Thought for the Week - 9-16/5/2021

Dear Friends, 

Christian Aid Week this year falls between 10th-16th May, and 2021 marks 75 years of the work of Christian Aid which grew out of the need in the 1940s to support desperate refugees following World War 2 by raising some £80,000 (equivalent to £3 million plus today). Down through the decades, Christian Aid has provided humanitarian relief and long-term development support for communities battling poverty worldwide, while highlighting suffering, tackling injustice and championing people’s rights. In the 1950s Christian Aid Week was launched to raise extra funds and to provide support for European refugees together with those from Palestine, Korea and China. In the 1960s Christian Aid made a difference in crises in Nigeria/Biafra, Kenya and India. In the 1970s it drew a link between educating supporters at home about the root causes of poverty and work with partners overseas to eradicate it. In the 1980s Christian Aid fed hungry people during the Ethiopian famine and those experiencing drought in Mozambique, and led a mass lobby of parliament to call for more official development aid. In the 1990s it linked work in fifty poor countries to campaigns on developing world debt, fair trade and the policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. They challenged the stigma and discrimination experienced by people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, and stood up for and provided food for refugees in Kosovo. In the 2000s, they campaigned to make poverty history during a war against terror, and reached more than 500,000 people with food, shelter and healthcare after the Asian Tsunami. And in the 2010s and beyond, Christian Aid informs about, and campaigns against climate change, champions tax justice, and continues to work with local partners on the ground to make a practical difference to the lives of new waves of refugees locally while campaigning and advocating for change globally. A refugee survivor and long-term Christian Aid supporter, Theodor Davidovic, says, ‘In the camps, it was Christian Aid that sent the parcels…feeding us for two-and-a-half years, and I never forgot it. Christian Aid helped me to survive and I feel I owe my life to Christian Aid. I vowed there and then to do my best as long as I live, and I’m still doing it.’ Christian Aid says, ‘with the help of our incredible supporters and partners, we’ve achieved so much in 75 years.’ On this anniversary year, we give thanks to God for Christian Aid and its work. 

Grace and peace,

Neil

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