In the Baptist movement, we’ve had great opportunities to speak out for justice since our last update – and it is my delight to share with you the exciting activities that closed out our 2025, and the unique opportunities that are kicking off in 2026!

Stand with Myanmar and Converge 2025

Representatives from across the country representing the Baptist Church joined together to support our brothers and sisters in Myanmar for our flagship Converge summit in Canberra in October in order to support the Stand With Myanmar campaign.

Recognising the years of conflict, displacement and suffering that the military junta has inflicted since seizing power in February 2021, Stand With Myanmar represents a powerful, sustained movement of Baptists speaking out to those in power, and calling for action. Conducting over 25 meetings both in Canberra and in meetings across the country, WA Baptists have joined the national movement to show their solidarity with the peoples of Myanmar.

Our Stand With Myanmar event in November, in partnership with Baptist Mission Australia and Baptist World Aid, was also a success, raising over $2000 for the overall campaign. We are especially grateful for special guests Senator Dean Smith and Reverend Tim Costello, alongside the gracious hospitality of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church.

Rest assured for those who attended our gathering in November at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, that the work has continued on – with Mike Bartlett, from Australian Baptist Ministries and Baptist World Aid, giving crucial testimony to the Senate inquiry into Myanmar. Together we pray for the end of the junta, and look forward to continuing to work with the Australian government to speak up for our brothers and sisters and provide aid, humanitarian visas, and crucial diplomatic pressure.

To love God with not just our hearts and souls, but also with our minds, we encourage any opportunity to grow in our understanding. For the month of November, I encourage you to look at two important initiatives that our wider Baptist family are championing – initiatives that will help you and your church families stay informed, educated, and empowered to make a difference.

Ethical Fashion – Ending Worker Exploitation

The first is to share Baptist World Aid’s brand new podcast Behind the Barcode, from our colleagues Hannah and Kat from the Ethical Fashion team.

Baptist World Aid have regularly published Ethical Fashion reports and guides to give Australian consumers information on how their favourite brands rank on critical issues like worker exploitation, sustainability, wages and human rights abuses. While previous editions of the Ethical Fashion Report (now in its 10th edition) have highlighted progress in this space, the rise of ultra-fast fashion brands present new challenges. The textiles industry remains a hotbed for worker exploration and environmental damage, and those who are looking to make a difference may not know where to start.

Complementing the team’s existing efforts in advocacy and education, Behind the Barcode blends thoughtful discussions and expert interviews to challenge and equip all listeners to make a difference.

For those looking to engage more with ethical fashion;

• Listen to all 6 episodes of Behind the Barcode on Youtube, Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts by following the link here.
• Speak out to your MP now by following the link here.
• Give here via the BWAA Swaptober website to support the work of the Ethical Fashion team, or here to direct your funds to where they are most needed.

Stand with Myanmar

Our second update is that our wider Baptist Family are hard at work sharing the Stand with Myanmar campaign, and we will be facilitating a critical time of sharing and fellowship on November 22.

Regular eNews readers will know of the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar at the hands of their own government. Since the military coup in 2021, thousands have been killed, over 20,000 are imprisoned and over 3 million are internally displaced. The devastating cuts to aid stemming from the dismantling of USAID has left 85% of the refugee camps on the Thai border without adequate medical supplies.

To address this problem, delegates from Baptist churches across the country, including from the Burmese diaspora, gathered in Canberra from October 27-29 to bring this urgent matter to the attention of the Federal Parliament, and to petition the Australian government to provide funds, enact sanctions and secure further humanitarian visas.

For those who want to hear more about Myanmar, join in prayer and hear about our delegates’time in Canberra, we would encourage you to attend and promote our Stand with Myanmar event on November 22, Saturday at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church. Presentations from various churches and leaders across the Burmese diaspora in WA. Speakers will include those with longstanding advocacy for Myanmar, including Rev. Tim Costello, Senator Dean Smith, and BCWA’s own Pastor Cung Uk Lal. The event is free with registrations via this link. We would love to see you there.

And as always, please consider supporting the work that Baptist World Aid and Baptist Mission Australia are doing in Myanmar through a financial donation.

As we seek to grow in our understanding of God, and as we pursue justice in God’s name, please keep those affected by worker exploitation and the violence in Myanmar in your prayers.

In April of 2025, we wrote to you about the Safer World for All campaign – encouraging the Federal Government to maintain and support Australia’s foreign aid program. That same month Baptist pastors, chaplains, and their spouses from across the State gathered for the Annual Baptist Pastoral Retreat, where we had the opportunity to share about our vision to see the Australian Foreign Aid Budget to increase from 0.65% to 1% of our total Federal Budget.

On behalf of Baptist World Aid, we want to thank you for the generosity of your compassionate response in signing our postcards to push for a Safer World for All. Together we gathered 101 signatures from church leaders all around WA. This is an overwhelming response, showing our representatives in Parliament that Baptist Churches care about ensuring emergency aid and ongoing development support for our neighbours in the Pacific, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and beyond. At a time where conflict, climate and funding cuts put millions of lives at risk, Australia has an opportunity to provide genuine leadership in our region, and we are grateful for the support our Baptist family has shown in sharing our vision of an Australia that remains a generous, reliable, and engaged partner, living out the values of compassion and justice that we hold dear.

Ed Devine (WA Relationship Manager) and Theo Doraisamy (Advocacy Volunteer) have also had the privilege of sharing Safer World for All at 3 Baptist Colleges in WA and collecting 210 student signatures to be sent to parliamentarians. Together with the 101 postcards, we have reached out to all 16 members of the Australian House of Representatives, sending out your signatures with additional information, and making contact with each elected representative.

Next Steps

Our partners at Micah are hard at work to set up Safer World for All for the next phase of the campaign. While the election may be over, there is still incredible need across vulnerable communities around the globe – particularly in the Middle East, and in Myanmar. Please watch this space as we keep you updated on our next moves in advocacy, both as part of the Safer World for All campaign, and other advocacy actions that we at Baptist World Aid will get involved in.

We would also encourage anyone who is interested to get in touch with Baptist World aid to find out how you can pursue justice in Jesus’ name for your neighbours across the globe – as individuals, churches, workplaces and communities. With our leaders and schools engaged, we have a powerful opportunity to raise our voices as the body of Christ for a Safer World for All.

Can our Budget create a Safer World?

Last Tuesday night, my eyes were on the Australian Federal Budget. With a Federal Election looming, and the financial stress felt by a growing number of Australians, this budget is one of particular importance and significance.

One of the important issues at the top of my mind is one that doesn’t rate much of a mention in most discussions – Australia’s foreign aid.

In a single year, Australian Aid reaches millions, including 2.38 million receiving direct assistance, 248,000 able to attend school, 10 million immunised and 240,000 women and girls supported after violence. The work done by Australian Aid saves lives, and honours the Godly principles of neighbourly love and justice.

But foreign aid is under attack. Since my previous update on this topic in September, the US government has reduced their foreign aid by a catastrophic 83%, and the UK is set to divert money away from humanitarian aid to military spending.

But where others step away, we can step up – as individuals, as a nation, and as God’s church – that is where the Safer World for All campaign comes in.

Safer World for All

Organised by Micah Australia, the Safer World for All campaign is a platform designed to help Australians collectively raise their voice to inspire our leaders to act boldly and mercifully; to see foreign aid stabilised and supported, and for a pathway to be made to increase humanitarian assistance from 0.68% to 1% of the Federal Budget.

As Baptist World Aid is an official partner of the movement, our team has had many opportunities to partner with Micah on this initiative:

• The SFWA campaign has conducted 55 meetings with our federal elected representatives over the last 6 months – I was glad to be a part of a thoughtful and comprehensive meeting with the Hon. Josh Wilson MP, Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy and Member for Fremantle.
• Others in the team have been conducting workshops at schools across the nation; our Church Relationship Manager in WA, Ed Devine has been visiting schools across the State, gathering signatures to send and present to MPs across the country.
• Finally, Micah Australia have organised Electorate Forums in critical seats to engage the candidates in the upcoming Federal Election, including in the seat of Deakin where our Advocacy Policy Manager Mike Bartlett recently had the privilege of boldly advocating for the life-saving work of Australian Aid.

So, how did last week’s budget stack up?

The good news is foreign aid remains stable. With a $135m increase, Australia’s budget for foreign aid now sits at $5.1 billion, and is directing much of its spending projects in the Asia-Pacific region that have been most affected by the cuts to USAID. As Micah’s Executive Director Tim Costello reflected, “In a world where the US and UK are retreating, Australia’s decision to hold the line and lift aid funding is a principled and strategic move”. The message of Safer World for All is cutting through to both those in power and with key figures in the Opposition and crossbench.

However more can be done: using the measure of Gross National Income, we have slipped from 0.19% to 0.18%, and as a measure of the budget, we have gone from 0.68% to 0.65% – just one tenth of our Defence spend.

The opportunity for Australia to provide security, safety, stability and compassion in our world is immense. Where others step away, we can step up, and in the Treasurer’s own words – “we’ve come a long way but there’s more work to do”

I couldn’t agree more.

Getting involved

If these issues press your heart, I would encourage you to add your name to the growing number of Australians in the campaign. The heads of Australia’s Christian denominations have written to the leaders of the major parties, but we all have a part to play.

Follow the link here to join the church petition as an individual, as a whole church, or as a Christian workplace or organisation. You’ll find summaries and up to date information and videos that can be easily shared with your church and community. More resources can be found here, including the Church engagement toolkit.

As always you are welcome and encouraged to lend your financial support to the life-saving Gospel work of Baptist World Aid Australia where it’s needed most.

And finally, as you consider your vote and voice in the upcoming Election, please pray. Pray for our local leaders and politicians, that those with conviction have sway with their party rooms and party leadership, and that this coming election not be marked by division, but instead marked by bold, life-saving love.