Uganda Archives - Page 2 of 2 - BMS World Mission

From 2009-2019: The lives you’ve transformed

From 2009-2019:

The lives you’ve transformed

God’s done incredible things through your support over the past ten years. Join us as we look back on the last decade of BMS World Mission work, to revisit some of the wonderful people whose lives you’ve changed forever.

2009: Bringing the light of God to France

Two pages from a magazine next to a pen pot on a table.

Back in 2009, Engage magazine looked a little different! Way back in Issue 4 of Engage, we caught up with BMS workers John and Sue Wilson, serving in France, who introduced us to four people who had come to Christ through your support!

2010: Fighting drug addiction in Thailand

A man in front of a sign. — Our 2010 Harvest appeal video, Redemption, introduced us to Deekley, who was fighting his opium addiction to help his family.

We visited our partners the Thai Karen Baptist Convention back in 2010, to meet some people you helped raise out of addiction. Your generous gifts were used to buy medicine for recovering addicts, as well as fertiliser which helped give addicts and their families a way to grow food and fight poverty.

2011: Planting seeds of faith in Peru

A man stands in a field. — Your support helped Peruvian flood victims replant their crops in 2011.

You came with us to Peru in 2011, and we showed you the village of Yucay where 350 people lost their homes and 400 farming families lost their crops after devastating flooding. But your support for these families allowed us to provide seeds for them to plant and rebuild their lives.

2012: Celebrating the undefeated

A magazine and a leaflet on a table with a cup of coffee.

In 2012, Engage got a makeover, and we celebrated the excellence of Paralympians, along with the rest of the UK, with the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Our Undefeated resource shed light on some of the global injustices facing people with disabilities across the world. Your support also helped three Haitian athletes compete in the Paralympics!

2013: Lifting up North Korea in prayer

A country that lays heavy on many of our hearts is North Korea, one of the toughest places in the world to be a Christian. We know how much our supporters want to see release and revival in this closed nation, which is why in 2013 you joined us in prayer for North Korea as part of our Project Cyrus initiative.

Feeling nostalgic?

We’re looking for pre-2012 editions of Engage for our archives! Do you have any? We’d love to hear from you! Get in touch by emailing ldurrant@bmsworldmission.org to let us know which issues you have.

Two hands and the words Project Cyrus! Pray for North Korea.

2014: Standing with women across the world

The 2010s was a decade where the struggles of women across the world were brought to the fore, which is why we launched our Dignity resource in 2014, to campaign against gender-based violence (GBV). Your support enabled us to equip and educate leaders and congregations across the world to handle the harmful impacts of GBV.

2015: Sending relief to Nepal

A house in ruins surrounded by rubble. — BMS supporters responded incredibly after the devastating earthquakes that struck Nepal in 2015.

Two devastating earthquakes struck Nepal in April and May of 2015, killing over 8,000 people and directly impacting over 8 million others. You gave over £650,000 – the biggest relief response of the decade! Thanks to your generous giving, you provided trauma victims with necessary counselling, and rebuilt schools destroyed by the earthquakes.

2016: Stepping out in faith in India

A man talks among a crowd. — BMS worker Benjamin Francis is bringing the light of Christ to some of the least evangelised communities in India.

In 2016, you gave to the incredible work of BMS evangelist Ben Francis, planting churches in some of the least evangelised communities in India. Ben’s team and many other Christians living in these parts of India are faced with horrific persecution from religious extremist groups, but your support made it possible for them to continue to step out in faith.

2017: Sharing art from Syria

Another tragedy facing the world this decade was the Syrian refugee crisis. In a newly designed issue of Engage magazine in 2017, we showed you some artwork created by Syrian refugee children you supported in Lebanon. Their work might reveal the trauma they faced in their home country, but your support showed them how much UK Christians care about their future, by getting them back into school.

2018: New life in Afghanistan

A woman holding her baby. — Taban, featured in Life's First Cry, and her young daughter, Chehrah. Thanks to you, Taban didn't have to worry about losing Chehrah in childbirth.

We couldn’t talk about 2018 without mentioning Life’s First Cry. With an award-nominated feature video, we introduced you to Andisha, Taban and Laalah: three mothers from Afghanistan, all of whom have had to watch their children die in childbirth. You enabled them to learn safe birthing practices and now they all have children who are thriving.

2019: Chosen by God in Uganda

A boy holds a yellow balloon. — Innocent has Down Syndrome. Your support means that he is growing up knowing that he is loved by God.

And last but not least, in 2019 we introduced you to Innocent, the God-given boy of Gulu, Uganda. Innocent has Down Syndrome, and his mother was told to abandon him when he was young. But she knew that he was special, and now, thanks to your support, he’s able to attend a group with other children with Down Syndrome, where he can feel loved, accepted. He knows he has a part in God’s plan.

We can’t wait to see what God has in store over the next ten years, and beyond! If you want to be part of God’s work, please give to BMS work. This is your chance to make a lasting change across the world.

Words by Laura Durrant.

Tech for mission

Tech for mission:

how cutting-edge tech is transforming lives

Supporting this 7

You heard it here first. BMS World Mission is harnessing the powers of science and faith to transform mission, thanks to your giving.

Technology is transforming mission. Evangelists are using social media to reach those who want to know Jesus in places where it’s too dangerous to ask about faith. Scientific advances and faithful BMS supporters are improving antenatal care for South Sudanese women in Uganda. What if science and faith were not arch-enemies but actually long-lost friends?

Your faithful prayers and generous giving are supporting BMS in bringing science and faith together across the world to transform lives. Bidi Bidi refugee camp, Uganda, now a settlement the size of Birmingham with over a quarter of a million people, is one of those places.

A woman sitting in a plastic chair with her baby in Bidi Bidi refugee camp, Uganda. — Aya Joska arrived in Bidi Bidi refugee camp fighting for a future for her and her unborn baby.

South Sudanese refugees have fled a terrifying and brutal civil war, with hundreds of thousands arriving at Bidi Bidi camp. Aya Joska is one of the conflict survivors living there. She was pregnant when she ran from men armed with guns and machetes, escaping with the clothes on her back and her unborn baby.

Arriving at a refugee camp may have meant safety for some, but it wasn’t total security for Aya. With 99 per cent of maternal deaths occurring in low-income areas, the odds were overwhelmingly against her. “As a pregnant woman, you’re literally hundreds of times more likely to die from conditions such as pre-eclampsia, infections and haemorrhages in low-income countries,” says Dr Andrew Shennan, Professor of Obstetrics at King’s College London. “Often, it’s not because of a lack of sophisticated treatment, but because, in places like the UK, vital signs are regularly checked, and symptoms are discovered early on.”

A blood pressure monitor called the Cradle Device being used in Bidi Bidi camp. — Bidi Bidi camp needed an early detector that could be used by untrained people, that’s easy to use and understand.

A man with a blood pressure monitor smiling at the camera from an ante-natal care room. — A key component to antenatal care in the UK is to be seen regularly and have your blood pressure checked.

That’s where technology stepped in. Dr Shennan spent the best part of a decade developing a highly accurate, easy-to-use blood pressure monitor called the Cradle Device. Not only does it measure blood pressure, but it also identifies symptoms. It tells the user if action needs to be taken using a simple traffic light system. If a woman’s vital signs trigger a red light, then health work volunteers can get her to hospital as soon as possible. “By detecting these conditions earlier, than you can prevent the mother from dying,” says Dr Shennan. “Her other children are 50 per cent more likely to die if she dies.” So when you protect the mother, you’re also protecting her children.

The Cradle Device is relatively cheap and charges with a simple micro-USB charger which most people use to charge their phones and, cleverly, it also can be plugged into a solar or car battery. It’s a device perfectly suited to refugee situations. And your support for BMS has delivered 700 of these Cradle Devices to go into UNHCR camps in Uganda. Thanks to your prayers and giving now 7,000 women are having their blood pressure checked regularly by health work volunteers. It’s a life-saving measure for mothers and their unborn babies.

A baby sleeping wrapped up in cloths in the arms of her mother. — With the power of technology, Aya was given the antenatal care she needed to give birth to her beautiful baby, Blessing.

And there’s more exciting news ahead for BMS’ South Sudan’s Conflict Survivors appeal. We’re exploring ways to help displaced people within South Sudan. So look out for an update soon! Right now, though, please consider taking a special offering in your church or making a donation now. Why not join churches across the country on 20 October, 27 October and 19 January who will be gathering to take a special offering as part of Survivor Sundays? Your giving won’t just help South Sudan’s conflict survivors. You’ll be helping to share the fullness of life in Christ among the powerless and poor, with those who never had a chance to hear Jesus’ name, all over the world.

#TECH FOR MISSION

There are even more ways that technology is being used for mission at BMS. In the next Engage magazine you’ll learn how social media is being used in evangelism. Live streaming platforms are being used to reach out to people in places where it’s too dangerous to ask about Jesus. You heard it here first, so watch this space.

BMS has always pioneered in mission. And technology is just one of the exciting tools we use to pioneer today.

Words by Melanie Webb.

I am Innocent

I am Innocent and they wanted me to die.

Liking this 25

At the hospital they called me a “waste of oxygen” and chased my mum away. I had been into the ICU 19 times. I am Innocent. I have Down Syndrome. I am a God Plan. My mum tells me I am a God Plan.

I am Innocent and my father disowned me. Told my mum to “throw” me. To abandon me, in Gulu in Uganda, where we live. I am Innocent, I get infections easily, I took a long time to walk, a longer time to eat or drink than other children. I am different.

My grandma said that I look different, called me abnormal. Asked my mum to throw me. Her family disowned me. I like to dance. I am five years old. I am Innocent.

I am Innocent and while I did not, could not, write these words, I’m important too.

INNOCENT IS NOT ALONE.

Innocent has friends. There’s Misheal, five years old, who cannot take herself to the toilet, and Viola, whose neighbours wouldn’t pick her up or let her play with other children because they thought that Down Syndrome was contagious. There are many other children like Innocent, who are beautiful and friendly and joyful and kind, and who have been rejected by family and neighbours and society. Whose parents have suffered depression and financial hardship because people around them have not understood what Down Syndrome is.

“I’ve done a lot of the diagnosis,” says Lois Ovenden, a BMS World Mission worker based in Gulu. “People notice that there is something not typical, but they won’t know what it is. And sometimes doctors won’t give the diagnosis, even if they know it.” You can understand why. In Uganda, as in many countries, there is a stigma attached to disability, and reactions range from fear and disdain to blame. And there are practical problems too. Care is time-consuming and expensive. The children themselves can be challenging, as every one of their mums can testify.

A Ugandan girl with Down Syndrome stands in a field with her mother and younger sister. — Misheal’s family came to accept her after understanding her diagnosis.

THE STORY SO FAR

Good news for parents of children like Innocent doesn’t just happen. It needs a ‘how’.

IN THE BEGINNING

Lois, a BMS speech therapist, started a group in September 2017 when she realised that many of the mothers she was meeting had not understood (or even received) a diagnosis of Down Syndrome for their children. They felt isolated and confused and so Lois brought them together to talk, share wisdom and dispel myths. Many felt amazing relief at knowing they were not alone.

GLAD TIDINGS

In March 2019, Lois organised a gathering of the Gulu Down Syndrome group for World Down Syndrome Day. Mums shared their stories, appeared on a video and gathered to talk to people in the community about what Down Syndrome is and the gift from God that these children are. A local radio and TV station picked up the story and spread the word even further.

GO INTO ALL THE WORLD

Radio and TV exposure meant that more people heard the message of hope offered to parents facing stigma, pressure from unsympathetic families and the challenge of taking care of children with special needs. A new group is hoping to start up-country as a result.
These parents were given the chance to help each other and themselves because of you. Your support for BMS makes work like this possible. If Innocent is ‘why’ we do what we do, you are the ‘how’.
Thank you for being our how.

Lois has met so many mums because their children had developmental problems. She’s a speech and language therapist working in a local clinic, and children like Innocent and Misheal and Viola will be brought to her because they have not yet been able to speak. And it’s Lois who has broken the news to their parents.

“Sometimes doctors have told people that there’s nothing to worry about, that their children will catch up,” she says. “The fact is, these children can learn. But they do need the support and input.”

That’s why Lois started the Gulu Down Syndrome group. To share knowledge, to connect parents with a local school that integrates children with special needs into its classes so they’re not excluded. To let parents know they are not alone. “These are passionate mothers who are devoted and loving in the face of discrimination and persecution,” says Lois. “They love with a fierce and unconditional love that tells the world that their children are a gift not a curse, that their children matter and they won’t abandon them, however tough it is.” They are her inspiration. They are each other’s lifeline. And they have grown in love and support.

You can help.

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month, and Down Syndrome Awareness Week UK is in March. While we give thanks that many children with Down Syndrome around the world are getting the support they need, the world’s poorest and most marginalised parents are struggling to help their precious daughters and sons. That’s why groups like the one Lois started are so important. To help parents help each other and help themselves.

You can support the work Lois does every month by becoming a 24:7 Partner with BMS.

Visit our 24:7 Partners page to set up a direct debit that could focus on Lois’ work or provide support where the need is greatest. And if you already give regularly, thank you for making work like this possible!

Innocent’s mum is called Alice. She’s part of the group. She says that what she most wants other people to understand is that she didn’t choose this. And that she accepts her little boy, as all mothers do: as a gift from the Lord. She wants them to understand that Innocent is not infectious. That he is God-given. Precious. Innocent.

“Down Syndrome is not a disease,” Alice says. “It is a God Plan.”
The message Alice has received from the Gulu group and from Lois is one that empowers mothers to help each other: with knowledge, with support and with a Christian message of love. And it’s working. Spreading. More mums with more knowledge, more support, and more hope. More to say. There are things they want you to know.

A Ugandan girl with Down Syndrome stands in a field with her mother. — Viola’s family wanted her to die. Her mum Lucy’s response? “Love your child.”

Misheal’s mum, Mary, wants you to know that Misheal is normal. Viola’s mum, Lucy, wants you to know that she is proud of Viola. And Alice wants to tell you that she loves Innocent.

“It was God’s plan to give me this child,” she says. “That’s why I have my son, and I love him.”

Lois’ hope is that, with more awareness and provision, children with Down Syndrome in Gulu and beyond will be able to realise their potential and be welcomed and valued members of society. “Our hope is that families will know the blessing these children can be,” she says. “Working with them is a huge privilege.”

And as the message spreads, more people are feeling that privilege. Following a World Down Syndrome Day event that Lois and the group organised in March comes the news that another group might be set up further north. And this group, by God’s grace, will need Lois less and less, as the mums learn to rely on each other and as the community continues to be transformed by the mustard seed of their faith, their hope, and their love for their children.

I AM INNOCENT.

I am not a mistake. I am not diseased. I am made in the image of God. I am a person and I have joys and loves and quirks and funny little habits. I have a mum who loves me. I have friends to play with under the mango tree. I have trouble speaking and I did not write this but I have help. We have help. We have the children and the mums, we have Lois and the doctors, we have a chance to learn and to grow to do something with our lives.

We want you to see us. We want you to see us as you see yourself. We want you to see the God Plan.

A five-year-old Ugandan boy with Down Syndrome stands in a field holding a yellow balloon over his face.

Like this story? Click here!

This story was originally published in Engage, BMS World Mission’s flagship magazine. Subscribe today to receive inspirational stories of BMS work, just like Innocent’s stories, straight to your door, three times a year!

Pictures from the frontline: South Sudan’s refugees in photos

This is the South Sudanese refugee crisis. These are the people who survived the civil war in South Sudan. They’re helping each other, but they need you to stand alongside them.

Supporting this 23

He was crawling. And when David Dunham met him, Modi Emmanuel wouldn’t shake his hand without wiping the dust off first. Modi’s story is not unusual.

In November 2018, a team from BMS World Mission visited three refugee camps in Uganda to film South Sudan’s Conflict Survivors. David was part of that team. These are his photographs.

Modi Emmanuel, a South Sudanese refugee, kneels on the ground in the Paloyrina refugee camp. — "It's hard to understand the reality and depth of the need in the refugee camps until you see it firsthand. We must respond."

“When I met Modi, he wasn’t in his wheelchair. He was on his hands and knees.

This young man who has suffered so much was so thoughtful and so conscious of the dust on his hands that he refused to shake hands until his were clean.”

South Sudanese children sit in a make-shift church in this refugee camp.

“Not every child who flees war makes it to a refugee camp. Many of those that do arrive alone having witnessed the death of a loved one or companion on the journey.”

South Sudanese people in refugee settlements are already helping each other. Will you stand with them?

A South Sudanese pastor high-fives children in a refugee camp in Uganda.

“Patrick has been a refugee three times. He’s been arrested for no reason. Imprisoned in a shipping container. Lost every possession. And now he’s helping other refugees, like these children.”

Click here to help South Sudanese refugees

A South Sudanese farmer stands in the field of corn that he grew using seeds provided by BMS supporters.

“Dube fled his home with his three young children. He lost everything he owned. A friend allowed him to use a field to grow crops, and the seeds he planted came from UK Christians, acting through BMS World Mission.”

Since the civil war in South Sudan began in 2013, 4.3 million people have been displaced and hundreds of thousands of people have died. Most of the refugees are women and children, who have walked hundreds of miles to find safety in neighbouring countries like Uganda. Disease and malnourishment mean hundreds of thousands of people are still at risk. And you can help them.

Give today and hold a South Sudan’s Conflict Survivors service at your church. Find all the resources you’ll need here.

“The people living in these refugee settlements are probably some of the most courageous and beautiful I’ve ever met,” says David. Thank you for helping South Sudan’s conflict survivors.

Words and interview by Laura Durrant

Ebola outbreak: pray for Uganda

Ebola outbreak

Pray for D R Congo and Uganda

I'm praying for this 28

Join us in prayer as Ebola cases are confirmed in the Uganda / D R Congo border region.

Update: Thank you for your prayers

You prayed with us against the Ebola outbreak in Uganda escalating into a public health emergency. Thank you for interceding for Uganda!

Praise God for the country’s preparedness through vaccination programmes, symptom awareness training and presence of specialised health care workers, all helping to reduce loss of life.

“When we heard of this outbreak in Congo, it was yet another opportunity to strengthen our systems even further,” said Ugandan Minister of Health Jane Aceng.

Please pray on for D R Congo, still fighting this ruthless and deadly disease.

Urgent prayer is needed that the highly infectious Ebola virus will not spread across Uganda, spiralling into a health crisis.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed the presence of Ebola Virus Disease in Uganda. The BBC has since reported two deaths in Uganda from Ebola — a young boy and his grandmother who had travelled across the border to Uganda from D R Congo.

D R Congo has been fighting an outbreak of the virus for some time. Ongoing prayer is needed, as nearly 1,400 people are reported to have died from the devastating disease so far.

BMS World Mission workers in Uganda are taking every precaution, avoiding all travel to the area surrounding the border region.

Urgent prayer is needed for the Uganda and D R Congo border region.

If you're praying for this Click here

You can download prayer points for Uganda and D R Congo by clicking the button below.

Download the prayer points

The spread of Ebola has been called “truly frightening” by the head of major medical research body The Wellcome Trust. Thank you for praying, and please do continue to pray for Uganda and D R Congo.

A purple map shows where Kasese, Uganda is. — Kasese is at the centre of the region affected by the Ebola outbreak.

Pray for the Uganda Ebola outbreak

Pray for medical supplies and personnel to arrive quickly. Pray that doctors would know what to do and that God would give them wisdom to decide what action to take.
Pray for the local authorities, especially in Kasese and where there have been Ebola cases reported, that they would know how to respond.
Pray that aid agencies would be well-coordinated in responding to the crisis. Pray that God would guide them in their decision-making.
Pray for those have lost loved ones or are looking after people who are suffering from Ebola. Pray that God would console them and give them strength.
Pray that God would stop the spread of this terrible disease.

Download the prayer points

Exciting news from a boring project

I'm praying for this 37

A borehole gave this community something more than health: it offered them a shot at unity. And by supporting BMS World Mission, you helped them find it.

The deadlock seemed hopeless. Two factions in the village in rural Uganda could not agree on where to dig a borehole, and their disagreement had gone on so long that the BMS team who had come to the village with a limited window for drilling (also called ‘boring’) were worried that they would have to leave without finding clean, healthy water – so essential for community health and flourishing in places like rural Uganda.

BMS and local partners had arrived in the morning to consult with the community about where the borehole they had requested should be dug, and it had taken all day to come to an answer, one that half the village was less than pleased with. When the well failed to reach good water, BMS worker Tim Darby decided that it would be best to come back the following day, hoping for more agreement – otherwise he and the drilling team would have to move on to another village.

Watch how Tim’s team use a man-powered drill to dig a borehole.

The drilling project Tim helps to run is an innovative one, spending some of its time on commercial drilling (a kind of ‘business as mission’), which helps to fund the free well-boring that this village was so close to missing out on. They couldn’t stay in the village forever, as Uganda has a great deal of need for safe, clean drinking water.

When the team returned, they expected to find the community in much the same state as the day before. But instead, they found optimism, helpfulness. Unity. The village had met the night before and decided on a completely new drill site – miles away from the sites that had been in dispute. They told BMS water engineer Tim: “We knew that the other place would not work because we were not united. But now we know you will find water.” The team began digging in the morning, and they did! By the evening they had installed a handpump – a new record time for Tim and his team.

This is something that Tim sees regularly in his work: communities coming together over their collective need for clean water. Because when Tim and his team dig boreholes, they’re not just providing water. They’re encouraging people to live healthier lifestyles by making water easier to access. They’re protecting people from waterborne diseases such as cholera and E. coli. They’re freeing up time in the day for people, especially women and girls, who previously had to walk for hours every day to dirty water sources. And they’re doing it in a sustainable way, making the drills they operate pay, both for the good of the local environment and for the community. As Tim puts it: “Every single borehole changes and improves lives.”

This isn’t water as charity, pumped into a community that Tim thinks needs it. It’s a process of consultation with local people, asking them what they need and how they would like to receive it, engaging them and involving them so that communities, with a little help from BMS, can give themselves hope. Now that’s far from boring!

After this handpump was installed, a committee of nine people elected from the local community were trained for two days to manage the borehole. The rest of the community were also offered training on good sanitary health. They were taught how to keep the pump safe and clean, but also to care for and depend on one another to keep the borehole working.

Water is a basic need and a fundamental right. If we all work together, with respect and generosity, all people could have access to it. Pray with us today that this would happen.

People digging a borehole in Uganda. — The boreholes dug by Tim’s team encourage local communities to work together to maintain them.

Tim’s team have already provided many communities with clean water. But there are still people in Uganda and around the world whose water sources are limited or unsafe. Please pray today for:

Communities in Uganda without access to clean water. Pray for good health among them, and that they will soon be able to drink without danger.
Tim and his team as they bore wells for rural communities. Pray that their work goes smoothly, and that people will soon see the benefits.
Villages who have already received boreholes. Pray that they are able to safely maintain them in years to come, and that they will experience unity in their communities.

Want to share this story? Why not print it out and bring some copies to share with your church!

if you're praying for this Click Here

Words by Laura Durrant.

South Sudan: windows of prayer

Your church can help refugees from South Sudan living in Uganda, this Harvest or at any time of year.

Find out more

South Sudan:

windows of prayer

Praying for this 21

The peace deal signed by warring parties went unheeded. Hoping for harmony can feel naïve. But BMS World Mission’s supporters are armed with the power to pray.

Annet gave birth on the road. She was heavily pregnant when she was forced to flee from her home in South Sudan. “Our health facilities were closed. I didn’t have any tests,” she explained. Her mother boiled some water for her in a jug – that was all the help she had. With a newborn baby, she then faced the impossible task of finding enough food. “If the war had not broken out, I would not have gone through this,” said Annet. “Giving birth on the way. Not being able to feed my baby.”

If the war had not broken out, I would not have gone through this

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the world’s youngest nation, and the conflict rages on. South Sudan celebrated independence just seven years ago, but a dispute between the country’s President and his former deputy quickly developed into a broader conflict between ethnic groups. Since war broke out at the end of 2013, over one third of the population has been displaced.

Men building with red bricks — South Sudanese people are having to rebuild their lives in refugee camps, like this one in Uganda.

Scrolling through the figures in endless news cycles is dispiriting. It seems impossible to help when thousands of miles separate you from those in need. And when the news seems oblivious to the suffering, it can even be hard to know how to pray. Thankfully, BMS local workers are in the refugee camps. They’re sharing stories of the individuals behind the overwhelming statistics, so that we can pray for people by name.

We can pray for mothers like Annet. Annet doesn’t want any mother to experience the trauma she did. Let’s pray that BMS workers can get healthy, sustaining food to babies at risk of malnourishment. These workers are providing health checks to pregnant women – the kind of prenatal tests that Annet desperately needed. We need to pray that these checks can reach every woman who needs them.

A woman holds a baby and smiles. — Annet gave birth to her baby on the road. BMS-funded projects will mean that pregnant women can access vital health checks.

We can pray for people with disabilities, like Abbe Rose. She escaped, along with her husband and children, after some of their family members were killed. The journey they made is unimaginable: Abbe Rose wasn’t even able to bring her wheelchair. But, Abbe was given a wheelchair by her new church – South Sudanese Christians living in the camps and helping themselves – as well as each other. Abbe Rose can now get to church meetings and medical appointments and meet with friends – things that were previously impossible. “If I’m sick or my child is sick, she can push me,” Abbe explains. “We can go together.” Please pray for more people like Abbe to be given the mobility they have been denied.

A woman sits in a wheelchair — Abbe Rose’s wheelchair means she can get to medical appointments and church meetings.

These stories are windows into a conflict that is overwhelming in its severity and scope.

We can be overwhelmed by them, or we can use them both to pray for the challenges ahead and to thank God for the blessings BMS workers have seen. “I had no choice but to leave it to God,” says Annet of her struggles. It is a privilege to bring her situation, and that of others too, to God in prayer. Please pray right now with us:

Please pray that malnourished babies get the nourishing food they desperately need.
Please pray for people with disabilities, that their needs would not be overlooked. Pray for wheelchairs and other liberating blessings for those who need them.
Many South Sudanese parents are concerned for their children’s education – the key to a secure future. Pray that families would be able to continue their children’s schooling.
Pray for our BMS workers, that they are encouraged as they continue to deliver projects and interventions for those in need.
Pray for peace between warring factions in South Sudan, that all fighting would come to an end.

Why not download these prayers and save them to your favourite device? All you need to do is hit the button below.

Download the prayer points

If you’re praying for this Click here

Help us fight child abuse in schools

Praying for this 45

The threat of abuse is very real for pupils in many Ugandan schools. You can help by getting your church to pray for our child protection work.

Imagine a classroom with 100 or more primary age schoolchildren in it. Put aside how crammed it might be and concentrate on this: more than two thirds of the children in front of you have been sexually abused by a male teacher, according to a Unicef survey. The percentage of children who have been caned is even higher, yet their abusers get away with the abuse, free to inflict suffering on a child in a place every child should feel safe: school.

The survey on the prevalence of abuse in Ugandan schools shows that people are aware of the abuse – but it still continues. Do not think it is going completely unchallenged though. Ugandan officials are making strides. And, with your support, BMS World Mission lawyer Linda Darby is working tirelessly in Gulu, northern Uganda, to change attitudes towards child protection in schools.

BMS mission worker Linda Darby guides teachers in child protection policy work — Linda Darby’s mission to tackle abuse in schools begins with training future nursery teachers about child protection.

Backed by local government, Linda has so far taken 21 schools through training on how abuse can be identified, reported and prevented. And the message of protecting children from sexual and physical abuse is not restricted to the school environment. Community leaders also attend the training, alongside the school’s senior staff – and ends with a school developing a child protection policy. With your prayers, we hope even more schools in Gulu will develop more effective child protection approaches.

“At first, people can be defensive, but as we explain the types of abuse, especially sexual, they realise it is happening and they are more open to listening,” says Linda. “This work is important because it is helping children thrive in school, and that will improve their circumstances in life.”

A BMS project worker helps teachers identify signs of child abuse — We’re helping teachers and community leaders in Gulu, Uganda, identify signs of child abuse.

The work Linda does in Uganda couldn’t happen without your prayer support. We encourage you and your church to please pray today for:

1. More local trainers to come forward to help Linda in her work. Pray for the right people, with the right skills, and with huge hearts to protect children from harm.

2. Energy, wisdom and strength for Linda in her work. Pray that she knows the encouragement of your prayers when she talks to schools about why child protection policies must be developed and put into practice.

3. The children who are being abused. Please pray for the abuse to stop, and that the children sense God’s love for them in their lives.

4. The adults who commit abuse. Pray that they understand the darkness of their actions and are guided towards a new life in which they never hurt a child again.

Download the prayer points

Through your prayers today, we believe that even more schools in Gulu will take child protection more seriously. We know it’s possible. You can play your part today in protecting children you will never meet.

Please pray.

If you’re praying for this Click here

In pictures: meet the South Sudanese refugees you’re helping

In pictures:

Meet the South Sudanese refugees you're helping

Supporting this 993

Your church can help refugees from
South Sudan living in Uganda,
at harvest or at any other time of year.

Find out more

It’s the largest refugee crisis in Africa and the third largest in the world. Over two million people have now fled the conflict in South Sudan, with more than a million of them ending up in Uganda. The numbers are overwhelming – but the people are amazing. And you’ve been helping them. Here’s how.

Forced to flee their homes because of the fighting, South Sudanese families arrived (and continue to arrive) in Uganda with nothing. You’ve been supporting some of the most at-risk people in Palorinya and Bidi Bidi refugee settlements, as well as helping those who have settled right by the border with South Sudan.

You’re supporting these two amazing men – Patrick and Isaac – to run projects to help displaced South Sudanese people. Both Patrick and Isaac are South Sudanese refugees themselves, and they have huge hearts for those struggling in the settlements. By giving to BMS World Mission, you’re helping them to reach out to people with disabilities, widows, single parents and other vulnerable people.

How you're helping: food

You’ve funded the transport and logistics to enable 1,700 severely malnourished children to access Plumpy’Nut, a special peanut-based paste to help them get healthy again. This little boy is nearly at the end of his treatment and is doing much better!

Dube is now growing food to support himself and his family. Dube has a disability with his leg, and you provided him with seeds and tools to start growing a harvest. His is one of 100 families you’ve supported in this way.

Henry is unable to walk and therefore cannot farm for himself. He has two daughters and his wife left him because of his disability. Henry isn’t living in an official refugee camp and so isn’t eligible for government support. You’ve been providing him and 1,000 other people with food rations – essential for their survival.

How you're helping: maternal health

Jane gave birth to her baby, Irene, while fleeing the conflict in her village. She had no medical assistance, and after she gave birth she had to get up and carry on walking. Her story is not uncommon. Thankfully, Jane survived. But pregnancy and childbirth are terrifying concepts for people living in the refugee settlements. There’s a lack of access to health care, which means health conditions that can normally be easily managed end up costing lives.

By supporting BMS, you’re helping women access the medical checks they need to stay healthy during pregnancy. Irene is pregnant and has high blood pressure, but thanks to you, she’s aware of her health condition and is being carefully monitored. If anything changes, she will be rushed to a health clinic in Bidi Bidi refugee camp where she lives.

Irene found out about her blood pressure because of the cradle device – a highly accurate automated blood pressure device that also detects heart rate and shock index. You helped pay for 714 cradle devices, which means that all 17 NGO-run clinics in Bidi Bidi now have access to it. On top of that, over 450 volunteer health team workers covering the entire settlement have use of their own cradle device to monitor the health of people in their community – detecting high-risk pregnancies and other potentially life-threatening illnesses.

Women like these are getting accurate blood pressure checks when they come for check-ups in Bidi Bidi’s health centres. That means that conditions that could have been missed before are being identified.

Angok is one of the 450 volunteer health workers now armed with a cradle device. He goes and visits people in his community and monitors their health. It’s really simple to use the device, and Angok is now able to make sure pregnant women at risk of illnesses like preeclampsia get help before it’s too late.

How you're helping: destigmatising disability

You’re supporting South Sudanese Christians and churches to help people like Harriet. People with disabilities are some of the most vulnerable people in the refugee settlements. You’re helping us to find them, to support them, and to help them and their communities understand that they are important and have value.

You’re empowering the church to destigmatise disability and make sure the people who need help most receive it.

Thank you so much for supporting our work amongst South Sudanese refugees! Meet some of these individuals and others in the South Sudan’s Conflict Survivors feature video – and find out how your church can help by organising a fundraising service or event, at harvest or any other time of year.

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

Buffalo, corn, radishes and chillies:

a recipe for success

Liking this 20

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

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

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

1. Mozambique: cattle and corn

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

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

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

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

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

2. Afghanistan: lettuces and radishes

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

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

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

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

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

You’re fighting hunger and food insecurity

3. Nepal: buffalo and goats

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

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

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

4. Uganda: bananas and chillies

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

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

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

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

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

*Names changed to protect identities.

Like this story? Click Here

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

The kingdom builders:

meet six BMS workers giving it all for Christ

Supporting this 0

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

The couple opening minds in a secular nation

Names: Samuel Duval and Valérie Duval-Poujol

Location: Mus, southern France

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

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

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

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

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

Name: Ajarn Tah

Location: northern Thailand

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

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

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

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

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

Name: Isaiah Thembo

Location: Kasese District, western Uganda

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The pastor who takes on the Amazon to connect with believers

Name: Pastor Luis Alvarado Dolly

Location: the Peruvian Amazon

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

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

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

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

The woman resisting persecution to help people find Jesus

Name: Gillian Francis

Location: Kolkata, India

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

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

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

Partner with us in mission

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

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

Justice in Africa: God’s heart for the poor

Justice in Africa:

God's heart for the poor

Supporting this 1065

Mob justice. Corruption. Exorbitant court fees. These are just some of the problems that people in Mozambique and Uganda face when trying to access justice. But thanks to you, BMS World Mission is doing something about it.

Christian lawyers in Africa are standing up for the poor and marginalised. They’re helping people like Sarah in Uganda, a widow who fell into legal trouble after her husband died. Whether it’s through legal representation, mediation or legal education, BMS-supported lawyers are helping the oppressed find justice.

Watch the video above to find out how your support is helping Christian lawyers in Mozambique and Uganda stand up for those who need it.

5 ways you’re making the world a healthier place

Supporting this 1287

Saving mothers and babies in Afghanistan and helping pregnant refugees. Discover five of the ways your generous support for BMS World Mission is helping to provide healthcare for thousands of people around the world.

1. Meeting medical needs in Chad

There is one qualified doctor in Chad for every 25,000 people. Nearly 40 per cent of children have stunted growth because of a lack of food, and illnesses such as malaria, HIV and Aids affect many people’s lives. But thanks to you, hospitals in Chad (one near the capital and one in the north of the country) are providing much-needed medical treatment and helping people survive. Your giving has enabled us to fund pharmacists, surgeons, doctors, nurses, malnutrition prevention workers, midwives and other hospital staff who are giving the right care to thousands of people. They’re treating gunshot wounds, cancer and malaria, and delivering babies, thanks to you.

2. Giving children with disabilities the support they need

Children with disabilities in Thailand face huge challenges. Many families struggle to cope with the needs of their children, and government orphanages are often unable to provide the one-on-one care and support they need.

Thanks to your giving, BMS worker Judy Cook is providing therapeutic and respite care to children with disabilities at Hope Home, in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Hope Home currently provides full-time care for ten children, and offers respite care for many other children and their families.

Check out the amazing work you’re supporting in this video:

3. Coming to the aid of pregnant refugees

The South Sudanese women who make it to Bidi Bidi refugee camp in northern Uganda after fleeing conflict are often in danger of dying during pregnancy or childbirth. But thanks to your giving, an electronic device that measures people’s blood pressure and heart rate is helping to save lives. At least 7,000 pregnant women will receive medical checks that could identify any problems and save their lives, and the lives of their unborn children. To read more about how the device works and the impact your support is having, click the button below.

4. Saving the lives of mothers and babies in Afghanistan

Afghanistan has some of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world. In remote mountain villages, it’s difficult for pregnant women to get to clinics to give birth, and unsafe birthing practices such as smearing dirt on the umbilical cord, or pushing on the mother’s stomach during labour to make the baby come out, can lead to infection and even death.

You’re enabling us to help train men and women in safe birthing practices in the mountains of rural Afghanistan. You’re helping them learn to spot when something is wrong, and to dispel unsafe birthing practices, and you’re saving the lives of mothers and babies as a result.

5. Giving children a voice through speech therapy

Being unable to communicate your feelings and needs to the community around you can be incredibly isolating. In northern Uganda, BMS worker Lois Ovenden is providing speech and language therapy to children with disabilities. We’ll leave it to her to explain more of the inspiring work she’s doing in this video:

By supporting BMS, you’re funding life-transforming health work like this around the world. Thank you! You can help us do even more by making a donation today.

A tale of two villages

A tale of two villages:

providing clean water in Uganda

Supporting this 830

Disease, infection and chronic pain. All a result of drinking dirty water. For millions of people, unsafe water is all they have to drink. But thanks to your giving, boreholes in northern Uganda are providing clean water for hundreds of people, preventing illness and transforming communities.

Today, there are over 663 million people living without a safe water supply close to home, spending countless hours walking to distant sources, and coping with the health impacts of using contaminated water. Everyone deserves access to clean water, but the problem is so large, it can seem difficult to know what to do, or how to fix it. When faced with an issue like this, the best way to tackle it is to start small, working in village after village, providing safe water and preventing disease until one day, everyone has access. And that’s exactly what BMS is doing.

In Abwoch and Pajaa, two villages in the north of Uganda, people didn’t have access to a safe supply of water. The main borehole in Abwoch was contaminated, and in Pajaa the nearest clean source was a half an hour’s walk away – most families had to make two to five trips per day, spending up to five hours fetching the water they needed. Disease was rife, all because of bacteria in the water.

But thanks to your support, this is no longer the case. BMS has drilled a borehole in Abwoch, and another in Pajaa, providing over 350 people with clean water, free from bacteria and infection.

BMS environmental consultant Tim Darby gathered local leaders, church leaders and community members together in each village. They decided where the borehole would be built, and agreed to provide sand and gravel as resources to help construct it. The communities also agreed to provide accommodation, food, and water for the team drilling the hole and building the water pump.

In the space of seven days, the two boreholes were built, providing clean water for hundreds. A fence was built around each water pump, preventing animals from contaminating the supply.

The villagers were then taught hygiene skills, and elected a committee to help with maintenance and to ensure the water remained clean.

Both boreholes are free from bacteria, providing safe drinking water for the hundreds of people who use them. Charles Opiro, part of the borehole committee in Pajaa, says that people have not been sick from water-related diseases since the new water pump was built, as now they don’t have to drink water taken from puddles or dirty lakes.

Having clean water is helping Pajaa community in other ways too. The boreholes are providing new economic opportunities for the community. Charles used the clean water to make bricks during the dry season, which he then sold to fund the school fees for his younger siblings. He’s also seen more women participate in the economy – his neighbour took her goods to sell at the market because she no longer had to spend such a long time collecting water.

Your support for our work in Uganda is providing safe water to hundreds, preventing disease and saving lives. It’s transforming the way villages in northern Uganda operate. And the project has barely begun. “I just want to say thank you,” Tim says to our generous supporters. “You’ve enabled so many people to access clean water already. We’re so grateful.”

You can give now to support work like this around the world. Just click the big red button.

Coming to the aid of pregnant refugees

Technology and mission:

Coming to the aid of pregnant refugees

Supporting this 774

Women in refugee camps in Uganda are in danger of dying during pregnancy or childbirth. That threat is about to change for thousands of them, thanks to an electronic device and your support for BMS World Mission.

They’ve fled a civil war, trekking for days to cross the border from South Sudan into Uganda, seeking sanctuary from crippling food shortages and men with guns and machetes. They’ve fled to save themselves, their loved ones, and the ones yet to be born.

The South Sudanese women who make it to the Bidi Bidi refugee camp in northern Uganda find a settlement of tents and mud-brick huts that sprawls for miles. The number of people living there, roughly 280,000, is higher than the population of many a British city, and most of them are women and children.

Refugee women and children walk along a dirt track in northern Uganda — Women and children have walked for miles to escape conflict in South Sudan.

Left behind because they were killed, abducted, forced to fight, or too weak to travel, are brothers, sisters, grandparents, children… and future fathers. An estimated one in five women of childbearing age in humanitarian emergencies like this are likely to be pregnant. Keep that in mind when you read the following:

– An estimated 830 women die every day from pregnancy and birth-related causes around the world.

– Of these maternal deaths, 99 per cent happen in developing countries.

– More than 50 per cent of maternal deaths are caused by conditions that could be detected if vital signs were assessed.

A £20 handheld device that measures blood pressure and heart rate can change these statistics. It is called the Microlife Cradle VSA (Vital Signs Alert), and from March, hundreds will be used in the Bidi Bidi camp, and the Nakivale refugee settlement in south west Uganda.

A patient in Haiti has her blood pressure and heart rate checked. — The device has already been used to help pregnant women in Haiti. Picture by Hope Health Action.

How does the device work?

The device needs minimal training to operate and uses a traffic light warning system that shows the risk of shock or high blood pressure in a patient.

– A green light shows the patient’s blood pressure and heart rate are normal, and they are likely to be well.

– A yellow light shows the blood pressure is high, and the patient could have pre-eclampsia, a condition that occurs in pregnancy, or soon after delivery. If untreated, it can cause a pregnant woman to suffer a seizure, stroke or even die.

– A red light shows that blood pressure is very high and the patient could have severe pre-eclampsia, or may have severe bleeding or infection.

Watch a step by step guide to using the device

Thanks to your gifts, at least 7,000 pregnant women will receive a medical check that could save both their lives, and the life of their unborn children. The device will alert volunteer health workers to a problem that can then be referred to a doctor or nurse.

BMS funding of £18,000 will help partner organisation Hope Health Action (working with King’s College London and the United Nations refugee agency) distribute more than 700 of these devices into the two camps from March and train people to use them.

South Sudanese refugees climb a hill at the Bidi Bidi refugee settlement in Uganda.

By giving to BMS, you’re making a life-saving difference to women in the Bidi Bidi and Nakivale refugee settlements.

But it could lead to so many others being helped, as it’s hoped a successful programme will prompt the Ugandan health ministry to distribute the device to other refugee camps.

We give thanks for your gifts. Amazing things are happening because of you.

Looking back:

1. Big thinking for little minds

Millions of children in Nepal are getting the opportunity of a better education, thanks to your support for BMS worker Annie Brown.

With her teacher training programme being adopted by the Nepali Government, every teacher of students aged between five and 13 in all government schools will have the chance to receive Annie’s training. They’ll be better-equipped to teach, and Nepal’s children will face brighter futures!

Read the full story here

2. Pray for our new mission workers

James and Ruth Neve, who are preparing to move to India to work with us.

Tucked away in our centre in Birmingham, new BMS mission workers are busy preparing for overseas service. For them, it’s daunting, but also exciting, as they get ready to serve God abroad in different ways. From a family heading to Nepal to help with disaster relief, to a couple heading to Albania to teach children of mission workers, there are plenty of things we can be praying for.

Loads of you loved catching up with our new mission workers’ prayer requests, making this our second most popular story last year.

Pray for them today by clicking the link below.

Read their prayer requests here

3. 5 ways you're fighting violence against women

For thousands of vulnerable women and girls around the world, gender based violence is a daily part of life. But, thanks to your support, BMS is taking a stand against it. From helping girls know their rights, to freeing women from prostitution, you’re helping to empower women and prevent trafficking, sexual abuse and domestic violence. Find out more by reading the story.

Learn how you're empowering women around the world

4. Baptised in a barrel in Phnom Penh

Students are meeting Jesus in Cambodia! We loved witnessing the amazing moment when Srei got baptised in a barrel and by our stats it looked like you did too. Read about how she and Chan came to find God at a BMS-supported Christian hostel in Phnom Penh, and how, thanks to your support, more and more people are finding Jesus.

5. Feeding of the 400

You’re helping to build Christian community in France – where young Christians often feel isolated and lonely.

Connexion 2017, an event put on by BMS worker Sue Wilson and her team, helped young French Christians realise they’re not alone. Watch the video above to find out about what it meant to the people who were there, and click the link below to read how you’re helping bring young French Christians together.

Read how you're helping young French Christians find community

Thank you for supporting us in 2017. Your gifts have helped people find God, and have transformed countless lives. With your continued support, we can’t wait to start doing even more in 2018!

Other great stories made possible by you

Five stores aren’t enough to sum-up how much you did last year. So here are a few extra ones we’d love you to read too.

Meet the inspiring Mozambican Christians you’re supporting: they’re bringing justice to abused women and teaching communities their rights.
From witch doctor to church planter: the story of a witch doctor who found God, and then started planting churches.
Baptist church brings light in Uganda: one simple action is raising money, helping people’s lungs and introducing people to Jesus.
Refugees are like you and me: BMS worker Ann MacFarlane has seen God at work in the lives of refugees in Italy.
This is what a life transformed looks like: meet Joshua. You helped give him a reason to smile.

This is what a life transformed looks like

Uganda:

This is what a life transformed looks like

Supporting this 798

Joshua is full of potential. He is a bundle of joy. He is treasured.

His life is different from how it was before, and your gifts have made his transformation possible.

When Joshua was two years old, his life began to change. His parents discovered that his diagnosis of Down’s syndrome didn’t mean that his life was hopeless. They began to dream for his future.

It all started when Lois Ovenden, a BMS World Mission speech therapist, entered their lives.

Meet Joshua, his wonderful mum Flavia, and BMS worker Lois in this video, and find out how your support has helped to transform a family in northern Uganda by watching the video (above).

Can a better toilet really change your life?

Supporting this 518

Loo slabs are creating jobs and improving health in 20 villages in northern Uganda.

It’s not very British to talk about toilets. But if yours got taken away and replaced with a crumbling, festering long drop, made from mud and sticks, you’d probably have a few things to say.

In northern Uganda, a lot of people don’t have access to clean toilets. In northern Uganda, a lot of people die from diseases related to poor sanitation. A survey that BMS World Mission workers recently carried out in Gulu District showed that diarrhoea is the third biggest killer in the region.

That’s why BMS water and sanitation engineer Tim Darby is passionate about… (you guessed it!) toilets. He’s been helping Christians in villages across Gulu District and beyond learn how to make durable and affordable concrete latrine slabs, so that everyone has the chance to have a cleaner, safer toilet.

I’m now raising some funds that can make my family also to be fed well. I could even be able to pay the school fees of my daughter.

Watch this three-minute video to find out how this project is impacting the lives of communities and newly trained business people.

Tim has helped train 40 people from 20 villages in how to make the latrine slabs, how to market and sell them, and in budgeting and book keeping. These people now have skills and businesses that will enable them to provide for their families. And, as part of their contract, each business has agreed to give eight slabs away to the poorest people in their village for free – ensuring that the blessings are shared and the most vulnerable people are benefitting from this project.

The chicken-slab industrial complex

The slabs come in two sizes, the smaller of which can be purchased for the price of a chicken, which means they should be affordable for everyone. In fact, that’s part of their marketing campaign – if you have a chicken, you can have a clean toilet! Some of the businesses are even doing a straight exchange: a chicken for a slab.

Another aspect of Tim’s marketing campaign for the new businesses is to run a launch event in each village (as you’ll have seen in the video). Loud music booms to attract the crowds – and as many as 100 people have been known to crowd around to see what’s going on. During each launch, certificates are awarded to entrepreneurs, a local community leader explains why good sanitation is important, four young people from a local Baptist church perform dramas (much to the crowd’s enjoyment), and one lucky person wins a free slab in a raffle!

The launch creates the buzz these new businesses need, and many of them are already running successfully.

“I’m now raising some funds that can make my family also to be fed well,” says Omgom Robin, one of the entrepreneurs making the slabs. “I could even be able to pay the school fees of my daughter.”

When toilets are the pits

Most people in Gulu District use pit latrines – deep holes that are dug in the ground. When the ‘seat’ is made from mud and sticks, like it is for most families in rural areas, these toilets are very hard to clean and are prone to collapsing. Disease spreads more easily when faeces and waste can’t be safely washed away. By placing a large concrete slab over these toilets, they instantly become more hygienic. They provide a safe place to stand and they can be washed clean. It sounds simple – and it is. And yet these slabs are having a massive impact on people’s health.

“The health benefits are actually very hard to quantify,” says Tim. “However, the natural bi-product of improved sanitation for most people will be better health. Ultimately, it can prevent some people from having very serious illnesses, or even death in some cases.”

So, can a better toilet really change your life? For the 40 people who now have jobs and are getting an income to feed their families and send their children to school – it can. And for the potentially hundreds of men, women and children who are less likely to get sick or even die from diarrhoeal diseases – it can, too.

All of this has happened because of your giving. From Tim, Robin and all those benefitting from improved sanitation in northern Uganda – thank you!

Give today to help!

By giving a gift to BMS today, you can support amazing projects like this one! Donate now.

Got a moment to fill in your details?

Thank you

From 2009-2019:

The lives you’ve transformed

2009: Bringing the light of God to France

2010: Fighting drug addiction in Thailand

2011: Planting seeds of faith in Peru

2012: Celebrating the undefeated

2013: Lifting up North Korea in prayer

2014: Standing with women across the world

2015: Sending relief to Nepal

2016: Stepping out in faith in India

2017: Sharing art from Syria

2018: New life in Afghanistan

2019: Chosen by God in Uganda

Tech for mission:

how cutting-edge tech is transforming lives

South Sudanese people in refugee settlements are already helping each other. Will you stand with them?

Ebola outbreak

Pray for D R Congo and Uganda

Pray for the Uganda Ebola outbreak

Exciting news from a boring project

Watch how Tim’s team use a man-powered drill to dig a borehole.

South Sudan:

windows of prayer

Help us fight child abuse in schools

In pictures:

Meet the South Sudanese refugees you're helping

How you're helping: food

How you're helping: maternal health

How you're helping: destigmatising disability

Buffalo, corn, radishes and chillies:

a recipe for success

1. Mozambique: cattle and corn

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

2. Afghanistan: lettuces and radishes

3. Nepal: buffalo and goats

4. Uganda: bananas and chillies

The kingdom builders:

meet six BMS workers giving it all for Christ

The couple opening minds in a secular nation

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

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

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

The pastor who takes on the Amazon to connect with believers

The woman resisting persecution to help people find Jesus

Justice in Africa:

God's heart for the poor

5 ways you’re making the world a healthier place

1. Meeting medical needs in Chad

2. Giving children with disabilities the support they need

3. Coming to the aid of pregnant refugees

4. Saving the lives of mothers and babies in Afghanistan

5. Giving children a voice through speech therapy

A tale of two villages:

providing clean water in Uganda

Technology and mission:

Coming to the aid of pregnant refugees

How does the device work?

Watch a step by step guide to using the device

Looking back:

Top 5 stories of 2017

1. Big thinking for little minds

2. Pray for our new mission workers

3. 5 ways you're fighting violence against women

4. Baptised in a barrel in Phnom Penh

5. Feeding of the 400

Uganda:

This is what a life transformed looks like

Can a better toilet really change your life?

The chicken-slab industrial complex

When toilets are the pits