National Coordinators' meeting, Limuru, July 2009

The World Evangelical Church continues its mobilization against poverty

Micah Challenge launches its campaign 10.10.10

Kenya, Nairobi.- From the poorest continent of the planet, Africa, evangelical leaders from more than 30 countries all over the world that lead the Micah Challenge Campaign, renewed their commitment to mobilize the evangelical church in raising its prophetic voice in the fight against poverty.

The National Coordinators of the global "Micah Challenge" campaign from Asia, Latin America, Africa, Europe, the United States and Australia met to evaluate the political influence achieved in the last years with respect to changes in the achievement of the Millenium Development Goals and at the same time the evangelical churches' theological transformation and their social commitment. From the 9th to the 11th of July, 32 world representatives made an assessment of the global needs, of the level of accomplishment of the MDGs and of how to motivate churches to raise their prophetic voice towards the achievement of these.

It was within this framework that the campaign 10.10.10 was launched, pointing towards accountability and a renewed commitment on the part of world leaders, 10 years after the Millenium Declaration was signed by more than 190 countries. This request from the world's Christians, 10.10.10, will be carried out on the 10th of October of 2010, the month of the fight against poverty, and it seeks a large-scale mobilization of the church in global prayer, at the same time that we expect Christian congregations of the world to advocate politically at the local level in order to implement public policies supporting the achievement of the MDGs.

The prayer of this campaign arises out of the heart of the Bible itself. The heart-rending prayer of Nehemiah claiming for a full life for its people that return from exile will be the theological framework that inspires the 10.10.10 and that will motivate Christians all over the world towards concrete actions to fight against poverty and to demand the achievement of the MDGs on the part of the countries that signed the millennium declaration.

"This is an opportunity to bring together the agendas of the north and the south, and to demonstrate the power of political and religious advocacy of a global, Christian movement" states Erika Izquierdo, representative for Latin America. Joao Martins, from Portugal, assured: "this is a big campaign, a big mobilization, a big response to Christians and a big opportunity to be part of it". The Burundi representative, Francoa Ndibwami, said that 10.10.10 is a truly important event, as it reminds our leaders about their social responsibility towards the community and its promise to reduce extreme poverty.

The Micah Challenge is a global effort from the World Evangelical Alliance and the Micah Network, formed by more than 300 Christian organizations around the world dedicated to social transformation, development and justice in 75 countries.

Julio 14 de 2009

Communications Office
Micah Challenge International