World Mission Fund Grants for Coronavirus Assistance
30 April 2020
As the cases of Coronavirus continue to increase around the world the World Mission Fund has been used to support partner churches with the following grants. These grants have been sent from the World Mission Fund between April 8 to 24, in conjunction with the Emergency Appeal raised by All We Can and the Methodist Church in Britain, in the coordinated response to this global pandemic.
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Argentina: The United Evangelical Methodist Church in Argentina has been sent £4,000 to support work with COVID-19 relief. Argentina is currently under strict, law-enforced lockdown, and as with all countries enforcing lockdown there have been serious economic consequences for the nation. The church is joining forces with a variety of ecumenical organisation to launch a project called ‘That we may all be one’. The project aims to support the most vulnerable people in the Buenos Aires province with essential food and hygiene items.
Bangladesh: The Church of Bangladesh has been given £20,000 to contribute to a relief and protection project from Covid-19 pandemic. This proposed project will work on emergency issues in all 115 Parishes under seven Deaneries of three Dioceses. The project will distribute an emergency food package for one month for families among Church members and to families living in the neighbouring areas of the parishes. Each family pack will contain rice, wheat, cooking oil, salt, pulses, sugar, a pack of medicine & mask.
Colombia: The United Methodist Church in Colombia has been sent £13,126 to support COVID-19 relief efforts in Colombia. The Colombian Methodist Church works with vulnerable communities all over the country. The church will use this funding for the next two months to enable them to either buy food and hygiene products or supermarket vouchers to enable them to support 328 of the most vulnerable families that they have identified within 22 of their church communities. This will benefit 1,232 people.
Ecuador: A grant for £15,700 has been sent to support the United Evangelical Methodist Church in Ecuador in helping its communities around the country who have been economically affected by the current lockdown. These social distancing and self-isolation measures have severely affected the large number of Ecuadorians who live from daily wages in the informal labour market. The floristry industry has also been affected by the cancellation of trade deals with major global trading partners, and this has also lead to unemployment. The church will use the funds to support 860 families in 22 communities with food relief packages and personal protective equipment.
Haiti: The Haiti District of the Methodist Church of the Caribbean and the Americas has been sent a grant of £13,358.33 to help five communities in developing preventative measures that will help stop the spread of COVID-19. These communities are particularly vulnerable in that they have little access to running water and social distancing or self-isolation is almost impossible.
The Caribbean: The Methodist Church in the Caribbean and Americas (MCCA) has been sent £22,500 for COVID 19 support for MCCA Districts. The tourism industry has been almost wiped out, which affects island economies. Islands are in various states of self-isolation and quarantine. The income of the MCCA has also dropped dramatically given the current closure of churches. This grant will be used by the MCCA to support Ministers Stipends, Housing Subsidies, Care Packages comprised of food and necessities, Medication and Health expenses. In addition, this will boost the Church’s ability to effectively meet urgent needs of the members, adherents and wider community.
Sri Lanka: A grant of £15,000 has been sent to the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka for their COVID-19 Recovery and Eradication programme. This will establish the food security needs of the vulnerable that have lost their primary and only income source due to quarantine and curfew imposed to mitigate the risk of the COVID-19. Specifically this will be used to strengthen the Church to respond in prayer, social action and advocacy and community and state initiatives for awareness, disinfection, fumigation, and preparation of sites.
Zimbabwe: A grant of £20,000 was sent to support the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe working with vulnerable families during the lockdown with a lack of jobs and no source of income. This will also help the church in organising food banks, provision of PPE for frontline staff and respond to ongoing needs.
Read, pray and give to the work of the World Mission Fund.
Read here for other recent Coronavirus assistance World Mission Fund grants given earlier in March-April.