Uniting Aid is a caring service providing emergency relief and other services to vulnerable people in the City of Stirling. Years ago, we operated our op shop out of a garden shed at the back of the church’s premises, which comprised just a house converted as best we could into an emergency relief centre. This garden shed was very small and also very hot, and there were many days during the summer when we could not open the shop because it was too hot to work in.
This week, from Sunday 14 to Saturday 20 October, is Anti-Poverty Week. Rev Sophia Lizares, Chaplain at UnitingCare West offers Revive readers this reflection. UnitingCare West is a Uniting Church WA agency providing care and support to many of WA’s most vulnerable people.
Poverty is a serious issue, but it doesn’t mean you can’t have fun raising money to tackle it. Members from a range of Uniting Church WA congregations have recently shared in some delicious Sri Lankan curries and danced to Bollywood music as part of a combined effort to raise much needed funds for five preschools in Sri Lanka.
Susy Thomas, one of the event organisers, was particularly glad to see people enjoy themselves.
Dianella mother, Alwynn Hynes, wanted to give her son, Bobby, something special for his first birthday, something he could reflect on in later life as an event that helped shape the person he would become. That birthday present was the ‘gift of giving’.
Last year, the ecumenical churches raised an incredible $2.1 million through the Act for Peace Christmas Bowl. Uniting Church members across the country generously contributed over $990 000 to provide food, shelter, medicine and health care to some of the world’s most vulnerable people.
The theme for this year’s Christmas Bowl is ‘When did I see you hungry? When did I see you sick? When did I see you a stranger?’
Jess Xavier spoke to Rev Stephen Larkin, minister at Nedlands Uniting Church, about what it means to take part in this much loved ecumenical tradition. The Nedlands congregation has been supporting the Christmas Bowl for over twenty years.
This year the Uniting Church in Australia celebrates its 40th anniversary. Throughout 2017, Revive will feature significant events for the life of the church during that time.
While not specifically an event, this edition we wanted to celebrate the huge number of faithful volunteers who serve in the Uniting Church. From working with community services to providing church administration; pastoral care to leading worship – Uniting Church volunteers are doing amazing work all over the country.
Through UnitingCare West’s Winter Appeal, enough funds have been raised to turn the lights on at Tranby on Saturdays for the first time, on 15 July. Funds won’t last the year yet, so initially only core hours and services, including a free hot breakfast, showers, clothing, groceries and support from experienced staff, are offered from 7.00–10.00am on Saturdays.
With no sheltered Saturday morning services available in Perth for the homeless community, UnitingCare West made it their mission this winter to offer services to those most in need. Tranby, in East Perth, offers free breakfast, shower facilities, support services and a warm venue to the homeless community. As a mission based organisation, all of UnitingCare West’s work is person-centered: starting with the individual, and building programs and supports around their needs. Working where others don’t, UnitingCare West deliberately researches needs and implements solutions, where it finds that individuals are falling through the cracks.
The new Makes You Wonder app puts a program developed by Rev Dr Ian Robinson, while on beach mission, into the hands of people in their busy lives.
Ian said the materials were originally designed for “people being people and talking to each other about what was on their hearts. And if you open your heart to somebody, they meet the Jesus who lives there.
“Makes You Wonder is a resource which helps people connect with their communities and their world. The overall theme is to help people find their voice, with their own faith, in their own world. It doesn’t ask people to run more programs, but put this kind of authenticity into the people you already are,” said Ian.
UnitingWorld is the Uniting Church in Australia’s agency for working with people in Asia, Africa and the Pacific as they build lives free of poverty, and share the good news of Christ. UnitingWorld believe the two can’t be separated; they keep this work connected through ecumenical partnerships with churches in their communities, caring for people regardless of religion, politics or other boundaries.
Cath Taylor, from UnitingWorld, shares with Revive how this overseas community services agency is making big change from small change.
Australian Aid Funding
Right now, UnitingWorld is combining donations with Australian Aid Funding to give your gift up to six times the impact for people freeing themselves from poverty. In recognition of both the generosity of Uniting Church donors and the success of UnitingWorld projects, the Australian Government has made special funding available to select programs. UnitingWorld must first raise $1 for every $5 available in Australian Aid Funding.
Building solidarity
UnitingWorld doesn’t believe in charity – we believe in solidarity. We do everything in partnership with others who are committed to building on their strengths, long-term. This means there’s no expectation of a ‘hand out’ and everyone we work with is striving to make the most of their opportunities. This is the mindset that truly yields big change.
Investing long term
Our approach is to invest long-term in people: providing them with business training and solutions to poverty that give practical tools to take control of life. We help people start their own small businesses like breeding livestock, growing vegetables, selling second-hand clothes and repairing furniture or mobile phones. Once the loans we provide are paid back, they’re used again to kick-start someone else’s future.
Wise use of resources
We don’t waste money building things communities can’t use, handing out items that will need to be resupplied again and again, or using staff from Australia when local people can do the job themselves. We listen to and respect our partners because we’ve known them for years and have good relationships with them – they tell us what they need to make changes, and we get them the resources.
Accreditation
We’re accredited with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) through the Australian Government and we pay a decent wage to our administration staff, rather than relying on the goodwill of volunteers. This may sound boring, but it actually means that not only are we using the best ideas to get things done, you can also be sure that the money you give is accounted for, our staff are well-trained and properly recompensed, our partners have sound business practices and no resources are wasted.
To give an end-of-financial-year donation to UnitingWorld call 1800 998 122 or visit www.unitingworld.org.au/freedom
“I just wear my second pair of pants and stay in my house until it is over.”
This was the response from one of the young West Papuan women when asked what she usually does when she gets her period.
In many countries and regions, including West Papua, it is not uncommon for women and girls to withdraw from school, employment and social connection when they are menstruating. This can put them persistently behind in their education, risk their income security and place unfair stigma upon them. Coupled with poor hygiene practices and limited access to appropriate sanitary materials, girls can end up falling well behind in many of the development outcomes that groups like the UN suggest we should be trying to improve.
Enter Ann Gobby and Days for Girls.
Ann is a Uniting Church member and part of the Black Pearl Network that supports the development work of Uniting Church partner church, Gereja Kristen Injili Indonesia di Tanah Papua (GKI-TP).