What to expect
(Click the name to see which areas they have worked in recently)
Over the years the fellowship at Dunfermline West Baptist has supported various missions and charities. This is just to give you an overview of what they do and how we contribute to their work. Hopefully it will be informative and encouraging. You can find more information on their websites but if we have up-to-date news this will be shared each month.
https://www.bethanychristiantrust.com/
24 September 2023
Bethany supports communities in the North of Scotland – in Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness and Stornoway – with a wide variety of projects, including supported accommodation, addiction recovery groups, computer drop-ins andssupport for women and families. Pray for those struggling in addiction and homelessness that they may see that hope and help is available. Pray too for the Upstream Project which supports young people in school settings.
https://www.tearfund.org/
24 September 2023
The first draft of the global plastics treaty has been released and there’s a lot to be thankful for. All the key issues we’re campaigning for through our Rubbish Campaign have been included – everything from reducing plastic production to protecting waste pickers’ rights. That’s a testament to the power of us speaking up and praying together! But everything will be on the table at the next negotiations in Nairobi in November. If the most justice-focused elements of this draft remain, the treaty could be world-changing. But with some countries and companies pushing hard to protect ‘business as usual’, it could easily go the other way, and fail people living in poverty who are the most impacted by plastic pollution. There will be a week of Prayer and Action from 30 October to 5 November ahead of the next round of negotiations. Please join Tearfund staff and supporters in prayer. Tearfund colleagues and friends will be at the negotiations.
https://scottishbiblesociety.org/
24 September 2023
Haiti
Schools in Haiti urgently need Bibles. A local teacher says ‘This is Voodoo land. Voodoo is known for its lengthy ceremonies containing chanting, ritual dance and spirit possession. We can easily see it on the children’s faces if the parents practise Voodoo. They come to school anxious and tired. If these children were to receive Bibles, they would read it aloud to their parents’.
As more than 60% of adults in Haiti are illiterate, it is children who read to their parents. Teachers want to use this practice to improve the quality of life for the children, the family and the community by helping the children to read aloud from the Bible.
‘When whole families hear the Gospel, the evil spirits will lose their grip. I know this from personal experience, as my family used to practise Voodoo. It is true that Jesus does set people free! If we receive Bibles at school, it will enable us to provide both a physical and a spiritual education for the children’.
Pray for the teachers working in absolute poverty with very few resources. The Bible Society in Haiti will continue to work with these schools, providing Bibles that will bring positive change to the children, their parents and the community.
https://www.platform67.org/
24 September 2023
Inner Mongolia. China, of which inner Mongolia is a part, is home to hundreds of minority groups. Some have experienced Gospel awakening for which we can thank the Lord. Most are still unreached. Mongolians living in China are facing increased pressures to conform as the government has now insisted that all education and exams in Mongolian schools be in Mandarin and no longer in Mongolian in an effort to ‘further national unity’. Similar steps have been taken in Tibet and among Uyghurs in recent years. Ask the Lord to strengthen Mongolian-language churches meeting in China, including through Bible training courses that are taking place. These are difficult days. And a thank you. You will remember the troubled situation in Manipur, India where thousands of Christians fled after their homes and churches were burned to the ground. Makeshift refugee camps emerged and basic help was provided but we especially thank you for praying. We were able to send 250 audio Bibles to the refugee camps for people wanting to hear Good News. Thank you for the difference you made.
https://dwb.church/events
24 September 2023
We give thanks for a profitable Deacons’ Away Day at the beginning of September in the lovely environment of Pitmeadow Farm, Dunning. Give thanks for a few new people who have been worshipping with us recently. May they feel at home among us. The office just off the vestibule in the church has been decorated and Pastor Tim is now working there several days a week, which he hopes will make him more accessible to the community. Please pray for our Community Pastor, Dawn, who was accepted as a pre-accredited minister when she went to the Scottish Baptist Union Board at the end of August. Please pray God will guide her into future ministry as she moves on at the end of October. We give thanks for all she has done for the church. Give thanks for the ongoing relationship with our local school. It was good to see pupils and staff at the church to see 4Front Theatre’s presentation of The Fisherman’s Tail and also welcome those who came to the public performance. Harvest will be 8th October when we will have our link missionaries from Peru with us and also hear of work in Uganda and have opportunity to support that and also the local Foodbank. A soup, bread/biscuit/cheese lunch will follow the service. Pray for the opportunity for Mum’s and pre-school children to meet in the church hall and whether this might develop into a regular Mum and Tots group.
https://bmsworldmission.org
24 September 2023
Afghanistan Since the arrival of the de facto government in 2021, the work performed by international organisations in Afghanistan, including BMS, has been hit by bans targeting the participation of women and girls in public life. Lift up this troubled nation to the Lord. Pray that the de factor government will be moved by compassion and will fully identify with the Afghan people’s many needs. Pray for the security situation in Afghanistan and for the physical safety for BMS’ local partner staff, their families and those served through their work. Pray for BMS’ local partner’s distribution of food and basic supplies to support the poorest families, while they wait for the agricultural season. Pray the rainy season will be on time and harvest plentiful. Remember BMS work Ruby that her agricultural work produces not just food but fruits of hope for a better future. Pray for BMS workers Arthur and Reeta as they continue learning the language and culture. For our link missionaries, the Clarks who will be with us on 8th October, as they prepare for a new ministry within BMS and for Laura-Lee Lovering in Peru as she and her local Baptist church celebrate Bible Month in Peru at services and around the district with banners and loudspeakers.
https://embraceme.org/
22 August 2023
The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective James 5:16 A prayer for the Middle East
Loving God, We thank you for the gift of prayer. Thank you that we can approach you, the God of the universe, with freedom and confidence because of Christ’s death and resurrection. We confess our hearts are heavy as we see the news from the Middle East. Where poverty and injustice have robbed people of hope, we pray that you may bring renewed joy and opportunities. Where violence and conflict reign, we pray that you may heal broken relationships and bring peace. We pray that our partners continue to be salt and light in the communities where they work. May we continue to be faithful in praying for them. In Jesus’ name, Amen
https://www.marysmeals.org.uk/
22 August 2023
The Director of Programme Partners and Affiliates recently met some pre-school children in Kenya who eat Mary’s Meals every school day. They are in northwest Turkana, an extremely remote part of Kenya’s most vulnerable regions. They visited Akalallot pre-school where around 300 children receive Mary’s Meals. The school is a hive of activity and is situated between a few small villages, roughly two or three miles away from each other. The children come for a meal of maize and beans. In the morning they look out for the smoke coming from the kitchen and when they see that, they know they will have a nutritious meal to support their learning. Malnutrition is all too common in these communities, so the programme is helping more children to attend classes and to do so consistently. They have even been building new classrooms to keep up with the increased number of pupils since Mary’s Meals started working there.
https://trypraying.org
22 August 2023
Continue to pray for the booklets that have been distributed across 130 UK prisons and for a new member to be found to join the Trypraying team.
https://www.gideons.org/
23 January 2023
The Autumn/Winter magazine of ‘Good News for Everyone’ is full of interesting and innovative stories of people sharing the Good News by making the Scriptures available for example, at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, large print copies to Care Homes, during the Commonwealth Games, in schools, shopping centres, and on missions to Chile, Serbia and Macedonia. Pray that people may read the literature they received and it will bear much fruit for the Kingdom.
https://hopefuelled.design
15 April 2022
Pray for the Creatives using their talents to produce Christian literature, for some of this which was taken at the Easter Fayre that it will be read and fruitful.
Missions that we regularly support include: Some one is coming Experience Easter
https://dunfermline.foodbank.org.uk/
25 October 2021
Oi Lin took the gifts that were brought on Sunday to the Foodbank. With the end of furlough, the extra money for Universal Credit and increasing energy bills, this service will be critical for many families over the winter months.
We have a collection point in our building and give monetary contributions during specific times of need.
The local foodbank is still continuing its vital ministry, albeit with shortened hours. In February their warehouse moved to a permanent home at Unit 1C, Pitreavie Court, Pitreavie Business Park, Dunfermline KY11 8UN.
We would like to thank all of you for your generosity in continuing to give to the church, and the charities it supports, during this time. We appreciate that these are uncertain times and are grateful that many of us are still able to contribute to the mission of the Church.
You can find further information on how to give to the church via bacs (preferred), cheque or cash at: https://dwb.church/giving/
Dunfermline West Baptist Church
Chalmers Street, Dunfermline
KY12 8DG