UnitingWorld Update Issue 4, 2022

UnitingWorld is the international aid and partnerships agency of the Uniting Church in Australia. Together we work for a world where lives are whole and hopeful, free from poverty and injustice. Because every person matters.

The impact we made together

Financial Year 2022 was a tough time at home and abroad. Far from the end of a crisis, we faced the Delta and Omicron waves of COVID-19, floods up and down the east coast of Australia, a war in Europe and the global phenomenon of COVID-19 fatigue. Despite it all, together we were able to make a real difference.

It is a testament to the incredible generosity of our supporters and determination of our partners that, despite the volatility of the context, we reached 201,691 people with tangible benefits, across 31 projects in 14 countries with 23 partners. Our projects addressed poverty, gender equality and climate resilience, and supported stronger governance and management.

Our committed and generous supporters remain crucial to our success. Despite the impacts of COVID-19 on their own lives, our donors have stood with us, funding our long-term programs, and digging deep to support the emergency appeal following the volcanic eruption in Tonga.

Thank you so much!

Thank you from our partners

Julio Da Costa Protestant Church in Timor-Leste (IPTL)

“ Thank you so much to the Uniting Church in Australia for your support and friendship. We have been in partnership for a long time, back before the independence of Timor-Leste, and we are very grateful. Please continue to pray for us and please continue to work with us so that one day we can be independent in terms of finances, human resources and other things that we need. I would like to say thank you and may God continue to bless you and give you a long life to enjoy.”

“ Thank you for your partnership and supporting the economic development of women in Papua.

I’m passionate about raising up women in leadership in ways that are respectful of culture. That’s important. Working in mutual partnership allows us to lead a cultural transformation on gender equality rather than outsiders telling us what to do. Partnership can start with economic development, but must lead to sharing information, knowledge, and getting different perspectives.”

“ Partnership with UnitingWorld means we can make a bigger impact in our communities. The more people we can include the more our program will be successful! I would like to say thank you so much to all the supporters in Australia for helping us for so long, and for giving assistance beyond material. Prayer and technical assistance give us hope for us to help other people. On behalf of people of West Timor, TLM and GMIT, thank you so much for your help.”

“ I do hope this relationship will grow and grow with UnitingWorld, the Uniting Church and our partners across Indonesia and Asia. I believe that because we share the same heart for people who are needy, we are going to strengthen our relationship to each other. On behalf of the Protestant Church in Bali, our members and the people we serve, from the bottom of our heart thank you so much for the support and prayers you send. They really do help us in Bali, thank you.”

We asked some of our partners what they wanted to share with UnitingWorld supporters.

Rev Grietje (Grace) Monim Evangelical Christian Church in Tanah Papua (GKI-TP)

Marisa Christine Christian Evangelical Church in Timor (GMIT)

Bishop Nyoman Agustinus Protestant Christian Church in Bali (GKPB)

Strengthening connections with South East Asia partners

“It was a joy to be there in person and to meet with overseas partners and hear about the work they’re doing, share their joys and their sorrows, and share in the good news of the gospel together,” said Rev Hollis.

Conference delegates also got the chance to visit several community development programs run by host partner, Gereja Kristen Protestan di Bali (GKPB, the Protestant Christian Church in Bali). Rev Hollis met with program participants in rural Bali who were helped to start goat and chicken-breeding businesses and was touched by their stories.

Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) President Rev Sharon Hollis met with church partners from across South East Asia recently. While she was there, she got to see the fruits of UnitingWorld’s work in partnership with local churches and the power that Everything in Common gifts can have.

On the invitation of UnitingWorld, Rev Hollis joined our South East Asia partners conference in Bali, which brought together partners from Bali, Maluku, Timor-Leste, East Nusa Tenggara (West Timor), Papua and West Papua and Sulawesi.

As well as leading opening worship for the four-day conference, Rev Hollis led a session on the Biblical imperative for safeguarding and gave a UCA perspective on how we seek to be a ‘safe church’.

It sparked a lively and honest discussion about the historic failings of churches to protect people, as well as the cultural challenges of gender equality that our partners are working to shift in their communities.

The workshop sessions were predominantly led by partners, and Rev Hollis loved hearing more about the work they are doing with the support of UnitingWorld to develop their communities and share the good news.

Training champions of equality and anti-violence

Methodist Church in Fiji Circuit Minister, Rev Uluilakeba Ligiraki, was one of 26 leaders who attended a workshop on Gender Equality Theology, run by the church in partnership with UnitingWorld.

He found the training confronting, challenging his whole perspective about gender and what the Bible has to say about positive human relationships.

“I used to have the perspective of male-dominant rule in the family, and issues of gender were confronting to me, but after the workshop my perspective of seeing things changed,” said Rev Ligiraki.

“It drastically changed my thoughts and behaviour. Before, I used to see household chores as female work but now my wife is happy to see me helping her out in washing the dishes, ironing my children’s uniforms in the morning, cooking and other little tasks. My wife has spoken to me about the changes that she has seen in my life, and [that] she is happy about it. I really thank God for that.”

“It was remarkable to see how a few simple things like goats and chickens can provide muchneeded extra income and transform the lives of our neighbours across the world,” said Rev Hollis. “When people have better food security and a sustainable income, they aren’t just healthier but have joy and hope for the future. It fills me with the same.”

This change of perspective has also become a part of his preaching and work as a Circuit Minister.

“I now view violence against women as one of the most important issues to address especially in the church. I am doing it through preaching, teaching and talanoa sessions,” Rev Ligiraki said.  “Women in the church have now positively voiced out their opinions and men are willing to accept to hear from them in a respectable manner. That wasn’t the norm before in the circuit that I now serve.”

Thank you to everyone who has donated to our appeal to help our church partners end family violence through Gender Equality Theology.

At time of writing, we’re just over two thirds of the way to reaching our $90,000 goal to fund our partners. If you’re inspired by the work of the Pacific Church, please support their mission by visiting www.unitingworld.org.au/endviolence

Methodist Church in Fiji Gender Equality Theology (GET) Minister, Rev Noa Turaganivalu presents Circuit Minister Rev Uluilakeba Ligiraki with his GET Advocate and Trainer certificate.

A season for prayer, simplicity and generosity

Right now, it feels like our world has never needed it more.

It’s hard not to spend time dwelling on the state of our world today.

Escalating conflicts, rising poverty and hunger, floods, fires, environmental and economic uncertainty, a global pandemic lingers on...

So many crises pull our attention in endless directions. We want to help, but where do we even begin? Can any of us make a real difference?

Lent is coming. A 40-day season to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, seeking to practice a life focused on simplicity, generosity and prayer. It’s a precious opportunity to step back a little, choosing to carve out intentional time to pray more regularly, live more simply and refocus on what we can do to love our neighbours and make a difference to a hurting world.

We invite you to join us for Lent Event in 2023.

FROM THE NATIONAL DIRECTOR

Finding extra seats at the tables of power

We know that the power to drive development belongs in the hands of the local communities, and that churches are powerful partners in the delivery of effective and sustainable development led from the grass-roots.

As a Board member of ACFID*, I was able to carry this message into consultations with the Foreign and International Development ministers of the new government, to briefings with the new Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and even to a briefing with US government officials as USAID plans to reengage in our region. The USAID Pacific strategy paper now identifies churches as key parties.

As members of Micah Australia, I accompanied South Sudanese/Australian UCA minister Rev Amel Manyon with other prominent UCA leaders to Canberra in a delegation to meet with members of the new government and advocate for international aid. Amel spoke powerfully about the famine affecting her homeland:

“I’m asking the government in Australia, please do something now. People are dying because of hunger and it’s not good for us to sit and listen to their stories and not do something.”

$15 million was provided to urgently assist the hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa and Yemen. The Australian Government’s commitment in October to increase life-changing Australian Aid by $1.4 billion over the next four years was a really encouraging shift in government policy. And the energy in Australia’s leaders for fostering genuine and stronger relationships in our region goes beyond just funding. We’ve also been able to connect DFAT more closely with our Pacific partners.

We supported the Pacific Conference of Churches to become accredited to receive DFAT grants, and helped DFAT set up a Pacific Church Partnership Advisory Network – a group representing churches across the Pacific and Australia raising issues of shared concern to the Australian Government. Development aid and Pacific migrant labour have been subjects of fruitful discussion between churches and DFAT in this forum.

Our partners are formidable leaders, changemakers, teachers, scholars, peacebuilders, advocates. But more than that, they are disciples of the one who calls us all to this life of love, compassion, and generosity for all creation.

Thank you so much for helping us to bring their voices to the tables of power, and holding them in your prayers.

40 days of prayer, simplicity and generosity.

• Pray: join in prayer for our partners across the globe

• Live simply: give up something in solidarity with those who have less

• Give: raise funds to help bring hope and healing

Sign up today at www.lentevent.com.au and get some great resources, including a daily prayer guide with short prayer prompts from our partners across Asia, Africa and the Pacific.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @UnitingWorld

is an agency of the Uniting Church in Australia.

Dr Sureka Goringe National Director UnitingWorld

P.S. I really encourage you to join us for Lent Event in the new year as we seek to live more like Jesus in prayer, simplicity and generosity. It’s such a great chance to make a difference in our own lives as well as others.

* Australian Council for International Development