MERRY
CHRISTMAS
- (and a Happy New Year!) -
Dearest Friends
& Family,
Another year has come to an end, and as we enter the
season of celebration of the birth of Jesus I cannot help but be thankful not
only for his incredible act of love 2000 years ago, but for the fact God is
very much alive and continues to bless us with so many gifts today. For me
personally, when I look back on this year I am overwhelmed and humbled at how God
is working in incredible ways to bring hope, empowerment, and a better future
for people both in our own community and across the world. This year God has
enabled Loveworks to help a whole village in Burundi, Africa to build homes,
started an economic initiative to further empower the woman of the Batwa tribe
(a marginalized people group) of Burundi and partnered with many other
organizations around the world to help create global change. In our own
backyard we have also helped a number of young people across Canada to discover
meaning in their lives as they used their gifts, talents and abilities to help
create change. So much of what I have seen and heard as I have travelled
throughout Canada and Africa and met young people struggling to find meaning
and communities struggling to find the means to live has left my heart bursting
with excitement about what lies ahead for us. To this end, there are a few
stories I am so excited to share with you:
A Short-term
Trip – A Lifetime Transformation.
This summer I had the pleasure to help lead a trip to
Africa with the Loveworks team. We took 20 young people to spend time with one
of the poorest and most forgotten people groups (or castes) in the world, the
Batwa, in the poorest country in the world, Burundi. The Batwa are a desperately
poor caste of people with few rights due to their “inferior” position in
Burundi, they are literally the poorest of the poor. While we were there we
formed many amazing relationships with the Batwa and saw some incredible things
happen. Perhaps one of the most poignant stories happened near the end of our
trip though.
During our trip many Hutu and Tutsi’s (who are the other
people groups in Burundi) came to watch us work alongside the Batwa because
they could not believe anyone would want to associate with the Batwa let alone
a bunch of “Masungu’s” (white people!) from Canada who hold a high status in
their culture. Near the end of our time one such individual, a man who had been
watching us for a few days approached us and asked us many questions about what
we were doing there and why we would have anything to do with these people
everyone else looked down on. We had the chance to explain that we believed the
Batwa are our brothers and sisters and we wanted to show them the world has not
forgotten them by loving them in practical ways. As the man listened his eyes
begin to tear up, when we asked what he was thinking, he responded, “ I am
convicted and I am so ashamed. You see, I am a pastor from a nearby Hutu
village. All my life I have known these Batwa, and seen their poverty but I
have forgotten them, so God had to bring you with much money and much time from
across the world to do the work he has called us to do in our own country but
we have ignored. I know now that Burundi must help Burundians and I must love
my neighbor.” This conversation was one of the beautiful and powerful parts of
our trip, because although we love the Batwa and we will continue to help them
from Canada it is only when local people step up to help their neighbour that
real change will occur. This realization also challenged so many of the young
people on our trip to go home and
start changing their world
through loving those who are hurting, broken and forgotten in their own
communities.
A Life Transformed…
Ladies & Gentlemen I would love to introduce you to one of our friends!
One of the young men who joined us on our trip to Burundi
this summer was a student named John* ( name changed for confidentiality). During his time in Burundi John says he
was absolutely “wrecked” by the amazing people he met and the terrible conditions
they were living in. John has not been able to stop talking about what he saw
in Burundi, his worldview was totally shifted and he discovered that he wanted
to use his life for a greater purpose and to help others discover there is a
greater purpose for their lives as well.
John asked Loveworks to help him discover how he can make a difference and help his new friends in Burundi. To this end we helped John put together a longboarding campaign to raise funds for his friends in Burundi. This summer John will be longboarding across Alberta to raise funds for the Batwa people. Through sharing his story John has also recruited a number of other young longboarders to join him and shown them that they too can use their passion to longboard in a meaningful way that helps people find the means to live! When I asked him to describe his experience working with Loveworks John answered, “I am just a 17 year old and thought I really could not do much to impact the world around me, but Loveworks has shown me that that is wrong, and that I can make a lasting difference… I have had the chance to raise money by doing what I love to do, and then Loveworks is able to facilitate that and send those funds somewhere to make a difference. By doing something to impact the world around me I have been able to inspire people to become better than what they are and dream bigger. Loveworks has inspired and helped kids like me who want to make a difference in his world by showing me (and them!) that I can actually make a difference on a bigger scale than what I could have done just myself. It has totally changed my life and I’m super exciting for my next project; longboarding across Alberta! Loveworks has helped me realize that no matter what I do with my life, job or school etc. I can still use my gifts, talents & abilities to change the world so that’s exactly what I am going to do!”
John asked Loveworks to help him discover how he can make a difference and help his new friends in Burundi. To this end we helped John put together a longboarding campaign to raise funds for his friends in Burundi. This summer John will be longboarding across Alberta to raise funds for the Batwa people. Through sharing his story John has also recruited a number of other young longboarders to join him and shown them that they too can use their passion to longboard in a meaningful way that helps people find the means to live! When I asked him to describe his experience working with Loveworks John answered, “I am just a 17 year old and thought I really could not do much to impact the world around me, but Loveworks has shown me that that is wrong, and that I can make a lasting difference… I have had the chance to raise money by doing what I love to do, and then Loveworks is able to facilitate that and send those funds somewhere to make a difference. By doing something to impact the world around me I have been able to inspire people to become better than what they are and dream bigger. Loveworks has inspired and helped kids like me who want to make a difference in his world by showing me (and them!) that I can actually make a difference on a bigger scale than what I could have done just myself. It has totally changed my life and I’m super exciting for my next project; longboarding across Alberta! Loveworks has helped me realize that no matter what I do with my life, job or school etc. I can still use my gifts, talents & abilities to change the world so that’s exactly what I am going to do!”
Me,
You, US= INCREDIBLE CHANGE
Also a last note about my
finances – over the last
month my support has more than doubled from $300 to $600 a month, and I am so
grateful for the prayers and the partners who have helped this to happen, I am
so encouraged & humbled that God is using so many of you in such a
practical way to help me… without you none of these things could have been
done! However, I
still have a ways to go to earn enough money to live off of and i am looking for 50 people to consider committing to supporting me for $40-50 a month… these thus if
you are interested in partnering with me financially or in prayer in this
holiday season for the next year I would be so grateful. Please contact me for
more details or use the info below to donate online.
Loveworks could not have had
the impact it has had on John’s life, on the lives of so many other young
people, or the lives of the Batwa and other impoverished people groups around
the world without YOUR prayers and YOUR financial partnership, so many lives
have truly been changed because of you and others like you, so thank you so
much for believing in me and helping me to empower young people like John and communities
like the Batwa. Together I believe we can impact many others like him and help
create change in the world. Please keep John in your prayers as we help him to
achieve his dream of longboarding Alberta to make a difference, and please keep
the Batwa people in your prayers, as we walk alongside them helping them build
a new future full of hope.
Many Blessings and Much Gratitude!
Heather Davies
Details to make a donation: (All
contributions above $20 receive a tax-deductible
receipt).
Make all cheques payable to “Youth For Christ”, since as an associate of
loveworks they handle all donations. Send Cheques to Box 42051 Millbourne RPO.
Edmonton, AB T6K 4C4,
Donate online at www.ourloveworks.com/#!donate - specifying it’s
monthly for
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