Ministry Matters

The 2010 Diocese of London Lent Appeal for ALMA will be supporting ‘ALMA’s Children’.

Since 2001 the ‘ALMA’s Children’ fund has enabled our partner dioceses in Angola, Lebombo and Niassa (in Mozambique) to respond to one of the greatest challenges they face: ministry to young people – when over 50% of the population is under the age of 18. ‘ALMA’s children’ has supported work with Orphaned and Vulnerable children, the building of schools and nurseries, and funding health centres and health education.  London’s Lenten discipline in 2010 can play an important part in transforming the lives of even more children and also in contributing to the dynamic witness of our partners.

Practical details: The Lent Appeal Poster will be available to view in the next mailing and the Lent Appeal Card by December. There will be a Lent Appeal area on the Diocesan website linked to both the ALMA and the Transformative sites. Additional resources, worship suggestions and stories will be available online.

As normal all parishes will receive a set of materials including a gift aid envelope and a resources order form by post in early January. From 19^th January pre-ordered resources will be available for collection from Diocesan House.

Once again thank you for your support of the past two Lent Appeals. It is wonderful to share that the 2008 Lent Appeal school in Messumba, Niassa will be officially opened on 15^th November 2009, and that the building of the school in Nsossa Angola, is now well underway (photos on the ALMA website: www.almalink.org).

The 2009 Lent Appeal ‘Living Water’ has recently exceeded its target and has raised £63,500 before Gift Aid. This is very special given the economic circumstances here in London. Thank you.

More information:

ALMA Communications Officer: Sheenagh Burrell almacomms (Email: almacomms [at] london.anglican.org); t: 020 7932 1231 (Tuesdays)

Living Water, the 2009 Diocesan Lent Appeal for ALMA, has almost reached its £60,000 target.

£56,246, which is 93% of the target, is already banked and contributions are still arriving daily. Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed. Thank you too for the many imaginative ways parishes and groups have identified and engaged with our ALMA partners through thinking about water and raising funds for water projects throughout Lent.

Reports on the water projects will be on the ALMA website as soon as possible. We hope that other communities, like Chihunzuine, will soon be transformed by the provision of clean water.

It’s not too late to make donations to the Lent Appeal if you would still like to. See www.justgiving.com/almalent09 to donate online or send cheques payable to ‘LDF (Lent Appeal for ALMA)’ to ALMA Link Officer, London Diocesan House, 36 Causton St, London SW1P 4AU. If you have any queries, please email ALMA Communications Officer: almacomms (Email: almacomms [at] london.anglican.org).

The Lent Appeal has now officially launched! Children from St Gabriel’s School, Pimlico, joined the Bishop of London to mark the beginning of Living Water: this year’s appeal which aims to support the Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015.

News of the launch is available at www.london.anglican.org/NewsShow_11571 and information about the Appeal itself can be found at www.london.anglican.org/LentAppeal.

If you are arranging a special event to raise funds for ALMA, whether for the Lent Appeal or beyond, please let us know by emailing almacomms (Email: almacomms [at] london.anglican.org).

For example, St Mary Brookfield has arranged a concert by the London Medical Orchestra to raise money for a health post in the Diocese of Niassa. Visit www.london.anglican.org/EventShow_11591 for full information.

Resources for 2009’s Lent Appeal, Living Water, have been sent to all parishes. The Lent Appeal poster and card can be downloaded from www.london.anglican.org/LentAppeal as can a form to request more materials for your parish.

Additional materials, such as reflections, stories, bible study and worship suggestions, will be available throughout February.

The Appeal will be officially launched on Ash Wednesday, 25 February.

The poster for Water, 2009’s Lent Appeal has been published by the ALMA team.

Download the Lent Appeal poster (pdf)

The theme of the Diocese of London Lent Appeal 2009 will be Water. It will focus on the use and provision of water both here in London and in our partner dioceses in Angola and Mozambique. We will raise funds to build wells and boreholes in communities where there is no water supply – including the three schools funded by the 2008 Lent Appeal.

Water was the theme of ALMA’s 10th Anniversary ‘River of Life’ Service in July. London Challenge, the Lambeth Conference Bishops’ March, and Think:Fast, all focus on the imperative of achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Sufficient water is a prerequisite for this to happen.

The 2009 Lent Appeal will have a general leaflet, poster, gift aid envelope and the clergy guide will share insight, reflections and stories of water from Angola and Mozambique along with worship suggestions.

In line with our London Challenge 2012 commitments the 2009 Lent Appeal will focus on a Millennium Development Goal and be accompanied by publicity materials and resources for clergy. The 2008 Lent Appeal ‘Education for All’ reached its target and a primary school in each of our three link dioceses will be built.