When the world looks away, your love will stay

For millions of families, extreme poverty is a harsh and unforgiving reality. When a crisis hits, outside support often comes and goes. And when the headlines fade, that help can often disappear completely, even though the hunger, fear and road to recovery remain.

Jesus’ love never turns away. It steps into the hardest places and stays for as long as it takes. That love is lived out every day through Tearfund’s local church partners rooted in the communities they serve.

By giving a regular gift today, you can help put that love into action and equip local churches to help rebuild lives and restore hope.

Chasing away hunger: Maria's story in Uganda

At 4am, pregnant and desperate, Maria would trek into the bush searching for anything her family could eat. Sometimes, she wouldn’t return until evening.

All she could find were bitter wild fruits, many of which were poisonous unless washed three times in water that also took hours to fetch. With no local farm, Maria worked day-labour in distant villages, yet still returned home empty-handed.

It was during this relentless hardship that Maria gave birth to her son. Born premature and weighing just 2kgs, he was severely malnourished. Overwhelmed by hunger and despair, Maria felt stuck and struggled to care for him on her own.

Thankfully, Maria’s story didn’t end in tragedy.

Because faithful supporters give month after month, Maria’s local church was equipped with the training and resources to transform the village. Throughout the first six months after Maria’s baby was born, the community was hard at work, installing clean water points, cultivating a new local garden to grow vegetables and even establishing a savings group to help the community pool resources to lift themselves out of extreme poverty.

When Maria’s son reached six months old, the village harvested its first clean vegetables. With safe water and nutritious, clean food in her village, Maria nurtured her baby back to health. She was also able to borrow some money to start up her own fish business.

‘Those days, I didn’t know. These days, if it wasn’t for this food, he wouldn’t be there. Or if it wasn’t for God, he would not be here,’ Maria reflects.

Maria is no longer forced into the bush or distant fields just to survive. She can reliably feed and protect her family. ‘These days, those problems will not reach here again. We have chased them away,’ said Maria.

This is the power of long-term support and a regular gift. Extreme poverty doesn’t disappear overnight – it takes a love that stays to rewrite stories and ensure the journey out of poverty is complete.

For nearly 60 years, Tearfund has followed Jesus into the world’s hardest places, refusing to let extreme poverty crush people’s hope.

We’re in this for the long haul, because Christ’s love demands nothing less.

Driven by that devotion, together we’re making a difference where it’s needed most.

When you set up a monthly gift, you’re deciding that compassion shouldn't have an expiration date. You’re giving local churches and organisations we partner with the ability to plan ahead, train community leaders, and walk alongside families until whole communities are standing on their feet again.

It’s easy to set up, and you remain in complete control – free to adjust, pause, or stop your monthly gift at any time.

Choose to be the love that stays and ensure that no family has to face the long road to recovery alone.