Australians spent $8billion on beauty products, $14.1 billion on alcohol and $9.5 billion on gadgets last financial year. That being the case, it’s sometimes hard to imagine exactly what we have in common with our neighbours in Asia, Africa and the Pacific, many of whom spend up to three or four hours a day gathering water to drink.
Author: revivewa
Khush AmadEn! Welcome! Welcome!
With these words, members of Perth’s Afghan community were warmly embraced as they arrived to support the final event of the Roshani Project for 2013, our Taste of Afghanistan dinner at South Perth Uniting Church in November.
In just 10 weeks from the launch of this project on 24 August to the dinner on 2 November, some 300 people participated in the project across 4 events – the launch and speaker night, the cricket afternoon, an onlin
e component which allowed those not in Perth to show their support, and of course the dinner. In addition to all the community involvement and outreach this project generated, almost $12,000 has been raised for TEAR’s work in Afghanistan with more coming in as Revive goes to print.
This has been a wonderful experience for us as a congregation, providing an opportunity to meet and share with so many people across our local community as well as other churches and of course our Afghan community friends. We feel greatly blessed by all the support we received. We especially thank Andrew Broadbent and TEAR, Phil and Julie Sparrow, John Broadbent and the Nedlands Uniting Church Refugee Group, the Afghan families who joined with us to make the dinner so special, and everyone who supported, assisted, encouraged and attended the various events during this intense but rewarding time.
Together we have made a difference. Thank you so much.
Judy Siddins
One of the most common forms of youth ministry, past and present, has been to organise as many awesome events for kids and young people as we can, in an attempt to keep them interested and not straying elsewhere. But when you think about all the competing demands on their time – sport, BBQs, friends, late nights out – it’s not hard to see why lots of young people don’t put church towards the top of the list.
Growing up in the Uniting Church I always knew I was a part of the ‘one holy, catholic and apostolic church’ but never understood really what that meant and how it applied to my life. Recently I have had the opportunity of representing the Uniting Church in Australia as a delegate at the World Council of Churches (WCC) Assembly in Busan, South Korea, from 30 October–8 November.
The President of the Uniting Church in Australia, Rev Prof Andrew Dutney, has launched a national appeal to support those facing loss and hardship from bushfires that devastated parts of New South Wales in late October.
Fundraising for Esperance Uniting Church for the last ten years or so has been a tasty endeavour thanks to their trusted donut machine. Selling donuts at various community events has given the congregation a pretty good reputation for the best donuts around. And now they’re sharing the love with other community groups who are also using the equipment to raise much needed funds for their own projects.
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UCAF celebrates in Perth
From all over Australia, Uniting Church Adult Fellowship (UCAF) members and guests gathered at the Esplanade River Suites Como for the eagerly awaited UCAF National Celebration 2013. It is 15 years since the celebration was held in WA.
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Destination unknown…
Ever been whisked away? Margaret Johnston reflects on letting go and trusting others to lead the way.
To celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary and my 60th birthday, my husband wanted a surprise party to be arranged for me and I had made it clear that a holiday away would be best for both of us. So, a surprise holiday it was to be. And I was about to discover what it was like having no control over a future event.
Our history is rich with courageous acts: from deciding to make our lives together in the first place, to leaving our homeland behind and coming to Australia, living in mining towns, moving overseas to Malaysia, and back here as a fly-in fly-out family. Having found ourselves in some weird and wonderful places, I was very aware of what this ‘surprise holiday’ could mean.
I recall being told once upon a time my name, translated, means ‘reckless bravery’. Is that why? So I ask. No, it’s because of my involvement with emergency services and disaster response. Ah, but what has courage to do with that?
While away on holidays I have heard the Word and took notice of the context. A young girl shot because she was going to school was called brave. A woman swimming from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage was called brave. A bystander jumping into the sea to help a person who had fallen off the rocks; a rescue crew responding to a road accident; fire fighters responding to bush fires; a young child suffering a terminal brain tumour; a kayaker trapped on an island by a crocodile; a solo bicycle rider travelling around Australia on roads shared with B-triples; someone walking across the Great Sandy Desert to raise funds for cancer research… the list continues.
Tammy Solonec knows where her passions lie and isn’t afraid to fight for what she believes in. But courage isn’t something she was born with; it’s something that has grown inside her as she’s made her way through life.
A human rights lawyer, Tammy is currently serving as a director of the National Congress of Australia’s First People, and is also on the National Aboriginal and Islanders’ Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) and the NAIDOC Perth Committee, which finds her heavily involved in the organisation events including the Survival Concerts in Perth, held annually on January 26. Add to that, in 2012 Tammy won both Young Lawyer of the Year with the Law Society of WA and Young Female Lawyer of the Year with the Women Lawyer’s Association.