Don't forget SuperBadger

SuperBadger is Tearfund's Facebook campaigning application. It allows Facebook users to send emails direct from their profile to the people making the decisions. Whether it is badgering politicians about climate change, or badgering supermarkets to stock more Fairtrade products, start badgering now!

• Find SuperBadger on Facebook now (Facebook sign up required)
• You can also follow SuperBadger on Twitter and SuperBadger's very own blog

In the Thick of It

Tearfund have been working with local churches around the world for over 40 years, and are passionate about the role that local churches play in meeting practical and spiritual needs. Believing that their role should be recognised and encouraged, the charity has put together In the Thick of It, a position paper on the role of the local church in development.

The paper is full of stories about local churches in tough situations, reaching out to the people around them and offering hope and help in times of need. Read the press release to learn more about Tearfund's vision of mobilising churches to get even better at working effectively within their own communities.

Carbon Fast Day 8

Today's Carbon Fast challenge follows on from recognising that the world's poorest people are suffering the most from climate change yet they have contributed the least to the problem. It is to go to www.tearfund.org/carbonfastaction to speak up for action in the UK and other rich countries to cut their emissions and for help for poor communities to adapt to the changing climate.

We are futher encouraged to "tell one friend about the Carbon Fast and encourage them to take today's campaign action" - hence this post!

Father, thank you for being a God who searches out the poor and vulnerable. Help me to put a face to climate change, so that it is not just an issue, but it's about a person who You created. Remind me of these people impacted by climate change whenever I feel unmotivated to make changes in my life.

Carbon Fast for Lent

Ash Wednesday falls in a week's time, so it's a good time to publicise the Carbon Fast campaign that Tearfund are encouraging us to consider this Lent - cutting our carbon use and helping protect poor people from climate change. You can sign up to receive daily emails during the Carbon Fast - each email includes the daily action, facts, prayers and reflection.

'Love does no harm to its neighbour' (Romans 13:10). Climate change can mean our neighbours go hungry because of drought, or lose their homes because of floods. Faced with that reality, there are many things we can do, acting as part of the global church's response, to change the way our lives impact poor communities.

Twelve steps to an ethical christmas

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a fairly traded box of chocolates
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two recycled cards
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me three ethical hoodies
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me four recycled gifts
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me five fair trade rings
On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me six tree decorations
On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me seven gifts that give twice
On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me eight days of service
On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me nine Christmas outfits
On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me ten gifts that cost less
On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love did for me eleven acts of kindness
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me twelve bags of rubbish

[From the Tearfund website]

How to have an ethical Christmas

From the Tearfund youth website: We believe that there’s a better sort of celebration to have – better than the Consumer’s Christmas, the Shop-a-holic’s Santa-Fest or the Me Me Me Mistletoe Marathon. We reckon that there’s every chance we can all enjoy something different this year: an Ethical Christmas.

They offer ten suggestions:

1. Buy gifts from http://www.livinggifts.co.uk/, Tearfund’s alternative gifts scheme.
2. Make a cheque-book of favours… like cleaning the car, cooking a meal or giving a foot-rub.
3. Buy a Fairtrade Cookery Book.
4. Shop at http://www.tearcraft.org/ for amazing items produced by Tearfund partners, all paid a fair wage for their skill.
5. Check out http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/ - it does what it says on the tab.
6. Get some divine Divine chocolate from your local stockist or online (http://www.divinechocolate.com/ or http://www.tearcraft.org/)
7. Offer a day out on you. There’s a stack load of things to do and exciting places to go all for FREE: museums, art galleries or that pretty impressive thing we call God’s Creation.
8. Buy nothing Christmas. Why not duck out of the system and instead of buying any presents this year give the money you would have spent to Tearfund instead.
9. Check out charity shops for some Christmas gems.
10. Get hold of some eco-pampering gifts for that special someone who loves beautiful things (try The Centre for Alternative Technology).

Happy Birthday, SuperBadger!

Tearfund's SuperBadger application in Facebook is a year old today, and he is celebrating with a party and a cake in a pub called the Fat Badger.

Can't remember what SuperBadger does? It is an application created by Tearfund which runs in Facebook and helps you to use your voice to fight global poverty. With SuperBadger you can send prewritten emails straight from your Facebook profile to the people making the decisions. Whether it is badgering politicians about climate change or badgering supermarkets to stock more Fairtrade products, now is the time to start badgering!

Lift the label - ethical clothing

If you are considering other Fairtrade aspects of life during Fairtrade fortnight, then you may be interested in a resource from TearFund. Lift the label - ethical fashion lists shops which stock "ethical clothing" - another way to use your consumer choices to bring about positive change in the lives of the poor. Just Fairtrade in Leicester stocks quite a large range of ethically-sourced clothes.

Climate change campaigner canoes to shops for Lent

A campaigner from Tearfund has thrown away his car keys, is sleeping in a tent and will canoe to the shops as part of the charity's Lent carbon fast. The initiative has been launched to encourage people to take a simple energy saving action, such as refusing to use plastic bags or giving the tumble dryer the day off, each day during the 40 days of Lent. But Tearfund campaigner Ben Clowney wanted to take the challenge to extremes and become ‘low carbon man’ during February, by cutting his emissions by as much as 95 per cent. He has therefore moved out of his house and pitched his tent in his parking space outside the Tearfund office in Teddington, Middlesex. Read the story here (Tearfund press release) and here (charity press including photo).

Carbon Fast during Lent?

One resource I didn't include in the initial round-up of Lent resources is from Tearfund, who have produced a Carbon Fast to be done over the period of Lent - 40 days to examine our carbon footprint and take some steps to reduce it. It is firmly based in prayer and action. You can sign up for Carbon Fast emails and get the daily actions, facts and prayers emailed to you, and Tearfund will also add you to the carbon map. You can also download resources for personal or church use.

Tearfund uses Facebook to campaign

I was recently invited to add the Superbadger application to my Facebook profile. This is a great application which aims to unite thousands of Facebook users in the fight against global poverty. It enables you to send pre-written emails direct from your profile to those people who make key decisions affecting those living in poverty. Roughly every two weeks a new badger will be uploaded.

Whether it's badgering politicians about climate change or badgering supermarkets to stock more Fairtrade products, we all need to be in the movement of Facebook badgers!

And if this has encouraged you to sign up, then why not ask me to add you to the Infusion Facebook group as well?

Survey of churchgoing in the UK

One in seven adults in the UK attends a Christian church each month, with nearly 3 million more people saying they would attend church if only they were asked, one of the largest surveys of churchgoing in the UK revealed in April. Commissioned by Tearfund, the findings of the in-depth survey also show that, contrary to the UK’s secular image, Christianity is still the dominant faith in the UK. Over half (53%) or 26.2 million adults claim to be Christian.

Churchgoing in the UK – one of the few surveys to track monthly church attendance and the likelihood of non churchgoers attending - shows that 7.6 million adults go to church each month and one in 10 adults attends weekly. One in four (12.6 million) attend at least once a year. The full survey can be downloaded here.

According to the survey, the biggest challenge remains people opting out of religion altogether. Two thirds of UK adults (66%) or 32.2 million people have no connection with church at present (or with any other religion). Unexpectedly, the survey shows that 3 million people who have stopped going to church or who have never been in their lives, would consider attending given the right invitation. What a challenge....