tear times autumn 2014

COOKING UP A STORMGet baking to end trafficking

SALVATION & SAFETYProtecting children in Nepal

FABULOUS BAKER Interview with Tom Herbert

REVIEW OF THE YEARHow your support is transforming lives

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AUTUMN ’14

tearfund.org

2 . TEAR TIMES Following Jesus where the need is greatest

WELCOME...AMAZING ACTS OF GENEROSITY

It was incredible to be at the BigChurchDayOut in May and see the generous, heartfelt and faith-filled response to our No Child Taken campaign. This was the first time we had presented the campaign to a broader audience, and more than 1,300 people signed up to support No Child Taken at the event!

This amazing act of generosity will help protect 4,000 children from trafficking. Thanks also to all of you who generously responded through Tear Times too – pledging your support to No Child Taken. Together, we can protect 50,000 vulnerable children in 2014.

Last year, I visited two Tearfund partners in Mumbai, Sahara and Oasis India, both of which work on the front line, rescuing children from traffickers and providing counselling and support.

It’s a heart-rending experience to be faced with the horrors of child trafficking first-hand. This Tear Times features two eyewitness accounts from Nepal. Steve Adams and Jamie Fyleman visited Tearfund’s child-trafficking prevention projects there. (Jamie, you may remember, wrote the moving article in the spring edition of Tear Times.) You can find out on page 8 how these two fathers felt when they had a personal encounter with children who had been trafficked.

There’s a special bonus in the centre of this Tear Times. Our annual review, ‘Following Jesus where the need is greatest’, is our big thank you for all you do to support Tearfund. And we’ve taken a look back at some of the amazing individuals we’ve featured in the magazine – including Lucy from Uganda, Sina from Cambodia and Nelida from Peru.

I hope you read and feel encouraged by these updates: your prayers, giving and campaigning are making a real difference to people’s lives. God bless you!

Photo: Ralph Hodgson/Tearfund

Peter Shaw twitter @ TearTimes | email [email protected]

Editor

TEAR TIMES . 3Following Jesus where the need is greatest

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‘WE CAN’T TURN OUR BACK ON CHILD TRAFFICKING’

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CONTENTS

NEWS

04 News Updates from around the world

07 Supporter news Your amazing fundraising efforts

FEATURES 08 Salvation and safety

How the church stops trafficking

22 Because we only have one planet We can care for creation today

24 The Big Bake Get baking and help end trafficking

28 Farewell to Created Celebrating 40 years of fair trade

30 Greater love Celebrate Christmas and support Syrian families

REVIEW OF THE YEAR

13 Following Jesus where the need is greatest Pull-out annual review and financial report

REFLECTIONS

21 Our greatest need is to follow Jesus Reflection from Matthew Frost, Tearfund Chief Executive

26 Interview: Tom Herbert Q&A with the Fabulous Baker Brother

Copyright @ Tearfund 2014. All rights reserved. Permission is granted for the reproduction of text from this publication for Tearfund promotional use. For all other uses, please contact us.

Cover image: Tearfund’s Big Bake is raising money for vulnerable children. Tom Price/Tearfund

‘WE DID NOT FIRE AT ALL THAT DAY’

‘I HAVE RECEIVED A BLESSING FROM GOD’

‘WE WILL PROTECT OUR CHILDREN’

4 . TEAR TIMES NEWS

IN THE NEWS...

YOUR SUPPORT IS SAVING CHILDREN IN CENTRAL AFRICAWe’ve been encouraged by your support for our emergency appeals for conflict-hit South Sudan and the Central African Republic (CAR). Your generosity means we can provide more food, clean water, household items, sanitation and hygiene help to vulnerable people.

Fighting in South Sudan began at the end of last year and despite peace agreements, insecurity continues and has resulted in 1.5 million South Sudanese being made homeless and 385,000 leaving for neighbouring countries. Nearly 4 million people are desperately short of food and there are growing fears of a major hunger crisis.

Donald Mavunduse, Tearfund’s Head of East and Southern Africa, said, ‘Ordinary families in parts of South Sudan face wide-scale famine and already hundreds of children are dying.’

Six Tearfund feeding centres in Jonglei State have seen sharp rises in malnourished children. Tearfund has fed an estimated 40,000 children under five and their mothers, as well as providing 55,000 others with items such as mosquito nets, sleeping mats and jerry cans.

Around 27,000 people also received food, seeds and tools, emergency latrines and benefited from repaired water facilities in Central Equatoria State.

Conflict in the CAR has resulted in 535,000 people being internally displaced and nearly 400,000 others fleeing to neighbouring countries. Despite a ceasefire being signed in July, more than half the 4.6 million population still need aid.

Visit tearfund.org/CAR or tearfund.org/southsudan to donate.

Photo: Niek Stam/Tearfund

‘YOUR GENEROSITY IS ENABLING US TO MAKE A REAL IMPACT TO REDUCE PEOPLE’S SUFFERING.’

PRAY FOR AN END TO CONFLICT Please continue to pray for an end to continuing insecurity and conflict affecting South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Syria.

Pray too for the Middle East which has been wracked by months of conflict and for lasting peace in the region.

NEWS TEAR TIMES . 5Following Jesus where the need is greatest

REBUILDING IN THE PHILIPPINES ONE YEAR ONRebuilding work by Tearfund in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan which struck the Philippines, is fast approaching its first anniversary.

More than 6,000 people died last November in the deadliest storm to hit the country on record, leaving many survivors without homes or incomes.

After the initial emergency phase where we helped nearly 200,000 Filipinos, Tearfund and our partners have continued to work in southern Samar, Leyte, northern Panay and northern Negros Occidental providing shelter and restoring livelihoods.

Another priority has been to give psychological support to children who have suffered losses and trauma because of the typhoon. Our teams are also helping communities be better prepared to cope with future disasters, for example by assisting them to develop their own disaster preparedness and response plans.

Thank you for all your prayers and support for Nang and the children from her village in Laos, which we featured in the last Tear Times. We have an encouraging update from Anne who works for World Concern Laos, Tearfund’s partner in the village.

Nang’s father Kimo has taken part in agriculture training and has been given vegetable seeds to grow so the family have food and income during the rainy season. And Nang’s older sister, Suke, has been given hairdressing training.

Anne said, ‘On behalf of the parents here in Laos, we would like to thank you for doing all you can to make this village safe for our children.

‘Your prayers, giving and sharing the stories with your church, family and friends, mean that more and more children are being protected from trafficking.’

Many children like Nang are still vulnerable to child trafficking. Find out more about Tearfund’s No Child Taken campaign and how you can protect children on page 8.

AN UPDATE FROM NANG’S VILLAGE

Nearly £8 million was raised for our work in the Philippines through our emergency appeal and the Disasters Emergency Committee and our typhoon response will continue until November 2016.

‘ON BEHALF OF THE PARENTS HERE IN LAOS, WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR DOING ALL YOU CAN TO MAKE THIS VILLAGE SAFE

FOR OUR CHILDREN’


Photo: Tom Price/Tearfund

Generous Phylis Hawkins made sure her 100th birthday was a day to remember for Tearfund as well as herself.

Instead of gifts, Phylis from Wales asked family and friends to give to Tearfund’s One Big Mountain appeal which aims to improve access to clean water for people in poverty. As a result, £700 was raised for Tearfund.

Phylis’s son-in-law, Paul Knight, says, ‘As a Christian, Mum is always mindful that there are many worse off than she is and she is ever so grateful to the Lord for what she has.

‘Also, she wants for nothing and it would be a sheer waste for her friends and family to give her countless chocolates and flowers when others are dying for want of fresh water. As it turned out, she still had a multitude of lovely wishes and gifts for her birthday but was also overjoyed that so many wanted to support One Big Mountain.’

6 . TEAR TIMES NEWS Following Jesus where the need is greatest

IN THE NEWS...

Jean volunteered to go overseas with us and travelled to Cambodia to work with our partner, the Cambodian Hope Organisation (CHO).

‘The more I heard about the wonderful work of CHO, the more excited I became about serving God there,’ said Jean.

During her stay, she learnt about the damaging impact of child trafficking, which is the subject of Tearfund’s No Child Taken campaign.

Jean was involved in teaching hygiene, sanitation, nutrition and gardening to schoolchildren and adults. She also worked with people living with HIV.

‘It was a privilege to be allowed to pray with patients in hospital and to bring them the touch of Jesus through the Holy Spirit. This is a memory I will always carry with me,’ she says. ‘There is so much to learn and I’m certainly richer for having been here and my faith has grown stronger as a result.’

Inspired by Jean? Email [email protected] to find out more about travelling overseas with Tearfund.

JEAN’S CAMBODIAN ADVENTURETaking it easy was the last thing on Jean Taylor’s mind when she turned 70. In fact, her birthday became the starting point for an amazing adventure with Tearfund.

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‘IT WAS A PRIVILEGE TO PRAY WITH PATIENTS IN HOSPITAL AND BRING THEM THE TOUCH OF JESUS’

PHYLIS’S 100TH BIRTHDAY GENEROSITY

Volunteer Jean helps out at a Cambodian hospital

Amazing centenarian Phylis

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Super-fit Tearfund supporter David Nelson has run and cycled more than 200 miles in seven events over six months to raise vital funds for our No Child Taken anti-trafficking campaign.

And the 34-year-old from Ballymena in Northern Ireland has not finished putting his body on the line for fundraising yet. In October, he’s planning to tackle The Wall, a duathlon which will see him cycle 28 miles and run 11 miles over trails and mountains.

David said, ‘Trafficking is an issue that I’ve had a growing awareness of since about 2006, primarily through working in Eastern Europe and learning of the dangers that exist there for young women living on their own.

‘When I decided to complete these challenges this year, I wanted to support an organisation that works with trafficked people. I spoke to a few folk and was handed an article from Tear Times, which told the story of parents who actually believed that selling their children was a good choice.

‘It wasn’t about people being taken against their will but rather families being so desperate that they made the choice to be involved in the trafficking of their own children. This blew my mind, so I contacted Tearfund and agreed to support No Child Taken.’

Theology student David hopes to raise ‘as much as he can’ through his endurance events. To support him, search for ‘David Nelson’ at virginmoneygiving.com or by texting ‘TEARFUND PROTECT’ to 70444 to give £5 by SMS.

NEWS TEAR TIMES . 7Following Jesus where the need is greatest

Praying for Vital extra funds via

our emergency appeal to help people caught up in conflict in the Central African Republic

The continuing work of our partners around the world to stop child trafficking

Peace efforts in troubled South Sudan where fighting has displaced hundreds of thousands of people

Giving thanks for BigChurchDayOut and

for the many hundreds of people who signed up to support our No Child Taken campaign at the event

Your generosity which enabled us to help hundreds of thousands of Filipinos affected by Typhoon Haiyan a year ago

The hundreds of people who contacted their MP to ask them to act on climate change

PRAYER PULSE

DAVID’S ENDURANCE TEST TO END TRAFFICKING

8 . TEAR TIMES FEATURE Following Jesus where the need is greatest

HOW THE LOCAL CHURCH IS PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM TRAFFICKING

Jamie and Steve – two Tearfund staff members, and dads – visited Nepal earlier this year to meet and

work with Tearfund’s church network, which is right at the forefront in the fight against trafficking.

Here, they reflect on their experiences.

Children in Nepal are highly vulnerable to be trafficked across the border to India

SALVATION& SAFETY

FEATURE TEAR TIMES . 9Following Jesus where the need is greatest

Who will win? The church or the traffickers? And what’s at stake? For the traffickers – profit. For the church – the children God asks us to protect. And what does this require of us? First, and most importantly, to stand in the gap...

While Jamie and I were working with Tearfund’s church network in Nepal, a ‘gap’ became obvious to us. A gap which traffickers are pulling children into, and which even Police sub-inspector Comerallel told me is becoming too big for his force to stand in. ‘In these villages, there are traffickers expanding their networks,’ he said. ‘When we go to find the traffickers, the major problem is that they have the power and attack us.’

What Jamie and I saw Tearfund’s partner and church network doing was God’s answer to this evil: the church standing in the gap, putting themselves between the children and the traffickers, protecting and preventing them ever going through what Shulie experienced.

Shulie, whom we met during our trip, was taken by traffickers from Nepal as a child. Her story, though too disturbing to recount in detail here, is common. She told us: ‘I was so young, I didn’t know I was being brought into this brothel. I didn’t know anything about the darkness of this world and the kind of things

people did. They used to force me into this work, and I used to tell them, “Please, don’t do this with me,” but they never listened.’

CHURCH DRIVEN BY LOVE So why the church? Because it’s driven by love, not money. Because it’s the largest worldwide network on earth today. Because it’s in communities permanently – every day of the week, every week. Because Jesus said he would never leave or forsake the church.

But what happens when there are no Christians, let alone a church, in places where traffickers are operating?

Seven years ago, Ishoori Senchuri, then 15, became the answer to this question in her community. Living in a Hindu village in the beautiful Himalayan foothills of Nepal, she’d never heard of Jesus – until he appeared to her in a dream.

‘My health was in a very critical situation,’ she explains. ‘I dreamt a white-clothed man was calling me and he told me “I will give you life.” Jesus was calling me to him. In my dream I also saw a church. So, the next day I tried to find the church – and I did, so I went there. I heard lots of things about Jesus Christ and salvation. I was completely healed and there was no problem in my stomach after that.’

STEVE ADAMS, HUSBAND TO RUTH AND DAD TO AIDAN, OSCAR, EBEN AND POPPY

Photo: Steve Adams/Tearfund


BREAKTHROUGH IN THE COMMUNITY So Ishoori rented a room and began a church – the first in her community. But the next three years were difficult, as Ishoori explains. ‘After three months, threats came from the community. They said, “There will be conflict if you stay here.”’ But Ishoori did stay and, after several years, things began to change.

‘Four years ago, we met Tearfund’s partner and it was a breakthrough in our community,’ Ishoori recalls. ‘Before that, we were very scared to go into the community to speak out about the gospel.’

Tearfund helped Ishoori’s church to become an asset to the community in order to meet the most strongly-felt needs – which was confronting trafficking. We first worked with her to open a church after-school club for children. ‘Many of the children who came were from very poor families, and were malnourished,’ explains Ishoori.

PROTECTING CHILDREN They couldn’t even go to school, as school wasn’t affordable for them. We were recognised in the community through the children’s programme, then through the women’s groups we started, and now through the business training and the cross-community trafficking training.’

Today, four years on, Ishoori has seen 100 first-generation converts. Now 22, she and her leadership team pastor the church. And they are hungry for God’s word: when Ishoori asked me to preach, she told me, ‘Please bring a sermon that is at least 45 minutes!’

True to our purpose – ‘Following Jesus where the need is greatest’ – Tearfund still works in Ishoori’s remote community and remains the only outside agency operating there. And the effect? Salvation and safety. ‘A few years ago, many of the women and children from our community were being trafficked to Mumbai. Now the people are aware and they say, “We will protect our children.”’

PLEASE STAND IN THE GAPWhat does standing in the gap between traffickers and children mean? It means praying and investing. It costs Tearfund 200 times more to rescue a child like Shulie (we continue to do this) than to prevent a child like Meena (in Jamie’s story, right) being take in the first place.

Put another way: Over a year it costs just £12 a month to protect four girls like Shulie and close every ‘door’ traffickers would try to come through. In contrast, to rescue, rehabilitate and reintegrate just one child it costs closer to £7,000. And the scars they’re left with are life-long.

YOU CAN HELP PROTECT 50,000 CHILDREN VULNERABLE TO TRAFFICKING,

DISASTERS AND DISEASE. SEE THE FORM BETWEEN PAGES 8 AND 9

twitter #nochildtaken facebook /tearfund 🌐 tearfund.org Photos: Jamie Fyleman/Tearfund

Ishoori’s church is protecting children in her village


My smartphone is a real blessing for me when I travel, as it means I can make video calls to my six-year-old son, Zeph.

To be honest though, there’s something about taking it on a Tearfund trip that feels inappropriate. How do you balance the trappings of modern Western life with the poverty I inevitably see?

On my trip to Nepal with Steve, that sense of inappropriateness seemed more real than ever. I’d been sitting down with a group of young children, whom our partner had rescued from the most awful situations. All had been trafficked.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS Now they’re safe in a halfway house and I could spend a bit of time getting to know them a little. One of them, Meena, a six-year-old, had been grabbed from outside her home last year by a stranger and was taken to the Indian border. She was spotted by a church-trained volunteer and her captor ran away when approached.

So, with this group of about ten children, I started showing pictures of Zeph, at home and celebrating his birthday.

And then it struck me. As these children, who had faced unimaginable trauma, looked at these pictures, I realised that they had no ability to really connect with what they were seeing on the phone screen.

NO CONCEPT OF HOME For these kids, not only would a birthday party be an alien concept, the fact is that not one of them would have actually known their birthday. They didn’t really know their parents either, nor did they have a concept of ‘home’.

Extreme, vile poverty had robbed them of it all. Zeph knows his birthday. He knows where he was born, who his parents are and all about his wider family. I’m the same – my Gloucestershire upbringing, the love of my parents, the memories of childhood – they all make me who I am.

For millions of children, like those we met, these roots have been severed. No child should ever be taken.

‘JESUS CALLED ME TO HIM. IN MY DREAM I SAW A CHURCH...’

JAMIE FYLEMAN, HUSBAND TO LUCY & DAD TO ZEPH

We want to protect 50,000 vulnerable children this year

12 . TEAR TIMES Following Jesus where the need is greatest12 . TEAR TIMES FEATURE Following Jesus where the need is greatest

Q. What stands in the gap between a person living in poverty and a lifetime of hunger?

A. Your church

�� J�� e � �� t

Invite a Tearfund speaker to your church and find out how you can stand in the gap for the many living in poverty across the world. Our speakers are trained, experienced, and are loaded with stories of God’s work in some of the world’s poorest communities... and they love visiting churches like yours.

IT’S EASY TO BOOK0845 521 [email protected]/speaker

TEAR TIMES . 13Following Jesus where the need is greatest REVIEW OF THE YEAR TEAR TIMES . 13Following Jesus where the need is greatest

TEARFUND ANNUAL REVIEW 2013/14

This has been the year where we reaffirmed our calling – to follow Jesus where the need is greatest. This review looks back on a year when, thanks to your prayers, campaigning and giving, we have responded to devastating disasters such as the Philippines typhoon and the ongoing crisis in Syria.

Q. What stands in the gap between a person living in poverty and a lifetime of hunger?

A. Your church

�� J�� e � �� t

Invite a Tearfund speaker to your church and find out how you can stand in the gap for the many living in poverty across the world. Our speakers are trained, experienced, and are loaded with stories of God’s work in some of the world’s poorest communities... and they love visiting churches like yours.

IT’S EASY TO BOOK0845 521 [email protected]/speaker

Following Jesus where the need is greatest

We have also maintained and developed our long-term work releasing individuals, families and whole communities from extreme poverty through local churches and our Christian partners. And we have continued to challenge and change the unjust systems and policies that lock people in poverty.

We also revisit some of the issues, campaigns and events we highlighted this year through Tear Times, and update the stories of some familiar faces we’ve featured in the magazine. Everything you read here is only possible because you gave, you prayed and you stood alongside the poorest people on earth in Jesus’ name. Thank you for following Jesus where the need is greatest.

TEARFUND’S VISION Launched in 2006, 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.

Rabe at a Tearfund water distribution site, Central African Republic

Photo: Hannah Maule-ffinch/Tearfund

14 . TEAR TIMES REVIEW OF THE YEAR Following Jesus where the need is greatest

DETERMINATION IN DISASTEROUR EXPERT TEAMS RESPONDING TO URGENT NEED

Last year you responded quickly to those suffering the devastating effects of disasters, allowing us to meet the immediate needs of those whose lives had been ripped apart. Thanks to generous givers like you, we were able to provide £24.4m responding to disasters.

The town of Marabut, destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan, PhilippinesPhoto: Marcus Perkins/Tearfund

REVIEW OF THE YEAR TEAR TIMES . 15Following Jesus where the need is greatest

OVER THE LAST YEAR OUR DISASTER RESPONSE TEAMS ALSO WORKED IN AFGHANISTAN, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC, INDIA, SOUTH SUDAN AND SUDAN.

SYRIACivil war in Syria caused more than 9 million Syrians to flee their homes, there are now close to 3 million people living in neighbouring countries to escape the conflict. With your help last year we:

• providedmonthlyfoodparcelsforalmost7,000people

• ensured4,550peoplehadaplace to live

• deliveredpre-schooleducation,traumacareforwomen and children and legal advice to help people retaintheirrightswhenfarfromhome

SyrianrefugeeAfyasaidthistooneofTearfund’spartnersin the region:

‘YOUBRINGBACKOURDIGNITY.YOUTREATUSLIKEHUMANS,LIKEWEHAVEFEELINGS.’

PHILIPPINESIn November 2013, Typhoon Haiyan swept across the Philippines. More than 14 million people were affected, over a million homes damaged and 26,000 people injured. But with your help we have:

• givenfamiliesessentialssuch as food, cooking equipment, sleeping mats and toiletries

• providedsafespacestoplay and psychological support for children

• rebuiltstructuresandhelped communities prepare for future disasters.

We were able to help Lucilo, a fisherman whose boat – and livelihood – was destroyed by Haiyan. He said:

‘I HAVE RECEIVED A BLESSING FROM GOD IN THE RELIEF THAT WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN.’

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Reignited conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has resulted in high levels of violence. More than 3 million people have had to flee their homes. With your gifts we:

• providedbasicessentialssuch as hygiene kits, tools and training

• installedrainwaterharvesting tanks to provide clean, safe water

• providedseedsandagricultural training to help people rebuild their lives

Collette was one recipient of seeds and agricultural training. She says:

‘WE ARE SO THANKFUL TO GOD AND TO TEARFUND FOR HELPING US THROUGH THESE DIFFICULT TIMES.’

Photo: Hannah Maule-ffinch/TearfundPhoto: Hannah Maule-ffinch/Tearfund

Photo: Marcus Perkins/Tearfund


Thank you

REPORT BACK ON PROGRESS IN 2013-2014Thank you for joining us as we follow Jesus where the need is greatest. Your prayers, generosity and campaigning have made a huge impact over the last year.

Income remained largely the same, with just a small reduction of £0.6m. Although there was a decrease in government grant, this was partly because of funding delays and the security situations in a number of countries where we work, which meant that some projects had to start later. However, this was mostly balanced out by your generous response to our appeals in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Philippines and Syria. Thank you.

We are keeping a very tight rein on costs and are constantly looking for efficiencies and savings wherever they can be made. We will seek to ensure that your money goes as far as it possibly can as we continue to follow Jesus where the need is greatest.

Alison Hopkinson Finance Director

INCOMEGeneral donations £32.3m Government grants £15.1m Emergency appeals £9.3m Other income £2.7m

Total income £59.4m

54%

25%

16%

5%

EXPENDITUREEnvisioning the global church £5.5m Developing communities £23.8m Changing unjust policies and practices £3.3m Responding to disasters £24.4m

Total charitable activities £57.0m

Fundraising and Governance £5.3m

Total expenditure £62.3m

9%

38%

5%

39%

Photos: (L-R) Hannah Maule-Ffinch, Cally Myddelton, Cally Myddelton, Hannah Maule-Ffinch, Cally Myddelton, Ralph Hodgson, Hannah Maule-Ffinch, Hannah Maule-Ffinch, Hannah Maule-Ffinch, Tom Price, Aubrey Graham, Hannah Maule-Ffinch/Tearfund


THIS YEAR...

100,000churches have been part of Tearfund’s

worldwide network

9,500churches worldwide were mobilised to meet the needs of their communities

15,000churches were trained in integral mission by

Tearfund

370 people went on

self-funded short term trips with Tearfund

26,000 campaigners joined

us through the IF campaign

A snapshot of Tearfund’s work across the world this year


COMMITTED TO COMMUNITIESTHE LOCAL CHURCH IN ACTION

At the heart of Tearfund’s long-term development work – releasing people from the grip of poverty, for good – is a commitment to empowering local churches to be the answer to poverty in their neighbourhoods. We work in more than 50 countries through 260 local partners. Here’s just a few highlights from communities across three continents…

In Cambodia, Sina’s life has been transformed thanks to you



ASIA: SINA IN CAMBODIA

We introduced you to Sina from Tonle

Batie village in Cambodia in the Summer 2013 Tear Times. Back then, Sina’s life was at a crossroads, and Ke Pich the pastor at Tonle Batie Church had just started to move his congregation into action to address their needs. Poverty is widespread in the village – parents on very low wages struggle desperately to feed their children.

Sina, along with her husband and three children are among the poorest in Tonle Batie. All five of them live in a tiny shack they built themselves out of scrap. With no electricity, clean water or sanitation, life was a gruelling daily struggle. Back in 2013, this is how Sina described her circumstances, ‘I feel like I have nothing.’

Since then, thanks to your support, there has been an amazing change. Sina had never been to church before but, encouraged by Ke Pich, she now regularly attends, and has been invited to join the income generation scheme. ‘I’ve learnt that Jesus can show us the way through prayer – he is a God of love and can help us. Sometimes when my children get sick and I don’t have money, I pray that God will heal them and they get better.’

AFRICA: LUCY IN UGANDA

In the Summer 2013 edition of Tear Times we

told you the story of Lucy, a widow and grandmother living in Ogongora, rural Uganda. She cares for six children, including four grandchildren following the deaths of her daugher and son-in-law. Because of her age and ill health, Lucy struggled to provide food and essentials for her extended family.

Tearfund have been working in Lucy’s village through

our partner the Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG). Thanks to your support and prayers, PAG has taken Ogongora on a journey where they have identified the needs of the village and provided training and support to enable the community to overcome the root causes of poverty. The results are amazing.

We are delighted to share with you the progress that has been made in Lucy’s circumstances and the hope restored in her life. ‘In the past, I’ve struggled to pay school fees and provide enough food,’ says Lucy. ‘It’s still hard sometimes, but things are so much better now thanks to the work of the church.’

LATIN AMERICA: NELIDA IN PERU

A bit further back in the Spring 2012

Tear Times, we introduced you to Nelida, from Cajamarca in Peru. At that time she was desperate to provide a secure future for her daughter Alicia. ‘I don’t want Alicia to have the same life as me,’ she said. ‘I want the best for her. This is why I do all I can to earn enough so my daughter can go to school and study.’

Thanks to your support, this year Warmis – Tearfund’s partner in Cajamarca – has provided literacy classes, needlework training and other income-generating programmes so mothers like Nelida can provide for their children’s education. They also demonstrate God’s love and share their faith with the villagers.

This has transformed Nelida’s life. ‘Thanks to Warmis I have come to know God’s love for us,’ she says. ‘Since I came to know God, I feel that my burden is lighter. In him, I have found the hope of a better tomorrow. I have faith in God, who has given me joy and a desire to keep on improving my life.’

MORE CHURCHES TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES

This year we mobilised 4,145 more local churches to address the needs of poor, vulnerable and marginalised people within their communities. Thank you on behalf of Lucy, Sina, Nellida and many thousands more across the world!

‘I’VE LEARNT THAT JESUS CAN SHOW US THE WAY THROUGH PRAYER – HE IS A GOD OF LOVE’

Photos: Ralph Hodgson, Cally Spittle, Geoff Crawford/Tearfund


SUCCESSES Last June the G8 came to Northern Ireland and thousands of Christians joined the Enough food for everyone... IF campaign. The church united, showed we follow a God of justice, and spoke out about the scandal of one person in eight going hungry when the world produces enough food for us all. The church services at Westminster and Belfast, rallies at London’s Hyde Park and Belfast’s Botanic Gardens, and the united service in St Macartin’s Cathedral, Enniskillen were wonderful days. The churches overflowed.

We won! 2013/14 was the first year the UK government gave 0.7 per cent of

national income as aid, 44 years after first being promised. The IF campaign helped finish the job.

We won again! In June 2013 the EU passed the legislation we wanted in Tearfund’s Unearth the Truth campaign, to make mining, gas and oil firms report payments they make to governments. Now churches and citizens will be able to hold their governments to account for how they use this money, so it’s not lost to corruption and can benefit poor communities instead.

CHALLENGES Now the US and EU have passed transparency laws, our Unearth the Truth campaign transformed into Secret’s Out which is calling the G20 countries to follow suit at their summit in Brisbane in November (please pray for success). We lobbied David Cameron and he gave it his backing, and we’ve lobbied the Australian High Commission (with our kangaroo, Matilda). Join in at tearfund.org/secretsout

Our climate change campaign is taking a new direction. If we want a fair, sustainable world where everyone has enough, we need to go beyond sending messages to MPs and changing our light bulbs. We need to dethrone the false god of consumerism from our hearts and our economy. If everyone consumed as much as the average UK citizen, we’d need three planets to support it all, but we only have one. So we’ve been planning hard – find out more on page 22.

SPEAKING UP FOR JUSTICE

HOW YOU HAVE HELPED TO TRANSFORM UNJUST POLICIES THROUGH PRAYER

AND PETITION

This is just a snapshot of some of the progress and achievements we’ve made this year, to download the full annual report and financial statements visit tearfund.org/annualreport or you can request a printed copy from [email protected] or call 0208 977 9144.

‘WE FOLLOW A GOD OF JUSTICE AND SPOKE OUT ABOUT THE SCANDAL OF ONE PERSON IN EIGHT GOING HUNGRY’

‘WE NEED TO DETHRONE THE FALSE GOD OF CONSUMERISM FROM OUR HEARTS AND OUR ECONOMY’

Our greatest need is to follow JesusLast September, I visited Tearfund projects in Brazil where poverty is still widespread and devastating – despite the country having the strongest economy in Latin

America. Tearfund’s Brazilian partners work in the semi-arid region, which has suffered two consecutive years of drought.

Travelling even further inland, we visited the remote village of Fonseca, home to the Quilombolas, a community of about 300 people descended from African slaves. The Quilombolas are one of the most marginalised groups in Brazil: they often suffer racist abuse and are treated as outcasts.

LOOKING TO CHRIST Through our partner, Ação Evangélica (ACEV), we have provided these forgotten and abused people with a huge water tank in the centre of their community. Getting clean water used to mean an arduous two-hour round trek. Thanks to the love and care shown by ACEV, eight people in the community have now chosen to follow Jesus.

For me, my journey to the Quilombolas’ community is a picture of ‘Following Jesus where the need is greatest’, the new way in which we are describing our work. In Brazil, it is clear we are going ‘where the need is greatest’, enduring the harshest terrain, determined to seek out the most marginalised people.

Where we go is also as a result of ‘following Jesus’ – looking to him to guide us to the places where the body of Christ is already operating.

REFINING OUR WORK But following Jesus is not simply about geography: it is a personal challenge to submit our lives and let him take the lead. That has implications for us, not just in the work we do across the world, but also in our everyday lives. I need to follow Jesus not just through Tearfund, but with my family, through my involvement with St Mary’s Church in East Molesey and in my personal relationship with him. He’s calling me to follow him where the need is greatest in everything I do.

Please read and be encouraged by the review section in the centre pages of this Tear Times. It’s an overview of all that has been achieved thanks to your prayers, giving and commitment to Tearfund over the last year. As we look forward, we are seeking to sharpen and refine what we do, and where we work. We plan to seek out people in greatest need – particularly

people disqualified by their gender, disability or ethnicity. We’re following Jesus to reach the most vulnerable, communities devastated by disaster, children at risk and older people. Thank you for walking with us on this journey.

REFLECTION TEAR TIMES . 21Following Jesus where the need is greatest

MATTHEW FROST, CHIEF EXECUTIVE

‘JESUS CALLS ME TO FOLLOW HIM WHERE THE

NEED IS GREATEST IN EVERYTHING I DO’

Children from Syria and Jordan line up at a new children’s school Photo: Sara Guy/Tearfund

22 . TEAR TIMES REFLECTION Following Jesus where the need is greatest

In the UK, we’re living as if we have three planets worth of resources to use up – and that will have dire consequences for the world’s poorest people. And for us. But there is a better way to live...

Written by Matthew Currey

Ponder this question for a moment. What is more important – praying or reading your Bible? Of course, it’s a really silly question. Both of these are vital parts of what it means to have a thriving relationship with our loving creator God. We would not want one without the other.

It’s the same when we ask the question about what is more important, loving God or loving our neighbour? Both are clear and interconnected commandments (Mark 12:28-34).

We share the same planet with our neighbours.If we damage the environment, it’s our global neighbours who suffer. So, if we want to fully love our neighbours we must care for creation too.

CONCERN FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS I’m convinced that regardless of who we are, or what we own, we all have things that we love and that we cherish. The Bible states that the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it (Psalm 24). However, if we all carry on living the way we are, will our future generations be able to cherish the wonders of God’s creation?

Extreme poverty has continued to decrease and whilst that trend may be set to continue in the short term, the reality is we are more unequal and the planet is more damaged. In the UK we are currently living as if we had three planet earths.

BECAUSE WE ONLY HAVE ONE PLANET

‘We’re living as if we have three planets worth of resources’

Photo: iStockphoto

REFLECTION TEAR TIMES . 23Following Jesus where the need is greatest

BECAUSE WE ONLY HAVE ONE PLANETLIVING BEYOND OUR MEANS In our progressive, high-tech society, we are living beyond our means. Put simply we only have one planet and we are destroying it. And it is the global poor who are feeling and will increasingly feel the impacts of climate

change the most. However this year’s flooding in the UK also highlights that this is a problem that is close to home too.

Is this really the future that we desire? It really doesn’t have to be this way. Are we also called by God to care for his planet and the people who depend on it? What can we do to play a part in making a difference?

FOUR SIMPLE THINGS WE CAN DO, TODAYWE CAN PRAY – The Lord’s and everything in it (Psalm 24). We need to pray that we, and our leaders, come to realise this afresh and to care better for all that God has created.

WE CAN CAMPAIGN – with the 2015 General Election only months away, you could write to your MP to discuss these issues. We are partnering with an initiative called Hope for the Future (hftf.org.uk). Please email [email protected] if you would value any advice or support.

WE CAN LIVE DIFFERENTLY – our actions and lifestyle are an important part of our discipleship. What one thing could you do to make a change? Could you fly less, eat less meat, switch to renewable energy (ecotricity.co.uk) or aim to waste less food (lovefoodhatewaste.com)?

WE CAN SHARE MORE AND CONSUME LESS – Streetbank (streetbank.com) is a great initiative that encourages us to share more and buy less. Do we all really need to keep buying into the consumer dream?

JOIN US FOR THE BIG BAKE AND USE YOUR CULINARY SKILLS TO HELP PROTECT VULNERABLE CHILDREN.

WHAT IS THE BIG BAKE?The Big Bake comprises two foodie fundraisers:

BAKE OFF A baking competition for you and your friends

BAKE SALE A bake sale to run as a coffee morning

or after your church service

BUT I CAN’T BAKE!The Big Bake is for anyone, not just those who are handy

with a recipe. Have a go. Your effort will help change lives and, who knows, you might surprise yourself…

IS THERE A PRIZE?Yes! We’ll be running a competition where you can upload

your entries to our website (tearfund.org). The three photos with the most votes for ‘Cake I’d love to eat’ will win a place on a baking course at Hobbs House Bakery, run by Tearfund

friend Tom Herbert, star of Channel 4’s Fabulous Baker Brothers. (Tom’s interviewed on page 26)

To get involved, visit tearfund.org/bigbake and sign up.



ENTER OUR FOODIE FUNDRAISER... ...And be in with a chance of winning one of three places on a baking course at Hobbs House Bakery, run by Tearfund friend Tom Herbert, star of Channel 4’s Fabulous Baker Brothers.

WIN3 PLACES ON A BAKING COURSE UP FOR GRABS!

Photo: iStockphoto


BREAD OF HEAVEN

Q&A WITH TOM HERBERT

TOM IS A FIFTH-GENERATION BAKER WITH HOT BREAD IN

HIS GENES AND A MISSION TO SHARE HANDMADE BREAD

WITH THE NATION.

He is the baking half of Channel 4’s Fabulous Baker Brothers, and runs Hobbs House Bakery in

Chipping Sodbury. This January, Tom – along with his 12-year-old son, Milo – visited child-trafficking

prevention projects in Laos, South-East Asia, to support Tearfund’s No Child Taken campaign.

INTERVIEW BY PETER SHAW

What was it like visiting Tearfund’s trafficking projects in Laos?

Visiting Laos was my first experience of a poor community anywhere in the world. I found it really humbling. I was impressed by the sense of community and resourcefulness with so little. When you meet smiling people, it’s hard to see immediately where the issues are. It seems nice and warm compared to the UK and felt quite inviting. But you have to look deeper. You could make a lovely postcard with these huts up on sticks, with water buffalo in front, but you don’t have to look very far to see the reality. This is a country

that has been left behind as others developed. Not only do they not have anything, they don’t see a way out of it. So it feels helpless.

As a father, how did it feel meeting children vulnerable to trafficking?

These children are loved just as much as any that I know and have in my family. It’s really upsetting that things could get so bad that parents would risk losing their children. It makes you immediately wonder what can be done about this. And I love what Tearfund does – giving people a hand up rather than a handout, with a focus on prevention.

Because there is work to be done rescuing children and bringing them back. But if you can stop them going in the first place, then you can save a whole load of emotional and physical damage. So, I support anything that can be done to help keep them at home and together as a family.

With child trafficking such a huge global issue, what can we do to prevent it?

Tearfund is an organised, proactive, committed and creative group of people who have identified child trafficking as being an issue that not only needs addressing but can be

prevented. I’ve seen that being lived out through the partners in Laos. Until child trafficking is put behind us, we owe it to the children who are defenceless, who don’t have any choice, to do what we can to support them. There’s something really wrong and broken about our world but we don’t have to leave it there. Tearfund’s partners are working to prevent child trafficking and we can help and support them. I’ve seen that with my own eyes and met the families that this affects. The thought of us just turning our back on them is one that we really can’t contemplate.

TOM’S ‘STICKY STICKS’

RECIPE

When Tom visited Laos, he taught young girls to make simple low-tech snacks called ‘sticky sticks’ (a bit like long doughnuts), to help them generate an income and to lessen the lure of trafficking for them. So that the recipe could be used by people who don’t have much equipment, Tom used an empty (125ml) bottle of water and its cap for measuring. You might like to try it at home, as part of a church meeting or as a fundraiser for Tearfund’s work with trafficked children. (You can heat the oil on a camping stove.)

INGREDIENTS:4 handfuls of plain flour 125ml of boiling water 5 caps of sugar 1 cap of salt 2 caps of baking powder

PREPARATION: Mix all the ingredients, roll into long sausage-like sticks and deep fry until golden and hot. Remove the sticks from the oil with tongs and place them on kitchen roll to drain off excess oil.

FOR THE DIP: Mix a dollop of condensed milk with drinking chocolate.


‘THERE’S SOMETHING BROKEN ABOUT OUR WORLD

BUT WE DON’T HAVE TO LEAVE IT THERE’



Created opened for business in 1975. Known then as Tearcraft, it was a pioneer of fair trade shopping. Forty incredible years on, Created is preparing to draw to a close in 2015. Neil Stevens, Head of Created, takes the opportunity to look back with thankfulness...

Closing Created is the right decision at the right time, but it was still a hard one. Breaking and explaining the news to volunteers, staff and partners has been emotional for all of us. But it’s also been an incredible time of recognising and celebrating all that has been achieved.

SO WHY NOW? At Tearfund, we are called to follow Jesus where the need is greatest and in 1974 there was a huge need for fair trade to make it onto the public and political agenda. Today, things are significantly different.

Created was one of the first to bridge the gap between UK buyers and artisan sellers in poor communities around the world, and we’re deeply proud of that. It was win-win situation – consumers got beautiful products and the sellers got a fair price and the support to grow their businesses.

Since then, huge progress has been made in raising awareness of issues of trade justice and fairly-traded products are much more common.

There’s still some way to go until ethical trading is the norm, but with organisations like the Fairtrade Foundation and Traidcraft as well as individual consumers like you taking the baton forward, our particular role is less vital.

Added to this, the retail industry has changed hugely, and costs and competition mean that Created will struggle to remain viable as a business. We want to be able to end well and support our partners through the change.

FINISHING WELL We’ve launched a new catalogue enclosed with this Tear Times – our last one. Our products have got better and better over the years, so it’s fitting that our last range is the best yet!

Together with our amazing volunteers, we’re doing everything we can to make this season record-breaking. You can help us by Christmas shopping with Created! Order your catalogue by calling 0845 218 3960 or shop online at createdgifts.org

A fond farewell to...

We celebrate 40 years of fair trade success and innovation


CREATED: A POTTED HISTORY

Tearfund founder George Hoffman is told

an aeroplane is returning empty from an aid mission. Never one to miss an opportunity, George suggests filling the plane full of products to sell in the UK. Tearcraft is born.

The first Tearcraft catalogue plus a few

church events result in the sale of one million jute plant holders.

Our official volunteer network grows to

more than 50 and Tearcraft blossoms. Volunteers have been our heroes ever since.

A suggestion of decorating parasols with ‘waves

and spirals’ is lost in translation, and the prototype arrives with an alternative pattern of ‘webs and spiders’. Product development is never straight-forward!

A whole container of orders is washed

overboard into the Bay of Bengal during a stormy transit. Artisans triumph over adversity by crafting the whole order again in time for Christmas.

A number of Tearcraft partners help

communities affected by the tsunami. There’s now a whole fleet of Sri Lankan canoes called Tearcraft!

Always prepared to embrace change,

Tearcraft becomes Created as part of an initiative to reach a wider audience.

Also, we want to leave an ongoing legacy. That’s why we’re working closely with Traidcraft, transferring relationships wherever possible to ensure our partners, volunteers and buyers can continue to be part of building a fairer world.

Most of you will have contributed to Created somehow over the years – buying, selling, volunteering or praying. Together with my team and our partners around the world, I want to say thank you for being part of something truly beautiful and genuinely world-changing. God bless you.

Thank youLIVES TRANSFORMED As well as reshaping trading landscapes and shopping habits across the UK, Created and our partners have been part of transforming individual lives around the world.

ASHA HANDICRAFTS, INDIA When Rafique approached Asha, he was a skilled but impoverished woodworker with a prototype of a cat-shaped box. Thirteen years on, we’ve sold more than 23,000 of Rafique’s boxes. Sadly, Rafique has now passed away, but his family business is thriving.

TAYPE TEXTILES, PERU Secure work is scarce in rural Peru. Taype is enabling women to make a sustainable living by knitting hats, scarves and gloves. The women could hardly believe it when one of their hats made it onto the cover of our 2009 catalogue!

HEED HANDICRAFTS, BANGLADESH Twenty years ago, Lovely Baroi was taught silk painting techniques by trainers visiting Heed. She took that skill and transformed it into a business that today employs 27 women who are all able to support their families as a result.

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This year marks the centenary of this amazing expression of peace and good will between the two sides battling in the fields at Flanders. ‘It was a beautiful moonlit night with frost on the ground,’ says Albert Moren, a soldier who served in the trenches. ‘There was a lot of commotion in the German trenches... And then they sang Stille Nacht [Silent Night]. It was one of the highlights of my life.’

This is also a significant year for HOPE – a coalition of all the major Christian denominations and organisations, including Tearfund, that aim to bring change to their communities. As part of this mission year, HOPE has brought together denominations, military chaplaincies and Christian ministries to develop resources to mark the First World War anniversary. Greater Love, points to Jesus’ love for humanity, using the Bible verse John 15:13, which is often quoted at remembrance events.

CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF JESUS IN YOUR COMMUNITY As the culmination of the year’s commemorations, Tearfund, HOPE and Sports Chaplaincy UK are encouraging groups to hold Silent Night Carols events across the country. Venues for the services will range from huge sports stadiums to community centres, schools and local churches.

Rev Andy Rimmer, vicar of the Lantern Church and chaplain at AFC Bournemouth, who has held Christmas services at the football ground in previous years, says, ‘The carol service is a chance to celebrate Jesus’ birth in a completely unique environment. We want this event to have a real community feel, as well as being attended by supporters of the clubs.’

HOST YOUR OWN SILENT NIGHT EVENT But it doesn’t have to be at a stadium or a sports club. We’d love you to host a Silent Night Carols event at your church or in your community. As well as celebrating the birth of Jesus, you can use the service to raise money for families suffering because of the continued conflict in Syria.

Visit silentnightcarols.org to order Silent Night Carols programmes, download a film and a short drama sketch written by our friends at Out of the Ark. The website has many more resources: all you need to get involved.

GREATER LOVEThis Christmas, you can celebrate the birth of Jesus while helping suffering families in Syria.

‘GREATER LOVE HAS NO ONE

THAN THIS: TO LAY DOWN ONE’S LIFE FOR ONE’S

FRIENDS’ JOHN 15:13


SUPPORT SYRIAN FAMILIES THIS CHRISTMAS

Since it began in 2011, the conflict in Syria has shattered a nation, bringing death, devastation and darkness. This Christmas, by holding a Silent Night Carols event, you can bring the light of Jesus to Syria.

More than three years on and the civil war in Syria shows no signs of ending. Sadly, nor does the suffering of more than 9 million ordinary Syrians who are in need. The overall death toll is believed to be more than 170,000, with an estimated 11,000 of these children.

Tearfund partners in Lebanon and Jordan are responding to the needs of families who have fled there and those we can reach within

Syria itself who have found themselves without an income or any idea of when the fighting will end.

By holding a collection at your Christmas service, you can provide essentials such as food, primary education classes, shelter and ways to keep warm in the winter. Your gifts will also help women and children cope with what they have seen and experienced. Visit silentnightcarols.org to find out how to get involved.

Please hold a Silent Night Carol event to raise money for Syrian children

Photo: Eleanor Bentall/Tearfund

Photo: © IWM Q31578

PLEASE DON’T DO THIS WITH ME’SHULIE, NEPAL

‘

Shulie was taken by traffickers from Nepal as a young child. Sadly, her story is all too common.

But there is a way to stand in the gap and stop traffickers exploiting young girls. Our church-based Christian partners in Nepal raise awareness of child traffickers through school children’s clubs, the local church and women’s groups.

WILL YOU HELP PROTECT GIRLS LIKE SHULIE?

Give now to see No Child Taken. Just £12 a month can keep girls like Shulie safe.

Please fill out the form between pages 8 and 9 or visit tearfund.org/shulie

Registered Charity No. 265464 (England and Wales) Registered Charity No. SC037624 (Scotland) 31204-(0914)

XXXXXXX

tearfund.org

email [email protected] +44 (0) 208 977 9144

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tear times autumn 2014

Documents

following jesus

greatest need

tearfund partners

spring edition of tear

horrors of child trafficking

jesus reflection

rescuing children

vulnerable children