in Ukraine continues and other economic factors add their own pressures, it’s clear the cost of living crisis isn’t over yet. And yet your generous response means that vulnerable people across the world will still be reached with life-changing help. Please pray that God would guide our finances and our prayers as we continue to support the most vulnerable families in Uganda, Lebanon and Nepal. Thank you again for your generous gift and for standing with Richard, Mahmoud and Maha in these desperate times.

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*Names changed.
Words by Hannah Watson
Editor of Engage, the BMS World Mission magazine

Global Cost of Living Crisis appeal

Global Cost of Living Crisis appeal

Support global communities crushed by the conflict

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, out-of-control food and fuel prices are driving vulnerable people across the world to starvation and deprivation.

Wide view of refugee camp in Lebanon
Can you help your neighbours in places like Lebanon who are facing devastating price rises?

Your gift to support the first wave of Ukrainian war survivors was priceless. Thank you so much for helping those fleeing the conflict. But now the war in Ukraine has driven the cost of living through the roof. We’re seeing fuel and food prices skyrocket, leaving the most vulnerable families reeling from the increased cost of living.

It’s hard to imagine how a war in Europe can have such a terrifying global impact.

For Richard, a small-scale sugarcane farmer who lives in the north of Uganda, it means reducing his family’s meals to just one a day – and sometimes all they eat is a piece of bread with a cup of tea. Vulnerable Syrian refugee families like Julie’s are unable to pay the transport costs to get to work, let alone afford rent or food. And it’s the same story in places like Nepal too.

How can I help?
  • £29 could give a family in Nepal access to breeding goats and veterinary training to rear healthy and productive animals
  • £88 could buy the seedlings that Richard and ten of his fellow farmers need to provide vital food and help generate income for their families
  • £160 could provide a young Syrian refugee in Lebanon with vocational training and schooling, giving them the chance to forge a new future
Give now

And it’s not just in Lebanon. Communities in Nepal, Uganda, Chad, Mozambique and Sri Lanka are already contacting us in real fear of what the coming weeks and months will look like. We’re already supporting projects helping people make enough money – or grow enough food – to help sustain themselves and their families, and to keep their children in school.

But even as their income increases, rising fuel and food prices mean it almost makes no difference. We need your help, right now, to double down on these projects and make a lasting impact on the poorest people in the world.

Will you give today?





Other ways to give

  • Call the BMS donation line on 01235 517641, Monday to Friday, between 10 am and 4 pm
  • Send a cheque made payable to BMS World Mission with a note that this is for the Global Cost of Living Crisis appeal
  • Give regularly and provide support in the longer term through BMS’ work across the world
I'd like to give regularly
Richard with his crops in the background
You can help farmers like Richard provide food for his family.
Photo of Julie with her family
Young Syrian refugees like Julie need your support in Lebanon

Can you help shield the world’s poorest communities from the effects of the war in Ukraine?

Whatever you can give today will make a difference.
But these countries also need our urgent prayer.
Download this prayer PowerPoint to guide your church’s prayers this Sunday.

Give now
Download the prayer PowerPoint

Your gift in response to the global cost of living crisis will be used to support communities in the world’s most marginalised countries
that are affected by the impact of the war in Ukraine.

Nothing’s stopped

Nothing’s stopped

A Q&A from Uganda

For over a decade, many of you have been faithfully praying and supporting BMS World Mission workers Joe and Lois Ovenden and Linda and Tim Darby. Now their time in Uganda has come to a close, we caught up with them about their reflections on serving with BMS– and the exciting plans for the BMS-supported team still there!

Hi Tim and Linda, Joe and Lois, it’s great to chat! We’d love to know: how did you think God was going to use you out in Uganda and how were you surprised by how God did end up using you there?

Linda Darby: I thought I would be in an office and managing the staff that were already there but actually God used my legal skills within the field, networking with local government, doing advocacy work and starting new projects. I didn’t foresee the child protection work either.

Tim Darby: I went with a completely blank slate. I started off doing a baseline assessment [for clean water provision in Gulu] and looking at rural areas, seeing what the situation was and how it could be improved. And then the borehole projects came out from that. It was quite freeing knowing that I could, within reason, do what I felt needed to be done based on the research.

Two families stood next to eachother

Lois and Joe Ovenden: I think one of the things we were surprised by was that being a safe space for other overseas workers felt like an important part of what God had asked us to do in Uganda too. That is something we ended up doing a lot of, being a community hub for long stretches of time. And because of the amount of support that we had from BMS, that gave us the capacity to be a support for other people.

Is there an encouraging moment that stands out to you from your time in Uganda?

Linda: I was really encouraged by the development within the team. Like seeing Jolly, who is the [BMS-supported] legal manager, from the beginning of her first year as a student and seeing her confidence, spirituality, and her heart and passion for the community around her grow. That was so encouraging to walk with her.

Tim: Yes, I think I was more encouraged by people than by the actual projects themselves. When you develop people’s skills then the projects kind of follow much more naturally.

Lois: One that comes to mind was being invited to the Gulu Down Syndrome support group meeting. That I was being invited to it! I wasn’t organising it, I didn’t set it up. They’re running it, these mums, and dads and also an uncle now, which is really encouraging. That I was now the invited guest as opposed to me trying to get everybody to come, that was super encouraging.

Joe: I think just seeing the team that we’ve built and the people we’ve had the privilege of working with – and thinking, you’re really sound, really functional and have lots of different skills and great working relationships. Knowing that all the ingredients are there for the work to be successful, and that it’s the right thing for us to be moving out the way.

A man in a white t shirt
Isaac has taken over Lois' work at the BMS-supported speech and language therapy clinic in Gulu.

How have you seen a passion for mission lived out in your colleagues?

A man and a woman
Jimmy and Phiona serve University Community Church in Gulu.

Linda: When interviewing for all of the jobs [at BMS partner Ugandan Lawyer’s Christian Fellowship], they put a lot of emphasis on spirituality and character, and seeing the team that is in Uganda right now, they’re strong characters. Strong characters who live their faith out every day, who have a heart for the vulnerable and marginalised members in the community.

Lois: The generosity of people like [BMS-supported workers] Jimmy and Phiona. The church fasts for January, so you eat in the evening at around 6 pm. And they would feed the church every night at their home. They live by faith, really, their whole lives just seem like they give endlessly of themselves and their time. They’re just an open door all the time, and they have a wider sense of family and community. Our Ugandan colleagues have got an amazing, intertwined life that is just being Jesus to people all the time.

What would you say to UK churches about the work that’s still going on in Uganda?

Tim: I think we’re excited that nothing’s stopped. Not a single project that either of us or the Ovendens started is ending now that we’re leaving. All of the work is still going on, it’s just being done by other people and they still need support and they still need prayer just as much as we did.

Linda: I think we would really encourage UK churches to continue both financially supporting the work in Uganda, but praying too. I believe that the success of the projects has been through their prayer. Just prayer for the team in Uganda, how the community perceives them, that they will be a light and that they will continue working the way they have been.

A man and a woman in Uganda
Please pray for BMS workers Genesis Acaye and Benon Kayanja.
A man in a blue coat

Lois and Joe: Philippians 1: 6 talks about taking work to completion. Our part here is completed but the work isn’t finishing. We’ve just done our leg of the relay. And the baton’s already handed on and they’re already running! We’d love to encourage people to support Benon and Genesis [and our other Ugandan colleagues] and to see that work flourish. All of the strands of the work are carrying on and still need support and prayer and finances, but they’re carrying on with our Ugandan colleagues taking the lead and that’s really encouraging.

You must have been shown some amazing displays of support from UK Christians, so if you had any last messages, what would you want to say?

Linda and Tim: We would say thank you and that we are truly grateful. We’ve had such encouragement, emails, messages. When we visited churches we were sometimes totally blown away by how many people have been praying faithfully about every stage, from us arriving to us leaving. We’re just very, very grateful for their generosity, their time, their effort in reading our prayer letters and in keeping in contact with us.

Lois and Joe: We can’t really overemphasize how grateful we are for the faithfulness of people’s support. It is an amazing privilege to have people who you don’t know genuinely pray for you regularly. It never really ceased to amaze us how faithful people are in prayer and support and financial giving. They’re just incredible. So we just want to thank people for that, really, genuinely from the bottom of our hearts and ask that they will continue to pray for the work and for our colleagues and for BMS.

Two couples cutting a cake

Thank you so much for supporting the Darbys and the Ovendens during their time serving with BMS. If you want to continue supporting and praying for BMS-supported work in Uganda, why not start by signing up to support BMS workers Benon Kayanja  and Genesis Acaye as a 24:7 Partner!

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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.

Celebrating Alice

The businesswoman sharing out success in Uganda

Celebrating Alice

After marking International Women’s Day earlier this week, we’re celebrating Alice, the entrepreneur baker who’s made it her mission to support other aspiring businesswomen in Uganda.

As with all the best stories, it started with a cake. Picture the scene: a group of women gathered around, assessing the first batch of sweet-smelling treats emerging from the oven as together, they set up their new café. But Alice’s story isn’t the idyllic tale of a group of friends fulfilling a long-awaited dream. Jambo café was born out of necessity – and the journey to success certainly wasn’t easy.

Alice lives in Kasese, a town in Western Uganda. It’s home, but that doesn’t mean life there is without its challenges. Those challenges are ones Alice sees up close through her husband Alphonse’s work as a pastor. “Alphonse does a great job,” explains Alice. “He works with people on the streets, like those who get drunk. And sometimes he works with street children, helping them.”

A typical night for Alphonse might look like transporting people under the influence of alcohol or drugs back to a safe space at his church to recover, or getting accommodation and a means of income to children on the street who had been orphaned or who had run away from home. That’s in between his day job of equipping pastors to share the Bible. “When I look at him, I can really see that God gives some people to do tasks that you can’t manage,” says Alice.

It’s this same work ethic displayed by Alphonse that infuses all that Alice has achieved too. In fact, Alphonse’s work is intricately tied up with Alice’s plans to start the café at the centre of this story. Although Alice was already selling beaded jewellery at home and working as a mother to six children, with Alphonse’s work as a pastor taking up much of his time, money was hard to come by. Alice could see other hardworking women at her church struggling to make an income too.

Two women outside a café in Uganda
Jambo Café was a lifeline for Alice and other women in her community.
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A chocolate brownie
Alice's chocolate brownies are the only ones available in the western region of Uganda!

“To tell you the truth, we didn’t have that culture of saving,” explains Alice. “I was doing my crafts and I would get customers once in a while. So you’re always hungry. There was never enough money and there are a lot of things you would love to have.”

It was BMS World Mission worker Bethan Shrubsole who first changed Alice’s mind about what she could do with even a limited amount of savings. Bethan (now serving with BMS in Chad) was at that time serving in Uganda, and soon a group of women formed around her, looking for a business idea to invest in. “So when Bethan came up with the idea of a café, I saw it as an opportunity,” says Alice. “I could sell my crafts from there, and indeed it happened. I’ve been selling crafts since Jambo was started.”

Crafts weren’t the only thing available at Jambo Café. Alice’s menu was filled with mouth-watering treats, from her famous chocolate brownies and pumpkin pie to pizza and cookies. While a grant from BMS supporters bought Alice her oven, it was savings from the ladies themselves that purchased the fridge, plates, cutlery and cups for Jambo’s grand opening. It wasn’t long before traditional Ugandan fare like matoke and pilau made it onto the menu too, making the café truly accessible for locals as well as for tourists and passers-through. More recently, Alice has also offered a service making wedding and celebration cakes, a favourite with families from Kasese.

When you ask Alice what makes Jambo special, the answers are wide-ranging. Perhaps it’s the chocolate brownies, the only ones available in the whole western region of Uganda. Perhaps it’s the warm welcome you receive from the Jambo team, always with smiles on their faces and a listening ear. Perhaps it’s the Alpha course she was able to run at the café with the help of Alphonse. “Because of what I have seen, how I’ve been loved, how I have good friends, that’s why I share my faith,” she adds. But for International Women’s Day, we’d like to focus in on another aspect of what makes Jambo Café so special: the way Alice has used her proceeds to bless others.

Two women in a café.
BMS worker Bethan Shrubsole originally gave Alice the idea of starting Jambo Café.

“We saw that other women had helped us to begin Jambo. So, we thought that skill should continue to help others also,” Alice explains. “Like recently, there was a widow whose husband used to stay here in Kasese before he passed on last year, in July. So she had a hard time because when her husband died, he had children from another woman.” When Alice and her team saw the situation this young widow was in, with four children to look after, their hearts went out to her. “She had no help from the husband’s side, so we sat down and thought that it would be better to help her. She’s only 26.” Alice saw the young lady had tailoring skills, so together, the women of Jambo Café purchased her enough fabrics to get started. Helping this young lady reminded Alice of how she started out with Jambo Café. “If it wasn’t for BMS supporters, then we wouldn’t have been helped. If it wasn’t for Jambo, then the young widow wouldn’t have been helped. Even she is also going to help others now… That’s the blessing of giving help,” Alice explains.

As Alice reflects on her hopes for the future, she talks about the sunflowers she hopes to plant outside of Jambo Café, and the wish she has for every woman in Uganda to have the chance to earn something for herself. Her final words, however, are for BMS supporters. “To the people in the UK, I say thank you for your good hearts,” says Alice. “If it wasn’t for BMS, Bethan wouldn’t have come to share this idea with us. Now women [in Kasese] have seen that there is nothing even a small money can’t make possible.”

Jambo's legacy

Jambo Café opened on 4 March 2013 and has just enjoyed another anniversary. During the pandemic, it was the custom of local people that kept Jambo going and that allowed Alice to help vulnerable women in her community. Thank you so much for helping make Alice’s café a reality, one where the impact of mission has lasted far beyond the initial act of generosity. Thanks to you, the blessings have continued to be handed on even now, woman to woman.

Words by Hannah Watson.

Meet Lucy

Her story, her son, and the incredible difference you made

Meet Lucy

Meet Lucy, a mother in Uganda with a story to tell. It’s a story of resilience, of bringing up a wonderful son with special needs, and of the support you gave her through the BMS World Mission Uganda Child Protection appeal.

“Jeremiah is an active boy,” says Lucy. “He makes me laugh a lot, especially when he is doing his activities. He has also a sister. When they are playing they like to call me, ‘Mommy, mommy, come and see. Mommy, mommy, we dance for you.'” Hearing Lucy talk about her son Jeremiah, it’s hard not to be left smiling at the sweet scene she describes. Two children dancing happily for their mother. A house full of activity and laughter. A brother and sister playing together. It sounds idyllic. But as any parent knows, raising a family comes with challenges and heartbreak too.

A mother in Uganda hugs her four-year-old son.
Lucy’s favourite thing about her son, Jeremiah, is the way he makes her laugh.

It’s been two years since Lucy started bringing Jeremiah to a BMS World Mission-supported speech and language therapy clinic near where they live in Gulu, Uganda. The journey to reach this point hasn’t been easy. After a healthy birth, Lucy was filled with worry when Jeremiah developed neonatal jaundice as a newborn. While the jaundice was spotted and treated, it wasn’t until Jeremiah was older that Lucy realised that he was missing the milestones that she had expected to see as he grew. “I started asking myself what the problem could be,” she says. “I had to go to the hospital for more inquiries.” Months of monitoring and physiotherapy followed as medical staff investigated why Jeremiah wasn’t able to move independently or sit up. It was a year before a doctor was able to diagnose Jeremiah with cerebral palsy.

At two years old, Lucy still hadn’t seen much change in Jeremiah’s development. Determined to do the best for her son, she began reading more and more about his condition. “I realised that the milestones are going to be slow… but I should not give up,” she says. It was then that a referral from the hospital changed everything. Lucy was given the details for BMS-supported worker Isaac’s speech and language therapy clinic – the same clinic that BMS supporters raised an incredible £59,900 for, alongside other work, as part of our recent Uganda Child Protection appeal.

The clinic is the first of its kind in Gulu, but through Isaac’s work, it’s already having an amazing impact. “Isaac helped me a lot,” says Lucy. Within five months, Jeremiah was sitting up on his own. Now, a year and a half on, he’s up on his feet, walking and dancing. It’s seeing Jeremiah’s incredible progress that spurs Lucy on to think about what they can do together next, with Isaac’s help. Their next goal is working on Jeremiah’s speech, in preparation for sending him to school.

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BMS-supported worker Issac.
You've enabled Isaac to make an incredible difference.

The speech and language therapy that BMS supporters made available to Lucy has transformed life for Jeremiah, but it’s also transformed Lucy’s experience as a mother. “It’s helped me a lot as a parent,” she says. Lucy feels much happier knowing she’s doing the best for her son, whatever the challenges they face. She’s also able to leave him in the care of others for the first time while she goes back to work, meaning she can earn precious income for the family and know he’ll be well looked after without her. There’s just one thing that Lucy would change, and that would be knowing about the clinic earlier. She had no idea that this kind of help was available for parents like her before her referral, and she’s keen that the radio broadcasts Isaac has been doing to raise awareness of this often-overlooked issue in Uganda reach as many people as possible.

In fact, Lucy dreams of a future for her community where conditions like Jeremiah’s are discussed more openly and where support is sign-posted. “I would wish that if there is a neighbor or someone, maybe who is walking and sees a kid [like Jeremiah], they should be concerned to follow up on how that child is… If they cannot help him or her, they should at least check whether their parent knows [about the clinic] or direct them to such a place,” she says. With each parent and child helped through your support, that future is one step closer to becoming a reality. Lucy knows that her son will always need special care, and she’s got a message for other people who might encounter children like Jeremiah. “These children, we look at them as not important but they are very important… especially in the care we should give.”

Disabilities in Uganda and around the world fact-box.
Thank you!

If you’re one of the many supporters who gave to the BMS Uganda Child protection appeal, thank you so much for displaying that care Lucy talks about. You saw children like Jeremiah as important, and your actions reflected God’s love for them. It’s changed Lucy’s life. And it’s given her a powerful story to tell.

Words by Hannah Watson, Editor of Engage magazine.

School’s out forever?

School’s out forever?

The BMS projects fighting to keep kids in school

The past two years of on-off school closures have brought home one thing: how important it is for children around the world to have access to education. In the run-up to the International Day of Education on 24 January, we’re shining a light on BMS World Mission projects fighting to make that right a reality.

Uganda

Grace’s big dream is for her son to go to school. He’s not yet three years old, and for many children at that age and stage, primary school might seem a little way off. But Ephrahim’s not just any little boy. In his early life, he struggled with speech delay, and Grace knows that schools in Uganda are very reluctant to take children with disabilities or additional needs. These concerns for Ephrahim’s future used to fill Grace with fear, until she explained her worries to a friend at the market. “She said there are some people,” says Grace. “An organisation that is helping people with this problem.” That organisation was a speech and language therapy clinic in Gulu, Uganda that BMS supporters have enabled to open and run.

Thanks to specialised therapy at the clinic, Ephrahim has started to ask for what he wants and needs – and Grace feels confident about enrolling him in school. BMS-supported speech and language therapist Isaac is also working to make links with schools and tackle the stigma the children he works with can face. “We are lucky to have this organisation,” says Grace. “Because it used not to be there.” Thanks to BMS supporters, children living with disabilities in Gulu are no longer being left behind.

You can support Isaac’s important work right now. Please give today.
A woman and child in Uganda

Nepal

School boy at a desk in Nepal

A little boy sits outside a classroom on a bench. He’s not in time-out – this is October 2021, and he’s doing his best to access his school lesson while staying at a safe distance, as Covid-19 surges across Nepal. Inside the classroom, two girls sit metres away from their teacher. They don’t own a computer or mobile device to join the lesson like some of their other school friends who are being taught from home on Zoom.

Now that the threat of Omicron is forcing schools in Nepal to close again, all these children will be at home, where they’ve already spent 18 months of their education. They come from a community where 85 per cent of people don’t have access to a smart phone or the internet, and where 70 per cent belong to the most disadvantaged people groups in Nepal’s caste system.
Thankfully, that’s not the end of the story. Although schools are closed once more, BMS’ partners aren’t shutting up shop. A grant funded by BMS supporters is providing a computer lab for a school in Lamjung district, so that teachers can host online lessons, and children can access essential content while gaining valuable computing skills. Plans are also in the works for the computers to also be made accessible outside of school hours, for job seekers who have lost their daily-wage income. Thanks to BMS supporters, this small suite of equipment could have a life-changing impact.

Bangladesh

A class of girls is sent home from school as the pandemic puts a stop to everyday life in Bangladesh. By the time school re-opens, hardly any of the girls return. The rest have been married off by their families during an uncertain and frightening time for the community, where the threat of Covid-19 looms large and flooding has destroyed hundreds of livelihoods and homes. Their chance at an education has come to an abrupt end.

Having seen this tragic story play out in other villages, a pastoral superintendent in Rangpur, Bangladesh reached out to BMS with his plan for keeping girls in school. With the support of BMS workers Louise and Peter Lynch, the partnership of Asia Pacific Baptist Aid and the Bangladesh Baptist Church Sangha, and the generosity of BMS supporters, the village was able to hand out school bags, pens, paper and food packages to 160 children from six villages, as well as helping with school fees. Each family also received a strong waterproof bag to keep precious items and documents safe during flooding in the monsoon season.

“The families involved in the project live at the poorest ends of a very poor village, closest to the rivers and the greatest flood risk,” explains Louise. “We helped 160 kids through the project and all except one came back for the second part of our training and were ready to re-enter school.”

Children hold school bags in a village in Bangladesh.
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All around the world, school closures due to Covid-19 have presented huge challenges by disrupting education and exacerbating inequalities. But in vulnerable communities, there are other things keeping children away from their essential right to an education. Poverty, natural disasters, stigma and a lack of access to technology all play a devastating role, too – one that BMS supporters are working to weaken and overcome through projects like these. Could you give regularly to BMS to make work like this possible? Find out more by visiting the BMS 24:7 Partners page today.

Become a 24:7 Partner!

Words by Hannah Watson, Editor of Engage magazine

Uganda Child Protection appeal

Every child should feel safe at Christmas

Uganda Child Protection appeal

Give a child in Uganda the gift of safety today…

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

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

Read stories of Isaac and Valerie’s work below. 

Smiling woman with a small child

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


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

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

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

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

*Names changed

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

Valerie providing
child protection training

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Read Aber, Laker and Naomi's stories here

Aber's story

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

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

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

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

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

*Names have been changed for protection.

Laker's story

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

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

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

*Names have been changed for protection.

Naomi's story

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

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

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

Make a one-off gift now
Give regularly

The families you helped feed

The families you helped feed

News from this year's spring appeal

If you gave to the BMS World Mission Feeding Families appeal, you’ve blessed the lives of countless people. BMS workers Genesis Acaye, Laura-Lee Lovering and Ruby* share the latest on how your donations have made a difference.

“I am so grateful for you,” writes Genesis. “Thank you for giving to help some of the world’s most marginalised people. Your gift is supporting families like Simon’s, who I’ve been working with here in northern Uganda.” Genesis is responding to an email we sent, asking what difference the donations to the BMS Feeding Families spring appeal have made to his work. His reply, as ever, is filled with joy at the progress of the crops lovingly cultivated by farmers he’s been supporting, and excitement for the next batch of seedlings to arrive. In the email, he tells us the story of Simon, one of the youth leaders of Pajja Baptist Church in Gulu, Uganda – and we’re hooked.

A Ugandan couple called Simon and Ketty, pictured by their house in Gulu, northern Uganda.
Simon and Ketty hoped to build a safer home for their three-year-old daughter.

Simon had long dreamt of building a house with a tin roof for his family. In his neighbourhood, it would be one of a kind. Houses in Gulu typically have grass-thatched roofs which, though beautiful and practical, are very vulnerable to wildfires. A tin roof would keep Simon, his wife Ketty and their daughter, Lakareber Faith, safe throughout the year, and especially during the dry season.

Through your incredible support of the BMS Feeding Families appeal, you raised over £39,079.97 (at the time of writing!) to help intrepid women and men like Simon to provide for their loved ones in the harshest of circumstances. In fact, more than 500 UK Christians responded to the letter we sent out, describing how raising a healthy harvest has become more and more challenging for daily wage farmers worldwide due to erratic weather patterns and the changing climate. And through BMS agricultural training that you helped fund in Uganda, Simon learnt how to grow a wide range of crops to provide for his family, protect the environment, and make his dream a reality.

“Equipped with new farming knowledge and through a lot of hard work, Simon grew and sold cabbage, soybeans and corn, and over time he raised enough money to buy iron sheets for his dream roof,” says Genesis. Simon, Ketty and Lakareber Faith have now moved into their new home. They are now better protected from erratic weather and wildfires, and they’ve inspired the rest of the village as to what is possible with the right support and skills.

“First and foremost, I want to thank the churches in UK for their support to us here in form of seeds, trainings and encouragement,” says Simon. “The trainings and support have changed me and the way I farm now… We trust God and believe that our lives will keep on improving. We will keep praying for you and pray for us too so that we can work hard and change our lives.”

Two Ugandan men laugh together in a field of crops.
"Over time [Simon] raised enough money to buy iron sheets for his dream roof,” says Genesis.

“Sometimes when you give a gift to support the work of BMS, you may not know the whole community impact. It might look small and you may not know who you are supporting. But I want to tell you that your support is actually very big. You may think your gift is only enough to help a few people — but those people will go on to help others. And so, person by person, your support is causing magnificent transformation around the world.” — BMS worker and agriculturalist, Genesis Acaye

But food shortages caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the climate crisis extended beyond Uganda – and so does the help that you’ve so generously given. The £39,000 total has also gone towards providing training for 40 river pastors in Peru on creation stewardship and living well. Knowledge dissemination is the key to large-scale change in the region that has been described as ‘the lungs of the Earth’.  So, radio shows that your support has funded will also reach communities for an 80-mile stretch along the Amazon River. “Thank you so much for your support,” says Laura-Lee Lovering, BMS environmental scientist in Peru. “You are helping us continue working with local pastors and leaders, encouraging and equipping them to recognise the natural resources God has provided to them through the rainforest (such as food, water and medicine), and their important role as stewards of God’s good creation.”

A lady in a dark top stands against a background in the Amazon jungle.
Laura-Lee Lovering loves training pastors in Peru in creation stewardship.
A hand planting a sapling in Afghanistan.
Very little fruit is ordinarily able to grow in this area of Afghanistan.

Likewise, your giving has made a difference in the rural mountains of Afghanistan, where the winter snow melt can mean the difference between having enough to eat in the spring, or utter despair. Needless to say, there’s no supermarket to pop to for supplies when times are hard. “Thank you so much for giving so generously to the Feeding Families appeal,” says BMS mission worker and agricultural expert Ruby. Ruby is creating a ‘food forest’, with apple, pear, plum and walnut trees, and it’s already attracted the attention of families in the surrounding villages, coming to ask about how to look after fruit trees, feed and prune them. “Very little, if any, fruit is grown in this area,” explains Ruby. “So with the food forest we hope to teach people about healthy eating, as well as helping the environment by planting much-needed trees.”

Your support for the Feeding Families appeal in Afghanistan means that:

• The team will be able to run five training sessions, each for 25 local farmers, focusing on caring for fruit trees and sharing basic techniques to help the trees flourish, like composting, mulching and water management.

• Farmers will receive ‘how to’ booklets to help them grow more nutritious food.

• In the long term, families in remote villages will improve their diet and health, and have increased income through selling their excess fruit.

Thank you for supporting BMS’ Feeding Families appeal, helping precious people to adapt and thrive in a hugely difficult year. Genesis says it all, writing: “Sometimes when you give a gift to support the work of BMS, you may not know the whole community impact. It might look small and you may not know who you are supporting. But I want to tell you that your support is actually very big. You may think your gift is only enough to help a few people – but those people will go on to help others. And so, person by person, your support is causing magnificent transformation around the world. May God bless you abundantly for your gift and your prayers.”

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*Ruby’s name changed to protect identity

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

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

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

In crisis:

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

Praying for this

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What is the situation like under lockdown in Uganda?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Pray the spread of the virus will be reduced and stop eventually and that life will go back to normal in Uganda and all over the world.
  • Pray for wisdom on how to support the farmers at risk of famine during this time.
  • Pray for good rain so that the farmers can plant the crops that will provide food for the community.
  • Pray that additional resources will be available to support the farmers in terms of seeds to feed their community, because at the moment most of the items have their prices doubled, making it harder for the poor communities to access them.
  • Pray for victims of flooding in Kasese, having to deal with the loss of their homes and livelihoods as well as the Coronavirus pandemic. Pray that they will receive the support necessary to rebuild.
Pray for the world on Sunday 31 May

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

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Why money isn’t a dirty word

This is what a BMS worker looks like:

Why money isn’t a dirty word

Praying for this

Benon Kayanja does not save people.

Benon is surrounded by people who are still struggling years on from the conflict in Uganda that saw the deaths of 100,000 people, and displaced two million others. Every day, he sees people who are dealing with effects of poverty, who can’t get a job, who can’t provide for their families. Benon oversees BMS World Mission’s work in Uganda, his home country, where he serves as an international mission worker. He makes sure that the various projects BMS supports there run smoothly – from hooking up rural churches with solar panels to teaching people how to make charcoal. His work has changed the lives of people living in poverty and has brought stability to people dealing with the aftermath of war.

And yet. Benon Kayanja does not save people.

Because Benon has a passion for one project in particular. It’s called Village Savings Groups (VSGs), and they exist to provide an income to people in rural communities. “I have a lot of passion for financial inclusion,” says Benon. “I want to make it possible for communities away from cities to have easier access to finance.”

A group of people sit in a circle under a tree.
The village savings groups that BMS worker Benon helps run are raising people out of poverty in rural Uganda.

But for anyone concerned that all this sounds rather mercenary, the VSGs do so much more than just give people money. Take Andrew’s story for instance. When he first joined his local group, he didn’t have a job, and had no way to provide for his family. He heard about his local VSG through his church, and knew that it could change his life. To join the group, Andrew had to raise some money to put into a shared fund. Right from the off, he was investing in the scheme with his own money, and investing in the other people in the group who were now, in a way, his business partners. He invested to improve his life, and the lives of his community with it.

The three parts of a village savings group

1. The shared fund

Every member puts the same amount into the pot when they first join the VSG. It means everyone is invested in the programme and gives each member a sense of ownership over the group.

2. The social fund

This fund is used to help the group members when they run into problems in their everyday lives. If they need help paying for the children’s school fees, or need to buy materials to fix their home, they can borrow money without interest from the social fund.

3. The development fund

Money borrowed from this fund is invested in a business. When you’ve made enough profit, you pay back your loan, and also contribute some money towards the social fund.

When it came to Andrew’s business, his idea was simple: he withdrew 200,000 Ugandan Shillings (the equivalent of around £40) from the shared fund and bought 50 chicks. He reared them and sold them on for profit. Your straightforward success story, right? A man without a job was able to start a business and earn some money. You could leave the story there. But if you look further, you’ll see how much more has come from this. Why money’s not only not a dirty word, but in this case, a source of blessing.

Two men and a woman stand in a hut with chicks.
Thanks to his village savings group, Andrew can now support himself and his family.

“Andrew now has a job and he’s working for himself,” says Benon. “We need to thank God that he has found work that equips him and that he runs himself.” Within six weeks, Andrew was able to pay back the money he had borrowed, and invest some money in the group’s social fund. He had a stable and sustainable way to provide for his family, and best of all, he doesn’t have to rely on the VSG any more. He’s able to carry on his business and support himself with his own money, but he knows that he has a community to turn to – his farmer ‘business partners’ – if he’s ever struggling again.

So Benon didn’t save Andrew. Nor did he save the other hundreds of people that have been through the VSGs programme. Because he didn’t have to. The scheme helps people save themselves. They don’t need handouts; they’re working together to enable and empower one another to raise themselves out of poverty. And you can stand alongside them as they do. By supporting workers like Benon, you’re enabling people to help themselves. Thank you.

We have some amazing people serving with BMS. Every single one of them has taken an incredible step of faith by serving God overseas and we are so grateful for them. If you’ve enjoyed this story about Benon, keep an eye out for the rest of the stories in this series about some more of our international mission workers! Sign up for our weekly email update to see when we release the next story in this series.

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Words by Laura Durrant.