Each month we pray for two of our mission partners. During February we are praying for JENGA Community Development Outreach and Open Door.

JENGA Community Development Outreach: Bex Henderson grew up in Sunnyside Church and during & after university, made regular visits to volunteer with JENGA Community Development Outreach in Mbale, Eastern Uganda. That was more than a decade ago and before long, Bex settled in Mbale and become the founder of the Loved Children’s Centre (Loved), one of JENGA’s most thriving projects. Sunnyside has been regularly supporting Bex through our Gift Day but over time, we have, as a church and individually, also made donations towards a new Loved building (2020/21) and, last autumn, towards a Community Building, being erected on the same site.

Loved is a day centre caring principally for very young children in the years before they can go to-school. Many of the children are from the Namatala slum and are those deemed most at risk of malnutrition and abuse, some of which are those born with disabilities . They receive early years education, as well as nutritional & medical support. The new Community Building is designed to be a place where parents can learn sustainably to care for their children and to acquire new skills which can help provide financial stability for those who’ve previously fallen victim to addiction and poverty.

Bex has sent us these three prayer points for February:

• Successful completion of its new community building – that it would be built safely to a high standard.
• Protection and good health over all of the staff and children connected with LOVED, whether current children, older children or community/hospital children.
• That LOVED would develop in every area to become a ‘Centre of Excellence’ and that through the work we do, the wider community would be transformed to leave addiction & stigma and to break out of poverty.

Open Door is a community and arts space  on the High street in Berkhamsted that is warm and welcoming to all. They help tackle social inequality and isolation by offering a range of activities and services including a variety of food projects.

They ask us to pray for:

• their community fridge initiative and for all those who use that service
• the new Sunday lunch initiative for those who are on their own
• the cook and chat sessions that are due to start soon
• pray for all volunteers that they may be welcoming and supportive and for all those who visit that they may feel part of the community and valued