The Brickworks is a charity that works alongside the church in the very needy nation of South Sudan, helping people to rebuild their lives after years of civil war. Many South Sudanese are now in refugee camps in Uganda due to insecurity and The Brickworks supports Dioceses with their work with refugees.
The challenges faced by the people of South Sudan are huge. They have had many years of little investment and still have some of the worst health statistics in the world. There’s very high maternal mortality, few homes have access to clean water or a latrine and many children die before their fifth birthday. UNICEF announced in 2016 that more teenage girls die in childbirth than finish secondary school.
The Brickworks supports the local church in discipleship, running a very busy health clinic, improving schools and training teachers and medics.
It also funds three under-tree schools in the camps, catering for over 3,500 primary school children living as refugees in Uganda.
The Brickworks is based in Bristol and has no paid staff. It is run by John and Poppy Spens (who are members of St Michael’s Church) and a Board of Trustees. John and Poppy try to visit South Sudan and Uganda once a year to check on progress and to understand the current needs and priorities. In doing this they meet all their own expenses so that everything given to The Brickworks can be put to work on these varied church projects.
If you would like to speak to a member of the Mission Action Group about any of our mission partners please download our Mag Link Person Index or email the Mission Action Group on our contact page.
“Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation”. – Matthew 28:19-20
One of the key themes at St Michael’s is Sharing Jesus Together. Through the Mission Action Group, St Michael’s Church has formed partnerships with individuals and organisations reaching out to help and share Jesus with people and communities in the UK and around the world.
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.
Ken Hart was invited to visit EBC in 2010 and since that time Epaphras Trust has fully resourced EBC. Much has been achieved over the years, including improvements to the menu, the gradual establishment of a library of study materials and musical instruments and the broadening of the curriculum plus other subjects such as English language, computer studies and sewing. A new building to provide decent accommodation, a lecture room and a library for study has been constructed.
For the academic year 2023-2024 there are 59 students, 50 of whom are supported by Epaphras Trust.
If you would like to speak to a member of the Mission Action Group about any of our mission partners please download our Mag Link Person Index or email the Mission Action Group on our contact page.
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 and the rest of the church leadership team are enthusiastic about deep discipleship and raising up new leaders. Katia decided to follow Jesus while she was at university. A qualified lawyer, she is driven to use her gifts and skills to encourage and advocate for others, particularly women. She loves spending time with women, sharing about life and helping them grow in faith. Katia has two children, Joanna and Davi.
Katia has done a prison chaplain course and she will be starting to visit women who are in prison in Florianópolis. She also volunteers with a homeless project in the neighbourhood where the church is based. Katia feels God is calling her to look outside the church walls and reach out to those who are on the edges of society, to help them to meet God and have a relationship with Him.
If you would like to speak to a member of the Mission Action Group about any of our mission partners please download our Mag Link Person Index or email the Mission Action Group on our contact page.
