Advocacy is the work of influencing the decisions, policies and practices of decision-makers, to address underlying causes of poverty, bring justice, and support good development. In many development situations there are underlying justice issues that contribute to people’s poverty. Until these issues are addressed other development help is going to make very little progress.

Banzaid is the aid and development department of NZBMS (the New Zealand Baptist Missionary Society). Christian mission organisations havealways “done” development as a part of their ministry. Mission established schools, hospitals and agricultural programmes are the leading institutions in many developing countries. We invite you to read this report on the projects that we have worked with through the past year.

Banzaid has a good reputation – our supporters are proof of that! We have some great projects, and we have great supporters. You can read about our projects in this report. This year, Banzaid has achieved certification under the Code of Conduct of the New Zealand Council for International Development (CID). We believe that this is a big step in our ability to assure our supporters that we set a high standard in what we do.

We believe that God is deeply concerned with the wellbeing of people in the here and now. This is why Banzaid has such an important role to play within the mission of NZBMS. The projects we are delivering through Banzaid are bringing real-time solutions into broken, hurting communities.

As New Zealand Baptists, we should all be incredibly proud of the positive impact we are having through Banzaid’s aid and development activities. Caring for the poor, being peacemakers, and setting the oppressed free – I’m sure you’ll agree that these tenets are at the heart of what we believe and what we value as a Baptist family.