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.

  • Wrestling and Repenting

    Posted by Marty

    1 August, 2011

    Last year's church engagement intern, Marty Richardson, looks back at his time at Micah Challenge. During my time with Micah Challenge I really benefited from the chance to consider my place in the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom that is not removed from this world of inequalities, but a Kingdom that brings great hope to all humanity as we struggle with issues of poverty and injustice. My internship experience greatly challenged me in my beliefs and the practice of my faith. This challenge has been healthy, as it is always healthy to process Biblical and ethical issues in the context of our lives. One event that particularly sticks in my memory is an evening at Voices for Justice last year when some of my questions and learning about aid and development and the part I'm called to play seemed to come together and a few answers fell my way. As the 'Service of Public Repentance' on the front lawns of Parliament House (in Canberra; In June - brrrrrrr!) commenced, I stood standing to the side of a very cold group of people feeling very tired and not highly engaged.… read more

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  • Live simply, that others may simply live

    Posted by Eliza

    27 July, 2011

    Last Thursday, while most of us were finishing our lunch, famine was declared in two southern regions of Somalia. With a belly full of Thai food and a half eaten piece of cake sitting beside my desk I read the headline 'Millions at risk as famine declared'. My stomach twisted- 11 million people are facing starvation and I can't remember the last time I finished everything on my plate. The food crisis sweeping the Horn of Africa has created a 'triangle of hunger' between Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia. Of the regions affected, Somalia has been hit hardest with a combined force of 20 years of unwavering political unrest and the worst drought the nation has seen in 60 years. The United Nations has estimated that 3.7 million - nearly half the country's population - are currently facing severe food shortages. The UN will not declare famine lightly. Technically, at least 20 per cent of households must be facing extreme food shortages, 30 per cent of people must be suffering from severe malnutrition and there must be at least two deaths per 10 000 people each day.… read more

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  • Stewardship - The Power to Protect or Destroy

    Posted by Gershon

    25 July, 2011

    Njeri* lives in the Highlands of Mount Kenya. She has spent several long days and nights floating in and out of delirium as she lies powerless and feeble on her hospital bed. She has lost the ability to feed and care for herself; instead she has been forced to rely on her daughter, Esther, and the hospital staff to tend to her needs. Njeri has contracted cerebral Malaria, a condition that until recently had never been seen in the Kenyan Highlands. The mosquitoes responsible for Malaria were kept at bay by the colder highland climate, but in recent times the temperature has been warming and the mosquitoes have begun to spread into hundreds of communities that once believed they were safe. Njeri has become another victim of their upward climb, and is now at risk of joining the million Africans that lose their lives to the disease every year. It's hard to know how to best respond to Njeri's story. I think I, like many, feel compelled to help and biblically I know there's an imperative to act. When the bible writer James asks, 'what good is our faith if it does… read more

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  • Church leaders for aid!

    Posted by Simon

    21 July, 2011

    It might not always be as easy as Bono makes it look, but speaking up on behalf of people living in poverty, the most vulnerable of our global society, is not just an optional extra for those of us in the Christian faith. The Bible clearly tells us in Proverbs 31:8-9, "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." Since its inception in 2004, Micah Challenge has done just that by mobilising thousands of grassroots advocates to speak up to the Australian Government on behalf of people in need. At the recent trip to Canberra, Micah Challenge lobby groups showed politicians that those advocates represent a wide Church community in Australia, which is also unified and passionate about social justice issues! A couple of weeks ago, on a cold and windy Canberra morning (aren't they all?) a team of Micah Challenge staff and Church leaders from many denominations assembled in Australian Parliament House, including senior representatives of the Anglican,… read more

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