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Alan and Megan Barker
March 2025
More Travels
Hello and we wish you all the peace that the Easter story brings.
So, since last time we wrote, our focus has been very much on our wider role with BMS – being Capacity Strengthening Co-ordinators. As well as our roles in Nepal, we also spend roughly 20% of our working lives coming alongside BMS partners around the world to support them as they develop as organisations to be more independent and less reliant on 'outside' help. 'Capacity strengthening' is aimed at helping organisations improve their systems, structures, and processes to enable them to function more effectively.
We managed to run some webinars online with a BMS partner organisation in Mozambique, which was quite a challenge as they are not English speakers. Our colleague who did the translating worked much harder than us! We had a few issues with technology but were able to do a total of 3 sessions with them on project design and planning for change, which were well received.
After that, as we mentioned last time, we went to Bangladesh and from there to India (end of February and beginning of March). Whilst they were, in many ways, quite different trips in the way we spent our time, there were similarities. One thing which surprised us was how many places in Bangladesh were attributed to the work (and presence) of William Carey. We had expected this to be the case in Kolkata knowing that the person attributed as being the founder of BMS (back in 1792!) lived there for many years. But we had not realised the full extent of his influence in Bangladesh as well.
While it was humbling and amazing to visit such places of historic significance, for example a school in Barishal in Bangladesh, and Serampore College near Kolkata (both still in operation), we were not there for a history lesson, but to see what the BMS partners are currently doing and work out what we can do to support them. It was a learning and listening visit for us so that we can be of more use in the future, having met the people and seen what they are doing. We visited various project areas and got to see the work in each place.
We got to see schools and livelihood improvement community projects in some rural areas of Bangladesh. And in India we saw some medical work, school clubs established in very impoverished, red light, areas of Kolkata, and some dynamic church planting work in rural areas. We were also able to run some workshops on leadership and project planning for the partner in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Overall, it was a truly memorable trip where we had the privilege of meeting some great people committed to improving the lives of people less fortunate than themselves.
April is already upon us which means there's less than a month before we will be back in the UK. We have a busy month on top of the preparation needed to get ready for 3 months out of Nepal. Megan will be away in Eastern Nepal, for another wheelchair distribution camp, Alan has some very important meetings in Kathmandu, and we also have a few visitors passing through. We are looking forward to seeing many of you as we visit your churches during June and July.
In case you would like to catch up with us in person, this is our visit schedule:
Sunday May 18th Devizes Baptist Church, am service
Sunday June 1st Burwell Baptist Church, am service
Saturday June 7th Aintree Baptist Church, lunch time meeting 1pm
Sunday June 8th Lancaster am service
Thursday June 12th Leven Baptist Church, evening meeting
Sunday June 15th Mountsorrel Baptist Church, am service and Quorn Baptist Church, pm service
Tuesday June 17th Barrow Baptist Church lunch meeting
Thursday June 19th Centenary Baptist Church March, lunch meeting
Sunday June 22nd Carleton Rode Baptist, am service and Wymondham Baptist Church, pm meeting
Sunday June 29th Walsworth Road Baptist Church, Hitchin am service and Great Shelford Church, pm meeting
Sunday July 6th West Worthing Baptist Church, am service
For those of you who pray:
Give thanks for memorable and useful visits to Bangladesh and India. Please pray for us to be able to successfully juggle all the demands of the coming month before we get back to the UK.
With thanks as always for your friendship towards us
Alan and Megan