Inter/National

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“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.”  (Revelation 7:9)

In all the busyness of life in our network of churches, it can be hard to remember that there is anything else going on outside. But the truth is that God is living and active to grow his church in every part of his world, so that in the new creation there will be a massive international crowd like the one John saw in his Revelation, quoted above. Around the world there are many, many churches who, like us, pray for God’s help and rejoice in his answers as they labour to get the gospel out to their friends, families and communities.

Inter/National is all about doing what we can to encourage and support that work. Obviously the world is massive and we are tiny – but we can still be involved in a significant way to support a few key projects where people are working under God to build his church. Most of our projects are in other countries, and about two thirds of our budget goes overseas, but we also have links with strategic gospel work in different parts of the UK. The name Inter/National is intended to reflect this!

How do we support our projects?

The bible encourages us to provide support in a number of ways:

Prayer - Inter/National items feature throughout the year in the daily Prayer Diary, in the weekly prayers at church, and in the monthly prayer meetings. If you attend any of these meetings, then these are your projects because you are praying for them!

Money - In the current financial year, the church has set an Inter/National budget of £120,000 for supporting work outside our own activities. Remember that if you give money to our church, then a share of that money is represented here, so these are your projects because you are giving to them!

Personal - We want not just to be faceless givers and pray-ers, but as far as possible we want to give real, personal, caring encouragement to the people involved. Each project is personally linked to one member of the Inter/National Support Group, and we provide opportunities to meet any people from the projects who are visiting us. This year in addition we want to link up Housegroups and Knowing God with one Inter/National worker or family so that more meaningful relationships can develop. This might mean anything from exchanging letters to personal visits.

How do we choose our projects?

Here are of some of the principles that help us decide who to support.

Projects that are gospel focused will only be supported by Christians, and are top priority for us as they are the things God will use to fill heaven!

We support people we know and trust as sound in the faith and appropriately gifted for their ministry; or those who are recognised as such by an organisation we respect. We want to see projects sustained over years rather than fail through lack of support. Most of our resources are

therefore directed towards ongoing commitments rather than one-off or short-term assistance. For many different reasons, some projects are in more desperate need than others. Support from us may be the difference between success and failure, and this is taken into account. By pursuing substantial involvement with fewer projects, we encourage fewer but more meaningful relationships, and reduce the need for our partners to spend time and energy chasing support from many different places.

We hope that this overview will give you a taste to find out more, and inspire you to be active yourself and in your housegroup in supporting the gospel workers who we partner. As you do, please give thanks to God for the part he has given us in his Inter/National work.

 

Inter/National Representatives and their congregational links

Andrew Nicholls	Chairman, Inter/National Support Group
Andrew Buwalda	St Andrews @ Seven
Bob Mallet	Fairfield Community Church
Ruth Martin	Christchurch Balham
Michael Perkin	Dundonald 9.30
Mands Vernon	Wimbledon Central, and Treasurer
Mark Vernon	Partnership Link

 

Who and What We Support

Here is an abbreviated list of the main people and projects that we are supporting in the financial year 2004/2005. Obviously we can't include details in some cases, but the following should give flavour of our involvement. Our target budget for this period is around £120,000, over 70% of this will be spent outside the UK.

Africa

• Ballito Bible Church in Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa
• Bible translation team in Mozambique
• Church planting in rural Tanzania
• Gambian Fellowship of Evangelical Students
• Pasters and students at bible colleges in Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa
• Staff working with The Navigators in Nigeria
• Training programmes for pastors in Uganda, through the Crosslinks mission organisation
• Tearfund appeals

Asia

Staff working through international mission organisations in medical and student outreach

Eastern Europe

Childrens Worker and RE teacher working alongside a local church in Hungary

UK

• Friends' International, and the International Café overseas student outreach in Wimbledon
• Relay Workers and staff working with students through UCCF
• Staff workers at churches in Birmingham and on the Wirral
• The 9:38 ministry apprenticeship training organisation.