Document Library

Valuing our Elders

This is the latest IAFN newsletter to be published and includes articles from Africa, Argentina, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, West Indies, Australia, Canada, Malaysia, the Anglican Indigenous Network and the UK. The newsletter celebrates the value age can bring while also highlighting the importance of facing the realities of age and ageing and describing projects which work to provide support for those who need it. An example of creative ageing is embodied in the cover picture of a Canadian woman, 75 years old at the time of the photograph, who published her autobiography in her 90s and continued to visit elderly people when aged 100.

Investing in Childhood

2009 sees the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, and the 30th of the Year of the Child (1979). What progress has been made investing in those things which work for a more child-friendly world? The articles in this newsletter, drawn from many countries, present a sombre picture. Our investment in the growing trees of the forest (the children) remains woefully inadequte. But many of the stories also tell of resilience and courage; of projects starting from very small seeds which have grown to bring encouragement, support and education to many - girls as well as boys; and of work being done by followers of Jesus who, despite the odds, have not lost hope.

Helping Families - A Vital Part of the Churches' Mission

The International Anglican Family Network is a well established network of the Anglican Communion which has been in existence for over 20 years. Through its newsletters, which from 1996 to 2007 have been published as an integral part of Anglican World, it links together many thousands of Anglican Christians working in family ministries across the world. Each newsletter focuses on a particular theme, many of them linked with the Millennium Development Goals (for full list of publications see our website www.iafn.net). The articles are contributed by a wide range of people - clerical and lay, men and women - from many different Provinces. They tell not only of particular challenges facing families but of

The Impact of Globalisation on Families and Communities.

This newsletter follows the consultation organised by the Family Network in co-operation with the Anglican Church of Korea and held in Seoul n 2007. It includes articles based on papers presented by several of the delegates. These tell of the impact of global economic forces on families in Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, The Philippines, Singapore and Australia, with the growth in the numbers of women and men working away from their homes and the resulting pressure on them and their families. The article from The Philippines shows how the bride trade, with women seeking to escape poverty through marriage abroad, can result in their exploitation and abuse. Additional articles from Argentina, Bangladesh and UK make clear that

The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Children 

It is estimated that worldwide some 15 million children have already lost one or more parents to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Apart from the devastating effects of bereavement, many orphaned children have to cope with the care of siblings while others are themselves infected by the virus which can be transmitted to them at their birth. In some parts of the Anglican Communion, the statistics are known and horrifying; in others the known numbers are small but the problems of combating ignorance and stigma are huge. In this newsletter, stories from many different Provinces of the Anglican Communion reveal the terrible disparity of provision for children affected by HIV/AIDS, but all tell of faithful work being done to protect and help them: education p

Report of the consultation held in Seoul, South Korea 19–25 October 2007

Urban Families

Over half the global population now live in towns and cities. Cities with over 10 million people are becoming commonplace. Elsewhere smaller settlements are exploding with rural migrants. And cities are young places, as young adults are most likely to move to urban areas to make their new homes. Urban life exposes young people to new worldviews, technologies and lifestyles. It also exposes them to the inequalities of the society where they live as shanty towns grow up near gated communities. In the midst of our cities - and the slums - are stories of hope, of risks taken in faith. Articles in this newsletter show glimpses of visions of a different city - one of possibility, of energy and safe spaces; the place where the stranger can become the neighbour and where

Slavery and the Family:Past and Present

The newsletter, published at Trinitytide 2007 Anglican World, marks the 200 years since Britain abolished the Slave Trade and looks back at the history and achievement of William Wilberforce, inspired as he was by his study of the Bible and Christ's teaching. But the main focus of the newsletter is to show that 1807 did not mark the end of slavery as a practice or system. The newsletter also tells of work being done to help the victims of modern forms of slavery and calls on Christians to recognise today's oppression and - like Wilberforce - labour to oppose it.