Setting our focus for 2026

A friend once told me that instead of making many New Year’s resolutions, he names each year with a single word to guide his focus for that year — like the year of “creativity,” the year of “focus,” the year of “completion”. And even on one occasion, the year of “No.” As a man who typically would give anyone the shirt off his back if they lacked one, he needed to learn to say “no” sometimes in order to be able to complete the things he started and retain his mental health. This approach of giving each year a name helped him accomplish more effectively and less stressfully than if he tried to juggle multiple resolutions at once.

It worked well for him and we think it could also work well for us at CWS. Or at least we thought so.

Celebrating 80 years of Christian World Service

Last year Christian World Service celebrated eight decades of the generosity of volunteers and supporters like yourself helping sustain CWS’s momentum of compassion, enabling us to lift thousands of people out of poverty across the globe. However, as we continue this legacy into the next 80 years, choosing one word for CWS in 2026 proved more challenging than we first  thought. Words such as “water”, “prosperity”, “freedom”, “justice”, “food”, “shelter”, and  resilience” (the theme of our feature article in the enclosed newsletter) all hold deep  significance to our vision of eradicating poverty and injustice.

It proved almost impossible for us to choose just one for this year ahead. So, we have settled instead on a phrase that we hope will encompass all these essential concepts as we continue  our service and ministry.

Our phrase for 2026

Therefore, this year, our primary focus will be on a phrase you have already read above, momentum of compassion”, as we work with those our partner organisations serve. For Christian World Service, building a momentum of compassion means standing on the  shoulders of our history — our past achievements, and striving for enduring outcomes for  those most disadvantaged and vulnerable in our world.

We cannot achieve this without the ongoing momentum of compassion that also flows from donors such as yourself. Christian World Service is empowered to bless those we serve through your compassionate gifts for the situations, the people, and the organisations we partner with.  Can I ask you to help us maintain that momentum as we continue to bless those caught in  poverty and injustice in 2026 by making a compassionate donation today.

Aftermath Resilience

After three extraordinarily powerful cyclones reached landfall across Asia and South East Asia in late November last year, the result is gutted rail lines, ravaged fields, washed-away roads  and bridges, and broken dams.

As an example of the devastation, in Sri Lanka over 600 people have died with some still  missing. Altogether, the damage could cost the island nation as much as six or seven billion US dollars to rebuild, according to initial official estimates. By mid-December the international media news cycle had moved on, and it was difficult to find further reporting of the catastrophe on well known channels such as the BBC.

Read the full article here.

The Tonga Community Development Trust (TCDT)

CWS has entered a three way collaboration with the NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Tonga Community Development Trust (TCDT) so they can facilitate a programme centered on  building community resilience in the face of ongoing natural disasters. CWS and TCDT aim to  see outcomes of more robust and sustainable communities in the areas of mental health amid  disaster, diversification of income sources, and education on horticultural  resilience amid  storms or droughts onset by climate change. Find out more and how you can support here.

The Middle East

CWS is currently supporting ACT Alliance members who provide aid to Palestinian refugees amid the tragic and enduring conflict in the Middle East. Our partners, including DSPR with  whom we have a long relationship, provide care, food, medical, dental, and psychosocial support to thousands of vulnerable people seeking a place free from war. Above you see a  photograph from last’s years Annual Report from DSPR showing the current generation of refugee children remain resilient.

EKTA: Predictable water success

We celebrate with EKTA (a Hindi word meaning Unity) in India for the constancy of their work amongst the poorest people of Tamil Nadu. One recent example of their positive impact is that, after years of only intermittent water supply, EKTA worked with women in a village of 150 families to have a rainwater harvesting system restored. The village women, described how the previous unpredictable water schedule forced them to spend hours planning around the limited supply, often waking up early or waiting late into the night to collect water. Many highlighted the physical and emotional stress caused by storing and rationing water, especially  in households with children and elderly. Good job well done EKTA. CWS applauds your determination to ensure water justice for all.