Churches that thrive, not just survive

Every pound you raise from your Big Quiz Night will support our Transforming Communities programme, helping local churches around the world lead their communities out of extreme poverty and into a sustainable future. This is about local people creating lasting change for themselves.

We have a vision to see hundreds of thousands of thriving churches transforming communities around the world – but we need your help. By taking part in Big Quiz Night, you can be one of the 500 churches we want to see signing up to help bring an end to extreme poverty.

As well as contributing to an amazing cause, the Big Quiz Night is a ready-made resource to help you engage your church with the wider community.

For more information, and to access all our amazing resource visit www.tearfund.org/quiz

26-year-old Natalina from Nagera village, Uganda, knows the unrelenting hardship of extreme poverty. She knows what it feels like to wake up every day, wondering if she and her family will be able to eat. In her community, drought and extreme weather has made food scarce. To feed her five daughters, she routinely risked her life climbing high balanite trees to forage for leaves, even surviving a dangerous fall while pregnant.

‘While at the top of the tree, I would wonder and say, ‘God, will things change?’ says Natalina.

Extreme poverty robs people of so much, and not just their physical needs. The severe lack of food and water caused Natalina’s family deep emotional distress, put a strain on her marriage, and left her youngest daughter in hospital, dangerously malnourished.

This is the reality for millions of people around the world. But at Tearfund, we refuse to accept lives being destroyed by extreme poverty. We follow Jesus where his love leads us, to walk alongside the most vulnerable. Working through local church partners, we help meet urgent needs and equip people with the skills to move beyond everyday survival, and build a better future for themselves.

Thanks to the generosity of Tearfund supporters, Natalina was introduced to a local community garden project run by Tearfund’s partner, that completely transformed her family and the wider community. After learning new skills in sustainable farming, Natalina began growing a variety of vegetables like kale, tomatoes, and amaranth to feed her family. Her daughter began to put on weight, and her health improved so much that local doctors were astonished!

The impact of having enough to eat rippled outward: Natalina and her husband have now reconciled, and there is peace in their home.

‘My husband has become a very good person, he has chosen peace.’ says Natalina. ‘He says God is good, the God you pray to is a big God.’

Today, Natalina is part of a Tearfund livelihood support group, where she’s saving money with others to start a small business. Through saving together, her village has also been able to pave a new road. This is where love leads us - to bring lasting transformation to the world’s hardest places. Together, with your generosity, we don’t just respond to poverty, we can empower communities to lift themselves out of it, for good.