ACN restoring 'households of the faith' after earthquakes

Nepal, Bishop Simick with parishioners before 2014 quake

Funding to reconstruct church buildings destroyed by earthquakes in Ecuador and Nepal form part of a series of aid packages was announced this week by Aid to the Church in Need. Ecuador suffered its worst earthquake in 75 years - more than 500 people died and thousands were injured in the disaster last April.

Aid to the Church in Need UK is helping to fund the reconstruction of Ecuador's María Auxiliadora del Cantón Pedernales Catholic Church, a coastal area in the west of the country where more than 95 percent of buildings collapsed.

Neville Kyrke-Smith, ACN (UK) National Director, said: "Our Church is the 'wheel' in 1 Kings 7:33, the ACN benefactors are the supportive 'axles'... and the core of our strength is with Christ at its 'hub'. We are trying to rebuild faith and restore hope with the construction of churches globally - our 'household of faith' in Galatians [6:10] - whether arising from persecution or destruction by nature occurs".

The 2014 Nepal earthquake also caused extensive damage and many buildings were completely demolished. Now the construction of a convent for four religious Sisters, built with ACN support, will provide a focal point for the fledging Nepalese Catholic community, in Kanchenpur, Nepal, ensuring continued pastoral and social care for 74 baptised families.

ACN projects in the aid package also include the 'Healing Hatred' project in Israel. The project is being hosted by the Jerusalem Centre for Jewish-Christian Relations and aims at developing peaceful dialogue among Middle East communities.

The centre's Director-General, Dr Sarah Bernstein, will be a keynote speaker at the UK launch of ACN's Religious Freedom in the World 2016 report on Thursday, 24 November in London's Houses of Parliament.

Other projects announced by ACN UK include training 102 seminarians in Mdeblo Diocese in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a catechesis programme in 14 parishes in the Philippines and a water-tanker for the Scared Heart Parish in El Obeid diocese, South Sudan.

Elsewhere, a multi-purpose vehicle will help parish priest Fr Tesfoy reach five scattered Mass centres in Ethiopia.

The charity also gave more help for a project to distribute 5,000 Bibles to young people in the parishes of Furzol-Zahle and Bekaa, Lebanon.

Read more about the work of Aid to the Church in Need here: www.acnuk.org/