Teartimes Autumn 2011

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teartimes Autumn 2011

Abundant life Reaping a rich harvest through the church

Healed at Christmas Festive inspiration from Nepal

Brutality into hope Tamsin Greig in Rwanda

Be part of a miracle | www.tearfund.org

welcome

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hope you enjoy the photo here.

I find it especially poignant as it shows a group of children from Lima, Peru, together with Elena from Tearfund’s partner Agape. It was a particular highlight for me to visit and see their work for myself last year.

And the photo is also a big thank you to you for your support – the Christmas paper chains the children are holding contain messages and prayers from Tearfund supporters.

For the children out there who have so little, it’s a reminder that they are Elena, from Tearfund partner Agape, and children so loved. Because, through your from Peru at Christmas. support, you are demonstrating that Jesus loves them, and so does his church – his people.

Looking back is a theme of this issue as we present our regular review of the year, starting on page 12. Here you can see how your prayers, giving and campaigning are transforming people materially and spiritually.

But we’re also looking forward. It’s nearing harvest time, and this year we want to introduce you to Richard’s inspirational story – see page 8.

Looking forward, we also have our Christmas resources, which are designed to light up your church service this December, you can order them now for free – see page 24.

s e m i t r a e t 20 Autumn

Peter Shaw, Editor editor@tearfund.org

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nt life Abundaarich Reaping rough th harvest ch the chur

at Healed as Christm

Tearfund We are Christians passionate about the local church bringing justice and transforming lives – overcoming global poverty. And so our ten-year vision is to see 50 million people released from material and spiritual poverty through a worldwide network of 100,000 local churches.

We can support you if you want to encourage your church and others to get involved with Tearfund. And if you have any questions, we’d be delighted to talk to you.

Festive inspiration l pa from Ne

Brutality pe into ho

Greig Tamsin da in Rwan

Be part

racle | ww of a mi

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Editor: Peter Shaw News Editor: Mark Lang Design: Premm Design Print: Pindar Graphics Copyright © Tearfund 2011. All rights reserved.

Permission is granted for the reproduction of text from this publication for Tearfund promotional use only. For all other uses, please contact us.

Cover image: Richard and family from Ogongora, Uganda. Kieran Dodds/Tearfund

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Kieran Dodds/Tearfund

Uganda: Life for Richard and his family has improved thanks to his local church.

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CONTENTS 4

News – East Africa Crisis latest, and updates from across the world

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When poverty gets personal – Find out how the local church is helping Richard and his family in Uganda

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Weathering the storm – Review of the year with updates from Haiti and Pakistan

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Worldview – Rebuilding lives and livelihoods in Pakistan

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Umoja: bringing churches alive – Learn about this Tearfund initiative that is spreading across the world

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Living out the whole gospel – Introduction to integral mission and how it underpins Tearfund’s work

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Healed at Christmas – Find out about Tearfund’s festive church resources, including a Nativity Play

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Your chance to change the climate – Why, as global emissions escalate, we must rise to the challenge

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Renewing communities in Rwanda – Interview with Tearfund friend and actor, Tamsin Greig

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How do you change a human heart? – Reflection from Tearfund chief executive, Matthew Frost

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‘I am deeply impressed with Tearfund.'

Tamsin Greig

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NEWS REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya Courtesy Trust.org - Alertnet

Somali refugees who recently arrived at the Dagahaley camp in Dadaab, Kenya, assemble a makeshift shelter.

Tearfund responds to East Africa crisis

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earfund partners across drought-hit East Africa are providing life-saving aid to thousands of people who are on the brink of starvation.

More than 11 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are suffering as a result of drought, failed harvests and high staple food prices.

The UN has declared a famine in two areas of Somalia, a country dogged by insecurity where half the population – seven million people – are in dire need of food.

The drought has left many pastoralists, who rely on livestock for a living, with dead animals, while subsistence farmers have suffered extensive crop losses where rainfall patterns have changed or where rains have failed completely.

Since the summer, Tearfund has been helping partners provide emergency aid, thanks to your generous support for our East Africa appeal.

Water, food, mosquito nets, medical supplies, plastic sheets for shelters, and basic household items such as cooking pots, soap and water containers are being supplied.

Our partner World Concern is operating on the Kenya-Somalia border and in Somalia’s Somaliland, distributing this emergency aid to Somalis and Kenyans.

In northern Kenya, Christian Community Services of Mount Kenya East has been supplying water and animal fodder, while fellow partner, the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, is improving access to water, for example by sending tankers and repairing existing boreholes.

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In Ethiopia, church-based partners are stepping up projects that act as a safety net for vulnerable people, for example by providing cash-for-work.

Although the worst of the drought conditions are in Ethiopia’s south-east, other southern regions have experienced erratic rainfall resulting in bad harvests for some staple crops.

Improving the resilience of poor communities to withstand droughts and disasters has been a key part of Tearfund’s work over many years in the region.

Partners working with local churches are engaged in long-term projects to do this.

For example, they are introducing droughtresistant seed varieties, building small-scale reservoirs to capture rain when it does fall and helping communities form self-help groups so that financial resources can be pooled to provide funds for small businesses.

Tearfund has also been lobbying G20 leaders to tackle high global food prices by protecting the most vulnerable through investment in small-scale agriculture.

Please continue to pray for those going hungry in East Africa; for rains to break the drought; for greater international action and for our partners’ response.

Sudan Appeal We'd also like to thank you for the amazing response to our Sudan appeal – look out for a full update in the next Tear Times. autumn 2011 teartimes

Helping families get back on track in Pakistan

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enerous support for Tearfund’s Pakistan floods appeal is enabling us to help many thousands of people get their lives back on track.

Last summer, monsoon rains led to the worst flooding in Pakistani living memory, killing 1,700 people and affecting 18 million others.

The scale of supporter response to our appeal meant that, as well as providing initial emergency aid, we were able to launch a three-year programme of recovery work.

Ashraf Mall, Tearfund’s Country Representative for Pakistan, said, ‘We’d like to thank all those who supported our appeal.

It’s enabling us to do valuable long-term work..

‘We’d like to thank all those who supported our appeal. It’s enabling us to do valuable long-term work.’

Richard Hanson/Tearfund

Ashraf Mall, Tearfund’s Country Representative for Pakistan

Pakistan: Supported by Tearfund, these flood-affected farmers prepare rice seedlings to transplant to more spacious fields. teartimes autumn 2011

Through our operational team and four partners, Tearfund has been able to give a mix of practical assistance such as providing new homes, improved access to clean water and help to grow food.’

Among other achievements are: treating 19,000 patients through 86 medical camps in 18 villages, providing 8,000 families with mosquito nets and supplying 2,000 families with seeds for rice and sunflower crops.

Tearfund is also boosting health and hygiene awareness and training people so they are better prepared for disasters and are able to cope when they happen.

Read more about our work in Pakistan on page 15.

Go for gold to tackle poverty With the 2012 Olympics looming, how about taking the Gold Challenge and helping us tackle poverty? The idea is you can try your hand at Olympic and Paralympic sports while raising money for good causes.

Organised in partnership with the British Olympics Association, you can test yourself in five, ten, 20 or 30 sports.

You need to undertake a minimum of three hours’ coaching in your chosen sports or complete an endurance event such as a marathon or triathlon.

The beauty of it is that you can do it individually or as a team and in any part of the country, through local sports clubs or leisure centres, anytime before the end of 2012.

By signing up to support Tearfund through your sporting efforts, you’ll also be helping us to combat material and spiritual poverty among the world’s poorest communities.

For more information, go to www.goldchallenge.org or if you have any further questions about taking part for Tearfund, email us at enquiry@tearfund.org 5

news Christian Council of Tanzania

Songs drown out HIV stigma

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wareness about HIV has been raised by a Tearfund partner in Tanzania organising an X Factor-style competition on national TV. More than 30 choirs took part in a televised nationwide singing contest which regularly attracted a million viewers over its eightweek run of shows.

Each week viewers voted for their favourite choir who performed songs addressing the issue of stigma and support for people living with HIV.

The Christian Council of Tanzania organised the pilot event where five choirs made it to the final, broadcast live on national television, with the winner being selected by a mix of public and audience votes.

Donald Mavunduse, Tearfund’s Head of the Southern Africa region, said, ‘The competition was a resounding success and showed creative thinking by our partner, the Christian Council of Tanzania. Work is already starting on repeating this success next year and expanding the competition, possibly to other countries.’

Cally Spittle/Tearfund

News in brief NEPAL: Illiteracy among women, particularly those from lower castes, is being tackled by Tearfund partner Sagoal through after-work classes. Pupil Anarkali Chaudhary said, ‘Before coming to class, I used to think of myself as a blind person, but now I can read and write. I’m very glad that I can read the Bible.’

LATIN AMERICA: Social networking is being used by Tearfund partners and consultants in Latin America and the Caribbean to spread information and learning about

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development. The online community has more than 100 members, exchanging news and prayer requests and promoting events through messages, photos and video.

autumn 2011 teartimes

Premier partnership with Tearfund

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The help provided by local churches and partners in northeast Myanmar affected by March’s earthquakes.

Hundreds of supporters lobbying their MPs in Westminster on behalf of those in poverty, during June’s Tea Time for Change.

Support that enabled Tearfund partners in Pakistan to help thousands rebuild their lives after devastating flooding a year ago.

PRAYER PULSE

Layton Thompson/Tearfund

Prayer is the heartbeat of Tearfund

GIVING THANKS FOR

earfund is taking to the airwaves as Premier Christian Radio’s charity of the year. The partnership means that Tearfund’s global work to lift people out of material and spiritual poverty will be promoted to thousands more people over the next year.

In particular, the station will be telling its listeners about the church mobilisation projects highlighted in the last Tear Times in Africa, Latin America and Asia and encouraging them to get involved.

Matthew Frost, Tearfund’s Chief Executive, said, ‘Being Premier’s charity of the year gives us an exciting opportunity to talk about the transforming power of local churches.

‘We hope and pray that many listeners will want to see for themselves what God is doing around the world, through the local church, and that they will journey with one of the communities where Tearfund partners are bringing about real and sustainable change.’

You can listen to Premier nationally on Sky Digital 0123, Freeview 725 and DAB and in London on Medium Wave 1305, 1332 and 1413. For more on our work, visit www.see-for-yourself.org

Healing of divisions in Ivory Coast caused by last year’s disputed presidential elections.

PRAYING FOR

More people to share our passion for working with local churches to combat material and spiritual poverty by regularly giving £20.

Peaceful elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo that produce a clear result and improve people’s lives.

You can follow the progress of Olga, from Cajamarca, Peru. teartimes autumn 2011

Latest prayer news at www.tearfund.org/praying 7

harvest

When poverty gets personal Poverty’s a very personal thing, Richard told me. He knows.

Many times he’s had to warm his rain-soaked children when the straw roof of their home has blown off.

Words: Steve Adams Photos: Kieran Dodds/Tearfund

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Thanks to inspiration from his church and through the Bible, Richard now provides for his family by selling the fish he catches.

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overty is so personal it changes the way people see themselves, affecting their identity and self-belief. So, any real solutions have to be even more personal and persistent than poverty. Solutions that go further than a sack of grain. They must hit the heart.

This is why your part in what our churchbased partners around the world are doing is so important. Thank you for making poverty personal to you.

Local churches across Africa, Asia and Latin America are thriving in the places poverty is most deeply rooted. They are able to rebuild the walls – brick and mortar, as well as hearts and minds – which poverty has pulled down. teartimes autumn 2011

Rooted in the soul Give a man a fish, the saying goes, and feed him for a day. Give him a fishing rod and teach him to fish, and you’ll feed him for all his days.

Until the rod snaps. And it will break – because poverty is a very persistent breaker of hope.

Which is why we believe that Jesus’ assurance that he will build his church (Matthew 16:18) offers clear guidance on how we can most effectively help poor communities.

Instead of a lesson on how to fish, and a rod, local churches across the world are going much deeper – unlocking the potential of every individual and community. Releasing hope.

Equipping them, through professional 9

harvest training and expert advice, with the understanding and the tools to find their own way out of poverty. So they can make a fishing rod, not just use it. It begins in the heart and takes root in the soul.

It’s called Church and Community Mobilisation. It’s an approach to community development in poor communities which Tearfund has seen bring real change to some of the poorest places we work in, as the local church ‘awakens’ itself and its community to find their own way out of poverty.

‘Local churches across Africa, Asia and Latin America are thriving in the places poverty is most deeply rooted.’

It transforms the community In November last year I visited Ugandan father-of-four, Richard, in Ogongora village.

Tearfund partner the Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG) have a vision to mobilise all 5,000 of their churches – and Ogongora Church is one of them.

Richard’s experience has been life-changing: he explained how the Tearfund-supported

church mobilisation in his village helped him and his wife identify the resources they have and make plans.

‘Our first plan’, he told me, ‘is to increase our crop harvest so we can sell more crops and buy a bull. This will help us to grow more crops.’ So Richard opened up more land for crops.

Richard has come a long way. In 2008 he was a very different man. ‘I used to drink,’ he explains. ‘I didn’t have a good relationship with my wife. Sometimes when I was drunk I would come home and beat her.’

Poverty’s effect on Richard was very personal and very deeply rooted. What changed him was the power of God through his local church.

‘When I went to the church mobilisation meeting, they were talking about a cornerstone,’ he explains, ‘saying that a cornerstone is what keeps the house straight.

That is what touched my life. I thought, “What do I need in my life to keep it straight?” I decided the next Sunday to go to church. And I received prayer and accepted Jesus to make my life straight.’ Now he cherishes his wife and their children are better fed.

Inspired by his church Richard has purchased a bull, so he can plough more land and sell more crops.

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How can I make poverty personal?

Be part of this life-saving work. Sign up using the tear-out card between pages 8 and 9.

And join the journey by investing £20 a month.

You can also watch the films at www.tearfund.org/iamchurch And let your church join the journey too.

Order a free copy of the We are church pack, telling Richard’s story through film, drama, service ideas and children’s materials.

Sign up – and order your free copy of the pack now at www.tearfund.org/jointhejourney

'I thought, What do I need in my life to keep it straight? I decided the next Sunday to go to church.'

Richard from Ogongora You get what you pray for This transformation is the result of Tearfund’s church mobilisation work. Richard’s change of heart prompted a major change in his family.

He and his wife began attending the regular training sessions, helping them to develop their own plan, encouraging them to follow the seasonal calendar – enabling them to transform their lives practically.

We’re inviting you to invest in this – to play your part in the global church. To let poverty become more personal to you with a gift of £20 each month – which will pay for professional training and advice. You’ll receive a welcome pack, monthly email updates and a film from the community every quarter.

And, we hope, a new spark in your own spiritual life as you shine your light where it’s most needed.

Richard’s June update told how his plan had come to pass and he had purchased a bull.

Now he can plough more land, sell more crops and pay for his children’s school uniform and books – so they can go to school. Ultimately, he plans to use the extra revenue to pay for a corrugated tin roof for the family home.

You choose from a community in Africa, Asia or Latin America, follow the life of individuals teartimes autumn 2011

and pray with them – and experience the blessing in your own life as poverty becomes more personal.

And your church can join this journey through Tearfund’s We are church harvest resources, which contains films telling Richard’s story, children’s materials and service ideas.

‘We’re inviting you to invest in this – to let poverty become more personal to you.’

Connect your church As well as being personally connected, your entire congregation can join with Tearfund’s partners such as Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG).

Connected Church is a transformational experience for churches here in the UK to link with church projects in developing countries and learn what it means to be part of the global church. First, you choose from 15 projects across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Then, your church makes a commitment to support that project financially and through prayer. Tearfund will provide your church with quarterly updates; you can also send prayer requests from your own church.

Visit www.tearfund.org/connected or call 0845 521 0021 to find out more.

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Warren Allott/Tearfund

annual review

Weathering the storm Whatever your experience last year, it’s been a stormy time for the world.

But, as Christians, we were never promised plain sailing...

Words: Isobel Peaty

Natural disasters, climate change, conflict, corruption and the global food crisis are symptoms of a world in turmoil.

O

ne day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out.’ (Luke 8:22) As he made this suggestion, Jesus knew that the disciples were heading for the ride of their lives.

And our lives with Christ are no different.

We’re all called to go on a journey, and so is Tearfund. Last year (financial year April 2010 to March 2011) we made further progress in our mission to bring the presence and hope of the kingdom of God to poor communities.

But, like the disciples, we met with many challenges along the way…

‘As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”’ (Luke 8:23-24) ‘

Tough conditions Natural disasters, climate change, conflict, corruption and the global food crisis are symptoms of a world in turmoil. In the midst 12

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Man pulls a cart through a flooded street in Leogane, Haiti, after Hurricane Tomas hit the west of the island.

of this, your continued support has been a powerful testimony of faith under fire.

Last year, through grants, voluntary donations and other income, we received a total of £63.9m – just two per cent down on our highest ever income in 2009-10. And we want to thank you, because we know that for many of you, your giving is sacrificial, significant, inspired by a God-given faith, servanthood and compassion.

But good finances aren’t all that fuels us. We also thrive on your action and prayers.

Thousands of you joined us to petition heaven as part of our Global Poverty Prayer Movement.

Meanwhile, thanks to your support, the global water and sanitation crisis was pushed much higher on the Department for International Development’s agenda.

Alongside this, Downing Street received more actions from Tearfund’s campaign to highlight lack of progress on the Millennium Development Goals than from any other development NGO last year. teartimes autumn 2011

Charting the course We also kept our commitment to you on course. We believe the path we’ve chosen – Tearfund’s ten-year vision – is the right one.

And, over the last year, it’s been tried, honed and proven again and again.

We put £56.1m to work last year. As you see in the examples from Haiti and Pakistan on pages 14 and 15, we spent £25.9m on lifesaving disaster preparation and response. £2.6m was crucially committed to advocacy work, including pushing for anti-corruption legislation that helps release resources of the most vulnerable in the countries where we work. Meanwhile, £23.7m was used to support projects central to Tearfund’s vision – transforming communities through the local church.

We offered you a new way to witness firsthand the lasting, life-bringing blessing that an active church can be to its neighbours: promoting enterprise, sharing assets, tackling the impact of HIV, creating communities that support and care for themselves (learn more at www.see-for-yourself.org).

With all these vital calls on our resources, we’ve kept a tight ship – fundraising and governance costs remain a little below nine per cent, which compares favourably with similar charities. And that nine per cent still works hard, investing in staff, fundraising and promoting Tearfund’s message to more people.

‘He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.’

(Luke 8:25) Thank you We couldn’t have done any of this without your unswerving support, and we know that for many of you it hasn’t been easy. But we’re not alone. And none of us needs to fear the storm: ‘He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm… In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”’ (Luke 8:24-25) 13

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annual review

Shelter from the storm Two huge disasters loomed large last year: the Haiti earthquake and the floods in Pakistan. Here are just two examples of how your dedicated support rescued and restored people despite the disasters…

Hope in Haiti

2010-2011 IN FIGURES

Children receive education in a school built by Tearfund at Petit Boucan, Haiti.

CHARITABLE EXPENDITURE

£56.0m 91%

Transforming communities

£23.7m 35%

Disaster response & preparation £25.9m 42%

General donations

£30.8m 48%

Emergency appeals

£8.7m 14%

Government grants

£22.7m 35% £1.7m 3%

TOTAL INCOME £63.9m 14

‘What Tearfund has done on behalf of the pupils and people of the community, only God could have done.’

EXPENDITURE 2010-2011

INCOME 2010-2011

Other income

With your support, we’ve been able to bring Christ’s compassion to 250,000 Haitians since the earthquake, helping the worst off get their lives back on track.

Richard Hanson/Tearfund

It’s bright and eye-catching and perfectly fits its billing among locals as the Pink School.

Its predecessor collapsed during the January 2010 earthquake, and with it so did the educational progress of its pupils.

Tearfund’s school rebuilding project at Petit Boucan has restored hope, as well as the better earthquake-resistant walls and roof.

Toussant Edva, director of the school, said, ‘Thank you very much for coming, because we’re so, so satisfied.

‘After the earthquake, we had lots of difficulty restarting classes. There were lots of kids on the streets with nowhere to go.

Without education we have nothing. What Tearfund has done on behalf of the pupils and people of the community, only God could have done. We love our school. It wouldn’t fall on us if it broke. We feel safe there.’

Tearfund is working in more than 140 schools across Haiti, providing better accommodation and training teachers.

Also 6,000 youngsters attend our children’s health clubs on a weekly basis.

Speaking out in advocacy

£2.6m 4%

Encouraging prayer & discipleship

£2.8m 5%

Supporting livelihoods

£1.0m 2%

FUNDRAISING & GOVERNANCE £5.6m 9%

TOTAL EXPENDITURE £61.6m autumn 2011 teartimes

Ashraf Mall/Tearfund

Pakistan flood 19 October 2010 is a date seared into the memory of Rozi Khan from Pakistan.

The worst flooding in the country’s recent history swept into his village of Mangal Khan in Sindh and took away his possessions and livelihood. Within hours of the flooding, 16 hectares of his rice crop were obliterated: ‘When I remember those moments, I still find tears in my eyes,’ says Rozi, 38.

Losing this food was bad enough, but its disappearance also left him with a sense of hopelessness. Previous natural disasters had made him impoverished, forcing him to resort to moneylenders to pay for crop seeds.

He confesses to being heartbroken as the flooding wiped out his ability to repay his loans on the back of crop sales. Tearfund was the only organisation to come to Rozi’s village offering help and hope to get out of the black hole of poverty.

Seeing the need to get him growing as soon as the floods subsided, Tearfund organised for a tractor to cultivate part of his land. He was also given high-quality sunflower seeds and a seed drill to plant them. After a few months, the oil-rich crop was ready for harvesting.

‘I thank God for sending this team to help me,’ says Rozi, who plans to use crop

3 MILLION +

5,500 + teartimes autumn 2011

NEW BENEFICIARIES SUPPORTED

LOCAL CHURCHES MOBILISED

Floods devastated Pakistan in the summer of 2010.

‘I thank God for sending Tearfund’s team to help me.’ surpluses to pay off his loans over the next three years.

Rozi is one of 7,000 Pakistanis helped by Tearfund to restart their livelihoods after the floods. Long-term help continues. We’re now rebuilding homes and providing water and sanitation to the most vulnerable facing material and spiritual poverty.

56%

PARTNER PROJECTS NOW USE CHURCH AND COMMUNITY MOBILISATION

These financial results are extracted from the audited financial statements of Tearfund for the year ended 31 March 2011. For a copy of the audited Annual Report and Accounts, please call 0845 355 8355 or visit www.tearfund.org 15

worldview

Tearfund photographer Richard Hanson says: ‘During last year’s floods, Aasi Pareri [second from right] – from Sindh Province, Pakistan – lost her brother and sister to illness. She was left struggling to look after ten nieces and nephews with money from relatives, and through her quilt-making. Tearfund are building her a new home, and gave her four baby goats to provide a more sustainable livelihood.’

Photo: Richard Hanson/Tearfund

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church mobilisation

UMOJA: BRINGING CHURCHES

ALIVE

From Bangladesh to Burkina Faso, Haiti to Zimbabwe, it’s causing ripples of excitement around the world. More than 2,000 communities in around 30 countries are already using it, and it has been translated into a dozen languages including French, Portuguese, Spanish, Amharic, Kirundi, Mandarin and Arabic.

But what is ‘Umoja’?

Words: Peter Shaw

it’s the state of being one or undivided. Much the same sense is expressed in the prayer of Jesus for the church in John’s Gospel: ‘I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you’ he Umoja process is church and (John 17:20-21). community mobilisation* written down And the Umoja process brings about this and available as a resource. It’s not a new unity. It helps local churches in poor areas idea – in fact Umoja is based on more than come together to study the Bible and discover, 20 years of experience of Tearfund working through our partners and local churches. And often for the first time, God’s calling on them to serve their community. The process then through those two decades, we have seen encourages the church to meet with their remarkable transformation.

Umoja is available in a booklet that gathers community to listen and share stories, and through that, identify and understand the all this collective knowledge and practice together, and gives easy-to-follow instruction causes of the poverty they face.

Church and community continue to work and inspiration on how to run a church and together to pool resources, agree priorities, and community mobilisation programme. take action. Ultimately, the Umoja process gives communities confidence to work with Being one others beyond their communities, such as The word ‘Umoja’ is from the Swahili, and is governments or NGOs, to address further – often translated as ‘togetherness’ or ‘unity’. often underlying – issues that keep them poor.

But it’s not simply about ‘joining together’,

‘At Tearfund, we’re convinced that something amazing is happening through Umoja.’

T

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Ralph Hodgson/Tearfund

The whole of Shivnagar come together to work the land thanks to the local church helping to arrange a community cooperative.

‘Umoja process gives communities confidence to work with others beyond their communities.’

Movement of God At Tearfund, we’re convinced that something amazing is happening through Umoja. Tulo Raistrick, one of Tearfund’s Church and Development Advisers, who has spearheaded the Umoja project says, ‘We have a real sense that God is doing far more than we had ever expected with Umoja.

‘By his grace we have found something that God is already doing within his church around the world and, amazingly, Tearfund has been given the privilege to participate in and encourage it.’

Here’s just a few examples about how church and community mobilisation has transformed communities, and how Umoja is encouraging more churches to do the same...

Kenya: church growth ‘I attended a major church and community mobilisation workshop in Kenya. We shared about Umoja with 60 leaders from Anglican churches from seven countries, and senior leaders of six integral mission organisations.

‘We also visited community projects using Umoja-like processes. One Kenyan church of just 15 people mobilised a community of 6,000 people ravaged by alcoholism and insecurity.

‘Praise God, there was an 80 per cent reduction in alcoholism, the church and community built a 23km water and irrigation supply scheme, and set up a dairy cooperative with 1,000 farmers. Now the church has grown to 80 members!’

Richard Lister, Tearfund’s head of East and Central Africa region

* See page 8 for an example of church and community mobilisation teartimes autumn 2011

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church mobilisation

‘I’d like to thank Tearfund for inspiring our church to bear fruit today.’

Pastor Koup-Ra Baissoumou, Niger

Uganda: taking responsibility

Niger: planting trees

‘In March this year, I visited a church in Uganda. Around 40 people from the community came along to welcome me.

After a few minutes of the men talking, I turned to the women present, and asked if church mobilisation had made any difference for them.

‘One after another, women stood up and told amazing stories. One said, “I was a drunkard, wearing rags. Now look at me.”

She was wearing the most fantastic, colourful dress.

‘She continued, “Because of the church, I learnt to take responsibility for my life.

I started saving and stopped drinking.

I started up a sewing business. Now I have income to send my children to school.”’

‘After attending a church and community mobilisation workshop, I went back to my church in Tchirozerine and we went through the Umoja process. Through regular training workshops, we came up with the idea of planting trees in our community.

‘We launched the project in April, funded by church members. Through Umoja, our church has realised the potential God has given us. For me, the amazing thing has been seeing such enthusiasm and motivation shown by our local church members.

‘The training is not finished yet, we are still only at the beginning of our process. I’d like to thank Tearfund for inspiring our church to bear fruit today.’

Tulo Raistrick, Tearfund Church and Development Adviser

Pastor Koup-Ra Baissoumou, Coopération Evangélique, Niger Eleanor Bentall/Tearfund

Jean Webster, director and founder of Zimbabwe Orphans through Extended Hands, training interdenominational church volunteers at Apostolic Faith Mission.

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autumn 2011 teartimes

LET YOUR GIFTS TELL A STORY Behind each of these beautiful gifts is an artisan, living in a poor community, being paid a fair wage for their skill. You might not see their face, but by purchasing their work you are bringing life where it's most needed. Find these and many more beautiful gifts online at www.createdgifts.org or call 0845 355 8355 to request a catalogue.

www.createdgifts.org

*Created was formerly called Tearcraft

integral mission

Living out the whole gospel John 9 tells a story of a man who had been blind since birth. His community considered this a curse, leaving him an outcast with no way of making a living.

The man spent his days begging on the streets, yet one day a visitor came to town, and everything changed.

Words: Amy Church Photo: Warren Allott/Tearfund

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he visitor said it was no one’s fault that the man was blind. This was no curse. Then the visitor healed him.

He was transformed – physically, as he could now see; emotionally, as he became filled with hope and confidence; and spiritually, as he came to know the transformational love God had for him.

All this happened because of the visitor – Jesus. That day, the man and his community learnt something of what it is to be truly human – to love, and be loved. And a little bit of God’s kingdom was built in the man’s town.

can’t help but spill out to the people, communities, institutions, situations and all of creation which surrounds us.

Tearfund and integral mission Inspired by Jesus, Tearfund’s work focuses on the ‘whole’ person – working through churches to tackle both material and spiritual poverty. At the heart of our work with poor communities is a recognition that people are more than their hunger or despair. They’re complex and precious, made in God’s image.

And they’re loved.

We work alongside local churches and church-based partners because they know the ‘Integral mission is answering needs of their communities, and have the God’s call to love one another in potential to transform lives completely. In our every aspect of our lives.’ experience, this is the most effective way to help people make lasting changes in their lives and escape poverty. It’s crucial to us, because When Jesus connected with people, he it’s the kind of ‘development work’ the Bible changed their lives completely. And he’s still doing it today through his Spirit and through describes. It's unconditional love.

Integral mission isn’t new, but it is a us his church. Integral mission isn’t a ‘new concept’. It’s following Jesus, answering God’s bit different to some traditional takes on mission. Integral mission is inclusive, call to love one another completely in every aspect of our lives. It’s us, the church, joining positioning all of us – young and old, rich God’s mission to build his kingdom on earth – and poor – as part of God’s mission. We don’t all have to be preachers in the traditional a natural out-flowing of who we are as sense. But because we’re all made in God’s children of God. As it says in 1 John 4:19, ‘We love because he first loved us.’ And when image, each of us can reflect his love to the world around us. we’re filled with the love of God, that love 22

autumn 2011 teartimes

Praise and worship in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, despite the devastating earthquake of January 2010.

Called to integral mission Neither do we all have to become overseas ‘missionaries’, because integral mission is as relevant to us here in the UK as it is to Tearfund’s partners around the world. ‘Every church is called to share in God’s mission... beginning in its own “Jerusalem”,’ says theologian Rene Padilla, referencing Acts 1:8.

Integral mission simply calls us to be who we are in Christ. You don’t have to be familiar teartimes autumn 2011

with the term ‘integral mission’ to do it; you just have to be familiar with God... and to follow his command to love him, and others, with everything you have.

‘Because we’re all made in God’s image, each of us can reflect his love to the world.’

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christmas resources

‘Tearfund’s Christmas resources are packed with creative and engaging materials to enhance your Christmas services.’

Healed at Christmas T In Shivnagar village, Nepal, it is commonplace to come across stories of miraculous healing.

But each example is individual, unique and precious.

Words: Peter Shaw Photos: Ralph Hodgson/Tearfund Pastor Madan leads a team of carol singers from his church to bless the people of Shivnagar, Nepal.

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wo Christmases ago, a fever gripped her so strong that Uma was unable to get out of her bed. It was night-time, and her 12-year-old daughter Puspa was desperate. As she tended to Uma, young Puspa heard carol singers nearby their house.

For you and me, carol singers herald the promise of a hearty festive chorus and maybe a mince pie. But, for Puspa, the singers were the answer to her unspoken prayer – she knew that they were from the local church.

And, through Jesus, they had the power to heal – and Uma was healed. autumn 2011 teartimes

Tearfund’s Christmas resources You can experience the amazing story of Uma and Puspa through this year’s Christmas resources from Tearfund. It’s a heart-warming festive story that explains how the local church can be the answer to poverty – empowering communities to overcome their own problems.

Uma and Puspa’s story is told through a film and a unique nativity play – both crafted to fit into your church’s Christmas celebrations.

• The three-minute film is about the life of Uma and Puspa in Nepal, and shows how the local church is assisting their community to meet their needs. It also shows Christmas celebrations in Shivnagar, Nepal, where more than 900 people – many tell us they have come to faith in the last few years – gather for a huge celebration meal.

• The nativity play offers a twist on the biblical account of Jesus’ birth, demonstrating how that miraculous event 2,000 years ago is still transforming lives today – like Uma and Puspa’s in Nepal. The script and performance guide provides all you need to stage this ten-minute play for children to perform.

‘You can experience the amazing story of Uma and Puspa through this year’s Christmas resources from Tearfund.’

Request a Tearfund speaker If you would like a Tearfund speaker to talk at your church about our work this Christmas, contact our Churches team on 0845 521 0021 for England and Wales, 028 9068 2828 for Northern Ireland or 0141 332 3621 for Scotland.

The resources also include a children’s craft activity, ideas for festive fundraising, editable service sheet cover, prayer guide including a liturgical prayer, and a PowerPoint presentation.

Order now and have a merrier Christmas Your church is likely already to be planning a Christmas programme. If you order the pack today, you will have a wealth of professional, easy-to-use materials at your disposal when it arrives.

The resources also offer an opportunity to help transform a community. By giving £20 a month to support the church with professional training and advice, you – and others from your church – can get closer to people like Uma and Puspa in Nepal. Through regular updates and prayer points you’ll see how your support is changing lives.

The Christmas resources are packed with creative and engaging materials to enhance your Christmas services, simply and effectively. For more details see the card between these pages.

Puspa decorating the tree for the Christmas service at Tikapur church. teartimes autumn 2011

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climate change

Your chance

to change the climate Millet to market gardens. Dust and drought to vegetables aplenty. Tearfund’s work in local communities in Mali is helping to bring hope amid climate change.

Words: Helen Heather

Clive Mear/Tearfund

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other-of-four, Sanelou has witnessed dramatic changes in her village.

The shifting and increasingly erratic climate means the rains don’t come when they should. Longer droughts are eroding the soil – leaving the earth damaged and dusty. Many farmers are abandoning the area to find jobs elsewhere, putting a strain on community life.

Tearfund’s partners are helping communities in Mali respond to these challenges. Sanelou’s community are proud of their market gardens with raised walls to protect the soil being damaged by floods or drought.

Mali: in Dandoli village, market gardens like this help villagers grow nutritious food despite the changing climate.

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But, millions more people across the world are going hungry and struggling to respond.

Without urgent action the changing climate will also undermine the efforts of Tearfund’s partners to lift people out of poverty.

There’s a huge disparity between what is and what should be happening to protect poor countries like Mali from further devastation.

The latest figures show that global emissions continue to rise and efforts to curb emissions are in disarray.

‘Without urgent action the changing climate will undermine the efforts of Tearfund’s partners to lift people out of poverty.’

Greenest government?

The UK recently became the only country in the world with an emissions reduction target beyond 2020. There’s cause to celebrate but it’s not time to be complacent when global action is so elusive. We need the UK government to live up to its ‘greenest government ever’ pledge by pushing for action internationally as well as at home.

With the next round of international climate talks in South Africa – a continent hit hard by the changing climate – we have a key opportunity to remind leaders why urgent and far-reaching action is vital.

The upcoming talks in Durban should be a chance to set global action back on track.

Leaders must agree to deliver what they’ve promised, including agreeing ways to generate the $100 billion pledged for 2020 to help poor autumn 2011 teartimes

Cally Spittle/Tearfund

Tearfund supporters David and Karen Burnett-Hall discussing climate change with MP Elizabeth Truss during Tea Time For Change.

countries respond. Although this figure is about half what is needed, it’s a start.

Developed countries must also commit to tougher action to reduce emissions. Current pledges mean temperature rises of up to four degrees – catastrophic for poor communities, and for the whole planet.

Climate change may seem like a distant threat but it’s happening now and pushing

Bearing Witness

OCT

SAT

1

On Saturday 1 October Tearfund is joining with CAFOD and Christian Aid for a service and candlelit vigil in Manchester. On the eve of the Conservative Party Conference, poor communities need us to stand up for people hit hardest by climate change by reminding the government about its ‘greenest government ever’ pledge and urging them to do more.

1.30pm Tearfund Climate Justice afternoon at Friends Meeting House, Manchester 6 Mount Street, M2 5NS: Learn, act and pray about climate change, and other issues of injustice – with tea and cake!

5pm Manchester Cathedral: Joint ecumenical service followed by a procession and candlelit vigil outside the Conservative Party conference venue.

7.30pm Finish Find out more at www.tearfund.org/bearingwitness

teartimes autumn 2011

our global neighbours further into poverty.

The world cannot afford for our leaders to stand back and fail to respond with rising emissions and no clear action plan to reduce them.

A global movement of Christians will be getting down on its knees this autumn, praying and speaking up for the UK and other governments to act. Will you join us?

Hope for Creation A global day of prayer and action on climate change.

Sunday 6 November.

NOV

SUN

6

Join with tens of thousands of Christians around the world to pray and speak up for justice for our global neighbours and for action to protect God’s creation.

Take part at home, with a group of friends or with your whole church. Your prayers will play a vital role as we speak with one voice for action on climate change.

Visit www.hopeforcreation.org to sign up and to download resources to help you and your church join in.

Please email campaigning@tearfund.org or call 0845 355 8355 for more information about either of these events.

‘Climate change may seem like a distant threat but it’s happening now and pushing our global neighbours further into poverty.’

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Q&A with Tamsin Greig

Renewing communities in Rwanda Tamsin Greig is a successful actor and a friend of Tearfund.

She is well known for her roles in TV comedy series including Episodes, Friday Night Dinner, People Like Us and Black Books. Tamsin has starred as Debbie Aldridge in the BBC Radio 4 soap opera The Archers since 1991, performed in the National Theatre production of Gethsemane in 2008, and took part in the Easter celebrations on Songs of Praise in 2011. In April this year, she visited Tearfund local church projects and partners in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

What struck you most about Tearfund's work in Rwanda?

The most striking element for me was the way in which Tearfund works with partners in the country. I have an image in my mind of charities imposing western finances and 28

solutions in response to disasters. I was particularly struck by the relationships that Tearfund fosters with organisations already established within each country. We met with Michel Kayitaba, director of MOUCECORE (Christian Movement for Evangelization, Counseling and Reconciliation) – Tearfund’s partner in Kigali. MOUCECORE outreaches to Rwandan communities through local churches to encourage personal and community transformation. Tearfund’s support is a partnership, but taking the lead from the in-country group who are in a good position to assess the individual needs of each community.

I was deeply impressed with Tearfund’s emphasis on partnership and relationship, as opposed to the imposition of an ‘aid formula’.

What are your impressions of the people you met?

The Rwandan people I met were all elegantly welcoming and genuinely pleased to greet visitors into their communities. They offer ready smiles and honest gratitude for outside interest in their stories. They’re proud to be autumn 2011 teartimes

Geoff Crawford/Tearfund

Why did you decide to travel to Rwanda with Tearfund?

I was asked! Last year Tearfund invited me to become a Friend of Tearfund. I was aware of Tearfund and its work in this country and globally, seeking to nurture partnerships with organisations already working within communities to support them financially, practically and spiritually. So it was very exciting to be asked to actually visit some of the partners and projects that Tearfund supports, to get a real sense of the difference these partnerships make.

Tamsin Greig visiting a community in Rwanda supported by Tearfund partner MOUCECORE.

‘I was deeply impressed with Tearfund’s emphasis on partnership and relationship.’

‘I saw it is possible to transform disaster and brutality into new hope.’

Rwandan and glad to be alive through a new era of understanding and willingness for reconciliation. And they all seem to be engaging with the profoundly difficult yet necessary process of forgiveness, a process which has brought them thus far in their transformation into a new people beyond tribal division and ancient hatred.

How has this changed their faith?

I’d like to turn this question on its head and say that it is their faith that has changed them.

The communities who work with and continue to be supported by MOUCECORE agreed to begin a journey of reconciliation, firstly with themselves and with God, and then with their families and communities. Without this profound inner change inspired by their faith, the reconciliations would be impossible.

And it would seem that their identities are now rooted in their faith-based understanding of who they are as children of God, rather than in their knowledge of their tribal heritage. teartimes autumn 2011

What did you think about church and community mobilisation after meeting the people in the villages?

I feel privileged to spend time with people from Rwanda. I realise much has been accomplished governmentally in the country since the brutalities of the late 1990s, but inevitably this trickle down from the summit of control is slow. To witness an interior change occurring at grass roots level among the very people who define Rwanda, who are choosing to engage with their own personal spiritual transformation and be a part of the renewal of their communities, has been aweinspiring. Local people have shown they can identify their abilities and needs, work cooperatively within seemingly untenable social tensions, and make something new happen. Out of crisis and hopelessness, in partnership with a worldwide network of support, new life has come.

How have your perceptions of poverty changed?

Visiting two villages in Rwanda supported by MOUCECORE, and hearing their stories of tragedy and transformation, brought me great hope for the future of African communities seeking ways out of poverty. I saw it is possible to transform disaster and brutality into new hope from within the communities themselves, if people are able to lay aside their fears, suspicions and resentments and be transformed to experience new growth personally and corporately. Of course, societal problems of conflict still exist, and yet their readiness to commit to corporate change and cooperation does bring brightness to the struggle.

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‘Thank you, Mrs Harris.’

This is Soomar and his beloved granddaughter Mejahr. He would like to say thank you.

Because Mrs Harris left Tearfund a legacy, Soomar’s granddaughter will survive, despite contracting tuberculosis. The legacy helped pay for a clinic and TB medicine. ‘We have no money. We walked seven kilometres to get here. People told us about the clinic and we came,’ he says.

For a Christian, being welcomed home at

the end of your life represents fulfilment.

The history we leave behind, the seeds we have sown, will continue to bear fruit.

These God-inspired good works and habits of generosity can continue to restore hope and save lives – even after God has called you home.

Soomar is the family elder, so he takes care of them all. And now he has hope for Mejahr’s future, thanks to Mrs Harris.

Please consider leaving a legacy in support of those we work with. Order our leaflet to find out more.

Call 0845 355 8355 or email legacies@tearfund.org

Christian Legacy Please remember a Christian charity in your will

Order the FREE pack for church leaders on supporting church and charity legacies: www.christianlegacy.org.uk/leaders

Clive Mear/Tearfund

reflection

How do you change a human heart?

The tragedy for many poor communities isn’t a lack of resources, but access to those resources. Although help is at hand, it’s often still out of reach.

Words: Matthew Frost, Chief Executive

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ake HIV, for example. Despite much greater access to antiretroviral therapy (a way of managing HIV), a major treatment gap still remains. At the end of 2010, nine million people who were eligible for HIV treatment did not receive it.

The same is true for water and sanitation, provision of healthcare, education and skills training. The major problem lies in the ‘last mile of delivery’ – the gap between the resources that are available and the people who desperately need them. And while that gap may seem small, in effect it might as well be a gaping chasm.

So, the question is, how does an individual living in a poor community change so that the resources aren’t just nearby, rather they can grasp them in their hands? And how can we help them to go that extra mile? From what I’ve seen in the working of Tearfund’s partners, it requires a behaviour change, a community working together – a movement from passive to active.

Change of heart As Christians we know the most effective change that can happen is in the heart. And only Jesus can change hearts. Often people blighted by poverty and injustice lack hope, purpose, self-worth and meaning in their lives, and that renders them passive. Only a change of heart can restore these things.

Of course, it’s easy to say ‘the answer is Jesus’ – but there needs to be something to teartimes autumn 2011

‘The most effective change that can happen is in the heart.

And only Jesus can change hearts.’ put that answer into action. And, as you read through this Tear Times, you’ll see that answer in Umoja, in Integral Mission, and in the life of Richard in Uganda.

Mobilising churches – the incarnation of Jesus in communities – empowers them to look beyond their circumstances to the resources they already possess. To see the problems they face so clearly that the solutions are evident too. Church mobilisation enables Jesus to fill that gap, to release the resources in their hands and go that extra mile.

Get in touch with us!

UK

www.tearfund.org Email: enquiries@tearfund.org Tel: 0845 355 8355 100 Church Road, Teddington TW11 8QE Registered Charity No. 265464 (England and Wales) Registered Charity No. SC037624 (Scotland)

Challenge House, 29 Canal Street, Glasgow G4 0AD T y^ Catherine, Capel Cildwrn, Llangefni, Ynys Môn LL77 7NN Rose House, 2 Derryvolgie Avenue, Belfast BT9 6FL

ROI

www.tearfund.ie Email: enquiries@tearfund.ie Tel: +353 (0)1 878 3200 Tearfund Ireland, 5–7 Upper O’Connell St Dublin 1, Ireland Registered Charity No. CHY 8600

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‘ Many of my friends are already dead’ Despair spiralled into alcohol abuse, and Richard’s family feared he was on a road to an early grave.

But now, thanks to the church, he is starting to live life to the full through Jesus. £20 a month could pay for the church to continue to support Richard and offer vocational training to more families, equipping them with long-term solutions to earn a living and feed their children.

Read the full story, and find out how you can help transform lives, on page 8.

Photos: Kieran Dodds/Tearfund Registered Charity No. 265464 (England and Wales) Registered Charity No. SC037624 (Scotland) 20409-(0911)