Jesus said: ‘In as much as you did it unto one of the least of these you did it unto me.'

Harvest appeal 2006

As part of our harvest celebrations this year, we will be supporting two worthwhile projects as a way of sharing our plenty with people much less fortunate than us.

  What must it be like to be unable to live in your homeland or to have a home to call your own?  Our harvest appeal focuses on people in just such situations.

  First, we will be supporting the Baptist Missionary Society (BMS) World Mission Harvest Appeal - 'Body & Soul' - with monetary gifts.

  According to the BMS, forced from their homes in Burma and often leaving loved ones behind, Karen and Karenni refugees have crossed the border into Thailand in their thousands over the past 25 years.  Now living in refugee camps scattered along the border, they are people attempting to lead normal lives yet are scarred by the past and uncertain about the future.

  This year’s BMS appeal examines the issue of feeding both body and soul in the context of a refugee camp.  The BMS is confident that, with its help, there is hope for these people, despite their situation.

  One particular initiative has been to develop a system of horticulture to use the limited space available to maximum effect.   Families are learning to plant and grow their own crops.  This is providing them with new skills and better nutrition.  Farmers by tradition, these people sow their seed in the tears of captivity, removed from their own lands.  There is joy in the harvest, but they look forward to reaping freedom and returning home when their songs of joy will be at their loudest.

  Feeding the body, however important, is still only half the story.   The spiritual sowing and reaping that is happening now in these refugee camps is really exciting, said the BMS.  The biggest of these camps holds over 45,000 people, 27 Christian churches and a Bible college.  This is something to rejoice over.  Yet there is hunger for more, and more can be done.

  We will be learning more about this appeal during September’s church meeting and in worship on 17th September.  This should help us to consider prayerfully and carefully what our response to this appeal should be.  

  Envelopes will be available for gifts and there will be an opportunity for these gifts to be presented during our harvest celebrations.

  Second, we will be supporting Open Door with gifts of non-perishable food.  The name ‘Open Door’ is probably familiar to you because we regularly support it - and there was a short item on Open Door in last month’s Church Chat.

  Open Door is closer to home.  It is based in St Albans and seeks to serve and support those in our city without homes or work and with little hope in their lives.

  Denise Rogers, team leader at Open Door, summed up the charity’s aim as: “to provide a warm and safe environment for some of the district's most vulnerable adults.”

  You may have read that it is one of the charities that our current Mayor, Alison Steer, has chosen to support during her year of office.

  Open Door provides advice on housing issues, runs a day centre and a night shelter.  Rather than diminishing, demand for its services is increasing and putting even greater stress on limited resources.

  Even in affluent St  Albans there are people on the fringe of society who rely on us for support.  Denise emphasised that the work carried out by project staff, supported by donors and volunteers, really does make a difference to people's lives.

  Please pray for the work of Open Door and, as with the BMS appeal, there will be an opportunity for you to present your gifts during our harvest celebrations.

By Philip Whitlock.

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BMS Lebanon appeal

  Of course, the humanitarian and other crises in the Lebanon do not stop with the coming of the ceasefire between Israeli and Hezbollah forces. This is why the BMS World Mission’s Lebanon Appeal is continuing.

  Since the conflict started, Baptist partners in Lebanon have been bringing basic aid to the hurt and homeless in Beirut and its environs.

  BMS supporters’ generosity provided funds to answer the request for help from the Lebanese Society for Educational and Social Development.  Within a week of the fighting starting, the BMS - together with other Baptist organisations - sent a grant of over US$40,000 to provide food, drink, medicine and shelter for the Lebanese people.

From BMS World Mission.

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Sudan tops trauma table

  Sudan is the world’s most dangerous place for children, according to a Reuters’ poll of humanitarian experts.  Reporting the results of this poll, the United Nations’ Children’s Fund (Unicef) explained that youngsters in the Darfur region of the Sudan run the risk of being recruited as fighters or displaced, and are vulnerable to disease and malnutrition.

  Apparently 1.8m children have been affected by the three year conflict in Darfur.

  After the Sudan, the most dangerous places in the world for children are said to be: Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Somalia, India, the Palestine territories, Afghanistan, Chechnya and Myanmar.

  Unicef said that over 2m children have died as a direct result of armed conflict during the last decade and 20m have had to flee their homes.

Reported in The Metro and spotted by Peter Kelleher.