Our Newsletter
Our newsletter comes out twice yearly. For older newsletters, please go to our Previous Newsletters. We can also provide our newsletter in paper format through the post, if you would prefer this. Please contact us: lazarus.anderson@btinternet.com.
CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTER
UNLESS THE LORD BUILDS THE HOUSE ITS LABOURERS BUILD IN VAIN.
Wishing you all a very blessed Christmas and a peaceful New Year
A letter from the Chair of Trustees
"The deeds and miracles of Jesus are not actions of the past. Jesus is waiting for those who are still prepared to take risks at His word because they trust His power utterly."
This has been so relevant to the guidance and direction the Lord has taken our trustees in order for the charity to achieve its aims of providing a safe and loving home for the present Lazarus girls and the girls of the future. With this in mind, and after long deliberation, the board of trustees reached the decision to make an application for a licence which would confirm on us the status of a recognised Non-Government Organisation (NGO) Charity in Palestine. After many months of negotiations with statutory bodies, including Notary, UK Foreign Office, Palestinian Embassies, Palestinian and UK Lawyers, Ministry of Social Services, and the Ministry of Interiors, we have now reached the final hurdle: our application has been submitted for approval. The friends have been assigned a Palestinian NGO registration number by the Ministry of Interior.
How will this affect our charity and its operation?
The charity's UK status and registrations data will remain the same. With the addition of the new NGO licence status, the Friends will now have overall control of the present Lazarus Home in Bethany. The new infrastructure will see the powers of the present local board transferred to the Friends here in the UK. The Friends will take full responsibility for the running of Lazarus project. The present Lazarus board in Bethany will become an advisory board only to the Friend’s board of trustees here in the UK, thus transferring the powers, including financial and administration. This will enable the Friends to achieve total control of the running of the new home, the employment of all qualified and approved staff, and its projects and the welfare of the Lazarus Girls.
The trustees have reached a unanimous decision to appoint Ibrahim A. Younan as the Friend's sole representative in Palestine, who will report and have direct accountability to the Friend's board of trustees for approval. This has been sanctioned by the statutory and legal bodies In Palestine and the UK. The Friends will be working closely with the Palestinian Authorities and our legal representatives to ensure a smooth transition. This will now provide a clear way forward for the protection, preservation and sustainability of the girl's future in a secure and loving home.
The new status will enable the Friends to approach International Charities for capital and revenue funding.
The trustees wish to reiterate to all our supporters we are a Christian-based charity where a Christian ethos is and will remain its core.
Your constant prayers and support are greatly appreciated by all the trustees. We all look forward to the day when the girls can welcome old friends and the return of the visiting pilgrims.
In Christ
Alan Anderson
Construction Report
"The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former"
At present, there are only 19 Lazarus girls being boarded at the temporary accommodation until part of the new home is completed. The trustees have agreed the main priority is the transferring of the girls into their new home. Following consultation with our appointed architect it has been agreed to complete part of the ground floor for administration purposes, and to complete the first floor to accommodate the present girls and housemothers including external walls and security gates. The remaining floors will be completed when funds become available. An agreement has been reached with a sponsor for the supplying and installing of all new furniture and fixtures for the new home. The decision was taken by the trustees that all existing furniture and fixtures would be removed and, where applicable, sold and the remaining damaged goods disposed of. This will enable to girls to have a new environment within their bedrooms and a place of study.
Work to the internal and external areas is progressing satisfactorily.
In Christ
Alan Anderson
Sponsorship News
"Jesus, Love incarnate, is constrained to help wherever He sees His children to be in want. But He waits for empty hearts, for hands stretched out, wherein He may lay His gifts."
"PLEASE SHIRLEY DON'T LEAVE US – COME BACK AND TAKE US HOME"
The turbulent words from the mouth of Sumaya, the oldest Lazarus Girl.
The mixture of emotions and fear for the unknown as well as the biggest hug you can imagine was the greeting I received at the beginning of our visit to see the girls.
All the girls are being well looked after and were in good health but being temporarily boarded is not the same as being at home. The girls are totally at a loss as to the situation they find themselves in.
Sumaya asked again and again: "When will you take us home, Shirley?" It was at this point in time I was able to explain to the girls and tell them firstly we, the Friends and our supporters, will never abandon them; we are all continuously working to return the girls to their new home. It was during this chat I could inform the girls of the written promise from the Ministry of Interior that all the girls would be kept together until the home is ready for their return and that Alan and I would fly out to Palestine and collect the girls and take them to the new home where they will be safe and secure and once more become united as a family.
Sponsorship packs
Once the girls have returned to the new home, the charity will be revamping our sponsorship pack and all our sponsors will receive a copy.
Financial Report
The last financial year can only described as exuberant and at time frenetic. The Lord's meticulous guidance has widened the boundaries for the more challenging periods of this financial year. It is only with your fantastic support we have been in a position to support the girls whilst providing a new home for their return. As you will have read in the Chair's letter, the new NGO status in Palestine will enable the doors to be opened for the Chair and for me in my role as treasurer, as well as for our new representative Ibrahim A. Younan, to meet with International funders. We are at present submitting applications for funding for the new home, the clinics, remedial centre and kindergarten, which will provide a supporting network for the girls and the local community whilst providing grassroots projects.
The board of Trustees are pleased to announce the charity is now Trade Marked (TM).
This legal status covers the UK, and is for the charity's protection and control of funds raised in our charity's full and working name. All funds raised for the Lazarus project should now be forwarded to the registered office, which has full financial control over the bank accounts in the UK and Palestine.
Website
You will now see on every page of this website a button to take your to JustGiving, where we have set up a page to receive donations. You can also donate via text on your mobile phone.
ROLE OF HONOUR
- Sylvia Austin and her team of supporters who raised £160.00 from their afternoon tea and plant sale.
- St Mary's Church Basingstoke.
- Cartway Methodist Church in Bridgnorth.
- Ecumenical Church, Hampsterley.
- St Pauls Church Winlation, for their fundraising efforts.
- Stakeford Methodist Church.
The trustees also extend our profound gratitude to all those who have donated so generously but who wish to remain anonymous.
Special Birthday Greetings
Please join us in sending our birthday greetings to our fellow supporters:
- Mary Brown (90)
- Revd David AttfieldD (80)
- REVD Peach (80)
If your church or group require a presentation on the work at the Lazarus Home for Girls (no cost incurred) please contact the registered office.
LOVE IN JESUS
Shirley Anderson
Prayers from Revd David Attfield
Prayer 'Group' Report
For some time I have been drafting intercessions for the Lazarus Homes. These appear in the Newsletter each quarter. There is no prayer group as such. The friends, their supporters and churches are requested to pray for the homes and for peace in the Middle East, on a daily basis, in a chain of prayer from, the UK and elsewhere.
The weekly pattern of prayer:
Prayers for the Homes and for peace in the Holy Land. They can be used as biddings in Church Services; for expansion into extemporary prayer; and as themes for meditation.
Mondays – Give thanks for the Jeel Al Amal Boys' Home and School, for its excellent education of boys. We pray for the Head, Rana, and the teachers. We also thank you for the impovement in the boys’ accommodation and for the provision of a new library and computer rooms. We also thank you and pray for the education at this school of our older girls in the Lazarus Home.
Tuesdays – Pray for the Lazarus Home for Girls in Bethany; for the girls, presently distressed and living in other temporary homes; for their quick return to the loving care of our Home.
Wednesdays – Give thanks for the near completion of the new building for the Lazarus Home after so much delay; we pray for success in applying for further grants; we give thanks for the Friends now having NGO licence status in Palestine; for Ibrahim, our architect, and our local representative.
Thursdays –Pray too for the fitting and furnishing of the proposed Medical Centre Remedial Centre and Kindergarten for the willingness of the Palestinian Authority to cooperate in running this place of healing, for the benefit of children in the neighbourhood.
Fridays – Fridays For the peace witness of the Lazarus Homes; for the wider reconciliation of Jews, Christians and Moslems in the Holy Land, in this country and in the US. For lasting peace and justice in Israel, the Gaza strip, the Palestinian Territories and the Lebanon.
Saturdays – Saturdays Pray for the future of the Home, owned and now run by the Friends in the UK; for the selection of professional staff; and for the advisory Board formed of local people.
David Attfield
The contents of this newsletters and photographs are the property of the charity and are covered by copyright law.