The coronavirus pandemic has changed life for all of us. But the Christmas Bowl offers us hope in this time of trial. It gives us the means to work together as one to love our neighbours. To share what we have with others so that no one is forgotten.
Of course, our neighbours aren’t just the people in our street. Or our church. Or our nation. When Rev. Frank Byatt began the Christmas Bowl in 1949, he knew that when Jesus called us to love our neighbours as ourselves, he meant everyone on God’s Earth.
Life in post-war Australia was hard. People didn’t have a lot to spare. Yet Frank, and thousands of others, shared what they did have with their neighbours across the seas.
Although life has just got harder for us here in Australia, please share with our neighbours around the world in urgent need.
Banner image: With limited access to essentials and basic health and hygiene; refugee families in Jordan are not only at much greater risk of infection, but also have limited access to medical care – care that could mean the difference between life and death if they got sick. (Joel Pratley/Act for Peace)