Welcome to Update - February 2024

Working towards a truly just,

healthy and peaceful world.

In this update...

• February Voices of Hope/Voix d'espoir - Read about PWRDF's support for partner ARUWE in Uganda
• PWRDF 2024 Lent Resource - subscribe today!
• February Under the Sun - Available now!
• Annual Report available
• Check out Super Friends 11!
• Welcome to the new PWRDF Supporter Relations Program Officer, Abdi Ali!

The latest PWRDF News...

• Gaza and West Bank: PWRDF joins multinational alliance of Anglican organizations in joint project
• Delivering aid amid war: A Q&A with PWRDF Humanitarian Response Coordinator, Naba Gurung
• Raising voices for change: PWRDF supports adolescents and girls in Zambia
• Watch: Archbishop Linda Nicholls visits PWRDF-supported dairy farmers in Kenya

Plus resources and upcoming events

Learn about PWRDF's support for ARUWE in Uganda.

PWRDF 2024 Lent Resource

Health and well-being – without one, the other simply isn’t possible. Likewise, the well-being of humans isn’t possible without a healthy planet; something we are discovering every day as we face a growing and global climate crisis.

This theme is at the centre of PWRDF’s 2024 Lent Resource. Every day of the Lenten season, you will receive a daily email with a reflection from Dr. Sylvia Keesmaat, on what health, well-being and good living require of us in our lives and our relationships with one another, with creation and with God.

As you will read, things begin to break down when human beings separate themselves from creation, exploiting it as a commodity, or separate and exploit one another. In so doing, we separate ourselves from the Creator.



And so, on this journey through Lent, PWRDF invites you to join Dr. Keesmaat as she walks with us, meditating on our current climate crisis and the well-being of ALL of creation, human and non-human, and offering us lessons in repair and restoration that are both profoundly ancient and current.

Join us for the Lent Resource Launch Webinar!

Join us February 1st at 1 p.m. EST on Zoom, as we – along with resource-author and renowned biblical scholar, Dr. Sylvia Keesmaat – launch our 2024 Lent Resource!

During the webinar, Dr. Keesmaat will introduce you to the resource, including the daily reflections and weekly bible studies.

February Under the Sun - Available now!

The February edition of PWRDF's Under the Sun is available to view or download now!

In this edition, read about all the ways PWRDF partner work amid war and conflict. Plus, a Q&A with PWRDF Humanitarian Response Coordinator, Naba Gurung.

Do you subscribe to the Anglican Journal?

Look for your hardcopy of Under the Sun in your February edition of the Anglican Journal.

Annual Report available in English and French

The 2022-2023 Annual Report was included in the September Anglican Journal, and the French Rapport Annuel was included in the December Quebec Gazette and Montreal Anglican. If you would like to order additional Annual Reports in either English or French, please email pwrdf@pwrdf.org.

Super Friends 11! Available now

Super Friends is a long-standing Social Justice resource produced by PWRDF for children, with stories, activities and faith connection. In this newly revised edition, you will find these same elements and more. Super Friends 11! focuses on Right Relationships and Reconciliation. Free to a maximum of 20 copies per parish, per year!

Gaza and West Bank: PWRDF joins multinational alliance of Anglican organizations in joint project

As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank continues, PWRDF and our partners look to the future and longer-term support in the region. A proposal for a new six-month project, which will run from February 1, 2024 to July 31, 2024, has been designed in consultation with a partnership of Anglican humanitarian and development agencies, including PWRDF, who are convened by the Anglican Alliance. Eight agencies from five countries have joined hands in support of a single proposal. This relieves the Diocese of Jerusalem of the need to provide individual proposals and reports to each funding agency at a time when they are already nearing capacity as they respond to the emergency. This joint proposal streamlines the communication and working relationship between the Anglican Alliance, smaller groups representing the agencies, and the office of the Diocese of Jerusalem.

Delivering aid amid war: A Q&A with PWRDF Humanitarian Response Coordinator, Naba Gurung

Naba Gurung is the Humanitarian Response Coordinator at PWRDF. Whenever and wherever disaster strikes or conflict erupts, Gurung is managing the response as PWRDF answers the call to support our partners on the ground. In his 22 years with PWRDF, Naba has experienced countless unique situations. PWRDF Communications and Marketing Officer, Jacqueline Tucci, recently sat down with Gurung for the February edition of PWRDF’s Under the Sun, to discuss the intricacies of delivering humanitarian aid during times of conflict and war.  

Raising voices for change: PWRDF supports adolescents and girls in Zambia

In Katete district, Zambia, PWRDF is supporting partner ZACOP in a project which aims to reduce child marriages, promote sexual and reproductive health for adolescents and empower girls to realize their full potential. Child marriage is the marriage of a person under the age of 18. The education, health, dignity and quality of life of adolescent girls are all diminished through child marriage. Without these basic rights, girls cannot grow into healthy, skilled, productive, independent and responsible adults. “There is still a lot of work to do to end child marriages,” said Jeanine Cudmore, a Program Coordinator with PWRDF who visited Katete district in Zambia with ZACOP partners in November of last year. This new project phase – which began in October 2023 and will run until September 2026 – seeks to reduce child marriage through a mix of awareness-raising and skill-building activities.

Watch: Archbishop Linda Nicholls visits PWRDF-supported dairy farmers in Kenya

In 2023, Archbishop Linda Nicholls, the former Primate and first woman to head the Anglican Church of Canada, visited a PWRDF-supported dairy farming project in Kenya, to witness the work of PWRDF partner, ECLOF, fist-hand. PWRDF has been supporting ECLOF in Kenya on this climate-smart dairy value chain initiative since 2019. This project focuses on building the capacity of smallholder dairy farmers to increase their productivity, earn a stable income, improve resilience and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

EVENTS

February Praying with PWRDF

All are welcome to join our online parish. Hundreds have prayed with us from across Canada.

Join us February 8, 2024 at 1 p.m. ET – Ian Van Haren, Executive Director of Action Refugees and member of the PWRDF Board of Directors, will be our reflector.

Kairos Canada Campaign

The Canadian government is preparing for Budget 2024 - Add your voice!

According to a recent Abacus Data poll - eight in 10 Canadians support Canadian international assistance, regardless of domestic financial concerns. However, Canada cut its overseas development assistance (ODA) by 15 percent in 2023, bringing Canada’s percentage allocation of gross national income to less than half that of the international standard of 0.7 percent.

As the Canadian government consults on Budget 2024, Kairos asks you to contact the government and let them know that you support am increase in Canada’s ODA with support to women peacebuilders and environmental stewards. Learn more and take action through this KAIROS Canada campaign.

Give it up for the Earth!

Give it up for the Earth! is a national faith-in-action campaign that raises awareness about the climate crisis and mobilizes people across Canada to reduce personal and household greenhouse gas emissions, engage in acts of solidarity, and collect signatures as a demonstration of support for increased federal climate action.

Citizens for Public Justice invites you to join the hundreds of churches, schools, religious orders, and ecumenical groups across Canada that are Giving it up for the Earth! this Lent!

Book your Mapping Exercise workshop

PWRDF's Mapping the Ground We Stand On is now available as an online or an in-person workshop. Learn more at pwrdf.org/mapping-exercise.

PWRDF coming to a church near you

PWRDF has joined scores of virtual worship services at parishes across the country. Staff can deliver a prerecorded sermon, or join live worship on Zoom or other platforms. To learn more or to book a virtual guest speaker, contact Public Engagement Coordinator, Suzanne Rumsey.

PWRDF wants to hear from you!

Please share your fundraising success stories to inspire others and to spread the word about the good work you have done! Email Jacqueline Tucci and tell us about it. Many thanks to all of our donors.

RESOURCES

a just generation is a series of conversations with allies, educators and folks working to bring about equity and justice. 

Join Duncan Chalmers and Robyn Sulkko in conversation with PWRDF Humanitarian Response Coordinator Naba Gurung as they chat about how PWRDF responds to humanitarian crises and disasters in Canada.

PWRDF 2024 Annual Resources

PWRDF's Annual Resources will be available a little later than usual this year. You can expect the 2024 Annual Resources in the fall, along with many exciting updates from PWRDF. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, our 2023 Annual Resources are still available for ordering.

(left) This year's placemat includes children's activities and the Prayer for PWRDF on the reverse; (top right) the offering envelope and (bottom right) bulletin cover reflect the Let's Make a World of Difference theme.

Annual Resources for 2023 still available for ordering

PWRDF’s resources for 2023 focus on the overall work of PWRDF and partners around the world and extend an invitation: “Let's Make a World of Difference.” There are pieces to support a PWRDF Sunday, such as bulletin covers and offering envelopes, as well as our popular in memoriam and in honour cards for use anytime. These beautiful educational and informational resources unite us in prayer and action for the work of PWRDF and partners. Learn more about this year's resources and order for your parishes gatherings and services.