Hope Spot 1 – What’s in the Mail?

HOPE Spot #1: What’s in the Mail

Thursday 11 January

How did your letterbox survive Christmas?

Mine didn’t, as you can see below …

No, this isn’t the result of a flood of Christmas cards. (I got two.) Nor Boxing Day sales catalogues. (I got two hundred.)

It was just my son in a rush to see his girlfriend.

My smashed-up letterbox is a long way from the smashed-up apartments you’re helping renovate in Kharkiv, Ukraine, through ALWS …

What you see in the photo is the start of your repair work.

Just before Christmas, the last of 525 repaired and renovated apartments in Kharkiv was handed over to families who had been forced out.

Iryna, mum of two young children, had to move to her grandmother’s house. She shared:

“We had lost all hope.
And then I got a phone-call,
and we heard: ‘We want to help you.’

Before, we could not think about tomorrow,
but now we can. We can think about the future,
thanks to you.”

This life-changing front-line work is a partnership between:

• UNHCR
• the LWF (Lutheran World Federation) team you support
• churches from around the world working together as ACT Alliance
• and you, through ALWS.

On behalf of Iryna, and all of the 525 families, thank you!

You can see how important your work here in Kharkiv is when you look at the weather forecast for this weekend:

The temperature in Kharkiv is expected
to drop to minus 17 degrees.

The ‘top’ is minus 11!

That’s why the plan is to repair and renovate another 1,500 apartments in Kharkiv Oblast.

Our ALWS support is part of our Children of War focus this year.

Whether here on the front line in Ukraine, or in church refuge centres in Poland … in Displaced Persons Camps in junta-ruled Myanmar … in camps in Somalia, where our Christmas campaign is now providing support for 8,000+ children with disabilities … in war zones in South Sudan and Ethiopia … in refugee camps at Kakuma and Dadaab in Kenya …

… together, through ALWS, our 3 Step Plan is to:

1. Meet the basic physical needs of children
2. Help them recover from the trauma they have suffered
3. Support them to go to school and build a new future.

Which brings me right back to my smashed-up letterbox.

The only way this Children of War ALWS action can happen is through the kindness of people like you.

And you can’t help, unless you know where you are needed.

That’s why I send you these HOPE Spot emails, …

… and every couple of months ‘snail mail’ to your letterbox (which you might be surprised to know is the most effective and cost-efficient way to raise money!).

you’ve shown that when you see someone who needs you, you’re ready to help.

On behalf of Iryna, and her two young children, and all the other families in Kharkiv who can return home because of people like you – thank you! You are a blessing ALWayS!

PS: Your two-yearly ALWS Supporter Survey should arrive in your letter-box in the first week of February. I look forward to hearing your thoughts about what you do for people through ALWS.

PPS: ALWS is organising a Walk My Way Ukraine in Brisbane on Saturday 11 May. You can join the Walk, or sponsor a Walker: walkmywayukraine.org.au