Sofia and Raj Waghmare began an online church community for 3 or 4 of their Marathi speaking Indian friends and their families (across the Midlands) during lockdown. They are part of Shirley Baptist Church in Birmingham/Solihull and have been in the UK for 15 years. After two zoom meetings they sensed they should 'widen the net' and inspired by 1 Corinthians 15:57 came up with the name 'Jesus is Our Victory' (JOV family). Word got out, and they quickly grew to 40 or 50 families connecting with them from across the UK but also internationally (including India). They launched a website www.JOVfamily.com and have sought to support one another through COVID through their regular zoom events, whether bereavements or celebrating events such as birthdays together. At Christmas they introduced some charity work, collecting clothes for the homeless.
Youth LIGHTS
They quickly recognised that there was an opportunity to develop a parallel ministry for young adults in English, and so delegated some reeponsibilities to involve them in an inclusive way, and also had a young relative in India begin to help them with a Saturday 'kids hour'. The young adult ministry has developed and they are called 'The Lights' with Matthew 5:14-16 their 'mission scripture' and some of their values captured in the mnemonic: Love Identity Growth Honesty
Trusting Saved
They have such an enthusiam and passion to develop this christian youth platform, to share truth, discuss topics and support one another. Instagram @jov_lights
They were recently interviewed on Radio's BBC Asian Network - Recording here.