#lovejohn
Donation protected
My name is Sam.
Here is my faith filled dream......I'm believing for 2,000 people to give £5 each to fund my friend John's education for 1 year, helping him rebuild his life after he's suffered in a way many of us will never experience.......
Every day we hear about extremism around the world, but it's rare you meet someone in the UK who has been directly targetted and had their life torn apart by extremists. Yet that's the reality for John and his family who now live in the West End of Newcastle upon Tyne.
*My video above details their story and my reason's for seeking your help through donating a small amount and sharing this as wide as possible.
I've written the details of their story below for those who'd prefer to read than watch. Thank you in advance for your partnership in this appeal!
*Note: The original launch video has been removed due to sensitivities around releasing this family's name and home country. I've replaced the original with a new video, simply giving this person's name as "John".
John's story
This fundraiser is for my friend John and his family, who I first met when they attended a clothes bank run by our church (www.gatewaynewcastle.org), looking for clothes for two young daughters.
John and his young family arrived in the UK 2 years ago from a country suffering great unrest due to Islamic extremism. Back home, John had spent his life building a pharacy business and doing missionary work in places like Syria and Jordan where he helped people less fortunate than himself.
John is one of the most kind and servant hearted people I know. For example, at his pharmacy, instead of charging doctors rent to use his rooms, he instead gave rooms rent free to doctors, in exchange that the doctors give free treatment for people (of any faith background) who couldn't afford it. John uses whatever resources he has to live simply and give to others. Even though he has very little now, he still gives generously to people in the West End of Newcastle.
It was John's missionary work back home which caused Islamic extremists to target him and his family. They kidnapped one of his daughters, who was 2 years old at the time, and demanded his house and his businesses as a ransom for his little girl.
John handed over everything he had, in order to save his daughter's life. When she was returned, John and his family fled with nothing but the clothes on their backs, arrived in the UK and were granted asylum. They were placed first in London, and then moved to the West End of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Whilst John is a qualified pharmacist, he cannot work as a pharmacist in the UK unless he completes a year at Sunderland university (Course: Msc in Pharmaceutical Sciences for the OSPAP), which will cost him £10,000 (Approx £5,000 for fees and £5,000 for living expenses). Due to being in the UK for only 2 years, he doesn't qualify for a loan and thus has no means of paying to complete this compulsary course.
John has qualified for a place on a course starting on 18th September 2017, but unless he can raise the necessary funds, he'll not be able to participate.
After all he and his family have been through as a result of his work in promoting the peace of the Gospel, I desperately want to help him get the qualification he needs to begin to rebuild his life.
I'm trying to raise grant funding, but so far I've had little success and time is running out. Hence, I've set up this page, in the hope the general public will join me in making this dream a reality.
Here is my faith filled dream......I'm believing for 2,000 people to give £5 each to fund John's education for 1 year.
I don't know 2,000 people, but I fully believe there are 2,000 people who'd be willing to give £5 to help....I just need to find them.
This is where you can help. Please give £5 (or however much you feel moved to give) and share this as widely as possible.
(You can give more if you wish and that would be an enormous help (I don't mind how we raise the money, as long as we raise it!), but the power of this fundraiser is to make it a collective effort where lots of people give a little to bless a family who've been through hell - showing that we care about them and stand against extremism through our generous giving, not just our words/tweets/facebook posts!)
Wouldn't it be great, in the face of negativity around asylum and Islamic Extremism if we could come together and do something positive for this family who've been directly impacted!!
In hope and anticipation,
Sam Douthwaite
Note on accountability: For the sake of transparency, all giving will be processed through the accounts of The Gateway Church as a restricted fund (registered with the charity commission - charity number 1164161) for the purpose of John's education and living expenses.
Here is my faith filled dream......I'm believing for 2,000 people to give £5 each to fund my friend John's education for 1 year, helping him rebuild his life after he's suffered in a way many of us will never experience.......
Every day we hear about extremism around the world, but it's rare you meet someone in the UK who has been directly targetted and had their life torn apart by extremists. Yet that's the reality for John and his family who now live in the West End of Newcastle upon Tyne.
*My video above details their story and my reason's for seeking your help through donating a small amount and sharing this as wide as possible.
I've written the details of their story below for those who'd prefer to read than watch. Thank you in advance for your partnership in this appeal!
*Note: The original launch video has been removed due to sensitivities around releasing this family's name and home country. I've replaced the original with a new video, simply giving this person's name as "John".
John's story
This fundraiser is for my friend John and his family, who I first met when they attended a clothes bank run by our church (www.gatewaynewcastle.org), looking for clothes for two young daughters.
John and his young family arrived in the UK 2 years ago from a country suffering great unrest due to Islamic extremism. Back home, John had spent his life building a pharacy business and doing missionary work in places like Syria and Jordan where he helped people less fortunate than himself.
John is one of the most kind and servant hearted people I know. For example, at his pharmacy, instead of charging doctors rent to use his rooms, he instead gave rooms rent free to doctors, in exchange that the doctors give free treatment for people (of any faith background) who couldn't afford it. John uses whatever resources he has to live simply and give to others. Even though he has very little now, he still gives generously to people in the West End of Newcastle.
It was John's missionary work back home which caused Islamic extremists to target him and his family. They kidnapped one of his daughters, who was 2 years old at the time, and demanded his house and his businesses as a ransom for his little girl.
John handed over everything he had, in order to save his daughter's life. When she was returned, John and his family fled with nothing but the clothes on their backs, arrived in the UK and were granted asylum. They were placed first in London, and then moved to the West End of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Whilst John is a qualified pharmacist, he cannot work as a pharmacist in the UK unless he completes a year at Sunderland university (Course: Msc in Pharmaceutical Sciences for the OSPAP), which will cost him £10,000 (Approx £5,000 for fees and £5,000 for living expenses). Due to being in the UK for only 2 years, he doesn't qualify for a loan and thus has no means of paying to complete this compulsary course.
John has qualified for a place on a course starting on 18th September 2017, but unless he can raise the necessary funds, he'll not be able to participate.
After all he and his family have been through as a result of his work in promoting the peace of the Gospel, I desperately want to help him get the qualification he needs to begin to rebuild his life.
I'm trying to raise grant funding, but so far I've had little success and time is running out. Hence, I've set up this page, in the hope the general public will join me in making this dream a reality.
Here is my faith filled dream......I'm believing for 2,000 people to give £5 each to fund John's education for 1 year.
I don't know 2,000 people, but I fully believe there are 2,000 people who'd be willing to give £5 to help....I just need to find them.
This is where you can help. Please give £5 (or however much you feel moved to give) and share this as widely as possible.
(You can give more if you wish and that would be an enormous help (I don't mind how we raise the money, as long as we raise it!), but the power of this fundraiser is to make it a collective effort where lots of people give a little to bless a family who've been through hell - showing that we care about them and stand against extremism through our generous giving, not just our words/tweets/facebook posts!)
Wouldn't it be great, in the face of negativity around asylum and Islamic Extremism if we could come together and do something positive for this family who've been directly impacted!!
In hope and anticipation,
Sam Douthwaite
Note on accountability: For the sake of transparency, all giving will be processed through the accounts of The Gateway Church as a restricted fund (registered with the charity commission - charity number 1164161) for the purpose of John's education and living expenses.
Organizer
Sam Douthwaite
Organizer
