TEARFUND works through churches and Christian agencies to open up brighter futures for the world's poorest communities, and to see lives and situations transformed by God's love through the generosity of Christian people. It also responds to world emergencies, providing vital supplies of aid and medical equipment to disaster areas, and supplying food and shelter through local organisations to avoid delays.
Gordon and Brenda Wilkinson are the South East Reps, and also sell Tearcraft goods at local events. They have also sold almost 3000 copies of their book, 'Recipes for Disaster'. See them for a copy - they also make excellent Christmas presents, all in aid of Tearfund!

TEARFUND LIVING GIFTS

You give…..

…..they choose

Living Gifts are a new twist on the alternative gifts idea: you buy your friend or relative a voucher – they get to choose how to use it. Your gift could go to help children at risk in India or those suffering from HIV & Aids in Mozambique, Brazil or the Democratic Republic of Congo.

You can buy vouchers online or by contacting Brenda Wilkinson, who will provide you with a card and gift voucher.

Be part of a miracle

IT’S A sobering thought that of every ten Christians alive today, nine live in poverty. With nearly half the world’s population, or 2.8 billion people, living on less than £1 a day we need to pray, then act.

Join us by signing up to the ‘Be part of a miracle’ campaign, praying alongside other Christians and uniting with other congregations around the world that are passionate about justice. Remember: when we pray, God responds. He reminds us that discipleship is about taking on a challenge that is so big that it consumes you.

Tear fund's challenge is huge. Its ten year vision is to see 50 million people released from material and spiritual poverty through a worldwide network of 100,000 local churches. Imagine what could be done if we all prayed:

• For disease to be defeated,
• For water and sanitation to be improved,
• For injustice to be resolved,
• For our environment to be restored,
• For disasters to be tackled.

Here’s how you can join in and Become Part of a Miracle

You can start praying now using the prayer diary that follows.

You can make a note in your diary to attend the prayer events that we will be organising during Tear fund's Global Week of Prayer from 12^thto 18^thNovember.

You can visit Tearfund’s brilliant new website at www.tearfund.org

You can also become a link in Tearfund’s Global Poverty Prayer chain by logging onto www.bepartofamiracle.org.uk. Here you can read prayers that have been submitted by people around the UK and by people from countries where Tearfund is at work. Better still, why not send in your own prayer, or commit to praying for Tearfund and get yourself on the prayer map.

NOT ON THE INTERNET? Don’t worry, you can send in your prayer and/or commit to praying for Tearfund by regular mail. Simply write to: Be part of a miracle, Tearfund, 100 Church Road, Teddington, Middlesex, TW11 8QE

If you have any questions, please talk to Brenda or Gordon Wilkinson (311516) or contact them by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

TEARFUND UPDATE 2007

The Burns Night, in aid of Tearfund’s Work a Miracle Campaign to stop the spread of HIV in the world’s poorest places, was a great success. We have sent over £600 for the campaign with further funds being reclaimed from Gift Aid donations. Sales of Recipes for Disaster cookbooks on the night were £93 all of which will go to Tearfund’s general donations fund.
At the Tearfund Support Group Meeting on Monday 12th March, Regional Manager, Ian Roberts told us that in November 2006 the aim for the Work a Miracle Appeal was to raise £2 million by the end of 2007. This total has already been passed, with £2.1 million already donated or promised by regular giving. This will enable even more work to be done to help prevent HIV from being passed from mother to child. Thank you for your support for the project.
Our fund-raising cookbook, Recipes for Disaster… Relief and Development, is selling really well. We have sold over 3000 copies and about 100 ‘I’m a Recipe for Disaster’ Aprons to date and donated over £17,000 to Tearfund. Thank you to everyone at St. John’s who gave recipes, checked them or bought copies of the book. We couldn’t have done it without you. We have lots of copies out on a Sale-or-Return basis, but we do have just over 2,000 more to sell. So, if you think you can help sell some more, please let us know. Here's a recent article from Christian Today about Recipes for Disaster
Brenda & Gordon Wilkinson

Click here for more "Work a Miracle" information

{mosimage} Tearfund distributed nearly £50 million in the year to March 2006 to projects that help some of the poorest people on Earth: it aims to bring them the Christian message together with real practical help.

There are three strands to Tearfund’s international work. The first is work through local partners, which is how Tearfund predominantly addresses issues of poverty. Secondly, in major crises when local capacity is inadequate to meet the needs, Tearfund mounts its own operational responses. Thirdly, advocacy plays an important part in Tearfund’s work by helping the voice of the poor to be heard.

Tearfund’s partner-based work in 2005/06 involved 565 projects with 297 partners in more than 70 countries.

For many people, the year to March 2006 will be remembered for the number of emergencies. Tearfund has continued to respond to the emergencies in Darfur (western Sudan) and in South Asia, following the December 2004 tsunami. To these have been added this year the earthquake in Kashmir and the various famine situations in Africa: in the Sahel/Niger, in Southern Africa and in East Africa. Tearfund has been actively involved in responding to all these situations, as well as to less high-profile long-term poverty needs.

Often the chronic plight of poor people across the world gets insufficient attention, not only from the media but also from governments in the developed nations. This was very successfully highlighted by the Make Poverty History rally in Edinburgh, according to Brenda Wilkinson, one of our Tearfund representatives, who went there. For more details of Tearfund's work, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or Visit TearFund.org or the South East area.

Brenda and Gordon Wilkinson, both Tearfund volunteers from St. John's Church have compiled a book of recipes from 25 countries where Tearfund operates, in aid of the charities relief work. Recipes for disaster… relief and development is brimming with tasty starters, mains and desserts from 25 countries across four continents. The Wilkinsons had the idea while eating rice and beans for two weeks on a Tearfund study tour to the Honduran rainforest. ‘This book has taken us on an inspirational journey as we set about collecting recipes from friends, contacts at Tearfund and Tearfund partners overseas,’ says Gordon. ‘Most recipes are delicious – I love the Burundian green banana and the Bengali fish in mustard sauce – but one or two are deliberately bland, to show what life is like where food is limited. ‘You can choose a recipe and pray for the people Tearfund is helping, afterwards or as you say grace,’ says Gordon. Each recipe works for home or church meals, and comes with information about the country it’s from and how Tearfund is working there. To order your copy email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or send a cheque for £7 to B Wilkinson at PO Box 78, East Grinstead RH19 2YW. Of your £7, at least £5.50 will go to Tearfund.

Representatives: Gordon and Brenda Wilkinson 01342 311516