For Lent, 22^nd February – 07^th April, James will be giving up two things.  Alcohol and Social Media.  This means that James will be not logging into Facebook / Twitter for 46 days!  Nor will he be having a Glass of the Red Stuff!  For those who know James, he likes these a lot, and therefore will be a BIG Challenge.  All 1,104hrs of Lent!

This is all in aid of Young Hope.  Please consider sponsoring James for this challenge. To do so please contact James at james@younghope.org

YOUNG HOPE:
Young Hope supports a group of over 400 orphaned children, who have been affected by the recent Civil War, and the aftermath of the Tsunami.  We provide them with education, school equipment, some food and above all, love.  Money is also given to a community of nuns in Galle (South Sri Lanka) who help Tsunami affected people get back on their feet and restart their lives.  All of the money comes from sponsorship, or from fundraising.  100% of funds received go to the project. All expenses are met by us.

We needed to be early risers as school commences at 07.00 and we wanted to say goodbye to the girls from the home before they left for their activities. Prior to this Ian and his family (our team) wanted to contribute some extra funds in addition to the support that they had already given us. Through their generosity Young Hope has been able to provide:

1. A second water tank for a community in need. Their current water tank was contaminated  by rust. They had a second water tank available but did not have the money to plumb it in, Young Hope have now done this for them enabling the community to have fresh water.

2. Musical instruments for the school. The local school provides music lessons for the children but has no instruments. Young Hope was delighted to be able to help with this as we know it will bring so much pleasure to these children. The funds were given into the hands of Sister Arul to pass over.

We then all were able to say our sad goodbyes to the girls of Arunothayam, the home, the nuns and their support workers. Sister Arul and the girls joined together in a prayer for us and we felt very special but sad to go.

Here is an update from Suzie in Sri-Lanka….We arrived after a long journey of 13hrs. The journey was longer due to the many breaks we needed to make as some of our group had tummy bugs plus the driver deciding to take us on a much longer route, via Kandy ! The heat was intense and the weak air-conditioning in the van was poor.. We managed to squeeze in some fruit & veg shopping for the children on the way. Needless to say that none of us needed rocking to sleep that night or in the subsequent nights.

On our first day there we visited some of the areas our orphaned children live in, with extended families. The people were so grateful to see us, as it showed them that someone in another land cared about them, it brought them hope. That is what our project is all about giving ‘hope’ to those who are in hopeless situations. Although these people have so little, they all had smiley faces of gratitude for the little they receive. In the West we all have so much & yet spend most of our time grumbling or complaining. (Prov 17:23)

All the families who had land but had lost their homes were built homes by the World Bank fund. Those who did not have land were also given homes but in out of the way areas, where there are no schools or ability to find work. As a result none of these people wish to live in these homes. Instead those who can afford it have tried to find rented accommodation near the schools in order for their children to have some education. To buy land to build a house would cost around 2.000€. One of the women that help in the kitchen at the school told us her story today. She & her family of 3 children have been displaced since 1990. They do not have any land & the small room they are renting at the moment needs to be vacated by December. Sister has vouched for this lady & has asked us to see if we can find a way to help her. Each person that we meet here has such a story to tell but we are only able to help just one or two. Our main purpose here is to help the children!

Most of the people manage to grow some crops as well as keep chickens in order to be a little self sufficient as the cost of food has risen greatly. Unfortunately there are wild animals such as elephants & monkeys who ruin the crops that are grown. The people are not allowed an air-rifle to scare the animals away, nor are they allowed to harm the animals. They accept this as one of the hardships they have to bear.

Although the war is over dangerous things continue to happen. Recently some characters have been attacking many of the women in villages. Some women have been slashed with knives & their breasts cut off. Police don’t seem to be able to help either. When the local men try to do something about protecting their women folk the police afraid of another uprising, round up the men, give them a good beating, even break their legs & throw them into prison.

We went into the local town to buy the large amount of paint needed to freshen up the buildings & the outside wall. 2 of our group were still quite sick but we managed to make a start with the work. David & I had the privilege of ministering to the nuns that evening We shared a teaching with them & prayed for each one. I had the word ‘Deborah – woman of courage’ for one of the nuns. Later in the week as she told me her story it was clear to see that she was such a woman of courage. Suzie was very sick again that night, but praise God had the strength to be up & out by 8am, to do a mammoth amount of shopping: stationery & food for the kids.

We also visited a local government school with around 250 pupils. There we learnt of some of their needs. A pressing one seemed to be for a new drinking water tank as there is a problem of rust with the existing tank. They already have a tank available but do not have the funds to have it fixed & pipes laid. To finish this job it would cost around 250€. If anyone feels they could contribute towards this or the plot of land we would like to buy for one homeless family, PLEASE get in touch with us through the website – www.younghope.org.

David took one of our group to visit the apprenticeship training centre. The rest of the team were not well enough to go.

Saturday 7.30am I boarded the school bus that goes to pick up the children who live over 4km away & too far to walk. At the first bus stop we picked up around 30 children & the bus was full. We got to the next stop & there were another 30 more who were squeezed in, giving the driver hardly any room to even drive. They were so happy to be picked up for school that they began to spontaneously sing. At 8 am all assembled to honour the Lord & thank Him for the gift of this day. Then their exercise classes began as the little ones followed the older ones in moving to the music for around 15mins. Then the team of six of us was greeted with flower garlands the children had made & honoured in their traditional way with a dot on the forehead. We were then presented little songs, poems, & dances that they had prepared.

After a break I was given an opportunity to speak to the children of Jesus. We made a list of current needs, mainly for healing & work for family members, then we covered those needs with JESUS, explaining that He is the answer. I also shared of the Father’s love for them in sending Jesus & told them a story. I also taught then a simple song of ‘clap your hands, all you people, sing to the Lord a song of praise……unsure of the correct words, I decided it will be a new song to the Lord. The kids picked up the song quickly & were able to sing it. Then I prayed for them all.

Sister explained that daily the children are used to spontaneous prayer, & also have a time of bible study. As a result what I was sharing was easily understood by them as they had heard it before – many times. Sister felt that by our next visit the children will be able to communicate with us in basic English.

Our team played many games with the children with the balls & skipping ropes they had brought. As the balls did not seem to be enough 2 of the team went in search of more, to a local hotel where they had seen a large bag of balls. Then the feeding of the 200 began. The queue seemed unending, but so orderly. After food we distributed the small cuddly toys that many of our supporters had donated & said goodbye to them. The girls who board at the school began the clearing up process that took a couple of hours. I was sad to see how tired Sister was after having done all the extra things we had asked of her. Her feet could no longer hold her & she had to go & have an hour’s rest.

Sister Chandra began to tell us one of her miracle stories. These sisters have so many. It was a of a time when she was crossing over from the LTT side to the Army side. As she was walking over there was a blast behind her. The amy opened fire & she was caught in an area called ‘no man’s land’ with bullets flying around her. She lay on the ground waiting but as the bullets were still all around her only just missing her head she decided to get up with her hand in the air & walk. One of the bullets whizzed past her & scorched her dress but she still kept walking. These women are true women of courage. 6 of the army men had died that day as well as many from the LTT side. There were body parts all around the field. Sister was placed in a truck with body parts littered around her & she went into shock, unable to speak for the rest of the day. She had to receive shock treatment in order to be able to speak again. She still has the dress with a scorched hole through it as a reminder of God’s miracle.

Our last day here we hope to finish most of the painting jobs we had begun, & then share a simple meal with the nuns & try to encourage them. Throughout this week they have amazed us with their stories of God undertaking on their behalf. We have received so much from them & the children. As usual we are the ones who have been blessed by them.

Postscript: Whilst editing this Sister Arul has come into the kitchen looking for food as around 6o children who have just turned up at the school next door. They travelled overnight from Kilinochi – about 100 km away to see Sister Chandra, who assists at the school. We gave them what we had – 2 large packs of biscuits. Kilinochi is almost in the jungle. Their plight is far worse than that of our children here. Maybe on our next trip out here we will have the opportunity to visit this area. Anyone want to come?

David and Suzie have said they visit a family who need to buy land so they can build a home, they have been displaced since 1990 and need €1700 to do this. We are hoping to help somehow.

Please continue to hold the team in your thoughts and prayers. We hope to hold a fundraiser in Southampton soon, if you can help organise or help in any other way please let us know.

Priya

It was a short and sad call, the line went dead part way through but the news is:

1. Suzie had her phone stolen which she was using to access her emails etc… so she is not easily accessible at present.

2. Sadder news, although the war has ended in Sri-Lanka, things are not good in Nilaveli and the North of the country. There are terrorist groups who are causing trouble. Suzie told me that these men are targeting women, attacking them with knifes and slicing off their breasts. The police have been told and are not doing anything, in fact a group of the terrorists were chased by local men into the police station and the police did not help. Some local men have had their legs broken as a result of terrorist attacks.

So please, please do pray for Nilaveli and all the children and communities living through this, these are the people we are trying to help through Young Hope,  as you can see they still really need our support. Also pray for the safety of our team.

The team who have gone to Sri-Lanka are currently helping with painting the school buildings and doing some maintenance projects. Hopefully their visit will lift the spirits of the nuns.

If you would like to donate any money to help the projects please contact us.

Priya

They are intending to travel up from Colombo by train this time and remain with the children for one week. No doubt there will be plenty of things to d0! Hopefully they will be able to report back fairly regularly whilst there and as the long war is finally over they are eagerly expecting to see a regeneration of the area. So watch this space for news.

If you would like to donate any money for them to take out on this trip please get in touch, all money donated will go directly to help with children and not to pay for the trip as we always pay for these trips out of our own pockets.

We need more fundraisers like this so please let us know your ideas!

Priya

Asha Trust  http://www.ashatrust.co.uk is run by my Uncle and Aunt. Our family has such a strong tie with Sri-Lanka, we all love the country and have lots of relatives over there. So when we see a country full of people that need our help, we can’t help but try to do something about it. That’s how Asha Trust and Young Hope were birthed.

So take a peep at their site and see what they do, they work in a different part of the country so are able to do different things. We love what that do and I’ms sure you will too.

Remember if you’d like to get involved with us and Young Hope we have chances for people to go out and visit/work with Young Hope in September and we are always looking for new supporters to help us fundraise, to be a sponsor or to keep up to date with what we are doing, inspire us, encourage us and hang with us.