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Reporting February 2010
(selected articles)
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Wilson Roberts and friends
Present an entertainment
What Is Love
at
Wesley Hall, Methodist Church/ Old Town, Stratford-upon-Avon
on Saturday, March 6th at 7.30pm
Tickets £10 (inc refreshments) available from
Maureen Beckett or Bill 6iles 296789;
or Civic Hall Box Office 207100
In aid of the Church Development Fund
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Our Overseas Sponsorship Scheme
Jan and Graham have produced a newsletter with the latest details of
the support we have been able to provide for our extended church
family. Each year that family gets bigger and the past year has been no
exception. From just 1 to 14 in seventeen years is down to the
wonderful generosity of so many people in the church.
Their one continual request is for people willing to write letters or
cards so if you enjoy writing, perhaps you could help in this way. Have
a chat with either of them at their 'seat of custom' on a Sunday
morning or certainly take time to read some of the letters we receive.
And from everyone in the church, a special thank you to Jan and Graham
for continuing to organize this very worthwhile part of our church
outreach
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FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT
22 FEBRUARY - 7 MARCH
The Fairtrade Foundation is calling this special fortnight hi 2010 "The
BIG Swap" because they want to get us to talk and buy more Fairtrade
products. So everyone is asked to do some SWAPPING. Swap your usual
sugar for Fairtrade, swap your usual oranges for Fairtrade, above all
swap your usual cuppa for Fairtrade tea or coffee. Each and every swap
proves that people in the UK want producers in the developing world to
get a fairer deal.
There have already been some big Fairtrade swaps - from the Houses of
Parliament swapping to Fairtrade tea and coffee in 1997 to Cadbury
swapping its Dairy Milk to Fairtrade in 2009. Everyone in the Fairtrade
movement can be proud of all we have achieved (and many of us
Christians have been part of this) but .there is still far to go if we
are going to tip the balance in favour of disadvantaged farmers and
workers.
Millions of farmers across the world struggle to feed their families
and yet they supply us with everyday items which we enjoy. One Indian
tea worker has said that Fairtrade has given him 'sustainability of
life' - security for the future, funds to invest in education, health
and economic development. But for his dreams to become a reality more
people are needed to buy Fairtrade more often. So let's help by making
Fairtrade Fortnight 2010 a swapping tune and make a difference for more
farmers and workers than ever before.
For more ideas go to www.thebigswap.org.uk.
I thought the following meditation very appropriate: -
Just a moment
It starts with a change
So outwardly insignificant
That no-one would notice
Except the person
Behind you in the aisle.
Just a moment
When instead of seeing
Rows of labels On a supermarket shelf
You imagine the people Behind them,
Tilling the earth,
Sowing the seed,
Gathering the crops.
And you pause.
Wondering,
What their names are,
Where they live,
what a difference it will make.
If your hand picks up
This box instead of that
Wondering: how do I
Love these neighbours?
Can I help change
This child's journey for water,
Her mother's lack of health care.
The prospect her father faces
Of another year unable
To feed his family well?
Just a moment,
And the person behind you,
Her impatient baby
Squirming in the trolley,
May never realise
That in that brief hesitation
A life hung in the balance.
Christian Concern for One World Joyce Powell
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