The Christian Aid Christmas Appeal 2022 will support families in Malawi

Rt Rev Dr Iain Greenshields, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, is supporting Christian Aid's 2022 Christmas Appeal which will help families facing hunger in Malawi because of the climate crisis.

The international development agency warns that climate change has drastically reduced food crops in Malawi, leaving many families without enough to eat and lacking their staple food of maize porridge.

In Malawi, most people depend directly on rain-fed, small-scale farming for the food they eat, and for any surplus they can sell. This makes families extremely vulnerable to weather-related shocks. The climate crisis has brought drought which has caused the crops to shrivel and floods which have drowned them.

To prevent families going hungry Christian Aid is helping teach people new climate-smart farming skills, providing seeds to grow vegetables as well as fuel-efficient cookstoves that take pressure off the environment. They are also working to create village savings and loan groups so people can access the funds they need.

The Moderator is asking everyone to support this valuable effort:

"Christmas is often made more special with the traditions that we cherish. Many of those traditions revolve around special meals and many of us look forward to the privilege of sitting around a table with our nearest and dearest. But this Christmas, many families in Malawi are struggling to provide a meal.

"By contributing to Christian Aid's Malawi Christmas Appeal we can help soften the impact of the climate crisis and preventing families going hungry this Christmas and in the future. Please give what you can."

The Moderator has also written a special prayer which you can find on the Christmas Appeal web page.

Fyness Tembo, 50, who is married with five children says she knows what a Christmas with no food is like but her training in new farming skills has made a huge difference to her and her family:

"In the past, I was lacking food. I struggled to find food," she says. "But now, with farming, I have food, and I am able to take care of my children."

Fyness says that Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of Christ. And it's a time of eating, dancing and the children playing football.

"We celebrate by eating the food we have prepared. We cook chicken and rice. I feel very happy and satisfied."

Working through local partner the Synod of Livingstonia Development Department, Christian Aid is helping nearly 15,000 of the most vulnerable, food-insecure families in the Mzimba district of Northern Malawi by building their resilience to climate shocks.

Val Brown, Community Relations and Fundraising Manager at Christian Aid Scotland said:

"The response to humanitarian needs in Ukraine this year has been remarkable. We must now urgently act in that same spirit for people in Malawi facing hunger this Christmas.

"By donating today, we can give lasting hope, help to prevent malnutrition and hunger and help people build a life free from poverty and injustice."

To find out more about Christian Aid's Christmas Appeal, to find a range of worship resources for inclusion in Christmas church services and to read the Moderator's prayer visit Christian Aid's website. You can also download videos and sheet music for the Christian Aid Christmas carol, When Out of Poverty is Born, by Kathy Galloway.