Rt Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin, Bishop of Dover has joined with campaigners around the world to pray for the rubbish problem which is blighting communities living in poverty.
The special downloadable prayer video<https://vimeo.com/865999979> is for international development charity Tearfund’s Rubbish Campaign Week of Prayer and Action which takes place from Monday, October 30th until Sunday, November 5th 2023.
The week comes ahead of the next round of negotiations for the first ever UN treaty on plastic pollution. Tearfund staff and activists will be at the talks in Kenya to make sure that the voices of waste pickers and people living in poverty are heard.
Around the world, one in four people have no safe way to dispose of rubbish, meaning many are forced to live and work among piles of waste. This is making people sick, releasing toxic fumes, flooding communities and causing up to a million deaths each year, that’s one person dying every 30 seconds.
Photo Credit: Antoine Giret via Unsplash
Bishop Rose said: “Our world is in a mess in so many ways. Among other man-made problems, we’re facing mountains of plastic pollution and our addiction to single-use plastics is only making it worse. But Jesus told his followers that even the smallest amount of faith can move mountains.
“Join me and a global movement of Christians, from the UK to Australia, New Zealand to Zambia, in praying for the UN plastic treaty talks and bringing an end to this rubbish problem.”
Tearfund is encouraging churches and individuals to check out their free resources including a prayer video, prayer guide and even daily texts to pray for those most affected by the plastic crisis. Visit www.tearfund.org/weekofprayer<http://www.tearfund.org/weekofprayer> for more information.
Photo above: Rt Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin, Bishop of Dover
Churches in Zimbabwe, supported by the charity Tearfund, are working to help families overcome poverty despite a backdrop of plummeting social and economic fortunes.
A number of factors have meant Zimbabwe is facing hardship. Climate change has hampered food production, financial crises such as hyperinflation have discouraged investment and HIV has left Zimbabwe with 1.3 million orphans.
Tearfund’s local partner in the country, Zimbabwe Orphans Through Extended Hands (ZOE), was set up in 2003 as a response to the number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Today, ZOE continues to support local churches as they work to meet their communities’ needs.
Kester Munzara, 56, lives north of the capital Harare and was unable to provide food for her family or send her children to school. Kester said: “Before I met the people for ZOE I was behind in life. It would hurt when I couldn’t provide for my children and I would pray day and night.”
Working through local partners, Tearfund has helped support families like Kester’s, so they can build on the skills and resources they already have. Kester received training through ZOE, such as conservation farming, which meant she was able to grow maize and raise cattle.
Kester said: “We were taught about self-help groups and how to start income generating projects. I bought cattle after I was taught conservation farming by ZOE. I then bought a cart and a plough and started sending my children to school. We are now a people who can work for ourselves. I am even now able to employ others.”
This harvest season, when Christians traditionally share food parcels with the wider community in need, Tearfund is launching an appeal for funds to support communities to grow their own food. Tearfund does this by providing skills and training through the local church alongside local partners to provide training which builds the community’s resilience.
In March, a report from Tearfund showed that churches in Africa are highly effective catalysts for helping communities lift themselves out of poverty. Individuals surveyed in the report saw improvement in every measured aspect of economic and social wellbeing, including access to food, medicine or schooling, resilience to unexpected events, and financial earnings.
Elizabeth Myendo, who leads Tearfund’s Disaster Response work in Southern and Eastern Africa, said: “Zimbabwe has seen multiple crises for years, yet with funds from Tearfund supporters, we can help more families adapt and grow despite their circumstances, as we have seen in Kester’s case.
“Tearfund’s support has helped people across the world in initiating their community development and addressing the community needs, through building health centres and schools, through access to clean water, by building roads and bridges, all while using their own resources.”
The World Cup in Qatar is marred with controversy: reports of migrant workers exploited, injured or killed, working in terrible conditions to build stadiums, hotels and infrastructure for the tournament. Sadly, these issues aren’t limited to this football tournament: exploitation and slavery is happening everywhere; it’s rife in the supply chains of the smartphone we check the latest score on, and in the clothing we wear.
An estimated 28 million people are in forced labour slavery globally, three million more than five years ago. Three charities, Compassion, IJM, and Tearfund have joined forces to take a stand against the injustices that force people into slavery around the world. They had this message for Sorted readers: “With your support we will help families through the global food crisis and empower communities to lift themselves out of poverty so that they are less vulnerable to traffickers; and we will bring victims of slavery and violence around the world to safety and see perpetrators brought to justice so that they can’t harm others. We believe in a God who calls us to seek justice, and that when churches and charities unite, miraculous change becomes possible.”
Desmond Tutu famously said: “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.”
