The Christian relief and development agency has been responding in the region since the earthquake and tsunami hit, delivering life-saving aid and helping people build new homes and businesses. 

4,300 people were killed and 190,000 were left in need of assistance when the earthquake hit, which triggered not only a tsunami, but also liquefaction, a phenomenon which caused whole villages to be swallowed up by the earth.

It is not known how many bodies are still unaccounted for, but flags placed among the rubble indicate where those still not recovered may be buried deep under the rubble and mud. 

Now a year on, 57,000 people are still homeless, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Cresecent (IFRC). For survivors like Suparjo, aged 60 and his wife Ina, aged 64 , who escaped with only their lives and each other, recovery has meant an entirely new start.

The couple fled Palu when their house was destroyed by liquefaction following the earthquake. They have since been living in a temporary shelter in a camp in Pombewe, surviving on food donations and in March joined Tearfund’s cash programme, receiving funds to start a small business making banana chips, which with they are selling in Palu and in nearby kiosks.

They are now earning enough to support themselves and saving to repair their house. Suparjo said: “We lost everything but we…

The company’s shutdown has caused 150,000 UK holidaymakers to be brought home by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), over two weeks in a flight programme costing £100 million.

Just over half the Thomas Cook customers who were abroad when it collapsed on Monday have been flown back to the UK.

Yesterday the CAA operated 68 flights to bring back about 15,000 passengers.

At East Midlands Airport, the Revd John Dawson and his three colleagues worked a rota to ensure that they were on hand when government-funded repatriation flights from Egypt and Spain landed. “People are really distressed: firstly, because their holidays have been cut short, and then they had to wait a long time to get on a plane home,” he said.

“They are pleased to have been repatriated, but were critical of how things were handled. They needed more help to sort out how they were getting back. Some had been delayed for up to ten hours, and weren’t getting any information. If they had known what was happening, it would have taken a lot of the heat out of the situation, but it had spoilt their holidays. They were hot and bothered, wondering what was going to happen.

“This is a holiday airport; so we are geared up for this sort of thing. We offer someone they can talk to, help with contacts, offering a phone to ring relatives. We just sit them down, give them a cup of tea, and make sure…

In an interview with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, Archbishop Sebastian Shaw of Lahore confirmed reports of abductions involving girls as young as 14, acts he condemned as “a crime”.

His comments come amid research in Pakistan’s Punjab Province stating that up to 700 girls had been abducted in one year.

He said: “Yes, [abductions of under-age girls] are happening” and he added that “there have been many kidnappings recently”.

Archbishop Shaw added: “Kidnapping is a crime. It has to be treated as one. This is the only way to stop it. The girls are usually 14, 15. The men often already have one wife. They can be 25 or older. They can be younger, more like 20.”

He believed there was a religious aspect to the kidnappings, particularly as the girls are Hindu or Christian. Yet, the archbishop did not believe it was the only explanation.

“It is lust. They think ‘she is pretty and I want her’. It is a crime. But it has a possible religious component too.”

The archbishop said that in response to the increase in abductions, Christian leaders took the problem to the police “but they were not listening” so they went straight to the government.

“We raised it with the government and they took up the matter. Along with the Islamic council, they arranged a meeting with myself and leaders from the Muslim and Hindu communities.

“I…

An Irishman has drowned after taking a sunset dip in the sea at the end of a hike across northern Spain during a Christian pilgrimage.

The victim died after bathing in the waters of the Atlantic in the Galician town of Finisterre.

He was thought to have just completed the famous Way of Saint James, better known by pilgrims as the Camino de Santiago, shortly before his death.

The 500 mile walk starts in St Jean de Luz in France and ends in the Galician cathedral city the pilgrimage is named after.

Many who complete the five-week journey end up continuing to Cabo Finisterre, a rock-bound peninsula a five-day walk from Santiago which in Roman times was believed to be the end of the known world.

The tragedy occurred at a beach called Mar de Fora, known as being one of the most dangerous in the area because of its strong currents.

The dead man was with two female friends who raised the alarm around 8pm on Thursday after they spotted he was in difficulties in the water.

Locals are understood to have pulled him out of the sea and spent around 40 minutes trying to revive him as paramedics raced to the scene before a doctor arrived and pronounced him dead.

Deputy mayor Xan Carlos Sar told regional newspaper La Voz de Galicia: “The sea was rough and the women saw him being swept away by currents.

“The emergency services were alerted and when Civil Protection workers…

Originally discovered in 1992, the archaeological treasure has recently opened to the public.

Named Church and Monasterv of Sir Bani Yas the site is believed to date back around 1,400 years.

“I think it’s a misconception that there is no archaeology here,” says Peter Magee, an archaeologist at the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism. “There are other sites that remain un-excavated. The archaeology here goes back 8,000 years.”

In the early nineties, the rocky infrastructure was thought to have no religious association. After further investigation, however, Christian crosses were unearthed, as was the architectural framework of a church and monastery.Architects also found items which implied that monks living in the monastery kept cattle and made good use of the sea for food. While other objects suggested they traded with their Muslim neighbours in the Arabian Gulf in the 7th and 8th century.

“At least for 100 years, there was a Christian community here and Christians and Muslims were living very peacefully side by side,” says Magee, adding that the monastery is one of the few historic Christian sites in the Gulf.

Other similar plots in the region include Saudi Arabia’s Eastern province of Jubail and two churches on Kuwait’s Failaka Island.

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