10.10.10 - One year to go! London, October 2009

Media Release

For immediate release

October 10 will mark one year to go till Christians around the world unite for a BIG day of prayer and promise to see half a billion people released from extreme poverty.

On Sunday October 10, 2010, 100 million Christians will pray for fresh vision to take action on poverty. Over 10 million will take part in the BIG Promise.

Micah 2010 is an initiative of Micah Challenge, a global campaign by Christians in over 40 countries to remind world leaders that time is running out to meet the eight Goals set in 2000 that are designed to ensure food, medical care, clean water, access to markets and primary education for all.

Joel Edwards, Micah Challenge International Director, thinks the events of October 10, 2010 will be prophetic. "As people of God, we are reminding the world that God stands for justice for the most vulnerable. We have seen swift and expensive action to deal with the financial crisis. We call for the same serious attention to poverty."

2010 will mark ten years since nations promised to get serious about poverty, when they agreed to the Millennium Development Goals. There will only be five years left to make the promise a reality.

Progress has been made but the food crisis, changing climate patterns and the economic crisis have pushed millions more into daily uncertainty.

In 2010, Christians will be praying and making a BIG Promise to speak and act with the poor. As a sign of their promise, people will make a handprint that will become part of a global message to national leaders.

"The message", according to Sophie Nyokabi, Micah Challenge coordinator in Kenya, is simple. “We want our leaders to take their promises seriously. In Kenya we live with poverty - 56% of our people live on less than US$1 a day.

"Churches work hard to provide education and health care. But we also want to speak to our government so that they cannot ignore the needs, so that they act honestly."

Ms Nyokabi says that churches in Kenya and other countries are learning to speak out for integrity, just like Micah, the prophet.

Micah Challenge is encouraging churches to do a BIG hand-over of their handprints to their local politician, asking for definite and practical action. The aim is to visit over 1000 political representatives globally with 10 million hands of promise.

For more details see www.micahchallenge.org

For interviews, contact Amanda Jackson, Micah 2010 coordinator, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it