What do you do when:

- you have musical talent to burn in the church family
- you have young people recently arrived as refugees from Burma (Myanmar) in the congregation
- you have a growing awareness of the enormous needs among internally displaced people in Burma?

Answer: You bring all of these threads together and hold a musical café fundraiser called Me an’ Ma Friends.

The Wellington South Baptist Church auditorium was almost unrecognisable when it was rearranged with café tables, mood lighting, works of art and a lowered ceiling. The programme featured Simon Jones, recently a soloist for the NZ Secondary Schools Jazz Band, and young people from the local Burmese community performing traditional and contemporary dance and song.

The full house was served sweet treats and Peoples’ coffee by a willing team of young people. The tangible result was well over $3000 raised for the Partners Relief & Development mission organisation.

But the priceless benefits were the delights of getting to know a group of young people from Burma much better; an increased awareness of the needs of the marginalised and displaced people of Burma; and the sense of purpose gained through a whole church and local community working together for an important cause.