Determined fundraisers from a Woking church have raised more than £11,000 for charity after an 82-hour Bible readathon.
The Revd Lucy Brierley and the team at Woking United Reformed Church are celebrating after their four-day challenge – part of Christian Aid Week 2023 – proved a massive hit.
The readathon, which was live-streamed on YouTube and Facebook, involved more than 100 readers from the town and further afield – including Canada and Australia.
Lucy explained: “We have supported Christian Aid for many years but this was our biggest effort yet and it was extraordinary.
“One of the powerful things was the realisation we are part of such a huge worldwide family. We had more than 100 readers from Woking, and many other parts of England, Scotland, Canada, the USA, the Netherlands, Hungary, South Africa and Australia. Many of these people helped us with the night-time slots from different time zones and we heard reading in Afrikaans, Cantonese, German, Korean, Mandarin and English.”
As well as readings, there were musical versions of the Psalms, the youth group and leaders held a sleepover in the church to do the overnight slots, and the younger children held a Zoom storytime.
Lucy said the reading took 82.5 hours and was interspersed with stories, videos and prayers from Christian Aid to highlight the organisation’s appeal, which this year focused on farming communities in Malawi as they battle to recover from the devastating effects of Cyclone Freddy. More than 1,000 people died and half a million lost their homes. Floods and landslides caused widespread destruction, with homes damaged or destroyed, and roads and bridges washed away, cutting off communities and making relief efforts difficult.
But Christian Aid believes there is hope and with support, farmers are looking to bounce back using the most resilient crop, pigeon peas, and winter crop planting where possible.
“There’s been a tremendous spirit of unity and purpose,” Lucy added. “I’ve been moved to tears by the beauty of it all at times. We had thousands of viewers online over the four days and we pray seeds of faith and hope have been sown.
“We were doing all this to raise money to support the incredible work of Christian Aid, partnering with communities all over the world to tackle poverty, the results of climate change and humanitarian emergencies.
“We’re delighted with the total so far but we’d love to go even higher. People can keep donating – via our JustGiving page, or website.”