CMSI Relaunches Covid Appeal

15 months after launching its Covid-19 Response Appeal, CMSI is encouraging churches and individuals in Ireland to continue standing with the global Church as it responds to the devastating impacts of the pandemic.

While Ireland and the UK have rolled out ambitions vaccination programmes and have seen significant declines in case numbers and hospitalisations, the global picture is not so rosy.

Across the world's poorest countries, lockdowns and restrictions continue to have devastating impacts on the most vulnerable communities, limiting their access to food, education and livelihoods. Many countries are struggling to secure sufficient vaccines for even the 'highest risk' members of their populations. All the while, our own countries buy up vast numbers of doses of existing and new vaccines.

The dramatic surge of Covid in India has been well covered, but the picture is at least as concerning in neighbouring countries, particularly in Nepal. As an Amnesty International report recently put it: "South Asia, home to a quarter of the world’s population, is fast becoming the new global epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic."

Read Mark Zimmerman's recent account of how the Covid surge has impacted Patan Hospital:

In this troubling context, CMSI's Global Partners continue to offer help and hope in a variety of ways. God's people are at work, serving their own communities and sharing God's transforming love in practical ways.

Since last April, over €30,000 has been donated to CMSI's Covid-19 Appeal and this has been used by our partners to great effect. In the recent edition of Summer Snippets, we included an update on how our partners have responded.

Speaking about the relaunch of the CMSI appeal, Mission Resource Manager, Roger Cooke said:

"We are immensely grateful for the generous support from churches and individuals for our Covid appeal. The appeal has remained open and donations have continued to come in, but such is our concern about the global crisis, we felt it was worth refreshing and relaunching our request for help. "As restrictions ease and some semblance of normality returns to life in Ireland and the UK, we ask you to help us keep the global Church on the agenda. Let us stand with our brothers and sisters at this time and do what we can to help them through our prayers and our generous giving."