Project for 2009-11
GBWA aims to support a different Christian charity every two years. In the past it has supported:
- Livelihood Project, Philippines - The Livelihood project is a facility for training men and women enabling them to earn a living and support their families. It is a ministry of Cubao Reformed Baptist Church.
- Caring for Life - Caring For Life is a registered Christian charity with the aim of sharing the love of Jesus with homeless or vulnerable people by providing accommodation, ongoing support, love and friendship, and when necessary, providing that care 'for life'!
- Lovewise - Lovewise works with schools and youth groups to encourage young people to consider making good relationship choices.
- Wheels for the World - Wheels for the World restores and distributes refurbished wheelchairs, mostly to people in Africa, giving them increased independence and demonstrating the love of God in a practical way.
The project for 2009 - 2011 is the Rainbow Association.
The Rainbow Association
The Rainbow Association is a ministry of Latin Link. It aims to care for disadvantaged children in Peru. It provides care for street children, has a children's home and organises a feeding programme. Grace Baptist Mission is also associated with this work through one of its missionaries, Sarah Clay. Sarah is a member at Prettygate Baptist Church, Colchester. She worked with The Rainbow Association in 2008 and hopes to return there again in 2010.
Sharing Magazine
is published three times a year and is distributed nationally through local Grace Baptist churches.
Women in Grace Baptist churches are not only encouraged to read Sharing magazine but they are also encouraged to contribute to it.
Sharing Magazine can also be used evangelistically to encourage women to think seriously about the Christian faith.
The following was printed in the Summer 2009 issue.
Are there others out there who find it difficult to introduce the Gospel into everyday conversation? Do you find it difficult to get friends and family along to anything to hear a Gospel message? Do you know people who would never want to go near a church?
As part of the outreach in the church at Whittlesey both the men and ladies have been trying different events to try to give us more opportunities to talk to people and to get them to listen. The most recent of which was a ladies’ event held early in March. This was our 6th annual visit to our local Chinese restaurant, who seem very willing to let us take over their moderate-sized establishment on a Monday evening - presumably they don’t have a huge number of customers on a Monday and a guaranteed full booking is worth having. They provided us with an excellent threecourse meal of assorted starters and four different main courses, followed by a sweet. Between the main course and the sweet our pastor’s wife, Sara Wood, told us about her greatest friend - the Lord Jesus Christ.
The restaurant was full and there was a good cross-section of ages from 18 to a much more unmentionable age, but over 70! The idea is that every Christian should take a friend. That to me, at the first of these events, was a challenge. Had I got a non-Christian friend to take ? Most of my friends were already Christians! But how are we to spread the Gospel if we don’t make outside friends? The second challenge is to make use of the time during the evening to try to introduce some sort of Bible-based conversation. I wonder if we sometimes appreciate, how little people understand of what it means to be a Christian; of what Heaven and Hell could mean to them; and what Christ has done to secure our salvation.
For our visitors, listening to the talk and the small openings in conversation that arise are only little steps - and we certainly have had no direct conversions. But they are ways of opening up interest, possible opportunities for invitation to church services or other events, and offering Christian friendship. They too, are very enjoyable events for us all.
Friendship Link
Friendship Link was set up to support women who live alone, who have no family of their own or who are confined to their homes.
The coordinator of Friendship Link puts volunteers in touch with women who need friendship and support.
They receive letters, phone calls, birthday cards and occasionally flowers - which are all welcome expressions of Christian love and friendship.
For further information about Friendship Link, please contact
GBWA - Administrator.
