How do we support our Mission Partners?

Prayer We pray for our Mission Partners on a weekly

rotation during morning services, and also at the

various prayer meetings which take place during

the week.

Each housegroup is linked with a Mission Partner,

and we expect these groups to be praying for and

keeping up to date with what’s happening with their Partner (via the

rep/newsletters).

Communication Each Mission Partner has a link person at St John’s, and

it is their responsibility to keep the communication

flowing both ways, and to alert us to pray for any

particular situations. Keep an eye on the Around the

World board! Prayer letters from Mission Partners are

available from here or contact the relevant rep.

Finance St John’s provides the Missionary Council with

10% of congregational giving or £16,000

(minimum) as a tithe to mission. This is sent six

ways to our Mission Partners throughout the

year.

Our Children’s groups save their pocket money to help buy stationery

for the children in Lima, Peru. Lamplighters supports The Leprosy

Mission and there are also opportunities to sponsor a child at Rukungiri

Modern School in Uganda and to become a FRIEND of CRiBS.

Keep your eye out for info and things to pray for on the Around the

World board!

Chair: Lesley South

St John’s Mission Council

St John the Evangelist Welling

Our Mission Partners

Nov 2016

John and Alice Tumusiime Rukungiri, Uganda

John and Alice Tumusiime live in Rukungiri

and began their residential school when their

daughter brought home a friend who had lost

both her parents to Aids. They took her into

their family; she brought her siblings to spend Christmas with

them and they never went back. The family grew rapidly,

eventually becoming a residential school and orphanage for

boarding children.

They started to build in 1992 and now have 800-900 children in the

Modern Primary School, with about 25 regular teachers and a

counsellor. Approximately half of the

children have parents who can pay

school fees, the remainder are double

(no parents) or single orphans. More

than 170 of the children are now

sponsored through Rukungiri Orphan

Partnership. Classes of 70-80 can be

tight but their behaviour is exemplary. They have also built a

nursery school nearby which houses around 200 children.

They have developed a vocational school for young people which

teaches carpentry, bricklaying, car mechanics, catering, sewing

and secretarial skills to enable pupils to make a living. Upon

graduation they receive the tools of their trade, resourcing them

with the potential to bring significant change to a whole village.

The school welcomes volunteers to teach English or other skills.

Sending out St John’s members for short and long term mission overseas and in the UK (inc. gap year placements)

There are a many opportunities to take

time out for short-term mission trips of

service. Many companies will consider

career breaks, others take early

retirement, or a gap year.

We encourage those whom

we believe God is calling

into full-time service in his

church and on the mission field.

We have sent people to train or

work abroad/in the UK for a

variety of time lengths including

Kathryn Giles to All Nations

Christian College, Kenya and

Bolivia, Linda Howell to

Rwanda, Glen Campey (3 years with SPEAK, a Christian pressure

-group concerned with fair trade

and justice), Nicola Foot to

Thailand, Lisa Connor to Europe

and Pippa Cotterill to Fellowship

Afloat (FACT).

Over recent years many have

visited Rukungiri to help teach and

bless children in Uganda.

If you think God might be calling you to get involved in short or long term mission, please

speak with the chair of the Mission Council.

CRiBS - Christian Resources in Bexley Schools (www.cribsonline.org)

Founded in 1993, CRiBS teaches the Christian element

of the RE curriculum in most of Bexley’s Primary Schools. They

provide spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of chil-

dren, a core educational aim and core of all our growth and learn-

ing: CRiBS provides a wealth of teaching and resources in this area

helping children and staff to think through what that means in

practice and encouraging them to explore the Christian faith and

way of life.

CRiBS partners with most of the primary schools and some second-

ary schools in Bexley to provide a range of services. Their main are-

as of work are:

Regularly teaching over 1,500 children a week in the class

room, with additional assemblies.

Writing/performing Christmas and Easter plays each seen by

over 17k primary and secondary pupils and their teachers

Facilitating and supporting Christian Unions in secondary

schools, alongside teaching in the classroom.

Intervention work: seeing children grow in understanding of

emotions, their sense of self value, social skills, academics

and behaviour.

They have a team of full and part-time staff supported by volun-

teers, including several from St John’s.

Paul, Sarah, Sophia, Emily & Annabelle Tester

Lima, Peru (Church Mission Society - www.cms-uk.org)

Sarah felt a call to mission at the age of 14 and a period abroad as

part of her University course taught her to rely on God in a cross-

cultural situation. In September 2007

Paul and Sarah moved to Lima, Peru to

work with the Diocese of Peru. They

work with local people to discern how

best they can contribute to the mission of

the Anglican church in the Diocese.

They feel their calling is to work with

children and young people, helping them

to grow as disciples of Christ. Paul is a qualified civil engineer

and Sarah a teacher. Paul uses his skills along side his main role

in youth work (he has recently gained an

MA in Youth Ministry & Theology). Sarah

developed the Ark play scheme, helping

children in some of the poorest

communities to learn through play.

With Sophia being born in 2012 and Emily

in 2014, Sarah has been concentrating on

being mum. She has recently been teaching at Sunday School and

going to San Pablo Mission to work with the children. They have

been involved in training the people of Lima to continue the work

they have started to enable it to flourish in their absence.

International Justice Mission (IJM) (www.ijmuk.org)

According to the UN, 4 billion people live outside the

protection of the law. That means their public justice systems – their

police, courts and laws – are so broken, corrupt and dysfunctional

that there is nothing to shield them

from violence. Nearly 36 million

people are held as modern-day

slaves. IJM’s global team of lawyers,

counsellors, activists and supporters

are relentlessly pursuing justice in 17 communities around the

world for those who are victims of sex trafficking, forced slavery,

sexual violence, property grabbing, police brutality and citizenship

rights. They rescue victims, restore lives, restrain perpetrators of

injustice and represent in court. They also stop violence before it

starts through training, accountability and resources.

Open Doors (www.opendoorsuk.org)

Open Doors supports

persecuted Christians around

the world with Bibles,

Christian materials, training,

livelihood skills, advocacy -

and in a whole host of other ways - so that they know they are not

forgotten and can stand strong to serve their communities. They

also seek to mobilise the church in the UK & Ireland not only to

serve Christians living under religious persecution but also to

learn from them what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

The Leprosy Mission (TLM) (www.leprosymission.org)

Leprosy is still a disease of our time. Every year over 300,000 new

patients are diagnosed and registered for treatment, but because

of the stigma associated with leprosy and the consequent

reluctance to seek medical care, it is estimated that

even more cases go undetected.

The Leprosy Mission International (TLM) is a

leading international Christian organisation with

over 130 years experience in leprosy work. TLM is

committed to doing all it can to break its power and impact. This

means both providing a cure and addressing the underlying

causes, working to prevent disability and to restore dignity and

wholeness to people and communities affected by leprosy around

the world. They offer education, vocational training, small-

business loans and sanitation & housing improvement.

Leprosy does more than affect a person’s body, it damages self-

esteem, prevents a person from earning a living and makes even

their closest loved-ones reject them.

Purulia Hospital is the only specialist leprosy

hospital in West Bengal, India. It treats 50,000

patients every year and about 100,000 more

people through its community health

programmes. Around 12% of new leprosy cases treated at Purulia are

children. Without TLM’s early intervention and treatment, the future of

these children being able to live without stigma, be integrated in society, be

physically able to write and having the same opportunities as their peers

would be entirely thrown into question.

Entrance to Purulia Hospital