CTindex - Christian Today Australia Interactive Catalogue
Society

Micah Challenge begins countdown to Worldwide Day of Prayer and Action for the Poor


World Evangelical Alliance
Friday, 2 July 2010, 11:31 (EST)
Font Scale:A A A
Share |
Micah Challenge is calling millions of Christians to a day of prayer and action against extreme poverty as part of a global event being held in 100 days time. The international Christian response on the tenth of October will remind political leaders of 189 nations about crucial promises made to halve extreme poverty by 2015.

This global movement was launched at the United Nations in 2004 and holds 40 national campaigns each reflecting a wide range of participants. It is recognised by political leaders and governments all over the globe, including the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, and the former British Prime Minster, Gordon Brown. The Micah 2010 campaign is also being backed by key church movements such as the Assemblies of God, Salvation Army, Hillsong, Youth With A Mission, Scripture Union, and YFC Europe. Micah Challenge also works closely with the Anglican Communion at the United Nations. Development agencies pledging to partner with Micah Challenge include Tearfund, World Vision, Christian Aid and Compassion.

On the tenth of October 2010, 10.10.10, 100 million Christians will be praying the same words of a prayer and making as many as 10 million promises to remember the poor. They will remind up to 1000 political leaders to take action on poverty commitments made through the Millenium Development Goals. Five signature events are being planned to highlight the day in Australia, India, South Africa, the UK and Equador.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams supports 10.10.10: “If we start acting now and if we as believers can pull together in supporting these goals we can hold our governments to account and we can make a difference in the world, the kind of difference God asks us to make”.

Micah Challenge’s International Director, Joel Edwards, said: “The campaign in October will come three weeks after a crucial review of our performance so far at a United Nations Leaders Summit in New York. The world will be assessing how we are doing in fulfilling our promises.10.10.10 offers us an opportunity for robust and prophetic engagement around the promises made to the poor, as well as to offer critical evaluations of world government responses. This is why our prayer, promise and action are both timely and potentially transformational”.

As momentum continues to grow across the globe, student campuses in the US are showing their support for Micah 2010, while in Zambia plans are afoot for regional meetings and interdenominational church services. Australian partners are preparing to highlight 10.10.10 at Voice for Justice, where they will meet political leaders. Partners in Malaysia, Portugal and many other nations are continuing to mobilize critical support for the 10.10.10 campaign.

World Evangelical Alliance (WEA): World Evangelical Alliance is made up of 128 national evangelical alliances located in 7 regions and 104 associate member organizations. The vision of WEA is to extend the Kingdom of God by making disciples of all nations and by Christ-centered transformation within society. WEA exists to foster Christian unity, to provide an identity, voice and platform for the 420 million evangelical Christians worldwide.


More articles