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Church World Service
Improving Lives Around the World
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If you would like to have someone speak to your congregation
about Church World Service,
please contact Melinda Campbell at melindacampbell@comcast.net
or call 720-379-5254.
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You are doing good work in Indonesia – and all around the world – right this very minute! You probably have only a vague idea of what is accomplished through your gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing, and to Church World Service’s Blanket Fund and CROP Walk – I know I had no idea before going to Indonesia this January to see for myself what was going on.
For two years our group prepped and planned. We were nine people – from 3 western states and ranging in age from mid-30s to past retirement – drawn together by an interest in this |
The next day, we fought our way through Jakarta’s noisy and chaotic traffic to a town in the nearby hills, where we visited with refugees from Iraq, Iran, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Afghanistan. They are all part of a program sponsored by the UN High Commission on Refugees and managed by CWS called Protecting Urban Refugees through Empowerment (PURE). At this center refugees can learn English (since most are hoping to emigrate to Australia, Canada or the U.S.), take courses in computer and electronic skills, and learn how to drive to prepare for available employment in their new countries. Among the refugees we met was a physician from Iran, an electrician from Sri Lanka, and a female financial officer from Iraq, all of whom had been waiting from 1 - 7
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| years to find placements. Most of the refugees are Muslim, but this poses no problem for CWS since their goal is to live out Jesus’ example, not to proselytize. |
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On the island of Nias, as in Aceh province, CWS promoted livelihood recovery after the tsunami by providing new fishing boats for local fishermen. The fishermen have learned to cooperate and, by contributing to a village co-op fund, they have managed to buy more boats which they share among themselves.
Three months after the tsunami, an earthquake devastated the island of Nias. Every home in this village was damaged, most destroyed. CWS taught the villagers construction techniques as they rebuilt their homes. For the first time, the people had latrines.
When asked about clean drinking water, CWS worked with the village to provide a system of settling ponds on the hills above the village to filter and store rainwater, then used gravity to deliver the water to four |
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spigots in the village. Instead of walking hours daily to haul water from streams, people now fill buckets in the center of the village, and even use hoses to deliver water directly to their homes.
At our final stop in Yogyakarta, we met with High School students and one of their counselors who have been trained to educate young people about HIV/AIDS and reproductive health—a topic seldom broached in a conservative, mostly Muslim country. A local non-profit approached CWS to fund a one year test program so they could gain the information they need to convince the state to introduce this into the regular school curriculum. The students and their counselor were quite excited about how well their efforts are being received, and even more curious about what we teach young people in our schools about sexuality and health. |
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Working with local partners throughout Indonesia, Church World Service is empowering communities to work together toward disaster recovery and especially preparedness, sustainable development, improved employment, and ongoing education. They are only able to continue this work through the support of its member denominations. You support them through your generous gifts to the One Great Hour of Sharing collection, usually taken in Lent, and through year long gifts online, both through the UCC and directly to CWS.
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If you have further questions, or would like to have someone speak to your congregation
about Church World Service,
please contact Melinda Campbell at melindacampbell@comcast.net
or call 720-379-5254. |
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