Blessing Refugee Children at Christmas

“And he [Jesus] took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.”(Mark 10:16)


Thank you to Revd Damon Draisey and the South Downs Gateway Churches for their generous donation of Christmas presents for the children of Southampton & Winchester Visitors Group (SWVG) and CLEAR Project members who are seeking asylum in Southampton.

Find out how you too can support SWVG and be a blessing to the families of asylum seekers.

Revd Dave Smith on the Pandemic and Social Justice in Australia

Reverend Dave Smith, also known as Father Dave or the Fighting Father, is an Anglican priest who served as parish priest for 30 years in Sydney’s inner-west. It was here he became known for his work with at-risk youth and was nominated three times for Australian of the Year.

He took up professional boxing in 1996 to help fund his youth programs and is currently Australia’s oldest active professional fighter. Father Dave is also well known for his social justice advocacy and inter-faith work. He is the father of four children and the author of two books, the most recent being “Christians and Muslims can be friends” (2020)

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Prayer Vigil for Gaza

A vigil for Gaza was held in Reading town centre on Saturday 5th June organised by Reading Muslim Council with contributions from the Jewish Network for Palestine, Cordoba Foundation, Green Party, Slough PSC and Jewish Voices for Labour. Organisers estimate that around 250 people participated in the vigil while many people out shopping stopped to listen to the presentations. At the end of the vigil balloons were released in memory of each child killed in Gaza. I gave a short presentation (below) and also offered prayers for the bereaved and injured.

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Feeding the Poorest in Cyangugu

Cyangugu is a small strategic frontier town in the south west of Rwanda on the border with The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at the southern tip of Lake Kivu, contiguous with the Congolese town of Bukavu which is accessed by two bridges across the Ruzizi river.

Rik Mager is the director of the school. His wife, Caroline, coordinates the feeding programs in the Diocese because of malnutrition in this part of Rwanda. I asked Rik for an update on the program in the light of Covid-19.

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Compassion UK: Betty Sander’s visit to Columbia

When I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip with Compassion UK to Colombia in Feb 2019, I jumped at the chance.  This was the 1stvisit to Colombia by Compassion UK and we were joined by Compassion Netherlands (again a 1stfor Compassion UK to travel with another country).

I have been sponsoring her for 10 years.  I told Melanys that I didn’t choose her, because I didn’t know which child to choose.  Esther Wood had profiles from Compassion Sunday, and I knew I wanted a girl and preferably from South America.  Esther prayed over the profiles and chose Melanys for me.

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