CHURCH NOTICES

Please copy and paste these notices into your weekly bulletin or newsletter as appropriate. The images for each week are downloadable from http://christmasappeal.org.nz/our-featured-partners/ or http://christmasappeal.org.nz/for-churches/ (Week by Week partners).

Church Notices (Shorter)

A young Syrian refugee loves learning. Busy at school, she can forget the hardships her family has endured and her worries for the future. Keeping Syrian children learning is one way the 2017 Christmas Appeal is life giving. Christian World Service works in 25 countries with local partners committed to make

change that lasts. Please support this year’s Christmas Appeal with your donation so more people have food, water and justice. You can use the envelope provided or donate on line at: http://christmasappeal.org.nz/donate/ . With your help children can learn, families have safe water, and disaster survivors can replant more than they lost.

Working together, we can make the hope of Christmas Our Story.

Christian World Service PO Box 22652,

Christchurch 8140 0800 74 7372 christmasappeal.org.nz

Christmas Appeal 2017

Church Notices (Longer)

Christmas is a time of promise and new life. For 72 years, churches have united in their support for people who need food, water and hope. Young people who have fled war zones and want to help feed their families. Dalit women using newfound political

power in local councils to bring essential services like tap water and street lighting to their communities. Filipinos who have experienced the sharp end of climate change, planting trees in the thousands.

Global issues like climate change, conflict and the scramble for shrinking resources are making life more dangerous. We cannot be still when people and our planet are under threat. Please join us to make hope our story.

The Christmas Appeal supports local people do what is most important to them. In 25 countries, Christian World Service is making sure our local partners have the resources they need to confront violence, survive disaster and defeat poverty in their communities. Donating to the Christmas Appeal will give them the resources to push for deeper change that may help people back on their feet.

Your gift at Christmas could change a family’s life forever. You can find out more about the partner groups and the work they do at http://christmasappeal.org.nz/ Donations can be placed in the envelope in the church offering, by internet banking or made on line. Please give generously to the 2017 Christmas Appeal.

Advent One

In the Philippines, Developers Foundation is working in five coastal villages to improve family livelihoods and help them prepare in case of disaster. Four years after Typhoon Haiyan

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Working together with people from these communities, we can make the hope of Christmas our story.

devastated their communities, they are determined to do what they can to better protect their coasts from tidal surges, improve the local economy and plant many more trees and root crops as a cushion. They have already built a farmers’ market with last year’s donations. Please give generously to the 2017 Christmas Appeal, so more people have food, water and justice.

Working together with Developers, we can make the hope of Christmas our story.

Advent Two

In South India, the Human Rights Foundation is giving some of the poorest people a say in their communities. By supporting women elected as panchayat or local council presidents, they are making sure local democracy works. The women learn the roles and responsibilities of a president as well as the skills they need to deal with government officials and large landowners who often dominate local affairs. Dalit women presidents have reclaimed community lands from powerful interests, installed street lighting and organised safe drinking water. Allowed to exercise their power, they can achieve wins for many more families. Your gift to the 2017 Christmas Appeal will strengthen local democracy.

Working together with the Human Rights Foundation, we can make the hope of Christmas our story.

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Advent Three

In driest southwest Uganda, some HIV and AIDS affected families are enjoying safe water from their own water tanks. Thanks to Christian World Service partner the Centre for Community Solidarity, grandmothers and other caregivers collect rainwater, saving long treks for heavily mineralised and often polluted water. The children are back in school and have time for other chores that improve their livelihoods. At monthly association meetings, the caregivers support each other and benefit from the training programme CCS runs. Donations to the Christmas Appeal pay half the cost of a new water tank, transforming their lives of misery into hope.

Working together with the Centre for Community Solidarity, we can make the hope of Christmas our story.

Advent Four

Communities living on the Pacific’s coasts are facing an uncertain future. Already Vanuatu and the Philippines have experienced the biggest storms on record. Making sure vulnerable people are prepared for disaster is one part of the story. The Pacific Conference of Churches has been

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teaching Pacific peoples about climate change, assisting communities forced to relocate because of rising sea levels and pushing for more action on the global stage. PCC is working to end violence against women and advocating for self-determination for West Papua and on other regional issues. Your gift to the 2017 Christmas Appeal will let them get on with this important work. Thank you.

Working together with the Pacific Conference of Churches, we can make the hope of Christmas our story.

Christmas Day

Syrian and Palestinian refugees have opportunities for life long learning through the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees Lebanon. From the youngest preschool students to older women learnng to read and write, education gives refugees opportunities. Through vocational training or attending the homework centre or summer camps, young refugees get a break from the stress and poverty of their daily lives. Donations to the Christmas Appeal will support community centres to provide wrap around services to families vulnerable to poverty, despair and sometimes extremism. Thank you for your support and your prayers for peace. Happy Christmas!

Working together with the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon, we can make the hope of Christmas our story.

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