Raising Awareness and Money

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Raising Awareness and Money

• Cambodia Evening - Martin Fair and Jim McLeod hosted and inspiring evening of music, pictures, stories and delicious food from Cambodia in January 2006. The account of their trip to Cambodia in November 2005 was a real encouragement to the 60+ people who came along to the evening, including friends from neighbouring churches. Our money is being put to excellent use and our prayers for the workers and villagers involved in the project are now much better informed.
  
  
• Over 20 individuals, families and organisations from St Andrew's are sponsoring a Cambodian child through World Vision's child sponsorship scheme.
  
  
• Christmas 2004 and 2005 were further occasions to use our giant Christmas card idea (see below).
  
  
• During Lent 2005 some members of the congregation spent a week eating a typical Cambodian diet - majoring in rice and noodles, with very little else! For example, one family of four made a dinner of chicken and rice - with one chicken breast between them. It was an instructive week living on a limited range of food, and really brought home the vast difference between the luxuries we so often take for granted and the much more basic level at which the majority of the world's population has to live.
  
  
• Our "Jig for a Pig" ceilidh in the last part of 2004 was a lot of fun and raised awareness of the success of "animal banks", where villagers are lent a breeding pair of pigs, chickens, goats, cows or oxen, and can then return some of the offspring to the bank for others to benefit from. The success of the banks is in the greater food security that this gives the villagers, and also creates opportunities for making money by selling the products - milk, eggs etc - and selling the progeny of the animals.
  
  
• During October 2004 we focused on explaining to St Andrew's members just how far their money would go when translated into vital goods and services in Cambodia. Our Harvest Thanksgiving Service invited people to donate money for a pig, or a school desk, or a sack of seed, or a number of other concrete objects, and by the end of the service we were able to show a visual display of all the items that had been pledged.
  
  
• July 2004 - Scott Anderson and Joan Hainsworth presented a wonderful evening at the Meadowbank Inn, sharing with the congregation about their experiences while visiting Cambodia with other World Vision partners. You can read interviews with Scott and Joan to find out more about their experiences.
  
  
• The World Vision 24-hour Famine is a long-running international fundraising event, and in 2004 several members from St Andrew's participated to raise money for our project partners. Given that 45% of under-5s in Cambodia are moderately or severely malnourished, it was instructive for those participating to get a tiny inkling of what it's like to go hungry.
  
  
• In March 2004 Scott Anderson from our Cambodia Connection project team presented a great overview of our partnership to the rest of Angus Presbytery, at a well-attended World Mission evening titled "Around the World in 80 Minutes". The project team also provided some delicious Cambodian food for participants to sample.
  
  
• All the Fun of the Fair - the Christian theatre company Riding Lights came to Arbroath in November 2003 (one of only 2 Scottish venues) in their national tour. Working in conjunction with World Vision, this uplifting piece of ensemble theatre was fast, provocative, moving and - most of all - fun. We assembled a sizeable audience in the hall at Arbroath High School to enjoy this performance, and had a Fair Trade stall which did brisk business at the interval.

• Shave a leg to Save a leg - seven brave men from the congregation volunteered to have their legs waxed in public at our local shopping mall in September 2003 to focus attention on the huge problem of landmines in Cambodia.

• During Lent 2003 a number of St Andrew's members gave up a favourite something and contributed the money saved each week to the Cambodia Connection. The total raised from this activity was over £830! Our "chocoholic" minister hinted that a considerable proportion of this (did he mention the figure £700?) was probably from him foregoing creme eggs...

• Mary Scott takes orders for personalised cards and bookmarks for all occasions, with all proceeds going to the Cambodian Connection. Large cards cost £1.50, small cards £1 and bookmarks are 50p. See Mary at church to order a card or bookmark.
  
  
• Over the Christmas 2002 period, we had a giant Christmas card displayed in the church hall, with individual "windows" where people could write their Christmas greetings to their St Andrew's friends instead of giving out individual Christmas cards. The money we saved on the cards we gave to the Cambodian project.
  We also encouraged members of the congregation to use World Vision's Alternative Gift Catalogue when choosing Christmas gifts for family or friends. One person "received" 4 fruit trees and 10 chickens as her Christmas presents from her family!
  
  
• In October 2002 the children were asked to make copies of the Cambodian flag, which they brought to church and waved during the service.