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Why do we do what we do?
Besom is a Christian ministry that enables members of our local community to help people in need by providing a bridge between those who have something to give and those who have a need.
Jesus teaches us to love our neighbour, so we are passionate about providing opportunities to support those in our community. Besom seeks to enable people who are members of churches in Ashtead, Leatherhead and Bookham to connect with and help people in need. We hope that this brings about transformation in both those who receive but also those who give.
We help people from any background, faith or those of no faith. While we gladly accept financial donations, we are not about fundraising or requesting specific things. We pray that God will provide and, in our experience, He does! We believe that God unlocks His purposes in us through meeting the needs of others.
"I tell you the truth. Whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me."
Matthew 25:40
Our history
The Besom was founded by James Odgers in 1987. Early in that year, James left the practice of law in London to go to Hong Kong where he served in a Christian ministry involved with heroin addicts. What particularly affected him there was not so much the absolute levels of human need and poverty that he encountered but the ever widening gap that exists between those of us who have and can give and those who are in need. On the plane leaving Hong Kong in September 1987, James wrote the original mission statement for Besom - that it should provide a bridge between those who want to give money, time, skills or things, and those who are in need.
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