As a church we believe it is important to support others and help make a difference in the lives of people further afield.
A little over two years ago we pledged, as a church, to raise £5000 in a year, by May 2020, to support Carmel Ministries in the building of a church in rural India, with the notion that we would support a different project the following year.
We achieved the original goal but due to the uncertainty of things due to the Covid pandemic we have maintained support for Carmel Ministries, through donations from individuals, over the last 12 months as well. In total we will have sent over £11000 to Carmel Ministries which is a remarkable sum.
Church India
India is one of the most crowded nations on earth with more than 1.2 billion people made up of 2500 different tribes/people groups. It’s a land of stark contrasts having a successful space programme and yet with huge numbers living in grinding poverty. The vast majority are Hindu and there is growing persecution of the Christian minority as a result of the actions of the Hindu ruling party (BJP). In spite of this, the Church is growing particularly amongst the poorest, lower caste people.
Carmel Ministries are involved in a holistic gospel ministry primarily in the state of Andhra Pradesh in the south. In recent years, under Pastor Ebenezer’s leadership, they have been engaged in a vigorous church planting programme in poor, unevangelised rural communities so that today more than 60 churches have been planted.
David and his wife serve in a very rural location where they have lived for the past 10 years gathering a congregation of 30 people. They sought permission to build a church in this Hindu community for a number of years and this was granted in 2019 by the Government and village leaders. With donations from our Church, Carmel Ministries have built a place for worship which opened in November 2019 and we continue to support their ministry.
CURE International Childrens Hospital
This coming year we will be supporting CURE international children’s hospital – a Christian charity in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this project will be to help fund the provision of a unit to produce prosthetic devices.
They do some amazing work transforming the lives of children with limb deformities and musculoskeletal disabilities who would otherwise be condemned to lives as outcasts on the margins of their communities and probably unable to gain education or employment.
Many of the children they treat could benefit from orthotic devices and prosthetics. The Prosthetic & Orthotics team really stand out for the care they show and quality of craftsmanship they offer, but their workshop is old and pretty basic as you will see in the photographs.
A patient that they treated recently is Chala, he was born without any tibia. He had severe deformity of his legs and only ever been able to sit and crawl. His useless legs were amputated at the knee and then fitted with two prosthetic legs. He is pictured here having the prostheses fitted and standing up for the first time in his life along with another patient trying out their new limb.
Laurence Wicks works as an orthopaedic surgeon is currently working with the Prosthetic & Orthotics team to try and introduce 3D printing technology to their workshop. This has the potential to make a big impact – increasing the number and quality of devices that could be produced and also freeing up the practitioners to focus on other aspects of their work, whilst the printer makes devices that would normally be labour intensive to produce. The work Cure do is not solely physical – they also minister to the spiritual needs of their patients seeking, through the work they do, to win their patients and their families for Christ.
If you are interested to learn a bit more about the work of Cure Internetional, click on the link below:
Baptist Union Prayer Diary
Click here to see the May issue.
Eastern Baptist Association
SWEC is a Baptist church and is part of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the Eastern Baptist Association. The Eastern Baptist Association is a family of almost 180 Baptist Churches situated throughout Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridge. EBA’s vision is for growing healthy churches in relationship for God’s mission in the East of England. Our fellowship together is so that we can encourage and resource one another for the work of mission, both for each church in its local context, and in things we might do together. Every Church contributes to the wider mission in their own unique way by taking part in enriching relationships, developing ministry and enabling fruitful mission in its own area.
We support Home Mission, which is the way in which the Baptist family is resourced nationally, regionally and locally. Home Mission is all about helping Baptist churches and individuals to reach their mission potential and bring the love of God to their communities. It is the Baptist family purse, and each year our Union has an appeal to raise money for Home Mission. To help churches understand more about the breadth of Home Mission-supported activity, EBA has produced a video (see below for link). We join Upson Downs Baptist Church Meeting, which has been going on for quite a while. Just as they think they are making progress Mr Grenville-Stubbs raises his hand…
Click here to watch the video
