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2024-04-05-annual-report

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CCNI Reg. No: 102580
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Annual Trustees Report & Statement of Account

For the year 6[th] April 2023 to 5[th] April 2024

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Annual Trustees Report and Statement of Accounts for Simply Serving Ministries. Year 6[th] April 2023 to 5[th] April 2024

Contents Page
Introduction and Trust Information 3
Purpose 3
Beneficiaries 4
Activities and Achievements 5-8
Restrictions, Harm and Private Benefit 8-9
Independent Assessors Report 10
Treasures Report and Statement of Accounts 11

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Trustees Report for Simply Serving Ministries (SSM) Year 6[th] April 2023 to 5[th] April 2024

Introduction and Trust Information

The Trust was created formally on 10[th] September 2011 by ‘trust deed document’ and recognised under HMRC rules, registration number XR32570. We were registered with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland on 19[th] May 2015, registration number 102580. We are a small trust, directed and managed by four trustees. With no paid staff or full-time volunteers, we rely upon our active trustees and those individuals that volunteer from timeto-time for specific projects and activities. We the Trustees are pleased to present our next formal annual report on the work of Simply Serving Ministries (SSM) for the period 6[th] April 2023 to 5[th] April 2024. We publicly acknowledge God’s goodness; the guidance of the Holy Spirit; the opportunity to serve our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ and the opportunity to support brothers and sisters in the Lord, in their work for The Master.

The trustees in post for the year to April 2024 are: William Gibson Michael Hewitt David Brown (Treasurer) Val Stewart (Chairman)

These are the founding members of the charitable trust from 2011. Only the trustees have the power to appoint new trustees.

Purpose:

As our name implies, and as the guidance of the Holy Spirit directs, we simply seek to serve others through our ministry. Our purposes remained unchanged for 2022-23, which are in summary:

These purposes are achieved through a number of objectives that the trustees have laid out in their founding trust deed document. Our objectives are available to read as part of our entry on the Charity Commission for NI website.

The objects of our charity will be conducted in accordance with our “Statement of Faith” contained in ‘Appendix One’ of our founding trust deed document. This “Statement of “Faith” demonstrates this charities Biblical foundation, Scriptural mandate; ethical framework and the spiritual and moral benefits promoted by it.

In planning our activities for the year, the trustees have given consideration to the Charity Commission for NI‘s guidance on public benefit under section 4(b)’ of the Charities Act (the public benefit requirement statutory guidance) to ensure that the activities have helped to achieve the charities’ purposes and provide a benefit to the public.

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Beneficiaries and achieving the public benefit:

In this year, we have been privileged to direct gifts, donations and activity through the charity to others. Our activities have focused on helping churches, missions and individuals in the countries of Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Moldova, Madagascar, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovakia, Republic of Ireland, USA and Northern Ireland.

The Bible teaching undertaken separately by our trustees in Serbia, Moldova, Macedonia and Bulgaria made a contribution to the spiritual and moral education of adults and young people, through the study of the Holy Bible. It supports, sustains and increases Biblical knowledge, skills, and expertise of church members, potential future church leaders, pastors and missionaries. In each locality pastoral support and encouragement was also undertaken.

The trust supported building projects in Moldova and Serbia either through organising work teams, providing materials and/or making grants towards the costs. Donations were channelled through the trust for the various building projects.

We were pleased to assist ‘Gospel Literature Ireland,’ over 4 days in May 2023 at the Balmoral Show, outside Belfast and over 3 days in September 2023 at the Irish National Ploughing Championships, Ratheniska, County Laois. At the two shows, we saw many thousands of ‘John 3:16’ gospel shopping bags accepted by attendees to the show, with more than 1,800+ children receiving free items containing the Word of God.

Throughout the year, the trust supported the ongoing work to progress further phases and maintenance of the Bethesda Christian Centre building project in Moldova in April 2023, September 2023, November2023 and January 2024.

In October 2023, and March 2024, Bible teaching and Gospel outreach trips were undertaken, with seminars and meetings supporting the teaching of adults and children in various locations across Serbia, Macedonia, and in Bulgaria for the first time.

The trust welcomes their involvement and support in establishing and maintaining “The Venue.” This is a location for outreach work in Ballymena, County Antrim, providing a base for various activities and Christian outreach to the local community.

How all this has been accomplished and how it has benefited the public as our beneficiaries, is explained further in the ‘Activities and Achievements’ section of our report.

A number of report meetings to churches and groups were undertaken by the trustees throughout the year. The trustees welcomed the opportunity to inform others about the advancement of the Christian faith in the countries the charity operates. These report meetings are open to the general public.

Trustees also regularly represent the work of the trust at events and meetings organised by other organisations involved with Christian missionary and charity work.

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Activities and Achievements:

All our activities and projects are led by at least one of the trustees. We are pleased to report our activities have increased in this reporting year following the previous impact of the ongoing fall-out from the worldwide Covid pandemic, and this is reflected in this Annual Trustees Report. We continue to be amazed and humbled by the encouragement received from others, demonstrated in both practical and prayerful support. To the people who have participated or supported the building and humanitarian efforts, we owe a debt of gratitude that we can never repay. To any volunteers who have accompanied our trustees on the various encouragement visits to we are grateful for your company as travelling companions and your Christian encouragements shared with the people, that we engaged with, in the countries visited.

Montenegro

For the period of the report, we maintained contact with several mission partners in Montenegro. Financial support was sent to a few people who serve in Podgorica, the capital city. A husband-and-wife team from the Upper Room church in Podgorica relocated to Kotor, Montenegro to help establish a new outreach in that area. We became aware that they were struggling financially. We made the need known to several larger charities in the UK and managed to secure a financial support package for this couple.

The Venue, Northern Ireland

In reporting year 2022-23 SSM was gifted the use of a 3-storey commercial building in Broughshane Street, Ballymena. To determine the use of the building and for governance purposes, a Steering Committee was established. This is made up of like-minded professionals who discussed, agreed, vetted and implemented a programme designed to benefit the local community. Some improvements were made to the building layout, the heating system and the electrics, then it was renamed and rebranded "The Venue".

In the second year, the following lists some of the activities undertaken at The Venue during 2023/2024:

Outreach at Balmoral Show, Northern Ireland – Organised by GLI and supported by SSM, amongst others. 9 - 13 May 2023

Over four days assistance was given to the work of ‘Gospel Literature Ireland’ (GLI) at the Balmoral Show. With over 120,000 people attending, from the exhibition stand used for the GLI outreach, many thousands of ‘John3:16’ gospel shopping bags were accepted by attendees to the show. Hundreds of children received free items containing the Word of God, and numerous other people received Bibles, literature and CD’s.

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Slovakia – Bible Camp in Northern Ireland July 2023

We worked with a team of youth workers from Slovakia, to facilitate a Bible Camp that took place in July 2023 at the Youth Hostel in Whitepark Bay, NI. We shared daily bible studies with the young people and took them to a number of National Trust sites including the Giants Causeway and the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge

Outreach at National Ploughing Championships, Ratheniska, Ireland – Organised by GLI and supported by SSM, amongst others. 18 – 21 September 2023

Over three days two trustees gave assistance to the work of ‘Gospel Literature Ireland’ (GLI) at the National Ploughing Championships, Ratheniska, County Laois. With over 200,000+ people attending, from the exhibition stand used for the GLI outreach, just over 17,000 John3:16 gospel shopping bags were accepted by attendees to the show. Around 1470 children received free items containing the Word of God, and numerous other people received Bibles, literature and CD’s. A good number of reply cards and text message have been received by GLI from people seeking further evangelical literature. SSM was privileged to support and encourage missionaries working in Republic of Ireland engaged in the advancement of the Christian faith.

Support for Moldova

On the 18[th] April 2023 one of our trustees travelled to England to ensure Pallets of goods previously packed by us in N Ireland were safely and successfully loaded into a container for onward passage to Moldova. This included many items and equipment required for upcoming work scheduled for later in the year. There was three successful visits to Zirnesti during the year 2023/24 and the details of each trip are outlined in the text below:

Building Trips to Moldova - 22 September to 1 October 2022

The scheduled outbound flight on this trip left Dublin on the Sunday morning (24[th] September) having been postponed twice from the previous Friday evening. Three people arrived safely and swiftly began work on the pre-planned scheduled work improvement. Civil works and electrical tasks were undertaken.

One of the team hosted 5 days of Ministry and Gospel meetings in the local church during the week which was very practical and profitable for all attending. This was a time of support and encouragement to the missionaries, church leaders and members engaged in the advancement of the Christian faith in Moldova and to support the organisation, Christian Missions International AID (CMIAID). There was opportunity for team members to participate in Bible Study with adults and youth meetings. The work among the young people in the village of Zirnesti sees up to 100 teenagers from local villages attending events on Friday evenings in the multipurpose hall.

Building Trips to Moldova

3 to 12 November 2023

A 2-man team travelled out to attend to urgent Fire Alarm installation and electrical issues at the Bethesda Christian Centre, Zirnesti, Moldova and to assist the local church. Additional electrical works were required to provide further stronger outdoor network to run the Christmas Lights Festival scheduled for December. The Christmas Lights Festival at the Bethesda Centre draws considerable crowds each year, with over 10,000 attending it

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during the month of December. Hot food and drinks are served, with calendars and Gospel literature taken home by attendees.

Bible Teaching Trip to Macedonia and Bulgaria. 11 October – 20 October 2023

Ten days Gospel outreach and Bible teaching was undertaken on this trip. A well-attended Bible teaching seminar was held on Sunday morning, followed by visiting three other church fellowships and outreaches in various locations, as far away as to near the Bulgarian border. The team travelled around 300km during that day.

There was gospel outreach and spiritual encouragement shared through Bible teaching on the other days of the trip. For the first time a 1000km cross border road trip to Bulgaria was undertaken over three days. Two speaking engagements at church meetings were undertaken and a number of Bulgarian church leaders were spoken to with a view to further visits in the future. Across the ten days and in the different locations the team shared the scriptures and encouraged around 250+ people.

Encouragement Trip to Albania – 10 November to 20 November 2023

Over an eleven-day period, an encouragement trip was undertaken to Albania by one of our trustees. The primary reason for the visit was to provide assistance at a stand in the annual 5-day Tirana International Book Fair. Many thousands attend over the period of the book fair to which outreach is undertaken. In some locations at the two weekends, Bible teaching and Gospel meetings were undertaken. The scripture teaching and gospel was shared with a good number of people. A number of missionaries, church leaders and believers were encouraged.

Building Trips to Moldova 26 to 30 January 2024

This short trip by one of our trustees was to oversee the technical installation of 70KW of Solar Panels at the Base camp which would provide substantial cost reductions in the electrical running costs on the site. Electrical Costs continue to rise across all of Europe and Moldova is no different and in conjunction with an existing program upgrading light fittings to modern LED ones across both sites in Moldova to help with cost savings . This project is expected to save up to E10,000 p.a.

The Zirnesti multi-purpose centre is designed to provide spiritual assistance, medical care, social care, elderly care and educational resources. These functions, along with the regular Christian gatherings continues to make a significant contribution to the spiritual and moral education of around 300 -400 adults and young people, through the study of the Holy Bible.

Encouragement Trip to Serbia. March 2023

A visit was made to Serbia in March 23. We had been given an invitation to speak at the annual conference of Brethren churches in Kulpin. More than 150 people attended representing eight churches in Vojvodina (Northern Serbia).

We also had the opportunity to visit several widows who we knew to be struggling and passed on financial support. We got to visit a few family units who had experienced multiple health issues, giving us the opportunity to share spiritual, emotional and financial support.

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Bible Teaching Trip to Bulgaria. 26 March – 4 April 2024

Over ten days, teaching was undertaken with one specific local church in Bulgaria. This was a further visit following first contact in October 2023. Well-attended Bible teaching seminars were held on Thursday and Friday evenings and Saturday and Sunday mornings. Across the ten hours of Bible teaching, around 150+ Christians were encouraged with the scriptures.

General:

Humanitarian Work

Our base for the humanitarian work since 2016 is in premises granted by a local business man from Lurgan, County Armagh. We are grateful for this facility and they are adequate for storing non-perishable materials but not suitable for sorting and loading shipping containers. Further impact has been the sharp increases seen generally in shipping costs since 2020 which has curtailed this activity considerably over this reporting year. We pray for guidance on the way forward with respect to the humanitarian side of our charity work. Support, supplies and humanitarian aid were given to the Mizpah Trust Organisation for both the development of the new camp site in Northern Greece and also practical aid for the refugees travelling through Greece.

During the year 3 Euro pallets of electrical equipment and other specialised building material were shipped to CMIAID base in England and then containerised for onward travel to missionaries in Moldova. These consignments were used in the Bethesda Christian Centre building project. In December 2023, one euro pallet of Christmas presents for the 65 local CMIAID mission staff and food to be distributed to those in the community who are in poverty or in need was sent out.

We continue to play a part in assisting the Ukrainian relief work by providing food and clothing to refugees in Moldova and in Ukraine. We helped to directly support a number of families during the worst of the conflict.

Numerous trips were made to different parts of Northern Ireland throughout the year to collect materials, tools, equipment, clothing and donations for the container work. We are grateful to all who contributed to this work. As we do not own our own goods vehicles, rental vehicles were used to facilitate these movements as necessary.

Restrictions on who can benefit:

There are no restrictions within our policies on the designated categories of who our charity helps. The only restrictions trustees may impose tend to be financially based, reflecting the fact we are a small charity with limited funding.

Harm:

The purposes of our charity should not lead to any harm. Our organisation does not work directly with children or vulnerable people.

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Our alternative premises provided for our humanitarian work are adequate for storing nonperishable materials but not suitable for storing more fragile items or sorting and loading shipping containers. This has curtailed the humanitarian activity. Further impact has been the sharp increases seen generally in shipping costs and this has impacted upon this work during 2023-24. This may have an adverse impact upon those who receive practical support through this part of our activities as a means to receive specialised building project materials and alleviating their poverty or need and we pray they receive such support from other sources to compensate.

Private Benefit:

A private benefit flowing from our purpose may arise as the result of occasional gifts of money passed on to us or be made by us, to named foreign missionaries, pastors or church members for personal living expenses. Many of these individuals do not receive a regular income from their church membership or a salary from a secular job but rather ‘live by faith.’ The Trust considers this is incidental and necessary because the continued presence of these individuals in the countries, directly contributes towards achieving the charity’s purposes. The grant or gift of money for any of the charity’s purposes must be approved by a quorum of trustees.

A private benefit flowing from our purpose may arise for a church pastor and family occupying as tenants the house attached to the church in Red Coast village, Macedonia. The Trust considers this is incidental and necessary because the continued presence of the pastor and family in the area, directly contributes towards achieving the charity’s purposes of advancing the Christian faith for the benefit of the general public. It is the trustees understanding the church building and attached house will be controlled by FOUNDATION GALILEE BALKANS, a charitable organisation in Macedonia.

Signed on behalf of the trustees:

Val Stewart Chairman

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Mlnl I report Ihe a¢￿￿nts of the Trust for the year ende4J tr April 204 vthich are set out overleaf. nslbilltles of ch arKI e amin As the charity's trustees ytxJ are ￿SponS￿)Ie preparati￿ of ts acixxjnts in acoX)rdar￿e wrth the Charikn'e5 Art (N￿theM Ireland) 2008. It is my reSp￿sIbilIty to: examine Ihe aCt￿unts ￿der section 65 of the Chwities Act follow the procedLres laid do￿1 in the general Dire(Al￿S giv￿ by the Commission under section 65(9Mb) of the Charities Act state whelher particular matters tiave come to my attention. fin nd nt examln I have examined your charity aCC￿nts as required under s￿li0n 65 of the Charitie8 Act and my examination was carried ¢xrt in aC￿rdance with the general Directions given by the Ch￿lty C￿nmIsSi￿ for Northern Ireland under section 65(9Xb) of the Charttss AL. My examination indudod a review of the accounb'ng records kept by the tharity and a comparison of the ac- counts wesented with those re(x)rils. ft also Ir￿uded (Xnsderation of any unusual Items or disdosures in the accounts. and seeking explanations from you as charity truslees con￿MIng any such matters. My role is to state whether any matertal matteT5 have come to rny attention giwng me cause to believe: 1. That aCc￿ntIl￿ records were not kept in ￿arKe with S￿lI0n 63 of the Charl￿.eS A 2. That the ￿lUnts do not accord with tfN)se aC￿Unting reccyds 3. That the accounts do not o)mpty with the accamting requirements of Ihe Charites Act 4. That there is furthtt infomiation needed for a woper understanding of the accounts to be reacPd. l am qualrfied to Ir￿epend￿l1Y examine the xtThJnts as yi)u are a charity that is not a ¢)xnpany and has an in- come of £250.000 or less. I have ccwnpleted my examination and have no concxms in resFECt of the matters (1) to (4) listed a￿ve and, in o)nnecticfft with following the Directions of the Charity Commission Norttem Ire- land. I have found m matters tt)at require drawing to your attention. STrgnature'. Name". Mrs. Heather Camlica￿e1 Relevant professional quaIrf￿tmj1Tr ￿ body.. Professional Business Address.. 64b Tildarg Road, Kells, Ballymena, BT42 3NY Date: £ebnJary 2025 io Simply Serving Minis ries time. tgknts. t•a¢hinq God's word

Treasurer’s Report for the period 06 April 23 to 05 April 24

Treasurer’s Report

We acknowledge that as a charity we generate no income from our own assets. The Trust relies on free-will offerings and gifts donated to us by interested individuals, churches, other charitable organisations, recognised grant making bodies and reclaim of gift aid. This is reflected in our accounts. We have no intention of using professional fundraising consultants.

We wish to express our thanks to everyone that made a donation or gift to us. It is truly ‘an offering made unto the Lord.’ We desire that the Lord Jesus Christ will bless your generosity to us and those we seek to serve in other countries.

We acknowledge the commitment of the trustees and volunteers to the work of the trust, displayed in their willingness to refund their eligible expenses and travel costs back. This has allowed a greater percentage of our funding to be directed to the activities of the Trust, allowing us to minimise our running and administration costs.

The Treasurers report accounts for the period 6[th] April 2023 to 5[th] April 2024 (a copy of the accounts for this period has been attached)

The following is a summary for that period:

We own no physical assets nor have any physical liabilities. Detail of the sources of income and payments made is contained in the accounts.

Accounts completed by David Brown (Treasurer.)

Signed on behalf of the trustees:

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Val Stewart Chairman of Trustees

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