In August a regional gathering of Uniting Church congregations was addressed by members of the church’s tertiary student group. The young people of Christian Students Uniting called on congregations to join them for strike action on Friday September 20 as part of the Global #ClimateStrike. The following is an abridged version of testimonies by Philippa Clark and Mikali Anagnostis of Leichhardt Uniting Church.
Philippa Clark
Last month I was privileged to travel to rural South Africa to visit family. My aunt and uncle work for a community organisation that identifies the most vulnerable children in local villages and provides them with support at home and at least one good meal a day.
The thing that struck me the most was that kids are kids no matter where in the world you go. They loved showing me what they did at school and together we had fun kicking the ball around and braiding hair.
Where they live, in Mpumalanga province, winter is the dry season. Wildfires are common. If fires approach the timber plantations which are the province’s main industry, helicopters come to put them out by picking up water from the villagers’ dam, so there’s even less to go around.
I couldn’t help but dwell on the sad truth that, as a result of our pollution, the kids will grow up to live in an unrecognisable climate where large swathes of their continent are uninhabitable.
I used to think climate change was about glaciers and polar bears. But now I realise that climate change has a human face. It’s the kids in Mpumalanga who don’t have the resources to deal with more extreme weather like we can, and who lose out on water in favour of commercial timber.
The problem isn’t one that can be solved in a science lab. It’s human greed. It’s the pursuit of wealth above clean air and clean water. Climate change is a result of corporate sin, which is in direct conflict with our mandate to steward the earth and look after each other.
Mikali Anagnostis
My childhood was coloured with the pale blue of ghost gums and the deep green of saltwater when I lived next to a bush reserve by the shore of Lake Macquarie.
Since moving to Sydney at the beginning of the year I’ve realised how lucky I was to grow up surrounded by so much life! The landscape of my early years has become a part of who I am. It was there I first learned that the land is sacred, that the divine dwells in creation, constantly working to bring new life from old.
I came to Sydney to study biology, and as wonderful as uni has been it’s a scary discipline to be learning about right now. To learn of the drought, the habitat loss, the path we’re on to mass extinction. I think about my future and I’m afraid. I think about our nation’s collective lack of action and I feel hopeless.
Despite my distance from the landscape of my childhood, if I open my eyes I see God bringing new life in other ways.
In the short time I have been around this faith community I’ve seen community members rally at Town Hall for affordable housing. I’ve watched them march through the city to declare that refugees are welcome. I’ve heard them speak up for justice.
We believe in a God who brings new life from old. Now, as you’ve done many times before, we need to act to make that hope a reality.
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Join the SSH on September 20 – three days out from the UN’s Emergency Climate Summit – by taking the day off school, uni or work to show our politicians we’re serious about climate action. Rally at the Domain, 12pm.
