By Fiona Macaskill
The sun came out on Saturday 18th May for the Women for Mission Annual get together in Livingston Free Church. We are grateful for all who gave up an afternoon in the sun to come and hear about what has been going on in the last year and to help us launch our new project.
We had a really encouraging time of worship together and were delighted to hear from three of the four charities we have been supporting this year as part of our project Breaking Barriers. Almost £40,000 has been raised so far and there is still time to get your donations in for this so please don’t worry if you haven’t done so yet. Donation details can be found here and closing date for donations is 30 June.
Adam Otoo, from International Justice Mission shared a little with us about the work done by IJM, a global movement of Christian lawyers, social workers, investigators and survivors as they continue in their mission, working to end slavery and violence, until all are free. It was really challenging to hear a little of the lives of the vulnerable who are caught in circumstances outwith their control. We are excited to see what the money you have raised can do to help this amazing organisation in their fight to set the captives free.
We also heard from Ali MacDonald who had visited the Community House Damaris in Athens, a charity WfM supported last year. A group from Smithton went out in October last year and the ladies were able to work alongside the women and their children. Ali shared the story of one of the young women she met and how this ministry has transformed her life. The men in the group were able to help in the building of a new house for the centre to work from. Community House Damaris run at a deficit each year but have a big vision for the future. Maybe this is something you can consider in your giving, if you are able. Every year we choose three or four charities that we can support but it would be amazing to see people committing to regularly support some of these ministries. Please do get in touch via our website if you would like any further details.
Megan Patterson from Christian Values for Education helped to launch our Breaking Barriers project last year and came back to help us close it. It is challenging to hear about the situation in our schools in Scotland and we are pleased to have raised funds this year to help support CVE as they develop resources for teachers and chaplains as an alternative to those provided by the state. There is a real increase in interest among the young people of Scotland about the Gospel. Please continue to pray for doors to open for CVE as they share their resources with the councils and that our young people would have access to these.
Our last speaker was James from Release International. The funds you have raised for Release International will go towards the Love in Action project. James shared with us about how Nigerian Christian families who have been displaced due to violence have their immediate practical needs met. This reduces the impact of the hardship and trauma they face. They are encouraged to persevere in faith and they know that they are not abandoned by their Christian brothers and sisters in the UK. We heard about one woman who had lost all the significant males in her life, just because they were Christians. This is a sensitive and sometimes dangerous work and we pray that God will protect his workers as they continue to serve Him in this.
Our new project for 24/25 is called Empower – Lifting Women Up and Transforming Futures. All the launch videos are available to watch on our website and we would encourage you to show them in your churches. Please get in touch if you need leaflets or posters. We will look in more detail at some of the charities we are supporting this coming year in the next few issues of The Record.
We followed the meeting with a lovely afternoon tea and a good catch-up and chat. Please remember that we have our conference Refresh on Saturday 21st September in Inverness. Sharon Dickens from 20 Schemes is the main speaker. Please keep an eye out for booking details which we hope will go live soon. Last time our conference sold out so book early to avoid disappointment.