Christian Concern for One World -

Hope and Inspiration at Greenbelt (click for full story)

Maranda — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:11:11 +0100

27 August 2008

As ever, the Greenbelt festival this year offered a wide range of activities, talks, music . . . not to mention the usual combination of beautiful views. . . and lots of mud!

Of all the many things on offer, how do you pick any to feature? It's hard . . . but here are two that stood out. The first was Neema Crafts, a project that offers an opportunity for disabled people in Iringa, Tanzania, to learn new skills and find work with dignity. The project was founded by CMS mission partner Susie Hart, and Neema's activities were featured at the CMS tents. Some of the Neema dancers performed a wonderful interpretation of the parable of the wise man who built his house upon a rock (pictured above). Neema's beautiful crafts were on sale, and the intrepid could even have a go at making the elephant dung paper which forms the basis for some of the crafts. (Andy Hart, Susie's husband, is pictured left holding some of the raw materials . . . .)

Conversation with Andy and a browse through the Neema booklet (available on loan from CCOW) revealed, though, that what we saw was only a fraction of what, by the grace of God, was happening in the area. The Neema projects have given new hope to people who, in many cases, had experienced much rejection. And Andy, who works in the rural development department of the Diocese of Iringa, is involved with several projects that help local communities to purify water, farm bats for fertiliser, and generally improve their health and well being through sustainable, low-cost mechanisms. With all these projects, the Harts and their co-workers have been given several small miracles in terms of people who arrive with particular skills at just the right moment . . . and they are seeing some fine progress. Inspiring stuff.

If you want to find out more, the Neema Crafts team, including the dance group, Andy and Susie, will be in Oxford on the 8th of September, giving a performance and talk at CMS.

Another very moving highlight was a talk and saying of the midday office led by members of the Melanesian Brotherhood. The Melanesian Brotherhood was founded in the Solomon Islands in the 1920s. Members take vows for a five-year period, which can be renewed. They "aim to live the Gospel in a direct and simple way following Christ’s example of prayer, mission and service," and to that end they live "as brothers to the people, respecting their traditions and customs: planting, harvesting, fishing, house building, eating and sharing with the people in all these things."

In 2000, armed conflict broke out in the Solomon Islands between two of the islands and tribal groups. The Brotherhood's chaplain has written:

[The Brothers] took up the role of peacemakers when all else had failed. They went out and camped between enemy lines, facing bullets and danger. Together with the Sisters of the Church and the Sisters of Melanesia they met with the opposing forces and tried to convince them that dialogue and peace was possible.

The Melanesian Brothers and Sisters ferried the wounded to hospital, helped women and children to safety, searched for the lost and those who had been killed and brought their bodies back to safety. Peace eventually came to the South Pacific nation – but at a price …

The price was the murder of seven members of the community -- one brother who had gone to start negotiations for peace with a militant and was taken hostage, and six other brothers who went in search of their lost companion.

In their presentation at Greenbelt, three of the brothers spoke about those who had been killed -- their personalities, their dreams, their faith. They then talked about what the community had learned about peacemaking from their experience in the Solomon Islands conflict.

"Everyone," they commented, "has a choice" about whether or not be a peacemaker. Christians have a calling to provide safe space, "sanctuary" for peacemaking. But to do this, they need themselves to be at peace: "To be reconcilers, we must be a reconciled community. We cannot talk about reconciliation if we are not reconciled."

When peacemaking, they added, it is vital to recognise every member of the group involved, to include all age groups -- especially recognising the potential of young people -- and to remember that "those involved must be the peacemakers themselves."

They spoke movingly of the way in which people seeking reconciliation need a narrative to make sense of their experiences, and noted "the Christian Gospel is the story that contains all stories, and shows the way from death to life." For them, in their shock and sorrow after the death of the seven brothers, the Passion had become a powerful help in understanding and presenting what had transpired.

Finally, the brothers discussed what they felt their experiences had taught them about God and their calling in Christ. "We have learned," they said, "that God is real" and that He calls them to "a vulnerable life for the vulnerable life giver." Whatever may come, "He is not deceiving you," they said. "But you will never know his truth unless you let go."

An Inspiring Evening with Canon Gideon (click for full story)

Maranda — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:46:52 +0100

(Canon Gideon with friends. Photos provided by Alison Williams, John Whitley)

July 2008

Canon Gideon Byamugisha is a man whose ministry on HIV and AIDS has inspired people around the world. He is in the UK now to speak to bishops and their spouses at the Lambeth Conference, where his topic will be The Crucial Witness: The Response of Church Leaders to HIV Stigma and Discrimination.

For many years, Canon Gideon has worked with Oxford-based charity "Strategies for Hope," which produces materials focused on community-based approaches to HIV prevention, care and support, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. What Can I Do?, a SFH book and video based on Canon Gideon's experiences as the first African priest to disclose his HIV+ status, has helped to transform attitudes towards those living with HIV in many countries. Canon Gideon is also linked to Oxford through the long-standing support of his work in Uganda by many local contributors to the Friends of Canon Gideon Foundation's Hope Institute.

Last Tuesday, Canon Gideon updated local friends and supporters on the directions his ministry is taking, and some of the continued challenges faced by people working on HIV and AIDS-related areas.

Two themes stood out: the need to help young people affected by HIV and AIDS to flourish, and the need to combat stigma.

The plight of young people who have lost their parents to AIDS is close to Canon Gideon's heart. For this reason, he and his wife look after numerous orphan children, to the point that he jokes, "If you come to my home, you may think you have entered a primary school!"

In addition, the Friends of Canon Gideon Foundation, which he and his wife founded several years ago, provides funding for older children to receive vocational training that will provide them with livelihoods in the future. Supported by contributions from many sources (if you would like to contribute, contact CCOW for more information), it graduated 30 children in 2007 and currently sponsors 80 children on vocational courses.

The programme has changed over the past few years: in the past, it brought students to the Hope Institute for Transformational Leadership and Development, where there were courses in tailoring, catering and bricklaying. But this restricted participation to local youth, and there were many who wanted qualifications which the Hope Institute could not offer. Canon Gideon came to the realisation that "what Ugandans are lacking is not courses, what they are lacking is money to get into the courses." Instead of bringing students to the Institute, therefore, the Foundation now offers grants that youth can use to apply to the courses that they feel best fitted to undertake, whatever and wherever those courses may be. Students are taking up diverse subjects -- as well as the traditional ones, there are pupils doing work in electrical engineering, plumbing, motor vehicle maintenance . . . "things they feel they treasure, and . . . will be marketable when they graduate."

On the question of fighting stigma, Canon Gideon noted quite simply "stigma kills." A huge percentage of those infected by HIV, he said, do not know their status. The reason is "not because they lack testing services, but because they do not want to find out." "Why," he asked, "do people fear to test . . . and to disclose?" It is because of the stigma of AIDS. That stigma springs from many sources: a fear of contagion, the idea that being positive is an immediate death sentence, an association with promiscuity and immorality, a distrust of the medicines that can help to counteract the virus.

Tackling that stigma involves working at a variety of levels. Individually, Canon Gideon will accompany people to testing centres and teach them skills to deal with a positive test result. Within the community, he runs workshops so that "people understand that a person with HIV can mix very well" and shouldn't be isolated. Within the wider African context, because help was needed to fight "stigma towards a religious leader who is positive, [which] is twice or thrice as much [as the norm]," Canon Gideon was the founding chair of ANERELA+, the African Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Personally Affected by HIV and AIDS. ANERELA+'s mission is "to equip, empower and engage Religious Leaders living with or personally affected by HIV and AIDS to live positively and openly as agents of hope and change in their faith communities and countries"

At a global level, Canon Gideon is working to promote new ways of talking about AIDS that help to reduce stigma, and to make people aware that AIDS "is a collective problem that involves the family and the nation and the global community." In particular, he is concerned that the long-used "ABC" model of prevention -- the letters standing for "Abstain. Be faithful. If necessary, Condomise" -- has unintentionally helped to promote stigma, suggesting that where one is infected, it is because of promiscuity or infidelity. By contrast, he notes, "[infection] could have been from blood; it could have been from injections." Indeed, it could have been from relationships within the context of fidelity; in some countries, marriage is a risk factor for women. To reduce the risk of stigma, therefore, ANERELA+ is promoting a formula for prevention known as "SAVE": Safe(r) practices, Access to treatment and nutrition, Voluntary testing and counselling, and Empowerment.

During his talk, Canon Gideon reflected on the moment when he discovered that he was HIV+. Long-laid plans were destroyed, as support faded away. "People," Canon Gideon reflects, "are so stigmatised. I made a pact with God that I would join the AIDS fight for the remaining part of my life to share that stigma kills and share [my] story." Seventeen years on, he invites all to join in, quoting the words of a popular Ugandan song: "Today is me; tomorrow is someone else . . . it's you and me, we've got to stand up and fight. . . ."

Praying and Acting for Zimbabwe (click here for more)

Maranda — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:12:45 +0100

"Compelling evidence of violence, intimidation and outright terror; the studied harassment of the leadership of the MDC, including its Presidential candidate, by the security organs of the Zimbabwean government; the arrest and detention of the Secretary-General of the MDC; the banning of MDC public meetings; and denial of access to the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, all have convinced us that free and fair elections are not possible in the political environment prevalent in Zimbabwe today." (ANC Statement on Zimbabwe, 23 June 2008)

"'You shall love your neighbour as yourself" (Mt.22:39). Electoral processes and outcomes are not an excuse for breaching God's commandments. The sun will still rise on June 28, 2008, well after the elections. May our present conduct help Zimbabwe rise too to assume its rightful place among the nations of the world." (Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference statement, June 2008)

The deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe over the past few weeks has been the subject of immense concern for many. Aware of violent attacks like those described in this article from the New York Times and this video, how can we respond as Christians?

In recent statements, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches and the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference have requested our prayers.

The Catholic bishops noted: "We renew the call to prayer for all our needs, which include a credible electoral process, food and provisions for our families, education for our children, medicines for the sick and respect for every human life and dignity."

The Church leaders have also requested that the SADC (Southern African Development Community) and African Union "work towards arresting the deteriorating political and security situation in Zimbabwe. " Prayers for the leadership of the SADC. in particular, would be welcome. A security troika of SADC leaders met yesterday in Swaziland to discuss the crisis. They have urged that the elections scheduled for Friday be postponed. The official SADC mediator for the situation, President Mbeki of South Africa, whose "soft" approach to Mugabe has been widely criticised as ineffective (as per this cartoon), was not invited.

Christian Aid partner the Habakkuk Trust have also requested prayers for strength, hope and the "walk to freedom" "I sense a great feeling of helplessness," their director writes, requesting the prayers for hope.

That same feeling of helplessness has been echoed by many here. But for local Church of England vicar Nigel Hawkes, it is precisely that sense that makes prayer so vital. "We have no physical means of influencing events, and what we are left with is prayer. As a Christian, I believe [praying] is a very powerful thing that we can do." We find, he adds, any power we have "in God's power."

Hawkes has been reminding himself and others to pray by wearing a black dog collar. He was inspired by Archbishop of York John Sentamu's cutting up his dog collar, and by a parishioner who came to prayer wearing a black armband on the day after the Archbishop's action. The black -- which serves, he says, "as a visible sign of our concern," is a constant reminder to "offer to God the troubles of the people in Zimbabwe and pray that there will be a resolution."

Hawkes is encouraging others to join in both the symbolic action and prayer. His hope is that if enough people join in, it will "get the whole dea of prayer for Zimbabwe into the common psyche." And, reflecting on he ways in which some previously intractable-looking problems, such as partheid in South Africa, have been relved, he adds: [sometimes there is] o human answer . . . and [after prayer] suddenly a change came about."

Some suggestions:

Find out more, and pray on what you find out. The Guardian has a good section devoted to Zimbabwe, including a blog with links to Zimbabwean activist websites. Or try following the situation -- and the changing Southern African approach to it -- through Southern African media: From South Africa, for example, the official SABC news, the Independent Online (including this reader poll), Mail and Guardian, Sunday Times and Cape Argus all have extensive coverage of Zimbabwe. Pray for the situations and people mentioned. From inside Zimbabwe itself, there are papers (for example, The Herald), which give a sense of the officially sanctioned press; The Zimbabwean is an independent paper printed outside Zimbabwe but for Zimbabweans. Go here for a discussion of the difficulties involved in reporting from Zimbabwe.

CAFOD, Christian Aid and Tearfund all have sections dedicated to the crisis in Zimbabwe, offering news, prayer points/requests, and opportunities to donate for future work. Read . . . pray . . .give . . . .

"Journey to Justice" offers inspiration on debt relief . . .

Maranda — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:13:37 +0100

The "Journey to Justice" event sponsored by Jubilee Debt Campaign on 18 May 2008 offered an inspiring reminder of all that has been accomplished on debt relief . . . and the great amount of work that remains to be done.

The message was clear: debt relief has had extraordinary results and transformed millions of lives. Tanzania, for example, has hired 62,000 new teachers. Mozambique has immunised more than a million children. These are very real causes for thanksgiving and rejoicing. But, at the same time, only 20% of unpayable debt has been cancelled. Countries still face a huge burden because of illegitimate debts (including "odious debts" made to previous oppressive regimes). Some countries are re-accumulating debts. . . . There is much more work to be done.

Highlights of the day included:

An interview with Jubilee 2000 Coordinator Ann Pettifor and campaigner Sheenagh Burrell, looking back at the Birmingham Chain in 1998 and the "ballistically motivated" volunteers who made it possible
a showing of Anthony Minghella's "Hole in the Bucket" film clip, made for Jubilee 2000 and still as powerful as when it was first broadcast (to see the clip, go to http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/Hole20in20the20Bucket+3673.twl )
Video messages from UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and former Archbishop of Cape Town Desmond Tutu (see the messages at http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/Videos20from20the20day+4404.twl )
A panel of politicians including Caroline Spelman, MP; Andy Reid, MP; and Paul Tilsley re-affirming the "real continuity of commitment" of politicians from all parties to debt relief
A panel on lobbying and campaigning featuring Maria Elena Arana from CAFOD, Muhammad Imran from Islamic Relief, Daleep Mukarji from Christian Aid, and Max Lawson from Oxfam that reaffirmed the importance of grassroots action ("They listen to us . . . because they're effectively listening to you" Max Lawson) and treating "development issues from the perspective of justice" (Daleep Mukarji)
A panel of religious leaders representing the Hindu, Christian, Jewish and Sikh traditions
A panel of Southern debt activists, including Lidy Nacpil from Jubilee South, Zambian MP Given Lubinda, Muyatwa Sitali from Jubilee Zambia, and Latoya Richards from Jamaica, who spoke of the impacts of structural adjustment and debt, the difficulties with conditionality and the need to "stop illegitimate debts from happening" afresh
An address from another former Archbishop of Cape Town, Njongonkulu Ndungane, who called for new participatory mechanisms for structuring and managing loans, greater transparency, and the channeling of relief funds into broad-based development
A look towards what needs to happen next -- and the reasoning behind JDC's new "Pick up the Pace" campaign -- with Stephen Rand, Nick Dearden and Sarah Williams of Jubilee Debt Campaign
An address by Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of Civicus and chair of the Global Call to Action against Poverty ("The White Band Campaign"), also available at http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/Videos20from20the20day+4404.twl

To find out more about JDC's "Lift the Lid" campaign on illegitimate debt and its "Pick up the Pace" campaign calling for increased debt forgiveness, go to www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk .

The DEC and Burma

Maranda — Mon, 19 May 2008 12:14:08 +0100

Just a quick note on the situation with the DEC Appeal and Burma. The high-profile difficulties regarding aid for Burma following Cyclone Nargis have discouraged many from giving to the DEC appeal. We have heard from one of the DEC agencies, however, that their aid is getting through. Due to the sensitive nature of work in Burma, the agencies are not able to name their partners on the ground, nor can they offer stories, but they say we can be confident that the aid is being effective.

Day of Prayer for Zimbabwe (click to read more)

Maranda — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:10:54 +0100

Like many people, we've been following the news from Zimbabwe with mounting anxiety since the election. Despite the bans on reporting, there is evidence of growing violence and of electoral corruption. The Zimbabwe Council of Churches, the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe recently noted that "Organised violence perpetrated against individuals, families and communities who are accused of campaigning or voting for the 'wrong' political party . . . has been unleashed throughout the country, particularly in the countryside and in some high-density urban areas. People are being abducted, tortured, humiliated by being asked to repeat slogans of the political party they are alleged not to support, ordered to attend mass meetings where they are told they voted for the 'wrong' candidate and should never repeat it in the run-off election for President, and, in some cases, people are murdered."

The Zimbabwean church leaders made their comments as part of a strong appeal for justice and peace. They have been joined by other church leaders in Africa including Rubin Phillip, Bishop of Natal, and other civil and religious activists, who brought the court interdict that prohibited arms for Zimbabwe from being released for transport to that country, and Thabo Makgoba, the Archbishop of Cape Town, who has written an open letter calling on the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Zimbabwe. In the UK, the Archbishops of York and Canterbury have also issued a joint statement on the situation.

Within this context, there has been a call for churches around the world to make Sunday, 27 April, a day of prayer for Zimbabwe.

Please do consider joining in this day of prayer, either personally or through your church.

The following prayer points are taken from the Zimbabwean Church Leaders' statement. Please pray that:

the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) may work towards arresting the deteriorating political and security situation in Zimbabwe
there may be an immediate end to political intimidation and retribution arising from how people are perceived to have voted in the March 29, 2008 elections and arising from the desire to influence how people will vote in the anticipated run-off in the presidential poll
youth militia and war veteran/military base camps that have been set up in different parts of the country may be closed
the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission may release the true results of the presidential poll of March 29, 2008 without further delay
the Zimbabwean people may maintain and protect their dignity and their vote, refusing to be used for a political party or other people’s selfish end especially where it concerns violence against other people, including those who hold different views

Please pray too for continued strength and wisdom for the church leaders and members in Southern Africa, for all who suffer from hunger and lack of access to shelter or medication because of the ongoing crisis, and for all who have been injured or who mourn loved ones injured or killed during the violence.

Please give thanks for those who have stood for peace and justice, and for the success of the campaign to turn back a shipment of arms destined for Zimbabwe.

If you would like to use a Zimbabwean prayer as part of your worship, you can find one at the Commitment for Life website.

"Christians Together on Climate Change"

Maranda — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:15:35 +0000

CCOW is one of a number of churches and agencies* putting on "Christians Together on Climate Change," an exciting day conference (9:30 am to 4:00 pm) at Greyfriars Church in Reading, designed to help Christians in the Thames Valley make a difference on climate issues.

The conference will offer super speakers, a wide range of workshops, an interactive exhibition offering resources for
individuals and congregations to take things forward, worship, a chance to discuss the issues with politicians (tbc) . . . everything you and your church might need to pray and act effectively.

The registration form can be downloaded from the link at the bottom of this blog entry (you'll need to click on the entry title to see it). It gives full details of speakers and workshops. Registration is essential, as interest is expected to be high, and the last such event was oversubscribed. The cost is £5, payable on the day.

Hope to see you there!

*The conference is organised by A Rocha, Christian Aid, CCOW, The Diocese of Oxford, Operation Noah, Reading and Silchester Methodist Circuit, SAGE and Tearfund.

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World AIDS Day 2007

Maranda — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 12:35:16 +0000

There has been some encouraging news about AIDS in the past few weeks: the latest UN report both revises the estimate of people living with AIDS downwards and suggests that the rate of new infections also appears to be slowing.

But these numbers can hardly lead to complacency: the effect of AIDS on individuals, families, communities and whole countries -- particularly in sub-Saharan Africa -- remains a source of the gravest concern. And even the downward revision of the new infection rates still indicated that 2.5 million people were infected with the virus last year.

We need to continue to take action "to restore hope" as Canon Gideon Byamugisha puts it: fighting stigma, helping individuals live positively, caring for those who have been left vulnerable, campaigning for better access to life-saving medications.

To this end, we'd suggest you have a look at our latest AIDS resource "To Restore Hope," which can be downloaded below.

We'd also recommend two events:

(1) On the 2nd of December from 6:15 to 7:45, St Mary's, Hitcham Lane, Burnham, will be holding "An Evening of Hope in Action," featuring a talk by Paul Brigham from Tearfund, and creative prayer by Gill Lovell.

(2) And on 6 December, at the Friends Meeting House in Oxford (43 St Giles), three pioneers -- Canon Gideon Byamugisha, founder of Hope Institute, Uganda; Fidel Nsengiyuvma, founder of Friends' Initiative against AIDS in Rwanda; and Glen Williams, founder of "Strategies for Hope," Oxford -- will be talking about "Effective Response to HIV and AIDS in Africa." The meeting begins at 7:00 for 7:30.

Hurricanes and their aftermath . . .

The coverage of Hurricane's Dean and Felix is largely over, but the aftermath of these storms in the Windward Islands and Nicaragua is going to affect thousands of lives for the foreseeable future.

Dean destroyed much of the Windward Islands' banana crop; in one island, Dominica, almost 100% of the crop was lost. About 20,000 banana farmers are out of work in the region, and islands like Dominica, where banana exports account for 10% of GDP, face economic difficulties. The Windward Islands are the source of many Fairtrade bananas; the Fairtrade Foundation website has eyewitness reports on Dean's impact.

In Nicaragua, one region, the Region Autonoma del Atlantico Norte [RAAN] has been particularly hard hit. The most recent Nicaraguan news estimated the number of dead at 38 and the number of those displaced at almost 16,000. It also noted that almost the entire infrastructure of the RAAN had been affected, with thousands of houses destroyed. You can see coverage of the impact on Nicaragua at the La Prensa website.

What can we do?

Pray for those who have been affected by the storms. If you would like some suggested prayers, please email CCOW.

Give to agencies or groups that are working on relief: both Christian Aid and Tearfund have information on their websites about what their partners are doing.

Act: Hurricane Felix strengthened with record rapidity, going from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in 51 hours as it moved over very warm waters. Climate Change models predict that as oceans heat up, the number of intense storms will increase. Do what you can to cut your carbon footprint; for suggestions, go to our "Climate Change" section.

Welcome to CCOW's new website

We hope that this new website will enable you, our visitors, to connect with the work of CCOW and to join us as we seek to discern ways of living God's love in a global context. To that end, we've got a number of new features, including:

an expanded "What we work on" section, with updated information about key areas of CCOW's work
an events list that can be viewed in a variety of formats (list or table) and are colour-coded by subject matter
"prayers" and "resources" pages, able to be accessed from the left bar on your screen, that gather together prayers and resouces across different areas
a "Forum" where you can discuss development and World Church matters
and a revised and expanded links page

We hope that you will find these new features helpful. If you have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to email us at ccowinfo@fish.co.uk . Please email, too, if you have suggestions --we're eager to make this the best possible website for you, so your thoughts are very welcome! God bless.

Oxfordshire Climate-X-Change

CCOW is partnering with the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University's "Oxfordshire Climate-X-Change" programme. Climate-X-Change (www.climatex.org) aims to help individuals and groups in Oxfordshire respond to all aspects of climate change. It offers resources such as a "lightbulb library," from which you can borrow different energy-saving lightbulbs to test them out at home, DVDs of climate and energy-related films, books, pub quizzes, help setting up climate-related events and more. Check out the website or email CCOW for more information.

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Welcome to Christian Concern for One World

admin — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 16:09:33 +0000

Raising awareness of global issues in churches in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire.

Helping Christians to pray and act on these issues.

Working ecumenically using a wide variety of resources.