Annual report1

BMF (Baptist Mission Fellowship)
An average of 20 people meet on the 2 nd Sunday of each
month to learn about our Baptist missionaries and support
them through prayer and giving. We also have a trading
table which blesses both the giver and the receiver.
We often have one of the missionaries as a guest speaker
and if not Gay Cochran, who is the Pastoral Care worker for
Tranzsend, has been ’it’ giving us the latest update on our
people and their
situations and needs. Other speakers have been Andrew
Page the Tranzsend Team Leader; Ryan Cameron, a young
MAF pilot who was in Arnhem Land, north Australia and is
now in Africa preparing to fly in South Sudan; and two men
from Bethlehem Baptist Church who built an impressive
steel goat shed in the north of India to help our workers
there. Also Ryan and Sophie who are currently
learning Bengali. Sophie is a journalist by training and she
keeps in touch with photos and video clips on Instagram of
their two young sons Spencer and Emerson. We get to see
the colour, squalor, and simple life of that country without
the smells! And we have joined their team of supporters.
There are many young people in the mission and romance
is in the air! Joel and Lizzie get married on 5 January and Jo
and Charlie (from the UK) mid year.
We are glad that Janette Fairhall is coming on the
committee, made up of Judy Tallon, Jill Burnet, Coreen
Willis and me. We are glad to serve our God in this way.
Pat Tucker
English as a
Second Language
Last year we discontinued the conversation
class but continued the Monday class using
the Bible as our text to teach both English
and the truths of Jesus’ teaching. Half of
our students knew little about Jesus, most
coming from a Buddhist background. Our
studies included “Who is Jesus?”, “Stories
Jesus Told”, Easter and Christmas.
Each week an average of 10 students,
mainly Korean mums and some from China
and Taiwan attended. One lady said that
because her sister had become a Christian
she “would like to know more about Jesus.”
Please pray that Jesus would reveal
Himself to her and to others in the class
also.
This year we welcomed back a couple of
students from the early years and said
goodbye to Jennifer who had been with us
for 5 years. Many like her make a sacrifice
by leaving their home so that their children
can have the experience of studying in an
English speaking country….a great
opportunity for them to learn about Jesus
too
Roger and Anne Chambers
Safe Surfer We've had good developments at Safe Surfer this past year, and really enjoyed
supporting our community. Over 300,000 families worldwide are connected to our technology every day,
meaning many children both locally and globally are protected, and far less likely to stumble into
pornography both by accident and on purpose. Continuing in our goal - to see every NZ child grow up
without pornography in their childhood.
Here in the bay, a good relationship has been built with local agencies - including the Family Violence
Network. Also this year we will release our kid's book, that will be provided to Bay of Plenty families free
of charge, thanks to the support of our generous funders.
Thank you OBC for your vital support and encouragement. Rory and Faye Birkbeck
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