The Turning

The Turning transforms disciple-making with web-based App and localised training for churches

In 2017, Baptist Insurance Company provided a grant to The Turning, an evangelistic campaign begun by Reverend Yinka Oyekan and The Gate Baptist Church Reading, which aims to equip Baptist believers to share their faith with others. The money has been used to fund the development of a web-based App, which has underpinned growth of The Turning throughout Europe.

The way of making disciples is cultural, local, and differs from place to place

Reverend Oyekan said: “Many people don’t feel confident to disciple others because they’re scared ‘they’ll get it wrong’. The Turning is a movement to train, support and share the making of disciples together. Because we work and train local people through hubs of churches in each community, the message of the Gospel remains the same but trained disciples are able to navigate the cultural landscape of their own communities. The way of making disciples is cultural, local, and differs from place to place.”

The Turning’s App has been invaluable in training disciples to reach out to others on the street. It can be downloaded for free onto any phone, includes a free online bible and daily morning devotion messages; and is a secure way for training disciples to collect people’s details, so trained evangelists can follow up.

To date, the App has been translated into Spanish, French and German

Since 2017, The Turning has run missions in Scotland, Wales (600 pastors trained), Spain and in Switzerland (where 750 people requested follow up and 185 people are now in one-to-one discipleship).

“It’s just so crazy to think that a little Baptist Church in Reading can do all this,” said Reverend Oyekan, “We’re so privileged that, with so little, we’ve already been able to do so much. The whole Baptist family has stood with us and supported The Turning. Together, we’ve transformed thousands of lives and added 17,000 disciples to our family in a few short years.”

“We are really excited to see the impact of The Turning,” said Anne Bishop, Chair of the Baptist Insurance Company Grants Committee, “and feel privileged to have played our part in enabling it to disciple those who respond to the street events.”

Reverend Yinka Oyekan was elected President of the Baptist Union in May 2020. The Turning’s London mission, planned for September, was cancelled because of Covid-19 but will be replaced in 2021 by an England-wide mission, which all are invited to join (more details can be found on The Turning’s website)

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