Grace Baptist Mission
helping the churches to support and care for their missionaries worldwide
Our vision is to see a new generation of Christians who are passionate about reaching all nations with the message of God’s grace.
What is Envision?
Envision is the new name for short term mission through Grace Baptist Mission. Our aim is to expand the horizons of young people to see the spiritual needs of the world and explore where God might be calling them to serve.
An Envision Team is a great place to grow in Christ during your gap year. The team will work alongside Missionaries supported through GBM and gain experience of gospel work in another culture, in evangelism, youth and childrens work, as well as some practical projects. Each team of eight young people will have their own daily discipleship programme together led by the team leaders.
The first team goes to Simon Bolivar, Arequipa in Peru for ten weeks in early 2011. After two weeks studying Spanish, then helping to run a Church camp and a Holiday Bible Club, they will then help with the growing number of youth and children’s clubs that the church runs. The Lord is at work in the church in Simon Bolivar, and they are starting a new work in the area of Villa Magisterial, a shanty area of the city that is expanding fast.
As the wheels tucked under the plane I offered up a prayer of thanks for such an amazing time. It was dark as the plane rose high above the packed city of Manila, for the second time in my life I looked down, but this time knowing that nestled in between those lights were some wonderful ministries, some amazing people, great friends: things I will never forget. - John Sparrow
Team Leaders
Could you be a potential team leader? If you are in your twenties, have had some Bible training and leadership experience and are keen to lead an Envision Team, then please contact us. You would be investing in the lives of young people and preparing them for University and maybe a lifetime of gospel mission.
If you are 18 or over and would like to spend some time working alongside a missionary, why not try an Envision Placement? This can be for anything from four weeks to nine months. You could be a young person taking a gap year, someone between jobs or taking early retirement, or someone that God is calling to missionary service long term who wants to test their sense of calling by serving in this way. Each placement is tailor-made to suit you and the missionary that you work with, and can be arranged alongside our missionaries in many different parts of the world
All of my experiences have confirmed my view that real poverty is to be without a relationship with God, and without a certain hope of heaven. - Catherine Barker
Jason and Andie Murfitt, working in Manacaparu in Brazil, are looking for someone to work alongside them short term, helping with the home schooling of their daughter Lucy. You would also be able to join them in evangelism along the tributaries of the River Amazon. You would need experience of working with children and an aptitude for teaching. The first placement is needed from January 2011. If God has gifted you to work with children, and you are up for the challenge of living in the Amazon delta, this could be for you. Maybe you are a teacher or teaching assistant who can take a term’s unpaid leave, or perhaps you are thinking about a career working with children and would value the experience, or you just love working with children in your church. Or perhaps God has begun to call you to mission service, in which case such an Envision placement would be a great place to test your calling.
In the last ten years church-based apprenticeships have taken off across the UK, giving young adults an opportunity to try ministry at the sharp end and to test their calling. Supervised by a pastor, they are given significant ministry responsibilities and also spend some time following a local training course. Many apprentices go on into full time gospel ministry. Envision Apprenticeships operate on the same principles, but in a cross-cultural context. If you think God is calling you to missionary service long term or to ministry in the UK, this is a great way to test your calling and use your gifts. Envision Apprentices will work alongside Missionaries supported through GBM, typically for one year. If you speak a European language that gives you a great advantage, but working through English gives many opportunities in a number of European cities.
Our first Envision Apprenticeship opportunity is to work with Malcolm and Ruth Firth in Riga, Latvia. Many Latvians want to learn English, so you would teach a TEFL based English course, as well as meet, encourage and mentor fellow-Christians. You would work with GAiN (a Christian aid organisation seeking to help the poor in Latvia). You would also lead evangelistic Bible studies and be involved in a possible new church-plant. You would also follow evening classes at Riga Bible Institute.
If you want to know more about any of these opportunities, or you want us to send you an application form, please contact the Envision Coordinator, Jim Sayers, on 01235 520147 or use the contact page to email Grace Baptist Mission.