Micah Challenge Australia Blog

 

The Micah Challenge blog is a space for discussion and debate about the issues of global poverty, faith, advocacy and justice and the Millennium Development Goals. This blog aims to provoke thought and challenge you to learn more about the issues discussed. We welcome your comments.

Micah Challenge is a global campaign of Christians speaking out against poverty and injustice. Click here to visit the Micah Challenge website.

  • Our daily bread

    Posted by Amanda

    12 December, 2011

    There was a good reason food was mentioned in the Lord’s Prayer – give us this day our daily bread - we do need to regularly remember that food is a blessing from God, to be appreciated. But our gratitude is being swamped by our wastefulness – too often we take food for granted. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in a recent report estimates that 1.3 billion tones of food is wasted every year – a staggering 33% of all food produced! My country of residence, the UK, throws away 8.3 million tonnes of food every year. That means the average family throws away over £50 (AU$76) a month in wasted food. It’s the same in the EU, the US, Australia and other countries where food has a strict Use-By date and where access to cheap food means we prepare too much and throw too much away. Food is also wasted in developing countries but for different reasons: things like poor packing and storage facilities and inadequate infrastructure. But Western economies remain the champions of food waste. The FAO Report stated, “We… read more

    Comment on this post

  • We can live as 'ordinary radicals'

    Posted by Matt

    8 December, 2011

    Every one of us has a choice each day when we wake up. The option most commonly taken, often unconsciously, is to continue with the status quo, grinding it out in the way our family friends and colleagues expect us to. Work hard, sleep, enjoy the weekend, press stop and then repeat. Now don’t get me wrong: there’s nothing wrong with hard work, routine and the kind of steadiness that provides for a family. But do you ever get the feeling you were made for more than going through the motions on autopilot? Like there’s a layer missing from your life? There IS another way: the way of the ordinary radical. Ordinary radicals surround us every day, even if we don’t realise it. They tend to go under the radar and that’s the way they like it! But ordinary radicals seize each day as an opportunity to—as Mother Teresa best puts it—“Do small things with great love.” Their actions don’t necessarily involve huge amounts of money, time, resources or energy. They still work full time jobs, raise kids and pay taxes.… read more

    Comment on this post

  • Keeping the poor in their place

    Posted by Nils

    5 December, 2011

    India is a land like no other; both ancient and modern, with depths of poverty alongside the most extreme of riches. I recently returned from this fascinating nation where I was fortunate enough to see some of the work that World Vision is doing with street children and injecting drug users. My experience of this land of contrasts had a profound impact on me, particularly on my thoughts about the Gospel and poverty. The place where we were staying was in a satellite city about 20km outside of New Delhi, and driving into New Delhi itself required everyone to go through toll gates. Because of the nature of traffic in India, all the cars approaching the toll gates very quickly formed into a bottle-neck. And while we were sitting there in the car, beggars came up and knocked on the windows asking for anything to improve their meagre daily existence. Most of the beggars seemed to be women who were holding young babies. We were told later that some women “rent” babies in order to gain more sympathy. At the toll gates, many people ignore them and avoid… read more

    Comment on this post

  • My little friend Langtham

    Posted by Stevie

    21 November, 2011

    Meeting Langtham was a very special moment in my life. He is one year old and lives in Lusaka, Zambia. Langtham has cerebral palsy ... as do I. From vastly different parts of the world, we shared a few minutes together. More than that, we share the way our bodies work. Here's a video about the day I met Langtham: After I came home to Australia, I wrote this poem, holding dear my encounter with him: Dear Langthammy little friendthe meeting of our livesthat moment in timemy heart has framedToo young to remember meyou will always be rememberedDiversityin our ethnicity, territory, opportunitiesthe world between usa commonality we share –not an unfortunate afflictionnor some spiritual retributionNo, our bodies dance to a different beatour tongues, to a different tuneYour song, is beautifulYour eyes are as richas the soil from whichlife springs and takes rootMay your life be poetryspeaking the deeper truthMay your heart be warmedby your mother’s loveas your skin is warmedby the sunMay you treasure, nurturethe space between mother and sonMay friends… read more

    Comment on this post

Category:
Page 17 of 30
13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21 
Recent Blog entries