Polmont Old
Parish Church - Scotland
Parish Church - Scotland
Mission
Polmont Old Parish Church
ZIMBABWE
In the late spring of 2007, it was proposed to the Kirk Session that the congregation of Polmont Old Parish Church should support an overseas mission. The minister was asked for advice on a suitable choice, and his suggestion of supporting Vicky Graham, a nurse who supplies medical and spiritual aid to the Tonga people in Zimbabwe, was accepted.
The Tonga are a primitive tribe, who live close to the Zambian border, originally a fertile area until the Kariba Dam was built in 1957. The Tonga people were then moved to a barren terrain with little rainfall. Unable to grow their food as before, they suffered severe hardship. There are approximately 150,000 of them living in an area of 300 kilometres in the Zambezi Valley about an 8 hour drive from Harare.
Vicky's home church, Highland Presbyterian in Harare, provides food aid to the Tonga people during the worst of the drought years, and she has set up clinics to treat the sick, and to teach the people basic health education. During outbreaks of cholera and malaria, she is often faced with treating hundreds of patients a day.
Vicky is also teaching the people about God's love for them. She has started Bible Study groups and works closely with local pastors to spread the good news of Jesus.
We in Polmont Old Parish Church now have the opportunity to help in the wonderful work being done by this young woman. Through prayer, direct giving and fund raising events, we can do something to change the lives of these people, in terms of improving their physical health, and spiritual wellbeing.
BANGLADESH
The two House Groups and ACTs are supporting the Christian Service Society (CSS) in Bangladesh with its project to free young girls held in bondage in that country. The programme includes re-housing and rebuilding lives, giving them training and care in a Christian Community. The ‘women’ have been forced to work in the brothel from the age of 13 years, are bullied by touts and are forced to ‘work’ anything up to 20 times a day. Many of them have children.
The project has the support of the Bangladeshi government. The CSS has purchased some ‘ground’ on which they will build housing for the future of these prostitutes. Meantime a development called the ‘Home of Blessings’ has been built with the sole purpose of bringing the children into safe care. The cost of lifting these women out of misery is £50 per head, while the cost to re-house each family would be in the region of £300.
Each family will also be given a loan and advice on how to run a business venture and become self-sufficient, and hopefully give these women some care and dignity.
JARS OF GRACE
For a number of years, members of the congregation have collected loose change in a jar.
Through ActionAid the money has sponsored Adam in Ghana for over five years and more recently Jhinuk in Bangladesh. The money you collect pays for their education.
Each issue of Twinspire usually either features an update on the ActionAid child sponsorship programme or more specifically, one of the two children we sponsor.
Jar labels are available as you enter the Church. However, you don’t need a label on the jar – it’s the money you collect that is important!
Full jars can be handed in at the front of the Church or to Margaret Hunter.
LUNCH BUNCH
The Lunch Bunch sponsors two children through WorldVision. Teketel Derils lives in Ethiopia, attends Sunday worship and has been promoted to grade 10 in school. His favourite subject is biology and he is getting agricultural training. His ambition is to be a doctor. He enjoys playing football.
Marlene Onofne Jimenez is four years old and lives with her parents in Bolivia. She is not currently enrolled at school but enjoys ‘playing with dolls and toy pots’.
Through WorldVision both children receive a Christmas card along with a donation to buy gifts.
The Lunch Bunch also gives generously to other projects both local and world wide, such as Friends of St Margaret’s here in Polmont, Strathcarron Hospice, Christian Aid, and the Vine Trust.
THE FELLOWSHIP
The Fellowship, as a member of the Church of Scotland’s Guild, is supporting two of the suggested projects in 2009:
Christian Aid: Action for the Adivasi, Bangladesh
Leprosy Mission Scotland: Walking in the Light, Nigeria
RETIRING OFFERINGS
Throughout the year, at services such as Communion and Christmas, collections are made at the door at the end of these services and the monies donated to a variety of charities chosen by the Kirk Session.
In addition, as a congregation of the Church of Scotland, a percentage of each member’s regular weekly giving goes towards the Mission and Renewal Fund to support the national and global work of the Church of Scotland.
A huge “Thank you!” must go to the members of Polmont Old for their support of all of these projects. We hope that they will continue to give lovingly to help those people who have so little, so that their standard of living, and their health, will be vastly improved.
Polmont Old Parish Church
In the late spring of 2007, it was proposed to the Kirk Session that the congregation of Polmont Old Parish Church should support an overseas mission. The minister was asked for advice on a suitable choice, and his suggestion of supporting Vicky Graham, a nurse who supplies medical and spiritual aid to the Tonga people in Zimbabwe, was accepted.
The Tonga are a primitive tribe, who live close to the Zambian border, originally a fertile area until the Kariba Dam was built in 1957. The Tonga people were then moved to a barren terrain with little rainfall. Unable to grow their food as before, they suffered severe hardship. There are approximately 150,000 of them living in an area of 300 kilometres in the Zambezi Valley about an 8 hour drive from Harare.
Vicky's home church, Highland Presbyterian in Harare, provides food aid to the Tonga people during the worst of the drought years, and she has set up clinics to treat the sick, and to teach the people basic health education. During outbreaks of cholera and malaria, she is often faced with treating hundreds of patients a day.
Vicky is also teaching the people about God's love for them. She has started Bible Study groups and works closely with local pastors to spread the good news of Jesus.
We in Polmont Old Parish Church now have the opportunity to help in the wonderful work being done by this young woman. Through prayer, direct giving and fund raising events, we can do something to change the lives of these people, in terms of improving their physical health, and spiritual wellbeing.
The two House Groups and ACTs are supporting the Christian Service Society (CSS) in Bangladesh with its project to free young girls held in bondage in that country. The programme includes re-housing and rebuilding lives, giving them training and care in a Christian Community. The ‘women’ have been forced to work in the brothel from the age of 13 years, are bullied by touts and are forced to ‘work’ anything up to 20 times a day. Many of them have children.
The project has the support of the Bangladeshi government. The CSS has purchased some ‘ground’ on which they will build housing for the future of these prostitutes. Meantime a development called the ‘Home of Blessings’ has been built with the sole purpose of bringing the children into safe care. The cost of lifting these women out of misery is £50 per head, while the cost to re-house each family would be in the region of £300.
Each family will also be given a loan and advice on how to run a business venture and become self-sufficient, and hopefully give these women some care and dignity.
For a number of years, members of the congregation have collected loose change in a jar. Through ActionAid the money has sponsored Adam in Ghana for over five years and more recently Jhinuk in Bangladesh. The money you collect pays for their education.
Each issue of Twinspire usually either features an update on the ActionAid child sponsorship programme or more specifically, one of the two children we sponsor.
Jar labels are available as you enter the Church. However, you don’t need a label on the jar – it’s the money you collect that is important!
Full jars can be handed in at the front of the Church or to Margaret Hunter.
The Lunch Bunch sponsors two children through WorldVision. Teketel Derils lives in Ethiopia, attends Sunday worship and has been promoted to grade 10 in school. His favourite subject is biology and he is getting agricultural training. His ambition is to be a doctor. He enjoys playing football.Marlene Onofne Jimenez is four years old and lives with her parents in Bolivia. She is not currently enrolled at school but enjoys ‘playing with dolls and toy pots’.
Through WorldVision both children receive a Christmas card along with a donation to buy gifts.
The Lunch Bunch also gives generously to other projects both local and world wide, such as Friends of St Margaret’s here in Polmont, Strathcarron Hospice, Christian Aid, and the Vine Trust.
The Fellowship, as a member of the Church of Scotland’s Guild, is supporting two of the suggested projects in 2009:Christian Aid: Action for the Adivasi, Bangladesh
Leprosy Mission Scotland: Walking in the Light, Nigeria
Throughout the year, at services such as Communion and Christmas, collections are made at the door at the end of these services and the monies donated to a variety of charities chosen by the Kirk Session.In addition, as a congregation of the Church of Scotland, a percentage of each member’s regular weekly giving goes towards the Mission and Renewal Fund to support the national and global work of the Church of Scotland.
A huge “Thank you!” must go to the members of Polmont Old for their support of all of these projects. We hope that they will continue to give lovingly to help those people who have so little, so that their standard of living, and their health, will be vastly improved.
