If you don’t look the other way…

Water is life

In Sierra Leone, a tropical and humid country, there is also a dry season in winter, in which rains are scarce and in which the country struggles to provide clean and safe water for the people. It is a blessing to have a well that stores water from the rainy season. That is why the people in Bumbuna were so happy when Apostle Sanpha Sesay came for a visit and commissioned a newly constructed well which had been funded by donations. This was reported by the New Apostolic Church Sierra Leone on its website.

Help for Ukraine

Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine there have been numerous relief efforts. Also the New Apostolic Church is doing its share. For example, many private individuals quickly organised much needed relief supplies and brought them there and brought people back with them to safety. Congregations too were quick to respond.

The Dutch relief organsation of the New Apostolic Church, Stichting Corantijn, reached out too. When an employee of the Swiss river cruise company Skylla AG approached them to ask whether they could provide toiletries, among other things, for Ukrainian refugees who were being accommodated on board one of its cruise ships docked in Düsseldorf (Germany), the charity did not hesitate. The company made one its ship available on 14 March to house refugees. Up to 100 people can be accommodated on the ship. The company appealed to private individuals and other companies, including Stichting Corantijn, for hygiene items, toiletries, diapers, and medical supplies.

The New Apostolic Church in Langen (Germany) was unrecognisable. For three days, the members from several congregations and a municipal church organisation collected donations in kind for the refugee camps that had sprung up on the Polish-Ukrainian border. They sorted the items, packed them into boxes, labelled them in several languages, and then stored them in the church. Before long, not only the adjoining rooms were full but also the church hall was overflowing with boxes of donations. In the end, it took several trucks to bring clothing, hygiene products, baby food, other food, children’s toys, and much more to the border.

When, after an ecumenical prayer for peace, the leader of a Christian organisation, Lebenszeichen-Gemeinde, asked the people to help a Christian refugee home in Balti (Moldova), which is situated close to the Ukrainian border, the members of the New Apostolic congregation in Plauen (Germany) also started to collect basic necessities. Within a few days they had gathered clothing, toiletries, essentials for babies, toys, and food, put everything in boxes, labelled them, and then brought them to the collection point of the Lebenszeichen community. So many donations had been received that the vans had to make two trips to Moldova, 1,800 kilometres each. The rector of the New Apostolic Church in Plauen was also on board both times. The relief organisation of the New Apostolic Church of Southern Germany, human aktiv e.V. supported the transport financially. The best thanks for all the efforts was to see the happy faces of the children, who immediately started playing with the footballs.

Helping fisherfolk restart in the Philippines

The people affected by natural disasters such as Typhoon Odette must not be forgotten. Last month, the New Apostolic charity NAC SEA Relief stepped up its efforts to help fishing communities that had been left with little to no livelihoods or food sources after Odette had crashed through the islands. The help that the survivors usually receive is short-lived: food, water, clothing, and shelter materials, but nothing to rebuild their livelihoods. That is why NAC SEA Relief has donated marine engines and cash assistance to repair fishing boats and help fishermen in rebuilding their lives so they can go back to the only source of income they know: fishing.