On January 23 a fire swept through a tight cluster of thatch houses located just a few kilometers from Angkor Wat, Cambodia and in a matter of minutes 36 homes were burned to the ground leaving hundreds of people with no shelter and only the clothes they wore. The following morning with embers still glowing and smoke still rising, children and parents picked their way through the ash looking for anything of value. The boys and girls, covered in soot, put small metal scraps in plastic bags while the adults collected the larger pieces of remaining metal. Later that day it would all be sold as scrap so they could have enough money to eat for a few days.

The congregation of Monkton & Prestwick North Parish Church raised the sum of £311.00 ($558.14) as part of a fire fund appeal by "Journeys Within Our Community", and that has been sent to Jesse Wolfe, Managing Director, JWOC.

"I wanted to let you know that our bank confirmed with me yesterday that funds in the amount of $558.14 were deposited into our account on April 17th. I think that with Khmer New Year going on the first couple of weeks this month it must have slowed everything down. The important thing though is that the funds have been received, so thank you very much for working through the difficulties of wiring to us.

I attached some photos from the village where the houses have been rebuilt. We have put in some new wells in the village also, since before there was only one cheaply made well to serve the entire community of several hundred people. The families use the wells not only for drinking, but also bathing and laundry.

Also, in case you have not seen it yet, we have recognized on our website all the people, including your church, who contributed to the fire relief effort. You can visit the page at the following link: www.journeyswithinourcommunity.org/VillageFire.html

We greatly appreciate your parishes fundraising effort on behalf of the Cambodians whose homes were destroyed and look forward to keeping you informed of our work in Cambodia. I have added your email address to our newsletter mailing list so you will receive our bi-annual newsletter as well as occasional updates on our projects. Please never hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments you may have".

Best wishes,

Jesse Wolfe
 

Our Vision is to build a faith based church that is relevant to every day life, enabling and releasing ordinary people to live extraordinary lives.

We are a Fairtrade church. We have committed to: use Fairtrade tea and coffee for all meetings for which we have responsibility move forward on using other Fairtrade products (such as sugar, biscuits, and fruit) promote Fairtrade during Fairtrade Fortnight - and through other activities whenever possible.