Revd Simon and his Family in 2003

MAD International (Making A Difference) is a UK registered charity founded in 2001 by Revd Simon Smith who moved from London to the Philippine Island of Cebu with his young family.

Once there he became involved with a local church plant, and amongst numerous other activities ran courses in discipleship, evangelism and leadership, taking under his wing a core group of seven young people who lived with the family.

In 2002 he planted a church in the city centre, called ‘City Gates Christian Centre’ (CGCC), and although now based in Australia, he continues to oversee the work in the Philippines. The people he originally trained are now pastors of this growing church which now encompasses four congregations in different locations in Cebu.

Some key people…

First of all there’s Simon and Jane Smith, the charity’s founders, and their children Sammy, Rebekah, Abigail and Caleb. (pictured left in 2003)

Then there’s Justin and his wife Juby, who are senior pastors of CGCC. Working alongside them are Pastor PJ and his wife Judy, and Pastor Zen and her husband Juk.

And finally Alan, who since 2006 has worked full-time for MAD International, and his wife Helen, who raise the finance by selling Philippine jewellery and handicrafts.

Alan and Pastor PJ in Camotes

All the stock is bought in the Philippines, mostly from small traders. We pay people in the church between 5-10 times the local rate for labour to put better clasps on, or make specific items. We then sell the goods in the UK at various events, and are now starting to sell online. We do our best to keep our costs down, and send all the profits back out to support the work in Cebu.

Over the last 10 years there is a long list of things that MAD International has helped to pay for, from mundane things like paying rent for meeting rooms and accommodation, to providing equipment for a local school, running a weekly feeding programme, and enabling the church to reach out with the good news of Jesus Christ, through whom many lives are being transformed…which is what it’s all about!