Harpenden United Nations Association and Churches Together in Harpenden

Annual Service

The annual service for United Nations Day took place on Sunday October 28 at St Nicholas Church, to commemorate the founding of the United Nations on 24 October 1945. The Mayor of the City and District of St Albans, Cllr Kate Morris, and the Town Mayor of Harpenden, Cllr Bert Pawle, attended. The address was given by Stephen Rand who is co-chair of the Board of the Jubilee Debt Campaign and he spoke on 'Jubilee - a vision of global renewal'.

In the book of Leviticus in the Old Testament, the Year of Jubilee is described. It was designated to be every 50th year, and in that year debts were cancelled, slaves were freed, and land returned to its original owner. This is the origin of the vision of the Jubilee Debt Campaign which is calling for 100% cancellation of unpayable and unfair poor country debts. Although the year of Jubilee probably never happened in the way described in Leviticus, Jesus, on the occasion when he visited the synagogue in Luke 4, reinforced the vision by quoting a prophecy from Isaiah. The prophecy describes how Jesus came to bring freedom, liberation from oppression and good news for the poor. The 'Year of the Lord's Favour' quoted in the prophecy is thought to have the same meaning in the original language as the 'Year of Jubilee'. Thus the vision for justice and righteousness is one which Jesus endorsed and which we need to be working towards, however small our own efforts appear to be. In fact debt relief has made a huge difference to the lives of the poor in many countries. After receiving debt relief, primary school fees were abolished in Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and rural areas of Benin. Funds from debt relief are helping Burkina Faso, Chad, Senegal and Tanzania to increase provision of basic healthcare. Uganda abolished fees for basic healthcare after debt cancellation, as did Zambia in rural areas. Benin and Niger used funds from debt cancellation to increase access to safe water: fetching water is usually the responsibility of women and girls and is often a reason for girls not going to school.

Although the origins of the Year of Jubilee are from the Bible, it is not only Christian groups which have supported the campaign, there are 'Jubliee Congregations' among members of other faith groups, and those of none.

There are many ways of helping the campaign. For more information visit

www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk

For more information on the Harpenden UNA, contact Trevor Evans on Harpenden 713895

Stephen Rand worked for the charity Tearfund before he joined the Jubilee Debt Campaign. He was part of the co-ordination team for Make Poverty History and works part time for Kairos Church, Wimbledon - a Baptist Church. He is author of 'Guinea Pig for Lunch', the stories of his travel experiences with Tearfund..