Features 
First and foremost, the Baptist Union of Great Britain exists to share God's mission. The Baptist family funds and supports mission both locally and nationally. The finance for this comes through Home Mission.

All churches in membership of the Baptist Union of Great Britain have the opportunity to be a recipient of the many and varied materials and services provided by Home Mission.

 

An agency of the churches in the UK and Ireland, Christian Aid works wherever the need is greatest, irrespective of religion. It supports local organisations, which are best placed to understand local needs, as well as giving help on the ground through 16 overseas offices

 

TOOLS WITH A MISSION is an independent interdenominational Christian charity sending new and refurbished tools all over the world to whoever needs them regardless of Nationality, Creed, colour or anything else providing they have a bona fide need. These tools are used for work which enables families to feed and clothe themselves.

 

The Leprosy Mission (TLM) is an international Christian organisation serving the needs of people affected by leprosy in 28 countries. It brings healing through appropriate treatment and care, as well as practical support for people with ongoing leprosy related problems, working in partnership with communities, national governments and other agencies. It seeks to address the loss of dignity that many people affected by leprosy and their families have experienced. In all these matters it seeks to show the compassionate love of Jesus Christ through word and deed. Individuals and churches of all denominations, as well as other agencies in 25 countries support the Mission with finance, prayer, and some expatriate expertise.

 

In the last five years Tearfund has become an organisation that is committed to continual re-formation. The Bible and historic evangelical understanding of its central truths remain as our foundations, but our experience of serving the poor in partnership with others continually forces us to go back to our foundations and think again. This means that statements of purpose, values or principles are not final but in some respects snapshots of where we have got to in our pilgrimage. We remain open to continuing discussion and learning.

 

Open Air Campaigners was founded in 1892 in Australia (more of our history can be found on the Open Air Campaigners International web site) and has been working in Britain since 1968 when David Fanstone preached at the first sketchboard open-air on the seafront in Brighton on the south coast.   The name was recently changed  in Britain, and some other countries, to OAC Ministries to reflect the broader scope of the ministry.

 

Established in 1992, The Toybox Charity is a UK-based charity which promotes awareness of the plight of street children in Latin America and works to alleviate their suffering. It now supports a comprehensive rescue plan for street children in Guatemala City, with street teams, a day centre, hostel, homes and work amongst the poorest communities to help prevent children going onto the streets, serving and helping to empower hundreds of children every week.

 

Christians in Sport is a missionary organisation with a vision to see Christians in every sports club, representing Christ and building the Church.

Currently in the UK, 45% of adults and 87% of young people participate regularly in sport, yet the Government has set an even more ambitious target - to introduce the equivalent of 100,000 new participants to sport every month until 2020. Meanwhile, recent research suggests that only around 8% of the population attend church in the UK. If the job of the Church is to "go and make disciples of all nations", sport is a pretty strategic place to start!

   
   

Andrew Evans, 28/02/2004