Outward Giving
An important aspect of the life of St John's is supporting local, national and international causes and mission agencies through our prayers and outward giving. We have regular mission gift days and fundraising events, as well as giving away the collections from various services, to support this important work.
The agencies we support are:
Local
Routes to Roots: Since 2000 Routes to Roots (R2R) has supported rough sleepers, vulnerably housed (sofa surfers or in B&Bs) and newly housed (formerly homeless) adults in Poole. At regular drop-ins R2R provide basic necessities, such as showers, hot food, clothing and sleeping bags, and offer outreach access to the Poole addictions team, mental health workers, Poole rough sleeper outreach team and housing advisers. R2R also offer supported housing for three rough sleepers, working with the local authorities to move them on into independent accommodation. R2R's exciting current project is to create a permanent base by refurbishing the former Hill Street Baptist Church. Work is ongoing and, depending on developments with Coronavirus, it is hoped to open the new building later in 2021.
PACE (Programme of Applied Christian Education): PACE is a Christian schools work charity established in 1994, partnering with local churches in Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch to provide excellent learning opportunities in schools so that every student can ask their biggest questions, explore the Christian faith and investigate the life and claims of Jesus. The work of PACE includes assemblies, lessons, clubs and pastoral care. PACE relies on the charitable giving of local churches and individuals so is generally able to offer its work to schools free of charge.
National
The Bible Society: The society is still doing great work in this country and around the world, changing people's lives as they come to know Jesus as their saviour. There has never been a greater need for work in prisons, both here and abroad, and the Bible Society has had great success in running Bible courses and is planning to extend this work. The work of taking Bibles into primary schools, for example with the Open the Book scheme, has also been successful and is expanding.
www.biblesociety.org.uk/about-us
Church Pastoral Aid Society: CPAS enables churches to help every person hear and discover the good news of Jesus. God loves to use local churches to reach out and lead people to Him, and CPAS exists to help churches grow through developing leaders and making disciples. CPAS also helps hundreds of people to explore God's call to church ministry through vocation. Venture and Falcon Holidays each year gives about 4,000 children and young people an amazing week of fun, faith and friendships.
International
Poole-Wau Partnership (South Sudan): South Sudan is very underdeveloped and in 2011 Bishop Moses set up St. John's College in Wau to train people to be pastors, teachers, and administrators, and to work in development. Since the country was formed, civil war has been intermittent between different tribes, resulting in food shortages and famine. The College has grown to several hundred students since it was formed and its former students have started work and Pastors and Chaplains in the army. Churches in Poole formed a Poole-Wau partnership and promised to support St. John's College in Wau. Archbishop Moses has been involved in talks between the different tribes and many have signed a peace agreement.
Wycliffe Bible Translators: This Mission is named after John Wycliffe, the first person to translate the New Testament into English (in the 14th Century). This Agency focuses on translating the Bible into many languages and dialects around the world which do not yet have the Bible in their local tongue, especially small and isolated groups. At St. John's, our support for Wycliffe concentrates on Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, channelled to their Bursary Fund to train Nigerians to translate the scripture into minority languages. Gareth and Katherine Mort, with their children Eleanor and Daniel, work for Wycliffe in Nigeria, and sometimes speak at St. John's when they visit the UK.
Tearfund: "He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap" (2 Sam.2:8). This is the work of this Society, seeking out the places in the world with the biggest needs: people suffering the most because of natural disasters, conflicts, injustice, environmental degradation and extreme poverty. The protracted conflicts in Syria, in Yemen and across the Middle East, have resulted in the largest refugee population ever recorded, and Tearfund are always active where the need is greatest.
Open Doors: Open Doors describes itself as ‘an international ministry serving persecuted Christians and churches worldwide.’ It provides Bibles and other resources for the ‘underground Church’ in places where it is dangerous to practise Christianity openly, and also provides support to believers who are discriminated against in a range of countries.
Current prayer focus: Iran
There are believed to be about 1.2 million Christians in Iran, a small minority in a population of 86 million people, most of whom are Muslim. The country is ruled by an increasingly strict Islamic regime, which views the existence of Iranian house churches as an attempt by Western countries to undermine Islam and their authority. Christians who have converted from Muslim face the greatest risk. Iranian Christians may be banned from education, lose their jobs and find it very difficult to get back into employment. For women, the situation is even more precarious because Iranian law grants women few rights. If discovered to be Christians, they are likely to be violently punished or divorced by their husbands and have their children taken away from them.
There is an ancient history of Armenian and Assyrian Christians in Iran; these are protected by the state, but treated as second-class citizens. They are not allowed to let Christians from Muslim backgrounds attend their services, nor are they allowed to worship in Persian, the national language.
It's no surprise that many Iranian believers feel forced to leave Iran and try to start a new life elsewhere.
Open Doors partners support the church in Iran by online ministry, Christian multimedia and also advocacy, encouraging the UK government to press for religious freedom and human rights in Iran.
A prayer for Christians in Iran:
Father God, thank You that Your church keeps growing in Iran despite extreme attempts to suppress it. Continue setting hearts free through the gospel. Please protect our brothers and sisters and their rights, so that they do not have to flee the country, but can stay and build a strong, mature Iranian church. We ask that communities and families will come to see Iranian Christians as genuine, not a product of the Western world, and be moved by their faith, courage and love. Amen.
For more information about Open Doors’ work in Iran and other countries, visit https://www.opendoorsuk.org/