Introduction
Helping people in need has been a continuing feature of the ministry of Asia Pacific Baptist Federation. From the inception of the Federation on 9th July, 1975, originally known as Asia Baptist Federation, a committee of the Federation was established to give oversight to this aspect of the ministry of the Federation. This committee was titled: the Aid and Relief Committee.
Since 1975 the Aid and Relief Committee has been active in informing member bodies of humanitarian needs in the region, as well seeking to educate the member bodies as to the holistic nature of the call of following Jesus to being towards and seek justice for the poor. Churches have been encouraged to support aid, development and relief efforts both in their communities and amongst needful communities of other member bodies.
The Asian Tsunami of December 24th 2004 spurned a renew commitment to helping the many hurting communities impact by this disaster across the Asia Pacific region. As a result of the need and the enormous response from APBF member bodies and the wider BWA family to help those Baptist communities responding to this disaster it was decided to expand the work of the Aid and Relief Committee by hiring a full-time staff member. As the work continued to expanded, it was decided to formerly establish an aid and development organization, Asia Pacific Baptist Aid, as a direct outworking of the ministry of the Aid and Development Committee of the APBF. APBAid was established with a set rules to organize and govern the work of the APBAid Committee (formerly called the Aid and Relief Committee), which were accepted by the APBF Executive in January 2008.
The work and ministry of APBAid has continued to grow each year, with a resultant increase in full time staff to three at the time of writing (December 2011). APBAid seeks to respond to the needs in the Asia Pacific region by supporting relief and sustainable community development activities of the APBF member bodies.
Purpose of APBAid
To realize the intent of its commitment to respond to people in need, APBF has established APBAid to network with APBF member bodies, churches, and other organizations, as well as the wider BWA family, to provide:Relief:
APBAid facilitates coordinated emergency responses primarily through the APBF member bodies and with assistance from the wider BWA membership to disaster situations in the APBF region through;
- Supporting appropriate first response in areas hit by disasters;
- Giving assistance to follow-up and long-term rehabilitation; and
- Promoting disaster-preparedness amongst member bodies and their church communities.
Development: APBAid promotes and supports sustainable community development projects and best practice in these activities;
Capacity Building: APBAid builds the capacity of APBF member bodies through support and training, while educating and challenging the Baptist constituency to live justly and promote change to address global poverty.
Funding: APBAid supports requests for funds from APBF member bodies and acts as a broker within the region and to the BWA family to ensure speedy and appropriate responses.
RESPONSIBILITIES APBAid
A) Relief and Development Work.In times of humanitarian disaster, APBAid seeks to inform the regional Baptist family and the global Baptist family of the situation. Through its networks with others, APBAid explores the possibilities of;
- Enlisting the support of first responders (such as HBAid);
- Sourcing emergency assistance;
- Offering solace and encouragement to persons and communities affected;
- Monitoring progress of relief efforts; and
- Stimulating the move from crisis response to a program of development and renewal amongst the affected communities.
APBAid responds to proposals for relief and development projects by coordinating a process involving evaluation of each proposal, approval for funding, publicizing the needs described, funding approved projects if funds are available or circulating to partners for sourcing funding, monitoring the progress of funded projects through visits and receiving narrative and financial reports, and conducting evaluation.
In undertaking its work in relief and development, APBAid follows the policies and guidelines affirmed by the APBAid Committee.
B) Capacity Building.
To facilitate the capacity of all the member bodies with the APBF, APBAid:- Maps and maintains documentation of the capacities of member bodies for relief work;
- Maintains a listing of relief and development workers or other approved contact person for each member body.
- Coordinates training activities on project design, disaster relief, and disaster risk management for the benefit of APBF member bodies;
C) Promotional and Fundraising Work
In order to raise awareness of and funding for humanitarian, development and human rights needs in the region, APBAid:- Designs and manages APBAid fundraising efforts related to its ministry and for the APBF;
- Produces promotional material including an annual report and material on approved projects and their progress;
- Offers leadership for disaster relief response by the member bodies and their local communities;
- Maintains communication with funded partners; and
- Maintain APBAid section of APBF website with updated information on relief efforts and community development projects.
D) Management/Administrative Work
APBAid carries out the following management and administrative work as part of its ministry:Prepares and maintains an up-to-date Operations Manual which complies with the policies established by the APBAid Committee.
- The Operations Manual enshrines best practices and covers the following:A description of the process and procedures to be followed;
- A sample of the forms to be used in the project application and reporting;
- A list of the relevant criteria to be applied in assess a project proposal;
- The ethical standards to be applied by partners in implementing projects, as well as in the use of photographs for promotion by APBAid; and
- A system for storage and retrieval of information on projects and the work of APBAid including photographic, projects, correspondence etc.
- Matters related to providing information on and promotion of the APBAid ministry and coordinating this with the work of the Communications Committee;
- Matters related to the APBF office, overseen by the General Secretary: developing work plans, reports and staff evaluation
At the start of each quinquennium, conducts orientation for new APBAid Committee members to ensure knowledge of, and adherence to, the principles enshrined in the APBAid Committee Charter, Rules, Policies and other governance documents.
