## **Our God Given Mission** **Report of the Trustees for year ended 31 March 2023 Registered Charity No: 1170615** ## **Contents** ## **2: Reference and Administrative Information** ## **3: Trustees Report** ## **7: Account for Receipts & Payments** - **9: Report of the Independent Examiner** 1 ## **Reference and Administrative Information** ## **Charity Name: Our God Given Mission** ## **Charity Registration Number: 1170615** **Address:** 24 Plymouth Road, Chelmsford, CM1 6JG ## **Board of Trustees** Michael Timilehin Omoniyi (Chair) Jemie Irukwu Naa-Dei Nikoi Samuel Cole **Bankers: Caf Bank ,** 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling ME19 4JQ **Governing Document:** OGGM is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation with the Charity Commission since December 2016 under charity number 1170615. 2 ## **Trustees Report** **The Trustees have pleasure in submitting the Report and Accounts for the year to 31[st] March 2023.** ## Purposes and Objectives Our God Given Mission (OGGM), is a Christian Charity driven by the goal to help young adults discover Jesus and equip them to make Him known. This is built on the biblical instruction of going out into all the world and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to all creation! Gospel simply means good news. OGGM’s primary and driving purpose is to share this good news with as many people that will listen, whilst mobilising others to do the same. OGGM shares this ‘good’ news, which is love and peace, by carrying out religious devotional acts, missionary and outreach work and by raising awareness and understanding about Jesus Christ and his message of Love. ## **Our objectives are to:** - Help young adults to discover the person of Jesus Christ, and equip them to make Him known to the people in their lives: - Publish and release materials that help the public understand the message and the teachings of Jesus Christ: and - Raise awareness about the primary teaching of Jesus, spreading His love and peace to the public. ## Our Strategy We achieve our aims practically by creating spaces for meaningful community, offering a platform for learning and education, and curating mission experiences that change participants forever. The three channels of our work are: - **Belong:** Addressing the lack of community by hosting a range of events to allow Christians to meet [Hebrews 10:24-25]. According to a report from the Co-Op on the state of UK communities, almost of 45% of people don’t feel part of the community they live in; - **Believe:** Addressing the lack of knowledge through an award-winning publication with content that answer some of the most difficult questions that young people have about faith and apologetics [1 Peter 3:15]; and - **Become:** Addressing the lack of perspective by taking young people on mission trips, that enable them to gain an “On Mission” mindset, with which they can share the Gospel wherever they find themselves [Matthew 28:19-20]. We have already been delivering across these channels over the last 9 years and our goal is to increase our output, sustainably and for the long-term. 3 ## **What need are we addressing?** We believe there is a faith crisis in the UK. A survey asking whether participants share a biblical worldview, revealed 16% of Baby Boomers (1940s-60s) did vs 4% millennials (1981-00s). When asked about faith: 36% of millennials said they were ‘hopeful’, 28% ‘not hopeful’, 33% ‘not sure’. Statistics tell only a part of the story. Abuse, depression, hopelessness, fear all feel commonplace in today’s world. The need for light has never been more urgent, especially in the younger generation, and we present the gospel as the most fundamental solution. ## **Who is our target audience?** Our target audience is young adults across the UK. Over the years we have developed great rapport with young adults in the black British community who make up the largest cohort of our audience to date. ## Activities and Achievements for the financial period ## **Belong: Creating spaces for Christians to experience meaningful community** Our world has never been more interconnected, and yet many young adults that we meet explain loneliness and lack of community as the biggest hindrances in their Christian journey. We create events where young adults have the opportunity to experience Christian fellowship and build relationships. ## **Examples of the impact from our work this year include:** - Annual Retreats: We delivered a week-long retreat in Wales, ‘ABBA 2022’ which was attended by over 120 people and remains our flagship event of the year. Abba Father” is one of the most significant names of God in understanding how He relates to people. The word Abba is an Aramaic word that means “Father.” It was a common term that expressed affection and confidence and trust. Abba signifies the close, intimate relationship of a father and his child, as well as the childlike trust that a young child puts in his “daddy.” - Through this 5-day retreat, we helped our delegates rediscover the joys of relating to God as a caring and a compassionate father. Through a mixture of sermons, seminars and workshops, we helped our delegates explore the biblical use of the term Abba and how they can experience the life transformative truth of knowing God the father as Abba. - Since launching our first retreat in 2017, we have seen over 2,000 young adults come to hear the gospel, with over 80 baptisms - Partnering with the local church: We do not believe in a vision of sharing the Gospel that leaves the church behind. We are convinced that the local church is critical to the effort of helping more people know Jesus (young or old). We have continued to partner with local churches to integrate young adults who attend our events into a church community. We also work with local pastors to deliver teaching on biblical topics across our platforms, especially the online courses. ## **Believe: Creating resources to encourage a deeper understanding of the gospel.** ## **Examples of the impact from our work this year include:** - Online articles: We have a team of 5 volunteers who write online articles principles that promote Christ whilst addressing current theological, cultural, and societal issues. During the year we 4 have published over 50 articles that have reached over 50,000 readers, covering a range of topics: - _“How to find a church”;_ - _“How to engage with online controversies”; and_ - _“Hedonism: the pursuit of joy”._ - Online podcasts: We host an award-winning podcast show ‘On the Table’ where we discuss modern issues through a gospel lens. We also host another podcast ‘The Pulse’ which is an educational podcast to untangle tricky theological questions in a digestible way. To date we have published over 70 episodes across both podcasts, with over 10,000 listeners. - Onlin _e_ Courses: We have created online courses where individuals can work their way through a self-directed curriculum on topics such as: what is the gospel, 101 to evangelism, study of pneumatology. ## **Become: Reaching the lost, primarily through missions** The third channel of our work is focused on evangelical outreach. ## **Examples of the impact from our work this year include:** - Missions trips: We host two mission trips each year, with between 8-10 individuals joining. Attendees come back with a renewed desire to share the gospel in their local context. Since starting our missions trips, we have helped over 50 young adults embark on their very first missions trip, and embrace sharing the gospel in their day to day life. - During 2022/23, we read the scriptures, prayed and shared personal testimonies with people in the southern region of Tenerife who felt their lives had lost purpose. We believe the name of Jesus has the power to change hearts and minds as well as give hope where guilt, shame and hurt reside. Our team of volunteers joined a local church in Los Santos, who have been involved in the missionary work for over 13 years. The trip was largely successful and we intend to continue this partnership for years to come. ## Accounts The accounts have been drawn up on a receipts and payments basis. As at 31/03/23 OGGM held £9,395 of total funds available in its account. The key movements are available in the receipts and payments summary for the financial period of this report. The trustees have reviewed the reserves of the charity, and their policy is to hold enough funds to meet 24 months of operating costs of the charity. ## Trusteeship ## **Recruitment and appointment of trustees** The existing trustees are responsible for identifying and selecting new trustees to join the organisation. In selecting new trustees we seek to identify individuals who have shown interest in the advancement of the gospel message, and volunteer their efforts by leading on projects which the charity is pursuing. Potential trustees are asked to complete an application form expressing why they would be interested in becoming a trustee. Once they have progressed beyond this stage, they are interviewed by current trustees. This process allows the charity to consider the person’s eligibility, competence, and skills, to ensure they are suitable for the available role. ## **Induction and training of trustees** 5 New trustees are introduced to their role and provided with copies of the constitution and a guide to the policies and procedures adopted by our charity. A number of publications from the Charity Commission are provided to the trustee including the guidance on charities providing public benefit, and the advancement of religion for the public benefit. Existing trustees set up time to meet with the new trustee and provide an overview of the main projects the charity is working on. Initially, new trustees will assist in these projects and tasks. Once they have developed the experience they then lead on these projects. ## **The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.** ## **Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees on 19 December 2023** **Signature:** **Full Name: Samuel Cole** ## **Position: Trustee and Head of Finance** 6 ACCOUNT FOR RECEIPTS & PAYMENTS (HARITY (OMMISSION FOR ENGIANO ANDWAIES Ch4riiv Name OUR GOD GNEN MISSION 117061S Recei For ihe pedod Irom ts and 1tt022 ments accounts CC16a Section A Receipts and payments funos fun¢$ lun¢$ to the nearest to the nearesi to the nearesi to the nearesi tothe nearest Totsi lund8 A1 Receipts 21,615 27,615 27,812 55,427 22,895 48,095 Sub TOtal{Gro￿ IncJry7e fforARI 55,427 A2 A5setand inYe5tsnenl sales, (see trblel. Sub toral TO￿l￿eceIpts 55,427 55,427 48,095 A3 Paym2n15 Almin E ense Event Ex Freelance Contract P3 ment Sub mral 52,651 52,651 Toralpaymgnts 52,651 52,651 53,150 Netof receip[￿[paymen1sJ 2,716 2,716 5,055 A5 Tran$fets between lund$ A6 Cash funds la51 yearend 6,619 9,J95 6,619 6,619 6,619 6,619 Cash funL¢s th¢5 ye&rond Section B Staiement of a55et5 and liabilities at the end of the period Unreslricl Heslricled Hestiicle io nearesi £ ¢0 rleaiesi £ ¢0 Deaves¢ B1 Cash funds 9.335 Totsicash funds 9.395 Unreslricl Reslricled Reslricle ed funds fuThJs d funds io nearesi £ ¢0 rleavesi £ ¢0 D*aves¢ Details B2 Other monetsry assets to Cost [OPllonalJ Cosl [OPllonalJ Details belon95 B3 Irbvestmentassets F¥nd 10 ¥hiGh a55et belon9S Cost Iopiionall Cost Iopiionall Detarls B4Assets retained lor the chanty's ovrn use F¥nd 10 vhiGh AmouTri **Je [optionalJ AmouAI Detail- Independen1Ewn￿atl0￿F￿e [opiion4lJ BS L￿bIlIt￿9 540 Swjnedbyonèoitwo￿us1Q￿ on behdloldldietDJstees SigThalure Prit)l Name Dale ol oval SamuelG)I 18-[￿o-23 ## **Our God Given Mission** ## **Accounts Year Ended 31[st] March 2021** ## **Report of the Independent Examiner to the Trustees of Our God Given Mission** I report on the accounts of Our God Given Mission for the year ended 31 March 2023, set out on page 7. This report is made solely to the Trustees in accordance with section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Act). My independent examination has been undertaken so that I might state to the Trustees those matters I am required to state to them in an independent examiner’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by the law, I do not accept responsibility to anyone other than the Trustees for my independent examination, for this report, or the opinions I have formed. ## **RESPECTIVE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE TRUSTEES AND EXAMINER** The Trustees consider that an audit is not required for this period (under section 144(2) of the Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to: - Examine the accounts (under section 145 of the Act); - To follow the procedures laid down in the General Direction given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Act); and - To state whether particular matters have come to my attention. ## **BASIS OF INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S STATEMENT** My examination was carried out in accordance with General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from the Trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the accounts. ## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S STATEMENT** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: 1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the church as required by section 130 of the Act; or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or 3. the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view’ which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. ## **John Helm ACA** **20 December 2023** 9