My Visit to the IF Service
Spurred
by my desire for the world to be a better place (!) yesterday I cycled up to
Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, to be part of the IF campaign service. The
IF campaign was set up by several charities to put pressure on the G8 to commit
to fair treatment of the world’s poor. The G8 is an annual meeting of leaders
of the world’s richest countries who discuss world issues such as climate
change and economies. IF’s long-term passion is to eradicate hunger entirely.
Singing
“Be Though My Vision” it was moving and uplifting to look around and know that
2200 people (not including those in overflow rooms/churches/greenspaces) were
longing for the same goal. Later 45000 people heard Rowan Williams and Bill
Gates talk in Hyde Park. We were reminded of the 4 aims : shutting down tax
avoidance (developing countries lose three times the amount of money in tax
each year that they receive in aid); stopping landgrabs (where people’s land is
forcibly taken with the unfulfilled promise of compensation); aid (only the UK
has kept its promise to give 0.7% of national income); transparency in dealings
(so that people are not deprived of appropriate remuneration and governments
use their earnings to prioritise people above e.g. warfare). The Archbishop of
Westminster, Vincent Nichols spoke of the people of God being in an especially
important position, that through prayer and honouring the sanctity of God’s
creation – His earth and people – we could bring about equality in the
resources given us. He ended by reinforcing the idea that the poor are our
brothers and sisters in Christ.
The
songs were beautifully chosen. We also sang “Here I am, Lord” and “Tell Out My
Soul”. Thankfully they were all ones that we sing at St.John’s! Perhaps next
time we sing these we can think especially of what the lyrics mean for us in
relation to those we depend on for what we consume.
Aimee
Manimani, World Vision representative from the Democratic Republic of Congo
gave an example of the exploitation she deals with daily. Pascal, who is 10,
feels there is no option to support his family except by working in a gold mine
many miles from home. He does not know the value of gold so sells it very
cheaply so that he has enough for food. His life is not ambitions, like our
young children’s, but unhappy stasis. ”Landgrabs” mean that people across the
developing nations see the earth that provided their sustenance turned into
biofuel fields. This forces them to buy food in unstable markets where prices
can limit what they can afford to nothing at all.
Pressure
on the G8 is a start but we have potential to change the world ourselves! It
might appear that against corporations’ huge financial and lobbying power we
can do very little but companies depend on us as consumers to provide their
wealth. If we limit that they have nothing to profiteer with and will have to
rethink how they treat the people who ultimately provide for them. In these
days of international sourcing we can effect change for those whose countries
we might never see, simply by thinking about what we buy. We can do this on a
daily basis - we can buy fairly traded, organic, recycled; we can look at (e.g. via Google or Ethical Consumer) whether
companies use tax havens or have an ethical sourcing policy. If we only
supported (as much as possible as I know finances are stretched these days)
those companies who treat the earth and its people unfairly the commercial
world really would change.
10
days of G8 meetings have begun. Yesterday David Cameron hosted a “hunger
summit’ in London and the summit of G8 meetings is held in Enniskillen on 17th
and 18th June. Please pray that these leaders will exemplify God’s
will to His people and that we can see the end of global poverty and hunger.
