Christian Aid Christmas Appeal 1991

Coming down to earth this Christmas. At Christmas we celebrate a down-to-earth God, incarnate in Jesus, who comes to transform our lives and those of the poor.

The villagers of Koolnaykampatti in Tamil Nadu, south India, have seen their land increasingly degraded in recent years. Trees have been cut down for sawmills, fuel and fodder, causing the soil to be washed away. Fewer trees and motorised pumps have reduced the water table. Ponds have silted up, because farmers are using expensive harmful chemicals on crops. The water supply has decreased and fewer animals are being reared.

Long before it became fashionable for us to be ‘green’, the farmers knew how to look after their land. For centuries they succeeded on coping with low rainfall, poor soil and crop failure.

Christian Aid is supporting the work of the Society for Integrated Rural Development (SIRD) in its efforts to help the people of Koolnaykampatti, and surrounding villages, to tackle their problems. The people, in local groups, meet to learn to read and write, and perform sketches to explain problems so they can act to change them. As a result, the confidence of the whole village has grown. Trees are being replaced, animals reared, clean drinking water provided, and, by reviving traditional water harvesting techniques, water conservation has been improved.

For the people of Koolnaykampatti, down to earth is not just a phrase that applies to Christmas, but to all of life. Christians believe in a down-to-earth God, incarnate in Jesus, closely involved with the mundane, practical realities of our lives and the lives of the poor. This Advent, God comes to address those realities and transform them with hope and love — and so can we.

By supporting Christian Aid, we can help people like this to build better lives for the future.

Your gift could be the greatest you will make… the gift of life.