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Summer 2001 Newsletter of
Monikie and Newbigging Church.

NEWS FLASH ! ! !
Sunday Services at Monikie Kirk are now back to normal.
Service there on 10th June 2001, and usual dates, thereafter.

SERVICES (at 10.30 a.m. unless otherwise)

The Church Services are to be held in Newbigging Church until the end of May. A further decision will then be made on whether to resume services at Monikie. (SEE ABOVE)

CHURCH WALK

The Church walk is another casualty of F & M. It may just be a postponement, but 'our leader' has been unable to properly reccé a walk. Perhaps as more areas become open, a walk might be planned for later in the summer.

GUILD NEWS

The Guild recently had their AGM and Mrs Rae Gray is the new President.  Guild Meetings will resume in the autumn.

CHURCH COLLECTIONS

At the annual business meeting the treasurer produces the accounts for the previous financial year, giving the total of monies received. It has been suggested that the weekly totals of money received could be produced in the newsletter to allow everyone to see exactly how much comes in each week.

The Banker's Orders per month are approx. £360.  Also in April there was Communion with the Thanksgiving Envelopes amounting to £1156.50 plus during this time a donation for £50-00.  £7.27 was received for the Copper Road.  Comments and views on whether you think this information is useful would be welcome.

CHRISTIAN AID

Christian Aid envelopes will be available in the Church on the 13th and 20th of May.  I am hoping to organise a door-to-door envelope collection at the beginning of Christian aid week. Would you be willing to help in the uplifting of some of the envelopes in your area? If you can spare the time contact me as soon as possible.  Please support the work of Christian Aid in any way you can.

Sheila Mackenzie

Christian Aid Week 13-19 May 2001

You're making a difference!

Christian Aid Week this year is a celebration of making a difference and focuses on people in Uganda, Brazil and Bangladesh. Debt campaigning by people in the UK and Ireland has made a real difference to people's lives.  One example is Uganda where debt relief means that children can now go to primary school without having to pay fees.  In Brazil, Christian Aid's partner the Rural Landless Workers' Movement, has set up tea-growing cooperatives; whenever people in other countries buy fairly traded products, such communities' benefit.  In Bangladesh the Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh, also partly funded by Christian Aid, is helping people improve their lives by making loans to small businesses.  Even though the amount you give, the campaigning action you take, the prayer you say may seem to be a drop in the ocean, together all these things really are making a difference.

What happens when debt is cancelled?  The efforts of the worldwide Jubilee 2000 campaign to cancel the debts of the poorest countries are beginning to bear fruit in the lives of ordinary people. Ten-year-old Herbert Asio from Uganda is just one of them.  Uganda is currently benefiting from debt relief amounting to around £25 million.  This is placed in a special fund, the Poverty Action Fund (PAF), which is being used to increase the incomes of the poorest people and to improve their quality of life. For Herbert and his family this is beginning to make a tremendous change.  Herbert attends Asuret Primary School and for the first time in his life he can go to school without his mother having to pay fees. Although Herbert still works in an old classroom, younger children have brand new classrooms.  At the moment there are 16 classrooms for 1,300 children, and thanks to PAF the school plans to build a further seven rooms within five years.  Herbert's headmaster, Elieru John Brown is proud of the school and what is happening there. He says: Oh Pray for peace in our country. Where there is peace, there is development and poverty will gradually disappear.  At home, Herbert lives with his mother Grace who is a farmer. She is benefiting from PAF in her everyday life and in her work. Money has been allocated to repair water sources, and Grace now has water close to her home. And thanks to advice she has received from a PAF-funded local agricultural extension officer, Grace is able to make her five acres of family land much more productive.

+ EVERY HOME SHOULD HAVE ONE +

Grace and Herbert's lives have also been changed by the arrival of a cow, sent through the 'Send a Cow' scheme which is operated locally by Christian Aid's partner, the Soroti Diocese Development Office (SDDO). Herbert loves the cow that he has called Ida and feeds her on elephant grass. He would like to milk her as well but his fingers aren't yet strong enough. Grace says: 'I've had Ida since July 1999. She had a bull calf, Samuel, and produces 10 to 12 litres of milk per day. I feed her on elephant grass and a new food supplement called nutrimix, which I get free because I'm taking part in a trial project. Milk sells for about 25p per litre and the money has enabled me to have some ploughing done. I've also used the cow dung and urine for the garden and have seen a great improvement.'

Grace's prayer

• O Lord, Creator of all the earth,
• Thank you for the mercy you have always had for us Ugandans,
• and for giving us your Son to sacrifice his life for us.
• In the same way, Father, you touched the hearts of our brothers and sisters overseas to work for our families, our schools and our health.
• Father, as time goes by, may we also be able to help our needy brothers and sisters.
• Lord, give us the Spirit of love through all our lives.
• In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.

PARISH REGISTER

Baptism( Acts 2 : 39 )

February 25th Cerys Lydia Fearn, 4 La Retraite, La Rue De Trachy, St.Helier, Jersey.

Funeral (John 12 : 24)

February 22nd George Steel, 23 Broomwell Gardens, Monikie.

IN MEMORIAM

George Steel

Big George was a kind and gentle man who would help anyone. George enjoyed making things out of wood.  He loved home, garden and music, which was special to him.

EXCERPTS from EKWENDENI NEWS 

Copies of the complete News are available in the church vestibule.

The Cat Who Led the Service.

On Christmas morning we awoke to fine sunshine. Nelu & Lesley got up extra early to have a look in their stockings before they went to work. Prayers on Christmas morning are always special. Instead of having them inside we gathered outside in the sunshine near the Children's ward. We put out the mats for people to sit on and some chairs. At the head we put a few chairs and a table. All the staff and many of the patients and their guardians gathered together for prayers. As we sat around singing the school of Nursing cat Spot made his way over towards us. Spot thinks he is human and likes to be with people, he really enjoys watching a video with us. He walked around looking for the best place to sit, and after a few minutes he found it, right at the head of the group. He jumped onto a chair and sat looking at us all from behind the table as if he was about to lead prayers.

We really enjoyed Christmas, each staff member, student and patient received a very nice gift from the hospital. These gifts had been made from items you have sent throughout the year. They all had a very nice day remembering the birth of Christ and the love of God displayed through the gifts you sent. Thank you. It was a real privilege for us to walk around the ward with some of the students as helpers to give out all these gifts.

Growing Day by Day

The School of Nursing has had 2 more additions to the teaching staff. Mphatso Nguluwe & Naomi Luanga. Mrs. Luanga has worked with us before and has come back.  We are looking forward to working with her again.  As for the students, we hope that a new class of 12 will join us in early March. This is an extra class that we are taking this year and our usual intake of 16 will come in July.  The third years sit their final exams 27th - 30th March and will leave us immediately afterwards. They are now very nervous as they try to finish all their assessments and study for their finals.  At the College of Commerce their new class is well under way. They have 45 students in first year who are thrilled because they have a brand new computer lab up and running with 10 computers. We hope by the end of the year it will have 20.

Troubles Name Changes to Happiness - I recently nursed a little girl called Suxgika, which means trouble. She was admitted to the hospital with malnutrition. She had pale thin hair, swollen arms and legs, peeling skin and she was unhappy. She came to our hospital where she was quickly treated for a variety of infections and started on a feeding regime. After a week of intensive treatment she begun to gain weight and improve.  I have been busy practising drug administration with students, surrounded by crying babies, and as I dispensed drugs, I heard an unusual noise, a little voice singing away happily. She has changed so much in the last weeks or two, from sad little girl with troubles to a happy singing little girl who really brightens up the day of all the nurses. I think her Mum should give her the middle name of Kondwani, which means happiness.

  Information and copies of Life and Work are available from M. Riddick, (01382) 370482.

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