A Perth event bringing together various faith-based and community groups has raised $25 000 for bushfire relief.
Perth Unites for Bushfire Relief was held on Monday 27 January in Hyde Park, Perth. The Uniting Church WA, through the Social Justice Commission, joined the City of Vincent, Perth Mosque, Buddhist Society of WA, Haka for Life, Corroboree for Life, Manup Tutangata, Muslim Aid Australia and more.
Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), issued a pastoral letter to Australian churches in response to catastrophic fires in many parts of the country.
One Sunday afternoon our front doorbell rang, and in came Kelvin Woodward, Treasurer of our congregation, Kardinya Uniting Church.
“Hi Betty,” he said. “Are you still collecting used stamps?”
“Yes,” I replied, “For Frontier Services!”
When Kelvin said he had a few boxes for us, I gestured with my hands a box the size of a shoe box.
“No,” Kelvin said, spreading his arms wide to indicate a very large box.
Farmers in WA are facing desperate drought conditions inland, while those in the north are still recovering from the floods of two years ago.
Inland, WA farmers are battling the impact of the worst drought in living memory. The grass is dead. The ground is barren. Hand feeding stock is relentless, physically demanding and it takes most of the day and most of the farmer’s energy. Then there is the crippling financial pressure as feed and water prices soar.
It’s been an incredibly tough time for people in the bush, especially our Aussie farmers. In the latest issue of Frontier News, Greg and Bethany Stace, share their struggle with the ongoing drought and how Outback Links volunteers made a difference to their family.
“It’s been really difficult with this drought, so having these volunteers really saves us…You can sit down and have a chat over a meal. It gives you a mental break from the stress,” said Greg.
You can make a real difference to our farmers by hosting a Great Outback BBQ.
After a record hot start to 2019 and a soul-destroying dry Winter forecast, Frontier Services is calling on all congregations to host a Great Outback BBQ in support of our farmers who have been affected by drought, fires and floods.
Rev Dr Stephen Robinson, National Disaster Recovery Officer for the Uniting Church in Australia, recently visited Tonga, in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Gita, which affected Island nations in the South Pacific including Tonga, Samoa and Fiji. He shares some of his experience with Revive.
On Monday 12 February, Tropical Cyclone Gita devastated the islands of Tonga, with winds of 230km/h whipping the Southern Coast of the main island of Tongatapu. Locals had taken warnings seriously and prepared as well as they could, but lightly built houses were no match for the monster storm.
The fact that it struck at night probably saved scores of lives, as people were bunkered indoors and avoided injury from flying roofing iron and falling trees. The negative is in the lasting memory of families who huddled together through the terror of a sleepless night of pitch darkness and screaming wind, hoping and praying their place of shelter would hold together.
With the dawn’s light, people ventured out to assess the damage and found this particularly confronting. Many houses lost all or part of their roofing, torn metal and splintered wood, thousands of fallen trees and palm fronds scattered. Rain continued to inundate many houses that had escaped the worst of wind damage. Power poles leaned precariously or snapped off completely, and power lines lay across muddy roads.
Jannine Jackson has been appointed as the new national director of Frontier Services.
Jannine comes to the role with extensive experience in fundraising and marketing in the faith and non-profit sectors, both in New South Wales and nationally.
Her background includes senior leadership positions at the McGrath Foundation, the Children’s Hospital at Westmead and Mission Australia. She is a member of Toongabbie Anglican Church in Sydney’s west.
The general secretary of the Uniting Church in Australia Assembly, Colleen Geyer, said she was looking forward to working with Jannine.
The President of the Uniting Church in Australia, Stuart McMillan, has asked church members to lend their support to Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) appeals for communities suffering in the aftermath of Cyclone Debbie.
“Our Church will be there to support people in need and help Queensland and northern NSW recover,” said Stuart.
“Please continue to pray for the safety and the welfare of all affected communities, as they come to terms with their losses.”
“I ask all UCA members to please try to support our appeals, which go to support ministry in these communities.”
Cyclone Debbie made landfall on the Whitsunday Coast as a Category 4 storm with winds of more than 260 kilometres an hour on Monday 28 March causing extensive damage.
Five days later water, shelter and communications are still limited into towns of Ayr, Bowen and Proserpine.
Torrential rains from the weakening cyclone have also seen rivers in south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales reach record peaks, causing major flooding in Beaudesert, Lismore and the Tweed Valley.
Tens of thousands of residents had to be evacuated.
The President of the Uniting Church in Australia, Stuart McMillan, has called Australians to keep New Zealanders in their prayers after a series of powerful earthquakes hit the east coast of the South Island overnight.
Two people are confirmed to have died and there has been extensive damage to roads and infrastructure.
“Right now our sisters and brothers in Aotearoa need our prayers as they confront the effects of another serious earthquake,” said Stuart.
“Our ecumenical friends in the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand begin their annual Assembly this week. We have informed them and the Methodist Church of Aotearoa and New Zealand of our prayers and concern.”