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Lent Appeal: There’s still time to help people overcome poverty this Easter

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Churches are at the heart of transformation. Will you help them meet rising needs this Easter?

Joseph Biswas: My name is Joseph Biswas.

Ratna Biswas: I am Ratna Biswas.

In Bangladesh, around 35 million people are experiencing hunger daily.

Joseph and Ratna are another family facing the same desperate situation. And the climate crisis has worsened the already brutal monsoon conditions.

When their local church reached out to them, Joseph and Ratna decided to join Tearfund’s Transforming Communities programme taking place there.

The training Joseph and Ratna joined included looking at ways to improve the village, such as restoring the village pond to provide clean water to the community, while introducing new ways to earn a living, such as breeding goats.

Joseph Biswas: Our family has been struggling with poverty. We were in a lot of trouble because of this.

This Lent, your gift of £72 could provide families like Joseph and Ratna’s with a goat, empowering them to feed their children and strengthen their livelihoods.

Ratna Biswas: The pond was very dirty and unusable. The water of the pond was polluted, it was unfit for use. We informed Tearfund and Shalom (Tearfund partner) about this pond, "We, a lot of people live here, but we suffer from lack of clean water." After consulting with them, arrangements were made to repair the pond. They said that the pond would be repaired by building a dam around the pond to make it usable for us.

Sunita, Taslima, Monica and I took the initiative together. Now it is possible to take a bath and the water is much more usable, I hope it will improve further. In addition, Transforming Communities gave me two goats, out of which I sold one goat, one gave birth to a baby, now I have two goats. I have benefitted a lot from getting a goat. With my three children, it is difficult for me to bear the cost of their education.

However, I am doing well now, thanks to God, I used to have one meal a day, now I can eat three meals a day, I can educate my children. I think there has been a lot of improvement in people's lives but more needs to be done.

Needs are rising – there’s still time to help people overcome poverty through the church this Easter.

Please donate now
tearfund.org/lentappeal24

Transforming communities

Around the world, needs are rising at an unprecedented rate. At the same time, Tearfund’s costs are soaring and our resources are being stretched to their limit.

This Easter, will you help equip churches around the world to transform their communities and help people lift themselves out of poverty?

Your generous gift of £72 could provide a goat so people like Ratna and Joseph can strengthen their livelihoods and feed their family.

Donate now

Facing extreme poverty

In Bangladesh, Joseph and Ratna faced a life of extreme poverty.

The rising cost of food plus the climate crisis, which has worsened the already brutal monsoon conditions in Bangladesh, held them back from making any progress. Then they decided to join Tearfund’s Transforming Communities programme run through their local church and their lives began to change radically.

As part of the programme, they joined a Bible study group where members pray for each other, share skills and resources, and find solutions to their poverty. Through this, Joseph and Ratna were given two goats, providing a source of income.

'I used to have one meal a day, now I can eat three meals a day, and I can educate my children,’ says Ratna. ‘I think these are possible by the grace of God.'

Joseph and Ratna’s local church helped them overcome extreme poverty. Please donate now and help more churches do the same around the world. Poverty is not God’s plan. You are.

Impact of our community training

Donate to Tearfund’s Lent Appeal

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