Baptist World Alliance

To foster a sense of unity among Baptists of the world.
To encourage churches to use available resources to help heal broken relationships within their national life.
To encourage and promote personal and group prayer.
To promote creativity in the churches' endeavor to engage in mission today.
To encourage both short- and long-term mission partnerships
To resource churches in their spiritual formation programs for followers of Christ
To stimulate the provision of indigenously relevant material for Christian education and pastoral training for use especially among Baptists.
To support church planting programs.
To promote networking for meeting human needs within BWA regions
To mobilize Baptist individuals and groups for response to situations of need.
To increase understanding in the worldwide Baptist community of the reality and effects of poverty.
To expose and respond to situations of abuse regarding human rights violations
To encourage participation in human rights and justice efforts by organized church and parachurch groups.
To promote peace, justice, and freedom as priorities of Baptists life
To create a Baptist human rights advocacy network
To increase networking with other ecclesial and civil society organizations in the search for respect for freedom, justice, and peace.
To increase BWA participation, especially through the United Nations, in programs aimed at defending human rights in the international arena.
To support and promote a responsible attitude to people of other living faiths in line with historic Baptist convictions on religious liberty.
To conduct freedom and justice visits of strategic importance.
To alert the Baptist family to pray for, and take action on, urgent issues of freedom and justice.
To promote theological reflection on issues of concern to the churches.
To encourage intentional theological education at all levels in the church community.

To promote regular contact with churches, organizations, and to report Baptist work through BWA Connect, Baptist World magazine, and press releases.
To identify where fellowship is impaired and facilitate a process of healing by drawing upon appropriate available human resources.
To develop and distribute worship and educational resources.
To organize conferences and meetings for inspiration, sharing, and training.
To prepare shared materials in various languages for days of prayer emphasis and distribute to individuals and organizations.
To publish stories and papers as resources for the churches.
To share information on cross-cultural mission exchanges and ethically responsible mission planning.
To organize discussion and study groups as a nursery of ideas for churches.
To support the equipping of pastors and theological schools through provision of religious materials.
To foster networking for shared expertize on church planting.
To fund emergency responses, ongoing projects and cooperative efforts to meet a variety of human needs in BWA regions.
To mobilize Baptist individuals and groups to respond to needs.
To encourage churches to sponsor income and skills development and micro-enterprise projects in BWA regions.
To encourage prevention, rehabilitation and healing ministries regarding human rights abuses.
To publish press releases on human rights concerns and causes.
To take appropriate action on freedom and justice issues as they arise.
To seek opportunities for youth to participate in United Nations related meetings on justice issues.
To promote training opportunities for Baptists interested in learning about human rights advocacy.
To offer Baptist expertise on specific human rights issues to the NGO committee at the U.N.
To collaborate with churches and agencies in developing joint responses to specific violations of human rights.
To participate in interfaith initiatives related to peace, justice, and freedom.
To communicate with national authorities regarding our concern about strategic justice visits.
To organize Baptist International Conferences on Theological Education to share resources and help lay leader formation.
To publish a volume of significant papers presented during the quinquennium
To report on progress in interchurch relations in the regions of the BWA.

Our ability to deliver on our mission is located in the strength of our relationships with Baptist organizations around the world.
1) Our “network to the world" of Baptists keeps us in touch with the needs of individuals and communities around the world and helps keep us sensitive to cultural differences and needs that must be considered in order to effect ministry and positive outcomes for people.
2) Our connection to so many areas and other ministries that have chosen to work in cooperation with us gives us an immediacy of response that few organizations can accomplish. When disaster strikes, for instance, we generally already have contacts on the ground who can advise us how best to organize help or can point us to expertise needed to help.
3) Our staff includes persons with extensive travel experience, language capabilities, and contacts around the world who can help us assess need and make cohesive and effective plans for help.
4) Our structure is set up to make sure that we listen “from the ground up" and receive ideas from diverse cultures and communities with recommendations for addressing local and regional needs. Projects are proposed by those best positioned to know what the needs and resources are in the immediate area, so our learning curve is very short.
5) The breadth and depth of 234 Baptist organizations means we have expertise and resources available that a single organization could not possibly assemble.

We have been very successful in providing education and training for evangelism, especially to pastors and laypersons who might never have such an opportunity. We are very successful at providing development funds for projects that would never reach the attention of large organizations. We have been very successful at giving Baptists a voice at the table as a United Nations NGO working on issues of justice and religious freedom, and in assisting with the release of persecuted pastors and others who have been wrongly imprisoned for their faith in other countries.

We are also effective in getting emergency as well as sustaining funds to local communities after disasters and following national or regional civil conflict, such as ongoing efforts in Nepal and Lebanon (Syrian refugees.) We are very good at gathering the best preachers and teachers for international events that draw thousands for cooperative study and sharing, and for our continued awareness programs in days of prayer and hunger emphasis.

All of our programs depend on sustainable support, which is the issue for every non-profit. Our programs depend on the funds available and there are always more needs than funds provided. Our biggest dilemma is not what to fund, but what not to fund. We make every effort to be fair regarding how projects are allocated among the regions the BWA serves, as part of our ministry of unity and fellowship, including supplying funds for persons to attend our meetings by offering scholarships to persons in areas of the world where it is most difficult to come up with travel expenses. We are proud of the diverse participation we enjoy from all regions of the BWA's extensive network.