Missions

Westlake Church Lausanne devotes at least 10% of its annual income, plus one-off offerings, to promote the spread of the Gospel around the world, through word and deed. There are four streams of support: Church Planting, Practical Compassion, Bible Translation, and the Persecuted Church.

 

Specific projects that we support:

Myanmar

Christianity first reached Myanmar in the early 1500, but the task of spreading the gospel became a challenge due to the fact that most Burmese were devoted Buddhists. The foundations of the Protestant Church were laid by the lifetime work of American Baptist missionaries, Adoniram and Ann Judson who arrived in Rangoon (now called Yangon) on July 13, 1813. In 1962 Buddhism became the official religion of the country resulting in much hardship and all sorts of restrictions on the Christian minorities. As of today the church has grown in the midst of tribulation and many have risked their lives to spread the Gospel.

As the Church in Myanmar grows, so does the need for local leadership and reaching remote areas in the country with the gospel. Westlake is privileged to partner with a group of our brothers and sisters in Myanmar who have taken on the challenge of teaching and discipling young people from various tribes and people groups before sending them back to their own people.

Medair - South Sudan

Medair is a non-governmental organisation (NGO), with internationally recruited staff who are motivated by their Christian faith to care for people in need. Medair's International Global Support Office is based in Ecublens, near Lausanne, and the Westlake church family includes many past and current Medair staff. Westlake has supported Medair for several years, and since early 2015 we have focused our support on Medair's programme in South Sudan.

South Sudan, has been facing intense challenges: millions of people are without access to health care, nutrition, protection, safe water, sanitation, and shelter. Years of conflict and failed peace deals have forced nearly 4 million people to flee their homes, they have lost their livelihoods and lack the basic resources to survive. In February 2020 a new peace deal was signed and while people are hopeful for a new start COVID 19 has also impacted the economy and their capacity to cope, with vulnerable women and children remaining at high risk, particularly of malnutrition.

Medair has responded to the emergency needs with 4 projects across South Sudan delivering life-saving assistance in the areas of health & nutrition, mental health & psychosocial support and water & sanitation, and through the distribution of non-food items. A COVID 19 project was also started in July in Juba, that capital and programming has been adapted in other locations.

Medair has been working in South Sudan since 1992 and is a key player in humanitarian coordination among the many organisations present in Juba and across the country. See details of Medair’s SDS COVID-19 project and video about the project.

Port'espoir

Port'espoir is a local ministry co-initiated and led by Westlake members, seeking to bring the love and freedom and compassion of Jesus to women working the streets of Lausanne. You can find their website here.

Open Doors

The organisation Open Doors works to support and resource the persecuted church. As a church, Westlake is supporting an Open Doors family ministry program in the Persian speaking world through a secure online platform. The goal is to help families grow in the knowledge of God and build family relationships based on Biblical values. For more information about Open Doors, please visit their website.

Seed Company

Through the Seed Company (an affiliate of Wycliffe Bible Translators), Westlake supports the translation of the Old Testament into the language of the Suriname Maroon people group in Suriname, South America. For more information, please visit their website

World Vision

Through their giving in Sunday School our children support two children in Albania. For more information, please visit their website.

CABES - Contacts Amitié Bible entre Etrangers et Suisses

CABES is a team who seeks to share God's love with non-Westerners who have come to the French-speaking part of Switzerland in order to find refuge or to flee poverty. This sharing includes welcoming people and developing friendships as well as sharing the Gospel.

This project began in 1990 with Jean-Pierre and Suzanne Besse's ministry with a few other people, such as Jürg and Annemarie Loeliger. At present, CABES is a Scripture Union ministry. For more information, please visit their website.

GBEU - Groupes Bibliques des Écoles et Universités

Groupes Bibliques des Écoles et Universités (GBEU) are groups of students with a vision to see students transformed by the Gospel to impact their places of study, churches and society. They study the Bible, pray and share the Gospel with their other fellow students. GBEU provides guidance and training through a team with the spiritual, practical and financial support from the friends of GBEU. For more information, please visit their website.

In addition to the above Westlake supports a number of other projects through both regular and one-off gifts.