Our monthly focus features have a long-established pattern with the aim of highlighting our various links at home and abroad. Each member of the World Mission Group is a link person to one of our charities.
The link person for each charity can be contacted via the parish office.
World Mission Co-ordinator: Maureen Cawdron
Hannah Spiers (January Focus Month)
Having been brought up in St Luke’s during her teenage years, Hannah really appreciates our continuing interest in her life with the Chemin Neuf community. She found it really moving to be back at St Luke’s for our evening service last March and stressed how crucial a part our church played in her Christian development. Last September she moved from Hautecombe, Switzerland to New York and is part of a team of four Chemin Neuf members establishing a new ecumenical “Community at the Crossing”, based in the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in Manhattan. There’s a 5 minute video on YouTube in which Hannah features, explaining what The Community at the Crossing is, you can find it in the link below:
https://www.stjohndivine.org/spiritual/community-at-the-crossing
Link Person: Maureen Cawdron
L23 Youth -Ethan Miller (February Focus Month)
Our aim is to gather young people together and go deeper in faith. Leading the discipling of the young people though L23 Youth group Bible studies, working in St Michael’s High School with clubs like Big Questions (a chance to talk through life’s big questions), and running events like our ‘Songwriting Day’ where our youth wrote and recorded a worship album.Thanks to the generosity of the churches, I’m now working an extra day, which means I’ll have more time to spend with the younger transition-age youth (10-13). We have lots of plans to work in the year 6 classes in St Luke’s and St Nick’s, as well as start our brand new youth group at the Way on a Thursday night. If you want to help out with any of these, get in touch at ethan@storyhouse.community
Link Person: Les Lewney
Toybox (March Focus Month)
Toybox is a Christian charity committed to helping children living and working on the streets and those at risk of becoming so, principally in Latin America. Toybox works with children and their families in Guatemala, Bolivia, Peru and El Salvador and Nicaragua. Their work focuses on four areas: rescue, building a future, prevention, and campaigning for change. If you would like any further information you can visit the Toybox website or contact the parish office. Currently St Luke’s are helping with the raising of funds to enable street children to have birth certificates as this is not something they find easy to obtain.
website : https://toybox.org.uk/
Link person: Janette Burridge
Malawi (April Focus Month)
A recording of the Malawi Mission Evening (30th April) given by Liz Molyneux can be viewed by clicking here The talk begins at 18:30 into the recording.
Liz Molyneux is still very active in supporting the work of the children’s hospital in Blantyre, Malawi and our continued financial aid helps to provide essentials for the hospital. We are also assisting medical students to finish their courses by contributing to the cost of their tuition fees. The third dimension to our support is in helping one of their local churches, also called St Luke’s, to flourish and grow.
Link person: Liz Molyneux
Christian Aid (May Focus Month)
fighting for a world free of poverty and injustice
website: https://www.christianaid.org.uk/
Link person: Kirsten Sothmann
A Rocha Kenya (June Focus Month)
A Rocha is a Christian charity working for the protection and restoration of the natural world. This is their response to the biblical mandate to care for the earth, and a demonstration of the Christian hope for God’s world. They do this through:
– practical involvement in nature conservation projects and ecological research;
– campaigning on biodiversity issues;
– engaging with churches, schools, communities and individuals.
There are 19 A Rocha projects worldwide ranging from Peru to Kenya to New Zealand, and one in the UK at Southall near Heathrow.
St Luke’s has particular links with A Rocha Kenya (ARK) which is led by Colin Jackson. We support a project set up by ARK in 2001 called the Arabuko-Sokoke Schools and Eco-tourism Scheme (ASSETS). The scheme uses money generated from eco-tourism to provide secondary school “eco-bursaries” for local children as secondary school education in Kenya has to be paid for. This encourages local families to look after the Arabuko-Sokoke forest better.
St Luke’s support this project with donations for the jam & chutneys made from St Luke’s grounds produce! We have contributed towards the ASSETS camp – a wonderful time of learning and fun for local students.
Website: https://www.arocha.or.ke/
Link person: Jan Matthews
In Another Place (July Focus Month)
Founded in 2005, we took our name and inspiration from Anthony Gormley’s “Another Place” Iron Men statues at Crosby beach, where our first performances were produced. We continue to work in collaboration with community groups, offering large creative arts projects and smaller specialist groups including our Assembly Team, Gospel Choir, Cardboard Enterprise, Giant Puppet Team, Assembly Ambassadors, and other occasional schools work!
We are:”Christians and community working together inspired by our love for God and the people around us”
We are proud to say that we recently won a Liverpool City Region Tourism Award for small tourism event of the year, for our production of The Alice Experience. Click here to find out more! Once again we want to pass our thanks to everyone who was involved, we would not have won this award without you!
website : https://inanotherplace.com/
Link Person: Annie Spiers
Bishop Alejandro Mesco – CMS Latin America (September Focus Month)
Allen Gardiner gave his life for South America, convinced of God’s calling, he endured hardships and setbacks with extraordinary courage in order to bring the Gospel to the largely unexplored territories of Bolivia, Chile, Brazil and Argentina. Allen’s tragic death led to the birth of SAMS (South American Mission Society) in 1867.
In 2009 SAMS amalgamated with CMS (Church Mission Society) and is now known as CMS/Latin- America.
We in St. Lukes will continue to support our Link partner Alejandro Mesco and his wife Doris as Alejandro ministers as Priest in charge of the Mission St. James the Apostle, just outside Arequipa in Peru.
website : https://churchmissionsociety.org/
Link person: Joyce Fell
Operation Christmas Child (October Focus Month)
Operation Christmas Child is the world’s largest children’s project, collecting & distributing shoe boxes of goodies & gifts to needy children in parts of Africa, Central Asia & Eastern Europe, reminding them of God’s love.
website : https://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/
Link persons: Carol Roocroft and Vera de Villiers
Mary Bunn (November Focus Month)
Mary Bunn has been developing a Palliative Care service in Sierra Leone over the past 5 years, at the university teaching hospital, Connaught, and Ola During Children’s Hospital. Mary continues to support and mentor the team as they seek to provide compassionate care, treat pain and other symptoms, and offer psychological, social and spiritual care to patients with illnesses that cannot be cured.
Link Person: Les Lewney
Children’s Society (December Focus Month)
The Children’s Society is a UK based national charity that works with some of the most vulnerable children and young people in the country. The charity’s values are rooted in Christian beliefs. St. Luke’s supports the Children’s society by home collecting boxes and our annual Christingle services.
Link persons: Jo-Ann Marshall & Hilary Roberts