Christian Surfers have partnered with Tearfund to raise awareness and make waves in communities that need our help. We are joined by Sam Fagan who shares with us the many opportunities to jump onboard. From signing petitions to supporting causes or even being more aware of where your rubbish goes. Listen and learn where YOU can help! God has commanded us to love one another and be stewards of the earth. Please welcome Sam yewwww….
Could you give us a rundown of what Tearfund is as an organisation, and your role within that?
Tearfund Australia is a Christian development, relief and advocacy organisation responding to global poverty and injustice. Following Jesus, we go where the need is greatest! For over 50 years, we have been working towards a vision of a just and compassionate world in which all people have the opportunity to achieve their God-given potential. Around the globe, we work in partnership with local Christian agencies in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Agencies who understand the needs of their communities, and are in the best position to develop responses that are relevant and sustainable. My role is focused on Church and community engagement, which means I connect, support and develop relationships with Churches and other christian groups, and endeavour to go on a discipleship journey in relation to biblical justice and what that means for each of us.
Do you have a personal story from someone overseas that has really been impacted by the organisation, how it's changed their life…
The story of Josias and Coqueiral Baptist Church in Brazil is an inspiring example of what can happen when the Holy Spirit convicts a person of what is important to God. An individual response leads to the formation of a group which leads to greater levels of impact that leads to community transformation. This story is relevant for all who are interested in the Rubbish Campaign. Imagine, if like Josias, we all listened to the Holy Spirit and responded accordingly in our context!
Check this out.
Could you tell us a bit more about the MICAH coalition & the progress since starting the rubbish campaign back in 2019…
Tearfund is a part of the Micah Coalition of Churches and Christian organisations that work together to gather, inspire and empower Australian Christians as advocates - people who use their voices to shine a light on issues of injustice. We’ve found this to be a much more effective and efficient way of working for change, by unifying our plans and strategy to cut through the noise and influence the decision makers in our country. An example of this was the Rubbish Campaign in 2019 that targeted the four biggest plastic polluters in the world (Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Unilever and Nestle) and called for them to: Report their plastic production; Reduce this amount by half; Recycle; Restore dignity to waste pickers by working in partnership with them. The campaign resulted in over 50,000 actions taken globally by supporters (eg: signing petitions and lifestyle changes), and ALL four companies made significant changes in response to the campaign.
Fast forward to modern day and the global conversation about plastic pollution has accelerated. The impact of plastic pollution has more than doubled. Today, half of all plastic is designed to only be used once before being discarded. The results are wide-ranging and extremely harmful. Plastic pollution is directly impacting the achievement of over half of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. It is also contributing directly to the climate emergency through plastics production and emissions from the burning of plastic waste.
This is noted as the most important multi-lateral climate deal since Paris...?!
In March, at the UN environment assembly in Nairobi, world leaders, environment ministers and other representatives from 173 nations agreed to develop a legally binding treaty on plastic pollution. The decision to develop a treaty has been described as the most important multilateral environment deal since the Paris Climate Accord in 2015. The resolution established an intergovernmental negotiating committee that will be tasked with drafting and ratifying the Treaty, with the aim of completing the process by 2024. Already, it is clear that negotiations will be incredibly complex with a number of nations and lobby groups pushing for watered-down voluntary commitments as opposed to legally binding targets. Encouragingly, Australia has joined the High Ambition Coalition of 20 nations including the UK, Canada, France, and Germany that aims to deliver a global agreement banning plastic pollution that is legally binding.
It's a necessity to solve the issue of rubbish & waste, how can we accommodate those in third world countries that make their living from it?
Pivotally, the resolution also introduces provisions to recognise waste pickers, an inclusion that would impact millions of people around the world. It is the first time waste pickers have been recognised in an environmental resolution. Moving forward, it will be important that the voices and experiences of indigenous groups, waste pickers and majority-world communities are amplified and help shape the formation of a legally binding agreement that has clear targets and global accountability.
What opportunities are there for other people looking to get involved with Tearfund?
Tearfund has a range of opportunities for young people to get involved including a website full of stories and resources to inform and equip around a variety of justice issues. We have a growing community of supporters who run local action groups, participate in online workshops, attend events including our annual Justice Conference, and our Restorers giving program. Also, if there is a young surfer that wants to know more about Tearfund I’d love to connect with them.
My email is samuel.fagan@tearfund.org.au
How did you come to faith Sam?
I was born into a larger pentecostal church in the suburbs of Sydney. It became an important community for me particularly in my teenage years when life at home was challenging and I was questioning many things about life as I knew it and my future. I remember seeing something different in my friends that attended the Youth group. They had a different spirit and energy for life. I was drawn to their expression of Jesus, and in response I began my own journey with Jesus and found much needed love and support from the Youth leaders and my peers. I found Jesus and I found my tribe (as CS likes to say) and it changed my life.
You used to bus, train & ferry to get to the surf...?!
Growing up in the suburbs meant I had to really love the waves to make the effort to get there. I started as a bodyboarder, influenced by the notorious “Tension” video series. Most weekends my friends and I would get dropped off at the local train station around 7am. We would train for an hour to Circular Quay where we would jump on the ferry to Manly, another 40 mins. Before running from one side of manly to Winki pop, about a 20 min run at full froth pace. Winki was a fun slab wave that intimidated and rewarded. We’d stay in the water for 4-6 hours, get Mcdonalds for lunch, and come back for an afternoon session before taking the same public transport route all the way home. At 17-18 I made the transition to stand up! Thank God! No shade on the booger community. But I saw the older surfer crowd cruising and drawing lines on the waves with endless style and knew that’s what I wanted when I was say 40. I’ve never looked back. Surfing is a gift and my time in the ocean is always good for my soul.
We're pretty stoked to be partnering up with you guys. How do you want to see this relationship / partnership grow?
I feel the stoke is very mutual. Tearfund is also excited about the opportunity to partner with CSA. The shared Christian values and care for the climate/ocean is something we hope we can inspire each other towards more and more. The old adage of “iron sharping iron” comes to mind. We hope to be able to support the CS community in their understanding of justice issues and the Jesus like response that was evidently a passion of all at the Annual Gathering in Hobart. And we also hope that in time we will be able to report and celebrate together a great outcome because of our advocacy efforts in the Rubbish Campaign.
Christian Surfers National Gathering was a pretty wild experience hey...
It was my first Gathering and I was really impacted by my experience! Usually, you encounter surfers in twos and threes. But to walk into a room of over 200 surfers was a very wild, raw and unique moment I will never forget. I’ve quite literally never experienced anything like the aroma, the bare feet, the vocabulary or the quiver of surfboards scattered around the site. I loved it all, including the 5:30am wake-up call, paddle out and borderline hypothermia on the Sunday. Thanks for that Jono Bailey :)
What has lingered with me since the gathering has been the strong sense of community and the expression of Jesus that was clearly resonating with youth and young adult surfers from all over Australia, and beyond!
A verse of scripture that's hitting home right now...
Psalm 42:7 “Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.”
I didn’t force this, I promise! I’ve only noticed the significance of the mention of waves now. I love this verse and its description of the deep. It reminds me that the deepest (most often challenging) parts of me find their place and meaning in connection with the deepest parts of God.
Favourite worship album?
Delirious, “live and in the can” (“can” because it was packaged in a tin can - you can’t make this stuff up. Genius!)