WE HAVE FAITH FOR THINGS NOT YET SEEN.

- IN THIS ISSUE -

Easter greetings, welcome to Jen, Louis and Sharon, a "fun raiser" & safeguarding your donations.

I've worked in overseas development for over 20 years. I've never witnessed so much chaos, carnage and sadness.

The world feels increasingly dark to me. War, hunger, displacement and the political and social polarisation being played out around the world is relentless and unforgiving. This Easter time we should be starkly aware of these atrocities, including those occurring in the Holy Land, where our Lord and Saviour walked.

Many of us need encouragement right now. We need a lifeline to stop drifting into discouragement and despair.

Remember this. We have faith for things not yet seen.

Faith is a lifeline in times of despair. Faith brings into the now the things that we only hope for in the future. We need to walk by faith through these difficult times, because the alternative is simply to fall further into despair. We need to lean on each other for comfort, support and renewal.

Most importantly, we must lean into our faith in a God that came to make things right. Believers must remind themselves that Good News overcomes bad news. We must stand in solidarity and with boldness, call out the truth.

Last week, the Archbishop of Canterbury said:

“This war and its killing needs to end and it needs to end now. All hostages need to be released. Immediate and unrestricted aid must be secured to address the famine-like conditions in Gaza”.

The Easter season reminds us that hope always conquers despair; forgiveness always conquers judgement; justice always conquers vengeance; kindness always conquers cruelty and love always conquers hate.

Thank you to everyone who has been supporting our Lenten Appeal this year. Both are such very worthy projects. May the light that conquers the darkness be with us all this Easter time.

Ngā mihi nui,

Michael Hartfield

National Director

Welcome to Jen, Louis and Sharon!

We're very excited to welcome three new team members to Anglican Missions!

Jen joins us as our new Operations Manager role, keeping an eye on our internal processes and procedures. She'll also be the point of contact for OMTP.

Louis joins for a couple of months as our Projects Officer, helping us to transition out of some major projects from 2023.

Sharon joins us as our new Finance Manager. She's got tons of experience in the non-for profit sector and is a valuable addition to our management team.

Jen loves a good thrift store find and has already produced a number of excellent coffees for the team.

Louis loves a good thesis, so much so that he's currently writing his own before heading off to London in May.

Sharon loves spending time with her grandies and listening to Tom Jones (which Michael begrudgingly tolerates)

St Margaret's "Fun Raiser"!

St Margaret's College in Christchurch put on an amazing "fun raising" event to raise funds for the Lenten Appeal this year.

There were a range of fun activities including live music (with bands from Saint Margaret's College and Christ's College) face painting, sponge throwing (at staff) photos with the school mascot Maggie Bear, a Principal for the Day raffle and a Purple Dress Day.

The "fun raiser" has so far raised over $2000 for the Lenten Appeal, an incredible effort for a worthy cause. We're grateful for the support of local people coming together for a great cause!

We especially want to thank Reverend Stephanie Clay and her Chapel Committee, who organised the event. We love to hear your stories so please keep sending them through to us!

Have a story you'd like to share? Let us know!

Safeguarding your donations.

We've had a number of enquiries around donations, particularly around cash contributions (like the Lenten Appeal boxes) and taking donations over the phone.

To adhere to financial best practice and to safeguard your donations, we can no longer receive donations in the mail and currently cannot take donations over the phone.

However, our website is designed to process your giving safely and securely, and is our preferred method of donation. The donation form is simple to fill out, and the site tracks your donation and automatically sends a receipt to your nominated email address!

Giving through the site can be done using a credit card or bank transfer. Simply hit the donate button, fill out the form and choose your payment method (credit card or "Account2Account" for bank transfer)
For those without access to a computer, we suggest giving through a local parish or Anglican agency directly (who can pass on the funds on your behalf), or asking a trusted friend, family member or church member to help you donate using the website
For those collecting cash during fundraisers, appeals or emergencies, we suggest that cash funds are deposited into a safe and trusted bank account by the parish treasurer or nominated individual, and donated using the website. Giving via the website (as opposed to transferring directly from your bank account to ours) means that we can track and reconcile information much more efficiently.

We're absolutely happy to help you with any enquiries around your giving, and we appreciate your cooperation and patience as we seek to steward your gifts with care, attention and diligence.

Call us anytime if you have any questions, concerns or feedback!