Tearfund Correspondent - December 2020

DECEMBER 2020

Fighting for the ONE A disturbing trend in a Covid world. pg 2

Meeting at the speed of light A Kiwi mum meets her sponsor child on a once in a life-time Zoom call. pg 11

In this issue Covid Fashion Commitments from NZ brands.

Vegetables are changing communities in Mongolia.

Teach your children about poverty in three simple steps.

pg 4

pg 8

pg 12

Fighting for the ONE

BY HELEN MANSON

I read something shocking recently. Reports of online sexual exploitation have risen 30 per cent globally this year.

And that’s just the ones that are reported.

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uelled by the Covid-19 pandemic, extreme poverty is set to rise for the first time since 1998, according to the World Bank.

It’s estimated that 115 million people will be pushed into extreme poverty, wiping out some of the gains we’ve made over the decades.

For some in acutely impoverished situations, desperation has led them to consider the unthinkable.

Those who profit from the sexual exploitation of others, (too often relatives and caretakers), are motivated by the quick cash this horrific crime brings. Perpetrators, residing in other countries, with more time on their hands, are happy to watch the sexual abuse of children, even infants, for their viewing pleasure.

As a mother of three young children, I feel sick writing that. But with your help, our partners can help to put these criminals in prison, intervene and restore those whose lives have been stolen from them, and send a message to the world that every human life matters. Every ONE. Online sexual exploitation is not easy to find or stop, but our

partners have a track record of doing just that. With your help, we want to continue to launch an unrelenting attack on this abuse and the devastation it brings.

Thai Law Enforcement agencies asked our partner to help investigate a case where a mother was selling sexual images of her six-year-old daughter to an offender in Europe. His phone records also showed he was planning to fly to Thailand.

Our local team removed the child from home, and sadly, the mother had to be arrested. Our partner’s forensic work helped to identify other offenders who were also buying images from the mother.

exploited person has a name, a story, and dreams of growing up loved and secure.

This Christmas, Tearfund is launching the ONE Campaign. We live in a world with over 7 billion people, and yet our God doesn’t see billions, God sees the ONE. The campaign declares that there is one thing that’s not for sale this Christmas—human dignity. It encourages us all to Help ONE. Be the ONE. Fight for ONE. Will you join us?

Donate at tearfund.org.nz/one, post back the response form, or phone us on 0800 800 777.

The victim is now safe with a relative, and social workers will ensure she receives the care she deserves while the rest of the team pursue justice for her.

Online sexual exploitation is a crime that thrives in the shadows, hidden in private chats and live streams on the internet or the Dark Web. But every enslaved and PICTURE Esther Havens

2 | Tearfund Correspondent — Dec 2020

The Coming Kingdom

BY SEAN DU TOIT

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’ve often thought it is a mistake to view Matthew 5-7 as a sermon on the Mount. The reason I don’t think we should call it a “sermon” is that Matt. 4:23-5:2 sets the scene for these chapters. In Matt. 4:23, the author described Jesus’ ministry this way: “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every sickness among the people.” Therefore it’s best to understand Matt. 5-7 as a summary of Jesus’ teachings

Inside Out

BY IAN MCINNES

described in 4:23. I suggest that Matt. 5-7 is like a manifesto concerning life in the Kingdom.

When disciples submit to God as king, this is what life looks like.

At the heart of this is a prayer that Jesus taught his disciples. It begins communally, as we are invited and instructed to address God as “Our Father.” God is the Father who is close and cares deeply for his children. And yet this God is “in heaven” reminding us of his transcendence and greatness.

This is followed by three petitions that commit the disciples who pray this, to God’s agenda for life and the world. “May your name be held in reverence, May your kingdom come, May your will be done.” All three say something similar about God being honoured in all aspects of our

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’m always humbled by the sheer determination of our supporters, my colleagues, and our partners, who find ways to reach the poor in times of need. But never more so than through this season of change due to Covid. Our sponsorship programme has been a remarkable example of this, with people pulling together to ensure that 11,400 children receive the help they need, in different ways than before Covid.

I picture a human chain holding hands that starts with a sponsor in Aotearoa and extends through the doors of the local church and to the home of a grandmother in Peru looking after her grandchildren, as we read about in Zoe Noakes’ article on page 13.

lives. This prayer asks God to help the disciples live out the manifesto that Jesus has been teaching. These three petitions relate to life “on earth,” and ask that a heavenly state of affairs be replicated “on earth, as it is in heaven.”

Those who follow Jesus are the “on earth” expression of God’s kingdom. When we pray that God’s will be done on earth, we invite the Spirit to lead us in obedience and implement his manifesto for life in the kingdom. We are committing ourselves to God’s way of doing life together.

Jesus is inviting his disciples to pray and commit themselves to living out his vision of life on earth. It’s a vision that must shape all those who follow the Lord Jesus, the King!

One crucial link in that human chain has been our programme officers here in Auckland.

When Covid froze thousands of Compassion’s programmes in lockdowns, our staff helped Compassion HQ work through how to make cash transfers to instantly help households in need.

Studies show that poorer families make excellent choices with those funds. If you sponsor through Tearfund, know that we will find a way to support your child. To all who have stood by your sponsored child while wondering about your own circumstances, thank you and bless you. God sees your heart and knows what an important ministry that is.

Tearfund Correspondent — Dec 2020

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Which clothing brands are looking after their workers during Covid?

BY KEITH RAMSAY

Covid-19 has turned the fashion industry inside out, disrupting supply chains and exposing vulnerable workers to more risk than ever before.

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uring the pandemic, factories in production countries slashed production by up to 85 per cent, worker salaries decreased by 40 per cent, and 100 million migrant workers have been trapped by lockdowns in India alone.

You may be familiar with Tearfund’s Ethical Fashion Guide which grades fashion companies on ethical practices in their supply chains, giving consumers the power to shop ethically and connect with the people who make their clothes. This year, the Guide still helps consumers make better purchasing decisions, but it looks a little different.

The Covid Fashion Guide tells a story about consumers and the choices they can make, even amidst their own experience of the disruption of Covid-19.

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Instead of pages full of grades, consumers will find tips and questions in this year’s guide to help them take steps towards being more thoughtful and intentional when buying clothes.

The Ethical Fashion Report looks different too. We wanted to respect the difficult circumstances many companies found themselves in, while still advocating for vulnerable workers in the supply chain.

Tearfund’s Annie Newton-Jones says, “When Covid-19 hit, we quickly realised that the normal process of research couldn’t take place, so we looked for a new and more agile way to respond to help protect garment workers who were facing a loss of their livelihoods and risks of contracting the virus.

Along with our partner, Baptist World Aid Australia, we launched six Covid Fashion Commitments that companies could adopt to show their commitment to their workers.”

Covid Fashion Commitments 1. Support workers’ wages by honouring supplier commitments.

2. Identify and support the workers at greatest risk.

3. Listen to the voices and experience of workers.

4. Ensure workers’ rights and safety are respected.

5. Collaborate with others to protect vulnerable workers.

6. Build back better for workers and the world.

“We are pleased that more than 80 per cent of New Zealand clothing companies could provide evidence of upholding the Covid Fashion Commitments and more than 50 per cent were in the top tier of companies.” In the top tier were AS Colour, Freeset, Hallensteins and Glassons, Icebreaker, Kathmandu and Macpac.

Companies with strong ethical practices coming into the pandemic were nearly seven times more likely to provide evidence that they made efforts to meet all of the commitments.

For example, 75 per cent of companies that received a B+ or higher in 2019 provided such evidence.

Despite these positive results, the crisis also exposed areas in the fashion industry that still need vast improvement, with none of the companies assessed in the report able to demonstrate an endto-end supply chain response to the impact of the pandemic.

Unfortunately, most companies (56 per cent) were unable to provide evidence to show actions taken to meet all six areas of the Covid Fashion Commitments.

“We hope that despite the serious impact the pandemic has had on people, that it would be a chance for the fashion industry to hit the reset button and be encouraged to ‘build back better’,” says Annie. “The fashion industry was already broken before Covid-19 and garment workers were paying the price, now the industry has the chance to address the problems to improve wages and conditions and reduce the impacts on the environment caused by fast fashion. Consumers will also have to be willing to pay the ‘true cost’ for their clothes to prevent exploitation in the supply chains,” says Annie.

You can download the Guide to help you shop ethically and the in-depth Covid Fashion Report at tearfund.org.nz.

PICTURE Baptist World Aid

How can your shopping decisions matter for people like Rani*?

overtime. “We struggle to pay rent

When we first asked companies

on our reduced income,” Rani says.

to tell us where they sourced their

R

We care about garment workers

trace where their raw materials

like Rani and fashion companies

come from. In 2013, only 49

and consumers should too. These

per cent of companies could do

Bangladesh. Since the pandemic

issues seem huge but over the last

this, but now it’s 81 per cent.

started, Rani has to work extra

eight years, as we’ve provided

Consumers have real power and

hours to clean the factory floor.

consumers with information, we’ve

they need to continue to use it.

But despite now working 14-

seen consistent change across all

Especially now, when vulnerable

hour shifts, she doesn’t get paid

aspects of supply chains.

workers need us the most.

ani is a 27-year-old garment factory worker from

Consumer power has changed the fashion industry

cotton, many said it wasn’t their responsibility. Now, nearly half of the companies we research can

*Name changed to protect identity

80 per cent of NZ companies assessed could provide some evidence of upholding the Covid Fashion Commitments.

Over 50 per cent of NZ companies assessed (6/11) landed in the top tier; ‘Actions evidenced across all commitments’.

72 per cent of NZ companies assessed provided some proof they continued to pay for orders in production, instead of cancelling them.

Tearfund Correspondent — Dec 2020 | 5

Out-working faith through advocacy

BY GRACE STANTON

Rosie’s grandparents served as doctors in India for 10 years and her dad was born there during that time. As a family, they visited India years later, as the country had a special place in her dad’s heart.

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y parents took me to India when I was six,” says Rosie Paterson-Lima. They also sponsored children in India. “I remember growing up writing letters to our sponsored children.”

That exposure, her parents being passionate about social justice, and understanding what God called her to do, helped Rosie put her faith into action,” she says.

At six, Rosie only caught a glimpse of how people in poverty live. At 13, she went to Thailand with a volunteer group for four weeks.

There was one moment that really stuck with her.

ROSIE GREETS WOMEN FROM A WOMEN’S GROUP IN RURAL NEPAL.

6 | Tearfund Correspondent — Dec 2020

“I was on a trip to the hill community of the Akha people—an unrecognised people group without the rights of citizens.” This meant they couldn’t send their children to school and were living marginalised lives,” she says. “ A family welcomed me and it reinforced that relationship and connection are key, and we can find solutions and transformation when we work together. This is what Tearfund is all about,” Rosie says. “I was dipping a toe in when I was little, but as a teenager going to Thailand and seeing things from

my own eyes and not from my parents, was life-changing.”

Rosie began advocating for the needy at high school, but she wanted to take her journey to the next level. “I started sponsoring a child when I was 17 and went to a letter-writing night where I found out about Tearfund’s advocate network if I wanted to get more involved.”

Rosie joined the advocate network and she met regularly with likeminded people to talk about how they could make an impact for Tearfund and the people they serve.

PICTURE Share and Care Nepal.

ROSIE VISITS A TEARFUND INCOMEGENERATION GROUP IN NEPAL.

People sponsored Rosie to walk a half-marathon and she got together with her university friends and made cheese rolls to sell to her church family and friends. They were fundraising for a Tearfund appeal for the devastating 2011 famine across the Horn of Africa.

Rosie became an advocate in 2010 and was involved for three years.

Then she went to live in Papua New Guinea, immersing herself in the culture and community.

“The more you experience different cultures and traditions, the more your perspective on life changes. I have such a deep appreciation for the way God has created us with such diversity.”

Rosie came back to New Zealand after a year and did her Master’s in International Development. A

PICTURE Share and Care Nepal

couple of years later, she got a job at Tearfund.

“I have the conviction that the things I do have an impact, and what I do matters,” she says.

“It’s not just a flag that some Christians carry, we all have that responsibility. We are all called to love, to care and to embrace.

“It’s about leaving a legacy of getting alongside people, investing in people and giving whatever skills and talents we have to ensure people around us can reach a level playing field. Sadly, this world is full of systems and norms that create discrimination and deprivation from the moment some people are born,” Rosie says.

Before Covid-19, Rosie visited Tearfund’s projects regularly.

The projects she is involved with include supporting Tearfund’s partner Medair in their Rohingya

Refugee Crisis response and ongoing support of Tearfund’s partners in Indonesia and Nepal. She is also working with Compassion International to support child development during the pandemic.

“When I visit our partners on monitoring trips, it’s a privilege to see how they steward the funds that are raised by Tearfund and our supporters.”

“When I sit down with a mum who has been served by our partner and hear about the brighter future she has ahead for herself and her daughter —that’s what drives my passion and my work. That faith in action can link us to families like hers through a simple choice of generosity and care for another.”

Join the advocate network and put your faith into action just like Rosie. For information, visit tearfund.org.nz/advocate Tearfund Correspondent — Dec 2020

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Vegetables bring change in Mongolia

BY KEITH RAMSAY

Tearfund has wrapped-up a successful long-term partnership in Mongolia which has seen herders rebuild their traditional way of life despite freezing winters that were killing their livestock.

The unlikely answer was radical—the humble vegetable.

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raditional herders have wandered the vast Mongolian steppe for centuries, grazing their livestock and living in Gers.

Their animals have been their source of food and income. But over the last decade, their way of life has come under threat due to changes in the climate. Normal winter temperatures can be around minus 35ºC, but in 20092010 temperatures plummeted to minus 50ºC, causing 700,000 animals (40 per cent of livestock) to perish. Known as a dzud, these

MONGOLIAN HERDERS TEND THEIR COMMUNITY GARDENS.

8 | Tearfund Correspondent — Dec 2020

severe winters are becoming more frequent. A dzud is when animals die in vast numbers following dry, hot summers and icy winters.

Another big one occurred in 2018.

After the 2010 event, the government asked Tearfund’s partner, Family Agricultural Resources Mongolia (FARM) to help families make it through these events with enough food and income to sustain them. What they came up with was radical for Mongolian herders and Tearfund

began supporting the project in 2011. FARM was going to teach traditional herders how to grow vegetables commercially to feed themselves and earn a living. The income would help them to build up their herds again. Tearfund enlisted the help of New Zealand horticultural scientist, Marlon Stufkens, to help them grow vegetables in such harsh conditions with a short growing season.

He introduced rammed-earth tunnel houses which extended the growing season.

PICTURE Ian McInnes

livelihood, their food and their survival?

CHOGDON HARVESTS HER TOMATOES.

Marlon also redesigned root cellars to store vegetables. The cellars have to be 4m deep so they are below the winter frost, otherwise, the vegetables would freeze.

There were many other challenges to overcome.

Vegetables were not a regular part of the Mongolian diet, herding was their way of life, the growing season was short and many didn’t really know how to grow or use vegetables in their cooking. The challenge was to get them growing vegetables through communal vegetable gardens and selling what they produced.

How do you convince toughliving, poor nomadic herders to have faith in growing vegetables and be willing to change, when animals are their insurance, their

It was difficult at first to get them involved, but a few led the way, and now there are 12 cooperatives successfully market gardening with more than 560 active members. One of the early adopters was a woman named Chogdon.

Chogdon and her husband were herders under the Mongolian communist system (all livestock were state-owned). When the system collapsed in 1990, they received 60 of their own animals from the government and by 2005, their herd had grown to 600. Sadly, in 2006, Chogdon’s husband died leaving her to take care of her six children. Then two consecutive dzuds and droughts occurred in 2009 and 2010 that left her with 20 sheep and goats out of 700.

“My situation in 2010 made me realise that I cannot rely on animals alone for support.

Sometimes we had nothing to eat. It made me think of planting vegetables again.”

In 2013, Chogdon joined the programme. The 50 selected families chose her as the site leader because of her previous experience. “Every year our gardening skills and knowledge grew and our yields increased”.

This provided enough to eat and increased their income, she says. “In 2014, our participating households established a cooperative. We understood that if we worked together, we would have more success, more income and good livelihoods. This meant we could buy a few more animals and use the milk to make butter to supplement the income from gardening.”

Chogdon says, traditionally her village has not had home gardens.

People would buy vegetables like potatoes from surrounding villages but now the cooperative can supply and sell all their vegetables locally.

In Oct 2013, Chogdon was voted the best gardener of Uvurkhangai Province. This greatly encouraged her, she says.

“I am grateful to Tearfund and the New Zealand Government for coming to our aid after we suffered in the dzud. Thank you to the people of New Zealand for their help.”

Five key

achievements 1. Subsistence herders formed 11 cooperatives with each family earning a sustainable income from vegetables.

2. New greenhouse adaptation extended the growing season from four to six months.

3. The programme introduced the processing of vegetables, which included rhubarb. The communities had never tasted rhubarb, despite the fact it grows wild in the countryside.

4. The diet of nomadic herder families consisted mainly of meat. Now they serve vegetables as much as meat.

And they are healthier for it!

5. Introduced a ‘Green Week’ in September. Growers come from all over the province to display their produce, pickles and preserves.

Tearfund Correspondent — Dec 2020

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Sharing life with those affected by disasters

BY GRACE STANTON

Carl Adams recently returned from working among Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh to head up Tearfund’s Programmes Department. He shares some experiences from the world’s hot spots.

Tell us your favourite story from working in the field?

Picking a “favourite” story doesn’t do justice to the long list of incredible people I have met and the experiences I have had. Working in a crosscultural team has been a real highlight, and I have found that humour is an international language.

No matter what situation people are in, life goes on and laughter is never far away. I guess it’s a coping mechanism that draws people together.

Quite often I have been the subject of other’s amusement, be it from fishing my sunglasses out of a pit latrine, waking up with a rat inside my mosquito net, or having wacky dance moves.

What was an encounter you’ll never forget?

I was in Sulawesi, Indonesia, following the earthquake and tsunami in 2018. The coastline was destroyed. What was once a bustling road with beachside cafes had become mounds of broken glass, twisted metal and smashed concrete. Sitting on a foundation slab of what had been a café, was a teenage girl. She was looking at the sea, expressionless. It brought home the human cost of disasters—seeing someone trying to comprehend how their world had been turned

upside down in seconds. It’s tough and humbling to be in a disaster zone, knowing there are limits to what you can do. From it also comes a sense of purpose—knowing you can do something, and along with others, it’s possible to do something significant.

What is one of the most successful projects you have worked on?

In 2015, Nepal was hit by a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake. It caused extensive damage throughout the country. I worked on a project that helped to rebuild 1,300 homes in rural Eastern Nepal. The project included earthquake-resilient housing. The rebuilt homes helped people reorder many other parts of their lives such as their children’s education, improving living conditions, and helping the health and hygiene of their family. People also learnt transferrable skills from rebuilding their communities.

Why do you do this work?

I find this work rewarding because I see the real and tangible difference we can make in people’s lives by working together and striving to deliver better support to those we serve.

CARL ADAMS (BOTTOM LEFT) MEETING WITH LOCALS IN TAMARA BERGER.

PICTURE Supplied

10 | Tearfund Correspondent — Dec 2020

Inspirational Child Sponsor gets chance to meet over Zoom STORY AND PICTURES

BY KEITH RAMSAY

JENNY SHARES AN EMOTIONAL TIME WITH HER SPONSOR CHILD, BERRY FROM INDONESIA.

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eet the inspirational Jenny Yarndley from Te Awamutu. The mother of five has built a wonderful and heart-warming relationship with a young man from Indonesia she started sponsoring in 2013, called Berry. While they have gotten to know each other well through letter-writing, they have never met. So, you can imagine her huge surprise when we arranged for her to meet him for the first time via a *Zoom call.

Jenny says you can build up quite a cool relationship through writing letters. “It’s been amazing getting to know Berry through writing. He expresses himself really well, tells me about what he is doing at school and his studies, and about the hard times and the joys in his life.”

One of those hard times was when Berry’s father died a year after she started sponsoring Berry. Jenny says it was really heart-wrenching to get that letter. It was at that point Jenny realised there would be an income deficit. She says, “Tearfund was amazing. When I asked Tearfund to find out what they would need to support themselves, they came back with a figure that would set Berry’s mum up with a business selling phone cards.”

The only problem was that when she decided to commit to this, she didn’t have the money. Jenny runs

her own business from home, making training pants for kids, and in the weeks following her decision, her orders miraculously doubled so she could raise the money Berry’s mum needed.

In Berry’s last year at school, he decided he wanted to become a nurse. Jenny wanted to help because she knew it would be difficult to afford. “God put it on my heart to help, and Tearfund worked out the costs, which included his fees, accommodation and food.”

Again, it has been a case of trusting God for the money to come in, but he hasn’t let her down, says Jenny.

“Berry is doing well with studies, but he doesn’t find it easy. But recently he was made chief of his class so he can lead services at the Christian nursing school. I am really proud of him.”

Jenny says she would love to meet him but feels to focus on helping to support him. So, at Tearfund, we thought we would give Jenny the chance to do the next best thing by arranging a Zoom call with Berry. *This isn’t normally available to child sponsors for child security reasons.

You can watch the video on our website: tearfund.org.nz/growinguptogether Tearfund Correspondent — Dec 2020

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Three ways to teach your kids about poverty

BY KATE KARDOL

We all want the same things in life—healthy relationships, to feel safe, the opportunity to determine our futures. Unfortunately, not everyone experiences these building blocks of life. While much progress has been made to reduce poverty worldwide, nearly half of the world’s population* still struggles to meet their basic needs.

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s parents, we have a responsibility to teach our children to look outward and consider the needs of others. As Christians, we are called to care for ‘the least of these’. When we fulfil this call in our homes, we invest in a fairer world for everyone.

1. Face the facts

Start a conversation by drawing comparisons on the experiences of an average child in New Zealand and those living in extreme poverty. For example, does your child know that one-in-five children in New Zealand do not have enough food, but in Rwanda, it is four-in-five? Helping your children grapple with the facts can help our kids get fired up to make a difference.

2. Make it practical

It’s one thing to know the facts, and another entirely to experience it. In a country where food choices are abundant, why not eat only

rice and beans for one day as a family? Or commit to a day without electricity—a luxury we take for granted. These experiences help kids grow to understand the challenges of children elsewhere.

3. Empower them to act

I have seen in my work and in parenting my children, that they hold a deep desire to matter and to make a difference. And frankly, the world needs them to.

Age-appropriate service opportunities empower kids to make a difference. Brainstorm ways you can tackle poverty as a family, such as volunteering at a local food bank or challenging your

children to give a portion of their pocket money to a good cause.

Or consider sponsoring a child through Tearfund, where your child can be matched with a child overseas and experience the world through the power of friendship while helping a child in need.

Whatever you do as a family to develop more global minds and generous hearts at home will surely have ripple effects beyond what we think is possible.

We’ve created a free resource for families with tools and conversation-starters to help you make a difference together. Visit tearfund.org.nz/ growinguptogether to download your copy of the Global Minds, Generous Hearts Family Activity Pack and to learn more about child sponsorship. *The World Bank, 2018.

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Covid response by numbers

BY ZOE NOAKES

From mid-March 2020, Tearfund’s partner, Compassion, temporarily shut their child development centres due to Covid-19.

But they have never been far from the children they serve.

PICTURE Compassion

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hrough phone calls, texts, and socially distanced visits, our partners continue to provide life-changing support at a time when children need it most. These church partners have distributed millions of food parcels and hygiene kits, delivered hundreds of thousands of cash transfers, and given medical assistance. As parents lose their income due to the pandemic, food is an urgent need. In almost every country, church partners are delivering food packages filled with essentials.

3,720,347 Food packs

In the Peruvian jungle, 14-yearold Nicol jumped for joy when they saw someone carrying a bag towards their house. “I think our sponsors are sending us groceries again,” Nicol cried. “We just ran out of the food we had.” Since her parents lost their jobs because of the pandemic, they have been unable to send money to Nicol’s grandmother, who cares for the

children. “It broke my heart to hear my grandkids cry because they were too hungry,” she says.

2,414,759 Hygiene Kits

With vulnerable families struggling to buy food, a face mask, hand sanitiser, or disinfectant are luxuries they cannot afford. With numerous parents out of work due to the pandemic, one of the child development centres trained fathers who had lost their jobs to make hand sanitiser, which was distributed to vulnerable children and families. Father of two, Joseph, said the training has given him hope during a difficult time. Staff supported four fathers, including Joseph, to kick-start their own sanitiser business.

There is no insurance or safety net when you live in poverty.

Medical emergencies plunge struggling children into life and death situations—that’s without the added desperation of a global pandemic.

161,525 Medical Support Cases

As medical crises continue, Compassion responds. In Togo, nine-year-old Wisdom was diagnosed with life-threatening malaria that left him screaming in pain and struggling to eat or speak. His parents had no way to pay for their son’s treatment, so Compassion helped. “If Compassion was not there, I would have died,” says Wisdom.

157,646 Cash Transfers

Where it is challenging to deliver essential aid in-person, some church partners adapted by transferring cash to them electronically. “Having families decide how to spend the money dignifies them,” says Joel, Compassion Kenya’s National Director. “It gives them a choice. ” Father-of-four Peter lost his job as a result of Covid-19. To his relief, his family was one of thousands to receive a mobile cash transfer.

Tearfund Correspondent — Dec 2020

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Give the ultimate feelgood gift this Christmas I n the true spirit of giving, no present says Christmas like

Tearfund’s Gift for Life. Gift for Life is about helping others in need, but at the same time, it can be given as a gift to someone you care about.

Gift for Life is a charity catalogue filled with unique and meaningful gifts Kiwis can buy to support Tearfund’s projects overseas. For instance, the new Gift for Life brochure still has some of the well-known gifts like goats that can make a big impact on a family struggling to create a sustainable living, but there are many new ones like the heartbreakingly-relevant Covid-19 Hygiene Kit which will help protect refugees from coronavirus. The card you buy to send to the person you care about helps to provide the gift in the picture to someone who needs it.

2020 Style

BY DALE CAMPBELL

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hat an exhilarating experience it’s been taking The Justice Conference online this year! Because of the uncertainty around lockdowns, we decided to

14 | Tearfund Correspondent — Dec 2020

take the conference online. Instead of a two-day conference with overseas and local speakers, we packed it all into five hours with a range of talented speakers from Aotearoa.

Some sessions were challenging, such as Jay Ruka on Land Confiscation, Jennie Ekigbo on Racial Injustice, or Matt Renata and Pania Newton on peaceful Protest and Worship at Ihumātao.

Other sessions were meaty,

How it works

1. Pick a Gift. When you buy a Gift for Life, your donation goes to our overseas partner.

Their projects include giving families and individuals the gift you’ve selected.

2. Give a card. You can choose between a physical card or an e-card. Both can be personalised.

3. Share the love. Give your friends their physical card, or schedule the e-card to be sent on a day you choose.

Gift for Life makes Christmas giving easy, so if you are stuck for a Christmas Gift that ticks all the boxes, give the ultimate feel-good present from Tearfund.

Go to giftforlife.org.nz, or fill in the catalogue form and send it to us.

like Sean du Toit’s theological discussion of Justice in the Lord’s Prayer, or inspiring like Bishop Justin Duckworth’s session on Christian Unity. We reached 100 Watch Parties from Whangarei to Invercargill.

You can still access the content by visiting thejusticeconference. org.nz. Click the Register button, donate a koha you think is fair, and you’ll get the links emailed.

Let’s get Quizzical

BY KEITH RAMSAY

It seems that Kiwis are keen to pit their knowledge against each other for a good cause judging by the number who have taken part in Tearfund’s inaugural Big Quiz Night so far.

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he Big Quiz Night is a readymade fun community event which also raises money to help people struggling against poverty.

All hosts need to do is provide the venue, some audio-visual expertise and add some people for a funfilled night. Tearfund supplies everything else to run the event, including the quiz video which features various Kiwis celebs asking the questions in their areas of expertise. For instance, Dave Dobbyn hosts the music section of the quiz. Some hosts also add coffee and food into the mix to make the evening even more inviting.

While we planned to have all events happening on the same day across the country (September 12), we had to adapt for Covid-19 restrictions, so some events are still to take place. All the funds raised from the night will help dairy farmers in Sri Lanka create sustainable incomes from milk, to lift them above the poverty line.

You can still sign-up your church.

Go to tearfund.org.nz/bigquiz to find out more.

In all, a massive 71 churches have taken part so far, which is a remarkable achievement first time around, and we hope to make it even bigger in 2021.

All the feedback Tearfund has received about the event has been extremely positive and all and the evenings were really enjoyable.

One person who has done several quiz nights said this:

“The questions were possibly the best range and level of any quiz I’ve done. We had kids in our team and they were not out of their depth—they had a ball. Thanks for putting this all together. You have done such a good job. When next year’s Big Quiz Night comes up, we will be in again.”

You can still hold this year’s quiz at your church or homegroup.

Email bigquiz@tearfund.org.nz or visit tearfund.org.nz/bigquiz

Tearfund Correspondent — Dec 2020

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Donate I’d like to support: “One” – combat Modern Slavery Where the need is greatest Farming and Enterprise Amount: $35

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Other $ Tearfund is a registered charity.

Charities Act 2005 registration CC21725. Donations $5 and over are tax deductible.

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Sponsor a child today!

F or just $52 per month, you can sponsor a child and help give them protection from exploitation.

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My preference is: Boy Girl Either Living in: South America Africa Asia Central America No preference

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6

Fhani

East Indonesia

17

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17

Bolivia DOB 30/08/2003

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15

Meylan Indonesia

17

Visa / Mastercard (please complete below) Cardholder name: Signature: Card Number:

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DOB 23/10/2003

East Indonesia DOB 22/01/2003

Gabriel 2

Philippines

DOB 01/12/2017 Gabriel lives in the Philippines with his mother and father. He is 2. Gabriel speaks Filipino and loves playing with balls and clapping his hands.

Meylan lives in Indonesia with her father. She is 15. Meylan speaks Indonesian and enjoys reading and singing.

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Tanzania

Alva lives in East Indonesia with his mother and father. He is 17. Alva speaks Bahasa Indonesian and likes playing basketball and soccer.

24/05/2005

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Irene

Alva

Luis lives in Bolivia with his mother and father. He is 17. Luis speaks Spanish and likes to play basketball with his friends.

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Luis

DOB 03/08/2014

Irene lives in Tanzania with her mother and father. She is 16. Irene speaks Swahili and enjoys playing ball games with friends.

Last

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East Indonesia Evan lives in East Indonesia with his mother and father. He is 6. Evan speaks Indonesian and enjoys ball games and playing with cars.

Fhani lives in East Indonesia with her mother and father. She is 8. Fhani speaks Indonesian and loves to sing.

Supporter Number

First

DOB 14/11/13

Evan

DOB 24/09/2012

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East Indonesia Nova lives in East Indonesia with her mother and father. She is 6. Nova speaks Indonesian and enjoys art, drawing and playing with dolls.

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OUR PURPOSE

Editor: Keith Ramsay.

Motivated by Jesus, we encourage Kiwis to act for justice and relieve poverty among the world’s most vulnerable people.

Contributors: Ian McInnes, Dale Campbell, Helen Manson, Kate Kardol, Sean du Toit, Grace Stanton and Zoe Noakes.

0800 800 777 tearfund.org.nz enquiries@tearfund.org.nz

Design: Alex Carter.