Tearfund

The local church is central to who we are and what we do, not just overseas, but here at home too. The Bible asks Christians to ‘act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God,’ (Micah 6:8). So part of being Christian is standing up against the injustice of poverty - the grinding reality for so many people around the world today.	Contact local representatives Yvonne Abrahams & Martin Clarke vis parish Office 01564 779123 Tearfund, 100 Church Road, Teddington, TW11 8QE 0845 355 8355 www.tearfund.org enquiry@tearfund.org Tearfund is registered charity number 265464
Our Ten Year Vision At Tearfund we have a vision: the local church working at its best, being what it was made to be. United. Loving its neighbour both right on the doorstep and where love’s needed most. Making connections across the world between the people with resources and the people who desperately need them. And the help they’re getting from their local church and the hope they’re experiencing has a transforming power. Lives are being transformed. Today, through our work, this is a reality. ‘There is a lot of help by NGOs but the poorest of the poor are not spotted. You really have to go down to the ground to find the poorest who have no voice in the village. We found that churches work with everyone – and they know who are the poorest people in the village.’ Cuthbert Gondwe, Tearfund partner, MalawiThis is why we are passionate about the local church bringing justice and transforming lives – overcoming global poverty.So our ten-year vision is to see 50 million people released from material and spiritual poverty through a worldwide network of 100,000 local churches.	A Women's group in the evangelical church in Fombe, southern Malawi, wants to start up a group to care for families affected by HIV and AIDS
Connected Tearfund is also about connections: we connect people in the UK with people in need around the world. We work in 70 countries with over 500 church-based organisations. And by getting involved, Tearfund supporters in the UK and Ireland have been part of a miracle – enabling local churches to make unexpected things happen: drought resistant crops feeding villages when the rains refuse to come; a newly planted forest diverting waters away from the villages when the floods come. Fombe Village, Malawi Poverty rarely yields just one specific problem. The village of Fombe is where one of our partners – Eagles Relief and Development programme – works as part of the Living Waters Church in Malawi. Unfortunately Fombe is a prime example of how poverty can build problem onto problem. But the local church is working hard with their neighbours to fight bac Focus on: Climate change Andrew’s land in Fombe village should be a source of income as well as feeding his family. In reality, thanks to increasing extremes in weather, his maize is often shrivelled by drought or washed away by floods. Like so many poor people, he is at the mercy of the elements, and considering moving away from his home to seek an alternative income. As the world’s climate changes, it’s people like Andrew, people relying on the weather for their livelihood, who suffer. Thankfully, Tearfund partner Eagles has worked with Andrew, supplying drought-resistant crops, teaching him about irrigation channels. And the community has been working together to build dykes to prevent flooding.	Andrew relies on his land for his livelihood. Photo:Marcus Perkins/Tearfund
Disease defeated (HIV) Focus on: HIV and AIDS Meet Agnes. She’s 32. She is a single mother to five children. Her husband died from an AIDS-related illness. Agnes is HIV positive but will not give up hope. ‘I have a good outlook on life because of my faith in God,’ she says. HIV is such a widespread problem here – 14 per cent of the population of Malawi have HIV – Eagles have been arranging for people from the church in Fombe to receive training at the local hospital on how to care for people living with HIV. And to raise awareness and encourage prayer, Pastor Harry has been dedicating a slot to HIV every Sunday – a great encouragement to Agnes. Our vision: To halt and reverse the impact of HIV and AIDS in the communities where we work. Our Work a miracle appeal has been incredibly successful but there’s a long way to go.	Agnes is living with HIV. Photo: Marcus Perkins/Tearfund
Injustice resolved Focus on: Unjust trade rules Esther’s cotton field, near where she lives in Fombe, is her livelihood, but she struggles to make it pay. ‘I can sell one basket of cotton for 100 kwacha (37 pence). It would cost me 9,000 kwacha (£32.89) to buy a bicycle to help me travel to the market – but it would take me three years to save this much.’ Esther gets such a low price for her cotton because rich countries’ subsidies depress the global market. She is caught in a web of injustice – and so are we, it’s just that we reap the benefits, while Esther and her daughter go hungry. Our vision: To enable fairer international trade by campaigning for change to the unfair trade rules that make it hard for poor communities to earn a living. More on campaigning for trade justice.	Esther and her cotton field. Photo: Marcus Perkins/Tearfund
Disasters tackled Focus on: Disasters This year Andrew’s land became a sandpit: the river flooded, dumping 6,000 tonnes of sand on his family’s soil. Now, instead of taking a few moments to plant a seedling, he has to dig for half an hour to find the earth beneath. It’s one thing to try to cope with the after-effects of a natural disaster – the secret is to prepare for them. Eagles used their expertise in this area to plant Chikalumpha forest, positioned to guard against flooding from the river and a repeat of the soil-erosion/sand-dump disaster. Our vision: To mobilise Christians and churches across the world to help prepare for, and provide practical relief, when disaster strikes.	Chikalumpha forest in Fombe. Photo: Marcus Perkins/Tearfund
Basic services improved Focus on: Water and sanitation Sophia’s 22. She has two children, which makes the issue of good sanitation an important one for her. In Malawi one in five children dies before reaching the age of five and around 5,000 children die each day from diseases caused by unclean water, something that roughly one sixth of the world’s population is having to make do with. Supported by Eagles and with the help of the local church Sophia heads up the Fombe Village Water and Sanitation Committee. Committee members teach about the need for a toilet, a clothes line, a safe place for food preparation and clean water.Our vision: To ensure that everyone has access to adequate safe water and sanitation in the communities where we work.	Sophia does her laundry. Photo: Marcus Perkins/Tearfund