In 2025, Tearfund launched two Emergency Responses. A brief ceasefire in the Middle East in February opened up new opportunities for Tearfund to respond to the escalating humanitarian crisis – providing vital support to those affected by conflict in the region. Not long after, a devastating earthquake struck Myanmar. Tearfund’s local partner responded immediately, delivering lifesaving care to communities already facing compounded challenges.
Tearfund supporters acted with incredible generosity and compassion. Not only enabling life-saving intervention but offering an important reminder to those enduring some of their darkest days – that they are not alone.
We don’t often hear about the toll these disasters take on our partners, or the strength they find to serve when they themselves have been impacted. The Country Director (CD) for our partner in Myanmar and Adele Paterson, CEO of International Health Partners, a fellow member of Integral Alliance share how they and their teams on the ground walk through times of overwhelming crisis with hope intact.
“To be honest, 2025 has been the hardest year of my life, for our organisation – and for our country as well. We’ve faced armed conflict, devastating floods, a powerful earthquake, funding cut off from several donors and an ongoing economic crisis,” admits the Country Director.
Serving with Tearfund’s local partner in Myanmar, supporting communities displaced by conflict, she is part of a team that helps people find safe places to stay, recover livelihoods and improve the health and nutrition of mothers and their children.
But on March 28th, an earthquake rocked these places of refuge, compounding an already weakened system.
Her own home was damaged during the earthquake and her mother was trapped for a week without water or electricity. Many of her colleagues became homeless. Suddenly they were sharing shelters in the camps they served in.
Our vision has always been to transform the lives of poor and marginalized people... But this time, we are not just responders – we are also survivors.
For the Country Director, it was an overwhelming situation, one where she found herself asking God, “Why?” Yet even in that moment of doubt, she held onto one truth, “God never gives us a burden too heavy to bear.”
It has been Hebrews 10:23-25 that has been her anchor, she reflects, “Our hope doesn’t come from circumstances – it comes from God.” While she admits that hope does fluctuate, with the incoming tides of challenges, it never disappears: “It’s always there, like a quiet flame, reminding us that God is greater than all our problems.”
Reflecting on the protracted humanitarian crisis in the Middle East, where conflict has devastated the lives of millions of people, International Health Partners (IHP) CEO, Adele Paterson, shares a similar viewpoint. Everyday her team gathers to pray. Recently, during this time they have been thinking about lament, about anger and injustice and with that the wondering – why, and how. They sit with the pain, with the questions but are also able to stand firm in the truth, Adele asserts, “My help comes from the Lord, God is good all the time, and therefore I will trust.”
IHP provides vital medical supplies for clinics and hospitals in Occupied Palestinian Territory and Lebanon. Adele has observed the medical responders’ ability to show up despite the chaos that surrounds them.
“The drive that they have to continue to respond doesn’t seem to falter. And of course, people have good days and bad days, but they are certainly able to be resourceful in spite of all they are going through...”
Adele speaks in amazement about a clinic that recently began operating despite the surrounding devastation to infrastructure. Having opened only a few days earlier (at time of writing), they had already seen 120 patients. “There’s an ability to pivot and to respond and to do what they can,” she explains.
There is hope in showing up, and faith in the waiting. For Adele, there’s a lot of waiting. During months on end of aid blockades, there was waiting for shipments of vital medical supplies to be allowed into Gaza, waiting for conflict to ease, waiting for peace. And yet, in the midst of uncertainty, her organisation continues to show up. As Adele shares, “God gives us all a responsibility, and if we continue to follow His ways, he will use us if we walk that narrow path. If we love our neighbour, love the Lord our God, he will use us, and he can’t help but use us, because we are in line with his will.”
The CD also speaks with deep conviction that she and her team were placed in Myanmar for a reason, “Our vision is to transform the lives of the poor and marginalised, and we believe we are chosen by God to serve those in need. That calling gives us strength beyond our own capacity.”
Both the CD and Adele recognise the hope they find when people come together. Encouraged by a global community offering prayer and generosity, not only can they continue delivering their work in practical ways, but the support they receive only deepens their sense of hope. Adele is grateful for the support that comes through partnerships like Integral Alliance and notes, “the journeying along with us has been very special for the team.”
“We wish people knew how powerful it is when communities come together, even in the darkest times. That unity, faith, and shared humanity are what keep us going,” reflects the CD.
It’s this support that not only spurred on their faith but helped CD and her team react quickly, deploying two emergency response teams in some of the most seriously affected regions. Incredibly, they were able to provide life-saving assistance to over 5000 people. Food, safe drinking water, shelter, household kits and multipurpose cash were given to those in need. Two mobile clinics were set up, providing emergency and primary healthcare to 2,000 patients.
In the months that followed, as the monsoon season is closed in, new challenges emerged. People lived in flimsy shelters on the side of the road. The demand for labour and construction materials has surged. Those whose homes and shops had been impacted found it almost impossible to rebuild or repair. All the while heavy rains and aftershocks caused further destruction to buildings.
Our partner in Myanmar stayed present, focusing on helping families with:
For Adele and her team, the work continues too. The news of a peace agreement between Israel and Hamas in October 2025 meant the re-opening of doors that had remained closed for far too long. Yet accessible aid remains critical for the hundreds of thousands still in humanitarian need.
While the West Bank has not seen destruction on the scale of Gaza, violence has sharply increased. Restrictions have severely limited Palestinian refugees’ access to healthcare and other services. Hospitals and health facilities are only able to operate at a fraction of their capacity, and the work of IHP in supporting the provision of health supplies and services is critical. Not only will their work provide support for people suffering acute medical injuries and challenges as a result of the crisis, but it will allow vital access to medicine and care for people with chronic conditions – many of whom have been without treatment for months on end. Funds from the Middle East Appeal are furthering this work now, bringing life-saving medical care to over 16,000 people in the West Bank.
Additionally, a portion of funds raised were directed to a partner working through local churches in Lebanon. So far, over 700 young people have been supported with initiatives to strengthen psychosocial wellbeing and build community resilience. Despite contextual challenges, the project has been met with strong community ownership and high levels of engagement, including from local faith leaders.
Both teams have chosen to serve in incredibly hard places – rebuilding dignity and restoring hope. Yet, with a deep conviction that this is their calling, foundations rooted in a good and faithful God, and the unwavering support of a global community, their hope endures and they will continue to show up.
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