Mission Partners

We choose to give away ten per cent of all our parish income in order to resource mission at home and overseas. Two thirds of this money is shared between mission partners selected by the PCC. Information about what our partners are up to and how you can pray for them can be seen below.

TearFund

On a Thursday evening at the beginning of May, Nsimire Kaliri in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) lost her home, one of her sons, and her feelings of hope. It was 5.30pm on 4 May when sudden, unexpectedly heavy rain came. It caused the river nearby Nsimire’s house to burst its banks and resulted in flooding and landslides that reduced much of the once-vibrant village of Bushushu, Kalehe, to rubble and debris. Across the region, more than 400 people were killed and tens of thousands have been left homeless by the disaster.

The context of climate crisis. This and similar situations (also in May) in neighbouring Rwanda, as well as in Myanmar and Bangladesh, have been linked to the effects of climate change leading to increasingly extreme weather events.

A report released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on 22 May stated that ‘weather, climate and water-related events caused 11,778 reported disasters between 1970 and 2021, with just over 2 million deaths and US$ 4.3 trillion in economic losses.’ It further showed that the number of disasters had increased significantly over that period and that the cost of these – both financial and in loss of lives – disproportionately affected people living in countries that were already struggling with high levels of poverty. WMO Secretary-General, Professor Petteri Taalas, is quoted as saying: ‘The most vulnerable communities unfortunately bear the brunt of weather, climate and water-related hazards.’ Nsimire’s story “We used to have a big farm in Buguli, [near Bushushu],” says Nsimire, “but we lost it when a large quantity of water and rocks came from the mountain and devastated the area. It washed everything into the lake.”

Nsimire and her family came from Panzi in the east of DRC originally. After the violent conflict that has been plaguing much of that region reached their area, they moved to Kalehe to find work. She explains, “I was living there, on our farm, some years ago when the armed groups came to that place. They took my cows. They took my goats. And we had to move. When we came here, my children and I bought some land. We built good houses and we were living happily. We lived peacefully, without any problem.” Unfortunately, there was still no trace of our son – not even amongst the bodies. “My neighbour lost ten children and they have not found the bodies. Another neighbour lost 11 children – with no trace of any of them. Another neighbour lost 16 members of the same household. There were so many bodies. So many. The majority were grandmothers. And the number of little children was simply countless.”

Impacts of plastic pollution on people in poverty. The plastic problem affects people around the world who are living in poverty the most. Here’s why. Our world’s rubbish problem is not just an environmental issue: it’s a human one too.

Tearfund works with local partners, churches and grassroots organisations in more than 50 countries, and it is clear that plastic pollution is impacting those in low-income communities the most, pushing more people further into poverty. Why is plastic pollution such a big problem? More than 2 billion people in low- or middle-income countries don’t have access to solid waste management. This means they have little other option but to dump or burn their rubbish on open dumpsites, in the road, in waterways or even in their own backyards. Today, globally, we throw away about 300 million tonnes of plastic waste every year. That’s enough to cover almost 50,000 football pitches a day! And the volume of rubbish is only getting bigger: our use of plastic is set to almost triple by 2060 and half of all plastic is now designed to be used only once before being thrown away. This means the harmful impacts of all this plastic pollution are becoming more widespread and severe. But what impact does all this rubbish have, and why is it people in poverty who are most affected?

Plastic pollution damages health. Plastic pollution poses huge risks to people’s health and wellbeing: the toxic fumes that are released when rubbish is burnt can lead to serious respiratory problems. As well as causing disease, when plastic pollution blocks waterways it can also exacerbate flooding which can lead to huge disasters and loss of life. Many communities across the world experience regular, flash flooding on a devastating scale – even after just a small amount of rainfall – as the plastic dumped in rivers and drains means excess water has nowhere to go. Plastic pollution threatens livelihoods. Flooding clearly threatens people’s ability to earn a living, but there are other ways plastic pollution can harm their livelihoods too. Plastic pollution poses a significant hazard to farm animals: ingestion, choking and entanglement are a serious risk. Studies have found that in some low- and middle-income countries, up to a third of cattle and half of the goat population have consumed significant amounts of plastic which they have mistaken for food. Fish are similarly affected: for those who rely on their livestock and fishing for their income, this is particularly devastating.

Updated July 2023

Open Doors

Open Doors helps Christians in over 60 countries, from training leaders to raising awareness about global persecution. You can find out more on their website at opendoorsuk.org

Christian students targeted in horrific Uganda attack: please pray.

A devastating attack by Islamic militants on a school in Uganda has left at least 40 children killed and six abducted. Please pray for all who are mourning this atrocity.

A neighbour reports hearing students at Uganda’s Lhubiriha Secondary School singing gospel songs shortly before a horrific attack that left at least 40 people dead, mostly children. The sustained attack was carried out at the predominantly Christian school by Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamic militant group with links to so-called Islamic State (IS). Open Doors local sources share that at least 42 people, mainly boys from the school, were killed, and others remain critically injured. Several students were abducted and forced to carry looted food supplies towards Virunga National Park, across the border in DRC. Local contacts add that most, if not all, of the students at the school are Christians. The children were killed in machete attacks and in arson on a boys’ dormitory. A UN spokesperson, Babar Baloch, commented that, “Since the beginning of the year [2023], they have gone on a rampage in terms of raiding villages, killing civilians, kidnapping people, leaving people injured behind and the consequences are really, really clear on the desperate population who have to flee, in cases many times from each location to another.”

Can you share the news about #14EveryDay?

Every day, on average, 14 Christians in Nigeria are killed for their faith. Can you stand up to violent persecution by raising awareness of this shocking fact? It’s a shocking statistic, but these atrocities seldom get reported in the media. Even the church around the world often doesn’t know the extent of the persecution faced by our brothers and sisters in Nigeria. More Christians are killed for their faith in Nigeria than the rest of the world combined. Nigeria is an epicentre of escalating extremist violence. We need to stand up to violent persecution today with our brothers and sisters.

Use the hashtag #14EveryDay, tag @opendoorsuk and share your #14EveryDay image.

Manipur, India

Despite international media coverage on the violence and persecution in Manipur dying down, the tensions between the Kuki and Meitei groups still continue, and believers who lost their homes in the conflict remain displaced. Surges of violence occur even more than a month after the riots began, including bomb attacks among insurgents on 13 June that killed 11, and the killing of a Christian woman praying inside her church a day before that.

The damage is massive – more than 350 churches have been destroyed. Thousands of Christian houses and properties have been burned and demolished, more than 100 people have been killed in the violence, and more than 30,000 Christians from both Meitei and Kuki sides have been displaced and are taking shelter in neighbouring states or in camps and other places of refuge.

Open Doors local partners continue to visit displaced believers, both in the Manipur region and those who have fled to neighbouring states, giving them urgent aid and being there for prayer and emotional support.

Dave Maguire – Romania  

Thank you for your gift and prayer support here in Romania and Ukraine. The times we live in are very turbulent but we also see much goodness with trips to Ukraine each month taking food to needy areas especially to where the floods have in the south. We are still building houses locally for the poor, with teams church planting and baptising seven ladies who came to Christ in the Ukraine. It has been a joy working with the local churches here and there and collaborating together with the body of Christ.

We thank you again for your prayers and support, particularly as we have a team going soon to the Ukraine again with a team of doctors.

Dave

Embassy

Please continue to pray for the work of Embassy and the transformation they are bringing to so many lives.

We are excited to be supporting the work of Embassy, a registered charity based in Manchester who provide incredible support for the homeless. Please follow the link below to read their latest newsletter: