BulawayO
UNITED CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH FUND |
Lent 2007 This is an appeal on behalf of AIDS victims in Zimbabwe. That country is going through a long, dire crisis at present, not helped by their Government’s refusal to allow international aid agencies into the country. As readers of Reform will know, the Revd Dibeela, Leader of the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa, called for practical help from outside Zimbabwe for AIDS orphans last summer (June 2006), and recently Archbishop Ncube of Bulawayo pointed out that more people are dying each week in Zimbabwe than in Darfur (January 2007). Unemployment runs at 80%, and average life expectancy is only 34 years for women and 37 for men. How can we help? Some years ago the church family at Headingley St Columba contributed to the building of a large, 2,500-seater church at Njube, Bulawayo. For its part, the church family at Njube is committed to caring for and supporting AIDS orphans, training them to become self-sufficient. The congregation’s leaders know that their building could be used more effectively if partitions were built and additional equipment introduced, and they have launched their own appeal. Now, to us at Headingley St Columba this looks like a practical and achievable undertaking, so our Elders have resolved to adopt it for this year’s Lent Project. We invite you to join us. You may perhaps wonder how we can be sure that the money raised will get to the intended beneficiaries? — happily for us, a long-time member of our congregation has family roots in Bulawayo: he visits Njube from time to time and keeps us up to date with conditions. On his advice an account has been opened with the Cooperative Bank in the name of the ‘Bulawayo United Congregational Church Fund’ (details below). The money we raise will be transferred from that account to the ‘Njube UCCSA National Church Building’ account in the Stanbic Bank, Bulawayo. We do hope you will respond positively to this invitation. Any contribution will be gratefully received, either direct to the bank or to one of our Elders, and we will provide an update on progress over the coming months. Many thanks. |
'Bulawayo United Congregational Church Fund’ |