Better World Magazine - September 2022 Edition

FROM OUR CEO

Advocating For A Better World

I believe in the existence of a good God who designed the world to be good.

After all, when he finished creating the heavens and the earth, he stepped back and said, ‘It is good’. His intention from the beginning has been for our good, for the earth’s good. So anything that gets in the way of this goodness strays from that plan. Life as he desires becomes out of whack, imbalanced or, put another way, it creates a playing field that is far from level.

That’s how I’d define injustice. It’s sin and it disrupts God’s just and good work. Sadly, the result of injustice is that people, relationships, and community suffer. The planet suffers. Our world today is not as God intends.

At Baptist World Aid Australia we work for his justice, for leveling the playing field and providing opportunities for all people, his ultimate creation, to know that goodness. Why? Because

Jesus hung on a cross for our sake, and the world’s, to take on the injustices of the world and to restore us through the resurrection to God’s better way: a life of fullness and grace.

That’s what this edition of Better World Magazine explores: what it looks like to do justice as a response to God’s justice for us. We know God has provided rich soil across the earth to grow enough food to feed the hungry, enough resources to welcome every refugee, enough vaccines to protect all people. But injustice keeps us from fulfilling our responsibilities to one another. When we make poor consumption choices, for instance, someone else and the environment suffers. What we do, what we take, and what we use are entirely connected to the wellbeing of our world.

In these pages, we learn of the issues and progress within the fashion industry addressing justice for garment workers (page 6) as we prepare for the release of our 2022 Ethical Fashion Report in October. We see the powerful impact child’s rights have on young people, and especially girls, (page 10) through the good work of our local Christian Partners across the 18 countries where we serve.

And here at home we see the faithful efforts of Baptist churches trying to live out justice in their communities (page 12) while seeing how Catalyst groups advocate for justice (page 13).

In our guest column, Rev. Megan Powell du Toit challenges us to reconsider the ‘good life’ as a reflection of God’s justice (page 14).

Doing justice is as much a part of the Christian journey as prayer and Bible study. And so together, we advocate for a better, more just world for all.

REPAIRER OF BROKEN ROADS

After the death of his mother, Pathan’s grandparents became the most important people in his life. Now he hopes to become a lawyer and care for them as they age.

Poverty, child marriage, and violence could have stood between Pathan and his dreams. But taking part in our Partner’s Child Club in Bangladesh for the last nine years has helped clear a path for him to reach his potential. Pathan and his friends, with the help of Partner staff, repaired a broken road in the village. They’ve also worked together to protect young girls from sexual harassment, mapping out safe routes for girls to walk and making sure no one walks alone.

Thanks to their Child Club, children in this community know who to call if they’re in trouble, where to go if someone is violent or threatening, and they know what acceptable behaviour is and is not.

Understanding child rights helped Pathan stop his friend’s family from giving her away in child marriage— going with her to speak to her parents until the marriage was stopped. At just fifteen years old, Pathan is making his community a better place.

COMPANIES

are actively tracing their raw material suppliers compared to 17% in 2013—an important step in addressing modern slavery risks.**

items to more than 24,000 people in 32 locations around Ukraine

Our Partners are also helping Ukrainian Baptist churches provide shelter to those journeying towards safety, and essentials to those who remain in Ukraine.

INDIA AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE

During India’s second COVID wave, many low-income workers lost their jobs and couldn’t provide for their families. Our Partners gave 1,499 households a subsidy for basic needs, COVID tests, and medication. ‘We were able to charge much less, even write off many bills thanks to the generous help from Baptist World Aid Australia,’ a hospital worker said.

SAFE BIRTHS

Nepal lowered its maternal mortality rate over the last 20 years,* but the number of deaths rose during the pandemic as disrupted health services and transport put pregnancies at risk. When Rajmati needed a caesarean, she couldn’t afford an ambulance to take her to hospital, 56km away. Our Partner’s emergency support fund helped, and her baby was delivered safely.

SOLOMON ISLANDS COVID CARE FOR ALL

UKRAINE PLACES OF REFUGE

As of August 2022, the UN says nearly one third of Ukrainians have been forced from their homes since the war started. By the end of May, our local Partner delivered essential

When the Solomon Islands faced its first COVID outbreak, the country’s under-resourced health facilities struggled to cope. But our Partners were trained to respond. They met needs amongst churches, and distributed PPE to rural communities. They installed eight water tanks in rural regions, making hand-washing facilities available for everyone.

With agricultural training, one farmer in Kenya saw her crop yields grow by 700%. Today she produces 720KG OF MAIZE AND 225KG OF MUNG BEANS!

in temporary pandemic aid measures was secured by the End COVID For All campaign, shared by Australia with the world.

KENYA

FIGHTING HUNGER

A five-season drought in Kenya has left five million people in need of food. Our Partners are helping farmers feed their families by training them in sustainable agriculture that yields more produce. And they are helping women find alternative income sources like honey production. ‘A bee can travel distances to look for water, so you don’t need a lot of rain,’ one Partner said. ‘Some of the disability and women’s groups are picking it up . . . it can be a source of income to the community.’

AUSTRALIA

CHRISTIAN ADVOCACY

Baptist World Aid is part of A Safer World for All, a Christian campaign to return to a refugee intake of least 20,000 people per year, and respond to the growing global food crisis. The campaign, organised by Christian advocacy organisation Micah (micahaustralia. org), also calls for the government to rebuild Australian aid, currently at its least generous level.

KENYA CHAMPIONING WOMEN

Vulnerable women in Kenya, like widows and single mothers, often can’t access credit facilities because they lack collateral. Our Partners help them overcome this barrier through groups that help women build their assets, access low interest loans, and receive income generation training and business development support.

TONGA DISASTER RESILIENCE

gardening tools, and livestock fencing so families can eat and rebuild sustainable agriculture.

FASHION JUSTICE FOR GARMENT WORKERS

DISABILITY INCLUSION

In Malawi, children living with disabilities often face stigma and isolation. Our Partners are promoting community inclusion, working with 40 parents and 77 children with disability, engaging Members of Parliament, and organising assistance for children unable to walk. Parents are now more willing to include their children in activities rather than keeping them at home.

People didn’t just lose their homes when Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai erupted in Tonga; they lost their ability to grow and sell food. Our Partners are helping families construct greenhouses on community lands to grow food. They are providing seeds,

Amongst the 50 million workers in the global fashion industry, many are subject to low wages, modern slavery, and unjust working conditions. Baptist World Aid is working to raise standards through the Ethical Fashion Guide, which empowers consumers to advocate for better conditions and fairer pay. In 2021, 43 companies committed to working towards a living wage compared to 24 companies in 2019. Stay tuned for this year’s Ethical Fashion Report and Guide, launching in October.

day, Baptist churches in Ukraine shelter

As fashion brands vie for the cheapest source of labour, the city’s 4.5 million garment workers barely earn enough to survive.

How Much Does Your Shirt Really Cost?

When Sahima* sits at her machine and spins cotton into thread, she often thinks about the clothes each strand will become, and the people who will wear them.

The 30-year-old mum in Bangladesh takes pride in her work, but it doesn’t pay enough to keep her family out of poverty.

‘With my earnings, I cannot manage the children’s education or proper meals,’ she said. ‘Sometimes I need to get a loan to buy medicine.’

There are also serious risks, no compensation for injuries, and a fear of being reprimanded if they speak up. The machines in her factory never

sleep, with shifts of workers constantly meeting orders from fashion brands. If cotton gets stuck or thread is torn, the workers must fix the problem while the machines run at high speed.

‘A few days ago, a girl’s wrist got sucked inside the machine,’ Sahima said. ‘She was about 14 years old. My daughter’s age.’

Sahima is not alone. Behind the glistening shop fronts, there is an ugly side to the fashion industry. Many of the 50 million garment workers who make our clothes—particularly women in Bangladesh, China, India and South-east Asia—work in unsafe conditions without basic rights like maternity or sick leave.

Fast fashion leads to exploitation for millions, but our ethical fashion team is helping companies do better.

More fundamentally, they are not paid enough to live on. Many garment workers around the world are denied a living wage, which is the amount a worker needs to cover their family’s living expenses, such as food and housing.

In places where cotton is picked, thread is spun, and fabric stitched into clothes, most workers earn a minimum wage far below a living wage. Workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital, typically earn the equivalent of $126 AUD a month—around a third of the living wage. ** As fashion brands vie for the cheapest source of labour, the city’s 4.5 million garment workers barely earn enough to survive.

‘Countries keep minimum wages low. Apparel production is competitive to deliver cheap prices to shoppers, and their economy relies on business with garment suppliers,’ said Sarah Knop, Baptist World Aid’s Corporate Advocacy Lead. ‘This means many people feel compelled to work overtime, 80 hours or more a week just to feed their families.’

‘Without a living wage, garment workers are faced with severe economic injustice.’

Yet Sarah points out that God is not silent on this issue. Deuteronomy 24:14 commands, ‘Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor’ , while James 5:4 condemns exploitative employers: ‘The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. ’

‘When skilled, experienced workers are denied fair pay, they are denied their human dignity,’ Sarah added. ‘The things God declares as good—times of rest, enjoying the fruits of labour, providing for your children—struggle to find their full expression under exploitation.’

That’s why Baptist World Aid helps companies ensure workers in their supply chains have rights like adequate pay and safe working conditions. The 2021 Ethical Fashion Report found 15 per cent of companies could demonstrate paying living wages in some final stage factories, but only four per cent could demonstrate payment in all final stage factories. (2022 figures will be released in October.)

‘Reporting on companies’ progress towards paying a living wage is vital, so that shoppers can make informed purchasing decisions,’ Sarah said.

Sahima is also acting for change. Her fellow workers are like family, and she helps others when they can’t fulfil their orders in time. She sends her children to our Partner’s Child Club, and her teenage daughter now advocates for women’s rights at school. Sahima’s hope, while persevering through unfair working conditions, is that one day her children won’t have to. *name changed

WANT TO BUY FROM BRANDS THAT PAY A LIVING WAGE?

Use our Ethical Fashion Guide to find out who is protecting workers and the environment. If your

could be doing better, let them know.

Reporting on companies’ progress towards paying a living wage is vital, so that shoppers can make informed purchasing decisions.

Nepal: Our Partner Melsan in Nepal participated in World Environment Day when he planted tree saplings.

Postcards F rom Our Partners

Ukraine: Igor from Ukraine Baptists met CEO Melissa Lipsett at an international Baptist conference, and asked her to thank Australian Baptists for their compassionate response, and to keep praying—for the war to cease, trauma to be healed, and churches to be strong.

Afghanistan: At our Christian Partners’ mobile health and nutrition clinics, like this one in southern Afghanistan , mothers received a supply of ‘ready to use therapeutic food’ which helps their children recover from acute malnutrition. (Image: Integral/Medair)

Kenya: Our Partner Paul in Kenya oversees the Integrated Livelihood Improvement Project to increase access to safe water and ensure environment protection in communities.

Australia: Betty Shinkfield (far left) and church friends prepare medical packages that include rolls of bandages, that Betty would send overseas.

Partners At Home

When Betty Shinkfield returned home from service as a missionary nurse in Bangladesh , she wanted to continue her ministry. So for over fifty years, she sent medical packages to doctors in isolated areas around the world.

After news of tribal fighting in Papua New Guinea in 2013, she rolled bandages and collected medicines from her church, Light Community Baptist in Melbourne, to send to three PNG Baptist hospitals. Soon friends joined her.

When she passed away just shy of age 101, her family found a box half filled with supplies, waiting to be sent. It was one of many ways Betty addressed the world’s injustices, including supporting Baptist World Aid’s Vulnerable Children Fund.

Recently, Betty’s friend, also named Betty (Pitts) and a long-time supporter of Baptist World Aid,* opened the first edition of Better World magazine and read how those same PNG hospitals could have closed

during the pandemic without supporters’ generosity. She thought of Betty. Determined to honour their friend, those church friends still send medical packages.

‘Betty’s husband used to call us “holy rollers”’, said Betty Pitts. ‘Now we send packages to a senior doctor in PNG. Betty’s dedication over the decades inspires us.’

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE VULNERABLE CHILDEN FUND, SCAN HERE OR VISIT BWAA.CO / VULNERABLE

‘Betty’s husband used to call us “holy rollers”, Betty’s dedication inspires us.’

BETTY PITTS

Thirty years ago, world leaders made a commitment to the world’s children, adopting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It includes rights like:

Children have the right to an education (Article 28). Children have the right to relax, play and to join in a wide range of leisure activities (Article 31). Children should be protected from any activities that could harm their development (Article 36).

These rights seem obvious to us in Australia, but not every child in the world is guaranteed them.

When Joan, for example, finished primary school in Uganda, it ended her formal education. She wanted to go to high school, but her family couldn’t afford it. Without safe places to spend time, girls like Joan, who are already at risk because of poverty, can become increasingly vulnerable to an early marriage and pregnancy.

While primary schooling is free in Uganda , many families find the associated costs too much and poverty keeps many children from progressing to the end of high school. Sometimes this results in young people having nowhere in particular to be, and nothing purposeful to do.

At 16 years old, Joan (pictured standing) and her friends reflect a global concern for young people in vulnerable communities: without the knowledge of their right to an education, leisure, social support, and health care, many will be even more vulnerable to child marriage, child labour, illiteracy, and exploitation.

That’s why our Christian Partners in countries such as Uganda, Bangladesh, and Cambodia invest time, care, and resources into workshops and clubs for children and young people like Joan. They monitor their wellbeing and provide programming that allows them to play, teaches them to advocate for their rights, and develops their leadership skills. Our Partners also invest in educating parents and community members and, where possible, work with governments to promote and uphold the rights of children.

‘At the heart of our Child and Youth Sponsorship programs is a whole of life focus,’ said Nerissa Prangnell, International Programs Coordinator at Baptist World Aid Australia. ‘When children have opportunities to grow and they know their

rights, they can overcome the challenges they face in otherwise vulnerable communities.’

Christian Partners in Cambodia identified the needs of children and young people in their communities, where options for employment locally were low. By providing training in saving and income generation, our Partners help prevent young people from engaging in exploitative labour across the Thai border.

In Bangladesh , 15-year-old Pathan leads his community in bringing justice, a common attribute of Child and Youth Clubs (see page 4).

Likewise, when Joan joined her club in Uganda, her peers elected her to become a leader. She was able to restart her education—albeit in an unconventional classroom. She learnt record keeping and business management skills. She took part in advocacy training, learning about child rights and how to support other young people in her community.

Now Joan attends weekly meetings where their group creates businesses, shares ideas, saves together, and supports one another’s progress. Joan took part in a fashion design and skills training course, and then began renting a sewing machine and earning a good income.

Now she makes clothes and is supporting herself, helping her siblings and saving. Her goal is to buy her own machine and to train other young people. She wants to help others find purpose.

‘I had no idea of life skills which would help me live a meaningful life,’ Joan said. ‘Now I do.’

When children have more opportunities to grow and they know their rights, they can overcome the challenges they face.

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SUPPORTING CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE THROUGH CHILD SPONSORSHIP, GO TO BWAA.CO / BECOME-SPONSOR OR SCAN HERE

Destination Justice

How Baptist churches do justice in their communities

When the senior pastor of Riverlife Baptist in QLD launched his vision for the year—that he believed God was calling his congregation into unchartered waters to meet the needs of the local community—he didn’t expect, well, floods. Or the opportunities they would bring.

Located in the western suburbs of Brisbane, Riverlife was quick to transform its church building into a flood recovery centre, adapting their existing Street Teams ministry (pictured above)—volunteers helping those in their community with odd-jobs around their homes—to provide care and support to families impacted by the 2022 floods.

‘It was such an organic and natural way for us to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our community,’ said Senior Pastor John

Robertson. ‘Within an hour’s notice we had our first family arrive. They had lost everything.’

Recognising they weren’t experts in disaster relief and trauma but had resources and time to offer, the team at Riverlife worked closely with their local council and a clinical psychologist. They provided shelter for 70 people and hosted many more with meals, fellowship, and medical support. They even had a vet nurse on site to tend to evacuated pets.

Riverlife isn’t alone in its commitment to loving their neighbours. Many congregations are taking seriously the mandate to do justice. Churches in Victoria are providing low to no rent transitional housing, case work, and practical support for people seeking asylum. Churches in the Northern Territory—some First Nations Churches, others working with First Nations people—are advocating for justice.

‘Justice, after all, means loving your neighbour so they can flourish. It’s part of worship that God calls us to.’

CHRISTINE REDWOOD

In southeast Queensland, Gateway Baptist operates a free mobile grocery and clothing van (pictured below) for refugees and asylum seekers. They work closely with local support organisations and encourage them to invite their clients to visit. They make sure that their guests get to choose which items they would like ‘because so many choices have been taken away from them,’ said Care Pastor Sarah Watterson. ‘We want to come alongside other people and support what’s already going on as we build trust and relationships.’

Expressing hospitality to those who’ve lost their homes in a flood or because of conflict in their homeland is an expression of justice, according to Sarah. She believes it’s about, ‘valuing the one, showing the love of Jesus because that’s what Jesus does for us.’ But it’s not always easy for a local church in a wealthy country to put justice on its agenda. Like many churches on their journey to justice, Seaforth Baptist in Sydney feels the tension that comes in knowing how to focus their efforts—local or global? While both are important, said Seaforth Senior Pastor Christine Redwood, sometimes doing global justice can be ‘easier’ because you can outsource to specialists.

Seaforth Baptist has been a long-term advocate for Baptist World Aid’s Ethical Fashion Guide, disaster response work, and community development programs. They’ve raised funds, hosted clothes swaps, and joined calls for political justice. But Christine has been encouraging her church to find ways they can use their time and creativity to pursue local justice, to make it a part of their everyday lives. Beginning during the COVID lockdown, some of her congregation members now cook meals for a local organisation that cares for vulnerable people—including domestic violence victims—in Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

‘We don’t have the capacity to do everything ourselves because we’re a small church,’ she said, ‘but we’re able to join in on something local with different organisations involved. Justice, after all, means loving your neighbour so they can flourish. It’s part of worship that God calls us to.’

BE A CATALYST FOR CHANGE

From helping protect two million children from forced labour in the Uzbek cotton industry to lobbying Cadbury for ethical sourcing and production standards, Catalyst advocates in local churches have been instrumental in leading Christians to create change. ‘Catalyst advocacy is like an extension of your church’s music team or prayer group,’ said Will Mezner, Baptist’s World Aid’s Lead Advocacy Organiser. ‘After all, to love our neighbour and take up the cause of the vulnerable is a form of worship.’

To find out how you can become involved in Catalyst and help bring positive change to people experiencing injustice, scan here. bwaa.co/join-catalyst

What If The Good Life Does More Harm Than Good?

Do Christians drain the joy from life?

The message we often hear is to deny ourselves. To take up our cross. To follow the one who had nowhere to lay his head. This can be interpreted as not spending any money or effort on pleasure or beauty. Or the good life as no good.

On the other hand, another message we may hear is that God wants to bless us with good things. This can be interpreted as feeling we’re entitled to good things, and that being able to acquire good things is a sign God loves us. The good life as unfettered consumption.

But what if the problem is not that Christians shouldn’t pursue the good life, but that we have the good life all wrong?

God neither wants to kill joy nor favour the rich. To put it another way, the Christian life is neither asceticism or materialism. It is both a life of joy and a life of sacrifice. More than that, joy and sacrifice are closely intertwined in Scripture, as we see in Hebrews 12:2: ‘For the joy set before him, Jesus endured the cross’ .

For most of us in Australia, we realise that God does not call us to either a life of no pleasure or a life of pure self-indulgence. We bumble along somewhere in the middle, at times giving generously and at times spending it up. Too afraid God might call us to reject the good life, we fail to reflect seriously on what it actually is.

My concept of what I need and how I spend money is shaped by the culture around me. It is likely I justify consuming more than I should and not being as generous as I could. Why? Because I am a product of Western culture, which views the good life as individual consumption.

One way of understanding this tension and navigating the ethical dilemmas we face is to see the good life as one of hospitality. Hospitality is the act of sharing the good things we have with others so that they too might enjoy them. Rather than removing joy, joy is shared and increased.

The gospel itself is the good news of an act of hospitality. God desires to share all good things with us. We are welcome at God’s table. Yet, this hospitality came at a cost to God.

So, how might this look in practice? Close to home, an easy way to picture this is with food. Making a delicious meal is one way to enjoy the good things God has made. Meals are social, so we can invite to our table those in our community who are in need, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual.

MIRIAM, CALM IN A CRISIS

In my own life, an act of sharing a few meals has resulted in sharing meals for life, as we expanded our family to include our friend’s daughter when our friend died. True hospitality takes you down paths you didn’t imagine, which cost much but give even more.

And when I buy from a social enterprise which helps people, I can enjoy what I have purchased knowing the purchase has also given to others. But when I buy that which has come at the expense of another’s wellbeing, I should recognise that instead of giving, I have taken from another. Every purchase provides an opportunity to choose a comfortable life for myself and discomfort for another, or the truly good life of the gospel in which joy multiplies.

The good life isn’t individual but communal. As the proverb goes: ‘Better is a dinner of vegetables where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it’, (Prov 15:17). God’s love in Trinity overflowed to us in creation. As we enjoy that creation together, our model is not to exploit but to share, giving much but gaining even more.

Reverend Megan Powell du Toit is a Baptist minister and wordsmith (editor, writer, podcaster and poet) based in Sydney.

‘When she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.’ —Exodus 2:3-4 (For context, read Exodus 2:1-10)

When my first daughter was born, this story came to mind. In the middle of a genocide, a mother hid her newborn baby for three months. I cannot fathom how. When she could no longer hide him, was it because he grew too loud, too restless?

In her last effort to protect the baby Moses, she set him afloat in the Nile. The terror, grief, and uncertainty would have been overwhelming—too overwhelming to stay and watch. But Miriam, the baby’s sister, stood nearby.

‘Too afraid God might call us to reject the good life, we fail to reflect seriously on what it actually is.’