Posts Tagged ‘Micah Challenge’

Brown talks to Smith and Jones

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Voices for Justice heard

Nathan Brown
Master of Arts (Research) student
Avondale College of Higher Education
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

Not quite. I did talk with Ewen Jones, Member for Herbert (based in Townsville, Qld) in Australia’s House of Representatives, but Mr Smith—my local member of parliament—ruined my headline by postponing our appointment due to other commitments.

These meeting opportunities were part of Micah Challenge’s Voices for Justice (September 15-18). After two days of worship, training, networking and prayer, 280 Christians from around Australia went to Parliament House in Canberra to speak on behalf of those who suffer because of global poverty.

The focus: to ask for Australia’s continued commitment to the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the government’s promise to work to increase Australia’s international aid contributions to 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income. But we also thanked Australia’s leaders, noting globally extreme poverty has been halved from 1990 levels and that some of the MDGs have already been achieved.

I have written previously to my local member of parliament, sometimes about big issues, sometimes about local concerns. But at Voices for Justice I spoke up in a different way and in an unfamiliar setting. Yet it seemed to fit with a different way of seeking justice and goodness: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those who are perishing. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice” (Proverbs 31:8, 9, NLT).

And I believe our voices were heard. Over two days, the 40 impromptu Micah Challenge “lobby groups” walked the halls of Parliament House and dozens of parliamentarians made the commitment to work toward these goals.

And I still have work to do to complete the headline. I have already written to Mr Smith requesting a meeting with him when he and I are back in our electorate. But it isn’t just about a corny headline; it’s an opportunity to make a unique difference in the world, despite our all-too-common surnames.

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Giving poverty the flush

Thursday, September 13, 2012

What did the giant loo have to do with FoF?

John Beckett
National coordinator
Micah Challenge Australia

Micah Challenge’s The Great Toilet Tour came to Avondale during Festival of Faith last week. What did the loo have to do with the celebration?

You probably don’t realise how much progress the world’s made since 1990 to reduce extreme poverty. In just 20 years, we’ve:

  • Halved the number of people living below the extreme poverty line of USD1.25 a day.
  • Halved the proportion of people living without access to clean drinking water. On current rates, 92 per cent of the world’s population will have access to clean drinking water by 2015.
  • Reduced from 12 to seven million a year the number of children dying before their fifth birthday.

This is phenomenal progress. There is much to celebrate. However in many areas, the progress is not sufficient. Enter the giant toilet.

Few things are as fundamental to human health and dignity as the water we drink and the way we dispose of our waste. Illnesses related to water and sanitation are among the largest causes of death in the developing world. Around 3000 children die every day from water, sanitation and hygiene related causes. Almost all of these deaths are preventable.

The United Nations Millennium Development Goal 7 aims to halve the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation by 2015. The world is falling short on the sanitation target. We can’t be satisfied when 2.6 billion people still don’t have access to decent sanitation.

Micah Challenge is lobbying the Australian Government to make a substantial increase in the amount of aid it invests in water, sanitation and hygiene, lifting it towards $500 million a year by 2015.

So, the toilet invites us to celebrate, even as we mourn. Surely that is the Christian way. And it invites us to commit ourselves again to pray and act on behalf of those living with poverty. We want more reasons to celebrate!

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