“He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.”
Isaiah 61:1
A WORD FROM THE HEART
Dear friends and partners in the Gospel,
There is a beauty that rises out of the deepest ashes — not forged by human hands, but breathed into existence by the grace of God. From the other side of the world, from places where poverty has long held sway, we are witnessing that grace moves in ways that leave us undone, grateful, and full of wonder.
This update comes from a heart overflowing. It is not simply a report on programmes or statistics. It is a testimony. It is a declaration that God is working in the developing world with a power and a tenderness that challenges every fearful, doubtful thought we may carry.
A STORY OF GRACE
Not long ago, a young man lived among the dumpsites. He foraged for food wherever survival demanded. His world was shaped by hunger, uncertainty, and the quiet violence of being forgotten by society. There was no map forward, no safety net, no voice calling his name with kindness.
Then a man crossed his path — a simple encounter, an invitation to a local church. He went. And there, a pastor did something that would alter the course of his life: he opened his arms and offered a hug. He told this young man, without condition or qualification, of the love of God.
“In that moment,” he would later say, “I did not just feel welcomed. I felt found.”
That grace, once received, could not be contained. Today, this same young man ministers to street children — children who remind him of who he once was. He walks into the forgotten places without hesitation, because he knows what it means to be reached in one. He carries the love that was given to him and pours it out, day after day, in one of the most demanding and beautiful forms of ministry imaginable.
He has a vision. He senses God calling him forward — deeper into the streets, across new communities, wherever the Spirit leads. But that vision needs partners. It needs the church in the west to stand with him: not only in prayer, though prayer is the bedrock, but in tangible, committed partnership.
FAITH OVER FEAR
His story is not unique. Across the developing world, in places we may never visit, in languages we may never speak, God’s people are rising. They carry visions born in hardship, refined in suffering, and sustained by a faith that puts our comfortable doubts to shame.
Recently, something shifted in my own heart. I found myself confronted by a simple but profound tension: the idealism of men versus the Kingdom of God. It is easy to stand in our own understanding, to plan and resource and strategise as though the work depends entirely on human effort. And yet, the most transformational moments I have witnessed have not come from the best-laid plans. They have come when someone confessed their fear, surrendered it to God, and allowed grace to do what strategy never could.
Faith is not the absence of fear. It is the honest confession of fear — and the choice to trust Him anyway.
That is the testimony echoing out of the developing world right now. It is the testimony of this young man. And it is the invitation being extended to each of us.
AN INVITATION TO PARTNER
At BTBAB, we exist to walk alongside exactly these kinds of leaders — those called from the margins, equipped by grace, and sent back into the hardest places with the best news the world has ever heard.
We are asking you to consider:
Pray. Lift up the names and the nations. Ask God to go before His servants in the streets, the dumpsites, the overlooked corners of the earth.
Give. Financial partnership enables those with the calling to be freed from the paralysis of need. Your generosity is not charity — it is collaboration in the Kingdom.
Connect. If your church, your community group, or your network is looking for a mission partnership rooted in authentic transformation — reach out. Let us build something together.
CLOSING REFLECTION
The young man from the dumpsite did not know, on the day a stranger invited him to church, that his life was about to be transformed. He only knew he was hungry — and not just for food.
God met him there. God is still meeting people there. And He is inviting us to be part of the story.
May the beauty of His grace rise in us as it has risen in them. May fear give way to compassion. May the west and the developing world find themselves kneeling at the same altar, partners in the same magnificent, redemptive work.
In His grace and for His glory,
The BTBAB Team
To give, partner, or learn more, visit btbab.org/get-involved/
All gifts support frontline community transformation in the developing world.
