Our Mission

What is our mission?

Our mission as a local church is summarised in our mission statement:

Building a vibrant, Christ-centred community with a vision for extending His Kingdom.

We see this mission as one based in our local community, through the church, but much more than just local mission. It includes supporting the spread of God’s kingdom across the world.

This support is shown in prayer, with finance, in practical support, through exchanges and visits, through regular communications, and also particularly by sending people. We support several people and agencies involved in mission, which includes a wide range of activities spread around the world.

 

Why engage in mission?

Our God is a missionary God! He sent his Son to save us and to reveal our loving, awesome Father.  He sends us to share the good news of life in Christ and a message of hope, justice, freedom. The mission might focus on church planting, evangelism or Bible translation, or might be in the areas of training and education, medicine or healthcare, disaster relief, humanitarian aid, or literacy programmes, for example.

Jesus’ last words in Matthew’s Gospel were his missionary command, the ‘Great Commission’: Mt. 28:19-20

¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus also gave the Great Commandment: Mt. 22:37-40

³⁷ … “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

We support mission because this expresses Jesus’ priority, his agenda, his love for all people everywhere. God’s love is such that he wants people to hear the gospel. His love is also shown wherever his message of hope, justice, freedom is shared, whether it is with people in the UK or abroad, as our mission partners demonstrate.

 

Who are our mission partners?

Terry and Jackie Ascott : Terry works with SAT-7, a Christian satellite TV producer and broadcaster, for the benefit of Christians in the Middle East and North Africa. They are based in Cyprus and have three children.

Our mission: To help make available the Gospel to all peoples of the Middle East, in a language and way that will maximize their opportunity to understand and personally consider the claims of Christ. See also the SAT-7 mission statement.

 

Steve and Rebekah Besford are based in Leeds working with minority ethnic groups, after several years in Mozambique.

 

RBC members J and D have a long term commitment to student ministry in a large hospital in Asia. Please pray for their work and their vision to equip young people to show the love of Christ through their medical work and to grow to maturity in Him.

 

Ken and Prema Gnanakan

ACTS Institute - ACTS Institute training self-reliant tentmakers with the emphasis on learning Bible, village evangelism and vocational skills. Over 50 residential and 400 extension students are enrolled.

 

 

Graham Sansom

Graham pastors the Baptist Church in the port town of Vlora in southern Albania. This is a small congregation that he helped to plant in 2002. He is there with BMS World Mission.

In the broadest sense I am in Albania at the invitation of the fledgling Baptist Union of Albania who have  sought the help of experienced pastors in planting and nurturing churches, for them to become mature, established and actively engaged in proclaiming the gospel both here and in other countries. Since 2001 I have been involved in a new church which the Lord has planted in the university town of Vlorë, about three hours drive from the capital, Tirana.

I was brought up in a family where the name of the Lord was loved and honoured and so I grew up knowing the Lord. I cannot remember when I first heard His call and committed my life to Him but I was eleven years old when I believe I first heard the Lord's call to me to be a missionary. I am grateful to Him that the call, and enabling, to follow Him, to commit to Him and (eventually) to serve Him overseas, continue to today. I worked in archaeology for three years before going to university for the first time. I studied biology in London, went on to Exeter to take the post-graduate teaching certificate and then taught in Totnes in Devon for fifteen years. Throughout the years in Devon I was involved in church leadership and eventually left teaching in to train for the pastoral ministry. After a total of twelve years in my first pastorate in Northamptonshire I joined BMS World Mission and came to Albania in 2000. 

As well as leading the local church in Vlorë, I have some pastoral responsibilities for the BMS team in Albania, 'deputising' at the national level for our Europe Representative. I am also on the Board of the Albanian Bible Institute which provides training for the pastorate and other church ministries. One of the particular joys and privileges of being in Vlorë has been working alongside a team of young Albanians with Campus Crusade for Christ who work in the University here. The church in Albania is a young church in more than one sense.

 

Janet Souster

(pictured with Maimuna and Hawa)

‘I have been working for SIL in Mali, West Africa since 1995.  SIL works in Malian languages doing linguistic analysis, literacy and Bible translation.  My first assignment in Mali was in a literacy project, producing reading materials in Fulfulde, the language of the Fulani, and teaching people to read and write their own language.  For the last 9 years I have been based in the capital, Bamako, and I am currently the Assistant Director for SIL’s work in Mali.  Although I live in the capital city I make regular trips to visit our field projects in 12 different language areas.  A special joy for me was speaking at the dedication of the Fulfulde New Testament in November 2006, when Fulani people came together from all over the country, to celebrate having the Scriptures in their language for the first time.  

I also enjoy working with many different Malian partner organisations to promote and enable the use of Malian languages in all areas of society.

 

Pastor Nikolai and Tanya Veremienko

Pastor of a church in Chigorin, Ukraine. The most recent visit was from a team of six from RBC who travelled to Chigorin for a week in May 2008.

 

 

 

We also have other mission partners working in various parts of the world in both professional and missionary roles. We also engage in partnership activities with churches in other countries, such as sending or hosting short-term mission teams.

 

Short-term mission

We have also had a number of people go on short-term mission over recent years, including:

Alan Knott (ACTS, Bangalore, India). Alan has been involved with teaching, training and supporting ACTS for over 30 years and visits regularly. He has shared his professional expertise in business and management.

Tim Ingram (Mexico, 2007). He was part of a short-term mission team, sent with Tearfund, based in Ajusco for four months. He was particularly involved in working with children and families through sports and education to support families and schools, build self-esteem with young people, and aid development in some very poor areas. He has also had opportunity to see some of the broader range of relief and development work that Tearfund are involved in, including health care, nutrition, agriculture and literacy projects.

Simon Tulett (UK, 2008, Christians in Sport with their Academy programme). Simon has also been to south Africa and Indonesia on mission projects.

Paul Desai (YWAM, January-June 2009). 3 months in UK, 3 months in Khon Kaen, Thailand. This included working in an orphanage, teaching English, leading Bible studies, evangelism, social action, working with local children and churches.

(Egypt, YWAM, July 2010). Paul was on the staff of a team of 15, discipling and witnessing to them, as well as working amongst orphanages, making house visits, distributing food parcels.

Ben Page (Durban, South Africa, 2010). Ben worked with a Tearfund/Soul Action team for 6 months in the township of Amoati. He worked in schools and orphanages, with street children, prostitutes, church youth groups. He helped to lead a holiday club in the township for over 700 children!

Julie Good (Uganda, 2010). Julie travelled with a team from various churches to help build school rooms and dormitories in remote villages.

Emma Pople (South Africa, August 2010). Emma spent a few weeks involved in local schools, creches, and helped in building work for these centres.

BLAZE (ACTS Institute, Bangalore, India, August 2010). 9 young people from Blaze and 5 leaders spent 10 days with ACTS, doing a wide range of activities in local schools, churches, work in the ACTS grounds, and lots of other fun stuff!

Annie Sheen (South Africa, July 2011). Annie spent 3 weeks working in a children's centre, as part of a Tearfund project.

Kate Kidd-Rossiter (Kosova, July-August 2011). Kate went with a team from Smile International and was involved in children's holiday clubs, supporting and visiting war widows, maintenance of war graves, pastoral support and other projects.

Alex Mateer (Uganda, August 2011). Alex returned to Uganda for 2 weeks as part of his ongoing commitment to a partnership of the 3:18 charity and KTF (local agency), developing local practical and vocational training (tailoring, bricklaying), school rooms, and school support in a rural area.

See also Links and mission agencies there.