Scenes of hope among the sorrow

Scenes of hope among the sorrow

A difficult year for Elim Missions hasn’t stopped the spread of the good news

The year 2020 will be remembered in the history books as the year a virus brought the world to a standstill. Many countries went into lockdown with large scale restrictions on movement.

Whilst in most of Europe, we have seen the worst of the effects of Coronavirus, the hidden impact on the poorest in the world might still be hidden from many. Hunger around the world is widespread. People cannot get to work and there is no government support.

Scenes of sorrow are plentiful; yet so are scenes of hope, with opportunities to show a world on its knees the greatest provider of all time, Jesus Christ.

The simple act of breaking bread with a fellow human has never been so important.

We praise God that none of our missionaries has suffered from Covid-19, but please continue to pray for those who are affected.

Because of your giving, through the people we have on the ground around the world, we were able to release funds and see relief brought within a few days of lockdowns starting. Some of the work done by Elim Missions so far includes:

Providing over 17,000 emergency packs – we have so far helped over 17,000 of the most vulnerable people gain access to food and other essentials
Messages of hope – in some areas, messages of hope and the availability to pray has seen people’s lives touched by the power of the Holy Spirit
Reaching 19 different nations – Elim Relief Appeal (ERA), working through our 35 separate partners and members throughout the world, has reached 19 nations including Kenya, Sri Lanka, South Africa, The Philippines, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Israel, Burkina Faso, Paraguay, Liberia, Romania, Nigeria, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Cambodia, Spain, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Brazil.
Elim churches and individuals have raised over £52,000.

Missions Director Iain Hesketh says, “In many respects, this ERA was the easiest thing to launch, but the most difficult thing to do. Ordinarily, for those of us living in the wealthy West, things like this happen elsewhere and not in our nation.

“One of the questions or challenges in my mind was, how will people respond, as people in the UK are suffering too? The other challenge was, in normal circumstances our Relief Appeal campaigns focus on a single country, so we can concentrate our relief effort to have maximum impact in one place.

“The response has been incredible. Over the last few weeks, we’ve had churches and individuals give to this campaign that has enabled us to distribute over £40,000 and feed over 7,000 people. It’s not just the food that is making a huge difference in peoples’ lives; food distribution programmes have given our partners opportunities to share the gospel.

“In one example in a South Asian nation, whole families have come to faith. Our partners and missionaries have enabled hope to emerge, and destinies to be changed.

“People’s lives have been changed forever because of an encounter with Jesus. So thank you once again for your generosity.”