Mission Partners • Whitfield Parish

We choose to give away ten per cent of all our parish income in order to resource mission at home and overseas. Two thirds of this money is shared between mission partners selected by the PCC. Information about what our partners are up to and how you can pray for them can be seen below.

TearFund – February 2025

Teetering on the edge of 1.5°C (and what to do about it) For instance, last year the global warming emissions of an average person from Mozambique were 0.021 per cent of those of an average Brit. If we all lived as Mozambicans do, we would not be in this state of crisis.

At Tearfund we’ve been privileged to work with communities at the frontline of the climate crisis who are finding new ways to adapt — from building cyclone shelters to changing farming practices to improve the chances of a good harvest despite increasingly unpredictable seasons.

What to pray for
The impact of climate change on vulnerable communities

Pray for protection for communities who are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including people living in poverty, indigenous peoples, and coastal communities.
Pray for resources and solutions to help these communities adapt to the changing climate and protect them from harm.
Pray for justice and for fair policies to be implemented to support these communities.
The need for governments and corporations to address the climate crisis
Pray for leaders in government and corporations to acknowledge the urgency of the climate crisis and take bold action to tackle it.
Pray for policies and regulations that prioritise sustainability and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Pray for transparency and accountability in corporate practices related to the environment.
The role of the church in tackling climate change
Pray for the church to recognise and respond to the urgent need for collective action to combat climate change.

Open Doors – February 2025 (World Watch List Trends)

Open Doors helps Christians in over 60 countries, from training leaders to raising awareness about global persecution. You can find out more on their website at opendoorsuk.org

North Korea Number 1 Again
Since the first World Watch List in 1983, North Korea has been number one 23 times – that’s almost 70% of the time. The persecution of our North Korean family has worsened in the last year following a rise in
reported incidents of violence. It coincides with stricter regulations announced by the North Korean
authorities in early 2024.

4,476 Christians killed worldwide
Last year, 4,476 believers worldwide were killed for their faith. Most were from Nigeria, with 3,100, which
is fewer than 2023. However, other countries in sub-Saharan Africa have seen rising numbers of Christian
deaths, including Burkina Faso, where 201 believers lost their lives – that’s more than a fivefold increase on 2023.

Kyrgyzstan biggest riser, jumping 14 places
There’s also been a rise in violence elsewhere in the world, including Central Asia, where churches and
believers are being increasingly targeted as authoritarian governments seek to further repress religious
freedom. No country rose further in this year’s rankings than Kyrgyzstan, jumping 14 places to 47.
210,000 Christians driven from home.

The last year has seen at least 209,771 Christians forced from their homes to go into hiding or exile because of the faith, almost half of whom are from Nigeria – and that’s despite around half of all Nigerians being Christian. It reinforces the escalating dangers facing believers across sub-Saharan Africa because of rising extremism.

Protestant churches targeted in Algeria
In 2023, almost all of Algeria’s Protestant churches had been ordered to close. Last year, all remaining
churches were closed or forced to stop regular services. Like other countries, such as Afghanistan and
China, believers are increasingly having to be creative and courageous in how they gather – if at all.

Heightened violence in Mexico
Mexico is number 31 – the highest it’s been since 2005 and the only country in Latin America to rise in the
latest rankings. Organised crime is rampant in many areas, and churches and believers who seek to counter it make themselves targets. There has been an increase in the number of believers killed and abducted.

Rising violence, from Burkina Faso to Kazakhstan
The most violent region is sub-Saharan Africa, where weak government and political tensions allow Islamic extremism to flourish. Persecution is rising in countries such as Burkina Faso (20) and Mali (14), as well as Chad (49), which enters the top 50 for the first time. Open Doors’ ongoing Arise Africa campaign is a call to the church and the world to respond to this crisis. Violence grows in situations of anarchy and internal conflict. Trapped in the chaos of civil war, Christians in Yemen (3), Sudan (5) and Myanmar (13) are easy targets.

Report back from Dave Maguire – February 2025

We have been blessed in Whitfield Parish to have a visit from Dave Maguire at the end of
January 2025. He gave a report back with photos, sharing what he had been doing over the
last few months in Romania.
He read from Acts16 and whilst reading the story of Paul’s escape from prison he felt the Lord say to the church, if you know someone who is going through a hard time remind them that the church is still here, Jesus is close by and ‘Don’t harm yourself.’ He thanked everyone for their prayers for their daughter, Sabrina, who had been poorly for 5 weeks and spent 2 weeks in hospital with pneumonia.

Please pray for Dave, Rodica and Sabrina, their health, and their ministries.

A lot of Dave’s ministry now, is helping refugees in Ukraine. He has helped to move families from Ukraine to Moldova. He often travels to do ‘hot dog’ evangelism to Christians in Muslim areas. He and his team have visited Kharkiv to take food and pray for people. He has been amazed by the people there who witness and thank God for the war as they have been able to receive Jesus into their life.

Part of his ministry is to lead conferences whilst he is there. The churches are open spiritually to God.
Dave has been asked to speak and teach on the Father Heart of God. There are also Romanian Bible
schools where he has been asked to teach.

In one part of east Ukraine there is a refugee camp which did hold 250,000 people but there are now
about 100,000 refugees who have been displaced. They receive lots of food donations in Romania which
they take with them and often buy fresh food once they arrive in Ukraine and take food parcels to many
refugees.

Please pray for this work, which at the moment is in wintry weather. Give thanks for the
witness to the Ukrainian people and those that have given their lives to Jesus.

In Sighisoara, Dave’s hometown, locals have been equipped to grow and serve in their churches.
They have a regular ministry to local churches taking food parcels for people. Relu and Christie are local pastors who work with Dave in this area. Although house building has slowed down now, they have recently built a house for 12, 2 Adults and 10 children from Ukraine. They have provided a Kindergarten for 400 people from Ukraine, who they minister to. In February 2024 He will be going to Odessa. It has a church with 4 refugee centres, who need food and clothing.

Please pray for Dave and local pastors and churches who are serving local people and
displaced people from Ukraine. Pray and ask the Lord to sustain Dave in good health and with
a filling of the Holy Spirit to continue all the work he is called to do.

Embassy Update – March 2025

Embassy village began construction on 6th Jan and is progressing roughly to schedule.

The cost of the build is partly found. We have a grant that we’re trying to get through legals
and due diligence with GMCA for £1.4 Million. That will allow us to build all 40 homes.
We’re still trying to find £450,000 to complete the rest of the village (gardens, sports pitch,
amenities etc).
A council decision that one of our houses is not a 5 bed but actually a 4 bed has
frustratingly meant we can only look after 14 people currently rather than 15 as we were.
We are, however, taking on an apartment block of 8 apartments and an office in April.
Please pray as we try and help the developer find some funds to complete the apartments.
He’s short of about £130,000. This is a Christian brother who’s sold much of what he owns,
including houses, and got himself into significant debt in faith that God has asked him to
build it. He’s spent £1.1million so far. When they’re complete and we are in a lease, he can
get a mortgage and make it all work.
We’ve had a nice flurry of men leaving us positively and new men moving in and so far they
all seem like nice guys who are interested in working with us.
We’re having great family meals with residents and seeing amazing progress in people. One
chap is the only person at the 5* Lowry hotel to get employee of the month twice in the past
4 years. Both the men and women are doing us proud with many in work.
I had the joy of leading 4 people to Christ at the back end of last year at a church visit in
Old Trafford. We’re praying daily that we can see more salvation among our residents too. To
be fair, about half of them are Christians already.
We’ve had our registered housing application back already from central government in
record time. The consultants are astonished how quickly they have processed us. It’s looking
very positive so far.
We need somebody to add to the team to administer housing benefits and to make sure
we comply with the many rules of the Registrar of Social Housing.