Our work beyond Burscough
Our Vision statement speaks about knowing, growing in and sharing Jesus’ love in Burscough and beyond. St John’s supports a wide range of mission initiatives both locally and overseas. These include support for local foodbanks and debt advice centres, work with asylum seekers, firm roots – cancer support, eco-church and a number of other local social action projects.
We also have mission links in Uganda (International Needs and Mission Aviation Fellowship), DR Congo (Kipushya hospital), Paraguay (SAMS), Belarus – alongside support for Christian Aid, Fairtrade, Eco-Church and a number of other national and international initiatives.
Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF)
We are connected to this wonderful charity through the Parker family, who currently live and work for MAF Uganda.
MAF believe that nothing should stop people from receiving the love of God and the essentials of life, no matter how remote they are and so they fly aid, medical supplies and skilled people into those hard to reach places.
Their vision is ‘to see isolated people changed by the love of Christ.’
Click this link to visit the website.

International Needs

At the heart of all I.N.’s projects are families, because strong families build strong communities and in turn create stable societies. Together we can resource and empower families as they struggle to combat the daily and relentless challenges they face.
St John’s have supported the work of this charity in Uganda for a few years now and many of our church family, including lots of young people, have been able to take part in mission trips, to meet and help families in need there. Additionally, the financial generosity of the people of St Johns has been incredible.
Over the 6 or 7 years we have partnered with I.N. we have raised enough money to build 8 wells in communities that had no access to drinking water, and around 100 children have been sponsored by individuals, families and local schools/enterprises, enabling them to go to school and have daily meals where their families cannot afford it. Praise God!
Click this link to visit the International Needs website.
Borisov, Belarus
We have strong mission links with Christians in Borisov, Belarus and have been supporting them for many years now, both financially and through mission trips. Groups of volunteers have been going from St Johns to work in the city of Borisov since the early 2000’s. Our activities vary for each visit, but we have always been able to help the local church to run a week long holiday camp at a local orphanage, working with up to 30 children with lots of fun activities.
We always do a “build project” as well, either at one of the orphanages, the local baby hospital, or at a special school which has been designated to work with disabled children. Recently we have built new playgrounds and play shelters, rebuilt paths to make them wheelchair accessible or refurbished classrooms.
We hope to restart our activities in Belarus once the difficulties created by the pandemic are behind us.

Kipushya, Democratic Republic of Congo

Kipushya is a big village in the very heart of Africa, in a very isolated part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is one of the poorest nations in the world and their health system is nothing like the NHS, as you can imagine. We have connections there through church members Dave and Philippa Emmett and so St John’s chose to make Kipushya hospital the recipient of our 2020 harvest appeal, to help provide electricity which would enable them to provide lifesaving equipment such as ultrasounds and ventilators.
Once again, we were absolutely blown away by the generosity of the people of St Johns, who gave nearly £24,000, which meant the people of Kipushya could also build and equip a new hospital wing, with more permanent materials (rather than the existing mud walls and thatch roofing), it also paid for practical resources such as training for staff.
St John’s church members continue to pray for Dr Beston and his small team of medical staff who are life-savers in this remote and very poor part of Africa. Our amazing God continues to bless his people!