Tear Times Summer 2014

RESTORING RWANDAThe church combating sexual violence

SONGWRITER TIM HUGHES On worship, poverty and justice

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLICA country descending into chaos

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............................................................................................................

SUMMER ’14

tearfund.org

CHILD TRAFFICKERS ARE WAITINGNang has four months left

2 . TEAR TIMES Following Jesus where the need is greatest

WELCOME...‘I KNOW THAT GOD IS GOOD.’

Thank you for the encouraging response to the new-look Tear Times: we really appreciate your feedback. Many of you wrote in to respond to Steve Stockman’s reflection on worship and poverty in the last edition. You can read some of the letters on page 19.

I know that many of you were also touched by Jamie Fyleman’s moving article about child trafficking. This edition, we explore some of the root causes of trafficking in Laos, a country which borders Thailand – a notorious destination where many trafficked girls are then forced into the sex trade.

This year, we want you to support us as we launch No Child Taken, which highlights the child trafficking prevention work we carry out across the world – made possible through your generosity. We are calling on more Christians and churches to support this work educating, protecting and defending children.

On a more personal note, I am sad to bring you the news that dear Gneam, from Tonle Batie in Cambodia, has passed away – see page 15. Her story was featured in last September’s Tear Times. One of the most amazing parts of my role is the opportunity to visit Tearfund partners and the people we support. I never fail to come back strengthened in my faith and determined to follow Jesus where the need is greatest.

Gneam was a remarkable, determined lady who had overcome so much. When I asked her why she became a Christian, Gneam said, ‘I saw that Christians are good and I know that God is good.’ Across the world, your generosity, prayers and actions too are demonstrating to the poorest people on earth that God is good. Thank you.

Photo: Holly Poulter/Tearfund

Editor

Peter Shaw twitter @ TearTimes | email [email protected]

TEAR TIMES . 3Following Jesus where the need is greatest

08

‘THESE GIRLS ARE VULNERABLE: THEY DON’T KNOW THE DANGERS’

06

16

28

CONTENTS

NEWS AND VIEWS

04 News Conflict in the Central African Republic

15 Remembering Gneam Celebrating a remarkable woman

19 Your letters Reaction and response to Tear Times

FEATURES 08 Pure and provincial

Protecting children from trafficking

12 Objects of desire Three life-changing items

18 Shelter from the storm Philippines typhoon three months on

22 Caring for creation... Exploring how to live freely and lightly

24 No Child Taken How you can help protect children

26 Rwanda: where rape is normal Challenging a culture of abuse of women

PULL-OUT POSTER

16 ‘Live as children of light’ Ephesians 5:8

REFLECTIONS

20 Taste and see Drawing closer to God through creation

28 Interview: Tim Hughes Q&A with the singer-songwriter

30 ‘It’s a miracle I’m alive’ A story of prayer winning over adversity

31 Faith in words and action Blessing your community through Hope14

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: Nang, age 12, from Laos. Ralph Hodgson/Tearfund Additional photos on pages 6, 12, 13, 14, 19, 22, 23 © Getty Images

‘OUR SONGS SHOULD BE ABOUT THE HEART OF GOD’

‘NOW YOU ARE LIGHT IN THE LORD. LIVE AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT’

‘AMAZING KATE RAN FIVE MARATHONS FOR THE PHILIPPINES’

IN THE NEWS...CONFLICT ESCALATES IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

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

Phot

o: N

iek

Stam

/Tea

rfun

d

Tearfund has launched a major aid operation to help thousands of people who have been forced from their homes in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) conflict.

Last March CAR’s president was ousted from power by the Seleka, a coalition of rebel movements, igniting ethnic and religious tensions.

The country is now ruled by an interim president, who has called for calm and peace but still the violence is continuing. Since December more than 1,000 people have died and more than 3,000 others have been wounded.

More than 628,000 people have been displaced within CAR and another 338,000 have fled to neighbouring countries, leading the EU to call it the worst humanitarian and human rights crisis since the country gained independence in 1960.

Driven by our determination to go where the need is greatest, Tearfund has set up a base in CAR’s capital Bangui, to start bringing help and hope to those left most vulnerable by the conflict.

People like Judith Mbougnade – an armed gang came to her house and killed her husband and her eight-year-old son; they also attacked Judith with a machete, leaving her left hand severely maimed, and then looted the family’s property.

Judith, who escaped with her father, says, ‘Before the attack, we had hope because we had our house. I hope God will one day help us find something.’

Tearfund has supplied clean water to the church compound in Bangui where Judith and 3,000 others are now seeking sanctuary.

‘Water is life. Even if we don’t have anything to eat, at least there is water and that gives us strength,’ says Judith.

Tearfund is providing food, clean water, sanitation, hygiene help and longer-term projects to help people are being planned.

‘BEFORE THE ATTACK, WE HAD HOPE BECAUSE WE HAD OUR HOUSE. I HOPE GOD WILL ONE DAY HELP US FIND SOMETHING’

More than 650,000 people have been displaced within the Central African Republic

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

Young Syrian girl in Beqaa Valley refugee camp, Lebanon

Photo: Eleanor Bentall/Tearfund

PLEASE PRAY FOR PROGRESS IN SYRIAThis March marked three years since the conflict in Syria began, creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

There have been some promising developments this year: peace talks took place in Geneva and the UN Security Council passed a unanimous resolution for safe humanitarian access to people in need inside Syria.

Syrians are now the largest refugee population in the world. Syria’s neighbours are feeling the strain of hosting additional people, struggling to provide access to water, healthcare and education for children.

Tearfund’s local partners are helping Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan. They’re providing monthly food and hygiene parcels to newly arrived refugees, helping families with accommodation, supporting women and children to deal with what they’ve experienced, and providing education for Syrian children.

Please continue to pray for the people of Syria and for an end to their hardship. You can use resources at tearfund.org/syria

1,000 FREE TICKETS FOR BigChurchDayOut!Tearfund has 1,000 tickets for the BigChurchDayOut to give away. So, if you have a ticket already, then bring a friend – even better if they have never been before.

Visit tearfund.org/bcdotickets to request free places. BigChurchDayOut (24 and 25 May) is a Christian festival in Sussex of which Tearfund is a partner.

‘Big Church Day Out is a huge celebration of the church and it’s inspiring,’ says worship leader Tim Hughes who is performing this year. ‘There’s so much to do – great worship, great bands, amazing people to meet. You will definitely leave feeling encouraged.’ Read an interview with Tim Hughes on page 28.

Photo: Clive Mear/Tearfund

Tim Hughes is performing at the BigChurchDayOut

‘BigChurchDayOut IS A HUGE CELEBRATION OF THE CHURCH AND IT’S INSPIRING’ Tim Hughes

TEA FOR TEARFUND‘TEA FOR TEARFUND’ OR ‘TE AR GYFER TEARFUND’ IS HAPPENING ACROSS WALES IN JULY AND EVERY CHURCH ACROSS THE COUNTRY IS INVITED.

Churches are being encouraged to donate the money from teas and coffees served after the service to support Tearfund’s work. You can find out more at tearfund.org/teafortearfund or contact Fiona from Tearfund Wales: email [email protected] or call 01437 721139.

You couldn’t accuse Tearfund supporter Kate Jayden of not going the extra mile to help the typhoon-hit people of the Philippines.

Kate was so moved by the plight of 4 million Filipinos made homeless by the storm last November that she ran five marathons in five days and raised £1,800 for our relief and recovery efforts. Despite contracting a chest infection on day one of her run, Kate ran up some serious hills near Bolton, ascending about 30,000ft in total, the equivalent of running up Everest.

‘After the run, I spent two days ill on the sofa but it was totally worth it,’ said Kate, who has a passion for the Philippines after going on a mission trip there.

Your generosity has enabled us to help more than 80,000 of the most vulnerable people affected by typhoon Haiyan. In the immediate aftermath of

the storm last November, your support provided food, water, household essentials, hygiene kits and shelters to desperate families.

Now, we’re concentrating on helping people rebuild their lives, for example by providing seeds so families reliant on the land can replant crops. We’ve also been running cash-for-work projects – such as clearing debris and planting community vegetable gardens – to boost survivors’ incomes.

Haiyan left more than 6,000 people dead and thousands more injured physically and psychologically. Find out more about how your generosity is reaching people on page 18.

KATE RUNS FIVE MARATHONS IN FIVE DAYS FOR THE PHILIPPINES

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

IN THE NEWS...

KATE RAISED £1,800 FOR TEARFUND’S PHILIPPINES TYPHOON APPEAL: ‘AFTER THE RUN, I SPENT TWO DAYS ILL ON THE SOFA’

PRAYING FOR AN END TO CORRUPTIONWe need your prayers to reach an important milestone in our Secret’s Out campaign against the scandal of corruption.

In June, politicians and community groups will be meeting to agree the agenda for the G20 summit this November in Australia. Please pray that corruption becomes a priority for discussion.

The stakes are high. An astonishing US$1 trillion was lost from developing countries in 2011 due to illicit financial flows – including corruption and other secret deals. It’s a staggering amount of money that could have been spent helping poor communities out of poverty.

The G20 summit is an opportunity for world leaders to expose corruption by governments and big businesses.

Tearfund’s Secret’s Out campaign was launched in October and, along with Christians around the world, we’ve been speaking out against the scandal of corruption. Thank you for all your support.

Already, 20,000 people have asked Prime Minister David Cameron to do all he can to get corruption on the G20 agenda. Churches and campaigners are also calling on Australia to use its position as G20 host to take action.

Please pray for these meetings, that world leaders will listen to the voices of Christians worldwide demanding action, and that they’ll make wise decisions which will bring hope to the world’s poorest communities.


Praying for Continuing reconciliation

efforts in the Central African Republic where 2,000 people have died in communal violence and more than a million made homeless

The success of awareness-raising work by Tearfund partners and churches in Brazil during the World Cup, highlighting children’s rights and their sexual exploitation

Stability and lasting peace in South Sudan after ethnic conflict led to the loss of hundreds of lives and displaced half a million people

Giving thanks for Generous donations that

have enabled us to help 80,000 of the most vulnerable survivors of typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines

The blessing of amazing fundraisers who go to extreme lengths to support Tearfund, from jumping out of planes to running multiple marathons to cycling across continents

Tearfund Inspired Individual Benny Yu who has created safe havens for women in Mexico caught up in prostitution and sex-trafficking

PRAYER PULSE

‘PLEASE PRAY THAT CORRUPTION BECOMES A PRIORITY FOR DISCUSSION’

Tearfund campaigners call on G20 to agree global transparency rules


WRITTEN BY HELEN CRAWFORD

PURE AND PROVINCIAL

CHILDREN IN LAOS ARE UNDER

THREAT, BUT YOUR SUPPORT

IS KEEPING THEM SAFE FROM

TRAFFICKERS

Nang is 12 years old and wants to study to be a nurse. But human traffickers have other plans for girls like her in Laos. They will tell Nang and her

family she will have a good job and a better life over the border in Thailand. The ‘good job’ is working in a brothel: the ‘better life’ is being abused and deprived

of family, prospects and choice...

8 . TEAR TIMES FEATURE

Children in Laos are targets for child traffickers from Thailand

Photos: Ralph Hodgson/Tearfund

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

Nang has a lively smile, warm personality and enthusiasm for life. Still at school, she believes she has everything going for her. But Nang’s dream may soon come crashing down.

The village where Nang lives is highly vulnerable to traffickers. Close to the Thai border, it’s a prime harvest ground for traffickers hoping to find cheap labour and supply girls to Thailand’s sex trade. Across the border, Thailand’s karaoke bars provide men with drinks, singing and sex. Laos girls are in demand –considered ‘fresh, pure and provincial’.

It’s not uncommon for men to visit poor villages along the Laos–Thai border with offers of ‘good jobs’. They promise to take care of all the transport and passport arrangements.

‘Poor families see only the opportunity, not the danger,’ says Olive Orate, director of Tearfund partner organisation World Concern Laos (WCL). But children leaving the safety of their village inevitably work long hours with few breaks for little pay, and roughly a third of all children in this region end up as sex workers.

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

‘SUKONE WAS WORRIED SICK, UNSURE OF WHERE HER CHILD WAS OR WHAT SHE WAS GOING THROUGH’

MISSING CHILDRENNang is about to finish primary school, and that’s when her education will end – her career prospects too. She will join the other young people in her village, already at great risk of being trafficked. Most secondary schools in this area of Laos are situated far from rural villages, so children have to board – a luxury that families like Nang’s cannot afford. And that’s when they become vulnerable to the offers of traffickers.

‘Seven young people left the village last month,’ one mother, Sukone, told us. Her own daughter was among them, leaving in the hope of finding

a better life. Sukone was worried sick, unsure of where her child was or what she was going through.

‘One girl told me how her Thai employer seemed so kind, but then brought her to a room and told her to take off her clothes,’ says Anne, a staff member at WCL. ‘These girls are so vulnerable. Most don’t know the dangers.’

That’s where Olive and her team come in. They are working with these border communities to drive home the dangers of trafficking. Through highly interactive theatre workshops, WCL is exposing the reality of life in

Thailand and helping young people to see through the lies of traffickers.

SHARING THE LOVE OF JESUS Not only that, the team are working with young people to help them earn money close to home where they are safe. By providing skills training in baking, sewing and motorbike repairs, the young people have a means to earn money. The WCL team also have opportunities to share the love of Jesus with them.

‘As a Christian in a Buddhist country, in that context, we show the community love, care and attention,’ says Olive.

Photos: Ralph Hodgson/Tearfund

Mother holds a picture of her daughter who works in Thailand


YOU CAN HELP PROTECT 50,000 CHILDREN VULNERABLE TO TRAFFICKING, DISASTERS AND DISEASE. SEE THE FORM BETWEEN PAGES 8 AND 9

‘WE TELL THEM THAT GOD HAS A BETTER PLAN FOR THEM, THE BEST PLAN’

‘They ask us: “Why do you love us so much? Why do care for us so much? Why do you always come here and visit us? Why do you give time for us? We are nobodies, we are poor,” they explain.

‘But when they ask us, it’s a great opportunity to share with them about Jesus: we love them because God loves them.

‘God wants us to show them that this is how he loves them. We tell them that God has a better plan for them, the best plan.’

NANG’S UNCERTAIN FUTURE The vocational training is followed up with business skills and help with getting their products to market. WCL provides them with starter kits to help them get small

businesses off the ground. Poverty – the very thing that leaves them vulnerable to trafficking – begins to lose its grip.

‘Families think that because they are poor they have no choice,’ says Olive. But WCL is convincing young people they have value and can choose a better life.

‘Some girls come back broken, with HIV or AIDS. Some come back traumatised,’ says Olive. ‘They say it’s easier to have hardship here than there, even though they are hungry.

‘That’s why our team have followed Jesus to this place of great need: to see him transform things.’

Nang has just a few months to go. When she finishes school, she may end up in the same position as many teenagers in her village – with no education or prospects. Nang’s future is up for grabs. Who will get there first?

HUMAN TRAFFICKING A GLOBAL OUTRAGE

Human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal industry in the world.(US Department of Health and Human Services)

1.2 million people are trafficked every year globally(International Labour Organization report, A future without child labour, 2002)

Human trafficking is the second-largest source of illegal income worldwide(Cornell University ILR School, Forced labor and human trafficking: estimating the profits, Patrick Belser, 2005)

Olive, from Tearfund partner, keeps girls like Nang safe from child traffickers

All my life I’ve lived in Gitega, a district of Burundi, and yet I never knew there was so much suffering. I didn’t know that there were people unable to live in their own homes, because they are living with HIV. These are my people – yet I was blind.

My name is Edine: I’m 25 years old and from Burundi. Last year I had the incredible opportunity to join the Tearfund International Citizen Service (ICS). For ten weeks I lived alongside a team of people aged 18 from the UK and Burundi, volunteering alongside Tearfund’s partner in Gitega.

It was amazing – I learnt so much. Most of all, it opened my eyes to the suffering of people around me. After that, I knew I needed to do something. So I stepped out and spoke to a group

of people living with HIV. I asked them what they most needed. ‘Accommodation,’ they replied.

In particular, one very sick man and his family had nowhere to live. In the past I wouldn’t have even noticed them, but now we are working together to build them a home.

It feels amazing. While the group agrees to gather stones and sand, I’m raising money for the sheets of iron. And together we are making hundreds of red bricks.

It’s not easy, but I’m so excited that my time volunteering with Tearfund on the ICS programme has helped me to understand poverty and to be in contact with people in my local community.


PILES OF RED BRICKS, A CHUNKY CAMERA AND A BATTERED BACKPACK. THIS MAY READ LIKE A STRANGE COLLECTION OF ITEMS, BUT EACH OF THEM REPRESENTS SOMETHING INCREDIBLE…

OBJECTS OF DESIRE...

‘TEARFUND HAS HELPED ME TO UNDERSTAND POVERTY’

PILE OF RED BRICKS

Edine

BURUNDI


My name is Emily. I’m a 24-year-old artist from Kent. Visiting Bolivia changed me.

For ten incredible weeks, I volunteered with Tearfund’s Bolivian partner partner, Mosoj Yan, on the ICS programme. Every day I was learning and assisting as we worked with vulnerable women and children in Cochabamba city. The stories I heard were heart-wrenching. It was truly humbling to help to be a part of the change and transformation in these women’s lives.

I was inspired by the stories from Mosoj Yan, the beauty of the country and quirkiness of the culture – the dresses, the colours, the fabrics, the food, the skies (some of the clearest blues I have ever seen). So, I began to photograph everything that caught my eye using an Olympus Pen half-frame film camera.

An idea materialised whilst I was out there. I realised that there was potential for something greater, something more...

Returning home to the UK, I knew God had instilled in me a new passion – to use my photography to tell the stories and raise awareness, not only of the plight of women and children in Bolivia, but also the amazing work of Mosoj Yan.

The result: a contemporary art exhibition – which ran for five days at the newly regenerated arts centre in Margate.

I used diptych (paired) photographs juxtaposed with information about social poverty in Bolivia, to create a story – to give dimension and depth to the pictures. In this way I was able to raise

CHUNKY CAMERAawareness, be informative but not overwhelm viewers.

The event was a true success, busy with people, and a number of the artwork were sold.

Working with Tearfund was one of my most life-changing experiences. The trip was a catalyst for everything that followed in 2013 and confirmed to me the area of work I wanted to pursue.

Without it, I would not be where I am now – working with vulnerable women and victims of sex-trafficking in Greece, for one of the biggest anti-sex-trafficking charities in the world.

‘GOD HAD INSTILLED IN ME A NEW PASSION – TO USE MY PHOTOGRAPHY TO TELL THE STORIES AND RAISE AWARENESS’

Photos: Emily GregoriouPhoto from Emily Gregoriou’s exhibition depicting life in Bolivia which she visited with Tearfund

Emily

BOLIVIA


Edine, Emily and Jonathan are just ordinary people and yet each of them has used their experience of transforming local communities, both overseas and in the UK. And that is why we do what we do.

Volunteering overseas with Tearfund is not just about the trip itself: it’s about returning home with a new awareness that starts to shape your everyday decisions. An awareness that leads you to make a noise about injustice, commit to serving a community and helping others to help themselves out of poverty. We love what we do.

FEEL INSPIRED? WHATEVER YOUR AGE OR BACKGROUND, WE’D LOVE TO CHAT THROUGH THE OPTIONS AVAILABLE: 020 8943 7777 email [email protected] 🌐 tearfund.org/go

given me a massive love for the people and projects. So this time I set off for a year.

It’s now been well over 12 months and there’s never a dull moment. I love the ministry and school-based work of Scripture Union, Tearfund’s partner here. And it’s great to know that, with my extra pair of hands, they can accomplish more.

I’ve come a long way from Stirling and hearing about Tearfund’s global volunteering for the first time. The initial trips changed my life and God has transformed me along the way. Who’d have thought that a three-week trip aged 15 would lead to me living and working in Zambia!

Jonathan

ZAMBIA

BATTERED BACKPACK

I was 15 when I first felt the tug of Africa. From my home in Stirling, Scotland, I had no idea what was in store for me. Now, looking back, my battered backpack and I have travelled more than 42,000 miles.

My name is Jonathan Davie and I’m 19 years old. Four years ago, my church youth group decided to leap into an adventure and take a team of us to Zambia for three weeks. That first short time impacted me in ways I could never have imagined. I got to see and learn so much – my faith grew massively.

Two years later, we returned as a team to Zambia. Again, we volunteered alongside Tearfund’s partner, Scripture Union. Just like the first trip, I loved Zambia and the work I was supporting. Back in Scotland, we got busy fundraising.

When I finished school in 2012, I knew God was calling me back to Zambia. My six short weeks’ volunteering had

fromTearfund’s

Global

Volunteering

Team

‘WHEN I FINISHED SCHOOL IN 2012, I KNEW GOD WAS CALLING ME BACK TO ZAMBIA’


You may remember Gneam, the lady from Tonle Batie, Cambodia, whose story we shared in Tear Times last September. In January this year, we were told the sad news that she had died. Gneam had been in poor health and passed away after an illness on Christmas Day, aged 66.

Ke Pich, pastor of the church in Tonle Batie, helped her in her final weeks, providing Gneam with food and medicine, and prayed with her regularly. A few weeks before she died, a small group of Tearfund speakers from Northern Ireland visited Tonle Batie and were also able to pray with Gneam.

A GENTLE LADYI had the privilege of meeting and spending time with Gneam when I visited the community last year. She was a gentle, unassuming lady with real dignity, despite her humble circumstances.

She had suffered greatly throughout most of her life – living through the brutal Pol

Pot regime during which she lost her first husband and infant son to starvation. The regime forced Gneam to marry again, but she grew to love her second husband. Sadly, he also died, in a motorcycle accident ten years ago. They had three children together.

But I don’t want to give you a picture of a broken lady. Gneam was a woman with a strong faith and a joyous smile, and in her final months she found renewed strength to start again through her local church – thanks also to your support and prayers.

FINDING STRENGTH IN JESUSThe church, supported by Tearfund’s partner, gave her a safe and comfortable home in their storage building. They didn’t expect anything in return, but Gneam chose to sweep and tidy the church and help put the chairs out on Sundays and for daily meetings. I remember

her proudly showing us the pigs she looked after as part of the income-generation scheme run by the church.

Given her past, she could have given up, but she found her saviour – Jesus Christ – who never gave up on her, and gave her the strength to carry on.

Please pray for Pastor Ke Pich as he helps the community in Tonle Batie to mourn the loss of Gneam, and as he grieves himself. And let’s also thank God for the life and blessing of Gneam, for her faith in the face of immense challenges. Pray that God will help the community to celebrate her life and honour her determination to overcome poverty.

‘GNEAM FOUND HER SAVIOUR – JESUS CHRIST – WHO NEVER GAVE UP ON HER’

CELEBRATING A REMARKABLE WOMAN

AND FAITHFUL FOLLOWER OF JESUS

Remembering Gneam

WRITTEN BY PETER SHAW

Photo: Paul Francis/Tearfund

16 . TEAR TIMES

‘FOR YOU WERE ONCE DARKNESS, BUT NOW YOU ARE LIGHT IN THE LORD. LIVE AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT.’EPHESIANS 5:8

Following Jesus where the need is greatest

TEAR TIMES . 17

Young girl in her home near the Thai border in Laos. Teenagers in her community are targets for child traffickers

Ralph Hodgson/Tearfund

SHELTER FROM THE STORM


After three months, I expected to see some remnants of typhoon damage, but secretly suspected that the worst of it would be over. Maybe I would catch some people adding a final coat of paint to their new houses. I couldn’t have been more wrong…

Visitors to Tacloban city on the island of Leyte are greeted by a profusion of emergency tents and a patchwork of structures cobbled together creatively from salvaged and donated materials.

More than 4 million people were displaced by typhoon Haiyan and the UN reports that the energy of the initial aid response helped to avoid a ‘full-blown humanitarian crisis’.

However, many people in the Visayan islands that I visited are still living in a state of crisis.

A COUNTRY UNDER CONSTRUCTIONAlongside houses and possessions, the storm destroyed a considerable amount of paperwork. The result is extra suspicion and bureaucracy compounding an already challenging situation.

Meanwhile, many organisations are bringing their emergency response phase to a close and are preparing to leave the long-term rebuilding to local communities, the government and a selection of international agencies – including Tearfund’s partners.

Our partners in the Philippines are constructing houses to high, typhoon-resilient standards, to ensure they withstand future storms.

I meet Joel outside the foundations of his new house, which Tearfund’s partner is helping him build. Next to it is the temporary shelter he constructed using salvaged materials. Even at this initial stage, this new building with its solid foundations is already showing signs of being much more resilient to storms than the shelter he is preparing to leave, or his destroyed home.

BUILDING A NEW LIFEListening to Joel, it becomes clear how difficult it is for people to talk about the typhoon.

How do you find the words to capture trauma and loss on such a scale? He pauses and, with a deep sigh, explains, ‘We are only farmers and we don’t know how to start, how to build a new life.’

Yet, gradually, Tearfund’s partners are helping the most vulnerable move out of sweltering tents and away from shelters with leaking tarpaulins and rusty corrugated-iron sheets that threaten to rip back, like daggers in the wind. Slowly, life is starting again.

With a smile growing across his face, Joel continues, ‘That’s why we are so thankful for the shelter they have given us. We’re happy!’

‘WE ARE ONLY FARMERS AND WE DON’T KNOW HOW TO START, HOW TO BUILD A NEW LIFE’

Phot

os: T

om P

rice

Joel outside his new house

Typhoon Haiyan destroyed 1.2 million homes

Tom Price reports from the Philippines on progress three months on from the typhoon


YOUR LETTERSThank you so much for all your feedback about Tear Times spring 2014 and the new look. We’re encouraged that most of you really liked the revised

layout and articles. Here are just a few of the comments we received:

email Send your comments to Peter Shaw, Tear Times editor: [email protected] or Tearfund, 100 Church Road, Teddington TW11 8QE

‘The new format of Tear

Times is delightful and the

content inspiring.’

John East READING

‘Tear Times is well written

with the right proportion of

encouragement and challenge.’

Sheila McKay BRISTOL

‘Congratulations on the

layout, length and content of

Tear Times. But please increase

the very small-size typeset used

to caption the photos.’

John and Delysia Barker WORCESTERSHIRE

‘I was so challenged

by Steve Stockman’s article

[‘Spoiling our Sundays’], with

which I fully agree. I have a

strong desire to do all I can

to help alleviate injustice and

poverty and I am involved in

several ways – but I am still

too comfortable and hardly

challenged in my comfort

at church!’

Terry Green CHESTER

‘A time of corporate

worship is not the place to sing

about our failure to bring justice

or about the world’s failures,

but about God’s greatness, his

plans, his goodness to us and

our response to him. We do

need to sing about injustice

(but not right then) but we can

sing about his justice, and all his

other glorious attributes. It’s not

the place to sing about what’s

wrong in the world.’

Alison Walker EDINBURGH

‘I was challenged by his

article and then started thinking

about this aspect... I am 100

per cent certain that poverty

and justice are on God’s heart.

I am 100 per cent for worship

and have seen my own worship

change dramatically over the

last few years towards a greater

freedom and intimacy. It is

difficult to see how these two

areas mix on a Sunday.’

Karen Bourne MAIDSTONE

‘At the Sanctuary, we were

delighted to see an article like

‘Spoiling our Sundays’ in Tear

Times. I’m looking forward to

reading others in the series

but the relationship between

worship and justice is of

particular interest and focus for

us. Thank you for bringing this

vital issue to people’s attention.’

Liz Baddaley THE SANCTUARY

www.thesanctuarycentre.org

Thanks to many of you who

were challenged and inspired

by Rev Steve Stockman’s article about worship and poverty.

Worship leader Tim Hughes

offers his thoughts on worship and justice on page 28, and you can read

the next in our series of articles on faith, poverty and Christian lifestyle on page 20.

We are sorry that the reduced size of the photo captions, in particular, made

them difficult to read. You

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AT TEARFUND, WE’RE SEEKING A NEW APPROACH TO OUR WORK ON CLIMATE CHANGE (SEE PAGE 22). WE ASKED BRUCE STANLEY FROM FOREST CHURCH HOW CHRISTIANS CAN BE MOTIVATED TO CARE FOR CREATION…

We are a nation on the edge of nature. It’s where we go on holiday or at the weekend, what we watch on TV or where we take the dog for a walk. But, really, we’re quite separate from it.

Nature is something we go into, rather than participate with or know ourselves to be indistinguishable from. But this separateness is an illusion. What happens when we re-engage?

Evidence is growing that embracing nature connection boosts your physical and psychological well-being and deepens your ecological sensitivity. If, ten years ago, I’d read that nature connection could be a spiritual discipline as important as prayer, I would have been sceptical. But now I’m the one making the claim and I’m only just beginning to fathom how important it is.

It was through food that the shift began for me. Getting into foraging became a spiritual delight – teaching me about God’s abundance and introducing ingredients you’d never find in the supermarket. Beginning to grow some of our own food in the back garden resulted in a move 500 miles south and gave me the immediate rewards of de-stressing I’d only fleetingly experienced before.

OPENING GOD’S BOOK OF CREATIONBut, to fully experience the real benefits, just being in nature isn’t enough. You need to give it your attention. Forget your watch, your camera and your agenda.

Most people’s stand-out transcendent moments seem to happen when they’re in nature, free from distracting thoughts. Connect through your senses, your feelings and intuition and through your spirit. Then God’s book of creation opens.

TASTE AND SEE...

This is the second in a series of reflections in Tear Times about faith, poverty and Christian lifestyle...

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

Finding God in nature

Bruce Stanley from Forest Church

Photo: Ralph Hodgson/Tearfund

Most Christians generally accept that God is in nature as well as encompassing it (Jeremiah 23:24). Spectacular views or natural phenomena inspire spiritual thoughts and creativity. But that’s a shallow reading, understandably so for some of the disconnecting reasons given above. Connect to God through nature with all your senses: taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8).

God is known through nature (Romans 1:20) and nature is part of our dialogue with him and our worship (Psalm 19:1–4, Isaiah 55:12, Deuteronomy 32:1–2, Psalm 148:3–5). It’s also part of Christ’s redeeming work.

It’s not just me: this instinctive pull to re-engage with God’s creation and re-enchant our view of nature is only just below the surface. Pioneering journalists like Richard Louv are doing a great job of collating the well-being and societal benefits of engaging with nature through books like The nature principle, and organisations such as Arocha are providing Christians with an ecological campaigning focus. But something more is happening through a new movement called Forest Church which is exploring what it means to ‘do church’ while participating with nature.

ENGAGING DEEPLY WITH NATUREInspired by John Muir’s sentiment, ‘I’d rather be in the mountains thinking of God than in church thinking of the mountains’, the movement has spread to four countries in

two years, with 13 groups operating in the UK at the time of writing.

It is vital that Christians engage deeply with nature and recognise our role as its advocate and carer.

Gus Speth, a US government adviser and university professor, explains why. ‘I used to think the top global environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and climate change. I thought with 30 years of good science we could address those problems, but I was wrong.

‘The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy – and to deal with these we need a spiritual and cultural transformation and we scientists don’t know how to do that.’

Forage and grow your food but, above all, connect and participate with it. Widen your

understanding of how nature works and question the values behind how we treat it. And stand up for it, for the sake of your grandchildren’s grandchildren.

The short view is just as important as climate change hits the poorest people hardest around the globe. As our passion and understanding of nature grow, please can we encourage each other to become a drastically regenerative influence and explore what we can do to help those already suffering?

‘CONNECT TO GOD WITH ALL YOUR SENSES: TASTE AND SEE THAT THE LORD IS GOOD’

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

Bruce Stanley lives in the Cambrian mountains and produces wild and herbal teas for finepluck.co.uk He is also a pioneer of Forest Church and the author of Forest Church: a field guide to nature connection for groups and individuals.

We’d love to hear your response to Bruce’s article: email [email protected]


WRITTEN BY SARAH WIGGINS

Over the years working at Tearfund on environmental issues, I have been part of many government meetings with powerful

decision-makers. My husband, Mike, who also works for Tearfund, has visited poor communities and seen their lives

damaged by climate change. International progress on the issue has been slow, so we’ve decided to do something radical.

It was in 1996, on a church trip to war-torn Gulu in Uganda, that Mike first saw for himself the impact of climate change on poor people. A group of women farmers showed him their beehive. Mike asked why there was a bowl of water underneath it. They laughed as they told him they were giving the bees a drink.

When he asked why this was funny, they said it was because God had shown them their crops had failed because there was not enough rain, so the bees stopped coming. The women explained how God had kept them safe: they now give water to the bees, and the bees help them with the crops.

Mike and I started from different places. He is an environmental engineer and I have always focused on social justice. Whereas Mike has always believed passionately about caring for creation, I first felt called by God to work on climate change after watching Al Gore’s film, An inconvenient truth.

CARING FOR CREATIONstarts with you and me

‘IF WE WANT TO HELP OTHERS TO BE RELEASED FROM POVERTY, WE MUST CHANGE HOW WE LIVE’

Sarah’s husband, Mike


A NEW APPROACHWe discussed together what we would say to our children in 20 years’ time, if they asked us why – when we knew the way we were living was damaging the planet – we hadn’t done anything about it.

Many people working at Tearfund feel the same calling as Mike and I do to care for this beautiful planet God has created, and all the people who depend on it. But we have not yet seen the dramatic changes we hoped and prayed for. Governments and companies know what they need to do, but they often act to fulfil short-term interest.

At Tearfund, we are thinking about how we can approach this differently. If everyone on earth carries on living as Europeans do, we will need three planets to support us. For me, that means, if we want to help others to be released from poverty, we must change how we live to reduce our impact. And we want to encourage others to do the same.

LIVING FREELY AND LIGHTLYWe’ve decided to change hearts and minds and bring transformation from the bottom up. We want to see more people at every level – from policy-makers to ordinary citizens – make choices that benefit everyone. We want to encourage people to move away from the accumulation of ‘stuff’ and seeking short- term satisfaction.

As a family, we have chosen not to fly on holiday and we eat less meat now. We only use the washing machine when the sun’s shining, so it’s powered by our solar panels. We’ve double-insulated our house, reducing energy bills. We are taking these and other steps as an act of worship, and often been surprised at how easy it can be.

I will continue to ask politicians to help ensure everyone on earth has a fair chance to flourish, but I don’t have to wait for them. Our family is on a journey to live more freely and lightly now. We’d love you to do the same.

The Wiggins family are on a journey to live more freely and lightly

IF YOU MAKE A LIFESTYLE CHANGE, WE’D LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT IT Email [email protected] – please also join me fasting and praying for climate justice on the first day of each month as part of of the solidarity fast movement: tearfund.org/solidarityfast


A child is trafficked every 30 seconds

This year, we’re working to make sure 50,000 of the most vulnerable children are kept safe from the trafficking, disease or disasters. We believe strongly that we must work to prevent this – no child should be taken. Please join us.

We’re getting people together to do something big or small, to help us reach our target.

Can you put up a poster? Give a short talk? Run a baking fundraiser? Show a film?

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR NO CHILD TAKENPlease complete and return the pull-out form above. You can also order from tearfund.org/nochildtaken or email [email protected] or call 0845 521 0021.

FEATURE TEAR TIMES . 25

Photo: Kieran Dodds/Tearfund

BLESS YOUR CHURCH WITH OUR FREE RESOURCESTearfund church resources are free, easy to use and intended to encourage and challenge your congregation. Here’s some of the feedback we received from Tearfund church representatives about last year’s church pack...

Following Jesus where the need is greatest

‘The film moved me to tears – it was well produced’

‘Tearfund produces good materials every time’

‘Very challenging and well presented. It gave a good

picture of the need’


RWANDA WHERE RAPE IS NORMAL

WRITTEN BY KATIE HARRISON

This April marks the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. Although it lasted just a hundred days, more than a million people died. The consequences were devastating: every family lost loved ones. Twenty years on, the country is still shattered.

Onesphore Rwaje, Archbishop of Rwanda, works closely with Tearfund staff and partners, and he believes that a longstanding legacy of the genocide has been the increase in sexual violence. He told Tearfund that the appalling acts of violence and rape during the genocide made sexual violence seem almost ‘normal’. Many women still live in fear.

One family whose lives have been affected forever by sexual violence are Alice, 26, and her father, Pastor Alphonse. Their family was separated during the genocide and Alice lived away from her parents for many months. When she returned, Alice was pregnant. She’d been raped.

At first, she worried about coming home. ‘How could I, a pastor’s daughter, come back pregnant? But I thought: I will just have to go home and they will accept me.’

PRACTICAL AND PASTORAL SUPPORTHer parents did accept her and she now lives with them and they help her take care of her daughter, Victoire, who’s now seven. But for Pastor Alphonse, it was to be a turning point.

He has signed his church up to be part of a Tearfund scheme to work to make his village ‘rape-free’. In rural Rwanda, this is a huge challenge but Pastor Alphonse is determined the church should stand up against sexual violence.

Speakers preach against rape and the church teaches couples about healthy relationships and sexual behaviour, as well as helping women who have been raped to report the crime and give evidence in court. This combination of practical support and pastoral teaching is

something the pastor believes will make a difference to the lives of many women and girls.

Pastor Alphonse encourages his community to build strong families. ‘As a father, and someone who fights against violence, I always try to teach people about violence and tell them how bad it is. We work with parents, giving them advice about how they can prevent violence in their home.

‘I saw my daughter and I felt it was a burden on me to stand up and fight against violence in others,’ the pastor says. ‘When I see young girls, I fear for them. I think of those men who are going to trick them and it’s a burden in my heart to prevent this.’

‘HOW COULD I, A PASTOR’S DAUGHTER, COME BACK PREGNANT?’

20 YEARS ON FROM THE GENOCIDE, THE CHURCH IS CHALLENGING THE INGRAINED

CULTURE OF ABUSE OF WOMEN


Pastor Alphonse’s congregation is one of a number of churches supported by Tearfund that offer comfort, protection and love to women and girls. Archbishop Onesphore believes these churches can show Rwanda how to respond to the needs of people who have experienced sexual violence. ‘We have developed the church being a safe place for the victims. They must be listened to and heard, so someone

listens to somebody who’s affected and helps, giving counselling, and the people go back believed.’

Pastor Alphonse is determined to make sure life changes for the people in his village. ‘My vision and my prayer is that this village will be a place where you find peaceful homes between man and wife. I pray that we have men of integrity, who are not going to trick girls into sex.’

TIME TO STAND UP AGAINST ABUSE

Photo: Geoff Crawford/Tearfund

Every family in Rwanda lost loved ones in the 1994 genocide

WORSHIPPING GOD IN A BROKEN

WORLD Q&A WITH TIM HUGHES

Tim Hughes is a worship leader, singer-songwriter and friend of Tearfund. Tim is

Director of Worship at Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB), an Anglican church in central London, and leads Worship Central, a movement of

worshippers with a vision to encounter God, equip the worshipper and empower

the local church.

Many of you wrote to us (see page 19) about Rev Steve Stockman’s article exploring worship and poverty, ‘Spoiling our Sundays’,

in the last Tear Times. We asked Tim to respond to some of your comments…



WRITTEN BY PETER SHAW

Some Tearfund supporters expressed concerns that too many worship songs are ‘self-indulgent’ and not enough explore poverty and justice. Do you think that’s fair?

I don’t think many worship songs are ‘self-indulgent’. But I don’t think the themes we explore in our congregational worship times are as broad and wide as they should be. We explore quite a narrow emotional range, compared to the breadth of hope, despair, anger, joy, passion, sorrow, guilt that you find in the Psalms. It’s also fair to say we don’t often sing songs about justice or poverty.

There’s a lot more we can do in church as songwriters, as worship leaders, to really engage with poverty and justice. There are songs out there but I don’t think we sing them enough. People need to be more confident to use them.

Should more worship leaders, singers and musicians include songs about poverty and justice in Sunday services, and should songwriters write more worship songs about justice?

The easy thing is to question the songs, songwriters and worship leaders – but it goes much broader than that. We may not sing many songs about poverty and justice, but how many sermons are preached about those subjects? I think we can do a lot more together – preaching the word and singing about justice.

I have been involved with Pete Greig in nights of prayer and intercession called Kingdom Come. Worship and prayer are so closely linked and are often the catalyst for exploring poverty and justice. I’ve found

these times of prayer and worship are when people’s hearts are broken over issues such as child trafficking. We’ve been praying a lot at HTB about Syria and people have been devastated at the injustice. Something happens in your heart that means you’ve got to make a choice to act.

Would including songs about poverty and justice in a church service spoil a Sunday meeting?

Reflecting on the song I wrote, God of justice, it explores the character of God and our response to that. It’s about the reality of the world we live in and it’s just as ‘worshipful’ as other songs. I’ve noticed when leading worship, and this perhaps explains why it hasn’t been picked up as much, you sometimes don’t know when

to sing it – and how to respond. Because it jars. It’s easier to sing something like How great is our God instead.

But sometimes that jarring is healthy – it reminds us that we worship this amazing God in the midst of a broken world. Worship is coming before God in our brokenness. And him welcoming us in. We can’t get away from those songs and singing them is a healthy reminder.

Can a song that explores poverty and justice be a true ‘worship song’ – one that focuses on God and Jesus rather than state of the world around us?

You can definitely write a song about poverty and justice that focuses on God and Jesus.

For example, singing that God is a ‘father to the fatherless’ has huge implications: who are the fatherless in our world? There is obviously a very personal meaning for us as children of God, but there are also children who are literally fatherless. We worship a God of justice and mercy.

Our songs should be about the character and heart of God – including his compassion towards the last, the least and the lost. Jesus didn’t come for the healthy: he came for the

sick. There’s so much about who Jesus is and what he came to do that we can sing about, which reminds us of what we should become like. I passionately believe that worship is transformative: to worship is to change.

‘IN TIMES OF PRAYER AND WORSHIP, PEOPLE’S HEARTS ARE BROKEN OVER ISSUES SUCH AS CHILD TRAFFICKING’


TIM PLAYS BigChurchDayOut Tim Hughes and Worship Central are a headline act at BigChurchDayOut. See page 5 for more details and a special ticket offer.


Two days after the accident, Alison dreamt that there was a knock on the front door. In the dream, I walked in and asked her for a kiss. My wife replied that I should be in intensive care. I told her not to worry, that I would make

a quick recovery and come home soon. At the same time, the hospital was telling her that my recovery would take a very long time, if I survived...

GOD WAS WITH METhat dream came true and, after six months of intense rehabilitation, I was back at work and back on my bike. Even when I was recovering in hospital, still frail and suffering hallucinations, I felt that God was with me.

I just knew everything was going to be all right. God was in charge. I also had a wonderful sense that people were praying. It was as if a wave of love had hit our family.

Last July, Richard celebrated a year of being in recovery by riding 100 miles to a meeting at Knowle Church in Warwickshire – and raised £2,000 for Tearfund.

A little less than two years ago, Richard Avery – one of Tearfund’s Specialist Volunteer Managers in the UK – was fighting for his life in hospital. Today he is enjoying good health and has been back at work for more than a year, all thanks to the power of God released through prayer...

It was a bright summer Sunday evening, 22 July 2012, and I was enjoying a 20-mile cycle ride, when I was hit by a car. The impact sent me flying 30 metres in the air and left me with a broken collarbone and shoulder. A fractured skull had caused me to be severely brain damaged in four places.

But God was already working to restore me to health. The morning of the cycle ride, a friend from church had prayed with me for protection on my travels.

DREAMING OF A MIRACLEDespite my injuries, that prayer was answered, God stepped in and miracles started to happen. Although I don’t remember this, the first person to stop and tend to me by the roadside was a nurse, who administered first aid until the ambulance arrived.

My wife, Alison, was told by the doctor that, if I did survive, I might never be able to breathe unaided again. Although devastated by the accident, Alison and our six children (including three adopted children) were supported by people across the world in prayer.

‘A FRACTURED SKULL HAD CAUSED ME TO BE SEVERELY BRAIN DAMAGED IN FOUR PLACES’

‘IT’S A MIRACLE I’M ALIVE’


EVENTS INCLUDE: blessing the town on Easter

Saturday – possibly by giving away chocolate eggs

washing cars and other practical acts of service in the community as part of the Big Weekender on 3–5 May

a Big Birthday Party in the park to celebrate Pentecost on 8 June with a picnic, music and entertainment from Roly Bain, the award-winning Christian clown

a HOPE float in the Trowbridge carnival procession

first world war commemoration events with a civic service and a gospel-giveaway – every secondary school child in the town will receive a replica war-time Gospel of John produced by HOPE’s partner, SGM Lifewords

A Silent Night carol service to end the year

FAITH IN WORDS AND ACTION

do if we were holding on to our own prejudices and agendas,’ says Geoff.

After a launch event with Hope14’s director, Roy Crowne, the Trowbridge churches started the year with 24 hours of prayer and a prayer walk around the town.

They’ve adopted the Hope14 rhythm of mission, drawing on ideas in the manual, HOPE – the heartbeat of mission. They plan to reach out into their community throughout the Christian calendar, using the HOPE logo to link everything to the national year of mission.

‘BY WORKING TOGETHER, CHURCHES IN TROWBRIDGE ARE GOING TO HAVE A GREATER IMPACT’

St Thomas’ in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, has a long tradition of mission. For the past 45 years, they’ve held a monthly bread-and-cheese Sunday lunch to support Tearfund. But the event is only part of the church’s mission focus: together with other churches in this military town, they are involved in Hope14, a national year of mission.

Geoff Tate, one of the St Thomas’ members who coordinates Christian Action in the Trowbridge Area, is enthusiastic about how Hope14 encourages churches to work together, putting faith into words and action.

‘By working together, churches in Trowbridge, with our many congregations, are going to have a greater impact as God can use us in a way that he could never

Tearfund has been part of the HOPE movement since the beginning. To find out more about the Hope14 vision and resources and how to get your church involved, visit hopetogether.org.uk

Cath Butcher from HOPE on why churches are coming together for mission this year

Registered Charity No. 265464 (England and Wales) Registered Charity No. SC037624 (Scotland) 31166-(0414)

When Nang finishes primary school this year, she will be at risk of child trafficking.

Just £12 a month could keep Nang and her friends safe.

Your support could pay for trafficking awareness and skills training for girls like Nang – keeping them safe from traffickers and empowering them to provide for their own needs.

WILL YOU PROTECT GIRLS LIKE NANG BEFORE TIME RUNS OUT?

Find out more on page 8 or visit tearfund.org/nang

FOUR MONTHS LEFT

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email [email protected] 0845 355 8355

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Tear Times Summer 2014