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Since 2004, the governments of Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG) have worked in partnership with PNG’s seven mainline churches and their respective Australian partners to promote ‘holistic, inclusive, and sustainable development’ under the Church Partnership Program (CPP).

UnitingWorld and our partner, the the United Church in Papua New Guinea (UCPNG), have been part of the CPP since its beginning. It is now one of the longest ongoing projects of Australia’s aid program. The CPP supports churches to improve their capacity to deliver crucial health and education services, especially in rural and remote areas, as well as a broad range of activities in support of gender equality and social inclusion, peace and prosperity, and disaster risk reduction.

In 2004 it was acknowledged that half the health and education services in PNG were run by churches and church-based agencies. Today it’s closer to 70 percent!

As a result, the CPP’s new phase aims to shift the emphasis from a service delivery model to a social accountability model, recognising that the PNG government needs to be held responsible and that it needs to have the capacity to deliver vital services to its people.

“The new focus of the CPP is about empowering civil society to hold their government to account to provide the country’s health and education services,” said UnitingWorld Head of Programs Peter Keegan. “To do that requires the kind of broad-based collaboration that already exists between churches via the CPP.”

Peter joined other CPP member churches in Port Moresby recently for a two-day forum to “Rethink development in PNG through theological principles and effective governance”.

Speaking at the forum, the Australian High  Commissioner to Papua New Guinea Jon Philp reflected: “Church networks and activities are often seen as a lifeline for the country’s most remote and disadvantaged communities, and they are equally important to PNG’s growing urban population. The success of the Church Partnership Program relies on the reach and impact of this network, along with the collective commitment of the churches, government, the private sector, civil society, and other partners.”

United Church in PNG leading the way on gender equality and social inclusion

One of the remarkable successes of the CPP is that through the partnership, despite each of the seven church denominations in PNG having very different theological and organisational cultures and traditions, they are working together to change lives.

UCPNG is the lead agency on Gender Equality Theology and social inclusion within the CPP and is determined to keep this central to their church’s mission.

As PNG remains one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman or girl, the task of shifting cultures of men’s violence is a huge, long-term challenge.

The CPP has a critical role to play. Representing 71 percent of the country’s Christian population, CPP member churches wield enormous social influence.

The current phase of the project aims to better leverage the influence of church leaders and increase the community outreach of churches to shift negative gender and social attitudes that are commonly held in PNG towards women, people with disabilities and other socially excluded groups.

Working with media partners, churches will be helped to develop media engagement strategies that enable them to engage multiple forms of media (print, radio, digital) more effectively to maximize the reach and influence of messages of gender equality and anti-violence.

The CPP will also be tracking changes to community attitudes to be able to demonstrate the impact. We’re excited to see the results!

Please pray for the vital mission of the Church Partnership Program as it enters its 20th year of faithful collaboration to improve lives and communities.

For more details on the new phase of the CPP in Papua New Guinea, visit www.unitingworld.org.au/projects/church-partnership-program

 

Photos: UCPNG staff at a recent workshop and talanoa on the impacts of gender-based violence in PNG.

 

The Church Partnership Program is supported by the Australian Government
through the Papua New Guinea–Australia Partnership.

Act2 is a major transformational change project focused on shaping the future of the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA). As part of the Act2 Project, every Uniting Church member, council and community is being invited to take part.

We’ve contributed our perspective through a written submission, and in an online forum where we were joined by international partners. Rev Dr Cliff Bird from the United Church in the Solomon Islands (UCSI) was a panellist in the forum and shared some generous feedback about what partnership with the UCA has meant to UCSI.

“Our understanding of mission has evolved since we entered into partnership with the Uniting Church in Australia. It has been broadened and enriched as it has moved from a narrowly spiritualistic understanding to a more holistic understanding,” he said. “We now share a greater focus on practical concerns like ending poverty and violence against women and taking faithful action on climate change. These were not seen as core business of the church, but now they are part of our life and understanding of what it means to follow Jesus.”

Rev Dr Bird also pointed to how the partnership has strengthened UCSI as an institution. “Our decision-making processes have improved along with our ability to look inwardly. It has resulted in us becoming more accountable and transparent and create more rigorous policies and procedures. We’re so grateful to be able to share knowledge and expertise, stories and resources back and forth with our partners in Australia as elsewhere.”

In our written submission to Act2, we highlighted some strengths of the UCA and major challenges as we see it. We also provided some ideas for change and how we and our international partners could help:

“As Christianity becomes a minority faith in an increasingly diverse and secular Australia, we have much to learn from our partner churches who come from multifaith contexts, and who fight poverty and injustice with dogged determination without diluting their identity as Christians or being reticent about sharing God’s desire to know and love all people.”

You can read our full submission here.
You can watch the recording of the online International Partnerships and Ecumenical Relationships forum here or read a reflection/summary of the discussions here.

If you’re reading this, you care about the mission of the Uniting Church – please contribute your thoughts and ideas to the Act2 project. Discerning the shape of the UCA in future needs all the wisdom we can gather.

Find out more about the Act2 Project and how you can engage at www.act2uca.com.

 

UnitingWorld joins the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) and the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC) in expressing strong support for a First Nations Voice to Parliament.

As an agency of the of the UCA, UnitingWorld shares our church’s commitment to walk together with First Nations people in seeking justice and a greater say in decisions that impact their communities.

Inspired by this commitment, we support a constitutionally enshrined Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament, and believe the referendum is a significant opportunity to honour Australia’s First Peoples and to work in solidarity for a better future.

“Our church heard the message from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders through the Uluru Statement from the Heart, seeking Voice, Treaty and Truth, and it was an incredibly generous invitation to our nation,” said UnitingWorld National Director Dr Sureka Goringe.

“Our response to their generosity is to affirm our support and solidarity.”

“UnitingWorld’s approach to development is driven by the principle that lasting social change can only come when people are free and empowered to determine their own futures. A Voice to Parliament could be a powerful step to end the severe disadvantage experienced by the First Peoples of Australia,” said Dr Goringe.

UnitingWorld also acknowledges and commends the recent statement made by Pasifika church leaders through the Pacific Conference of Churches, many of whose members are the UCA’s partner churches:

In solidarity with our Aboriginal and Torres Straits sisters and brothers, we urge our Pacific Diaspora in Australia to support the Uluru Statement from the Heart and to vote in favour of enshrining a Voice to Parliament for First Peoples of the land now called Australia. (Part of the Kōñe Jubar Statement, May 2023)

UnitingWorld echoes the statements of senior Uniting Church leaders, UCA President Rev Sharon Hollis and UAICC Interim National Chair Rev Mark Kickett.

“This is an historic opportunity for Australia to acknowledge and honour First Nations people and their deep spiritual ties to this land and to walk together as a nation toward a better future,” said Rev Hollis.

“As Second Peoples and as Christians in this land, we are called to confront the oppression, dispossession and racism faced by First Nations people.”

“Now is the time for us to hear the call of God to seek justice by doing what is right for our nation,” said Rev Kickett.

“Like Jesus, we are called to be bearers of justice, not just in our words, but in our actions and by changing systems which continue to deny the place and rights of the first Australians.”

Rev Hollis and Rev Kickett encourage Uniting Church people and communities to inform themselves about the Uluru Statement and what it asks of our nation, and to create respectful spaces for yarning about the impact a First Nations Voice will make.

The Uniting Church in Australia Assembly has collected a range of resources here: https://uniting.church/voice/

UnitingWorld National Director Sureka Goringe appears in this video from
Uniting Church NSW & ACT saying YES to the Voice.


Project overview 

In 2015, UnitingWorld supported our partner church, Church of North India, Diocese of Eastern Himalayas, to build a small school in a remote mountain village in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas, enabling boys and girls from neighbouring hills to access good and affordable education.  

The area is steep jungle-covered terrain, with families mostly eking out a subsistence livelihood. To get to school, children previously had  to walk up to four hours through jungle tracks. The dropout rate was very high, especially amongst girls. Young people were at high risk of human trafficking as they sought livelihoods in low-skill jobs. 

We now support this school to fund post-graduate training for their teachers, to enable the school become accreditated for government subsidies. We also contribute towards operating costs, so that they can provide affordable, high quality education for children living in this remote region who cannot afford high fees. 

Training for the teaching staff is progressing well and most staff members have now successfully completed their teacher training degree. Students are excelling in academic as well as extracurricular activities and are actively participating in inter-school events and competitions held in Kalimpong. 

In addition to a global pandemic, challenges this school community face include a staggering remoteness, lack of access to health services and facilities and an systemic poverty. Floods and landslides regulalry disrupt transport, and the staff are sacrificing their own career opportunities to stay and teach at this school. 

Together, we are helping our partners address these issues by strengthening the school and local services. 

Since this project started, attendance at the school has increased from 117 to 193. Thirteen teachers have been employed and classes have increased to Grade 12. 

Current year 

Getting students back to school after the pandemic has been a challenge but there are currently: 

  • 162 students from Grade 5 to 12 
  • 25 new students took admissions in Class XI (Grade 11) 
  • 16 new students joined the school for classes V-IX   
  • The school received 100% pass results in West Bengal Higher Secondary Examinations and 10 students passed with first division in the examinations. 

We also helped develop a Diocese-wide child protection policy that applies to churches, youth groups, Sunday schools and schools. School staff have all participated in workshops, enhancing the school’s understanding of child protection, disability inclusion, education and project management. 

UnitingWorld National Director Dr Sureka Goringe and International Program Manager Shreshtha Kumar visited the school in April 2023 to meet the school staff, management committee members as well Diocesan officials to discuss the key priorities for the project.  

The meeting with the School Management Committee (SMC) highlighted several achievements of the school, however, the teachers /staff members also made UW aware of the salary related challenges that pose barriers to staff retention. UW has brought these matters to the attention of the school Principal and these aspects are being taken into consideration in the annual planning process. 

2023-24 plans  

The next financial year brings a new phase of the project. During UnitingWorld’s visit, the discussion with students’ guardians/parents highlighted some interesting priorities for the school to consider. Community insights will be important to consider in the planning for the coming year.
Some of these insights included:  

  • More opportunities for extracurricular activities (music, sports, dance etc) to expand children’s career horizons. 
  • More education on substance abuse prevention  
  • Parents also requested more emphasis on career counselling sessions to prevent children from getting into daily wage work.  
  • Improved spoken English and computer literacy skills for students to improve their career/employment options. 
  • Some parents emphasised the need for more awareness on gender equality messaging, so that girls don’t feel the social pressure to marry early, and are able to pursue their goals and aspirations after gaining quality education.  

Prayer Requests 

  • The Diocese has been without a Bishop for some time. A new Bishop is likely to be elected soon, however in the absence of a Church leader most administrative burden has been managed by the Secretary and Treasurer of the Diocese. Please pray for a smooth transition and a spirit of unity in the Diocese.  
  • The pandemic and climate change issues have increased precarity for farming families in the region. The tea gardens are becoming unprofitable with climate change, and this has further aggravated poverty and unemployment for the tea garden workers. 
  • These socio-economic factors are pushing many families to migrate for work, and this has resulted in an increased risk of trafficking over the last couple of years.  
  • The school’s principal, Deena, and the Diocese project manager Sanjay, as they work together to support the Diocese, staff, students and their families.  

Thank you once again for your partnership in this life-giving mission! 

Mardi Lumsden, Donor Relations Manager
MardiL@unitingworld.org.au  

UnitingWorld 

In response to a growing food crisis in Maluku, our church partners are mobilising all the resources at their disposal to improve food security and tackle poverty.

We’ve been supporting the Protestant Church of Maluku (GPM) and their development agency to expand their initiative of planting community kitchen gardens to address growing poverty and food insecurity.

Three new community kitchen gardens have been planted in 2023, using the land of local congregations and individuals in the church.

“That the church is driving this is also an encouragement for the people,” says Rev Jeny Mahupale, who has made her own family land available for the project.

“We’re still in an early trial with different vegetables like spinach but the results are good so far with fruits like rambutan and pineapple.”

The General Secretary of the GPM Synod, Pastor S. Sapulette, describes the initiative as a “planting movement” and hopes Rev Jeny and the church’s leadership will inspire others to join.

“This is a movement that was born from reflecting on the struggles of our congregations and the reality we face together as a nation,” said Pastor Sapulette.

He hopes that more congregations can be empowered and trained by Rev Jeny and her team to make their land available for economically productive crops to help tackle the food crisis.


Please pray for the work of our partners in the Protestant Church of Maluku and for an end to the food crisis there.

Thank you for enabling us to support our partners to expand this project through your donations.

We are gathering more stories from this project to share over the next few months.

Photos: Rev Jeny and the team at the community kitchen garden.

At UnitingWorld, we know that young people in Uniting Churches and UCA schools are incredibly passionate about injustice. We also know how important it is for young people to develop a deeper understanding of mission and how we can do it effectively and responsibly.

UnitingWorld Donor Relations Manager, Mardi Lumsden, has the privilege of sharing our work with young people in schools and Uniting Church gatherings.

One of Mardi’s outreach activities is a simulation game exploring the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It places groups of young people into a scenario where they imagine they are in a community in India, Tuvalu or Papua New Guinea; facing different challenges including floods, COVID, and well-intentioned churches sending second-hand goods. The participants explore what is most important for their community’s survival.

Mardi runs this activity each year as part of the Senior Religion Curriculum at Moreton Bay College in Queensland at the invitation of the College Chaplain, Rev Peter Lockhart.

“The engagement by UnitingWorld in the simulation with Year 12 students is an excellent opportunity to build a sense of global citizenship as students are encouraged to think about the UN development goals and look at the world through a completely different lens,” Rev Peter said.

Mardi also ran the activity with 80 campers and 20 leaders at the Moreton Rivers Presbytery youth camp, Easter Madness, in Queensland in April.

Camp Director and Presbytery Youth and Young Adult Minister, Rev Fa Matangi, said it was a great experience that linked well to the camp theme of ‘Redefine’.

“We love having UnitingWorld come and share what they do with the young people at Easter Madness,” she said. “This was important for the campers to know that we are part of something bigger than our local churches, that awesome work is getting done outside their own suburbs.”

Having run the activity in many different places, Mardi said it is always enjoyable and inspiring to see how people respond.

“I’ve run this activity with people from the age of 8 to 88 and each group is different. They always bring their own experiences to the activity and ask different questions,” she said. “I love seeing lightbulb moments when people realise the world isn’t on a level playing field when it comes to injustice or poverty, and that there are sustainable ways the church can help.”

By inspiring a new generation of mission-minded people, we think we can help young people gain a greater sense of purpose and meaning in their lives as they continue our shared journey, changing lives in partnership with
the global church.


Contact us if you are interested in running a UnitingWorld activity with your group, or inviting a UnitingWorld speaker to your church. Phone 1800 998 122 or email info@unitingworld.org.au.

We’re excited to welcome Rev Dr Apwee Ting as our new International Partnerships Manager.

In the role, Apwee will nurture connections between the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) and partner churches overseas, as well as facilitate theological and missional dialogue within the partnership networks. His deep familiarity with the rich cultural diversity of the UCA and passion for building relationships across cultural divides will be an invaluable asset.

For the last seven years, Apwee has worked for the Uniting Church Assembly, firstly as the National Director of Multi/Cross-cultural Ministry and then as a valued founding member of the Assembly Resourcing Unit (ARU). In his work with the ARU, Apwee’s support for National Conferences, his wise counsel regarding relationships with partner churches overseas and the respect he has earned within the diaspora communities of the UCA have been an asset to the national work of the Church.

Apwee’s role with the ARU was formally closed and he was inducted into his new role with UnitingWorld at a ceremony at Pitt Street Uniting Church in Sydney on 4 May 2023.

We look forward to this exciting new chapter!

UnitingWorld Board and staff members welcome Rev Dr Apwee Ting at his induction ceremony.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, significant progress had been made to alleviate poverty.

In the first two decades of the millennium, global poverty rates had been cut by more than half and there was good reason to be optimistic about the future. 

The optimism spurred world nations to come together in 2015 and agree to work towards an ambitious set of Sustainable Development Goals. Number one on the list: eradicating extreme poverty for all people everywhere by 2030. 

The pandemic plus rising inflation and the impacts of the invasion of Ukraine have set progress back as much as nine years in many low-income countries. 

Despite the United Nations declaring a “Decade of Action” to accelerate progress and get back on track, efforts to end poverty are not yet advancing at the speed or scale required to meet the goal.  

Where do we Christians fit in to this and what can we do?

At the turn of the millennium, Christians were at the forefront of anti-poverty movements like Make Poverty History, Jubilee 2000 and Micah Challenge (now Micah Australia).

In Australia, activism has continued through the years, with Christian groups lobbying successive Australian governments to increase funding commitments to sustainable development across the globe.  

The position of the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) has been that Australia should commit to the internationally-agreed target of contributing 0.7 per cent of our Gross National Income (GNI) to sustainable development initiatives by 2030. 

After a long period of the deepest cuts to the aid budget in Australia’s history, the Albanese government has restored a modest increase, as well as partial indexation to ensure it grows over coming years.  

There’s hope again!  

But of course, it isn’t just about governments. It’s about all of us.  

We in the UCA, through UnitingWorld, are blessed to be a part of a powerful network of people and organisations working together to make sustainable progress to end poverty in our world. 

The lives and work of our overseas partners constantly show us what is possible even while faced with huge challenges.  

Take our partners in Bali.  

Imagine a tiny group of Christians, living amongst staunch Hindus. They make up less than two percent of the population and live on the cultural margins, with little power or influence. But led by the Gospel to bring good news to the poor, they set themselves to weaving a web of relationships.  

They win the trust of the poorest in their community by listening to them. They bring together village elders and government representatives. They reach out to their international church partners for support. Then, slowly but surely, they become the catalytic center of a movement of social transformation. 

Because of their hard work, people blindsided by COVID-19 have the chance to start again with new livelihoods. Women, young people and people with disability are able to have their say in how their village uses government grants. Families get access to health services and children go to school. And, best of all, the communities become more resilient and more able to deal with setbacks and disasters. 

This is the story of our partner, the Protestant Christian Church in Bali. Through them, we have the great privilege to be a part of their incredible community development work to end poverty in rural villages.  

Every day, our overseas partners are impacting the lives of people and helping communities overcome poverty in real and lasting ways. 

It’s a joy to be able to support them in it.   

The movement to end poverty is formidable, but smaller than the need requires. 

So everyone is invited, and everyone has a role to play. 

Together we can end poverty. 

Photos: After he had to leave his job to look after his elderly mother, Komang was struggling to make ends meet and was losing hope for a better life for his family. Supported by UnitingWorld, the Protestant Christian Church in Bali helped him start a small chicken-breeding business that has given him an entire new future. 

You can help us make a powerful impact this tax time

We’re fundraising to resource the critical work of our church partners in the Pacific, Asia and Africa; giving people the tools and opportunities to lift themselves out of poverty. 

Right now, your donation will be combined with funding with the Australian Government to make up to six times the impact ending poverty! 

Donate today at www.unitingworld.org.au/endpoverty 

Here at UnitingWorld, we believe the most effective way to help people overcome poverty for good is sustainable development in partnership with local communities.

Our partner church’s project to end poverty in rural Bali is a great example of the lives that we can change, and how by working together we make a bigger impact to end poverty.

It’s a program that helped thousands of families keep their heads above water during the pandemic and that is now helping people like Komang, his wife, Desak, and their three children escape intergenerational poverty.

Komang comes from a low-caste farming family. Growing up far from the tourist circuit and its employment opportunities, he never had the chance to pursue an education but was fortunate to secure a job as a driver for the provincial government.

When his father died of COVID-19, he had to leave his job to look after his elderly mother at home (pictured). He worked as a day labourer for fishermen nearby and tried building back the family vegetable farm, hoping to make a life of it. He worked hard to provide for his family and hoped to give them opportunities he didn’t have.

But in the quiet village economy, Komang was only just managing to make ends meet. When the economic downturn hit, he started to despair that he wouldn’t be able to afford to pay for his children to go to school or have proper health care.

He couldn’t see it, but a whole network of people was working together and was ready to help him find a path to a more secure, hopeful future.  

Komang heard about the Maha Bhoga Marga Foundation (MBM), the development agency of our partner, the Protestant Church in Bali, from the elders of his village who were hosting a meeting to connect the community with MBM staff.

“We received information from the village that there would be a visit from MBM, who could help with our low income,” said Komang. “So, we attended a meeting together with twelve other families from our community. They listened to our struggles with the economy, job-losses, high cost of living… and explained how they can help.”

Komang told them his biggest challenges were learning how to grow a new business and finding money to start. Our partners said they could help with both.

UnitingWorld supporters helped resource our partners to provide Komang with technical help to launch a chicken-breeding venture and cash to buy the things he needed to get started.

Working hard to make the most of the opportunity, Komang turned 100 chickens into a thriving small business! He can now afford to send his children to school and buy the essentials they need.

The dream that I have always hoped for is that our family can change for the better, to do more prosperous work so that we can have a decent life and without lacking anything.

The role of the MBM staff means a lot to our success. From the beginning until now, they accompanied us in providing help and and group training with others who were given the same support. This way we can each make improvements, sharing the experiences of raising chickens.” 

We talk a lot about the importance of partnership at UnitingWorld, because we really do believe that when we work together — churches, local communities and leaders, people like Komang, and you and me— we unlock the most effective route out of poverty.

And when partnership is at its best, all parts are able to give and to receive and to celebrate the incomparable joy of each life made more abundant.

 


You can make a powerful impact this tax time 

We’re fundraising to resource the critical work of our church partners in the Pacific, Asia and Africa; giving people the tools and opportunities to lift themselves out of poverty. We hope to raise $500,000 to continue this life-changing work.

Right now, your donation will be combined with funding from the Australian Government to make up to six times the impact ending poverty! 

Find out more and donate at www.unitingworld.org.au/endpoverty 

 

This project is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP). Thanks to ANCP, we’re making a huge difference together; lifting families out of poverty and helping people improve their lives.

“As Christians, we are called to walk or to voyage in the way of Christ. To tread lightly on the earth and to sail gently on the seas. We are called to act justly, to be compassionate and to live humbly with our God.”

As part of the inaugural UnitingWorld Sunday event, which launched on 7 May, we asked our long-time friend and partner in Fiji, Reverend James Bhagwan, if he would prepare a sermon on what it means for us to be part of the global body of Christ.

As General Secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC), Rev James is passionate about ecumenism and working together to see justice in our world.

From the deck of the traditional voyaging canoe, the Uto ni Yalo, he shared a video message on 1 Corinthians 12:14-26 ‘one body, many members’ and what the passage means for people in the Pacific.

“As members of the global family of God, the global household of God, we are reminded that we are our sisters’ and brothers’ keepers,” he says.

“In this time of climate crisis, as creation is groaning, as our sisters and brothers continue to cry out for justice: economic justice, political justice, social justice, justice for creation…

We are called to act.”

During his sermon he also extended a generous acknowledgement of the missionaries who travelled across the Pacific islands, and the importance of the continuing partnerships we hold at UnitingWorld.

In addition to the sermon, a full liturgy, information booklet and worship playlist has also been created to help churches host a UnitingWorld Sunday service and learn more about what we do in partnership with the global church.

Glenbrook Uniting Church, NSW

“The worship resources made it easy to adapt to our congregation,” said Rev Ellie Elia, minister of Glenbrook Uniting Church in NSW.

“The recorded sermon by Rev James Bhagwan was beautiful and powerfully portrayed how we as a local congregation in the Uniting Church in Australia, are a valued part of the ‘crew’ on Christ’s Pacific canoe, through the work of UnitingWorld.

“It was a gift to celebrate and support our global neighbours,” said Rev Ellie.

“The liturgy that was prepared for us was really well done,” said Dr Sue Fairley at Chermside Kedron Uniting Church in QLD. “It’s so exciting to hear about the work of UnitingWorld and to celebrate that this is part of who the Uniting Church is.”

You can host a UnitingWorld Sunday service whenever it suits your church calendar. It’s a great way to connect with our partners and fundraise for their incredible work. You can see the full range of resources and order them for your church at www.unitingworld.org.au/sunday

Watch Rev James’s full sermon below (8 mins).

Direct download video  | Full video credits on the Vimeo page.

Visit UnitingWorld Sunday resources page