Partner

Home » Partner

Information for Churches

Every week, we partner with over 120 churches to help bring impact to over 8,000 children and young people, aged from 6 to 21 years across Malaysia. We can help your church reach out to children and young people in your local community by starting a group (known as a Company).

What is The Boys’ Brigade? Why should I start it in our local church?

The Boys’ Brigade in Malaysia is a non-denominational Christian Uniformed Youth Organisation for school-aged children and young people from ages 6 to 21 years. The Brigade is about Advancing Christ’s Kingdom in the local community, with trained leaders utilising programmes as a tool to instil the value of discipline and mentor each person in their journey towards faith, and subsequently towards Christian maturity. The Brigade is a proven children and youth ministry opportunity for any church and has a major outreach potential within your local community, when the fun, adventurous and challenging programmes are run effectively by trained leaders.

Since 1883, The Boys’ Brigade has reached out to millions of children and young people, at a global scale. Today, we are passionate about partnering with churches to build bridges into local communities and engage a lost generation of children and young people, with a message of hope rooted in Jesus.

How does the BB work in the local church?

Through the BB, children and young people (aged 6 to 21) get involved in local churches by means of weekly parades (meet-ups), special events, community projects and training programmes. These activities are led by volunteers (known as Officers), who are trained and supported to work as effective children and youth workers in a Christian context. The local Company is commenced and maintained by the local church as an integral part of its children and youth ministry.

Why a uniform?

The wearing of a uniform encourages a sense of community, group identity and esprit de corps as members are identifiable as part of something big. It also acts as a “leveller”, to show that everyone is equal, regardless of the family’s socio-economic situation. The uniform is also designed for the member to take pride in, as it is worn across the globe by other members in different countries, that are part of the same movement.

The Boys’ Brigade helps churches by:

Over recent years, churches have experienced increasing difficulties in getting young people through their doors. Each week, the Brigade works with thousands of children and young people. We find that, for many of them, the Boys’ Brigade is their only connection with the Church.

The Boys’ Brigade has a long track record. It has a recognisable name as a safe place that parents can trust and is recognised by the Ministry of Education as one of the school’s extra-curricular activity, nationwide. By partnering with your church, we can help you reach out to children and young people, who are not only in your church but in your local community, as well.

We want to be your partner in outreach. Therefore, as an organisation, we, along with our programs, are adaptable to the church’s vision.

Most of the time, church leaders are always enthusiastic about the idea when we mention about starting a new piece of children or youth work. But, when it comes to the practicality of working as a volunteer, they become very concerned.

We pride ourselves on youth leaders, who respect and value children and young people, and love them as individuals. We promise, that we will do everything that we can to help support and train your volunteers to be effective Christian children and youth workers. You provide the leaders, and we’ll train them in managing volunteers, relational youth work, sharing their faith or leading the local company.

Providing a safe environment, in which children and young people can develop, is a fundamental responsibility for every Officer (youth leader), company and church. The Officers are trained with the knowledge of proper conduct, when working with children and young people. The National Leaders of the Boys’ Brigade in Malaysia emphasise greatly on the importance of integrity of all Officers, in the way they carry themselves as Christian role models for these children and young people.

Your youth leaders are not alone! We have local and national support networks, which means that you are never far from a friendly face, someone to pray, worship and share ideas with, and other companies nearby to join in with activities and competitions.

**On a side note, it is very important for you to know that, even though you might not realise where you would quite fit into The Boys’ Brigade ministry, every member of your church has a role to play in the local company, whether it is through prayer, encouragement, or volunteering (as mentioned in Romans 12:7-9).

The Boys’ Brigade in Malaysia, having the same vision as its movement, firmly believes that we need to be in contact with children and young people, to be able to share the gospel to them. BB Companies can work in various ways depending on the needs of their church and local community. Companies can operate as a Boys-only Company, work with the Girls’ Brigade, or even incorporate the Girls’ Wing and have both genders in the Company.

Our programmes cater for the various interests of all children and young people. They are designed at having a special focus on developing one’s individual potential, community involvement, providing opportunities to be listened to and presentations, exploring the Christian faith and recognising achievement, but at the same time – fun!

We have different programmes catered for different age groups, in which we call – Sections. Each Section offers a firmly Christian-based means of working in a creative and relevant way, for the age groups, using a balanced programme of adventure and activity. They are able to adapt to meet the needs of all churches. Take a further look into the Sections – HERE.

Our work is relationship-focused, what we do – as in the activities carried out is less important than the relationships that we form. In a world that doesn’t seem to be well-versed in building relationships, we believe that we have a vital role to play in helping young people realise their full worth, as they mature from 6-year-old children to 21-year-old adults.

We want to work with children & young people who often have no other connection with the church and demonstrate to them the reality of a living God through what we do, say, and teach. Our programmes equip groups and leaders to engage children and young people, to make a positive impact in their lives, and then form strong relationships through which our lives will speak even louder than words. Our hope is that children and young people will come to know Jesus for themselves

Additionally, we see a real need to engage children and young people in the life of the Church: to be open to their ideas, value what they say, and allow them to express themselves in the way they want. We encourage leaders to listen and act on what children and young people say and involve them. As a result, a key part of our leader-recruitment strategy is to grow leaders from within groups.

The foundation of all our work is based on the “Stedfast” belief that, what Jesus said 2000 years ago – is still relevant today. Our leaders have experienced the truth that Jesus offers life in all its fullness.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

– John 10:10 –

I’m interested, what’s next?

At a time when churches are losing children and young people, we believe that The Boys’ Brigade is the ideal solution to support your church in reversing this trend. Never underestimate the role that you could play in one child or young person’s life. Your interventions through your work with The Boys’ Brigade will change their futures.

If you are interested in starting a local company or would like to know further about what The Boys’ Brigade in Malaysia could offer your church, please contact us through the various channels.