Mission Support
Jesus said to his disciples:“Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation”. – Matthew 28:19-20
One of our three strategic aims at St Michael’s is Sharing Jesus Together. St Michael’s Church has formed partnerships with individuals and organisations reaching out to share Jesus with people and to help communities in the UK and around the world. You can see a list of our current Mission Partners and you can see information about each of them by scrolling through this page.
The Mission Support Hub (MSH) is the group of people who are responsible for supporting our partners, for sharing news and encouraging prayer for them, and for sharing financial gifts with them. St Michael’s allocates 10% of Church Income to our Mission Partners and to some other community needs.
On the first Sunday of each month we feature a ‘Mission Partner of the Month’ with short presentations being given during our Sunday services and prayers for the featured partner. Many of our Life Groups are also linked with specific Mission Partners. For more mission news you can also join the Mission News Facebook group.
The next events for Mission Matters are:
- Mission Matters (Zoom meeting) on Monday, 19 May 2025 at 8:00pm
- Mission Matters (Zoom meeting) on Tuesday, 22 July 2025 at 8:00pm
SIITA Nest
Location: Jinja, Uganda
SIITA Nest Mother’s Love Home provides shelter, food, medical care, education and emotional and spiritual support to children in Uganda who have been orphaned by civil war or HIV/AIDS, abandonment and family breakdown.
St Michael’s funded the purchase of land in Bugembe and contributed to the construction of the first two buildings and the site boundary wall.
We provide ongoing support, contributing to school fees and the running costs of the home.
The Brickworks – John & Poppy
Location: South Sudan
The Brickworks is a small UK charity that works exclusively in South Sudan. It has no employees and all the work it does in South Sudan is under the umbrella of the Episcopal Church. The link with South Sudan began when John and Poppy Spens volunteered to work with the Diocese of Yei, as mission associates of CMS Ireland. They lived in Yei for 5 years and returned to live in the UK in 2011. Since then, The Brickworks has continued to support the work of several Dioceses, helping the church to make a difference to the lives of its people.
The main work of The Brickworks is to support the Diocese of Yei in operating a very busy Primary Health Care Centre and Eye Clinic in the town of Yei seeing around 20,000 patients per year. For 2024 and 2025 St Michael’s Church has donated funds to meet the cost of running the Eye Clinic, which pays the staff and provides medicines. Apart from that, The Brickworks gives scholarships to enable primary school teachers to study at the Yei Teacher Training College and other scholarships to enable the training of nurses and midwives.
Although supporting the Diocesan health facilities is the main priority for The Brickworks, it also aims to strengthen the church by investing in discipleship training for youth leaders, theological training for clergy at a local Bible College and helping several Dioceses to provide practical training for both clergy and laity.
Katia Rocks – CMS Missionary
Location: Florianopolis, Brazil
Katia played a vital role in starting the Vineyard Florianópolis church plant in 2015. It began with a Bible study in her home and grew and grew. These days, church members regularly go out into the streets to talk to people about spiritual things and offer to pray for people who are out and about. Through this they have seen many people decide to follow Jesus, be baptised and become part of the church community. The church also runs various small groups, youth and children’s work and local outreach for people living in poverty. Katia has done a prison chaplain course and also works with women who are in prison in Florianópolis.
The Leprosy Mission
Location: Globally
The Leprosy Mission, is a Christian organisation leading the fight against leprosy. It started in 1874 and operates in 27 countries worldwide. It seeks to bring transformation by healing and empowering people to attain dignity and life in all it’s fullness.
As well as supporting people today they work to serve future generations by working to end the transmission of the disease. It partners with governments, churches and other organisations but most importantly with people affected by leprosy themselves to achieve the vision – ‘leprosy defeated, lives transformed’.
inHope
Location: Bristol, UK
inHope has a vision of communities where everybody can reach their God-given potential, free from injustice and insecurity.
We exist to help people overcome insecurities such as homelessness, hunger, addiction and poor mental health. These insecurities are often caused by injustices such as insufficient housing, limited access to food, poor employment, discrimination and abuse.
Every person is unique. By offering help to enable people to overcome insecurity and challenging the root-cause injustices, people are then free to reach their God-given potential.
inHope brings together volunteers, supporters and churches from across Bristol, to offer hope, justice and security to our city.
Ruslan and Larisa Telpiz
Location: Gotesti, Moldova
Moldova is the poorest country in Europe, with very little paid work available and many people are leaving the country in search of work. Ruslan is the Pastor of the Baptist Church in Gotesti. His ministry includes leading Sunday services, preaching, youth work, baptisms, pastoral care and discipleship of church members and new believers. He is also involved in outreach and evangelism in Gotesti, Chircani and Tiganca.
Larisa runs the Day Care Centre (Children’s club) for socially vulnerable children. This is an after-school ministry held in Gotesti Church, which provides food, games, Bible stories and help with school work, in a caring and supportive environment. Larisa is also involved in the church’s ministry with women and families.
Open Doors
Location: Around the world
Open Doors UK & Ireland is a charity that supports and advocates for Christians facing persecution and discrimination worldwide. Did you realise that 1 in 7 Christians around the world faces pressure or persecution just because they follow Jesus Christ? Every day, millions of Christians risk their lives to follow Jesus. In more than 60 countries, Open Doors supports them by supplying Bibles, providing emergency relief and helping persecuted believers stand strong for the long-term. They also advocate for those being persecuted and maintain the World Watch List which shows those countries where persecution of Christians is most severe.
St Michael’s has adopted Open Doors as a partner Mission Organisation from September 2024 onwards, though some in our church have been supporters for many years. For more information please look at the Open Doors website.
Epaphras Trust
Location: El-Shaddai Bible College, India
Epaphras Trust was established in 2008. The charity objectives are principally to offer voluntary teaching and leadership training to serve in communities, in addition to caring for widows and orphans. We work with organisations in Kenya, India, Nepal and Ukraine.
Our Timothy project partners with EBC situated in Bihar state, India. Sharing a border with Nepal, the state of Bihar is one of the poorest in India.
EBC is an arm of Soul Winning Mission which was birthed from the vision of Emmanuel Samuel, many decades before. His vision was to build a children’s home for orphans, a school and a training facility to train young people from areas of North India. He modelled his vision of faith on the same model as George Muller.
Univida – Marc & Ruth
Location: Fortaleza, Brazil
UNiViDA runs a Christian educational project serving 260 children aged 7-14 in the slums of Fortaleza in North East Brazil, bringing them life, hope and opportunity.
All the children go to state schools, but only for 4 hours per day. UNiViDA provides each child with an additional 4 hours of education per day. Practical support for the children and their families is also provided.