This has been an exciting year in Ladyfield's links with the world of mission at home and overseas. It was a thrill to welcome home Paul and Aninna from their service with Operation Mobilisation's Logos Hope and Logos II and a few weeks later to commend Hannah who will spend her first two years as a teacher on the Logos Hope, now at last about to enter service. Jo has an exciting and challenging practical ministry in Bosnia and Nick and Sheila's work with children and young people in South Africa continues to grow. Wendy is serving amongst the women and families in one of the most dangerous areas of the world. Lindy has had a difficult year with changes in management at OMF Literature in the Philippines and the sudden death of her sister-in-law who lived in Canada, but the work of providing excellent Christian literature continues to grow.
Closer to home, we congratulate Ben on the successful completion of his studies at Moorlands, Trevor continues to be busy with Operation Mobilisation, making arrangements for the inaugural visit to the UK of Logos Hope and Jonathan has had much encouragement with Counties, here at Ladyfield, in the schools, the Good News Market Stall, and the annual outreach at the Stonehenge Summer Solstice.
Helena continues her work with the prisons ministry at Horfield and quite a number of our fellowship have taken part in some of the Sunday services there. John W has launched Love Your Neighbour, a new local ministry to work with the disadvantaged in the Chippenham community.
In addition to the above we have had a number of excellent missionary prayer meetings including visits from Latin Link, Wycliffe, and Operation Mobilisation.



Let me ask some simple questions. How many of us knew what a tsunami was? Or had heard of the levies in New Orleans which were broken by Hurricane Katrina? Or that Wendy Berger would be in the centre of one of the biggest earthquakes in living memory?  We are a blest nation not to suffer these things and yet we, as a Church, have been touched by these things through our Missionaries. 

At the political level, the world is also seething with tides of religious anti-Christian fervour and terrorism. Even in the UK, laws are being discussed still which will make it difficult to preach the gospel, if it is seen to be suggesting that other religions are untrue. And we know all about the moral changes in our own nation.

The world is changing. As believers we can see all these things as signs of the end times, but our task is not finished. We still have the great commission (Matt. 28: 18-20). There are great opportunities, there are great needs, and there are also great dangers! We need to be active in making ourselves aware of what are the challenges our missionaries are facing, supporting practically where we can, and praying knowledgably using the information that is available.

Mission is changing! Not THE COMMISSION, but perhaps the way we go about it. And we have a real opportunity to think afresh, "out of the box", to borrow a modern expression. The days of missionaries sailing off on a steamship to spend the rest of their days in a grass hut on the other side of some jungle have long gone, although some certainly have to contend with difficult and basic living conditions.

This fellowship has always had links with mission. Ladyfield was started by "missionaries" or evangelists who came to work in this community. One of our previous pastors had been a missionary. And it has been our privilege to see a number go from here to serve in this country and abroad.

In Acts it started in "Judea and Samaria" before going on to the ends of the earth. So from Ladyfield we have gone to Chippenham and Wiltshire (Jonathan), the UK (Sue & Laurie) and the ends of the earth (Nick & Sheila). We have the benefit of Trevor's work with OM to keep us in touch with the entire planet. And of course we have other friends: Wendy (Pakistan), Roger & Diana (Pakistan), Lindy (Philippines), Meg (SASRA), and Bill & Marion (Edinburgh). We have also had links with Romania and Moldova.

It is our practice to give annual gifts to a number of missionaries and monthly support for some directly connected to the church.

Nick and Sheila Court are carrying out long term service as independent missionaries to South Africa. They had previously been working with the Dorothea Mission but are now based in Pretoria and working in many of the township schools and in evangelism among children and young people.

Lindy Hope has had a lot of encouragement in the Christian literature publishing in the Philippines, although some legal issues to deal with.

Roger and Diana are very active in their ministry among the Bagri people in Pakistan, and send us very full reports.

Wendy Berger has been using her skills in a local hospital at the centre of the area devastated by the earthquake of last year.

If you would like to know more about the individuals and their organisations please go to our useful links section.