Latest news
from BibleLands
Issue
6, May 2007
BibleLands’
Baby!
Well, it’s not actually a baby belonging to BibleLands,
although many of us wish he did, because he’s very cute! Caroline, who
co-wrote re:Action, is currently on maternity leave, looking
after George, who is now just over a month old. Congratulations to
Caroline and her husband Vic, and congratulations to George on being
born! This exciting event, however, means that I am the lone writer of
re:Action now…
Jerusalem
Jaunts in July
Do you have a passion to serve God by serving
the needs of the vulnerable and disadvantaged?
Do you believe it really is possible to make a positive difference…and do
you want to?
Then join us in Jerusalem this summer, from 5–21 July. Help to run a
summer camp for visually impaired and
sighted children at the Helen Keller Centre (left, top), or
help to lead a summer camp for disabled, deaf and able-bodied children at
the Princess Basma Centre (left, below).
BibleLands runs these volunteer
teams in partnership with Highway Projects (www.highway-projects.org).
Joining either of these teams will cost £800, which covers flights and
internal travel, accommodation and most other expenses. We only have a few
days to fill the remaining spaces – so if you are interested, please pick
up the phone now!
If you have already joined one of these teams – I look forward to meeting
you at the Training Day in Sheffield,
on Saturday 2 June.
For more information, logon to
…make a difference…make a change…make your summer count…
The A-Z
of Fundraising Ideas:
G is for…
Garden Trail – If you
live near lots of keen gardeners, they may well be happy to open
their gardens for an afternoon in the summer to let others look
round. People can buy a ticket – give them a sticker to show they’ve
paid and a map of where all the gardens are, then let them loose to
wander round at their leisure. The gardeners get to show off all
their hard work, and the punters get to be nosey and think they are
being clever by stealing cuttings. Everyone’s a winner.
Guess Who – Have a
competition at work/school/church where everyone brings in a photo
of themselves as a baby. Put all the pictures on a board and charge
people to guess who’s who.
Guess the Name –
Obtain a large soft toy and give it a name, then charge people to
have a guess – if anyone guesses correctly, they win the toy (or
something they may actually want).
Garage Sale – No,
we’re not asking you to sell your garage.
But we all managed to organise a Blue Peter Bring and Buy
sale when we were nine, so it shouldn’t be too difficult now.
If you have done something silly, fun or just plain hard work to raise
money for BibleLands,
please let us know. If it
begins with a letter that comes after G in the alphabet, even
better!
Building Homes, Building Hope
The 2nd BibleLands
/ Habitat for Humanity volunteer team travelled to Upper Egypt to build
homes for and with the rural poor in March. The team worked on a variety
of tasks, including roofing, bricklaying and sieving sand that had come
direct from the desert just a few hundred meters away! They said:
The families were amazingly warm, welcoming and accepting. It was a
wonderful experience to work
together and to feel we were all contributing to a common purpose … Even
though we could not speak easily to each other, the love of God shining
out of the people was fantastic, you could see in their eyes and faces
just how much our visit meant to them … It was good to be offered
hospitality in the form of tea or Sprite, to share information about one
another’s circumstances, play football with the children and help each
other improve colloquial Arabic and English … To stand in an Egyptian
Christian’s front room, while she prayed in Arabic with her hands
outstretched to the Lord in praise, and we prayed in English – well we
couldn’t understand each other but the Lord heard every word. What a
blessing!
The team’s Debrief Day is this Saturday (12th May) – if you were part of the trip, I
look forward to seeing you then!
For information about future teams, contact me on 01494 897931 or
jennie.watts@biblelands.org.uk
Project
Profile: Shams El Birr
There is a huge lack of services in Egypt for blind people, particularly
girls. Their disability prevents them
from going to school, and without an
education they are unable to get a job. It is also difficult for them to
get married, because of the ‘burden’ of their disability.
In 1989, Dr Morcos Boulos began Shams El Birr, which means ‘Sun of
Righteousness’, in a small flat with
5 blind girls. Soon there were 50 residents in 10 flats an
d
in 2001, the Centre had to move to a purpose built centre, where there
are now over 60 residents, both boys and girls, with a variety of
disabilities.
d
in 2001, the Centre had to move to a purpose built centre, where there
are now over 60 residents, both boys and girls, with a variety of
disabilities.
Waheeb comes from a very poor family.
His parents are cousins, which caused the disabilities that he
was
born with. He has autism and is
unable to speak. His
parents didn’t know how to take care of him, so his condition got
worse. When he came to the Centre, he
began speech- and physiotherapy. His
walking has improved a lot, but he continues to take part in lots of
programmes, all aimed at helping him to achieve his potential.
Dates for
the Diary:
If you are going to either New
Wine or Greenbelt this summer, we would love to meet you!
Please visit
our stand, in the Marketplace (New Wine) or the g-source
(Greenbelt) – or if you see anyone wandering around wearing a BibleLands’
t-shirt, please stop them and
say ‘hello’ (especially if they look lonely or lost).
New Wine: 28 July–11 August,
Shepton Mallet
Greenbelt:
24–27 August, Cheltenham
Mobile
Phone Recycling:
It’s easy to turn your old mobile phone into cash for BibleLands.
Please send it to us at: BibleLands, PO Box 50, High Wycombe, Bucks, HP15 7QU
The Worcestershire company is no longer operating so please do not send them there.