Annual Report 2O18
Reaching our nation with the Gospel
“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.” Ephesians 4. 11-12 (NLT)
We are committed to making Jesus known across the UK. Thank you for being part of this.
WELCOME Counties mission statement declares that we are committed to ‘Making Jesus known across the UK.’ We do this through three main areas of work: evangelists, training and resources. We are passionate about Jesus declaration, ‘I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it!’ We believe that Counties priority is to help local churches to fulfil their calling to make disciples. This is the function of the evangelist, as part of a team, as defined in Ephesians 4.11 ‘equipping God’s people to do works of service’. Our goal is to equip local churches to make Jesus known across the UK. Evangelism is the work of the church, and we are excited about the many ways in which Counties is able to encourage God’s people in this work. Thanks to your ongoing support, gifts and prayer Counties has been supporting 32 evangelists as well as senior evangelists around the UK over the last year – each of them working faithfully within their communities and across the country in their unique ministries. Counties evangelists connect with ordinary people in a variety of settings. Rob Watson from the Wirral has been running a discipleship group with 12 young people each month. Working alongside other missions and local churches, they now reach out to the homeless offering clothes, food and packages of toiletries to those in need at the local soup kitchen in Birkenhead. Whilst down at Bristol docks, evangelist and chaplain Steve Loader talks and prays with international seafarers who pass through the busy port, he regularly sees God at work with life-changing testimonies from seafarers.
Our award-winning resources have visited over 200 schools nationwide in the last year alone. Our schools’ workers speak to an estimated 30,000 children and teenagers in schools every month. GSUS Live welcomed its half a millionth pupil on board and we were thrilled to see Key to Life win a national award for its use of digital media with Premier Digital Awards last autumn. The Life exhibition had its busiest year ever – with 21 weeks, reaching almost 12,000 primary school children. Out of 190 possible school days, Life was used for 111 days. And this year we appointed a new Training Officer, who, with our team, will develop an exciting range of training programmes aimed at supporting and equipping local churches to better meet the challenges and opportunities that we face in Britain today. The stories of our evangelists, resources and the lives that they touch are shared here. We value your ongoing commitment to this mission, enabling local churches to share the Gospel with their communities, making disciples, revitalising and planting churches. Thank you. In Him Martin Erwin Counties CEO
177 38,691
Making Jesus known through the local church
schools visited speaking to
A look at a typical month* of the work of Counties evangelists in figures.
school students
1O2
indications of salvation
28 evangelists preached 178 occasions 757 9 people
148 discovery groups people attended
1 evangelist reaches
66 online conversations
3OO,OOO people with the Gospel message each month through a Christian slot on the local radio station
10 evangelists train
876 homes visited
219 people
*Average figures per month based on figures from March, April and May 2018
5 baptisms
Our amazing resources continue to reach children and young people with the Christian message Over the last year: Key to Life continues to engage young and old alike – with
Children enjoying Key to Life
84O4
people taking part in the immersive lesson
12,OOO primary school pupils visit the Life exhibition
GSUS Live welcomes
26,9O4 pupils on board to learn about Jesus’ teachings on real-life issues
“I would highly recommend GSUS Live to other schools. It is a fantastic opportunity for students to develop knowledge and understanding of key themes within religion. The content covered is relevant to all students regardless of religious affiliation and the time on the bus allows them to really discover their own thoughts and feelings and how this compares and contrasts to people of faith. Students who do not get this opportunity are really missing out!” Rebecca Johnson, assistant Director of Humanities/ Head of RE at Ormiston SWB Academy.
Everybody needs good neighbours
Counties North Devon evangelist Beverley Bedford is helping to lead a Neighbourhood Chaplains team in Great Torrington. She said: “The community has allowed us to adopt two flower beds in the public gardens to maintain and keep tidy. This first project has given many opportunities to be a visible presence in our town, to converse with local people, share our faith and even the bold step of offering prayer for and with individuals when appropriate. “We are thrilled how God is working through us in this initiative as we have stepped out in faith relying totally on Him.”
Counties’ new scheme to help churches tackle loneliness in their communities through the Gospel message and practical help – has gone from strength to strength this last year. Four new schemes are thriving with almost 60 volunteers delivering the scheme in their communities. A further seven schemes are due to start later this year.
5O church leaders
1 new video produced to promote Neighbourhood Chaplains
attended Neighbourhood Chaplain events last year
To watch visit www.countiesuk.org
venues are hosting information evenings as part of the Neighbourhood Chaplains Roadshow Autumn 2018
Neighbourhood Chaplains have been trained across
regions
Thank you for helping us to make Jesus known across the UK. Five ways to be a Gospel Partner: 1 2 3 4 5
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Counties, 30 Haynes Road, Westbury, Wiltshire, BA13 3HD Counties (formerly Counties Evangelistic Work) is a Registered Charity No. 264278 and a Company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales No. 1041761