Tearfund Northern Ireland
At Tearfund, we believe the local church is central to overcoming poverty and transforming lives. We’re part of it, along with others around the world and with each and every one of our amazing supporters. Together, we make up the global church. Tearfund has operated in Northern Ireland for more than 40 years and continues with a strong network of supporters and churches.
We have a vision to see 50 million people released from material and spiritual poverty through a worldwide network of 100,000 local churches.
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Caroline Bradley works in Belfast, co-ordinating people in combatting global poverty, not only through prayer (whilst pushing her shopping trolley round the supermarket) but also through action! www.premier.org.uk/tearfund
An opportunity to reserve your choice of workshop and reduce your check in time on the day of the event.
Bono, Penelope Cruz.……and me!
On World Aids Day last year, Bono turned the famous Sydney Opera House red to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS. He was joined by stars like Penelope Cruz, who were pictured at iconic buildings which were lit up red for the night.
While the stars were busy raising global awareness, groups of individuals across Northern Ireland were taking action. In my church we hosted ‘A night at the movies’ in Strandtown cinema and raised £350 by showing Danny Boyle’s Oscar winning film Slumdog Millionaire.
‘We had a great night – live music as people arrived, complimentary ice cream, an inspirational film and we helped Tearfund bring hope to people living with HIV and AIDS’ says organiser Julie Magowan.
Tearfund supports 120 HIV and AIDS programmes around the world, which seek to stop the spread of the disease and support those affected by it.
One person we‘ve been able to help is 13 year old Rachel - one of over a million children who have been orphaned by AIDS in Uganda. Not only has Rachel had to cope with losing both parents, but she has been left to bring up her 6 younger brothers and sisters. Every day she cooks, cleans, plants food and gets the children out to school. Aged 13 she’s mother to 6!
While we can’t support Rachel’s parents, we have been able to help Rachel’s local church to be a lifeline for her. Pastor Noah and his team help Rachel cook, clean and plant food. They provide basic needs like soap and food and provide a local mother to sleep over with the children every night so they feel safe.
‘If I didn’t I didn’t have the pastor, it would be terrible for me. When my parents died, I realised I’m left alone and as the eldest I have to look after the younger ones’ says Rachel.
This year, our vision is to inspire 10 churches to support families like Rachel’s by hosting ‘A night at the movies’ around World Aids Day in December.
We’ve 5 churches who have already committed to a screening. So we’d love you to join us and help us make it 10! If you’re interested, come along to our movie night info session on Thursday 15th September, 8 – 9.30 pm, venue to be confirmed. We’ll give you all in the info about how to run a screening - we’ve even got Julie coming along to give us her top tips on how she ran hers.
You can book your place, with no obligation about actually running a screening, by emailing me :- tim.magowan@tearfund.org or calling 07748156911.
Tim Magowan
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Embodying the message - reflections on Shane Claiborne’s workshop at Fuel, Ballymena
It was a challenging first line – ‘I have tried to take Jesus seriously and have spent the last 20 years recovering’ said author and social activist Shane Claiborne, speaking at the Fuel Festival in Ballymena on Saturday.
To explain, Shane pointed to an exchange between Jesus and John the Baptist. When John’s disciples asked Jesus if he was the Messiah, Jesus responds by saying ‘Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard : the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and good news is preached to the poor’.
The simple, but profound point, Shane makes is that Jesus’ life embodied his message. Although in other passages Jesus states He is God, here he lets his life do the talking. Here, Jesus’ identity is demonstrated in the acts of love and compassion to those around him, especially those on the outside of society.
By doing so, Jesus gives us a model for our lives. A model of embodying the message – living it out in actions, as well as sharing it by words.
As I searched my mind for people who embody the message well today, I kept coming back to Pastor Joseph, a Ugandan Pastor who has chosen to live in Ongongora, a village so poor that its name actually means ‘thin people’.
Over the years, Pastor Joseph has helped his church embody the message to its local community. For example, Joseph has helped the church reach out to Richard, who misused alcohol and abused his wife. Now, with the church’s love and compassion Richard has come to faith, stopped drinking and has improved his relationship with his wife. He has begun to develop his farm and is able to provide for his family.
It made me think if Pastor Joseph was asked the question ‘is Jesus the Messiah’ maybe he could reply : Go back and say what you’ve seen and heard : alcohol mis-users are sober, wives are safe, children can eat and good news is preached to the poor.
It made me wonder what my life would look like if I embodied the message like Jesus? Who would I spend my time with? What would I give up? What would I do differently?
I can understand why Shane said he’s spent the last 20 years trying to recover from the challenge of those words.
You can view an excellent short film featuring Richard and Joseph’s story here.
Something’s cooking -calling on Northern Ireland Supporters to share recipes
Northern Ireland has a reputation for great food often home grown and homemade.Many of you will be putting your skills to good use over the summer months, inspired by Henri Olonga and Jenny Bristow to Make a Meal of it!
Tearfund would love you to share your favourite recipes with others and inspire one another with your culinary delights.
Post your tried and tested favourite dishes today and let’s get going and Make a Meal of it for Zimbabwe. By sharing fun simple recipes many more of us can make a difference this summer by having a go in the kitchen. As you enjoy time with family and friends you will know that all you raise will help the partners in Zimbabwe who are reaching those most in a need in a land so often left out of the headlines.
Don’t forget to send your donations to the Belfast office clearly marked Make a Meal of it.
Thank you for planning to Make a Meal of it this summer!
Jenny Bristow’s sizzling BBQ is serving up support for Zimbabwe.
Local celebrity chef Jenny Bristow lit the BBQ and shared some of her favourite recipes and a feast of local food for visiting Tearfund partners from Uganda.
Watch Jenny as she prepares local Irish soda bread and hears the inspiring stories of Simon Peter, Jane and Sam from the Pentecostal Assemblies of God in Uganda. They tell how lives are being transformed when the church takes a stand against poverty.
Jenny got the Make a meal of it campaign got off to a sizzling start. The campaign is about having a fun summer event such as a BBQ that will bring hope to poor families in Zimbabwe. Summer is the perfect time to join with family and friends and enjoy fun, food and fellowship and at the same time raise vital funds for the urgent needs in Zimbabwe.
Your help will enable church partners such as, Rivers of Life as they run an agricultural training progamme called Foundations for Farming. The programme teaches famers how to implement new practices such as mulching their fields resulting in an increased yield and crops that can survive the long dry spells too. One farmer said his harvest had doubled and what they are learning are proven methods worth recommending.
Let’s have some summer fun together and at the same time make a difference for our Zimbabwean neighbors in need.
Exiled Zimbabwean Cricketer Henri Olonga invites you to Make a Meal of it for his homeland.
Henri has a passion for his homeland even though he has been exiled in the UK since 2003 when he protested at the Cricket World Cup against the policies of the Zimbabwean government.
Zimbabwe is not often in the headlines but Henri wants us to remember the many needs there and get involved to make a difference. 13 million of the population in Zimbabwe is struggling to get by with an estimated 80% unemployed. The country is also coping with record breaking hyperinflation. A collapsed infrastructure means many basic services are not available.
By raising support for Tearfund partners you can help see the lives of some of the poorest of the poor changed
Your support will help Tearfund partners enable children like Shadrek (13)and Primose (11) who lost their parents through AIDS overcome some of the hardships they face in their daily struggle for survival.
The local church is helping pay Primrose’s school fees and provide them with the vital food supplies they need to keep them healthy. Tearfund partner Zoe supplies them with a 20kg bag of mealy meal, which locally costs around £7. The children say this will last them a month. The Zoe partnership are able to provide 7 staff to equip and train 3000 local church volunteers to support 7000 vulnerable children in their own homes, just like Shadreck.
This summer you could host a party and Make a Meal of it with a difference for your family and friends. Invite them to help you raise money to support more children like Primrose and Shadreak enjoy food and overcome hunger.
Shadreck said “We think God is good and is going to bless us. He has been our protector’. Primrose echoed this adding, ‘I believe God is going to provide for us.’
Let us together be the answer to their prayers as we Make a Meal of it for Zimbabwe. Please send your donations clearly marked: Make a Meal of it to the Belfast office Rose House, 2 Derryvolgie Avenue BT9 6FL
Watch this week for more hot tips from for Jenny Bristow on what you can do at home.
Thank you for your support.
Northern Irish church leaders invite you to ‘See for yourself’
On 2nd May, a team of Northern Irish church leaders* ran the Belfast Marathon Relay to highlight how churches are transforming communities in Ethiopia.
The church leaders included Bishop Harold Miller, former Presbyterian Moderator Rev. Stafford Carson, former Methodist President Rev. Ken Todd and Windsor Baptist Pastor Dave Dunlop.
The church leaders were running to support a Tearfund programme to enable 300 Ethiopian churches to set up small businesses and savings schemes holistically benefiting over 70,000 people. One of these people is Thhuy, a mother of 5, who was lifted out of extreme poverty when she received a £30 loan to set up a bakery. Now, she can feed her children properly, has the dignity of running her own business and has experienced God’s love though the kindness of local Christians.
‘At Easter we remember that Jesus came to bring new life - physically, emotionally, intellectually, culturally, socially and spiritually’ says Rev. Ken Todd. ‘I was really pleased to do this run just after Easter to help local churches bring new life to thousands of people like Thhuy’
‘See for yourself’ launch in Northern Ireland
At a reception after the marathon, I was delighted to launch ‘See for yourself’, a brand new initiative which allows supporters like you to follow one village and see how the local church is transforming it.
If you sign up, you simply choose one community in Uganda, Peru or Nepal to follow and we’ll send you a monthly email update and a film every three months. Over time, we hope that this initiative will inspire and challenge you, whilst also enabling you to prayerfully and practically support local churches as they reach out into their communities.
‘Our run highlighted how local churches are bringing help and hope to thousands of people living in poor communities around the world’ says Rev. Stafford Carson. ‘I’d invite you to see for yourself how this is happening and help Tearfund achieve its amazing ten-year vision of lifting 50 million people out of material and spiritual poverty through a world wide network of 100,000 local churches’.
You can see for yourself how local churches are transforming communities here
Thanks for all your support
Tim
Tim Magowan
Northern Ireland Director, Tearfund
* Church leaders from Right to left : Rev. David McClay, New Wine Ireland; David Dunlop, Pastor of Windsor Baptist; Rev. Ken Todd, former Methodist President; Beth Laverty, 24/7 Prayer Ireland; Rev. Stafford Carson, former Presbyterian Moderator; Ruth Cooke, Tearfund and Bishop Harold Miller, Tearfund Vice President. Photo Credit : Derek Hall
“The Transform team was an amazing opportunity to grow spiritually, to meet new friends and most importantly fulfil God’s commandment to serve.”
That’s what Suzi, one of Transform Belfast’s 2010 members, had to say about taking part in last year’s summer team. She wasn’t the only one to benefit from it – so we decided to run the team again! It’s ten days this August for anyone aged 16+.
Transform Belfast, organized by Urban Saints and Youth Initiatives in partnership with Tearfund, gives team members a chance to develop leadership skills, be inspired about what God is doing in Belfast and around the world, take part in practical action in West Belfast and assist in a Youth Initiatives youth camp.
Team members will be challenged to leave their comforts zones, use their muscle and to share their faith as well as meet new people, make new friends, and experience new things.
Click here for more information and to download an application form - the deadline is the end of May.
A snap shot of those supporting Ethiopia through Tearfund in the Belfast City Marathon today. We would like to thank all who run, walked, volunteered and give to support those living in poverty in Ethiopia.
