In March each year, our Outreach Project is the ABM Lent Appeal. The Anglican Board of Mission (ABM) bases its work on doing as Christ did – caring for bodies as well as souls. The ABM Church to Church Program focuses on spirituality (souls) and the Development Program relates to the material side (or bodies). As human beings are both body and spirit, one impacts upon the other.

In 2024, ABM have chosen to place before us the needs of deprivation and vulnerability, which in many parts of the world are not optional but a daily reality.

Even before the current conflict, almost two-thirds of households in the Gaza Strip experienced food insecurity. Providing even basic food requirements was challenging, resulting in malnutrition and stunting in children.

Before the conflict in Gaza, the (Anglican) Al Ahli Hospital ran a longstanding Child Nutrition Program to help address malnutrition. A partner program, saw trained local women  visiting mothers to provide essential training in nutrition, self-esteem, communication skills and gender.

One young mother who benefited from this program, Rayan, lives  in Gaza’s impoverished Mawassi district. Until October last year, Rayan’s son, Mazen, was enrolled in the Child Nutrition Program, and Rayan received personal mentoring support. Rayan speaks of  the positive impact that these programs had, until October, when an explosion near the entrance of the hospital killed at least 200 people and compromised most aid programs:

“My son suffered from malnutrition and stunted growth. Mazen was selected to benefit from the program after being examined by the hospital’s medical team. …I was very happy to see the positive improvements in his condition.

The community mobilizer … gave me wonderful advice that had an excellent impact on my life. After I participated in the Ahli Arab Hospital program, I became stronger and able to face the bad treatment I received from my husband and his family.

With the conflict in Gaza still ongoing, these programs run by the Al Ahli Hospital remain on hold. It is expected that, once the conflict ceases, the needs will be even more significant. Our support now will ensure that these vital health care services are immediately available to the vulnerable women and children in the Palestinian Territories, when services are able to resume.

Meanwhile, other ABM-AID support to the vulnerable continues. The Diocese of Colombo in Sri Lanka provides educational and nutritional aid for children, and health care and social connection throughout communities in the north of the country.

In Kenya, the ABM partner, Anglicans Development Services Eastern (ADSE), supported the construction of a sump well next to the Kikuu River, to pump water to the nearby marketplace. This project benefited Kikuu women by reducing a 10km walk to collect clean water to less than 1km.

On Good Friday we are invited to support ABM by providing hearing aids for refugee children in Jordan through the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf. This project focuses particularly on girls – as girls with disabilities are the most disadvantaged in the camps. With improved hearing comes significantly improved communication, education, and self-esteem.

ABM-AID aim to raise $98,000 through the Lent & Good Friday Appeal. Can we help by raising at least $1,000 of that figure before Good Friday?