Letter from Jon, November 2023
Dear Friends
One of my great joys over this last 18 months has been to see the development of our mission partnerships. Liberty has always supported missions and missionaries around the world but in this last season, as we have developed our missions team and chosen to focus our attention on a smaller number of missions partners it has been encouraging to see new and renewed relationships emerge.
Our newest mission partner, Comfort International, which is doing incredible work in Rwanda and Central Africa, has really taken root in hearts of many around Liberty, and it was so wonderful to have such a great response to the Kiltwalk back in September and to raise over £5000 for their Mother and Baby Project. To hear that some of this money has actually been used to pay medical bills that allow mothers with new babies to walk free is just such a blessing. Next Easter Fiona and I, along with Iain Mathie and Sam Brennan, will be taking a trip to visit the project in Rwanda and our hope is that this will be the first of many trips for Liberty people to connect with the work of Comfort.
Mischi and Senta Mull have been very long-term mission partners with their church planting in Romania. For many years Liberty’s support has been largely financial with a regular monthly gift. When we visited them in May of this year it became apparent that this regular gift had been such an encouragement to them over the years, and their ability to make money go a long way is quite astonishing. Our renewed connection with them has been an answer to prayer for them as they have seen a lot of support dwindle in recent years due to their limited ability to travel. They had been praying for new relationships to support them in their work in a very poor community. Since our visit we have been in regular WhatsApp contact and receiving updates of their work. I have also been asked to visit again next year and to bring some teaching in their discipleship school. To be honest, I find that very humbling as I think it is us that have so much to learn from their faithful service and sacrifice over many years. I believe this partnership has the potential to bring much fruit both in Romania and in Dunfermline and look forward to seeing how things develop.
Our third mission partner is a lot closer to home and, again, doing some amazing work amongst the homeless and disadvantaged in Scotland. Bethany Christian Trust is an inspiring organisation and it is a joy to see our partnership grow. Liberty has supported Bethany for a number of years financially and with ‘Caring Christmas Trees’, but over this last year our support of their Welcome Centre in Edinburgh, providing an evening meal for the guests there, has been a real privilege. The Welcome Centre runs throughout the Winter months and we are committed to providing a meal once a month, and perhaps more often, throughout this period. We had our first night of this season a couple of weeks ago and it was such a privilege to prepare and serve food for their guests and staff.
One of the joys of working with these three missions partners is that it gives us the opportunity to be directly involved and to forge really close links, to see lives transformed; theirs and ours. In a world where there is so much darkness and pain it is such an encouragement to be able to contribute to God’s mission in his world bringing hope, life and freedom to so many. Let me encourage you to pray for our missions partners through this season and if you would like to know more about any of the work of our partners then please come and ask, or perhaps consider joining the Missions Team. The team meets monthly to hear updates, plan how we can support the missions and pray together.
May we, together, see God’s kingdom come in Scotland, in Romania and in Rwanda in the years ahead.
Much love
Jon |
Jon Farrimond, 07/11/2023