Project 038 - Christmas Parcels for Portugals Poor

Using the sanctuary to reach the socially disadvantaged. What better use can a church be at this time of the year as we use social work as a vehicle for the gospel.

Just a sample of what you would find in one of Oscar's Christmas food parcels. £37.00 can go quite a long way in Portugal if you go to wholesalers.

Oscar visiting some of the 'barracas' which you can still find in Portugal away from the gaze of the holiday makers on the Algarve.

The old, the sick and the infirm are desperate for your help.

Operation Oscar Siloam Christmas parcel outreach to the needy in Portugal 2007

"...And giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor" Esther 9:22

Dear Friends,

Any false notion that Portugal was just an idealic holiday destination was shattered last summer with the disappearance of little Madeleine McCann. The spotlight was suddenly turned on Portugal and many people became aware of the social ills concerning children and their disappearance. This coupled with the fact that the police in October made several raids on known paedophiles in Portugal made people think that there maybe many other attributes hitherto unknown in this otherwise beautiful country. Another of those social evils is the tremendous gulf between the new wealthy and those who fall outside the safety net offered by the overstretched social security system. Our supporters know only too well of the need that exists for the poor in Portugal who live behind the high rise buildings in homemade shacks and shanty towns which thankfully are slowly being cleared away by the authorities. But, even today were you to travel with me to visit Oscar Segura, he would take us to locations in the hills around Malveira north of Lisbon, where people are living in accommodation little better than allotment sheds. This social imbalance thus provides an opportunity for the church to minister in a positive way to reach these people with the love of Christ at Christmas time. By going with gifts in hand, many folk's hearts are warmed by the fact that someone somewhere has a care for them and wants to make their Christmas a little more bearable.

Last Christmas Pastor Oscar Segura with whom we have worked now for nearly 20 years, was able with his church congregation to put together 90 food parcels each containing over 40 items of grocery. The church volunteers used our ministry gift of over £3,000.00 to purchase over 4,500 worth of food. There were no Christmas turkeys or plum puddings which we would perhaps look for but there was a great Portuguese delicacy bacalhau or codfish which the Portuguese traditionally eat on Christmas Eve. 90 pieces of this delicacy 'recheio' cost £765.00 and we spent £2,470.00 on other traditional groceries that would be at home in our own larders or refrigerators. Just £122.00 was spent on fuel, plastic bags and other miscellaneous costs including photos to show you just what was undertaken last Christmas.

My message is simple, please stand with us again and help us put together another 90+ Christmas food parcels for those least able to afford them in Portugal. Oscar's church in Malveira does its part and provides many other items which our ministry gift grant doesn't. They also provide all the voluntary labour to pack the parcels together to make them into a welcoming gift hampers.

A gift of £37.00 will provide enough for one parcel but when gifts of £5.00, £10.00 and £20.00 are accumulated together, we will achieve our 2007 target of £4,500.00. This amount won't change the course of history in Portugal and it won't put all the social ills to rights but it will help some families this year enjoy what will otherwise be very bleak time of the year.

I don't need to say more because the photos here tell the story far better, but please send what you can so that we can share again with Oscar and help his church to be a lighthouse to the socially disadvantaged in his location in Portugal.

Yours sincerely
Richard Norton
Director - Siloam UK