Go Green

East West Organics on West Coast Rd,Glen Eden sell stainless steel bottles and Kathmandu have their own range.
visit these websites:
www.kleankanteen.com
www.ecotanka.com

Dreaming with the Volume UP

A silent community, merely observing the events of the time, would not be a Christian community. (Karl Barth)

Dream up the kind of world you want to live in and dream out loud. (Bono)

What is your dream? Is it possible to be a Christian and be silent? What have you observed that you think we should be making some noise and speaking up about?

In 2008 Fairtrade Farmers across the world recevied $800,000 from NZ'ers through Fairtrade premiums, thats on top of being paid a fairer and stable price for their product. Awesome effort NZ, goes to show that as consumers we have the power to change the world for the better.

Malcolm raised the issue of 25000 children needlessly dying due to poverty every day. How many children will $800,000 save? I dont know the answer, but i do know $1,600,000 would save a lot more.

Thanks to the Salvation Army for endorsing Fairtrade in 2006. And thanks to those in The Salvation Army all across NZ who have been part of a trade revolution. I know there are others out there in our movement who havn't made the change, perhaps now is the time to seriously consider it personally and in our corps and centres.

So weather its a cup of tea, or a pair of jeans or a t-shirt, make it fair!

Happy Fair Trade Fortnight

To read the full report check visit http://www.fairtrade.com.au/files/FTA_6ppPubDocNZ_web.pdf

Pigs on the News: can we get some perspective?

Today, over 25,000 children will die around the world.

"The silent killers are poverty, hunger, and easily preventable diseases and illnesses... In spite of the scale of this daily/ongoing catastrophe, it rarely manages to achieve, much less sustain, prime-time, headline coverage." (www.globalissues.org).

Why isn't this news worthy?

• This page:http://www.globalissues.org/article/715/today-over-25000-children-died-around-the-world.
• To print all information e.g. expanded side notes, shows alternative links, use the print version:
  • http://www.globalissues.org/print/article/715

Heroes of Mine

The crew from nitechurch of The Salvation Army and the community of the North East Valley in Dunedin. Heroes who ran from the peaks of Treble Cone to the surf of Dunedin to fundraise for the local hospice... that's some 250km in the name of justice and neighbourliness.

What is happening where you're at? Who is your hero?

A New Movement of Enough is Enough

Radical, eh. What do you think? Would you join this movement?

Anzac Day

Anzac Day is a day to collectively remember how we think of ourselves and of what makes us interdependently 'us'. We remember a story that is potentially open to each gender, every generation and to both Maori and Pakeha. The Anzac story is a deep story and a multifaceted source of identity that we can share in together. John Bluck says this:

"Our identity as peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand is emerging, for both Maori and Pakeha, and the Anzac story is part of that journey, more thoughtfully, with less jingoism and flag waving than ever before. Increasingly, Anzac is a word that more New Zealanders, young as well as old, can claim. It is a story that acknowledges fear as well as courage, outrage as well as obedience, skepticism as well as idealism, disaster as well as brilliance, horror as well as great beauty. Anzac is no longer a story told to the beat of drums of war."

(John Buck, 1998, Long White and Cloudy).

"Greater love hath no man than this; that a man lay down his life for his friends."

(Jesus, the King James version)

Speechless

What can we say?

What should we be saying to our brothers and sisters in Fiji?

Shifting Sand

I'm encountering everyday a classic debate. Its the historic chicken and egg dilemma. What or who is the agent of causality in society? Should we blame the individual or should we find fault in a sick environment that fosters social problems? Is there an alternative to this dualistic thinking? Does it matter where our thinking starts? What is the interconnection between individual behavior and the nature of the society in which we live? The Salvation Army has tried to stand in the middle of this dualistic debate and has tried to keep it in tension with its mission statement of

- caring for people

- transforming individuals

and

-reforming society.

However, what gets the most air time? Which gets the most emphasis? Why? What is that saying of our own thinking?

We came, We walked, We conqured. Thank You!

The Oxfam Trailwalker- in my books, a grueling experience! We completed 100km over 32 hours on 4/5 April in Taupo. Our team, through its highs and lows hobbled to the end with the support of a crew who supplied our every need. This walk, I labeled 'epic' by the end. Epic for many reasons. The physical demands on our un-athletic and inexperienced bodies and the sheer mental determination that edged us on was overwhelming (and still is). More over, Epic, in the way that this event went far beyond ourselves, it was the partnershpip we had with those all over the country who encouraged us, sponsored oxfams work, and thought of us over that weekend. I feel as though, I am just one in a team of over a few hundred who have journeyed through this experience with us. You, our team have raised over $5000 for Oxfams work. Priceless.

This is what happens when we are connected, when we simply give what we have, when our values override our financial concerns. Thankyou, keep going, we have work to do!