Within Church of England Birmingham we are excited to have many Global Mission links. At the Diocesan level we have links with both Malawi and Bolivia. At Parish level there are a variety of links, some held by the whole church and others through individuals.
Rev Manda Featherstone is the Bishop’s Advisor for Global Mission Learning. She states, ‘I am really excited to see how our Global Mission encounters help us to learn of the World Church and to see God at work especially through answered prayers and shared testimonies. I love seeing how involvement in Global Mission can help us grow as disciples of Jesus.’
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If your church are looking to establish, enliven or share about Global mission partner links or if you are a member of clergy planning a sabbatical or your church may be planning a mission trip then do email Manda as she would love to endeavour to support you in this. |
Supporting Mission Partners
You or your church may have all sorts of connections with the wider global Church family and fostering good relationships with any mission partners you have is important for both them and yourselves.
One of the simplist things you could do is to ask your mission partners what sort of support they need and make sure that your support is not simply 'transactional' (where you're just giving money). People grow in their own understanding of faith and the world when they experience relationship with the global Church. You need partners as much as they need you!
But my church doesn't have any Mission Partners...
Find some! Partnering with people in mission, whether that's just down the road or in another continent is a really helpful way of understanding our place in the family of God. And it doesn't have to be just about money... Financial support is really important but committing to pray for people and standing with them as they serve God can also be such an encouragement.
There are lots of ways to make links with churches and mission partners. Your church could partner with a church in Bolivia or Malawi and commit to praying for them or raising money to support mission initiatives. Or you could become a link church with an organisation like Church Mission Society. There are lots of others too like Christian Aid or Tearfund.