More of an infographic person? Take a look at this visual summary of how you can support BEST.

BEST (Bursaries Enabling Strategic Training) is Crosslinks’ bursary scheme that enables church leaders and gospel workers to train for Bible-teaching ministry.
The BEST bursary scheme helps to: 

• fund culturally-relevant local mission courses
• ensure candidates are financially supported to complete their training
• resource local churches by providing trained leaders and ministers
• foster valuable links between study partners and supporting churches and individuals in the UK and Ireland, who pray for them and support them financially

Sow

Training a church leader or gospel worker in the UK and Ireland costs around £9,000 p/a. Training a church leader or gospel worker in a majority world nation costs around £2,500 p/a. Sowing this ‘seed’ of funding will cover all academic costs, including tuition fees, exam fees and books. (In some cases, Crosslinks also contributes towards accommodation and living expenses, but normally study partners raise these funds themselves with the help of their church or diocese.)

Grow 

Generous funding from churches in the UK and Ireland enables BEST study partners to be funded, trained and grow in their knowledge and faithful handling of God’s word over 1-3 years at a culturally relevant Bible college. 

Send

Trained up gospel workers and church leaders are then equipped to go out and train others. Your gift can multiply the training of many men and women for ministry in areas which could otherwise be without equipped and faithful workers.

Why support the BEST bursary scheme? 

UK and Ireland churches enjoy the enormous privilege of leaders who have been trained and taught well. In majority world nations, however, most pastors and ministry workers have little to no training. For example, one region in Kenya is the size of England – but has just 10 trained clergy. 

Many people in majority nations have a heart for God’s word, people and mission. The problem isn’t the lack of people willing to be trained, but the funding available to train them. And unless they are trained, there is no guarantee they will teach faithfully and Biblically. Each year Crosslinks allocates BEST bursaries based on the funding available – and so far, we’ve not been able to fund all the applicants.

This is where UK and Ireland churches come in! Your generosity means that churches in completely different parts of the world can flourish and grow under the faithful leadership of a trained BEST study partner, who receives training they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford. 

This year, having celebrated our centenary in October 2022, we’re hoping to double the number of BEST students. Last year, we funded 16 applicants so it would be fantastic if, with your generosity, we could fund 32 this year. 

How can you get involved? 

Why not consider funding BEST study partners? You’ll be able to pray for them by name as a church family and know your giving is enabling their training. It’s a wonderful encouragement to a church knowing they’re able to offer Christians elsewhere the same privileges they enjoy. 

Partnering with the BEST bursary scheme makes it possible to sow, grow and send ministry-minded men and women to areas where churches are desperately in need of faithful Bible teaching, discipleship and evangelism. 

Decided?

If you’ve decided that you’d like to partner with us, please get in touch and we’ll send you more details on creating a partnership, with suggestions on who your study partner(s) might be.