Men's Outreach Worker

Vision of Asha
Tower Hamlets in East London is home to over 100,000 people with a Sylheti Bangladeshi background. We long to see a vibrant gathering of Jesus the Messiah's disciples from a Sylheti background established in Tower Hamlets and united with other believers. Therefore, we prayerfully together speak about Jesus the Messiah with Sylheti people. Would you like to join us?

Asha: a Community of Hope in Jesus the Messiah
"Asha" means "hope" in Sylheti and since autumn 2021 we have been gathering on Sunday afternoons, with our meetings operating in both English and Sylheti-languages. We sing, pray and teach through books of the Bible (from the front and in discussion groups), offering hope that can only be found in Jesus. There are currently 25-30 of us from all different backgrounds meeting together on Sundays.

Throughout the week we aim to look for opportunities to offer this hope too. For example, we have an arts and crafts drop in for women, ESOL teaching, book tables, Facebook outreach, visiting homes and businesses, and organising tours of the British Museum. We serve in our bookshop and library, and simply hang out in the community. We do so in partnership with other churches in Tower Hamlets (such as Tower Hamlets Community Church and East London Tabernacle), as well as churches outside the borough (such as St Helen's Bishopsgate in the City of London), and with other Christian organisations (such as London City Mission and Mahabba).

An Opportunity for a Men's Outreach Worker
We would love to employ someone to focus on reaching a demographic of Sylheti people that we are not very good at reaching currently, namely men in their 20s and 30s (including students). We envisage this being both in-person and digitally. Knowledge of Sylheti language is not required, not least because we would love to be more involved among second and third generation Sylheti people for whom English is their first language. However, the right person will need to be open to learning some Sylheti.

We think that this job could fit well someone who has been an intern/apprentice at another church or has a few years of ministry experience alongside their secular work. It could also be good preparation for serving the Lord longer term amongst another people group overseas.

The right person will need to be willing to integrate fully into Asha, its team and community work; to be organised, punctual and flexible; and always willing to listen and able to say no with grace. Depending on their previous training, there may be the possibility of further training through the Cornhill Training Course.

The Outreach Worker would be expected to serve in and around Asha as any regular member would do. This includes our Sundays meetings, being part of a home group and attending weekly team meetings.

Like other full-time staff members, the Outreach Worker would be expected to work for 6 days a week and to have one day-off each week. They would have 6 weeks of holiday each year, with one of these weeks needing to be taken at Christmas and another one at Easter. Attending or serving at conferences, camps or missions may be possible during the year, and would not count as leave, but will need to be coordinated with other team members' schedules.
 

Required Skills

Essential Qualities:
• A Christian, committed to teaching the Bible as God's inspired and authoritative word.
• A desire to see God glorified as Jesus' name is made known.
• Able to teach the Bible in a culturally appropriate way.
• Experienced in working cross-culturally and/or in evangelistic outreach.
• Able to work well in a team and individually, taking initiative where necessary.
• Good interpersonal skills.
• Good communication skills (written and oral).
• Good organisational skills.
• Ability to work well with digital media.
• In agreement with Asha's basis of faith and doctrinal statements.

Desirable Qualities:
• To have undertaken some form of appropriate Bible training (although regular training will also be provided).
• Able to communicate well in Sylheti language (although regular language-learning opportunities can also be provided).
• Good time management.