Multiplying your support in Myanmar

While we frequently hear about the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, there are also terrible conflicts the world seems to have forgotten – like the one in Myanmar. However, our Lutheran Church is serving on the frontline there through Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS), and a new 5:1 matching grant from the Australian Government is set to multiply the impact of that work.

ALWS has committed to contribute $1 for every $5 received from the government. To allocate a planned total grant of $440,500 to its Myanmar projects, ALWS needs to raise $88,100. This money will allow ALWS to extend its programs and, through them, provide support to help:

• Equip farmers to grow new crops like durian and chillies
• Build bridges and toilets
• Provide school backpacks and everything that goes in them
• Breed pigs, goats and cattle
• Train people in avoiding landmines, where to build bomb shelters, and help families survive in a war zone.

The 5:1 matching grant means our Lutheran family’s kindness to children of war can now be increased six times. ALWS wants to confirm its matching contribution by 30 June, so that projects in Myanmar can begin without delay on Monday 1 July. Giving a gift by 30 June also means donors can claim any tax benefit they are due this financial year.

Learn more and support this special match campaign: www.alws.org.au/match

Your generosity in action

Through ALWS, our Lutheran Church also helps children in war in Myanmar access education.

May* and her family fled their home more than years ago. Her father died during conflict in their hometown and since then the family has been living in a refugee camp.

May attends school in the camp. Although she enjoys learning, she has struggled due to living with a disability. She is often unable to participate in drawing, painting and maths, and struggles to see and make sense of words.

People living with disabilities are often forgotten, especially those living in poverty.

But through our Lutheran family’s support, May is receiving additional aid to support her study! She says: ‘If I am educated, I will be able to achieve my goal. Then, I will have a better life and can help my mother, and my brother. I will try to become a teacher.’

Thanks to our Lutheran family’s support, ALWS is helping children living with disabilities attend school and have access to what they need, including wheelchairs, medical devices for visual and hearing impairments, stationery and additional support.

*Name changed to protect identity

Prayer points:

ALWS asks for prayers for …

• Families facing conflict and oppression in Myanmar, that they would receive the support they need to live a free life.
• ALWS action in Myanmar, that it will continue supporting children through their education, and that ALWS staff and the team working in Myanmar are kept safe.