In the lead up to Easter we will be putting up a new lent devotion each week day. These devotions will also be available in the discussions section of our Facebook page and will be played on New Zealand’s Rhema.
St Francis of Assisi was a man who devoted himself to poverty in order to travel and share the Gospel, the [...]

In the lead up to Easter we will be putting up a new lent devotion each week day. These devotions will also be available in the discussions section of our Facebook page and will be played on New Zealand’s Rhema.
There is a verse in the Bible that is often quoted to justify not working to help the poor. Jesus says [...]

The following was co-written by Paul Thompson (National Coordinator for Micah Challenge Aotearoa) and me. It can be found on the Micah Challenge Aotearoa (NZ) website.
“Poverty Hurts Your Soul” is the title of a new paper published by the Conference of European Churches. They say “In Christian understanding, poverty and social exclusion are understood as a failure to uphold basic [...]

It’s time to enter the discussion about Pat Robertson’s comments relating to Haiti.
The comment from the infamous televangelist that has caused much furor in the media and around the internet can be viewed over on Youtube. In the clip, Pat Robertson makes a connection between Haiti’s poverty and suffering and a “pact with the devil” that was supposed to have taken [...]

As Haitians suffer the devastation of an earthquake that his ripped apart the lives of many and left an already poor nation crippled even further, it was with sadness that I read the Sunday Star Times article regarding the empires of three prominent Auckland churches, revealing their financial situations and their growing wealth.
The suffering of the Haitians and the opulent [...]

While in India, I had the opportunity to talk to a few young people living in poverty who have New Zealand sponsors.
I asked one young guy (11 years old) what he would wish for if he could have one wish and know without a doubt that it would come true. The circumstances that young man lives in could only be [...]

Frank Ritchie talks about his recent trip to India, visiting TEAR Fund partners ASHA and Sahaasee and learning more about slum life first hand.

The following is a slideshow of images I captured during my time in India. It’s by no means all of them, but represents a good portion of the pictures I captured of children.

Note: Give yourself a pat on the back if you can guess the song line I have mimicked in the heading of this post. Does anyone want to [...]

Drew interviews Armin Chermue about her experiences growing up as a Compassion sponsored child in a remote, impoverished hill village in Thailand.

Frank interviews TEAR Fund International Programmes Officer Ian McInnes on his recent trip to Somaliland and Uganda, regions troubled by conflict. FInd out the challenges of working in a place like Somaliland and hear how TEAR Fund is making a difference.

The following video is of Hans Rosling making a TED presentation demonstrating through various data tools, how countries are pulling themselves out of poverty. It is extremely interesting.

I was intrigued by this map that was sent to me recently clearly showing the distribution of the worlds wealth and population.
The fact that 14% of the worlds population enjoy 73% of the wealth while the remaining 86% are left with only 27% of the goodies was no surprise. The fact that when it comes to the 50 cities in [...]

Glen Hill, TEAR Fund’s Church Engagement Manager talks about the ways TEAR Fund can help churches respond more fully to the needs of the poor.

Esther Ducai -TEAR Fund’s International Programmes Director talks about working with our indigenous partners and shares some 3rd world experiences.

To read the post that provides the context to the following writing, click here.
This trip that has me in Nairobi, Kenya, is one that I am doing on my own. Here at the Micah Network conference I have been forming some good acquaintances very quickly, some that I hope will turn into good global friendships, but there is no-one that [...]

I have been in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, for a few days now. Up until this trip, my experience of the world outside of New Zealand had only been Brisbane (Australia) for a week to attend a conference I did not appreciate at all.
This trip has seen me stop briefly in Johannesburg (South Africa), has me in Nairobi for [...]