Insight 2009

Pastor Oscar Segura and local church members distribute Christmas food parcels to those in greatest need.

The value of a Christmas parcel is about £50, providing basics such as flour and rice as well as holiday foods of tinned fish and meat.

Prior to an eye operation, Dr. Dev Thomas examines a leprosy patient.

Tran Thi Dieu Ai, then and now.

Sharon Godwin.

Christmas planning starts early for hard working team members of the Leamington Christian Mission.

Kids Clubs on the farms bring smiles to underprivileged children of farm workers.

Dave and Vicky Emmerson with their son Elijah.

Pastor James recovered in hospital with his wife Esther at his side.

Continuing his 30 years of ministry, Pastor James has resumed his work after his life saving operation.

Neela urgently requires heart surgery for her life threatening condition.

Evangelist Enrique Daan is happy for children to thank God for food – not him.

Haiti has experienced crop failures that leave most people suffering from hunger.

Children are nurtured with good food and the good news of Jesus.

Winter 2009

Hope for the Holiday Season

Portugal and poverty do not seem closely related to most people. Yet this country is marred by poverty and social exclusion. For years Siloam has been working with local Christians to bring relief to the needy and, especially, cheer at Christmas time.

The Malveira area north of Lisbon is home to many impoverished families – and also a focus of outreach. Pastor Oscar Segura heads this vital work. Evangelical churches use the Christmas season to bring social relief and spiritual hope to the poor.

Because of the generosity of Siloam supporters, Pastor Oscar and his team purchase supplies and assemble Christmas parcels. This year they anticipate distributing 100 parcels to the neediest. A parcel contains almost 40 items, enough to feed a family for up to two weeks.

Christmas parcels also include Christian literature. Each year the Trinitarian Bible Society provides Siloam with calendars which have a meaningful Bible text for every day.

During this festive season, churches will be producing nativity plays and musical events to attract non-church goers. Pray that God may use all the efforts of the hard working Christian team members to minister to the poor physically and spiritually.

Help In Sight

Since biblical times, leprosy has been a much feared and stigmatised disease. With the number of sufferers in India, health workers are committed to lowering the prevalence of leprosy.

When people who suffer from leprosy also experience health problems such as failing vision, they become even more vulnerable. That is why Siloam Thomas Eye Hospital offers help to leprosy sufferers with vision problems.

‘Many patients experience poverty and the dedicated medical team is committed to giving them treatment which they would not be able to afford,’ said UK Director Richard Norton.

Together Child Sponsorship

‘Changed life’ describes not only what happens to a sponsored child, but also to the person who cares for them. One of our long time supporters Roderick Stupieniec, who passed away in September, experienced this. He sponsored Tran Thi Dieu Ai who lives with her family in Vietnam.

With increasing frailty, he asked his social worker to ‘phone Director Richard Norton to tell him how distressed he was about who would look after ‘his child’ after he was no longer around to give financial support. Now another person, Sharon Godwin, is able to help this vulnerable child.

Sharon sponsored a Vietnamese boy Dau for seven years, until he was able to go on to higher education. She notes, ‘Children are so overwhelmed when they have the opportunity for education and can be scared of losing it. These children see education as a means of keeping their lives out of the poverty trap. I assured Dau, “I will continue to sponsor you and be proud of you no matter what grades you get.”’

Leamington Christian Mission

Christmas is coming! For most of us that means great intentions – and the inevitable last minute shopping. But Steph and Geoff Devlin and the dedicated volunteer team of Leamington Christian Mission have to take Christmas more seriously than that, and for months in advance.

Why all the rush? There are literally thousands of good reasons: each one a person or family in need. At Christmas, the mission will distribute more than 1000 food hampers and about 5000 presents to children, individuals and families in need.

There is a carol service at the request of people being helped. Steph says, ‘Each year this is attended by 160 un-churched people. It is something they look forward to and ask about. Everything from carols to banners reminds them that we are focussing on the birth of Jesus.’ The mission’s year round spirit of Christian giving helps to get across the true meaning of Christmas.

Welcoming a New Ministry

Settling into their new ministry in South Africa, Dave and Vicky Emmerson from North Lanarkshire note, ‘God has been taking very good care of us since we arrived. We were met at this end with such love and warmth by the church members that we were just blown away.’

As part of the Calvary Chapel Paarl Valley ministry team, they point out that their work reflects Siloam’s use of healthcare, relief aid and education as a vehicle for the Gospel. Their healthcare work ranges from caring for children affected by HIV/Aids to the elderly. Relief aid includes both physical and spiritual care of underprivileged children. Like other team members, they are involved with Bible teaching, taking assemblies and helping a local Bible college.

Dave and Vicky’s commitment to serve in this setting also includes learning a new language for them, Afrikaans. The church plant in which they serve features a congregation of diverse backgrounds who are being drawn together by Bible teaching and practical outreach.

Life Saving Efforts

When a pastor and a young girl faced life threatening heart conditions, Siloam and Childcare Worldwide strived to help them. In India, heart surgery costs thousands of pounds.

Recently, Pastor James was admitted to hospital with a heart attack. Thanks to the generosity of supporters who contribute to the medical ministry, he was able to have a life saving operation.

‘I wish to thank all those who supported Pastor James in prayer and also financially. Special thanks to Dr. Max Lange, International President Childcare Worldwide, USA and Mr. Richard Norton, UK Siloam Director who sponsored his medical expenses,’ said Siloam Director in India David Gururaj. ‘Please pray that the good Lord will help Pastor James to do his ministry, because God has given him another new life.’

Fund raising efforts continue for Neela, the girl who also suffers from a critical heart condition. She too needs a new start physically to ensure that her young life will continue.

Hungry Children Pray for Food

‘How many of you know that God answers prayers?’ asked local evangelist in the Philippines, Enrique Daan. Children began smiling, many of them raising their hands. ‘I’ll raise both of my hands to that!’ shouted Allan, one of the young boys, with a joyful cry.

Allan was filled with deep gratitude for receiving a Survival Pack. In January, a typhoon hit his island and the strong seas devastated their home. This natural disaster left his family without basic necessities and very little food to eat. Receiving food was a miracle to Allan – his prayers were answered.

Evangelist Enrique told Allan and the other children in line, ‘Don’t thank me for the Survival Packs. I want you to thank God. He is the one who heard your prayers and made sure the food arrived!’ The children applauded in response to Enrique’s words, their clapping growing louder and louder in thankfulness to a God who had heard and answered their prayers.

Sharing Physical and Spiritual Nurture

Food prices are soaring in Haiti. It looks like the world’s poorest people will be hungrier, sicker and have fewer jobs as a result of the global financial crisis.

That is why the school feeding programme helps children and their families. They used to eat what they could harvest from their garden, but several months passed without any crops at all. These children know what it means to be hungry.

Now, with the feeding programme in their school, the situation has changed. They enjoy the meals of rice, beans and a tasty sauce. It is a great joy for them when they can take some food home to share with their family too. Marlies Lange of Childcare Worldwide explains, ‘In order to give these children the opportunity to get to know the love of Jesus, the Gospel is also shared with them.’

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