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This week two things happened within hours of each other. I awoke to the news that BP are ditching their climate goals and instead going to focus more on oil and gas production; and we had our annual Christian Aid Scotland supporter Gathering, where Gerardo Calderón spoke about the urgency of dealing with climate change now.
Speaking about our work in Guatemala, he made it clear that climate change is not something that may happen in the future, but something that’s happening now to families in the Global South. It impacts their ability to feed their families and live well on their land.
He also said the interventions the people are making to conserve water, farm differently and practice agroecology will not be enough without urgent action from the Global North to tackle the climate crisis.
People in Sudan are in crisis. We cannot allow them to be forgotten.
Farmers facing hunger and poverty are doing their best to make a difference, churches are looking at net zero targets, all the while vast companies abandon climate targets because it dents their obscene profit margin.
How do we pray in the face of such glaring injustice? How do we pray in a world where those with wealth and power so brazenly trample on others? At our carol service, John Bell, member of the Iona Community, challenged us to pray like Mary:
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. Luke 1: 52-54
We are strongly committed to inspire and encourage churches and individuals to hold poor communities in prayer.
For 80 years Christian Aid has been working for justice, challenging systems and structures that keep people poor. And at the heart of most of these injustices is money.
Profit being made on debt owed by low-income countries; on unfair trade rules; on avoiding paying tax; on exploiting workers; and on not taking seriously a climate crisis that affects us all.
The unstoppable power of hope is what motivates us to keep going in the face of what seem like impossible challenges. An active hope that involves us raising our voices to demand that all of God’s people are treated with dignity and equality and can live free from the misery of poverty and want. Because we still believe in Life before Death.
Thank you for your ongoing support and as we approach Christian Aid Week, please contact the office if there is anything we can help you with. Look out for opportunities to hear from partners – we have three partners from the Middle East with us in Edinburgh on Wednesday 19 March.
We will also be marking 80 years of Christian Aid with a special service at St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, on Saturday 17 May. Then in September we are looking forward to marking our anniversary with a service on Sunday 21 September at Inverness Cathedral.
Val Brown
