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 Neil on the 2011 MU AFIA Family Holiday Team for Mothers' Union in the Diocese of Winchester Now a regular member of the Mothers’ Union ‘Family Holiday’ team in Winchester Diocese, and still a serving soldier, Neil tells his own moving story:
In the eyes of the world I had been a complete success and was considered to be a role model.
I was a soldier who had done just about everything. In civilian life I had been a semi-professional kick-boxer. Now I was described as one of the most successful snipers in the British Army. I had done all the combat stuff, pulled people out of burning buildings, done humanitarian aid work, seen mass graves of ethnic cleansing, been in riots, searched for bombs. I’d done close observation, human intelligence, and frequently gone into hostile territory in plain clothes. I had been shot at more times than I can count or remember, I’d been blown up, and I’d been set on fire.
But by 2005 I was virtually a broken man, suffering with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
My wife had gone to church for years but I was not interested. In fact I did not believe in a lot at all. But, we were offered a holiday by Tina’s church, something called the “Mothers’ Union, Away From It All (AFIA) Family Holiday”, and so, begrudgingly, I went along.
When we arrived, I sat waiting in the car nervously for 10 minutes, wondering what was going to happen. I had been it, seen it and done virtually everything, so why was I here with a bunch of do-gooders?
At the time, my attitude didn’t shock me. I couldn’t see what I had become through prolonged exposure to so many violent events. In hindsight, it had turned me in to what I can now only describe as a murderous, lying, thieving, cheating scum, on the verge of alcohol dependency.
After a few days I felt something change. I went to the evening reflection led by the holiday’s chaplain – a lady vicar who could make a pig out of a banana!! She read something from the Bible about “Come ye who are heavily laden and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
I was given a stone to hold in my hands. I meditated on that passage for what seemed like an age. In reality it was a couple of minutes, a time in which I felt Gods’ presence and heard him speak to me for the first time.
I was nearly in tears, but some habits die hard, and being a brave soldier, I held them back. This had a profound effect upon me. The next day, in the quiet times provided by the holiday team working with our children for those few hours, I really realised that God had touched my heart.
I saw that the team were not ‘do gooders’. They were people who wanted to help make a difference in people’s lives. They did it with the love of Christ. I opened up to Bennie who sat on our table for meals. She was shocked at some things I had seen and done, but she prayed for me and for my family.
After that holiday I went to church. This time it was not for show. It was because I had actually started to believe in Jesus and in God. When I looked back at some of the things I had done I was ashamed of what I had become, both in action and in attitude. I started to change from the inside to the outside.
I kept in touch with the holiday team members. I remember one guy, David, had a profound effect upon me. He asked me why didn’t I become a member of the Mothers’ Union. I said I thought it was just for women, but he told me it was for anyone who believed in Christian family values. So I joined. I was so sad when he died of cancer a couple of years later; he had helped so many people – especially me.
As I went on with my journey with God, I changed. Tina and I were asked to be members of the AFIA Family Holiday team the following year. We had a chat and made the decision: yes it would be fantastic to do for others what had been done for us- well me mainly.
 Neil and his wife Tina at the renewal of the wedding vows on the MU AFIA Family Holiday in 2011 In 2011, Tina and I had our marriage blessed on the Mothers’ Union AFIA Family Holiday. We’d been married in a registry office, but since it was Family Holiday that brought me to Christ, and the years holiday theme was ‘Royal Wedding’ it seemed apt. I wanted to share our marriage blessing with the people who helped me more than they could ever imagine.
It was truly an honour that the team were there, and that they know that they make such a difference. Claire sang so beautifully, Steve took some marvellous photos, Mary led the intercessions and Ernie spoke about me and Tina. I was very emotional during the ceremony and Tina said some very powerful stuff to me, but it was awesome. Bennie spoke to me after the ceremony and said how much difference there was in me from that first year, and that I had been in a lot of people’s prayers.
Life is better than ever for our family. I am also training to be a Reader (Lay Minister) in the Church of England within the army. But I am feeling a pull towards more full time work with God. I try to study how the Bible is relevant and how it can make a difference in our lives, now. If I say to people I will pray for you – people who are not Christians look at you weird – but prayer works. I pray that other people can have an AFIA Family Holiday like I did those few short years ago, so that they too can feel the love of God and have their lives changed.
The AFIA Family Holiday run by Mothers’ Union members in the Diocese of Winchester for over 40 years, is struggling to meet the rising costs of running a weeks holiday that includes partial child care, activities, entertainment, a day out at the seaside, and lovely accommodation. Neil has a challenge for us all:
 Neil, fellow team member Hanni, and some little helpers, plant a memorial tree to David on the 2009 MU AFIA Family Holiday Being in the Army I have gone through many cuts in the past two years: no pay rise is planned, allowances have been cut. With increased living standards and paying more tax, this year as a family we will be £4000.00 worse off. Yet I still tithe. This year I will give that tithe to the Mothers’ Union AFIA holiday in Winchester Diocese – which will amount to approximately £2500.
I know it is only small but the holiday makes such a big difference. The benefits to those families who come are almost unlimited. They may find jobs enabling them to bring their children up outside of the benefit system. Their children grow up with different values that they will hopefully pass on to their children. They become members of their church doing good within their community… the list can be endless.
Christian family values are the basis of our life and should be considered the basis of what we are trying to achieve. The AFIA Family Holiday is such a resounding success with willing volunteers who do so much good, that it must be enabled to continue changing as many lives as possible.
If you would like to help this project by donating any amount, please send your donation to
Mothers’ Union Family Holiday Treasurer,
101 Winchester Street, Overton, Basingstoke, RG25 3HZ.
When sending a cheque please make it payable to ‘MU Winchester Diocese Family Holiday’ and if you are a UK Taxpayer please include a note of your address and signature so they can claim the additional Gift Aid.
Photographs on this page are the work of regular team member and professional photographer Steve Mann of Nelson Art
 Mothers’ Union is on the Move! This summer a relay event by public bus will be meeting people and church communities from Land’s End to John O’Groats as they seek to raise the profile of Mothers’ Union across Britain!
A core team of two members each day will travel from the most south westerly point in Britain to the most north easterly point in Britain starting on Mary Sumner Day (9th August) and hopefully completing the journey on 15th August. The hope is that as many people as possible will support them as they pass different communities. The full route takes in a cross section of the West Country via Exeter to Bristol, then to Cardiff, north through central Wales and Welshpool to Chester, then east through Warrington to Manchester, north to Preston, Lancaster and Keswick, to Carlisle and Kilmarnock. The route then moves north-east through Perth and Dundee up the east coast of Scotland to Aberdeen before heading via Inverness to John O’Groats!
Although this amazing trip will not be passing through the Diocese of Winchester where Mothers’ Union was founded, Caroline Scull, a member from this Diocese will be taking part! She will be “on the move” on the second day, Friday 10th August, from Taunton to Welshpool. That’s 197 miles (out of the 1,023) on public buses taking over 6 hours! Caroline says she is sure that with chatting and great scenery it will whizz past. However she does ask you to pray for her, that they have good weather, good company and good connections!
Along the way, it is hoped to fund-raise for Mothers’ Union and all funds in excess of costs will go towards our Wheels Appeal that helps to fund our Development Workers overseas who run projects like our Family Life and Literacy and Development programmes.
 Kitchen Garden in Gifumba Chapel, Shyogwe Diocese, Rwanda A Mothers’ Union member from Marchwood has long been at the forefront of practical support for the communities of the Diocese of Shyogwe in Rwanda. This international link the result of a historic link between the old Anglican Province of Uganda (now divided up) and the Diocese of Winchester.
David Dale visits regularly to encourage and support the leaders of the Diocese. Work focuses not only on supporting the parish clergy in their teaching and pastoral roles, but also in helping community leaders to set an example in practical ways through projects and skills training, work in which Mothers’ Union takes a leading role.
On a visit in February 2012, David heard how Mothers’Union members are always reminded that their first priority is to work for the coming of God’s Kingdom within their homes and families. Practical projects include micro-credit saving schemes to provide loans for income generating projects. This enables women to make their own contributions towards the family purse “so that they do not have to keep asking their husbands for money!”
Women are also encouraged to create “Kitchen Gardens” near their homes. In one parish he heard of a family with malnourished children suffering from Kwashiorkor, who due to a kitchen garden producing nutritious vegetables near their home are now healthy.
 Cow donated by the local government to someone setting a good example in their community in Shyogwe Diocese At a place called Gifumba Chapel, one lady created a kitchen garden which has grown cabbages and carrots to support her family. As a reward for the good example she gave others living nearby, the local government had given the lady a a cow. She is leader of a home Bible study group which started with two people and now has 13. She told David “When people see the goodness of Christian people they come to join us.”
Each of the home groups in the parish has one of these kitchen gardens and there are fourteen groups operating savings and credit schemes. With the interest on the account the parish has given pigs, goats, chickens and rabbits to the vulnerable. In December they shared meat and food for Christmas meals in each of their family homes.
More information about David’s visits and work is available at the David Dale Shyogwe Trust website, and his full report on this most recent visit can be downloaded here: DD-ShyogweReportFebruary2012
 Martin Holding of Wakefield Diocese (with his supporters) raising funds and awareness of the Mothers' Union Family Life Programme in the 2012 London Marathon In the recent London Marathon, the son of a Mothers’ Union member in Wakefield Diocese ran in aid of Mothers’ Union’s Family Life Programme. As you read the rest of this story, please think about how and who might be willing to go to extra-ordinary lengths to raise money for a Mothers’ Union project that is dear to your heart!
This was Martin Holding’s fourth London Marathon and he completed it in just 49 seconds over his target time of 3 hours 30 minutes! After the race, Martin (a Wakefield Harriers runner) said:
“Mum is a member of Mothers’ Union, and its charitable work is very dear to her heart. I wanted to do something for her favourite charity to thank her for all the support she has given me”
Martin’s fund-raising total from this event currently stands at over £650. It will go to help lift Ugandan families out of poverty. Like Mothers’ Union in the Diocese of Winchester, Mothers’ Union Wakefield Diocese has strong links with dioceses in Uganda, and holds regular fundraising events that contribute to helping improve the living conditions and income levels of over 50,000 people in rural Uganda.
The full national Mothers’ Union Faith and Policy Watch for April can be found here and includes a breakdown of the budget relevant to the work of the Mothers’ Union, and the results of the submissions concerning the definition of domestic violence.
Marriage for same sex couples
The government has launched a consultation about its proposals to enable same sex couples to marry as an alternative to entering a civil partnership. The government does NOT propose to make any changes to religious marriage which is defined as between a man and a woman. Full details can be found by accessing this Home Office page . Some lawyers are of the opinion that gay couples could challenge in the courts their debarment from marriage on religious premises.
The Mothers’ Union is planning to submit a response to the government consultation as an organisation. Our society is well respected for its contribution, so please can you help by gathering a group together to discuss the proposals and then submit a completed form (click on the download below) to the address shown on the form by May 11th. It would be helpful if you could also contact our Diocesan Social Policy officer to say you have made a response. An alternative is to respond as an individual directly to the government; the web address is also in the document here: MU 2012 GOVERNMENT EQUALITY OFFICE CONSULTATION ON EQUAL CIVIL MARRIAGE
The Coalition for Marriage comprises various groups who do not like the government’s proposals. When asked, the Head of Faith and Policy at Mothers’ Union made the following comment:
We are supporting the principle of it as we are clear that our central position is that marriage is for heterosexual couples only and we do not at this time believe that marriage should be redefined to include same-sex couples – they have the legal provision of the civil partnerships bill. However, we are not actively supporting that particular coalition as we are not entirely in agreement with those in that coalition, in their wider approach to relationships. Their petition states that marriage is for life – we applaud and welcome that but would like to respect and support those whose marriages have failed without judgement as to how their marriages are no longer in existence.
With this in mind, please do take a look at the petition on the website, and whether you choose to sign or not, please pray for all Christians as they seek to be faithful to the Word in scripture and the dynamic contemporary Word that Jesus speaks today, as they (and we) debate the issue.
Stop the Traffik
Our Diocesan Social Policy Officer recently attended a training morning in Southampton regarding trafficking, and as ever, the more you know the more you realise action is needed. We all need to know the signs, so we can alert the police to possible trafficking; but those at risk of being trafficked need to know signs of grooming so they can get away – this requires awareness-raising sessions.
If you have contacts in secondary schools or with organisations who are involved with people at risk, please ask if they currently have any input regarding trafficking, and if not whether they would welcome the local Stop the Traffik group getting in touch. If they would people in Winchester Diocese can contact us to be put in touch with their local group. In Bournemouth, there is an open meeting on May 16th on trafficking – again please contact us for details.
 In addition to the Mothers’ Union Open Days mentioned below, we will also be holding our Diocesan Mothers’ Union Quiet Day at Old Alresford Place on Friday 13th July 2012.
We are delighted that the Archdeacon of Winchester, Ven Michael Harley will be conducting the day for us, which will start at 10am and finish at 3.30pm. The day costs £15 which includes coffee, light lunch and tea.
Branches and those interested in taking advantage of this chance to rest and reflect with God, are encouraged to download the following booking form and return it as per the instructions at the bottom of the sheet: QuietDay_13July2012_branchform
 Guests enjoying the garden at Old Alresford Place on Mary Sumner Day 2011 Old Alresford Place, now the Diocesan Offices and Retreat Centre for the Diocese of Winchester, was the birthplace of Mothers’ Union.
In 1876, Mary Sumner (then the Rector’s wife) held the first meetings of a group of local mothers who wanted to support each other in their role as Christian parents, and help those less fortunate than themselves. From these meetings, Mothers’ Union developed and spread rapidly through other parishes, diocese and across the world. More information about the history of Mothers’ Union is here.
Each year the staff at Old Alresford Place, kindly make the house and garden available to Mothers’ Union members and others interested in visiting.
This year, there are two OPEN DAYS. Booking is very important for both events as spaces are limited. The cost of each event is £4.00
Wednesday 2nd May 2012: Visits can be booked for either the morning or the afternoon. Coffee is available from 11.00am before the 11.30am tour and after the alternative 2.30pm tour, tea is available between 3.15-4.00pm. You are welcome to bring your own picnic to have in either the Garden or Dining Room at 1.00pm.
Thursday 9th August 2012 is remembered in the Anglican Lectionary as Mary Sumner Day: This Open Day will commence with a 12noon Eucharist at St Mary’s Church, Old Alresford (opposite). Guests will then be welcome to share their picnic lunches in the Dining Room or Garden at Old Alresford Place. At 2.00pm and 3.45pm there will be tours of parts of the house, and when you are not sharing in this, you can attend a talk about the contemporary overseas work of Mothers’ Union. The afternoon will close with Evening Prayer at 4.30pm.
To book either of these opportunities to visit Old Alresford Place and learn more about the history of Mothers’ Union, please use this booking form: MU-OAP-OpenDays2012
 We would like to invite you to join us in celebrating the work and witness of Mothers’ Union in our Diocese over the past 135 years at our
Diocesan Mothers’ Union
Festival Service
Thursday 24th May at 11.00am
This years service will be at Winchester Cathedral
and the celebrant will be the newly enthroned
Bishop of Winchester, Rt Revd Tim Dakin
The theme will be
“Your Gift? Discover and Celebrate!”
By kind invitation of the Dean of Winchester Cathedral,
the Very Revd James Atwell you are invited after the service to a
Royal Picnic to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
in the gardens of The Deanery where there will also be a
Bring and Buy Sale
to raise funds for Mothers’ Union work in the Diocese of Winchester
If you wish to advertise this event in your local community please make use of the following downloads:
Flyer FestivalService2012-Flyer
Invitation FestivalService2012-A5Invite
 We were delighted earlier this month to welcome Nawal and Fiaz from St. George’s, Baghdad to both our Mothers’ Union Winchester Cathedral Prayers and our Trustees Meeting earlier this month. They were accompanied by their interpreter who works with FRRME (Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East).
Fiaz is the curate at St George’s Baghdad, working closely with Canon Andrew White, and regularly left in charge of the incredibly complex ministry there whilst Canon Andrew travels in his tireless work seeking religious, diplomatic and political peace, and seeking support for FRRME and St George’s work.
Nawal is the leader of Mothers’ Union in St Georges, Baghdad. There are approximately 50 Mothers’ Union members active in many ministries at St George’s, but several hundred further members. Their key work is in providing food relief to the congregation, supplying food parcels to every family at least once a month (depending on supplies). For this they fund-raise by selling home made produce, and handicrafts, an example of which was given to the Diocesan President of Mothers’ Union in the Diocese of Winchester during their visit.
After sharing in worship at our monthly Cathedral Prayers service, at the end of which Fiaz gave a blessing in Arabic, those members present were able to join Nawal and Fiaz in the Cathedral Refectory and talk about their lives. Later Fiaz and Nawal joined diocesan Mothers’ Union Trustees for lunch and spoke of some of the difficulties they face, but also of God’s faithful love and continual answering of their prayers.
St George’s Baghdad is always in need of funds to support its ministry and its medical clinic that offers free health care to everyone in the community, irrespective of their religion. A current appeal makes it clear that this work also supports Christians elsewhere in Iraq including those who live in religious isolation.
A series of events has been organised in Winchester to raise the profile of global maternal health issues and celebrate motherhood around the world.
Dying for Life: Saturday 17th to Sunday 18th March 2012 is being organised by the University of Winchester and St. Swithun’s School in association with the Global Student Forum for the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood.
Dying for Life Forum: Saturday 17th March, 10am – 1pm at the King Alfred Campus of the University of Winchester to be chaired by Alastair Stewart OBE. This event hopes to raise awareness of global maternal health issues and to consider questions surrounding the high levels of maternal mortality in the developing world and how we can act globally and locally to make a difference and improve the situation.
The event will be open to the public and the organisers are particularly looking to engage representatives from education, politics, the media, the voluntary sector and faith communities. If you or your organisation would like to contribute to this event in any way, please contact Helen.rowland@winchester.ac.uk
There will also be fundraising activities in and around Winchester throughout the afternoon of Saturday 17th March to raise awareness of and money for a Christian Aid project in Sierra Leone which wants to improve the health care available to mother’s and babies.
On Saturday 17th March and Sunday 18th March at Winchester Cathedral organisers hope to have a Prayer Station in Winchester Cathedral to provide a place to focus our prayers and thoughts for those affected by maternal death and as a place to leave messages of thanks for the gift of mothers.
Sunday 18th March, 6.30pm Evensong at Winchester Cathedral: will be a service of celebration of mothers around the world, remembering especially those places where there is the greatest risk maternal mortality. There will also be the opportunity for local groups to bring any funds raised for the Christian Aid Sierra Leone project.
A series of videos about the world crisis in maternal health are viewable here.
 Many Mothers’ Union groups like to mark 25th March (known either as “Lady Day” or the “Annunciation of our Lord to the Blessed Virgin Mary”) with a special service on or near the festival.
At the annunciation, Mary made a free choice to be the bearer of a child who would bring freedom to the entire world. Traditionally, the church has characterised Mary as silent and passive, but in fact, she is a major spokesperson for those who are oppressed. In the Magnificat, Mary tells us that justice is at the heart of the Christian message. She rejoices because of the freedom God offers in lifting the humble high.
This year, the service in Winchester Deanery will also herald the re-launch of two of the Deanery Branches. Holy Trinity Branch to be re-named ‘City Centre Branch’ and to the north of the Deanery South Wonston Branch will be ‘Dever Branch’.
By re-naming two of the branches local Mothers’ Union members hope they now have every area of the Deanery covered so as to encourage lapsed, and diocesan members rethink their own membership and join in the activities held by both Branches and at Deanery level.
Winchester’s annual Lady Day Service at 2.00 pm Monday 26th March in Holy Trinity Church, Winchester with tea and cakes served afterwards. Deanery Chaplain, Revd Mike Gardner will be giving the Address. ALL ARE WELCOME
Other Branch and Deanery Lady Day Services around the Diocese can be added via the “comment” facility below – all will welcome visitors!
 Hopefully by now many people will have used the Mothers’ Union collection of ethical gifts for Mothering Sunday to MAKE A MOTHERS’ DAY. If you haven’t, then please place your order by 7th March for gifts to be ready for the day itself on 18th March.
Mothers’ Union have also produced a range of resources for use in Christian worship on Mothering Sunday. The resources are summarised below and available as individual downloads HERE.
- an outline Mothering Sunday Family Service which uses two of the Revised Common Lectionary readings (Exodus 2:1-10 and John 19:25-27), includes the story of a mother in South Sudan who learnt to read and budget using the Mothers’ Union Literacy and Financial Development Programme, and gives a talk outline;
- a wide selection of Prayers for Mothering Sunday that can be used either in conjunction with the service outline, or completely independently;
- resources for people running children’s groups on Mothering Sunday, which include a memory verse and active prayer ideas;
- and some Mothering Sunday Children’s Activity Colouring Sheets relating to the stories used in the service outline and the memory verse in the children’s resources.
 The Home Office is currently running a consultation on how Government, across all departments, should define domestic violence. It is particularly seeking views on whether to amend the definition of domestic violence to include coercive control, and whether to extend the legislation to include those under the age of 18.
The current definition was introduced in 2004 and classifies domestic abuse as
an incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse [phsycological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional] between adults who are, or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality
Mothers’ Union members are invited to contribute to the Mothers’ Union’s response to this consultation using the briefing notes and questionnaire that can be downloaded here: Domestic violence definition consult 2012 (which needs to be submitted by 2nd March 2012)
Mothers’ Union members and others’ are also able to respond direct to the Government’s the public call for evidence here, which has the later deadline of 30th March.
 Woman carrying thatch - Kajo-Keji Southern Sudan (2008) Between 27th February and 9th March the UN Commission on the Status of Women will be holding their 56th annual meeting. This years theme is ‘them empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger alleviation, development and current challenges’.
Non-government organisations (NGOs) like Mothers’ Union, Five Talent’s (partners in the Literacy and Financial Education Programme LFEP) and other Anglican’ organisations will be attending to lobby governments on key issues, and share best practice through a series of workshops.
Two representatives from Mothers’ Union are attending, one of whom is a trainer on the LFEP programme in Southern Sudan. As far as we are aware, the programme is not yet active in our own Diocesan link with Kajo-Keji in Southern Sudan, but with more financial support and training opportunities we hope this might be the case in the lifetime of Mothers’ Union’s current Comic Relief grant towards this work (which runs out in 2015).
Mothers’ Union will be lobbying governments on three key issues:
- the need to improve and expand local services in rural areas;
- the need to invest in local and national infrastructures to underpin services;
- the need to tackle global inequalities particularly in international trade and agricultural food processing.
More information about these can be found in our Mothers’ Union Faith and Policy Watch for February.
We might not be able to join our representatives in New York, but we can pray for them, for the work of the Literacy and Financial Development Programme, and for international governments to tind the will to make decisions that will really move towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
 Mothers' Union members with a pig which forms part of a permaculture project in Southern Malawi The Mothers’ Union at it’s best runs simple projects using local initiative to empower people economically, using their own resources, resulting in a more sustainable lifestyle. One way in which this concept is transforming whole communities is through the permaculture projects in Southern Malawi, helped by Mothers’ Union workers paid by the Overseas Fund of Mothers’ Union.
In the Diocese of Southern Malawi there are over a 100 active Mothers’ Union branches spread across urban and rural areas, with members actively working to support their churches and their communities. There are two Community Development Co-ordinators (CDCs) that work among tribes of different cultures, helping people engage freely through women’s groups in various development issues.
The CDCs oversee many projects and involve local professional expertise when necessary: marriage/relationship support; parenting skills; adult literacy; prison work; orphan support; income generating activities; micro credit; health issues including those relating to malaria, women’s health,education/family planning/HIV/AIDS education and support; training/equipping girls with life skills; agricultural provision – and more!
The ‘Permaculture’ project is an initiative which Mothers’ Union has adopted in order to help women improve their agricultural provision. Permaculture is a practical method of developing ecologically harmonious, efficient and productive systems. By careful planning of the use of resources it is possible to be more productive, reaping benefits for the environment and themselves, for now and for generations to come. People cultivate kitchen gardens, rear animals, make compost and manure and engage in food storage and preservation because food security is such a priority. They aim to increase the household income by providing their own food then selling off the surplus for profit and thus support their families economically.
In one community, with grants from the Mothers’ Union Overseas Fund, the people had been able to buy pigs and breed from them. A partner organisation from the US, ‘Love Harvest’, had provided the money to build a new sty. Goats and chickens had also been purchased and distributed among local women; manure from the animals is then used to grow vegetables. Women sell the surplus they produce and use the money to support their families. With any extra profit from this little business, they have a five year plan to build a clinic to provide basic health care and medicines, the idea being to make a small charge so that it would fund itself.
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Action We support family life in local communities through projects, prayer, policy change and fellowship in parts of Hampshire, Dorset, the Channel Islands - and around the world.
Biblical The Lord requires that we act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. (Micah 6:8)
Prayerful All through this day Lord,
let us touch as many lives as possible for you;
and through the power of the Holy Spirit, make a difference to each of those lives, whether through the words we speak, the prayers we breathe, or the life we live. Amen (Adapted from Mary Sumner's personal prayer.)
Legal Mothers' Union Diocese of Winchester is Registered Charity Number 250063
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