BMS World News issue 2/13
Mechanic with a mission
Andy Cowie has always had a passion for cars. Now, cars have drawn him to Haiti, where he
and his wife, Jutta, serve as personnel seconded by BMS World Mission to the Co-operative
Baptist Fellowship. He’s using his passion for cars to change lives and share the love of
Jesus.
The Cowies’ ministry centres around giving people the skills and knowledge they need to improve
their own lives.
Jutta facilitates self-help savings and lending groups among women. Each member contributes a
small amount to a fund, then the group makes loans to each other to finance individual
microenterprises, such as making macramé bags or beads made out of paper and lacquer.
The women sometimes come to her, wanting to know what kind of business they should run. She
tells them it has to be their own idea. If it’s their own idea, then they can build the confidence
needed to run the business and grow in self-esteem.
Andy’s ministry draws on his lifetime of experience as a mechanic. Andy grew up in the West
Country, spending lots of time with his grandfather and father, both mechanics. At age ten he was
filling up customers’ cars and changing money at his father’s garage. By age 16 he was a
mechanic.
in Haiti, Andy is creating a garage to service cars from the various non-government organisations in
Port-au-Prince. More importantly, the garage is a vocational training centre for approximately 20
students from local churches.
“The idea is to teach myself out of a job,” says Andy. “I’m here to spread the love of God. The way I
do that is to teach the trade I know and use my passion for vehicles.”
The full version of this article appeared first in the Co-operative Baptist
Fellowship magazine and also appears on the BMS website.
bmsworldmission.org/news/3660
Used by God in big ways in Nepal
This summer medical student Rachel Perry went as a BMS volunteer to Nepal for eight
weeks. The lessons she learned about mission and herself will stay with her for a lifetime.
This is her experience.
Tansen Mission Hospital is located 300 km west of Kathmandu, in the foothills of central Nepal. Run
by international Christian mission doctors, the hospital’s purpose is to share the gospel and provide
good quality, low-cost healthcare to some of the poorest communities in the country. The hospital is
owned by BMS partner, the United Mission to Nepal (UMN).
Although excited about doing my medical elective in a Christian hospital, I had mixed views about
what it meant to be an overseas mission worker and as a result I was unsure whether I would fit in
to the hospital community.
Despite my preconceived ideas about ‘intimidatingly holy missionaries’, I met some inspiring
Christians who weren’t any more ‘spiritual’ or ‘Godly’ than Christians who I know from my home
church – they had simply responded to God’s call to work overseas. They were Christians who, like
most, have struggles and face spiritual challenges, yet are willing to trust God and are therefore
able be used by him in big ways.
That in itself changed my idea of mission – the fact that God may one day use people like me
overseas, with all my weaknesses and imperfections.
During my time in Tansen I saw a lot of conditions I am unlikely to see in the UK, learnt how
medicine can be practised on a low budget and discovered why cultural and societal views need to
be incorporated into decisions regarding healthcare.
I would recommend a medical elective at a mission hospital with BMS to anyone who would like to
experience overseas mission. It has opened my eyes to the work of God’s people in developing
countries and as a result I have come away excited about the prospect of serving overseas when
I’m qualified. It has certainly challenged my views and changed me as a person.
Relief for Sri Lankan flood-affected
Torrential rains and powerful winds – not Superstorm Sandy, but another natural disaster
unfolding on another continent, to which BMS World Mission has responded.
Around 50,000 people across Sri Lanka have been affected by severe flooding after Cyclone
Nilam battered the Bay of Bengal at the end of October.
Worst hit is Mullaithivu district in the north of the country, where more than 5,500 people have
been left homeless and without basics such as food and medicines.
Several roads have been cut off due to heavy flooding and families are moving into improvised
camps set up in schools, seeking refuge.
BMS’ established partner Lanka Evangelical Alliance Development Service (Leads) has been
responding quickly and efficiently to this situation by providing essential aid and BMS has sent a
relief grant of £9,750 to assist in this work.
Leads has helped a total of over 700 people, comprising 178 families, who live in Sooriyapuram,
an area affected very recently by war and where people were living in makeshift shelters before
the rains came.
In co-operation with the government, Leads has provided them with tarpaulin sheets and floor
sheets for shelter support, the provision of basic kitchen utensils for cooking, medical and hygiene
kits and dry rations.
A Leads representative says the situation is dire. “Due to the their recent return to the area after
civil war, the families are unaware and at a loss as to how they should care for their families, in the
midst of no shelter, sanitation or facilities to prepare meals.
“Income levels are at an all-time low, with whatever little earnings they had now far gone.”
Editor: Jonathan Langley
Tel: 01235 517623 Email: worldnews@bmsworldmission.org
BMS World Mission PO Box 49 129 Broadway Didcot Oxfordshire OX11 8XA
Tel: 01235 517700 Website: www.bmsworldmission.org
Baptist Missionary Society: registered as a charity in England and Wales (number 233782) and in Scotland (number SC037767)