Break The Chains of Injustice

This is the kind of fast I’m after;

   to break the chains of injustice,

   get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
   free the oppressed,
   cancel debts.

What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
   sharing your food with the hungry
   inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
   putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
   being available to your own families.
Do this and the light will turn on,
   and your lives will turn about at once.

Your righteousness will pave your way,

   the god of glory will secure your passage.

Then when you pray, God will answer,

   you’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’

 

(Based on Isaiah 58)

This is what severe malnutrition looks like: a compelling photograph by World Vision (US) photographer Jon Warren has become the picture of the Horn of Africa response.

Mr Warren visited Puntland - an area in Somalia that has not received much coverage in the news but one where hungry people are flowing. In this picture, he captured a moment that is reflective of both great need and great hope. The image shows Layla Mohamed, 23, holding her severely malnourished one year old son, Zam Zam. Layla fled the Mogadishu conflict with her husband and children to Puntland in the north, but now finds herself fighting to save her baby.

If you think you can spare some money to help, why not go to World Vision Australia's Horn of Africa Drought Appeal web page and make a difference.

Somebody to Wish Them Well

Many people are hungry not for bread only,

    but they are hungry for love.

Many people are not only naked for want of a piece of cloth,

    but they are naked for human dignity…

Homelessness is not only not having a home made of bricks,

    but homelessness is being rejected, unwanted, unloved, uncared for.

People have forgotten what the human touch is, what it is to smile,

    for somebody to smile at them, somebody to recognize them, somebody to wish them well.

Mother Teresa

Small Steps Towards Healthier Mums & Bubs in Afghanistan

Laila: BORN

One of the projects I have the privilege of being involved in is located in Afghanistan. This is Laila's story...

When Laila was born in Jan 2009 in the Herat maternity hospital she weighed just 800 grams and her chances of survival were smaller than her tiny arms. Nargis, a midwife trained through World Vision’s midwifery programme played a large role in saving her life. Nargis quickly applied an intravenous drip, kept Laila warm and watched her slow progress. “I spoke with the relative who informed me that the baby's mother had been trying to get pregnant for 10 years, and this baby was her last hope”, recalls Nargis.

Laila: 2 Years

The tiny baby who weighed just 800 grams is now a bright-eyed two-year-old that weighs a very healthy 15 kilograms. She is testament to the importance of midwifery and nursing training and the critical services that the neonatal unit provides in Herat, Afghanistan. Her healthy, shining face also instills hope for the thousands of children born every year in Afghanistan where the odds are sadly still against them.

Read the details of the story inbetween from World Vision Afghanistan here.



That's My Dream - Haiti

James Tabuteau has been living in a ramshackle tent camp in Haiti's capital since last year's catastrophic earthquake wrecked his home, struggling to find enough unskilled temporary work to feed his young family.

But as one of the first graduates of a free vocational training program set up by Haitian-American hip-hop star Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti foundation, Tabuteau is now a newly minted carpenter with hopes of rebuilding his life and his nation.

"The day of my graduation there was an engineer that was attending the ceremony who told me he was interested in hiring me. So I am now talking to them and I am confident I'll find the job. And they also know I was one of the best students," said Tabuteau, a 25-year-old newlywed with a baby son.

"Now I can have a stable job and you never know, I could soon have my own shop. That is my dream."

Yele Haiti has teamed up with several other organizations to help expand the skilled workforce that Haiti needs in order to recover from the massive January 2010 quake that killed up to 300,000 people and made hundreds of thousands homeless.

A class of 106 trainees graduated on July 29 in construction crafts such as carpentry, masonry and plumbing.

"Now, as a plumber I see my future differently," said 29-year-old Jean Luckson Louis-Jeune, a graduate who said he had never held a job before.

"I finished high school, but I did not have the means to enter a university. But one does not have to be an engineer, agronomist or doctor to be useful, the country also needs the professional I have become today," Louis-Jeune said.

Phorgotten Philatelics

The things we forget.

I received an email this morning that reminded me of another life. "In a land of myth, and a time of magic", 13 years ago, I joined with Nihal Hettiararchchi, and Subasinghe (Salvation Army Officers) to design a stamp. One of the more unusual things I have done.

And this morning I am informed that there is a Salvation Army Historical & Philatelic web presence that records this moment in history. Sri Lanka Stamp

The things we do!

The Triangle of Death

I recently read a speech by the Dalai Lama in which he suggested that most of the world's problems are caused by religious preciousness (my phrase not his). Today about 10 Million people are starving because of the protectionist agenda of a religious militant group who display a gollumesque preciousness that makes adherents seem as ugly as Tolkien's selfish creature.

An anti-foreign agenda that orders people to starve rather than seek assistance is not a mandate of Islam. I think that all my Muslim friends would denounce this as violently, if not more, than I do. We have the capacity to feed the hungry, heal the sick, transform our world, but whilst religious groups (Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu etc, all of whose sacred texts speak of love, compassion, care and acceptance) are more concerned with protecting their own precious agendas we will continue to see this kind of evil abuse which results usually in the suffering of the least powerful - whilst the 'fanatics' keep up their strength for the fight.

____________

MOGADISHU, July 22 (Reuters: Ibrahim Mohamed) - Islamist rebels in Somalia - who control the parts of the country where famine was declared this week - have said aid agencies they expelled from those areas last year cannot return, reversing a previous pledge.

The al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants imposed a ban on food aid in 2010, which the U.N. and Washington say has worsened the crisis, before appearing to reverse it last week.

The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) was among several groups ordered out of rebel areas which are now preparing to return, describing the situation in Somalia as "extremely dire".

The United Nations told Reuters it had not heard about any new position from the rebels and planned to take last week's pledge at face value and push ahead with food shipments by air and sea.

Al Shabaab had promised to allow relief agencies with "no hidden agendas" greater access to their territory.

"The so-called aid agencies that were already banned and named are not part of the agencies we free to work in al Shabaab areas," al Shabab spokesman, Ali Mohamud Raghe, told a news conference late on Thursday in a rebel-held part of capital Mogadishu.

"They had problems with people and had a hidden agenda. We shall also expel any agency that causes problems for Muslim society," he added, urging hungry Somalis to stay in their homes and wait for the rain to come rather than going to foreign-run refugee camps.

Some 10 million people are affected by famine and drought in a region, dubbed the "triangle of death" by local media, that straddles Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.

Investing in Hope and Happiness

I have been at World Vision Australia (WVA) now for 5 weeks, and it's been quite a learning curve! It felt as if even before I arrived my diary was full - orientation and introductory meetings, interrupted the few days I had with my team members before they all went on holidays and left me to manage the cluster. “Welcome and See you later...” he said trying to hide the smile and the desperation to get away.

So here I am: My time so far (other than the meetings) has been spent appraising and designing development projects:

• in Azerbaijan we’re going to work to reform education systems so that the business sector has faith in young people (with a focus on the disabled) who are trained in technical trades. And we are going to train and assist Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in diversified crop management and marketing.
• in Afghanistan we’re going to work with women to develop livelihood projects, (with a focus on Bee keeping) so that women and children will become self-supporting and hopeful for a future. And we’re going to work with communities to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.
• in Pakistan we’re going to train teachers and assist rural communities to educate children, especially girls. And we’re going to train and employ midwifes so that the horrific under 5 mortality rate can be arrested
• in Georgia we’re going to work with the Ministry of Health to decrease the prevalence of HIV/AIDS as a result of migratory work patterns and gender mores, through training, awareness, counselling and testing.

World Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation that seeks to transform the lives of children and communities by tackling the causes of poverty. They do this in numerous ways. One of the many exciting ways is through VisionFund. So, if you’re looking for a different way to invest in Hope and Happiness check out the video clip (below).

Afghanistan, Pakistan & Azerbaijan

23 years and 6 months (almost exactly to the day)! That's a long time to work for the one organisation. And to say that I have few regrets is perhaps even more miraculous.

[With Sandy and Alexis] the Salvos allowed me the privilege of living in three countries; learning to love, respect and trust many people that have influenced and transformed my life. Add to that the opportunity to serve in a number of other countries; to offer hope in moments of despair and you have a (so far) eventful life journey. In all these years God has been good to me - to us.

But today I move aside from this avenue of ministry into another. Soon I begin with World Vision Australia as a Country Program Manager - Middle East and Eastern Europe Region (MEER). Whilst based here in the Melbourne office, my countries of focus will be Afghanistan, Pakistan and Azerbaijan where I will work with World Vision and its partners to deliver long-term development and sustainable community building projects.

So, my ministry continues in a different uniform (no tie) but the same passion - transforming lives and reforming society by claiming dignity and worth for all (disadvantaged) people.

Our vision for every child,

Life in all its fullness;
Our prayer for every heart,
The will to make it so.

(World Vision: Vision Statement)

The Cost of Discipleship

I think I have probably preached on the theme of "The Cost of following Jesus" a few times in the last 23 years. Scripture verses come to mind: "take up your cross", "if anyone isn't willing to give up...", "by [love] will they know you are a disciple". It's all great in theory. But right now, at this moment all I know is that being a disciple, or trying to be, hurts!

The cost of discipleship for me, at this moment, means doing what I honestly believe God wants me to, even though I feel like I am letting all my heroes down. I feel like I am deserting the people I respect the most in my life. People who have been ministry examples to me. People who have taught me and supported me. People who have encouraged and equipped me. People who love me and have sacrificed for me.

I know that's not what they feel - but it's how I feel. So, right now, today: doing what God has called me to hurts. Even if it is the right thing - or perhaps, I know it's the right thing because it hurts so much.

The easiest, safest, most secure thing to do is to stay where I am - I can do that, I can be good at that, I can make a difference there. The most comfortable thing to do is to stay put. But I suspect that's also the reason I can't stay. Because I wasn't taught to be comfortable. (I have preached a number of times that God's job is not to make us comfortable, it's to get us home safely, and our partnership with God is to get others home safely. Time to practice what I preach.)

The cost of discipleship, for me, today - is to leave the secure, known comfort and dive head first into the unknown - trusting and believing that I may just have heard God right.

"Christ did not give you a car and tell you to push it.

He didn't even give you a car and tell you to drive it.

You know what he did?

He threw open the passenger door, invited you to take a seat,

and told you to buckle up for the adventure of your life."

(Max Lucado)

Thanks Salvo Studios for the chance to tell some of my stories. Keep up the good work Ben and David.

WHAT GOD REQUIRES OF ME

“Because, like Christ, Christians are to love the world and be agents of its redemption, God’s callings also relate to human needs, whether those needs are in the church or beyond it. When a Christian perceives a genuine human need and has the abilities needed for attending to it, that need becomes a spark of God’s calling to him.” (Douglas J Schuurman)

Those that have read my blog before will no doubt have picked up on my ministry and life theme – transforming lives. I am fairly passionate about the ministry opportunities that exist to partner with those less fortunate than I to bring about improvement in their circumstances.

From my earliest recollections my parents have taught me, in their living and teaching, that we are all equal, and that we all deserve the same privileges. But since this is not a reality, where there exists an obvious disparity (in opportunity, in voice, in privilege) that I exist to give priority to the poor, the marginalised, the ignored and the rejected.

I am convinced that God has grown, equipped and called me to be engaged in ministry within the humanitarian relief and development sphere. This passion and equipping has been assisted by The Salvation Army (Australia Southern and New Zealand Territories) in their willingness to support my ongoing graduate and post-graduate education and to release and support me to be engaged in humanitarian ministry. I am extremely grateful for this support.

I have had the privilege to attempt to put my actions where my mouth is on a number of occasions now. Each opportunity has served to remind me that I am a man of privilege and that whilst I can rationalise this unfairness of my privilege, a pure accident of birth and my resultant upbringing, I am not able to forget it, nor allow it to pass as an academic life-framing exercise.

So, when World Vision (Australia) offered me an opportunity to become fully engaged in aid and development work I decided that it was time for me to follow my passion and what I believe to be my calling, and make the most of my equipping. On June 3 I will remove myself from my current Salvation Army appointment and commence a new chapter of my life.

I am so very grateful for the Salvo investment in my life, but at this time there is no opportunity for me to grow my talent (Matthew 25:14-30) within this movement. I was born into The Army and have served for 23 years as an Officer and had some amazing opportunities and met some incredible people. So it is not easy to say thank you, and move away – but I believe that God requires that we each, as individuals, are accountable for our service.

This is what God requires of me (and frankly it scares me at the moment)!