Blessed To Be A Blessing

…otherwise known as BTBAB, was conceived in 1997 as a practical demonstration of God’s love to the poor & neglected in the developing world.

The work began initially when Femi Oni, its founder, went to Lithuania as part of a medical team with as part of an initiative of Mercy Ships (previously part of YWAM International).  As Femi often said, in his own words:

“…that trip was supposed to be a one-off but when I got back home, I couldn’t shake off the images of the people & conditions I had seen when I was away. I felt constantly pulled back to go again and again and again. Whilst I first got the idea for BTBAB in 1997, it would take another 7yrs before it became fully operational. During those 7yrs, I served Marine Reach International (under its founders, David & Linda Cowie) whilst the vision grew (and formed) in my heart until it became fully birthed in 2004. In the process of time, God showed me that there were many people in His church who could preach with their mouth but few who could preach with their hands [action]…and that was enough for me because since then I have found that there are more people like me who long to express God’s love with their hands in the developing world!…some of them are qualified professionals whilst others are just simply people who are available to be used by God to transform communities with the love of Jesus…”

By 2001, it quickly became clear that BTBAB was not to be built around one man (i.e. Femi Oni). Instead it has become an inter-denominational Christian organisation expressing God’s love in a practical way in the developing world. 

How we have served so far

We do what we do in 4 different ways:

  • Sending ordinary people on 2wks short-term missions (through our simple training program called the ToolBox)
  • Reversing illiteracy by Sponsoring the education or apprenticeships of individuals in the developing world (the ACI) 
  • Adopting a village in the developing world and lifting it out of poverty within 3yrs
  • Training and sending out individuals to serve poor communities for up to 12months by being an agent of transformation (also known as the MCI) and also training and facilitating young people in faith-based life skills as part of our Gap Year Internship (GYI)

As of 2022, we have been privileged to:

  • Train and send out hundreds of ordinary people on a 2-3 week humanitarian Toolbox mission trip and have witnessed extraordinary things that God has done in & through them
  • Served among the poor in over 20 countries in the developing world
  • Sponsored over 30 individuals in education or apprenticeships through the ACI in the developing world
  • Lifted 5 villages out of poverty through our Overseas Community Transformation programme.
  • Provide Gap Year Internship with a view to empower young people with faith-based life skills.  

As a result of all the above, we have invested over £150,000 in transformational work in the developing world

Where we have been

To date, BTBAB has been privileged to send over 39 teams to different countries in the developing world, providing financial assistance in excess of £150,000 to reverse the cycle of poverty. Our teams are ordinary people representing over 70 churches from many nations. The teams have consisted of engineers, school teachers, food scientists, midwives, youth workers, police officers, doctors, nurses, carpenters, construction workers, students, and people who thought they had nothing to give, all working in different capacities among the poor. If you want to know more about the trips, or the stories of other people who have been before, then see our Mission Reports.