Saint John and Saint Philip
Mission Partners
As a church, we have four categories of mission partner:
Category 1
Mission partners who have gone out from our church to do mission work, and who enjoy prayer support and ongoing financial support from us on a monthly basis, as well as additional amounts as circumstances arise. These mission partners are presently Kees and Sarah Tanis (Maforga), Trich and Derek Dodd (Ireland) and Yvonne Paap (L'Arche).
Category 2
Mission partners who have not gone out from our church, but nevertheless enjoy prayer support and ongoing financial support from us on a monthly basis, as well as additional amounts as circumstances arise. These mission partners are presently Jonathan Esawi (Palestinian Christians) and Luweero (Uganda).
Category 3
Mission partners who have gone out from our church to do mission work, but who only want prayer support. The only mission partner in this category at present is Beth Jones.
Category 4
All other mission partners whom we support from time to time on an irregular basis. They include Vision Holanda (Bart and Alex Feenstra), Marlon Roldan, Sudan Orpans Support Trust (SOST - Florence Aate Andrew) and Janine van den Brink.
Kees and Sarah Tanis - Chimoio, Mozambique
Derek and Trich Dodd - Family Life Ministries, Ireland
Yvonne Paap - L'Arche, The Netherlands
Jonathan and Hilda Esawi - Tabitha Ministries, Bethlehem
Bart and Alex Feenstra, Mission Holanda, The Netherlands
Kees and Sarah Tanis - Chimoio, Mozambique
Maforga Christian Mission began around 1986 to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of Mozambique, a nation ravaged by colonialism, slavery, civil war and famine. The mission has two clinics, a primary and a technical school, an AIDS-programme and two orphanages.
Our part in this is running the orphanage, the boys' home 'Elim'. We currently have 48 boys age 7-20+ all going to school to either the mission school or secondary school outside. Our main priority has been the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of the boys in our care. A well balanced weekly routine and discipline are vital to this goal. However, we run the home as a family, rather than an institution, doing the hands-on work ourselves. Our investment has paid off in terms of security and co-operativeness of the boys, as well as the favour of governmental institutions.
While Maforga is an oasis of stability, the surrounding population lives in deep poverty. Many only eat once a day, AIDS is all-pervading and crime rampant. Our concern unfolds in two ways, we channel much of our finances into our outside orphan care programme, run by a Mozambican missionary Carlos Guia. Through this programme we support hundreds of children, orphaned because parents died of AIDS but are now cared for by family or neighbours. Secondly, we work with the 14 churches situated around us, by meeting the pastors once a month to take a stand together against problems, encourage them and visit their churches on Sunday to pray for the Holy Spirit's empowering. On Sunday afternoon we visit the prison. As the circumstances there are extremely bad, we bring the prisoners food and lift them up spiritually. Many receive the gospel for the first time and come out transformed!
For more information, see website www.keesandsarahtanis.tk
Kees and Sarah Tanis
Derek & Trich Dodd - Family Life Ministries, Ireland
Derek and Trich Dodd were born and raised in the Republic of Ireland, then spent 26 years living and working in The Netherlands. During this time they came to know the Lord personally, and became active in the life of the Church of St John & St Philip. Derek spent several years in business, and it was while he was working for a multi-national company in their Marketing Dept. that the Lord called them into full time Christian ministry. They have been mission partners with our church ever since.
Their focus over the last 26 years has been Family Ministries. Now, as never before, relationships need strengthening and equipping to not only survive, but to be able to thrive in all aspects of life. The family is the cornerstone of society, and the strength of the family will affect the strength of the Church, the community, the nation.
Since moving to Ireland in September 1999, Derek and Trich have established Family Life Resources in co-operation with YWAM, serving all denominations and reaching into secular society. With the goal of strengthening and equipping the family, they run marriage and parenting courses, provide counselling services, and teach on interpersonal relationships in Ireland and abroad.
Yvonne Paap - L'Arche, The Netherlands
Yvonne has been a mission partner for many years and has worked for OMF in such places as Barcelona, Seoul, and the Philippines. While in the Philippines working in the slums she encountered many young people who were mentally handicapped and who enjoyed no love or support even from their families. She came across the L'Arche organisation whose aim is to take care of such people. This has been the focus of her work for the past few years.
Jonathan and Hilda Esawi - Tabitha Ministries
Jonathan Esawi is a Palestinian Christian pastor who with his wife Hilda lives and works in Bethlehem, on the West Bank of the Jordan. Jonathan is leader of Tabitha Ministries, which aims to establish friendship and collaboration between Palestinians and Israelis through the Christian Gospel.
An important project for the coming years will be the 'Dothan project'. Zababdeh lies between Jenin and Nablus in the biblical Dothan area. The area has a population of 120,000 people, 5,500 of whom are Christian. As a result of the 1st and 2nd intifadas, many people are unemployed and have no income. Primary relief assistance consists of providing food packets and medicine. This assistance targets the poorest of the poor, most of whom are Christian. When funds allow it, a social cultural centre will be set up in this area. From this centre, medical help will be provided and training courses will be given.
Tabitha Ministries has also organised a seminar in 2004 in Bethlehem on the subject of the theology of the land, and a youth camp in the Netherlands with messianic Jewish and Palestinian Christian teenagers.
Luweero Diocese, Uganda
The Luweero twinning (between the North-West Archdeaconry of the Diocese in Europe and the Diocese of Luweero in Uganda)has been existence since 1999 with over 17 projects completed since that date. St John and St Philip had a tie with Luweero before the twinning commenced with the funding of the Church roof at Ndejje. The projects are aimed at helping at "grass roots" level schools, clinics, village life and the Luweero Diocese in its Christian mission.
Recent projects supported by St John and St Philip include the sending of used carpentry hand tools and two motorcycles for the Archdeacons to use. The motorcycles have proved very popular with the parishioners as they enable the Archdeacons to visit the remoter parts of the Archdeaconry in visits to congregations, the elderly and the sick.
The most recent and most ambitious project which is also being supported by our church is the AMIP+ programme. This is a programme with the prime objective of reducing malaria in children under five and pregnant mothers. However the implications of the programme are far wider and tackle general health, nutrition and wellbeing in the 10 villages of Parish of Sekamuli. The programme is in its very early phases and will take 5 years to complete but has widespread support from the villagers as well as the Diocese.
Currently Christchurch Amsterdam, Holy Trinity Utrecht, The Old Catholics, The Anglican Congregation in Liege, St Boniface Antwerp and St James Voorschoten join our church in the support of the twinning.
Beth Jones - United Kingdom
Beth has long been a mission partner of our Church. She has worked for 7 years giving counselling to drug and alcohol addicts and other people needing help in the inner city areas in Spain. Over the past two years she has been in Manchester studying a University Degree level course in counselling covering alcohol and drug addiction and also bereavement.
Bart and Alex Feenstra, Vision Holanda
Vision Holanda is a ministry under the European Christian Ministry and is led by Bart Feenstra. It is aimed at Spanish speaking prisoners in Dutch Gaols. This programme involves personal visits as well as bi-monthly group visits with services, readings, songs, sharing thoughts and counselling. Christmas and/or Easter presents are provided for prisoners, who mostly come from South America and Romania. This programme also includes providing for Spanish Bibles.
Some of the hardest experiences is when you find yourself in prison. Your reputation and income are gone and relationships with family and friends often become difficult.
The nightmare that is called a prison sentence will only become true for a very small percentage of society. Yet, for all of us who will probably never get behind bars, it is good to realize that behind the walls of a prison, not only 'justice' is done, but that the inmates are also human beings. People, still loved by God, people who yearn for their families, people who are at the bottom of their lives because they have lost everything they took for granted.
Visión Holanda visits the Spanish speaking inmates. They often do not have family in The Netherlands and are very keen to have someone visit them who speaks their language and knows their culture. Visión Holanda is a Christian organization. In both group discussions and personal conversations we talk about our faith and Gods love for them. Some of the men may have heard the Christian message before, for others it is the first time. Yet all are very appreciative and usually want to hear more about the God who loves them and is ready to forgive no matter what they have done.
Marlon Roldan, Philippines
Marlon Roldan serves as Project Manager of OMF's Urban Poor Church Multiplication Ministry "Dawn for the Poor" in the Philippines. Current projects include the development of primary health care and a medical referal system, establishment of child development centres, provision of educational assistance to children at risk, and livelihood assistance such as setting up cooperative savings and rice selling enterprises. A regular undertaking is a summer youth camp which enables young people who live in the slums to take a bus and boat ride to a camp site on Mindoro Island. Marlon is also involved in resourcing Irayan Mangyan missionary families in the provinces of Quezon and Rizal, east of Manila.
Other Projects
Sudanese Orphan's Support Trust (SOST)
Florence Aate Andrew, herself a Sudanese émigré, founded SOST in year 2000. Its main goal is to support education of orphans - victims of the civil war between the Christian South and Islamic North of Sudan and also of HIV/AIDS.
Janine van den Brink, Medicins sans Frontieres
Janine is a current church member who is working Medicins sans Frontieres. In August Janine moved to Somalia to work as a doctor in a hospital. Her assignment is for a period of nine months.
