Operation Christmas Child

Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan's Purse, a Christian relief organisation which operates worldwide.  Every year millions of shoeboxes filled with simple gifts are send out for distribution to children who would otherwise receive no gift at Christmas time.

This project has been supported for many years by St Mary of Bethany and we are again asking for support from the Church family.  Shoebox Sunday this year is on 22 November.

Eleanor and Stephen Shurville are local volunteers with Samaritan's Purse and last December they joined a distribution team which went out to Romania.  They were able to witness for themselves the power of a simple gift as they handed out shoeboxes in some remote villages in Eastern Romania.

Read more about Operation Christmas Child at the UK Samaritan’s Purse web site. 

SCAT - Schools Christian Action Team

Working with schools – primary and secondary – at their invitation, SCAT offers a Christian support framework to both teachers and pupils. SCAT is a team of people from several different, local churches, most of whom are volunteers but also including professional schools workers. Read more at www.scat.org.uk

Feba

We take the radio for granted, as we do all the means of communication available to us in the West. Our radios are companionable, but not essential, often burbling away in the background while we do something else. This is in contrast to so many Feba listeners. Way out of reach of other forms of communication, they see radio as a prized possession - a link with the wider world.

Radio’s good at giving people information and offering choices. It doesn’t matter if someone can't read - they can listen. Isolated people who are unlikely ever to meet a Christian can tune in and hear. In places where Christianity is opposed or forbidden, radio is a friendly way to help curious people in their search for truth.

Feba broadcasts the Good News of Jesus in more than 60 languages to audiences in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Read more at www.feba.org.uk
 

Tearfund

From the Tearfund web site (www.tearfund.org):

‘The church can do more for a struggling African village than any other organisation, because it is with the people all of the time. Organisations come and visit, but the church is here not only on Sunday, but every day of the week.’
Pastor Harry, Fombe village church, Malawi

At Tearfund, what drives us is a belief that the local church is the answer to poverty. Inspired by the example and teaching of Jesus, we recognise that people have deeply interconnected material and spiritual needs, and we seek to meet those needs by working through our local church partners. Churches are at the heart of their communities – full of dedicated, resourceful people who want to make a long-term difference.

We work particularly in Africa, Asia and South America – and also across Eastern Europe and the UK. Right now, we’re focussing on some of the biggest challenges facing the world today

CMS

Tim Dakin, CMS General Secretary:

CMS is committed to evangelistic mission, working to see our world transformed by the love of Jesus.

We are inspired by the hope that one day the whole of creation will be restored to a living, loving relationship with God.

Born in 1799, in the crucible of the campaign to abolish slavery, CMS has always had justice and evangelism at its heart.

Today we are a community of people in mission working in over 35 countries – a community that has heard God’s call to join in his loving outreach to the world and has rolled up its sleeves to serve others in mission.

See cms-uk.org for more information.