News from the
Thought for the Week
During Christmas we have gone round our families and friends ‘giving’ out our gifts to those we love; now we turn our attention to the future.
We wave goodbye to the old year and we toast the New Year; we make resolutions that most of us will forget once we return to the business of normal everyday life. Christmas soon forgotten has been put back in its box along with the baubles and the twinkling fairy lights.
The time for ‘giving’ has passed. We’re now looking forward to the coming year because someone in the family is getting married; there’s a 16th birthday party to attend; a golden wedding anniversary to celebrate; a summer holiday to look forward to.
But for many, next year will be the same as last year. People will still be living in poverty; somewhere in the world someone will still need our help. There will be people in our own community who will still need to be given food from the local food bank to see them through the week. These are things that we cannot put in the box along with the Christmas decorations and the ‘giving’ until next year. The time for ‘giving’ hasn’t gone away! It is still needed every day, more than ever before.
Personally I am looking forward to 2015, as it is the 50th anniversary of SCIAF which many Ruglonians will know began its life in the parish of St Columbkille’s Church in 1965. A
group of people came together with the idea of ‘giving’ in an organised way, they started with £8000.
Today SCIAF is an internationally recognised charity. With its own unique ‘ Wee Box’ annual Lenten appeal among its many other fund raising efforts SCIAF raises millions of pounds annually to tackle poverty in 16 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America providing vital help to some of the poorest people in the world, regardless of their religion.
Nearly half a million people affected by conflict and hunger as well as HIV and AIDS benefited from SCIAF’s long-term aid giving and development projects last year. This included seeds, tools and livestock to farmers, skills training and support in local healthcare, emergency aid and trauma counselling to those affected by war and natural disasters. At home SCIAF addresses the underlying causes of global poverty and injustice, such as unfair trade, debt and climate change, through campaigning and education.
In acknowledgement of SCIAF’s 50 years of giving to those less fortunate than ourselves there will be a Mass of Thanksgiving in St Columbkille’s Parish Church, Rutherglen on February 8 2015.
Finally, please remember that ‘giving’ isn’t just for Christmas, there is still so much more ‘giving’ to be done if we are to eradicate poverty in our world. Reverend Deacon Bill McMillan St Columbkille’s Parish Church Rutherglen.