• Archive for June 2nd, 2008

    Feast of the Refuse

    NiallJune 2, 2008

    I have been involved with some work with the homeless and poor as I have mentioned earlier… Recently I became aware that some of the aid agencies and churches in the outer Eastern Area here in Melbourne have been handing out food, including meat that is past it’s expiry date. Now this may be ok for some products and something that may have just expired, but what makes me angry is the fact that it is meat and other goods like canned fish that are being handed out with clearly expired labels!

    Not only is this revolting and dangerous to say the least considering that babies and children may be eating this meat etc, and that the organisations send a slip of paper with the hamper that recognises the food is out of date and that they hold no responsibility, but where do we get off deciding that just because they are getting welfare or aid they deserve anything of less quality than we would eat! I know many of these organisations and churches are on a shoe string but I would place a bet that the pastors or aid workers themselves would be laothe to touch some of the food that is handed out as welfare here.

    This sickens me and makes me weep for the church! So much for inviting them to feast in Luke 14:15!

    The aid organisations I am talking about - one was a church in Croydon and the other a para-church organisation - St Vincents De Paul! Come on people! We can sit in our million dollar buildings, with thoudands of dollars in AV equipment, take communion and sing songs to the words on the screen, yet feel it is ok to give someone who has less than us the crumbs, no not the crumbs, the waste from our excess consumption!

    Posted in Australia, Kingdom, Social Justice, church life, croydon, failure |
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