It’s an exciting time of transition for Church of Christ churches in Fiji. With the Director of Fiji Community Churches of Christ, Bruce Edwards, leaving at the end of 2018 after six years, local pastors are being encouraged to plan for the future, exercise local leadership and operate as many parts of the united body of Christ.

Following months of preparation a team of 11 volunteers travelled to Tanna, Vanuatu, in September 2018. We had consulted with the Churches of Christ Conference in Vanuatu, Tanna Island Conference, church leaders, chiefs and locals to offer skills, training and assistance helpful to them. 

This year Hudson (aged 7) and Toby (aged 5) both decided they wanted to be involved in the Safe Water September Challenge with their Nana Anne. They wanted to be involved in raising money to help others. 

Sometimes mission starts with a bucket of cash or resources to be sent to those in need. Sometimes we set off with an empty bucket, to bring back new experiences. Why not turn the bucket upside down, place it in the dust and sit beside your neighbour?

For Vana Bawm and his community in remote Bangladesh, December 12 is a significant day of remembrance and celebration.

Prior to the year 1918 the Bawm tribe had never heard the gospel. Living in the relatively untouched and remote hills of Bangladesh the community practiced animism, believing that all things were living and spiritual, but not following or worshipping one God. 

There are times when we are faced with a choice that can’t and must not be avoided. GMP is in such a situation. To make this important decision we reflected on our values and on how we can rely on the grace and goodness of God, and we decided to focus our attention on others and not on ourselves.

At Global Mission Partners, we say that we “know the locals.” It’s one of the things that distinguishes us. Although we are spread across the globe, we forge deep relationships, and we partner with people and projects through more than funding

In 2017, Castlemaine Church of Christ (Victoria) signed a formal Partnership Agreement with Churches of Christ Conference Vanuatu on behalf of the East Santo Churches of Christ. They have been sending teams to Vanuatu since 2012, starting with three visits focusing on building construction. Then in 2016, the Sunday School in Australia raised funds for the primary school in Vanuatu and a team travelled again, providing materials for the primary school in Sara Village (East Santo).

Christian Mercy International (CMI) in South Sudan implements activities within the push and pull of both material and spiritual poverty, developing education, health, and agriculture initiatives in the Aweil district. GMP has also established partnership with the LAID Foundation of South Sudan (LAFOSS), investing into peace-building initiatives in Juba.

Choosing a gift from the catalogue won’t make your car travel more steadily, but it will convey something of the love God calls us to have for our neighbours. It will, in a small way, start to balance the world – shift some resources from those who worry about cruise control to those who have only one pedal.

The water in the Ngezi River at Rupemba, Zimbabwe, was never good. Crocodiles made fetching water from it a dangerous chore, and many animals drank and muddied the water there. It got worse when people came seeking gold. The chemicals they used made the water toxic.

The Dareton Cooking Classes grew organically, with youths’ interest sprouting from one man cooking his dinner at the youth centre. 

Hosanna Ministries India has expanded its work in the Maharastra state to provide a range of vocational training opportunities for young people. With the help of generous donations, ten students have completed computer classes over the past year. 

Global Mission Partners pays tribute to former staff members of the Australian Churches of Christ Indigenous Ministries (ACCIM) whose lives were celebrated in the past few weeks.

Between 1990 and 2015, the Millennium Development Goal of halving extreme poverty (less than USD$1.90 per day) was achieved. Extreme poverty went from 1,926 million to 836 million people – amazing! Over a similar period (1981-2010) poverty in China reduced dramatically (835 million to 156 million people) and in India significantly (429 million to 361 million). These are fantastic results, but they are not the whole story.

Working together is what empowers our projects to have real impact. It’s people like you whose generosity enables the ongoing work of our partners. This month, it is exciting to announce that GMP launches our 2018-19 Great Gift catalogue. Let me tell you how your Great Gifts are making an impact!

When Pastor Raj Deo met Rukmani at Lomawai in 1999, she was 56 and had suffered chronic back pain since childhood. She was unable to do manual labour – a significant challenge for a widow whose only source of livelihood was the sugar cane farm she took responsibility for after her husband’s death 16 years earlier. 

The Safe Water September (SWS) challenge has concluded, but the impact remains. So far $101,339, has been raised for safe water projects in Zimbabwe. Donations will be used to support communities in rural Zimbabwe to access safe water, bringing joy to people like Sipho.

The Songlines walking tour of inner city sites in Melbourne is designed to offer an insight into local Indigenous history and culture with a view to increasing awareness and sensitivity to the social, political, physical and spiritual forces affecting many Indigenous Australians both in the past and today.

The claim that we know someone is a big one. It indicates that we have invested in who they are, their life story and their ups and downs. It is to say we appreciate who they are. We can only do this if we take the other person seriously...

While the community has come a long way, Unite is hopeful that work in her village is not complete. She looks forward to future projects, which will make it even easier to access life-changing water.

Playing with orphaned kids when I’m on holidays, or sending practical supplies, sending quick fix help, welfare, voluntourism, unrequested gifts in kind, and thinking that slavery is over… there are lots of ways that trying to help others can be tricky. You might say, “But God has called us to help people! Is God trying us, by making it complicated?” I don’t think so. As in everything...

When our church first got involved starting up a partnership with Vuci Rd church in Suva, Fiji, my expectation was that we would be helping the small community of Indo-Fijian believers in church development. I was overawed by the prospect, given my lack of experience in anything resembling leadership development, music ministry or anything else that a church might hope to ‘develop’. I expected...

While working in a retail job many years ago, a Spanish traveller told me that he had not encountered culture during his six months in Australia. Much to my disappointment, 18-year-old me had no rebuttal...

Raghu is a 15-year-old boy who lives with his parents and sister in a shed made of tarpaulin sheets in an impoverished community in Mumbai. The condition and hygiene of their slum is terrible. Raghu’s story is all too common in Mumbai...

Aziz heard that his school would be closed for the month. His school, like many others in Uzbekistan, was closed so that the children could work in the fields picking cotton – for no wages, for the government, and in appalling conditions. Aziz knew what he would be doing, but he didn’t know how to stop it...

It’s seven o’clock in the morning. You snooze your alarm a couple of times, get out of bed and run a steaming hot shower. You use the toilet, grab a glass of water, and brush your teeth. Your morning routine might seem pretty standard - but the harsh reality is that you used more safe water in your shower than someone in sub-Saharan Africa will use all day...

Our deepest hope is for a world where people find true and deep freedom in Jesus...

Donwai was 5 months old when he lost his mum and dad. He is part of a marginalised ethnic group, and grew up with his grandparents in an isolated village in Bangladesh. He had very limited access to education.. but now, Donwai has hope for a brighter future.

The camping atmosphere of State Youth Games, with action packed sporting activities and evening ministry programs, provided the perfect opportunity for embody to get our smoothie bikes out for the official launch of the 2018 Safe Water September (SWS) challenge!

There are numerous incredible Indigenous women within the Churches of Christ history of ministry among their peoples...

Our youth sewing group at Dareton Youth and Community Centre started with two Indigenous sisters. It now includes both Indigenous and non-Indigenous kids from Mildura and Dareton who are growing up with challenges in their lives, and who just wander into the centre...

n celebration of NAIDOC week, IMA Coordinator East, Nick Wight, interviewed Mary Slabb, co-founder of Juraki Surf Culture in NSW.

When Onotu lost her husband she was in despair about how to care for her children.  With no one to earn money for the family she couldn’t see how she could keep her children at school. Then she had an idea...

A Mon migrant worker – Maung – gave his life to Jesus two years ago. Maung testified to us that he was a drunkard, a smoker and living a loose lifestyle, but after he accepted Jesus Christ, God thoroughly changed his life and he became a new person...

Pastor Watungwa leads the churches in Zimbabwe’s Msipani circuit.

I was reading Luke’s words in Acts 1:8 – the assurance from Jesus that the Spirit would give the Apostles power for mission – Jerusalem – Judea – Samaria – to the ends of the earth. An all-encompassing space for mission.

My recent trip to Australia was filled with rich and blessed times of reunion, reengagement and opportunities to meet with a number of supporters, as well as sharing about the work of Bright Solutions with new faces.

When it was confirmed I would be travelling to Ambae, Vanuatu, with Global Mission Partners, visiting communities affected by a still active volcano, I thought I might need some courage.

Students at Yamen Bible College in Papua New Guinea (PNG) learn to read the Bible in their own language, and train for ministry in local churches.

Mission is a people centred activity. We may focus our attention on our local setting, or somewhere further away or even somewhere farther away still. It is people and their situations that shape and sharpen our sense of mission.

Vietnam was a mystery to me until I travelled there with John Gilmore and Mark Stevens last November. Mark and I are GMP Board members, and we were travelling with John as he visited the areas in Vietnam partnering with GMP.

Menpoi Mru travels 15km to spend time with 120 members of a local village in Bangladesh, he asks them, “What is salvation, eternal life and death?” ...

Research shows that Australians are generous people who like to respond in practical ways. But what is actually the most helpful response when it comes to sending gifts overseas?

Iman and Eko walk 6km from Tanen to Malibari village every weekend, to help tutor school kids like Juwedi, a young boy who struggled to listen to his teachers. Iman and Eko see that God can use small things to make big changes in peoples lives. 

When Nomalanga undertook a fashion and design course, she mentioned her aim was to have a sewing machine, the Christian Women’s Fellowship group (CWF) at Boondall Church of Christ responded to her need...

Walking to church shapes our expectations. It creates a space for preparation and reflection about what we will experience. In a busy world, walking is a change of pace, an opportunity to prepare for what we anticipate...

The Sunnybank Church of Christ partnership with Lomawai Church of Christ, Fiji, commenced in 2016 with assistance from GMP. A small team was sent to establish stronger ties and the church-to-church partnership commenced.

For people like Agnes living in rural Zimbabwe, walking to church is the only option. But there is hope, and you can be a part of it...

Ps Rexford Bani began as the School Chaplain at Londua Technical College (LTC) in 2015. “I can see God’s calling in this position now and for the future…”

“It was such a tribute to the resilience of people, both local and Australian missionaries – a fine heritage... We met a number of previous students who, since leaving Shrigonda, pursued further education...”

Ray and Jill Muler visited Vanuatu in 2017. They conducted Bible studies using DVDs and other teaching resources, visited various communities and also enjoyed sharing meals with the local pastors and friends.

Many women have travelled to mission fields in distant places, bringing the good news, health and education to local communities. Our history makers must have had buckets of courage, passion, grit and determination. Today’s women working in mission must also be gifted with these same qualities. One such woman is working for God in Vietnam...

Our thinking about mission often starts in the activity of mission—mission as a project. We think of getting up and going out on an edge. Pushing out in a new way, out of our comfort zone...

Daniel’s father was the first ordained pastor among the Bawm community in Bangladesh. He was born in 1974, and brought up in a Christian family. It was on 26 January 2002 – moments before his father’s last breath – that he was asked to follow his father’s footsteps and serve the Lord...

Cathy and Mike were excited about their holiday in Asia.  As well as cheap everything, they had booked a tour of a children’s home where they would volunteer for a day...