Love Your Neighbour. Living faithfully in a changing climate

Transcription

1 Issue 03 October 2015 Love Your Neighbour Living faithfully in a changing climate A creative way to resist consumerism pg 3 Reconnecting to creation and our global neighbours pg 4-5 How you can Live on One Planet pg 7

2 Love your neighbour What does it mean for Australian Christians to apply the teachings of Jesus in 2015? How do we love our neighbour in a context where we are globally interconnected? We can start by considering how our lifestyles impact our neighbours. Several studies have revealed that if everyone on earth consumed resources the way we do in Australia, we would need at least three planets to sustain us. Living beyond our means is not only selfish, it is having a negative impact on God s creation and our global neighbours particularly the poor. We ve been talking about this issue for many years, on behalf of our partners overseas and the communities they are working with who are shouldering the effects of climate change. TEAR is passionate about empowering Australian Christians to do something about this. As you read this issue of TEAR News about living faithfully in a changing climate, I hope you can be encouraged to think about this important challenge. Together, we can all prayerfully consider how to be faithful stewards of God s beautiful world and practise the hospitality and generosity our faith calls us to. P.S Our Live on One Planet lifestyle challenge running in October is a great way of reflecting and taking action on this issue we encourage you to get involved! Details on pg 7. Matthew Maury TEAR Australia National Director TEAR AUSTRALIA USEFUL GIFTS CATALOGUE OUT NOW! Useful Gifts for a better tomorrow We re excited to launch TEAR s new Useful Gifts Catalogue for ! This year s catalogue features stories about our partners transformational impact in addition to local stories about some of our amazing supporters who help us fund important work in communities around the world. There are lots of great gifts to choose from! We ve got old favourites like goats, chickens and safe water and new gifts for this year like fuel efficient stoves and good food. The beautiful Special Occasion cards make a thoughtful gift for someone you love. And be sure to check out our new Dhumba card featuring Indigenous artist Safina Stewart s stunning Nativity Star artwork. About TEAR Australia Useful Gifts Catalogue Useful Gifts for a better tomorrow At TEAR, we share in God s dream of fullness of life for a better tomorrow. Working with our Christian partners in local communities, we support longterm, holistic development projects that make a real difference for people facing poverty and marginalisation. Every gift you buy from our Useful Gifts Catalogue contributes directly to projects that seek a better tomorrow for communities in poverty. Give: Order online org, fill out the order form at the back of the catalogue, or call our friendly TEAR office staff on (toll free). TEAR Australia supports a movement of Christians in Australia responding to the needs of poor communities around the world. We partner with other Christian groups, including churches, relief and development agencies and community-based organisations that are working with the poor in their communities. In Australia, TEAR seeks to encourage and empower the Christian community to make authentic responses to the biblical call for justice. Our five holistic responses are: Learn: Hear the voices of the poor and marginalised, and grow in your understanding of God s Kingdom vision and the work of TEAR s partners. Live: Take practical steps to live well through everyday justice choices. Advocate: Seek release for those made captive by oppressive systems and restoration for people and places broken by greed and injustice. Pray: Pray like Jesus that God s Kingdom come. Seek to see the world through God s eyes and join with others to bring about real change. Give: Partner with TEAR by giving financially to support the mission of building a just and compassionate world so that all can have fullness of life. 2 tearnews October 2015

3 Local Learning Living with less: how does our giving reflect God s heart for the poor? USEFUL GIFTS: THE ORIGINAL LIFESTYLE CHALLENGE Did you know that the Useful Gifts Catalogue began as a creative attempt to reduce consumption and promote lifestyle change among Christians? Flashback: The cover of one of TEAR s first Useful Gifts Catalogues It's Bryan Adams' "Please forgive me" is number 1 on the Aussie charts, Christopher Skase is arrested in Spain and phone numbers are about to get an extra digit. In Melbourne, TEAR's then National Director Steve Bradbury is becoming increasingly frustrated at the growing commercialisation of Christmas. Reflecting on his feelings at the time, Steve said: It seemed to me that in our largely post-christian society, Christmas celebrations had deteriorated into over-the-top, materialistic pigouts and that this was something we in the church ought to creatively resist. Inspired and agitated, Steve and a small team created an educational resource to put the focus of 3 tearnews October 2013 Christmas back on the call of Christ to serve the poor. This became TEAR s Useful Gifts Catalogue. Considering what Jesus would like for his birthday and the types of gifts that would bring him pleasure were the thoughts that ultimately prompted the first catalogue. Steve said: Jesus told his first followers that if they gave food to a hungry person or water to a thirsty person, it was as though they gave it to him. Jesus is saying that he wants us to express our love for him by giving practical gifts to those who are in need. While the catalogue concept has been adopted enthusiastically by many other agencies and organisations, it holds a very significant place in the heart of TEAR. A lot has changed since 1994, but the challenge remains. How do we as the church resist the relentless consumerism that continues to overshadow the Christmas message? How does our giving reflect God s heart for the poor? TEAR Australia remains committed to the idea that giving more stuff isn't what the world needs. Giving more usefully is. Ben Allsop is TEAR's Fundraising Coordinator Pray: Prayerfully consider your consumption and lifestyle choices in the lead up to this Christmas. How can you live out the call of Christ to serve the poor through living more simply? tearnews October

4 Living Faithfully in a Changing Climate If everyone on the planet lived like an Australian, it would take at least three earths to sustain us. Paul Flavel asks, what are our biblical and moral obligations to live in a way that cares for our vulnerable neighbours who are dealing with the harsh impacts of climate change? In Scripture we read of God s better tomorrow of justice, hope and peace. TEAR believes that in God's tomorrow we will see the restoration, redemption and putting to rights of the whole created order. So if putting the whole world to rights is in God s big unfolding plan, and if we are called to represent God now, then it follows that we would want to be involved in this redemptive work today. In stark contrast to the redemptive hope of God s tomorrow, TEAR's international partners are increasingly witnessing the impacts of human-induced climate change on their communities today. The injustice is clear. Poor communities suffer the most yet have contributed the least to the problem. The problem Research by The Global Footprint Network suggests that if everyone on the planet lived like an Australian, it would take at least three earths to sustain us. We are clearly living beyond our means and this is having a direct impact on God s creation and on the world s poor. As Christians, instructed to act justly (Micah 6:8) and love our neighbours (Mark 12:28-31), we must do more to tackle this injustice. Our love for our Creator drives us to be good stewards of God s created resources. Furthermore, if we truly love our neighbours, we ll make sure we do no harm to them by the way we live, wherever they are. 4 tearnews October 2015

5 Across the world TEAR s Christian partners are bringing hope to people like Manju and Chunbad (pictured, with their family), helping communities prepare for and adapt to floods, droughts and more severe storms. But we must also tackle the causes. The impact on vulnerable communities The impacts of a changing climate are hitting poor countries who already face huge development challenges. Some of the current and future impacts include unpredictable rainfall (droughts and floods), extreme weather events, (like heatwaves, floods and droughts) and sea level rises. These have a severe effect on vulnerable communities in a number of ways: Food: Changes in climate make rains and seasons more unpredictable, making it harder for farmers to know when to plant their crops. More frequent and extreme floods and droughts leave communities in an even more precarious situation, destroying harvests and leaving the land and soil exposed. Homes: Many poor communities live in fragile housing on marginal land and lack savings or insurance to recover from floods and droughts. More than 17 million people in Bangladesh live in areas that could be flooded by a rise in sea levels of 2 metres. Work: Failed harvests and lack of access to other sources of income are forcing many people to move away from their families to find work. A changing climate exacerbates existing inequalities faced by vulnerable groups, particularly women, children and elderly people. Health: Rising temperatures create increasingly fertile breeding grounds for diseases such as malaria. The part we play We regularly fall short of the biblical requirement to love our neighbours as we love ourselves because on a global level the consequences of our actions remain disconnected and unseen. The testimonies from communities served by TEAR s partners and the evidence being gathered about the impact of a changing climate call us to rethink the scope of Jesus command. In a very real sense, we know that we can advocate and act today in ways that will help create a tangibly better tomorrow for people living in poverty. See the boxout on ways you can take action by living, giving, learning, advocating and praying on this issue. These actions we take today will exist as signposts for God's full and healed tomorrow. This is powerfully summed up by the words of Isaiah: "And if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. (Isaiah 58:10) Paul Flavel is TEAR s Australian Program Coordinator Take Action For more indepth resources and action ideas visit Here are 5 things you can do right now: Advocate: Sign our online petition Get creative with our Footprint Craftivism project Let your feet do the talking join our doorknocking teams or the People s Climate March in November! Give: Register to Live On One Planet and raise money Pray: Lord reconnect me. Reconnect me to your amazing love. Reconnect me to your creation. Reconnect me to neighbours, near and far. Amen. Live: Take up our Live on One Planet lifestyle challenge! Learn: Check out our new education booklet The Part You Play and small group guide. 5 tearnews October 2013 tearnews October

6 Useful Gifts Behind each beautiful photo in our new Useful Gifts Catalogue is a story that illustrates the life-giving work of our partners. Every gift you buy contributes directly to projects that seek a better tomorrow for communities in poverty. Here are some of the stories from this year s Catalogue. You can read project stories for all our other gifts online at A growing sense of pride An essential for life Inspiring kids to learn Bangladeshi woman Jacinta Holder is proud of her thriving vegetable patch. With support from TEAR s partner Bangladesh Association for Sustainable Development (BASD), Jacinta, a mother of two girls, turned her land into a productive garden. BASD works with Self-Help Groups and runs kitchen garden training with her community. Jacinta learnt how to improve her soil by using vermi-compost and now has a successful crop of okra, jute, beans, stem amaranth and cucumber. She is able to sell excess produce for a small profit to help cover her family s needs. This little girl lives in Mesreta, Southern Ethiopia. Before a borehole was constructed by TEAR s partner, the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church, people had to travel to the river to collect water, which was often dirty. With a borehole right in their village, the community now has access to fresh clean water. This, along with hygiene and sanitation education, has significantly improved people s health and wellbeing. Great teachers inspire children to reach their full potential. Gabriel is an enthusiastic Year 7 teacher at Adol Primary School in South Sudan. The hours are often long and the pay is not substantial (around A$30 per month), but he is passionate about education in his community. TEAR s partner Across is working with teachers like Gabriel to equip them with skills and resources and help them be the best they can - just like that favourite teacher you had at school! 6 tearnews October 2015 Give: Buy a gift for someone you love this Christmas and support the lifechanging work of TEAR Australia in communities around the world. There are also new cards that are perfect for weddings, birthdays, new babies and thank-you gifts. Read the stories behind each gift at

7 TEAR Community SUPPORTING USEFUL GIFTS! Cindy Wong and her daughter Leah make a special appearance in our Useful Gifts Catalogue this year, along with several other wonderful TEAR supporters! Cindy is a TEAR Ambassador and volunteer, and also runs a Useful Gifts Shop at her kids school every Christmas, selling cards from TEAR s Useful Gifts Catalogue. She says: It's a practical way of putting my faith into action, and sharing God's heart for justice with others in our community. Give: Run a Useful Gifts Shop this Christmas at your school, church, youth/kids group or just in your neighbourhood! We ll provide you with support, advice and a kit that has everything you need. Call (Toll-free) or visit shop to chat to our friendly team about running a Useful Gifts Shop. LIVE ON ONE PLANET: TEAR S SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE CHALLENGE Could you Live on One Planet for a week? If everyone on earth lived like we do in Australia, it would take at least three planets to sustain us. This October, you ll have the chance to join TEAR supporters from around Australia to reduce our consumption for a week and participate in TEAR s sustainable lifestyle challenge: Live on One Planet. Last year our supporters took on challenges like reducing car or energy use, and even taking cold showers! With friends and family as sponsors, participants raised donations that contributed to the work of TEAR Australia and our partners working with communities most at risk from climate change. Live: Keep a week in October free and register your interest! 7 tearnews October 2013 tearnews October

8 I M JUST A KID! I M TOO CHICKEN! It doesn t matter if you re young or old, brave or scared, we re looking for passionate volunteers to run a Useful Gifts Shop in their community. It s super easy to do we provide you with a kit that includes everything you need to get started. This includes gift cards, catalogues, video clips and other promotional resources and new this year, little creatures like these to help you decorate your store. Help bring about a better tomorrow for communities facing poverty. Register your Useful Gifts Shop by sending in the form, or register online at Register your Useful Gifts Shop by sending in the form, or register online at Register My Useful Gifts Shop Contact TEAR Name: My address: My Shop Name: My phone number: (church/community group/school/other) Delivery address for kit (if different to previous address): My Address: Postcode: 4 Solwood Lane/PO Box 164 Blackburn VIC 3130 Postcode: (Toll-free) usefulgifts@tear.org.au ABN: I would like a Virtual Gift Shop (online store) set up (offer expires 20 November 2015) 8 tearnews October 2015 Printed on environmentally sustainable Pacesetter Laser FSC paper and produced using the Clean Green Print process. To find out more visit cleangreenprint.com