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Celebrating Pavement Project

Last June, Pavement Project marked 20 years of reaching vulnerable children. The celebrations had to be curtailed and reshaped due to the global pandemic, but that didn’t stop the team and its supporters marking this major milestone. On 20 June, an online service was held to give thanks to God. “We were able, even from a distance, to celebrate together what God has done for Pavement Project,” says Juliana Gonçalves, from the Pavement Project team in Brazil. The Lifewords Brazil team hosted the party, with trainers, workers and children from various countries participating. “We had children praying from Colombia, Tanzania, India, Zimbabwe and Uganda,” says Juliana. “And we heard testimonies from Pavement Project workers, such as Olivia, from Cape Verde, who was counselled as a child and is now a missionary; and the story of Dixon, a worker from Kenya who was impacted by the green bag as a young adult.” “Even in a diffi cult time like the one we are living in, we remember the many good things from these last 20 years,” says Juliana. “Each volunteer, each strategic partnership; the workers and trainers; our donors; and, each one of the 75,000 counselling sessions.”

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Reaching out online

During the global coronavirus pandemic, Pavement Project trained workers were prevented from counselling with the green bag due to social distancing guidelines. The green bag games and stories have always been told in person, but the pandemic called for a new solution. An online counselling session In April of this year the Pavement Project team tested an online version of the counselling process. The results were very positive with a 95% rate of improvement in self-esteem of the person being counselled – the same as with face-to-face meetings – so online counselling was rolled out into more regions. “We had 18 workers cleared to help children from 9 years old, young people, and their relatives,” says Clenir dos Santos, Pavement Project Director. “For some time now, we have known that the green bag methodology also has a transforming eff ect on adults, leading them to Christ. We believe that it was a very important tool in the crisis, when parents were also facing great diffi culties – many had lost their jobs, were struggling with the children full-time at home, were mourning, and were themselves facing the fear of dying or losing their loved ones.” Clenir continues, “The workers experienced great joy as they felt they could virtually visit homes and help in an eff ective and secure way.”

On the frontline

Last April as the severity of the coronavirus pandemic became more apparent, Lifewords in the UK encouraged chaplains, via a social media campaign, to order free Bible resources. “Chaplains from hospitals, the armed forces, prisons, and neighbourhoods across the country have been on the frontline of a tide of grief, disorientation, and anguish,” says Elizabeth King, from the Lifewords UK team, “so we wanted to support them in their ministry, especially at this time of crisis.” Neil Tyrer, lead chaplain at Kettering General Hospital, ordered resources, including Inspiring Prayer and Daily Strength, to use at the hospital where he and his team serve over 4,000 staff , many of whom are frontline healthcare workers. Speaking at the time, Neil said: “As chaplains we have been asked to provide systematic staff support by providing 24-hour ‘We Care Cafés’, ‘Breakout Rooms’ and safe spaces for staff to off -load, decompress, and talk about their experiences. We are trying to develop comfortable areas with coff ee and tea, pastoral support, and helpful material and resources to take away.” He continued: “We simply cannot get enough resources at the moment and anticipate … increased demand for help with frontline staff .”

The chaplain team at Kettering General Hospital