JourneyOnline
What’s coming up
Pray for our Pacific
All are welcome to attend an Ecumenical Service to conclude the upcoming forum on climate change displacement, at St John’s Anglican Cathedral, Ann St Brisbane, on Sunday 27 May, 11.30am. The guest speaker will be Rev Tafue Lusama, General Secretary of the Congregational Christian Church of Tuvalu. There will be a celebration lunch to follow.
Building sense of safety
A Place to Belong is hosting a free workshop for people seeking to companion someone who has experienced distress or trauma. It will help us reflect on ordinary responses to distress; and on how a ‘Sense of Safety’ may be facilitated in our lives and communities. Sunday 3 June 2-4.30 pm at St Francis College, Milton. No need to RSVP. Bring a plate to share for afternoon tea. All questions should be directed to Neil on 0437 718 420.
Best night of the year!
Put this date in your diaries – Friday 8 June – The LUMINOUS Lantern Parade at South Bank. This free annual event celebrates Queensland Week by highlighting the strength of our cultural diversity, our heritage, our people, places and history, giving all Queenslanders the opportunity to say “Welcome” to our newest Australians. Watch this video to get an idea of this joyful event.
Week in review
Don’t keep history a mystery
National Reconciliation Week runs from Sunday 27 May until Sunday 3 June. We are all challenged to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories. Resources from Reconciliation Australia help us to explore the history hidden just beneath the surface.
John Harrison has written a history of Mapoon and Christian missionaries from Germany in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries which is free and available for download.
On track to replace fossil fuels
Solar photovoltaic and wind power are rapidly becoming cheaper and more abundant. They are actually on track to entirely supplant coal, oil and gas worldwide within twenty years. Why is solar and wind power so much better? The Conversation explores.
Great Australian Bight threatened
The Great Australian Bight is home to one of this country’s most biodiverse and important marine ecosystems, the heart of its fishing industry, a growing tourism destination – and potentially its newest oil field. Environmentalists, scientists and members of the communities around the bight are deeply worried that the damage from a spill could be enormous. Find out more about this serious issue. Join Greenpeace in telling the government: defend the bight.
Inside the world’s largest refugee camp
For the last five years, South Sudan has been riven by civil war since President Kiir accused his deputy of launching a coup. Since then, around 300,000 people have died and about 3.5 million have become refugees, with nearly half fleeing to neighbouring countries. The Guardian takes a look inside Bidi Bidi, the largest refugee camp and home to a quarter of a million people.
Call to action
Let us be the generation to stop extreme poverty
Global Citizen is calling on people all over the world to take action, calling on the Australian Government to make Australian Aid a priority. We can be the generation to make sure women and girls and treated equally, have access to healthcare, education and end extreme poverty once and for all. But it is going to take one loud, united voice of global citizens. Take action now.
Choose to refuse
Plastics are a real problem. They don’t break down, end up in our waterways and the ocean – where scientists predict there will be more tonnes of plastic than tonnes of fish by 2050 – and transfer to the food chain, carrying pollutants with them. So, how can we cut down our use of plastic, especially bottles, bags and take away containers that we use for just a few minutes then throw away?
Taking part in Plastic Free July is a great way to start with really helpful resources, tips and hints, and the chance to start changing your buying habits over a whole month. Are you up for the #choosetorefuse challenge? Register now.
