In the middle of 2014, a man from our Karen congregation, named Hsa Pu Lu, told me “we need to do something for fathers in our community, so that we can minister to them and also help them out to be free from drinking”.

Almost every weekend Karen families have thanksgiving, where they provide food and have a service at their homes. If the fathers are able to help out in kitchen, they are contributing, and the family that is having the thanksgiving service at their home is able to partake in Mary’s ministry by listening to God’s words at the service, free from the busyness of hospitality.

Werribee’s Karen kitchen ministry began in early 2015 in a garage and sometimes at homes, to cater for family’s thanksgiving. This year, they have been able to acquire a shop front in the main street of Werribee where they now operate Martha Karen Kitchen.

Why name this Martha Karen Kitchen? Martha was always busy in the kitchen. This is a good thing she has done by hosting guests. We believe that God brought our Karen people here to Australia with a purpose.

While we were in refugee camps, we had no idea of resettlement in other countries, until the Australian government took us out of Thailand refugee camps and welcomed us here. We believe that God has called us to minister not only to our community but also to others. We believe that Martha ministry is the staring point of our ministry to wider communities and also shows our gratefulness to the Australian government for the opportunities we have here to work and to be a part of the community.

This restaurant is like a home to the Karen community in Werribee CBD. Currently we haven’t employed anyone, all are working as volunteers. We soon hope to employ four people but also we hope that people will continue to give their extra hours voluntarily. 

The key reasons Werribee Karen Baptist Church is engaging in their Martha Karen Kitchen ministry are:

• To create work and training opportunities for the congregation
• To use the profits generated for church ministries locally and internationally
• To be able to work with wider communities, welcoming strangers and sharing Christ love
• To create opportunities for evangelism
• To serve people with busy lives

Why not visit Martha Karen Kitchen for some great food and a warm welcome? You can find them at: 
30 Station Place, Werribee, and they’re open Mon- Sat 10am-9pm

By Rev Gail Moe Dwai

More than 3,500 UK churches have either switched their electricity from fossil fuels to renewables or registered to do so, according to figures released by UK charities today.

The announcement coincides with day named by Pope Francis as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, September 1. It is the beginning of the Season of Creation, a global Christian ecumenical time of prayer and work for the protection of the environment.

Around 2,000 of the churches switching come from sixteen Catholic dioceses which are running entirely on renewable energy, some of whom made the decision following Pope Francis’ encyclical for the environment, Laudato Si’. The number also includes the majority of the Salvation Army’s UK sites and a third of Britain’s Quaker Meeting Houses.

In addition, nearly 700 churches from across denominations have so far individually signed up through the bigchurchswitch.org.uk website promoted by the charities Christian Aid and Tearfund.

Professor Stephen Pickard, Anglican Bishop and Director of the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture in Canberra, said it well: ‘The massive take-up of clean, renewable energy by churches in the UK is a great sign of hope. It would be inspiring if Australian churches could do the same. We have an abundance of sun and wind and we are well aware of the damage done by the burning of fossil fuels. What are we waiting for?’

There are no similar large scale shifts to clean energy planned by churches in Australia, but churches have taken the lead on environmental action in other ways. The take-up of rooftop solar has accelerated in the last few years. Dozens of Christian organisations have passed resolutions to divest their holdings in fossil fuel extraction, and a sizable proportion of the tens of thousands at the People’s Climate Marches in late 2015 were people from faith communities.

Bishop John Arnold of Salford, one of the sixteen dioceses to have switched, and chairman of Catholic aid agency CAFOD, said: “There are many ways in which we may respond to the threat and the reality of climate change and adopting renewable energy for our church buildings must be a priority. Pope Francis challenges us all to ‘care for our common home’, and by adopting renewable energy we will directly help people threatened, and already most severely affected, by climate change.”

Tearfund Advocacy Director Paul Cook, said: “The Christian community has come together to help lead the shift to clean energy – we're showing that we care for our neighbours, we care for creation, and we care that the government takes urgent action too. The longer we postpone, the worse it will be for our future and the future of people living in poverty around the world."

Christian Aid Chief Executive Loretta Minghella also welcomed the news. She said: “We need a big shift to renewable energy and a shared commitment to leave the vast majority of fossil fuel reserves in the ground. This action by thousands of churches shows a groundswell of public support for renewables to which governments must respond by doing all they can to shift to a clean energy future.”

Some 340 congregations in the UK have also signed up to a broader scheme ‘Eco-Church’, committing to a range of environmental improvements. Similarly, 21 Catholic parishes have received a ‘Live Simply’ award, in recognition of commitments to sustainability and solidarity with people in poverty.

Dr Ruth Valerio, founder of the Eco-Church programme, said: “I sense that a corner has been turned with churches engaging in caring for the earth. The Bible is so clear that God loves the whole creation, both human and non-human, and that we are to love similarly, and so it is really encouraging to see us getting to grips with what that means and taking practical action”.

For more information on the environment and justice and how your church can take action go to A Just Cause