Serenje Video

Great video produced by Andy White

Tomorrow

Tomorrow and next Sunday are our Serenje Gift Days. Last year we raised over £100,000 and this meant that:
-190 orphans and vulnerable children received school support
-402 farmers received seeds so that they can feed their families
-62 church and community leaders received leadership training
-66 church volunteers were trained to support people living with HIV and AIDS.

Over the next 2 weeks and the coming year we want to raise the same amount of money so that we can achieve the following:
-700 orphans and vulnerable children received school support
-701 farmers received seeds so that they can feed their families and an additional 300 families will receive 2 goats.
-50 church and 60 community leaders received leadership training
-100 church volunteers were trained to visit and support 250 people living with HIV and AIDS.

Those of us who have visited Serenje this year have seen the money this difference is making to people's lives.





Please be praying and thinking about what you might be able to give.

A message for all the women who have written letters for women in Serenje-the deadline for bringing your letters to church is tomorrow. Please remember not to seal the letters.

Thank you for all your support for what is happening in Serenje.

Shoes and coats update

Back in June we sent out 240 pairs of shoes and 160 coats to the children in Serenje. When we were out in Serenje in the summer we saw all the boxes of shoes and coats stacked up ready to be given out. The local pastors and church volunteers distributed the shoes and coats to the communities. Here are photos of some of the orphans who have received them and will now be able to cope with the cold walk to school in the winter. It's worth mentioning that it is extremely hot in Serenje at the moment, with temperatures ranging from 39 - 42C, so the guys in the photos must be pretty warm! One of the boys just has his new trainers on!





Thank you to everyone who donated shoes and coats, they will make a massive difference when the winter comes.

Seeds of hope

The money raised at last year's Gift Days has meant we can support families, by supplying them with seeds to grow sweet potatoe, groundnuts and beans. Most families depend on what they grow to feed their families-subsistence farming. In the first year of the project the target was to provide 200 small scale farmers with seed for their families, but when we visited in April this year we were really excited to hear that 402 had been supported. When we visited the 4 communities we're working in, each one reported of the difference these seeds had made. We recently received the following feedback from Serenje:

'There are already signs of renewed hope. Under the agricultural support, households that received the inputs could not contain their joy. Though the households will only have enough food for an average of 3 – 5 months from their harvest, some beneficiaries spoken to revealed it was the best support they have ever received. In order to ensure continuity, a communal seed bank will be introduced after the harvest. Each beneficiary will be required to give back a certain measure of what will be harvested to be kept and sold later. Those households who may experience poor yields can give anything of value equivalent to the required harvest i.e. chickens, goats, ducks e.t.c. The proceeds from the sale will then go towards supporting those households that may be lacking the most.'

We've just heard that the seeds for this year's crops have been purchased and will be distributed on Monday. It is very hot in Serenje at the moment, so please pray that the rains come and that there is a good harvest.

Thank you for giving your money to make this happen.

I must apologise for the lack of blogs recently. There has been lots of work happening behind the scenes though! We're producing an updated Serenje booklet and film, which will both be ready for the Serenje Gift Days and will highlight what has been achieved so far. 55 of our women have become part of Unique Serenje Penpals and are going to writing to women in Serenje and blessing them with love and prayers. Ruth Jackson's school, Crowthorne C of E Primary School and Amanda Wolfram's school, Hammond Community Junior School, are both fundraising for Serenje and Helen Cottee recently visited both schools to do assemblies about Serenje.

As you know a team of 8 of us visited Serenje in the summer and were deeply impacted by what we saw. Pip Reeves (pictured here), who is a student at Oxford university, was part of our team and she shares some reflections on the trip.



'There were two stories which impacted me especially during my time in Serenje. The first of these was when we visited a child headed family. Naomi, the eldest, had left school in order to be 'mum' to her younger brothers and sisters (two of them pictured here with Helen). The youngest of these was 11 months old although she was so small she looked much younger. They had very little food and slept in a small concrete room which got very cold at night, particularly during their winter. Because of our visit Leah met with the team of pastors in Zambia and is hoping to find Naomi and her family a home closer to the pastors so they can be looked after more easily.



The second of these was a boy we met who had been orphaned when he was young and so he began to make bricks to sell. He got himself through his entire education by making these bricks and now employs two people. This showed me that many of the people in Serenje really want to help themselves, and we can really help by facilitating this. On the trip we were able to hear many really encouraging stories about the work Kerith is doing in Serenje, but we also saw that there is a huge amount which still needs to be done.'

Going and seeing what is happening in Serenje is both immensely encouraging but also very challenging because the need is great. As we head towards the Gift Days this November 15th and 22nd we're aiming to raise another £100,000 to impact children like Naomi and her brothers and sisters. Please join me in praying for the Gift Days and for Naomi and the many child-headed households she represents.

Serenje penpals

Thank you to all of you ladies who visited the tables in reception last Sunday and found a lady in Serenje to start writing to. It's so exciting to see this taking off. The women of Serenje will be so excited when they receive your letters!

If you weren't around last Sunday, it's not too late, as we'll be in reception again this Sunday 18th, after both the morning meetings.

See you tomorrow!

Unique Serenje penpals

This Sunday 11th October we're launching a new Unique ministry called Serenje penpals. It all began at a Unique breakfast back in 2008 when some of our Kerith ladies wrote letters to the women in Serenje. When Catrina and myself went to Serenje in April this year we were literally mobbed by women handing us letters and asking for penpal from Kerith! Every where we went, women handed us letters to pass on. Mel Watkins has very kindly taken all the letters and is heading up Serenje penpals.

This is an opportunity for us ladies to share our lives and prayers with women in Serenje by exchanging letters. We have more than fifty letters from ladies in Serenje. All of these ladies would love to hear from someone in our church.

The idea is that we'll exchange letters or cards 2-3 times a year, but if just want to write once that is fine.

If you're interested in becoming a Serenje penpal you can sign up this Sunday. Mel will be in reception and you can collect a letter. Completed letters and cards need to be returned to reception at the Kerith Centre by Sunday 7th November so that we can get them to Zambia in time for Christmas.

You can also find out more on the Unique section of the Kerith website