Service material 2014/15

‘God of the long-term’

             

NB. WDRC = World Development & Relief Committee WDRF = World Development & Relief Fund WDR = World Development & Relief

Explanation of material, content and approach * Please do not confuse WDRF with the Methodist Missionary Society (Ireland) and its mission partners. MMS(I) focuses on different aspects of mission. MMS(I) produces its own separate service material in February. It is less confusing for members if the two are not mixed. Partner a Project (PaP) scheme WDRC offer churches the chance to choose a partner/project on which to focus. The leaflets explaining Pap contain the five options of location and theme. Audi visual material accompanies each and can be obtained from the office. That material can easily dovetail with this service material. Reference to PaP material is highlighted in bold, blue, underlined text. Theme: God of the long-term We all respond to ‘good causes’, especially those that benefit people living in developing countries. However, sometimes our actions, or the benefits of those actions, are short-lived. Our God is a god of the long-term. The pattern with God is that of lasting change. True ‘development’ is exactly that; lasting, positive change involving local people. This service material looks at the work of Irish Methodist World Development & Relief and highlights the lasting impact of its partners. It challenges us to a long-term engagement with poverty and injustice as a church and as individuals. Aims

• Explain the work of WDR and its partners • Connect Methodist people with their WDRF and encourage generous giving and prayer • Report the work of WDRC’s partners to Methodist supporters • Understand the theological imperative to support long-term development

The material

• Sermon outline and children’s talk • Readings and prayers • Partner stories • * Powerpoint/video of all supported projects • Looped project Powerpoint • Accompanying service Powerpoint

* There are three versions of this Project presentation: 1. Looped for playing continuously in background 2. Timed with music 3. Timed without music – play your own NB: If your church does not have access to technology such as a data projector you can still make use of the bulk of this material. Please read on.

WDRC  service  material  2014/15  

WDRC Annual Report and the 1% Appeal offering envelopes These are distributed at the September Synods and complement the service material. These should be given out on the day of your service, NOT the week before. Hopefully when members fully understand what their money is achieving, they will give more generously. Should the teenagers stay in for the service? YES, and their leaders. They need to be challenged, learn about their church’s response to poverty and injustice and be given the opportunity to be involved. What if we have chosen a ‘Partner a Project’ focus for WDR? Simply substitute in your own powerpoint slides, video, prayers and information (provided by office) where appropriate. There are indications as to where this could be in the order – bold, blue, underlined text. NB – those churches that are taking part in the ‘Partner a Project’ scheme will already have received their supplementary materials. If you want to direct your money towards a specific project then contact the office for the choice of projects or consult the leaflet distributed at Synod or posted to church councils. Alternatively you could have featured your PaP partner the previous week and shown their video and explained about them to the congregation. Then, in this service you can stick to the stories provided but remind the congregation where your donations are going.

Service elements * Although the below elements are in a basic order, you should select the elements that are most useful to your context and rearrange as necessary. Integrate your own worship pieces. Pre-service (Looped project Powerpoint)

• Distribute Annual Reports and offering envelopes as people arrive/leave (* make it clear that the envelopes should be taken away and are not for that day’s offering). They should be placed in people’s hands and not left on a table as an option for people if they wish to take and contribute.

• Play the looped WDR Project Powerpoint Welcome (Slide 1) Welcome and briefly state that today’s service is focused upon the work of the congregation’s Irish Methodist World Development & Relief Fund. Congregational reading (Slide 2-4) Leader: We dare to imagine a world where hunger has no chance to show its face. Response: We dare to dream of a world where war and terror are afraid to leave their mark. Leader: We long to believe in a world of hope unchained and lives unfettered. Response: We dare to share in the creation of a world where your people break free. Leader: Dare we open our minds to difference? Dare we open our lives to change? All: Your Kingdom come, O Lord. Your will be done. Amen (Linda Jones, CAFOD) What is WDRF? (Slide 5) * This can be read as one piece or broken up into 2 sections and read by different readers. Many Methodist members do not fully understand what WDRF is and how it fits with our Methodist beliefs. Therefore the below is an important prelude to the rest of the service. Sadly, we live in a world where 2.2 billion people are poor or near-poor (UN Development Programme stats.). One quarter of all children have stunted growth due to malnutrition. Nearly 1 billion adults and youth lack basic literacy skills. 60% of these are women. Poverty makes a person more vulnerable to violence and abuse and women and children bear the brunt. This is the reality of God’s world. In the early 1970s, the Methodist Church in Ireland created its World Development & Relief Fund. It was to help Irish Methodists engage in the fight against poverty and injustice in a tangible way. Every Methodist member is directed by Methodist Conference to give 1% of their income (post-tax) to the Fund. Each year, congregations collectively contribute about £/€ 200,000. This falls far short of the conservative estimate of a potential £/€10 million within Irish Methodist congregations. World Development & Relief receives our donations and allocates them to grassroots organisations that are carrying out long-term development work in developing countries. WDR also carries out development education (e.g. this service material) and advocacy and responds to emergency situations through relief aid.

Through World Development & Relief, we are currently supporting 19 partner organisations in 12 countries through WDR. Today we celebrate the great things that our Fund is achieving through its partners. (Slide 6) Children’s talk At this point, instead of a talk, you could introduce and play your appropriate PaP video of your partner. There is no reason why any of these are not suitable for children. Then simply pray with the children. * Alternatively – children’s talk. Keep this to about 7 minutes maximum. Ask children what countries they have visited. State that today, the church is thinking about children and their families that live in other countries around the world – but particularly poorer countries. Our Methodist church’s ‘World Development & Relief Fund’ helps people to help themselves make their lives better. That’s what our money is used for. (Hold up the 1% Appeal envelope to show them) Show the slide (alternatively print out the picture from slideshow) of the children being helped by WDR Partner Tell their story: There is a Methodist church called Pinetown Methodist Church in South Africa. Many years ago they realized that there are many poor people living in their area. There are also many children who have lost one or both of their parents, quite often because of disease/sickness. When that happens, it is often the grannies who are left to look after them. But they are poor and find it really hard. The church formed a group called Phakamisa (Pak-a-meese-a) which helps them. Our WDR Fund gives some money to Phakamisa so they can do their work. Phakamisa trains teachers so that the children can go to pre-school. They train the grannies (or ‘gogos’) to grow vegetables so that they can feed the children healthy food. Phakamisa also helps grannies set up little businesses so they can make some money to buy clothes, medicines and pay school fees for the children. Every day, Phakamisa is helping over 10,000 children and 1,500 grannies. Luke 3:11. And [John the Baptist] would answer and say to them, "Let the man with two tunics share with him who has none, and let him who has food do likewise." “What does this mean?” – that we have much and should share it with those who have little. If we say we love God, then we need to do things that show we love other people, especially the poor. Sometimes it is hard to know what to give our money to in order to help poor people. Ask these questions and reinforce the obvious ‘better’ answers: “Is it better to help one person, or a whole village or community?” “Is it better to keep buying food for a hungry person or help them learn how to grow enough food for the rest of their life?” Our WDR Fund helps whole communities. It teaches people new ways to make their lives better. By supporting groups like Phakamisa. Pray with the children.

Offering (Slide 7 – or looped or music version of Project Presentation) * During the offering the looped powerpoint of supported projects can be played (accompanied by your own music choice) or the timed version with the music could be used. This is important to give an overview of the various work funded. The looped version could also be left running at the beginning and end of the service. * Don’t let this offering be your WDR 1% Appeal offering. Remember it is better to give out the 1% Appeal envelopes on this day and collect them over the next few weeks. Don’t give out the envelopes before people have experienced the WDR service and learned about how their money is making a difference. Reading (Slide 8) Luke 10, v25-37 (Slide 9) Sermon Theme: The pattern with God is that he operates with a long-term plan. He is not one for short-term action or thinking. Development in the context of poverty and injustice is long-term as well i.e. in a sense it has God-like values. We as a church and individuals need to commit to this longer term approach to combatting poverty and injustice. This is what will have an impact and it is how WDR operates with its partners. The three examples of partners illustrate three ways in which sustainable positive change is more likely. * As there are extra items being included in this service note that the sermon will probably need to be shorter than usual. Taken together the various elements should give a full overview of WDR’s work and a challenge to those present. Christ brought permanent healing not temporary relief It is worth thinking about what Christ did when presented with those with physical and psychological illnesses. He healed them (e.g. Matthew 4, v23-25). Well perhaps that’s not news but the significant thing is that they were given permanent healing, not temporary relief. And one can understand that with their physical healing came the return of their dignity and their feeling of usefulness and belonging. One can imagine that would very much have been the case with the woman who was healed after twelve years of hemorrhaging blood. God, and through his Son Jesus, seems to be a God that wants change for the good permanently. Whether it be physical healing or a change of mindset as with the disciples who went on to live the rest of their lives based upon Christ’s principles. Earlier we heard Jesus’ parable of the Samaritan who helped the beaten and robbed traveller whilst the religious hypocrites passed on. That would be a suitable lesson to apply to our development Sunday today. But, perhaps because of familiarity, we fail to notice some of the other details of that story. Today I simply want to highlight verse 35 that was read: Luke 10, v35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ The Samaritan did not only rescue the man in that moment but put in place a long-term plan to ensure the man returned to full health. He did four things. Initially he decided to intervene and help the man on the road when he saw the need. Secondly, he covered the initial costs with his two silver coins. Then thirdly, and significantly, he made plans to return. Finally he promised to cover any further costs. All so that the man would be fully restored. This ensured long-term healing, not temporary relief. This is God’s way and it should be the church’s way also.

Let’s have a look at how this long-term thinking operates within development. Remember we’re not thinking about responding to disasters here. Disasters do happen and that is indeed a time to simply rescue people and keep them alive. But the day-to-day development work that you support through WDR has a different aim; to help the poor and oppressed get to a place where their improved future is secure. How do our partners achieve that? Substitute your PaP partner for one of the below featured partners. One WDR partner is the Dabane Trust in Zimbabwe (Slide 10) Dabane works with vulnerable farmers in areas of Zimbabwe where there are acute water problems. The majority of Zimbabwe’s water is inaccessible, being trapped below ground under rock. Rains are much less predictable now than in previous years. Both drought and heavy downpours can damage crops. WDR has worked with Dabane for a number of years now and has visited their staff and some projects. Dabane has developed a network of Farmer Associations with identified lead farmers. These are trained in new farming techniques, co-ordination of production, crop planning and marketing of produce. Community vegetable gardens have been developed across the region. Dabane staff spend much time in discussion with these groups. Beneficiaries need to be involved in identifying the actual problems as well as identifying possible solutions. So community involvement is essential. Without the beneficiaries participating fully, then long-term, sustainable change is impossible. The current project that WDR is involved in with Dabane relates to water contamination and is hoped to eventually benefit some 30,000 households. Another WDR partner is Paz y Esperanza in Peru (Slide 11) As supporters in the rich West, we can get very caught up in funding schemes to provide basic needs such as food and healthcare that improve the lives of the materially poor. These are important in addressing the symptoms of poverty but we also need to address the causes of poverty. Paz y Esperanza, a Christian civil rights organization, digs right down to the roots of poverty amongst rural communities. The rural people of Peru suffered horrendous abuse during a 20 year conflict between 1980 and 2000. There have been nearly 16,000 disappearances during and since the conflict and many also lost their land and so have no livelihood. The government has promised reparations (compensation) but has actually stood in the way of justice as members of the military and government may actually be implicated. WDR is funding Paz y Esperanza in several exemplary court cases that could open the way for families to demand and obtain the money that is due to them. Families are from minority groups with little resources or confidence to take on the state themselves. For long-term development, we need to change the structures and policies that keep people poor. This may seem an odd focus, but it could potentially open up the judiciary system in Peru to pay compensation to thousands of families living in poverty. Finally we hear about a third WDR partner, BOAD in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Slide 12) DRC is perhaps one of the darkest places in which to carry out development work. It is the second largest country in Africa, has a population of 75 million, and has over 200 ethnic groups and languages. The long-

running conflict is said to have seen anything between 1 and 5 million die with 400,000 women still be raped every year. But wasn’t it John Wesley who said “go not only to those that need you but those who need you most”? WDR works with BOAD on its agricultural programme. There is great food insecurity amongst households. Food insecurity means that people have no constant availability of food. The programme helps local people establish co-operative groups that are trained in farming techniques and receive tools. They are also educated in their rights and organized to re-establish the local infra-structure in order to access markets with their produce. BOAD is actually a network of 12 local partner organisations. For long-term development and improvement, we need to work together with local people and organisations. There are skilled, experienced and knowledgeable local people who can make things happen on the ground. The programme will benefit 32,000 women, many being widows, victims of sexual violence or those living with HIV and AIDS. So just three of the hallmarks of what can bring successful long-term development are: 1. involvement of the beneficiaries themselves 2. tackling the causes, not just the symptoms, of poverty and injustice 3. working through local organisations Lessons from Luke for Methodist supporters (Slide 13) And what does that final verse of the ‘Good Samaritan’ parable teach us as Christians who support the Irish Methodist World Development & Relief Fund? It teaches us that: 1. satisfying immediate need is good and is expected by God but it will not fully heal those who are struggling in poverty 2. we need to commit our time and money long-term to those who need us. Not just in irregular responses to disaster appeals.

• In our prayers (IDEA - use the WDR annual report as a prayer guide)

• In our giving (IDEA - set up a standing order spreads your giving and enables you to give more generously – forms are at the back of the annual report)

Conclusion The World Development & Relief Committee sincerely thanks all those who support the mission work of the Methodist Church in Ireland through supporting the fund. It makes long-term impacts on people’s lives and through it they have a better life and they live with the knowledge that they are of value to us and to God.

Prayer for work of WDRC Use the PaP fact sheet to add prayer points for your chosen partner/project. You are the Father of all. The materially wealthy and the materially poor. The educated and the illiterate. The privileged and the abused. The satisfied and the hungry. Lord make us a people who are willing to share our blessings. May we consistently give our time, our prayers and our money to bring long-term change in this world. We pray for Stephen Hussey and Doug Nleya as they manage the Dabane Trust in Zimbabwe. Encourage them. We pray for Roger Mendoza and his team of Paz y Esperanza in Peru as they seek justice and attempt to challenge the status quo. May they see a breakthrough. We pray for BOAD in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. May they bring light where there is darkness. And may we understand our role in changing this world. May we commit to those who need us most. And may we follow Christ’s example of bringing permanent healing rather than simply bringing temporary relief. Lord, you are the God of the poor. May your Spirit build us into a church of the poor. Amen (WDR) * You could encourage members to use the WDR Annual Report in order to pray throughout the year for WDRC’s work, partners and beneficiaries. * Also encourage them to give a completed standing order form as their offering next week. Closing prayer of commitment (Slide 14) * To be read together If the hunger of others is not my own, If the anguish of my neighbour in all its forms touches me not, If the nakedness of my brother does not torment me, Then I have no reason to go to church and to live. Life is this: to love one’s neighbour as oneself. This is the commandment of God. Love means deeds, not good wishes. For this reason I commit myself to Working for the necessities of my brothers and sisters. Amen (Javier Torres, Nicaragua) (Slide 15 or show looped projects))