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"And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read... 'The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He appointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the LORD... Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing'." Luke 4:16-21.
Feedback
We want to hear from you - your stories, ideas, questions and comments. Please send your messages to info@micahchallenge.org.au. We will publish your views on this page.
'Survive Past Five' 5th Birthday Parties
The Blue Mountains TEAR group hold 5th Birthday at Springwood Foundation Day
"We had 15 mins on the main stage to conduct a 5th birthday party which went really well.
"We also set up a "birthday stall" where over 250 5th birthday cards were signed and many an interesting conversation had. Our Federal member Bob Debus stopped by and offered to help us out and has agreed to deliver the cards to Stephen Smith. Louis Marcus also stopped by for a chat and is very supportive.
Click here to read an article from their local paper promoting their event.
"Micah Challenge makes it easy for us to take up opportunities such as this through the development of great resources, so thank you." (Account courtesy of Paul Karlik)
Federal Member for Moore attends 5th Birthday event
Beldon-Iluka Uniting Church hosted a 'Survive Past Five' birthday party in January, complete with cake, kids and a bouncy castle. Dr Mal Washer, Federal Member for Moore, attended the Survive Past Five birthday party and encouraged those present to continue lobbying politicians to ensure Australia increased its overseas giving.
The sound of kids laughing and playing was the perfect backdrop for lighting five candles on a cake as a symbolic prayer for the health of mothers and children in the developing world. Attendees also had the opportunity to sign a fifth birthday card as a show of support for the MDGs.
According to Beldon's minister, Rev Dennis Doust, "The party was an excellent opportunity to speak up and use our voices for the many people around the world who are denied the basics of life. It's also a great reminder of just how blessed we are in this country and the responsibility that carries." Click here to read their story in full.
Politician Visits
Fiona Grech meets with Stephen Smith at the Community Cabinet Meeting
Fiona Grech a Voices for Justice 08 participant, has taken what she learned about lobbying last year and is now an unstoppable campaigner! In May this year, she presented a box of signed Mothers' Day cards to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Stephen Smith, at a Community Cabinet meeting in Emerald, Victoria."It was really easy to get an appointment. It's good to have the information at hand when you ask for an appointment so you can tell them about the issue you want to raise. It was fantastic being able to meet with Mr Smith in person - I felt nervous but excited. I made sure I prepared for the meeting - Voices for Justice prepared me - I knew how to frame what I was asking for, acknowledging the good things the Government are doing but I also had clear asks for what needs to be done."
Get an appointment with a Cabinet Minister - the Minister for Foreign Affairs, or even the Prime Minister when the Community Cabinet comes your way. It's a great way to get your message across directly to the senior decision makers in our Government. Come along to Voices for Justice for training and practice! To find out more about Community Cabinets, see www.pmc.gov.au/community_cabinet/index.cfm
Eloise Beech visits Maxine McKew
"I had never visited an MP on my own before, so the thought of my appointment with my local MP Maxine McKew scared me, I must admit. But nonetheless, I braved up, repeating to myself my newly found mantra,'Its all for the children', as I nervously tried to remember the reason for my visit - asking the government to give more in overseas aid so that less children have to die every year from preventable causes.
To my delight, visiting Maxine was a lot less scary than I thought.Her staff were very friendly and hospitable, she listened intently, and applauded 'my generation' for the effort and lengths that we go to for our convictions. The experience was a very positive one, and as I walked away I thought, 'Gee, that wasn't so bad. I could do that again'. Her staff even followed me up with a photo and positive feedback that Maxine was impressed with our passion, sincerity and clarity of what we were asking.
So if you are like me, and think that talking to politicians is perhaps a little to scary, know that it is not as hard or scary as it may seem, and it is 100% worth it. You have nothing to lose, but everything to gain."
- Eloise visited Maxine McKew on behalf of Micah Challenge and Morling College.
Kilsyth South Baptist Church visits Tony Smith
By Joss MacCartney
"I went along to visit Tony Smith on Tuesday along with the pastor from my church - Kilsyth South Baptist in Melbourne's Outer East - whom we were representing. We took along a gift basket made up from the suggestions on your website and also took a Message in a Bottle with 44or so signatures from people from church.
We were received warmly and Tony obviously knows about Micah Challenge. He told us that Jason Wood - a Liberal back bencher - is giving a speech in parliament about Micah Challenge in the next couple of weeks and that three speakers from each side will talk - he will be one of them from the Liberal party.
We talked about the importance of increasing aid to 0.7% GNI. His response was that our work by aid agencies needs to be considered and that that is enough to meet the needs along with the increase to 0.5%.
We left behind the info sheets and also told him we would like to follow him up. He is happy for that and has encouraged us to get together with other churches in the area and make presentations etc as a combined effort to be able to represent more people. He was invited to visit us at some stage and sounds very likely to do that if he is specifically invited!"
Click here for more information about visiting your politician. If you have visited your politician, make sure you let us know by filling in the response form .
News articles
It's always encouraging to see Micah Challenge supporters profiled in their local papers - helping to get issues justice on the media agenda, as part of their advocacy. Recently, the Toronto Catalyst Group had a news article about their visit to their local MP, Greg Combet, published in the Lakes Mail newspaper. Click here to view the article. Offering of Letters
PM's office responds to Offering of Letters 2008 The PM's office have sent an official response to Offering of Letters 2008. Particularly pleasing was the government's acknowledgment that it is the poorest of the world who are most impacted by the global financial crisis. Click here to read an excerpt from the official statement.
Clayton Y-TAG, VIC take part in Offering of Letters
By Ange Lim
"Compelled with compassion and our concern about the extreme poverty caused by unequal global wealth distribution and the suffering caused by preventative deaths, we all wrote our first letter to the PM as a part of Micah Challenge's 'Offering of Letters' campaign. To 'make poverty history' requires more action than wearing a wristband. Participating in the offering of letters was a good medium to exercise obedience in faith to God.
Welcoming children as Christ did calls for us to pay attention and to protect them with love and care. It is heartbreaking when mothers cannot experience the joy of welcoming new God-created life due to treatable complications experienced in pregnancy or childbirth.
As educated young Christians living in a democratic and privileged society, we want God to bring forth His Kingdom through the use of our influence and abilities. We want to continue to share God's love, justice and providence so that none will lack.
"At the present time your plenty will supply what they need,
so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need.
Then there will be equality." (2 Cor 8:14)"
Click here for more information on Offering of Letters.
Politician Visits
Eloise Beech visits Maxine McKew
"I had never visited an MP on my own before, so the thought of my appointment with my local MP Maxine McKew scared me, I must admit. But nonetheless, I braved up, repeating to myself my newly found mantra, 'Its all for the children', as I nervously tried to remember the reason for my visit - asking the government to give more in overseas aid so that less children have to die every year from preventable causes.
To my delight, visiting Maxine was a lot less scary than I thought. Her staff were very friendly and hospitable, she listened intently, and applauded 'my generation' for the effort and lengths that we go to for our convictions. The experience was a very positive one, and as I walked away I thought, 'Gee, that wasn't so bad. I could do that again'. Her staff even followed me up with a photo and positive feedback that Maxine was impressed with our passion, sincerity and clarity of what we were asking.
So if you are like me, and think that talking to politicians is perhaps a little to scary, know that it is not as hard or scary as it may seem, and it is 100% worth it. You have nothing to lose, but everything to gain."
- Eloise visited Maxine McKew on behalf of Micah Challenge and Morling College.
Kilsyth South Baptist Church visits Tony Smith
By Joss MacCartney
"I went along to visit Tony Smith on Tuesday along with the pastor from my church - Kilsyth South Baptist in Melbourne's Outer East - whom we were representing. We took along a gift basket made up from the suggestions on your website and also took a Message in a Bottle with 44 or so signatures from people from church.
We were received warmly and Tony obviously knows about Micah Challenge. He told us that Jason Wood - a Liberal backbencher - is giving a speech in parliament about Micah Challenge in the next couple of weeks and that three speakers from each side will talk - he will be one of them from the Liberal party.
We talked about the importance of increasing aid to 0.7% GNI. His response was that our work by aid agencies needs to be considered and that that is enough to meet the needs along with the increase to 0.5%.
We left behind the info sheets from the MPH website and also told him we would like to follow him up. He is happy for that and has encouraged us to get together with other churches in the area and make presentations etc as a combined effort to be able to represent more people. He was invited to visit us at some stage and sounds very likely to do that if he is specifically invited!"
Click here for more information about visiting your politician. If you have visited your politician, make sure you let us know by filling in the response form .
Message in a Bottle
Micah Mother's Day Challenge
By Claire from Northridge Vineyard Church
"On Mother's Day this year, the Northridge Vineyard Micah Challenge Ambassador's crew took on the Message in a Bottle Challenge! Undeterred by the lack of over-sized baby bottles in the Northern Sydney area, we found some substitutes and took them to our morning and evening services with the aim to fill them up!
We spoke briefly about the Micah Challenge objectives, the Millennium Development Goals, and of course, the maternal and child health goals in particular. Micah Challenge and maternal health brochures were available to all our congregation and we found that some salient statistics were one of the best ways to get our message across! We ended up with 141 signed messages, now on their way to the Hon Bob McMullan. Next challenge? Hunt down those recycling bins for the morning tea coffee cups…"
Other Groups
Several other groups have taken part in the Maternal and Child health action 'Message in a Bottle'. These include some Micah Challenge supporting agencies, such as Baptist World Aid Australia (who collected 283 messages on Mother's Day in Dural NSW), World Vision (56 Messages at Visionfest) and ADRA (who collected 55 messages at their head office).
Click here to see a photo of ADRA's messages.
Pilgram Uniting Church in Doncaster have been promoting the Message in a Bottle campaign in their congregation and on their website. Click here to view their page.
If you have taken part in Message in a Bottle, please let us know so we can add your number to the running total. Contact info@micahchallenge.org.au
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