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.

  • Climate change - my grandmother's story

    Posted by Micah Challenge

    11 October, 2011

    Growing up in the city of Nairobi, Kenya, my favourite thing about visiting my grandmother in the rural countryside was the sounds of the roosters crowing in the morning and the cows mooing in the afternoon sun. The contrast between Nairobi's noisy hustle and bustle and the fresh smell of country air, with green, luscious, endless fields, was always refreshing. Nothing was as good as sitting next to the smoky fire having dinner and telling stories till midnight. We would walk under a star studded night sky and during the day, bath in the nearby river with the sound of crickets and birds all around. There's nothing like childhood memories... but in recent times these memories have been changed by a new reality. Every time I visited my grandmother when I was young, she would give me a chicken, potatoes, green bananas, arrowroots - "everything good and healthy," she used to say. When we'd leave she would load us upwith delectable country treats for us to take back to the ‘big city'. Now that I'm grown up, it's a very… read more

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  • Confronting?

    Posted by Erica

    13 September, 2011

    My home page on my computer is The Guardian Global Development site. This is the kind of world news I really value, focusing on global development. Much of what I encounter and read daily sticks in my mind and is something I carry with me in my heart. I cannot read about global challenges and injustice without my heart being affected. Recently, I viewed images of what unsafe water and poor sanitation looks like in Uganda. I feel confronted and challenged by these images. We were in Uganda earlier this year, so I when I looked at these images I pictured the places that we walked around and the people that we met there. But also I think of India, and of all the people who live without a toilet. I remember the smell and the shock of seeing communal open toilets. I think of the toilets we have used when travelling, and yet how much better it is to have horrible toilet than none at all. Globally, 2.6 billion people live without access to a safe toilet, while almost 1 billion don't have clean, safe water. The WHO estimates that 10% of the global disease burden… read more

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  • The poor in spirit

    Posted by Micah

    6 September, 2011

    I've always thought it's a cop-out for Christian development workers working in poor communities to say, "Well, even if these people still can't feed themselves, at least now they've prayed the sinner's prayer." But lately I've been thinking it's more than a cop-out-it's just wrong. Many Christian aid and development agencies, including those involved with the Micah Challenge coalition seek to address the needs of a child living in poverty across many different areas of his or her life. We call this approach holistic child development: programs that strive to meet not only a child's physical needs but their spiritual, economic, social and emotional needs as well. The solutions to some of those needs are clear, even though achieving them might not be simple. An economic need requires money, employment and skills. Physical needs are met through food, water and healthcare. I get a bit stuck on meeting spiritual needs though, I admit. Isn't that a pastor's job, or the Sunday school teacher? Or better yet-the parents of the child? Better still, what if we wait until… read more

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  • Why I support Micah Challenge

    Posted by Matthew

    23 August, 2011

    Blogger, Matt Anslow, on why he's a long-term Micah Challenge supporter Micah Challenge is both a necessary and potent instrument for God's kingdom. I want to tell you how and why I got involved. Micah Challenge is both a necessary and potent instrument for God's kingdom. I want to tell you how and why I got involved. Before I began working for TEAR Australia (one of Micah Challenge's coalition partners) I worked in a local church, studied theology (which I still am), and lectured in Biblical Studies (which I still do). My time in church ministry taught me many things, including that as a collective unit Christians have the ability to change the world through both their voice and action. Unfortunately, in my experience, there are times when Christians band together to stand for causes that are somewhat peripheral to the central issues that Jesus himself addressed (straining out gnats, but swallowing camels?). Nonetheless, the Church has great potential to change the world for good, and this potential has fortunately been realised in many episodes of… read more

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