Spotlight on Australia

We CAN make a difference!  One 'ordinary prophet' from Melbourne tells her story of speaking up for the poor, inspired by Micah Challenge Australia...

Last week I was reminded again that no matter how insignificant we may feel, we are able to make a difference for the poor.

I had the privilege of hosting a number of ‘Survive Past Five’ parties at my church, to raise awareness of the fact that 8.8 million children will die this year before they reach the age of five.

Begun by Micah Challenge, the Survive Past Five initiative is challenging people from developed countries to group together and encourage others to speak out about the outrageous number of infants dying in the developing world from extremely preventable causes such as pneumonia and dehydration.

Across our three services we were able to share with the congregation about Micah Challenge and the Millennium Development Goals, particularly goal #4 – to reduce infant mortality by two thirds by 2015.

As a representation of the many children in the world who will not enjoy birthday number 5, two five year olds came onto the stage to blow out candles as we sang Happy Birthday to them.

Currently, within the Australian Government’s oversees aid budget, one in every six dollars goes to healthcare. Our congregations wrote messages in around 600 birthday cards requesting that the government increase this figure to one in every four dollars in the 2011-2012 budget.

The following week a delegation of us met with Mark Dreyfus, our local MP. We delivered the cards to him personally, so that he could then pass them on to Stephen Smith, our current Minister for Foreign Affairs.

I had been so nervous about emailing Mr. Dreyfus initially, yet not long after doing so I got a phone call to say he would be more than happy to meet with us! During the meeting he was very sympathetic to our cause.

Another encouraging thing for me was to witness the pleasure of those who came along in the group that had not met an MP in this manner before. One young person commented on how encouraging and empowering she found the whole experience.

At the end of the visit we gave Mr. Dreyfus a bar of fair-trade Cadburys’ chocolate and he himself commented that this shows that people do have a voice. Who would have thought that Cadburys’ would produce fair-trade chocolate even one year ago!?

In the same way we have a voice for those who do not have one. So be encouraged that what may seem to be the smallest effort, can make a difference!

Katie Ahmad

Katie Ahmad (front right) and friends presenting their 'Survive Past Five' birthday cards to local MP Mark Dreyfus

Voices for Justice, 19-22 June, Micah Challenge Australia

'Voices' is in its fifth year and will see over 300 more ordinary prophets like Katie travel to Canberra to meet with over 100 Australian politicians to keep the MDGs firmly on the political agenda.  Visit http://www.micahchallenge.org.au/voices-justice for more information. To read more about how effective advocacy is being undertaken by Christians, see our Advocacy page videos by clicking here.