Mission Partners

In the poor, arid region of western Zimbabwe HIV/AIDS, economic problems and migration have lead to the collapse of the traditional rural African life. This affects mainly orphans, and in Zimbabwe 1 in 6 children has lost one or both parents.

Sethule Orphans Trust was founded in 2005 as a response to this situation and its’ continuing activities are providing hope and a future for orphans. In particular by:

• Providing homes with grandparents who have themselves lost their own children
• Education of the orphans in early development centres and schools, and bereavment counselling
• A feeding programme for children under 5 years

Mrs Thabbeth Cotton is the director of Sethule Orphans Trust based in the UK. She is married to Michael and has two children.

Richard and Karen Bradford have served as staff members of L’Abri Community based in Huémoz, Switzerland since 2001, where Richard is now Director. They were married in 1994 in British Columbia, Canada and have two children, Alexis and Simon.

Richard was born in Toronto and raised in a number of places around Southern Ontario. He completed his undergraduate degree in philosophy at Trinity Western University and his Master’s degree at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Richard spent quite a few years painting houses before completing his education.

Karen was born and raised in Salmon Arm, British Columbia. Karen has completed a number of college diploma courses. For three years she ran her own massage therapy clinic in Vancouver. She attended L’Abri as a student in 1993 and returned with Richard, Alexis and Simon in January 2000.

L’Abri is a French word best translated into English as “The Shelter”. It was established in 1955 by Francis and Edith Schaeffer, who opened their chalet/home to those who were seeking answers to life’s many questions.

Today Christians continue to need to know how to navigate through the high degree of confusion to clearer thinking and living for the sake of Christ and L’Abri continues to be dedicated to helping provide a community where questions and problems about God and life can be discussed rationally and answers sought.

As mission partners, Katrina and Aaron Fortune work alongside a small team at L’Abri Fellowship in Huémoz.

Work at L’Abri centers around inviting people from different backgrounds into our daily lives, making room for their stories and questions regarding faith and life. L’Abri students are often in transitional times of their life: they may be between jobs or homes, have experienced loss, or aren’t sure what they want to do next. Some seek a place of rest and connection with others, while some struggle with big questions: “What does God want me to do with my life?” “Can God be trusted?” “How am I to interpret the Bible?”

What life looks like for L’Abri students is structured around days that are split in to two parts with a time for self-directed study every day,as well as a shared time of work on community tasks.

Katrina and Aaron’s role in all of this is provide teaching every week and lead regular group discussions (among other organizational responsibilities). Their work also involves meeting with long-term students on a weekly basis, accompanying them through this season of their lives. This sort of work looks different every day, and L’Abri work keeps you on your toes, as there are many surprises when working in hospitality!

Ursula Peutot is our most recent addition to our Mission Partners. She is the Executive Director of Arocha Switzerland.

A Rocha is a Christian charity working for the protection and restoration of the natural world and committed to equipping Christians and churches to care for the environment. A Rocha is present in 24 countries. Our first initiative was a field study centre in Portugal, and so our name is Portuguese and means ‘The Rock’.

In Switzerland A Rocha carries out carry out monitoring of biodiversity in the dry and humid fields and meadows which have a high value for wildlife. We also carry out conservation work with local famers through groups of volunteers to help restore the fauna and flora in these habitats.

A new project (Jardin Paradis Vivant) to help individuals and families care for their gardens and promote biodiversity has started at the end of 2020 with training courses and personalized coaching by our biologist Gabriela: ideally for groups of 4- 5 garden owners in a same area wanting to rewild their gardens.

We work closely with churches and Christian organization to provide awareness and support in terms of creation care and have started a new project in Switzerland base on A Rocha UK’s Eco church scheme called EcoEglise (www.ecoeglise.ch).

We also focus on bringing awareness and educating on environment issues. We organize kids camps in the summer and are present at large events to promote care for our planet and all of creation. We participate in various publications and this included the preparation of a declaration for urgent Christian action facing climate change.

We are also starting a new local group for Riviera-Chablais with possibilities to participate in clean-ups, nature observation walks and activities around creation care, building friendships and community.

For more information on A Rocha, click here.