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"I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received me…..Whenever you do this for one of the least important brothers, you do it for me." Matt 25:35
Contact your politician
Writing to your MP
Writing to your MP is another way you can speak up for justice. The more letters politicians receive, the more likely they are to follow through on their Millennium Development Goal promises.
We ask you to take time to write to your MP, letting them know that their constituents care about the issues of global poverty and injustice. Click here if you want to find an address or you're not sure who your MP is.
Health issues relating to Goals 4 and 5 of the Millennium Development Goals are a big part of the campaign in 2009-10. Please take 10 minutes to write to your MP asking them to note the huge possibilities for progress on child and maternal health. For more information on the health campaign, click here.
If you do write to your local MP, be sure to let us know about it by sending us a copy of your letter. That way we can track the various actions in each electorate.
Offering of Letters: Churches across Australia can make an 'offering of letters' to God - just as we offer our money and our time, we can offer our voices to God as part of a whole life of worship. Micah Challenge supporters do this by writing letters to our Prime Minister about poverty and injustice as part of the annual letter writing campaign 'Offering of Letters'.
Click here for more on Offering of Letters and to download the letter writing kits.
Visiting your MP
Visiting your local MP is by far the most powerful and significant way of letting them know that poverty matters to you. It is a very effective way to share ideas about poverty and we aim to be positive and prayerful in presenting our ideas.
What to Say: Micah Challenge and Make Poverty History are calling for five basic actions:
- Increase aid to 0.5% by 2010 to meet our fair contribution to halving global poverty by 2015. It is not just the amount of aid but also how it is spent - aid needs to be spent on poverty reduction for the poorest communities.
- Cancel debt for the poorest nations which have a burden of debt which will prevent them from reaching the Millennium Development Goals.
- Promote fair trade rules and other international rules so that poor countries can compete in world markets and have access to development funding.
- Help poor countries keep their governments accountable
- Tackle climate change in developing countries
For more details on poverty and what we are asking our government to do;
Download Guide to visiting a politician (2009)
Micah Challenge have prepared a briefing sheet to use when visiting your politician. The briefing sheet outlines the lobbying focus Micah Challenge for 2009.
Download MP briefing sheet (2009)
Give your MP a gift
A good way of approaching your visit to your local MP is to take a gift - we have put together ideas for a gift basket based on the 8 Millennium Development Goals.
Download gift basket ideas
Tell us about your visit to your MP
Please tell us about your visit by completing the Response Form. Any insights at all would be useful.
We use the information you provide to build a picture of who has been visited and the issues MPs want to discuss. This helps us to provide useful information to politicians during Voices for Justice.
Download the response form
Fax to 02 9452 4720 or post to Micah Challenge, M Level, 134 William St, Potts Point NSW 2011.