Partnership Missions

Our current missions partnerships are in Brazil, the Caribbean (projects in Bahamas, Barbados, Trinidad, Grenada, Jamaica, Belize), China, with the European Baptist Federation (Moldova, Latvia) and with the Gypsy People Group (Romania, Moldova), India, Italy, Macau, the Northeastern U.S., and South Africa.

The missions partnerships make it possible to work together on many different projects. There are projects in church planting, outreach/evangelism, construction, combating poverty, responding to disaster, helping the sick, training leaders and the next generation, and the list could go on!

Long-term church-to-church partnerships have been in greater demand this year. Many churches want to be able to develop a relationship with another church over two or three years, rather than working with a different church each year. This has several advantages: The mission teams get more mileage out of their research and preparation to go to a particular country; and there's a greater chance that the partner can send a team to Virginia to help us here.

Partners coming to Virginia is also an exciting chapter in the Virginia Baptist missions story. Partnership means mutuality, and our partners have much to offer us. In the areas of church planting, ministering to the post-modern world, as well as having a courageous vision to change the community, many of our partners could be our teachers.

This year we'll have teams from Brazil, South Africa and Italy among us, helping Virginia churches minister in Virginia.

Your church can request volunteers from our partners to be guest speakers, vacation Bible school co-workers, youth event participants ... your imagination is the only limit on what kind of project it could be.

Brazil — www.batistasparana.org.br: We continue working with the Parana Baptist Convention, headquartered in Curitiba. In our partnership we have helped build over 54 churches and the Baptists in Parana have grown from 38,000 to 43,000 members.

This year two construction and three outreach teams will go to Parana. There are still openings for outreach teams: church events, visitation and worship services, sports clinics, children's Bible clubs, etc.

Mission trips to Brazil cost ca. $1,800.

Caribbean — www.carbapfell.org: The Caribbean Baptist Fellowship is an umbrella organization for over 30 Caribbean Baptist groups. So far we have worked together with churches from the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica and Trinidad.

These projects are less expensive than other international mission trips, and have the advantage of deepening our relationship to our next-door neighbors.

The projects are diverse: construction, children's work, training, outreach/evangelism, sports, etc.

Mission projects in the Caribbean cost ca. $1,100.

China — www.amityfoundation.org/index.php: In China we are blessed to have Lynn Yarbrough as a Virginia Baptist Ambassador. Lynn teaches college English there, but she also coordinates our work with the Amity Foundation, the YMCA in Xi'an as well as some projects with her college students.

Each summer we send several Virginians to China for four weeks to teach conversational English to Chinese middle school English teachers.

There are also shorter projects, such as working 10-14 days with young children in schools for poor migrant workers, tutoring English to college students, or playing basketball.

European Baptist Federation — www.ebf.org: The European Baptist Federation serves most of the Baptist conventions in Europe and the Middle East. As Virginia Baptists we've been supporting indigenous church planters for a couple years. Now we have specific requests from Latvia and Moldova for teams to assist the church planters we are helping.

They have specific requests, but generally are open to whatever a team can offer.

Gypsy People Group — www.gypsyministries.com/gypsynetwork.html: For several years we have partnered with the Gypsy Ministries of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. In Hungary, Romania and Moldova there are opportunities to help with construction and children's work.

India — www.preciouschildrenshome.com: For over 25 years we have had ties to the seminary of the India Baptist Convention of Kerala, as well as to the Precious Children Home there. Dr. Kunjumon Chacko has been in Virginia many times, especially after the tsunami ravaged South Asia in 2004.

Since then Virginia Baptists have rallied to the aid of the children and fisherfolk affected by the tsunami. Our partnership with our Indian friends includes the sponsorship of children, school supplies, fishing boats and rebuilding projects.

Teams are also needed to help expand the children's home, as well as do children's ministry there.

Italy — www.ucebi.it: The Italian Baptist Union has an old connection to Virginia – some of the first Baptist workers in Italy were from Virginia.

So far we've had several teams go to Italy to do projects related to puppetry, handbells and youth ministry. The African American experience is an important subject for many Italians, not only in the Italian Baptist churches but in the population as well. Several African American choirs have helped the Italians explore this interest and build bridges to the community.

Macau — www.missionmacau.org: Larry and Sarah Ballew lead Light for the City in Macau, a ministry

Northeast U.S. — We participate in Impact Northeast, a partnership which has united six “support conventions” in the South—Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia—with five “impact conventions” in the Northeast—the District of Columbia, Maryland/Delaware, New England, New York and Pennsylvania/South Jersey. Together, we are making a concerted effort to expand the witness for Christ in the Northeast.

South Africa — In South Africa we are partnering with the Free State Baptist Association of the Baptist Union of South Africa. The Baptist Union has launched Impact 2010, an emphasis on bringing people to Christ and planting churches. We are helping by sponsoring indigenous church planters – Virginia associations have already joined with three church planters, and we are close to a fourth. These planters welcome support from Virginia Baptist teams, as well.

Africa for Christ is an evangelistic organization that The Door of Hope in South Africa is a network of orphanages especially for children whose families have been affected by AIDS. This ministry has grown out of the local Baptist churches’ response to the needs around them. Child sponsorships as well as volunteers are requested.