PARTNERSHIPS

We believe that the good news about Jesus is for everyone, everywhere. Telling others of God’s love and grace is central to our mission as a church, whether that be in our local community or further afield.

To see this happen, we partner both with individuals we have sent and organisations, supporting them through friendship, prayer and financial giving.

We believe that being involved in sharing the good news of the gospel and reaching out to those in need is an important part of how we learn and grow as Christians. That is why we aim to regularly share the experience of our partners through Skype conversations, email updates and prayer letters.

Scroll down for more details of our partners. If you would like to know more, or to receive up to date news and prayer requests, please email info@redland.church

ENCOUNTER CHRISTIANITY

BRISTOL

Encounter Christianity (EC) is a Bristol based charity, staffed by 4 Christian teachers and supported by volunteers from local Churches.  They work across 70 Primary and Secondary schools in Bristol and its surrounding areas.

EC support schools in the delivery of the R.E locally agreed syllabus by presenting the Christian elements of the curriculum from a Christian perspective. All our staff are committed Christians and qualified teachers who are happy to share personal reflections on what it means to live out the Christian faith in today’s world. They also take volunteers from local churches into schools and in doing so aim to give children an experience of Christianity as an active and lived out faith. Find out more about them here.

DICKSON & PENDO CHILONGANI

TANZANIA

Dickson came to Bristol in 1999 with Pendo and their son Imani to do a PhD at Trinity College on “Reading the Book of Job with an African Eye”. They were part of the Redland family until their return to Tanzania in 2004, where their second son, John, was born shortly afterwards.

Following their return to Africa, Dickson worked as Principal of Msalato Theological College near the Tanzanian capital Dodoma. For some years Dickson was been the General Secretary of the Anglican Church in the Province of Tanzania, a role that has involved extensive responsibilities and travel. He is now the bishop of central Tangyanika, the largest diocese in the Anglican community.

BRUCE & JAN ROSSINGTON

Bruce and Jan worshipped and were very involved with youth ministry at Redland between 1997 and 2000, before moving to South Bristol.  At that time, Bruce was a lawyer and Jan a social worker.

Between 2006 and 2021 they served in three African countries – Rwanda, Cameroon and Kenya – as members of Africa Inland Mission and Wycliffe Bible Translators.  Working in partnership with African churches, they were involved in theological education, Bible translation and educating the children of cross-cultural workers, always with an emphasis on giving Scripture and Gospel access to under-reached communities.

Back now in Bristol, Bruce and Jan are building on their Africa experience, continuing in some of their roles and developing new avenues of ministry.  Jan’s passion is to develop relationships with women who have migrated to the UK from parts of Africa where there is little or no access to the Gospel.  She does this through English language teaching, conversation classes, parenting groups, home visits and social events.  In a part-time role at Bath College, she uses her CELTA qualification to teach English to a broad range of new arrivals from places like Ukraine and Afghanistan.

Bruce continues his ministry as a Bible translation consultant, supporting the production of Scripture for an East African community where there are very few Christians.  He also advises churches in England, France and Spain on how to welcome multilingual brothers and sisters in Christ from around the world and how to make Scripture available to diaspora Africans who have not previously had access to it in the different languages that they use each day.  Bruce is currently the Chair of AIM International’s board of trustees.