“Looking for God on the campaign trail”
By Tim Costello

Yet in recent elections John Howard and Kevin Rudd did speak out publicly about their Christian faith and even attempted to lure the Christian vote. There has not been the same overt pitch for the Christian vote during this campaign. Yet, ironically, it may still have a profound impact on an election that appears to be on a knife edge.”

Read the rest of the article here

From World Vision:

Green & Black’s chocolate to go Fairtrade!

Green & Black’s chocolate has announced that it will convert 90% of its range to Fairtrade by the end of 2010, and its entire range by 2011. This is exciting and very welcome news!

These announcements are great news for cocoa farmers in developing communities. Through this Fairtrade deal they will receive economic, social and environmental benefits, empowering farmers, their families and communities.

This commitment by Green & Black’s, which is owned by Cadbury, supplements Cadbury’s existing commitment to make its Cadbury Dairy Milk product Fairtrade and available to Australians by Easter this year.

You may have heard that multinational company Kraft Foods are expected to confirm the purchase of Cadbury Global in the coming days. In welcoming Green & Black’s announcement, World Vision calls on Kraft to honour Cadbury’s commitments to covert its product range to Fairtrade.

For more information read the Green & Black’s and Fairtrade joint media release.

‘The Project’ is officially back up and running again after a break over the holiday season—you’ll be seeing regular posts from here on in.

For most of us, this year has begun well. For others, it has been tainted by disaster. You have no doubt heard about the devastating earthquake in Haiti. On Tuesday January 12, a catastrophic magnitude 7 quake struck approximately 25 kms west of Port-au-Prince (Haiti’s capital). According to some estimates, up to 200,000 people are tragically reported dead.

All of a sudden, this tiny Caribbean nation has been cast into the international spotlight. The nations of the world are lending their support and resources to respond to the disaster and aid agencies are appealing to the world for humanitarian aid all in an effort to lend a helping hand to Haitians. I personally gave to World Vision’s relief effort and I encourage you to do the same.

Now, here’s the thing. Why does everyone care so much about Haiti all of a sudden? On January 11, Haiti was just as desperate as it was on January 12. There is a strange phenomenon that occurs when a natural disaster strikes—we all of a sudden become sympathetic. Why? Is it because we feel that a natural disaster is the only justifiable reason to respond hastily to human tragedy in the third world?

Are not hunger, disease, dirty water, inadequate shelter, internal conflict etc good enough reasons to respond hastily? 30,000 children die each day from hunger alone. Where are the celebrity tele-fundraisers or charity sporting events for them? Is it because we feel that a natural disaster, unlike systematic poverty, isn’t their fault and they are therefore deserving of our help only in this situation?

The same thing happened with the 2004 Tsunami. Wow, what a response! But why did we care so much about death in Indonesia when it was by Tsunami as opposed to hunger? Haiti is a really interesting example, they have a complex past and a very complicated political and social situation today. A victim of European colonial enslavement, Haiti continues to struggle with external political influences.

Corruption, structural violence, disease, desperate poverty, slavery, despotism, conflict and environmental devastation are rife in Haiti. This tiny nation was often an object of critical engagement throughout my undergraduate political science degree, often cited as an archetype of systematic oppression. It is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and the rest of the time, it flies under the radar.

If there was ever a country that needed help, a plight that ever needed to be broadcast to the world, a story that ever needed to be told—it was Haiti. But being a victim of structural violence, systematic rape and starvation is apparently not as newsworthy as being a victim of an earthquake.

As my friend Richard Fleming points out, Japan and California have had much stronger earthquakes in more densely populated areas than the one that hit Port-au-Prince, yet the death tolls have been relatively minor. The high death toll in Haiti is purely a product of its complete and utter vulnerability due to its poverty – an issue that clearly has never been worth a front page story.

“More than 200 years ago, Christians campaigned successfully for the abolition of state-sanctioned slavery. Unfortunately, despite their achievements, slavery still exists today. World Vision desires to see a world where every child has the opportunity to live out life in all its fullness.

We invite your church to participate in Abolitionist Sunday, an event created for churches to speak out against human trafficking and slavery, and to provide opportunities for action for your church members.

Using the tools and knowledge provided by World Vision’s Don’t Trade Lives campaign, churches can use their creativity and energy to uniquely demonstrate their commitment to seeking justice, helping the oppressed, and defending the cause of those in need. (Isaiah 1:17)

Abolitionist Sunday is held on the Sunday before Advent (usually the second last Sunday in November). In 2009, this is Sunday 22 November.”

Download the information sheet to find out how your church can become an abolitionist church.

For those of you in Brisbane or the Gold Coast, there is a ‘Modern Day Slavery’ forum and screening of ‘Call + Response‘ tomorrow (Saturday).

‘Modern Day Slavery’ forum has been carefully developed to be an engaging, inspiring and meaningful experience. It will focus specifically on trafficking in persons within the Asia Pacific region. Trafficking in persons (TIP), as the 2nd largest criminal activity, is a complex problem. This forum will give you a greater awareness of TIP and its multi-faceted nature, yet leave you equipped with how to progress change and combat this huge problem.

The forum includes plenary sessions, workshops, stalls, a photo exhibition and the pre-screening of Call and Response. The forum is packed full of interactive learning opportunities, with workshops designed to give you the chance to delve in more depth into issues and topics of interest to you. More info: http://www.moderndayslavery.net.au/

‘Call + Response’ is a first of its kind feature documentary film that reveals the world’s 27 million dirtiest secrets: there are more slaves today than ever before in human history. CALL+RESPONSE goes deep undercover where slavery is thriving from the child brothels of Cambodia to the slave brick kilns of rural India to reveal that in 2007, Slave Traders made more money than Google, Nike and Starbucks combined. A pre-screening of ‘Call and Response’ will follow the conclusion of the forum. More info: http://www.callandresponse.com.au/

Brian McLaren is in Australia and will be visiting churches in Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney his week. Find out more here.

I received an annual report the other day for Anne, my World Vision sponsor child. When I looked at her photo, smiling from ear to ear with her big white teeth, I almost cried. This child lives and breathes simply because I give up a measly $40 a month! How incredible!

But there’s a great story behind how I chose my sponsor child Anne. My friend Ashlee works for World Vision and I asked her to choose a new child for me after my original child left the World Vision system. I asked her to find me a cute kid from Africa.

For some reason, Ashlee politely rebuked me for what she understood as a grave injustice. “Why does the child have to be cute?” she pleaded. She proceeded to explain how the ugly kids always stick around the table a lot longer than the cute ones and sometimes don’t get chosen at all.

What a horrible reality! So I told her, “Alright, find me the butt ugliest kid you can possibly track down and I’ll sponsor them.” Well, she sure did! Anne was definitely far from cute. But no less deserving of sponsorship than any other child on that table.

It’s interesting to see how little prejudices like that play out without noticing them. Am I more inclined to be friendly to a person if they are good-looking? Check this out. How much importance do we attach to outward beauty? How often do we see overweight or ugly people leading worship, doing the news or being featured on our flyers?

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight” – 1 Peter 3:3-4

Look out Melbourne (4th Aug) & Brisbane (5th August), Vision Generation (the youth arm of World Vision) is coming to equip you to STIR the World! As part of World Vision’s STIR Sessions, we’ll be uncovering the truth about the world’s biggest food crisis ever. » Read the rest of this entry «

Thoughts of chocolate usually conjure up the most pleasant of memories. When you think of chocolate, you don’t usually associate it with slavery, human trafficking, and exploited labour. Well, the truth is, there is a very real association between these sad realities and the chocolate industry. Watch this video: » Read the rest of this entry «