“Goodbye 2014 . . .”

As we look back into the past year, there is so much that we are thankful for and this is a good time to reflect on them . . .

Thailand Mission. Every trip brings need adventures, stories to tell and lasting impression and this trip was no exception. We went back to visit the Mae La refugee camp, conducted medical clinics, distributed daily necessities, gave out seeds for vegetations and build a small scale poultry farms for Steadfast Love children's home. We also revisited On Song village and the children's home run by Pastor Acher well as Pastor Ricky at Care Corner orphanage (CCO). We have been supporting this work for 8 years now and it's just fantastic to see the children there grow up and start to contribute to the local society now. We really appreciate their partnership and friendship. This time round we were also able to build an outdoor stairs at On Song villiage and supported the classroom building plus other essential building maintenance work at CCO. Again, do have a read of our full story in the news & missions section.

Relaunched Website. Speaking of webpages, 2014 saw the relaunch of the new BLi website. BLi operates with only volunteers, i.e. no paid staff, so to me it is doubly impressive we managed to launch this wonderful site and it was down to really just one incredible person - Jay. I'll say no more but please enjoy the webpage!

Training. 2014 saw BLi up the challenge to train more people in relief work and mission work. In September, we invited Dr Koon Jin Lim, Founder & Managing Partner of Crisis Relief Singapore to conduct a full day workshop at Future Inn, Plymouth. CRS goes into disaster hit areas, most recently being Typhoon Haiyan in Philippines to provide medical support. Dr Lim shared about his experiences and how to prepare for these trips. BLi also held our own core weekend training earlier in 2014 to train, widen and grow our core leadership team. Finally towards the end of the year, BLi was given the opportunity to share about the mission and charity work with our friends at Living Water Fellowship in Bristol.

Fundraising. Fundraising has always been a key element from BLi. Raising funds to enable what we do for the less fortunate where we operate. But at BLi, the people element of the fundraising is as important. Meeting and working with great volunteers with the same mindset and vision is so refreshing and is one of the key reasons we organise these events too. Looking back we had plenty fun and challenges with the 'Live Below the Line' challenge, the more leisurely cycle from Bristol to Bath (and back) and who could forget the biannual Tesco bag pack. 2015 also saw us making new grounds internationally! We had Angel running in the Hong Kong 10K for BLi and we also registered with Ammando.com - a global fundraising website equivalent to JustGiving in the UK.

“. . . and hello 2015!”

Looking forward in 2015, we are really excited and would like to keep you informed with the following updates:

On the fundraising front we are very excited that BLi will be participating in this year's 2015 London Marathon for the very first time and will be represented by our very own Alice! It is also a landmark year for the world-famous London marathon event where charities are formally invited to participate by invitation only. We are truly humbled by this kind invitation and none more so thankful to have Alice (who has just had her first baby 9 months ago!) to represent the BLi on the 26th April 2015. Let's get behind her - More on this exciting story to follow shortly!

There will be the return of the hugely popular and personally challenging: "Live Below the Line", the fun cycle days and some new challenges to come also in 2015!

Finally, the planning for this year's Cambodia mission trip in July 2015 is well on the way. We will be reporting back soon. Those interested should contact us asap!

So until our next communications, BLi wishes you a wonderful fruitful and eventful 2015!