Christian Aid Presentation
Pete Murray, and Joseph Vambe Heads of Church Engagement and Community Fundraising for Christian Aid.
On a tour visiting synods and chapters in Southwark over the last few months. Looking to deepen their engagement with respect to healing after the pandemic, exploring ways they can help restore congregations and restore connections.
They responded to Jonathan’s Southwark Vision with the focus on healing with respect to social and racial justice in our communities and the wider world.
Example: our Sunday intercessions pray for Sudan, Haiti, Palestine, Israel, climate crises and others areas of conflict, natural disasters and injustice.
He reminded us that the Church is already responding to those situations.
Christian Aid was founded at the end of WW2. Churches came together and established a means to respond to civilian population deprivation caused by war and famine. 80 years later they still represent the front line response in humanitarian disasters. Dealing with immediate problems and advocating for long term changes to prevent it. Working with local partners in those countries is a source of knowledge. In Ukraine £30 million was raised by churches in the UK. Local Christian Aid partners Patterns have used the money to provide shelters, incubators and medical supplies to deal with the suffering.
Work in the West Bank includes providing shelters, mobile bathrooms and fresh food distribution from local farmers to help the displaced population avoid air strikes.
Joseph suggested ways in which partnerships can work with our churches.
Christian Charity Support –
Christian Aid mission to educate, fundraise and resource under the banner Give Act and Pray. With this aim he hopes to make Christian Aid resources easier to use for our parishes by
- Providing equipment to fundraise
- Helping with publicity
- Generating campaign excitement by working with what suits a parish best – ie park fetes, door to door, boot sales etc.
He appeals to our PCC’s to appointment a Christian Aid representative as a point of contact to make their resources available to us and help shape our events for maximum reach and publicity.
Looking to create excitement for Christian Aid week coming up from 18th may – fundraising challenge with a myriad of activities.
They encourage us to invite them to talk at our Sunday sermons and attach a request form to advise them when and where.
See “Christian Aid Speaker Request Form.pdf
They also encourage us to forge closer ties to our political representatives to tackle the resurgence of international third world debt to private companies. Encouraging churches to build relations with local MPs to legislate for governments to write off the debt.
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