Pacific reaches out to Australia

PACIFIC churches will gather on Australia Day to contribute funds towards the bush fire effort.

And trained trauma counselors have been place on stand-by to minister to victims and firefighters if they are needed.

Most of the trauma counselors are church ministers and priests trained by the Uniting Church in Australia to help victims of natural disasters in the Pacific.

Pacific Conference of Churches General Secretary, Reverend James Bhagwan, said a vigil service to pray for Australia, its people and wildlife, would be held at the Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Suva at 3pm on January 26.

“We have also written to all our member churches to ask for financial and professional support for the bush fire effort,” Bhagwan said.

Dear Church Leaders and Members of the PCC Executive Committee

Warm New Year Christian greetings to you all from the PCC Secretariat.

Following discussions with the Moderator PCC, Rev. Dr. Tevita Havea, we are launching an appeal to assist our member church, the Uniting Church in Australia in their response to the bushfires ravaging the country.

The Secretariat will be holding a vigil service in Fiji on Sunday 26th January 2020 which is also Australia’s National Day.

We humbly ask our member churches, particularly those who have a relationship with UCA or Uniting World to hold a special collection on that day and either forward the money directly to UCA / Uniting World or to us.

We are also asking those who have been trained as Disaster Trauma Counsellors by Uniting World to offer themselves to serve on a short term basis in Australia, should the need arise from UCA and PCC find the funds to send a team over.

Please do not hesitate to contact me or Julie in our Finance Team should you have any questions.

Let us keep the church and all people and animals in Australia in our prayers.

Please continue to keep our sisters, brothers and children in Samoa in your prayers as well as those affected by recent natural disasters.