Bessels Green Baptist Church

Welcome to the December 2007 edition of BGBC's Mission Update. Produced six times a year by the Mission Team, Mission Update aims to keep the church and our wider circle of friends in touch with the missions we are involved with and support as a church.

The next edition of Mission Update should be out on the 3 February - if you have articles to go in please give them to Gordon Sigston at least a week before - but not before you've read this month's updates!:

India Musings - - Smile in Sri Lanka - News from the Browns - Update from Belgrade - Hope for Cambodia

Thank you for your prayers and interest following my recent visit to South India. It is nearly 3 years since the tsunami struck 13 countries located on the rim of the Indian Ocean. Tearfund partners have been working with communities to rebuild lives in five of the most severely affected countries: Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Somalia. The work in India and Thailand will be finishing in the next 6 months or so, and I was really encouraged to see much progress in the communities I visited.

A number of income generating projects have been set up, especially focussing on the women who historically have been dependent on their husband's earnings which at best are unpredictable. This lady is a member of a "self help group" in her village, where they have been taught basket weaving and are making hand-woven bags. They are now looking for an international market to sell their products to.

In another Dalit (low-caste) community there was great excitement as they work together to help build their new, permanent houses. The people previously lived in thatched huts which had to be rebuilt every year following the monsoons. They are now being provided with concrete homes, on raised foundations - and they are very grateful to all those in England who gave funds in response to the tsunami. This community especially has been very marginalised in the past.

However, working in these communities is not always easy. We were unable to visit another Dalit community as the night watchman had been murdered the night before our visit by men from a neighbouring village. In this particular Hindu village, there has been a real transformation, with over 60 people attending Church regularly, and 35 people being baptised. Please pray that there will be reconciliation with the neighbouring community.

As the work draws to a close in these communities, please pray that the communities will feel able to stand on their own and continue the good work which has begun. Pray especially for the churches in the areas - that they will take up the challenge to both proclaim and demonstrate the Gospel message.

We continue to thank all friends at BGBC for their generous support and prayerful encouragement. The work of Hospices of Hope continues to expand and we are now working in both Brasov and Bucharest and helping other smaller units with training and support within the rural areas of the country. Our work in Serbia continues to struggle to get government recognition and we would value prayers that an inflexible regime may welcome care for the terminally ill from our teams.

Moldova (the poorest country in Europe) and Montenegro desperately need help and we are seeking to expand our services within those countries. Please pray for funding and the right people to take up that work.

Please pray for families in our care over Christmas. This is a very poignant time for many, realising that this may well be their last Christmas with loved ones. This is especially difficult for parents with dying children. Please pray that in some miraculous way that will be able to celebrate the joy that Jesus' birth means to the world.

Ian and I are planning another visit to Romania in May 2008 and would welcome friends from BGBC who would like to see the work and enjoy a couple of days sight seeing in a very beautiful and interesting country. Please talk to one of us if you would like to know more.

The tsunami which struck on Christmas 2004 killed over 300,000 people in many countries on two continents. One of the places affected was Sri Lanka, an island just off the south coast of India. The wave travelled almost completely around the island and went about half a mile inland.

Hambantota, on the south east side of the island, was one of the worst affected places, with the town almost completely destroyed and 10,000 of the 60,000 inhabitants killed. Most of the women and very young children of the town perished as it was market day and they had gone to the quayside to purchase their daily fruit and vegetables. This has left many children with only one surviving parent, their Father! Nearly all of the surviving children now live in slums with their one remaining parent, in houses that are no more than single roomed sheds made from any materials that were to hand. Another problem that these children have to cope with is that most of the adult male population have resorted to drink as a way of coping with their loss, now that their lives have been changed for ever.

Smile International immediately started sending out aid to the people of Sri Lanka after the tsunami and has established a permanent centre in Hambantota, which is where I'll be going to help for just over two months from January 2008. Smile has arranged pre and post school teaching for the children, which ensures they receive education and one hot nutritious meal a day.

I will be helping out with lessons, playing with the children and carrying out any repairs that are required on the buildings. Recently, the children's play ground had all the coconut trees removed for the obvious hazard that they create, and because of my gardening background, have been asked if I can recommend any plants to replace them which are not quite so dangerous. They have logs from the trees which were cut down and they have asked me to give them some advice on how they could use them, perhaps as an adventure play ground for example. So as you can see I won't get bored!

Fund raising for this adventure is going well but I still require a little more so I will be doing a sponsored run (walk / crawl) around Knole Park on Dec 15th if anyone would like to sponsor me, do please let me know. Your assistance would be very much appreciated.

Lou Brown writes from Lebanon where she and Arthur work with BMS World Mission:-

"We all arrived back safely in Lebanon after our time in the UK and Jessica and Naomi adore school; to the extent that on Saturday Arthur and I were reprimanded by Naomi for not taking her there.

"Arthur is exceptionally busy both at work and outside of it. His job at ABTS is both stimulating and stretching. He comes home buzzing after meetings about the Youth Ministry Track of CTM which is continuing to develop and take form. The Certificate in Training for Ministry (CTM) is a new venture in providing distance-learning quality training for lay leaders across the Middle East and North Africa in theology and practical ministry. He also loves the lecturing which at present is in Christian Community Development and next semester will be on Young People at Risk. I have really enjoyed seeing ArthurÕs passion grow for these subjects as he has started to research them.

"Last weekend the Church Youth Group (Illuminate) were meant to have a second weekend away. Unfortunately 15 minutes before we were all meant to leave it was called off. For a significant number of our young people they had many exams placed on them for the following week. Unfortunately the political situation here is exceptionally volatile and some of the schools are reacting by trying to maximize the teaching time fearing that many days teaching may be lost.

"Please pray for our country as they try to elect a new President. If you are interested in the details of how this is done and some background on the politics here the BBC News website has a lot of really helpful features on it. The negotiations between the different political factions here have been going on for some time yet the constitutional deadline is now upon us. Please pray for peace makers.

"On a personal level I am really enjoying my new job working with an NGO which is there to improve the lives of the poor in Lebanon and touch them with the love of Jesus. This week it has meant performing some 200 cataract operations. I have been privileged to be part of the pre-op team, dilating eyes ready for surgery and calming nerves of women from all the different religious and political factions in Lebanon. At this time of tension I have had the privilege of listening to Druze, Muslim and Christian women support each other before their operations.

"My regular job with INMA though, is to support the work of a pre-school in one of the Palestinian refugee camps. Emotionally this role takes a real toll as you touch the lives of people living in very difficult situations with very little sense of hope. I have been very privileged to have been welcomed in so warmly by the staff and students. Please pray that I will be a real complement to the life of the school and that together we can enrich the lives of these precious children.

"As a family we are very grateful to have the opportunities that we have to live and serve in this beautiful country. We are also encouraged and held up because we know of your faithful prayers. Once again we thank you for your part in facilitating our ministry here."

Since the last Mission Update, a new term has started at the Oak Hall Bible School in Belgrade, Serbia. Students from across the Balkan countries have come to spend a year studying GodÕs word and learning about mission and evangelism before returning to serve churches across this region of the world, which has suffered so much in recent years. During this term, the students have had the opportunity to visit those who have graduated in previous years to see the work they are doing and learn from them. This adds a practical element to support their studying of the Bible.

At the end of October, Andy Mayo led the 60th Oak Hall "Taste of Mission" trip to visit the Bible School and distribute supplies to the refugees that are still living in make-shift homes following the civil war. A number of events were organised to celebrate this landmark trip that is testament to the faithful support that people from the UK have shown over the years.

Andy also continues to visit the Bible School as one of the speakers in their Bible study programme and to support the national team of leaders.

In 2008, there will be three more "Taste of Mission" trips to Serbia (February, July and October). Lasting for around a week they are an ideal opportunity to gain an insight into the work of God's kingdom in another country, without needing to take a few months out from work. For more information, visit the Serbia pages in the Summer section of the Oak Hall website: www.oakhall.co.uk.

In the wider world of Oak Hall, the last weekend in November saw all of those who are going to be involved in the winter season come together to pray and focus on the next few months. It was an encouraging time and we pray that many will draw closer to God through the Bible talks and fellowship on the skiing and snowboarding trips.