This article was originally posted on the Finn Church Aid website

FCA will be supporting 4,000 crisis-affected children and youth in Hama area in Syria with access to quality education in a safe and protected environment.

Finn Church Aid (FCA) has been granted over 680,000 USD from the Syria Humanitarian Fund to support 4,000 children and youth to access quality education in Hama area, Syria. 

 After ten years since the war broke out, the Syrian refugee crisis remains the largest displacement crisis of our time. About 6.2 million people are displaced within Syria, and nearly 12 million people in the country need humanitarian assistance. At least half of the affected people are children. 

The war has also left the education system in ruins. More than one in three schools are damaged or destroyed, and many are used for other purposes than education. Some schools operate in double or triple shifts to accommodate the massive influx of displaced children.  

Meeting the needs requires collective efforts from national, regional and international educational actors, says Karam Sharouf, FCA’s Education Programme Manager in Syria.

“Education is the key to comprehensive human, economic and socially sustainable development. Therefore, continuous support should be provided to the education sector in Syria, and educational capabilities that could contribute to rebuilding Syria should be developed“, Sharouf says. 

Quality education through rehabilitating schools and training teachers 

In the communities that FCA will support in rural Hama, approximately one thousand children are out of school, setting the enrolment rate at 77 per cent. Poverty and a lack of safety and security remain critical barriers to accessing education. Protracted displacement and limited economic opportunities have forced people in Syria to adopt negative coping strategies, including child marriage and child labour. This is usually more common in villages without schools, says Sharouf. 

“There are many cases of early marriage, and many families rely on their children working due to the absence of the father, who might have died or travelled away“, Sharouf says. 

Schools constitute a protected environment for children and enhance their well-being, but currently, schools are overcrowded. They also lack doors, windows, heating systems and learning materials. Sanitation facilities are largely unusable. FCA will rehabilitate school buildings to make them safe and accessible and construct inclusive and gender-sensitive sanitation facilities.  

The need for teacher training is enormous as the number of teachers in Syria’s formal education system has declined by more than half in the past five years. The remaining teachers have not received systematic in-service training during the war, and newly recruited teachers often lack the required qualifications. FCA arranges teacher training that includes child safeguarding and psychosocial support, and equips schools with teaching materials and recreational kits, for example, craft materials and sports equipment. 

The programme will also focus on ensuring access to quality education for children and youth through non-formal education, such as remedial classes and accelerated learning that helps learners to catch up with their age-grade after years out of school.  

“These groups will be able to continue education and keep up with the academic achievement of their peers, thus reducing their chances of dropping out of school to a minimum“, Sharouf says. 

FCA has substantial experience in providing quality education services, especially in emergencies, and is a solid partner of local actors already implementing education activities in Syria. 

The landscape of Beirut and the lives of hundreds of thousands of its residents, changed in an instant on the afternoon of August 4, 2020. At 18:00 local time, over 2700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded in a warehouse in the port of Beirut, killing hundreds, injuring thousands, and displacing over 300,000 people.  “Hundreds of thousands became homeless in seconds,” said Sylvia Haddad of ACT member Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR)’s Joint Christian Committee for Social Service in Lebanon (DSPR-JCC).

ACT members, including DSPR and the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), began to respond through the local churches and their programmes. “Every helping hand was needed,” Haddad said. “A JCC youth group in Dbayeh camp insisted on going to Beirut to help.”

The youth, along with everyone else who could- including people living with disabilities- pitched in to clean up. The blast levelled buildings, shattered glass, and destroyed homes and livelihoods in a wide radius of Beirut.

Beyond assisting with the cleanup, DSPR-JCC began to support affected vulnerable people in four camps around Beirut, providing food vouchers, food, hygiene supplies, and helping to meet household needs.  “ACT Alliance gave us our first support from their emergency funds [Rapid Response Fund] while we approached other donors for help,” Haddad said.

MECC took an active role in coordinating the various churches in Beirut in helping them to respond effectively and cohesively, avoiding duplication and sharing resources as best they could. MECC churches provided food, hygiene supplies, COVID kits, health care, life-saving items, and livelihood support.

In addition, MECC prioritized giving unconditional cash or vouchers to affected families. “Unconditional cash lets people buy what they need, and respects their privacy,” said Samer Laham of MECC. “We also gave unrestricted cash so people could buy what they need from the local market.” This cash allows the local economy to pick up, and for local farmers and merchants to be supported.

Haddad also sees the value in providing cash to affected families. “Cash is the best in this context- people do not always prefer lentils and rice,” she said, noting that cash allows them to buy the food that is best for their family needs.

Laham noted a continued need and role for churches in the response to the blast. “People need moral and spiritual support to absorb the trauma,” he said. “They will also need help to cope with the approaching winter, and with their children’s education needs.”

MECC and DSPR, along with Christian Aid, Diakonia Sweden, and Norwegian Church Aid, have joined in launching a $3.2 million appeal for ACT’s humanitarian work in responding to the Beirut blast.  The appeal will target 40,480 people living in the affected area who lost family members or property to the explosions. Particular focus will be placed on supporting children, women, the elderly, people with disabilities, and vulnerable families who do not have the financial capacity to cope.

The full appeal can be read here, and those wishing to pledge to the appeal are asked to email George Majaj, Humanitarian Programme Advisor for MENA.

This is an excerpt of the World YWCA / YMCA Week of Prayer booklet. To download the

full booklet click here

Breathing together in solidarity

By: Elaine Neuenfeldt, Act Alliance Gender Programme Manager

At times of catastrophes and calamities it is difficult to breathe.

Catastrophes are not affecting everyone equally – they tend to intensify inequalities and exacerbate injustices.

The current pandemic is taking away of breathing capacity, as well as our analytical capacity to understand and explain the changes the world is going through. Our words and concepts are not broad enough, are not fitting in this new reality, the “new normal” we are facing. We need to find how to breathe and how to live in this new reality where social distance, loneliness and fear seems to rule relations. We need to find ways to flourish relationships that are framed in solidarity and love, in the midst of this unjust world, and to transform this world for the better. To find words that help us to breathe through this pandemic – as the Latin term suggests – cons-pirar (conspirāre) – to breathe with, to breathe together. To breathe in communities that are rays of hope, helping each other to shine, in resilience and in resistance.

Biblical inspiration

In the Old Testament story, there is this story of the widows of the famine, the widow of drought, in the book of Kings Chapter 17. The story is telling us that there was no rain in the land; In times of calamities, like draught, it is so common that women, especially widows and children are the most affected. The widow of this biblical story has only one son and to increase the drama, he dies. She cries out questioning the prophet. In her understanding, the death of her son is because of her sin. She feels guilty – which is a very common feeling for women, especially mothers, and even more, after the death of a child: what have I done wrong? I should have done this better…. I could…now is too late…

The prophet, going against the purity law that prohibits touching corpses, with the risk of becoming impure, took the death body in his arms, and laid it down; then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the Lord. The Lord listened to the voice of the prophet and the life of the child came into him again, and he revived!

Bringing this son back to life is crucial that this family group will be restored in their social context. For a widow, to be alone, would be a path to more suffering and loneliness, hungry and increased poverty.

Prophetic task here is to restore life and restore family relations, by bringing back a son for a widow. This is a religious experience that enters into houses, deals with concrete issues of daily life: drought, empty pots of food, ill bodies.  It is a religious practice that goes beyond the temple, the sanctuary and its traditional rituals and ceremonies formatted in the officially instituted spaces. The prophet also seems desperate: he demands God: Have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?

Death and suffering question our faith. Who has not gone through moments of doubt, disbelieve, skepticism especially, when facing difficulties, like death and loss? Who has not felt like in the limit of faith and hope in experiences of suffering? It is like this. The woman cried and wept; the prophet, alone with the death child, in desperation cried to help.

It is in touching death, in the encounter with the suffering where life is restored. The prophecy here happens in embracing, in touching body with body, in a kind of ritual that warms up life, warms up hope and reconnects relationships. The text is saying that the breath came back to him, he started breathing again and his life was restored.

Faith is not a mere abstract reflection about God. A faith experience is interwoven with daily life – and life is not always easy is not predictable or simple.

Prophecy is the courage to act restoring life to a death body. Is the brave gesture of touching death to reestablish relations – because life comes first… Faith experiences in the margin of life, when life is at the limit, can restore breathing. And then life is coming back because relationships are restored.

Because sometimes we are losing our breathing… sometimes we are losing our faith… sometimes we are losing our relations… with God, with others, with ourselves. Sometimes there are moments that impede us to breath. And it feels like life is going away… 

But there is the prophetical announcement that God is not restricted to geographic limitations, ethnic borders, or limited officially constituted spaces and rooms. This prophetical announcement is crying out that the love and compassion of God will enter in our homes, our pots, our tables and beds… and will touch us, will touch the body, breaking down any notion of impurity, untouchability – and life will be restored, breath will come back, bodies are going to feel the warm breath of life again. This is a spiritual practice that shines like rays of hope, creating resilient communities.

It is so interesting that touching and carrying the suffering in the arms is recognized as a prophetic gesture from these biblical texts. In times when is so difficult look in the eyes, and seeing the suffering, it is much needed to stay in solidarity, take diaconal responsibility with whom is next, the stranger, the one who is alone, who is in trouble.

Faith moves us to experience life coming back, being restored… to touch and to be touched by the Spirit of love, compassion and solidarity – being in the arms of God, embraced by the love of God, life is inspiring life, is dwelling life in the midst of our lives.

Questions for reflection

• What is this that makes us feel the warm and tender touch of life back to our body?
• Where the compassionate touch of love that nurtures our faith and hope can be experienced in today’s world, where individualism, loneliness, and indifference for human suffering are daily reality. How can we, as individuals and as community/congregation of faith work as a space where the touches of compassion, that bring back life can be felt?
• How can we do all this “touching” when physical distance is required as part of sanitary measures in times pandemic?

Blessing

Breathe in this blessing; consider how you might influence ONE life. 

As you breathe out, speak a blessing on those around you.

God bless our world, our habitat.

Enable us to respect and treat our earth with the dignity it deserves.  

Empower us to preserve its resources to provide for all people.

Enable us to protect our people, especially the vulnerable: women and children.

Enable us to do what is good, resist evil and to protect each other from evil.

Enable our men to transform themselves from beneficiaries of patriarchy to contributors of human dignity. 

Inspire our leaders to be transformed for the good of all people.

Enable us to be transformed into Servant Leaders.

Enable us to be open to restore your image in us.

Inspire us to have healing relationships.

Enable us to live with dignity.

Empower us to heal our communities and give us your peace.

Amen.

ACT Alliance has followed the deteriorating situation over Nagorno-Karabakh with dismay at the escalation of the conflict. We are highly concerned by the renewed violence and use of military force. The new bloodshed adds to the long history of pain that people in the whole region and on different sides to the conflict have been suffering over the past 30 years.

We are deeply saddened by the increased suffering and loss of life, both civilian and military, that have been the result of this violence, and wish to express our sincere condolences to the grieving families and pray for the full and swift recovery of all the injured.

We are concerned that the geographical scale of the fighting and military operations may expand beyond the current conflict zone and result in a humanitarian crisis that would exacerbate the already difficult humanitarian situation caused by the COVID-19 outbreak in the region.

As faith based actors who over the past three decades have been fostering understanding among the people in the region, and have been promoting local perspectives for peace, we deeply regret that violence has returned at a scale that had not been seen in the region for decades. We stand with our members and partners in the region in these painful times. We stand in solidarity with all who call for and work towards a peaceful solution to the situation.

United in the view that peace and security cannot be imposed by violent means, we call upon all belligerents to immediately end further military action, and to agree on and implement a humanitarian ceasefire (in line with UN Secretary General’s call for a worldwide ceasefire given the COVID-19 pandemic), in order to allow civilians to seek shelter and gain access to much-needed assistance, as well as to collect and mourn their dead.

We call upon the political leaders of the opposing sides to tone down belligerent rhetoric, abstain from further military action and resume peaceful negotiations. We call upon all leaders of states with stakes in the region to refrain from exacerbating the conflict, but rather use their influence in order to stop the bloodshed, support a humanitarian ceasefire and pave the way for a negotiated resolution.

We insist other nations should desist from any intervention in the conflict, except in pursuing and encouraging its peaceful resolution and offering humanitarian aid. In the view of allegations and reports concerning the involvement of foreign mercenaries as well as the continuing influx of weapons to the region, we call upon all parties to finally respect and implement the OSCE’s request for an arms embargo dating back to 1992.

As organisations engaged in both humanitarian assistance and community development, we face the negative impact of the unresolved conflict on the local populations on a daily basis. We know that the lack of political will on the different sides of the divide to engage in serious and meaningful negotiations – as well as the failure of the international community to prepare the ground – has translated locally into long-term uncertainty and instability, a lack of perspectives for development, a growing hostility and deadly volatility along the line of contact, as well as the continuous suffering of many under the so-called ‘status quo’.

While continuing our efforts to minimize this impact at the local level, we call upon the international community – OSCE, EU, Council of Europe, NATO, UN and their member / participating states, and in particular upon the countries represented in the OSCE Minsk Group – to increase their efforts to revive the negotiation process within the Minsk Group format, and to fully back the Minsk Group Co-Chairs in their work.

The current military escalation constitutes a severe backlash for the peace process and exposes the extreme volatility of this unresolved conflict and its inherent risks for the whole region. But it also offers a new window of opportunity for more meaningful, more serious and more effective negotiations. Such meaningful negotiation will challenge all parties to take bold steps by showing goodwill as well as the readiness to compromise that others might interpret or depict as weakness.

As ACT Alliance whose actions are guided by faith, we stand together with and encourage our members in Armenia to engage in all possible actions that favour the peaceful resolution of the conflict that is acceptable for all sides and ensures safety for all peoples. We take pride in remembering the strength and courage of the faith leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan during their joint calls for peace in the past. Inspired by their leadership, we call upon all people of faith and particularly faith leaders, be they Christian or Muslim, to raise their voices and urge all parties to stop the bloodshed, as well as to encourage the swift resumption of peace talks.

The ACT Alliance is a faith-motivated, rights-based, impact-focused network committed to working ecumenically and inter-religiously, with the communities we seek to serve and accompany at the centre of our work.

Together, we strive for a world where all may live with dignity, justice, peace and full respect for human rights and the environment. The 2019 Annual Report is available for download below.

English version

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Spanish version

ACT member, The National Council of Churches of the Philippines (NCCP) launched a youth climate art contest as part of an initiative to engage more young people in climate advocacy.

The competition titled, “Churches Unite for Stewardship and Rise for Life: Climate Justice Now!” was hosted in partnership with Kalipunan ng Kristiyanong Kabataan sa Pilipinas (KKKP). The competition featured two categories: poster (freehand and digital) and song-making and was open to people aged 13 -30 from NCCP and KKKP member and associate churches and organizations.

ACT Alliance had the opportunity to connect with Twenty-four-year-old Kjerrimyr R. Andrés, winner of the digital poster-making section.

Why is taking action on climate change important to you?

“What really bothers me is that rising sea levels will submerge cities and small island nations around the world. As someone who lives in Metro Manila (many areas in Metro Manila are below sea level), I fear the threat that climate change poses on the places that I love,” says Kjerrimyr R. Andrés.

Please tell us a bit more about your piece.

The church people are united and voyage with the Filipino masses for climate justice. They carry different calls and act to protect their environment and ancestral lands, to stop destructive activities such as large-scale mining, and to assert justice for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan. The voyagers surrounding the islands symbolizes their efforts to go into communities for proper and fair investigation coming and to push for climate action. They also surround the archipelago to protect its territories.

Through the drawing, I explore how different sectors, including religious peoples and national minorities, are essential in caring for the environment. People can move from place to place around the country, and in doing so, they can gather concrete information, best practises and can be in solidarity with people’s environmental concerns.

When did you realize that action must be taken on climate change?

Through the years, I have seen the news describe the ways that worsening typhoons were hitting the country, I have watched documentaries on climate change. My realization of the need to take action on climate change happened gradually.

I was also inspired during my high school years. The Patron Saint of the school was Saint Francis of Assisi, and as a result, the school instilled in us the importance of caring for the environment. During that time, I volunteered with local task groups to pick up litter and clean the environment.

What message do you have for youth around the world?

Individual action, although essential, can be very limited. We must act collectively and hold to account those who are the key contributors to climate change. This includes large corporations that have incurred numerous violations. We should transition to a system that is not overdependent on consumption and corruption. Collective action is a must –  our future is our collective concern.

Kjerrimyr R. Andrés is currently the National Spokesperson of the Student Christian Movement of the Philippines (an associate member of the National Council of Churches of the Philippines). 

@TheKejOfGlory

ACT Alliance and members Church World Service (CWS) and World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) hosted a webinar to explore gender equality and human rights in a time of COVID-19 and climate change. Speakers included representatives from CSW Africa, ACT Brazil Forum- KOINONIA, and the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO).

For ACT Alliance, the fight against climate change is a fight for justice. “It is clear in the work we do that climate change impacts along with the COVID-19 pandemic have disproportionately affected women, indigenous groups, and human rights defenders,” says Jasmine Huggins, co-chair of ACT Alliance’s Climate-Gender and Human Rights team.

Mary Obiero of Church World Service Africa explored the connections between gender and climate change in the context of COVID-19. “The effects of the pandemic could reverse the limited progress that has been made on gender equality and women’s rights,” she said. 

“The situation has deteriorated. With schools and borders closed and restrictions on movement, there has been an increase in old, bad traditions i.e. forced marriages, teenage pregnancies, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and other forms of gender-based violence,” said Obiero. Despite the challenges faced by women, Obiero emphasized, “women are not only victims but also powerful agents of change, and possess specific knowledge and skills to effectively contribute to climate adaptation and mitigation”.

Alexandre Pupo Quintino of KOINONIA and the ACT Brazil Forum shared insight into the situation faced by local communities and indigenous peoples with regards to climate justice and human rights. 

“Brazil is burning, both in terms of the forests and the local communities,” he said. Since 2019, Brazil has seen an increase in fires in the Amazon. The fires are mainly on indigenous lands and conservation areas. “In the first six months of 2020, 3 000KM2 of amazon had been deforested,” said Pupo Quintino.  

“Apart from the immediate risks associated with the fires and deforestation, we can’t forget that these communities have a precarious social status in Brazil,” said Pupo Quintino. The dismantling of environmental policies and the environment itself puts the survival of those who rely on it at risk.

Tara Daniel of WEDO, in partnership with Tebtebba, the Indigenous Peoples’ International Centre for Policy Research and Education, provided insight into the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP), the Lima Work Programme on Gender (LWPG), and the Gender Action Plan (GAP) within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These mechanisms intend to proceed the work related to indigenous peoples rights and gender equality in the context of climate change governance.

Many CSOs, including ACT Alliance, WEDO and others are working to shift policymaking to influence the negotiations to be centred on human rights. “We are trying to set normative expectations for the defacto inclusion and participation of indigenous peoples, and people of all genders, especially historically marginalized people and those on the frontlines of climate change,” said Daniel. Daniel noted that although there have been some successes in ensuring gender-just approaches, there is still a lot of work to be done. 

ACT Alliance has supported the communities that were affected by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in September 2018 through its members in Indonesia. Two years later, we went back to the people we assisted to see how they have recovered. 

The 7.5 magnitude earthquake in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, had disastrous consequences, as it also triggered a tsunami which hit the provincial capital of Palu. More than 4,300 people lost their lives, over 200,000 were displaced and nearly 70,000 houses destroyed. Many shops and other small businesses as well as the irrigation systems for family farms were destroyed, causing countless families to lose their incomes.

ACT Alliance members Yakkum Emergency Unit (YEU), Indonesian Christian Association for Health Service (ICAHS/PELKESI) and Church World Service (CWS), with their partners coordinated, their responses through the ACT appeal, targeting 100,000 vulnerable people affected by the earthquake and tsunami. All three organisations supported the Sigi district in Central Sulawesi, which had one of the highest numbers of casualties caused by mudflows and liquefaction after the earthquake. Several aftershocks damaged more buildings and houses causing even more people to become homeless.

More independence for people with disability

One of the persons supported by ACT Alliance in the Sigi district is Sudirman (picture above right), a man who has lived in Ngatabaru all his life and is paralyzed from the waist down. He can inspire you with stories about his adventures as a driver for tourists before his sickness made it impossible for him to drive again six years ago. After that, it was difficult for Sudirman to move around his house – even going to the toilet was an ordeal on his own. He needed a caretaker all the time.

Sudirman’s house was damaged by the earthquake and he and his family had to live in the part of it which was relatively safe for them. YEU organized workers to help them build a new home specifically designed for people with disabilities. Sudirman and his wife assisted, supervising the work and selecting the materials used. With YEU’s support, they could also learn new skills and earn some income while work was difficult to find. His new home allowed Sudirman better mobility which made him more independent. He and his family, in YEU trainings, learned more about how to manage his health issues. The house was completed in April 2019, and he has been living there ever since. “I can now do things on my own without needing a caretaker with me all day, since I can move around the house without assistance. My family also knows how they can support me better while also enjoying their own lives”, he says.  

Focus on infrastructure as well as on psychological aspects

Disasters often leave people traumatized as they have to handle their losses and recover from the fear they experienced. YEU trained schools and communities on psychosocial care and support while at the same time ensuring safe space and a protected environment to develop, learn, play and build resilience. 

CWS provided water tanks and safe water during the early days after the disaster in Sigi while they as well as the government worked on repairing pipelines and improving water supply in the villages. The organisation also supported communities to set up Water Management Committees so that people could manage the water system themselves when the project ends. “We now have enough clean water, without needing to worry about where to get it. Better still, we are managing the water system ourselves, so we know that when something goes wrong, we can fix it”, says Badrun, Committee member in Sikara Tobata village, Donggala district.

Ensuring health services

Maslia, a village health cadre from Enu, Donggala, received health training and support from PELKESI which she was grateful for since their health clinic was closed for several months after the disaster. PELKESI’s mobile clinics with volunteer doctors and nurses provided the health services during this period, while the government health clinics were unable to do so as the staffs were affected by the disaster themselves. Health workers and villagers in the areas where PELKESI was active after the disaster learned about traditional health techniques, acupressure, and herbal medicine using local resources. Mothers were also taught how to cook food using local foodstuffs and herbal drinks from plants that they used to think of as weeds or useless, that can be found in their backyard. 

PELKESI assisted the health cadres to get an official policy and budget to provide supplementary food for the infants and toddlers in ten villages (Simoro, Tuva, Sibalaya Utara, Sibalaya Barat, Pantoloan, Baiya, Enu, Lero Tatari, Desa Wani Satu, Desa Wani Dua) through a village grant. Before the earthquake and tsunami, there were only two villages which provided supplementary food cost for children. Now, through several discussions between health cadres and host governments, all ten villages have policies to provide budget for supplementary food for children. This achievement is particularly meaningful during the COVID-19 pandemic.

New sources of income

New ways to earn a living had to be found after the disasters. Yohanes Rombe a year ago was able to plant corn, peppers, and other vegetables thanks to irrigation being available for the crops from a new well built by CWS. He has now been able to harvest a crop to feed himself and his family

Besides facilitating farming by building or re-establishing irrigation systems, CWS and its partners also collected new ideas from community members to restore or create opportunities to earn a living. These initiatives were initiated months before the outbreak of COVID-19, but later on also helped people to get through the lockdown. Introducing relevant safety measures, people could still run their local kiosks, do fish farming and drying, brown sugar milling, produce snacks and coconut oil for home use. “We learnt how important it is for all of us to think of alternative ways to process and sell our local products. Why shouldn’t we do something new with it?”, states Mirnawati from Lende Tovea village, Donggala district.

How did COVID-19 change the situation?

Due to the pandemic at the beginning of 2020, humanitarian response activities that were nearly done had to be slowed down or adapted. Prevention education needed to be prioritized, printing and distributing educational materials for families and leading public education and correct information sharing about the virus. ACT members adhere to health protocol as required in all of our interventions through several actions; did local radio broadcasting in Palu, introduced safety measures to staff and visitors in hospitals, were active on social media, and distributed face masks for the vulnerable groups (elderly, persons with disabilities and children). Although having to deal with COVID-19 represented an additional challenge to the disaster response, the ACT Alliance members are optimistic that they will reach the objectives of the appeal in the coming months.

What is needed for the future are educating communities on the importance of growing vegetables and fruits for food security, health trainings and hygiene promotions to prevent the local transmission of the virus, ensuring permanent safe-water (gravity-fed piped water systems and boreholes), livelihood supports for small and medium enterprises (including home-based business) and community-based disaster preparedness initiatives.

Pictures: Yakkum Emergency Unit YEU 

Infographic: YEU (cf. high resolution here)

Building Churches for Future –  Churches that are political

Fridays for Future is back in the public sphere. Friday, September 25^th is the next global climate strike.

But how can we strike in times of the Corona Virus?

As huge demonstrations and gatherings are discouraged, young people have been considering other strategies, ways and places to mobilize people on climate change, because climate justice is still important. This message must remain in people’s minds, even if we are unable to gather in huge numbers as before.

A peaceful revolution and climate protests

What place would be a better fit to amplify our messages and voices on climate justice on this day than the St. Nicolas church – the church of the peaceful revolution in Leipzig, Germany? This church was home to peaceful prayers that led to peaceful marches in the 1980s. It is where marches that contributed to a reunion of the separate German nations started. For many years, St. Nicolas church in the heart of Leipzig, Germany, has been known by Christians who engage in politics.

In 1989 St. Nicolas church was home to the peaceful revolution – and in 2020 it is home to protests for climate justice. Today this protest is visible to everyone, as banners with slogans have been placed all around the church.

We are calling for climate justice and for sustainable lifestyles. We are calling for a church that is also going to be a church to future generations.

The local Friday For Future group focuses primarily on public transportation and sustainability, and we urge the church and every human being to be a part of it. Climate justice and sustainability are not new topics for the church, they have been part of Christian life for decades. For instance, as part of the conciliar process, Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation.

Theology Students of the Leipzig University, (former) volunteers of the Leipzig Mission Center, students of church music and St Nicolas Church have all engaged in some way or another. Besides the banners and protests happening outside the church building, a prayer tree and regular devotion have invited people to reflect on the theological aspects of climate justice.

I am proud that Christians in Leipzig are speaking up on the need to care for God’s creation. I am proud that the St. Nicolas church supports this call and has put itself the centre of this movement. It is a church that does not shy away from politics, a church that cares for current and future generations; it is a Church for Future.

Churches For Future

Churches for Future is an ecumenical alliance of churches and Christian institutions that stand in solidarity, and support the youth movement Fridays For Future. Churches need to be political and be part of the overdue changes in our economic and ecological world systems. Churches should care for our worldwide community. We see the impacts of climate change around the globe and we know how marginalized people and communities suffer. We need a church that is political and willing to fight for justice for current and future generations.

Season of Creation

Since 1^st September, Christians all around the world have been celebrating and reflecting on the Season of Creation. It is a period of time that invites everyone to reflect on God’s creation, and the ways that we humans treat creation. Similar to the peaceful revolution, where people of faith walked outside the church and marched on the streets, we are building momentum by bringing our messages of climate justice to the church, making them visible for everyone to see that, “yes, we care!”

Caring alone is not enough. I aim to make people aware of the urgent need to shift our lifestyles and politics, and also to act accordingly. The church also still has a lot of work to do to become more sustainable and to become Churches for Future.

Blog is written by Helena Funk, Member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Northern Germany.

Helena has been engaged in climate justice advocacy for many years – at the local level in Germany and at the global level. She was a delegate of the Lutheran World Federation to the UN Climate Conferences COP23 and COP24 in cooperation with ACT Alliance. Helena is currently studying Theology and completing a Masters degree in African Studies. During the last years, she facilitated interfaith events on climate justice at her University, worked with YOUNGO at the UN High-level Meeting on “Climate Justice and Sustainability for All” in 2019 and participated in the 4th Laudato-Si Conference. Photo: Susanne Stark (DIE LICHTBILDNEREI)