Ballyholme Parish has been involved with mission activity at home and abroad for many years. The Parish has a fine history of volunteers going out on short term missionary placements.
The Mission Committee meets around 5 to 6 times each year to decide how contributions should be allocated. Money is raised through Smartie Tube giving, a Harvest Sunday lunch, Quiz nights and other fund raising activities.
Home Mission
We support in particular the work of Storehouse North Down and keep a trolley where church members can contribute items of food and other necessities.
Love Ballyholme and Ballyholme Connect are also supported with small donations through the work of the Missions Committee.
Overseas Mission
We particularly support the work of Church Mission Society Ireland (CMSI). CMSI is a Christian Mission and Development Agency, which has been working in partnership with the Church in Ireland and the Church overseas for over 200 years.
Through CMSI we are closely involved with Kiwoko Hospital and Friends of Kiwoko Hospital Uganda.
Ballyholme Parish has also established a close link with the Diocese of Kajiado in the Anglican Church of Kenya.
Kajiado is an area roughly equivalent in size to Northern Ireland located to the south east of Nairobi stretching from the city down towards Mount Kilimanjaro. It is a arid and poor area of Kenya and regularly suffers severe droughts. After each one it takes a long time for the local population to rebuild lives, livestock and crops. Despite this the people there have a tremendous faith and we have a lot to learn from them. The diocese of Kajiado has three main areas of development: Mission and Evangelism, Education and Training, Social Outreach.
As part of the plans for development the Select Vestry committed us, as a parish, to give ten percent of what we raised to help the Diocese of Kajiado. This included support towards the construction of a Diocesan Headquarters building but it also includes some of us visiting Kajiado with our skills and some of them visiting us with their skills.
The close partnership between Kajiado and our Parish has existed since November 2003 when Yvonne and Lawrence Manogue visited. Lawrence then started drawing plans for the ‘new’ Diocesan Centre. Funded by our tithing, it is now complete and open for the use of the clergy and people. As some of the meeting rooms and office space are let, this is now a self sustaining project.
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