This year, our parting gifts from the Year 12 students in each House (Scorpions, Stingrays, Redbacks and Taipans) created a meaningful and lasting change in the lives of others, as their donations to Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS) provided materials for the construction of housing for those in need.
In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’
– Acts 20:35
As it says in the Bible verse above, we are called to remember the weak and those in need. So, as a parting gift from our Year 12 students in each House this year it seemed fitting that we, as a College community, could supply a house of a more tangible kind to those who might otherwise be without shelter through Australian Lutheran World Service’s ‘Gifts of Grace’ program.
The four loads of materials (one from each House here at Faith) that were purchased will provide a house for families, and individuals, in one of the poorest nations in the world, Burundi. Burundi, a land-locked nation in Eastern Africa, which is slowly recovering from a large period of civil unrest, is home to Marie, a single mother who will benefit from the gifts and work of ALWS in her community.
“I’m having a bad life because my husband died and there is no-one to help me take care of the children. When the last child fell ill, I had to leave the other children here so that I could take the sick one to the hospital. I feel so much sorrow because it is only I living with the children. Then I had to work for my neighbours to get some money just to get some food. I had to work for others for two days and then three days on my own land. I am excited to have a new home – a clean, safe environment and my heart will be full of joy!”
The housing provided, which will be similar to that pictured, will not only provide safety and shelter from the harsh African conditions, but a family home and a far greater gift – the gift of joy in and through the lives of others. Just as our own Year 12 students will benefit from their education here for years to come, Marie’s children will have the opportunity to do the same, with a safe and secure place to call home, as they continue with their schooling.
Australian Lutheran World Service’s Gifts Of Grace project provides an opportunity for those with much to support those who have little. For more information on the project, or to give your own Gift of Grace, please visit:
https://www.alws.org.au/what-you-can-do/gifts-of-grace/
