Mission
'You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'
Acts 1:8
We know it's crucially important to support those who run or take part in mission. We support financially and practically as well as in prayer. One quarter of our church income goes towards mission. Below you can read about local, national and international missions that we support on a regular basis. In addition there is a selection of other missions that we give to on an ad-hoc basis throughout the year.
Southampton city mission
SCM has a long history of serving the city (since 1963!) and is an independent and non-denominational mission working with different churches across the city to combat the effects of poverty. There are 9 employees and 250 volunteers! There are always opportunities to get involved so do look at their website https://southamptoncitymission.co.uk/.
Basics bank: provides emergency food across 6 different locations working through trusted referral partners. It fed 18,555 people last year meeting the needs of those who fall through the gaps in the benefit system. Food is donated and they are always in need of tinned goods - there is a collection box at at various Sainsbury's stores in the area.
Marketplace: now exists on 4 sites (Weston, Millbrook, St Mary’s and Thornhill) and is a new initiative offering less urgent and longer term food aid through a community food membership scheme for local people. £5 a week provides a choice of fresh and frozen discounted quality food. Each venue provides a warm welcome, a cafe and a listening ear plus other services such as social prescribing and support and advice for asylum seekers.
Clothes Bank: There are many opportunities to encourage and support those struggling with life in our city. There is a new clothing bank at St Mary’s church, Lodge Road …they are in need of men’s clothes.
Schools work: a small team provide support for staff teaching the RE curriculum. 61 schools were visited last year! It is a unique and precious opportunity to openly share the Christian faith in the context of assemblies, ‘Question of faith days’ and transition days for pupils moving up to secondary school. Easter is the busiest term with many opportunists to share the Easter story. Grow communities are after school clubs for children to further explore faith. There is a thriving group at Mansbridge school with a view to opening more.
The Hazel Project
Our faith in Jesus doesn't just relate to us, it's good news for everyone. Looking around our city, we're very aware that there are lots of us in real need. The Hazel Project has been established over a number of years in direct response to seeing a need to reflect love, value and respect to people living on our streets. We support this as a whole church, being motivated to pray, volunteer to help and to support financially.
You can find out more about the Hazel Project here.
Young Life
We recognise how precious young people are to God. Sharing the life transforming reality of faith with young people is at the heart of Young Life International, who outreach to young people here in Southampton.
We partner with Young Life by partly funding our youth worker, Joe, to work as a part of their team. The Southampton setting runs 2 clubs in our city every week, where young people are welcomed, celebrated and have the opportunity to have great fun together. Every club night includes a short talk about our faith. They also provide further opportunities to support young people through mentoring and bible studies throughout the week. The team also run week long programmes in the spring half term break, and a fantastic outdoor camp at their outdoor centre in Scotland in the summer.
For more information, please speak to Joe,
You can read more about Joe's work with Young Life here
Friends International
King's Church support Friends International, a Christian charity that reaches out to international students in the UK. Over 6,500 international students from more than 135 countries choose to study at the University of Southampton each year. The aim is to give as many of these students a great time in the UK, chances to experience real British culture and opportunities to hear about the Christian faith. This is done through engaging with international students in a wide range of activities and events including the iExplore course which provides an introduction to the Christian faith. Jan W is on the Branch committee for the work in Southampton and Graham is in a similar role for the work in Portsmouth. There are others in the church who support this work in a practical way.
Flame International
Flame International is a UK based charity with a vision to see people set free from the pain and trauma of war, terror or oppression. Their mission is to release God’s healing, forgiveness and reconciliation to individuals and their land: healing, equipping, training, and supporting local leaders to make a positive and sustainable impact upon their communities and nations.
King’s Church has supported Rachel C as she joined teams visiting Armenia, Uganda & Nigeria; walking alongside people taking their first steps towards inner healing and God’s freedom.
Child of hope
Kings Church supports Child of Hope Uganda which is a Christian charity providing free primary and secondary education to children from the poorest and most vulnerable families living in slums in Namatala, near Mbale. More recently, they have opened a Nursery School in poverty-stricken Karamoja, northern Uganda, for 60 children. In addition to education, they provide healthcare and welfare to the children and their families, as well as helping mothers to start small businesses in order to help lift the whole family out of the worst excesses of poverty. They are supported by overseas giving, and child sponsorship (starting at £15pcm per child), and are more recently trying to attract local fee-paying students to the schools to make them more self-sustaining and to increase the number of families that can be reached. The schools are achieving extremely high levels of exam success and also provide Christian discipleship to the children.
China
We support Vision for China, a charity founded by two former members of our church family, Cyril and Gabrielle. Originally set up in the 1980s with a view to providing English teachers for educational establishments in China, it has diversified to provide residential care for abandoned children, healthcare, training and rehabilitation for children and young people with special needs.
CCD Thailand
King’s Church supports The Christian Care Foundation for Children with Disabilities (CCD) in Thailand through the UK based charity 4Life Thailand.
It was founded by Wasan Saenwian in 1997 in order to demonstrate Jesus' love in helping disabled children achieve their highest potential and become fully integrated into mainstream society. They work with over 400 disabled children across 4 provinces in Thailand and run Rainbow House, a residential home for up to 40 children, two independent living homes for older boys, and day care Centres in Pakkred, a suburb of Bangkok. They offer Day Care and Residential Care for disabled children abandoned by their families, but also work in communities empowering them to raise their disabled children at home.
Congo
Kings church has been growing a link with ASDICO a charity in Goma DRC since 2015. The main focus is working with vulnerable women and children - providing education and empowering financial independence. Claudaline started the charity with her husband Désiré who became Bishop of Goma and then tragically died suddenly in 2020. Despite the challenges of widowhood, an erupting volcano and ongoing conflict in the area, the work has grown and Hope school - our main focus - is an impressive building with a vision to becoming an international bilingual school in the future!
Education is a vital way of breaking the cycles of violence and poverty that have dominated this traumatised part of the world for decades.
The main way of supporting the work is to sponsor a child via WIN (https://worldinneed.org.uk/child-sponsorship/) regular giving means teachers can be paid, children many of whom are severely malnourished can receive a meal and an education which is a ray of hope for change in a very bleak situation. Sponsorship is £28 per month. Please give prayer and raise awareness of this forgotten part of our world.
(Image: Hope School)
Current situation in Goma: In recent weeks the conflict has escalated sharply with the Rwandan backed M23 rebels taking control of Goma but also Bukavu the two main cities in eastern Congo. Thousands have been killed and many more thousands fled. The situation is very unstable with killings, little food, rape and forced recruitment into the militia. The good news is that Hope school is undamaged and has reopened with some children returning. At the time of writing Claudaline and her family are thankfully safe but very uncertain about the future.
Additional organiastions given to on an ad-hoc basis
 Christian Aid |  The Leprosy Mission |
|---|---|
 Jews for Jesus |  Open Doors |
 Christians Against Poverty |  Samaritan's Purse |
 Southampton Street Pastors |  Tearfund |
 Overland Missions |  Release International |
 World In Need |