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The Anglican Church in Tasmania Search |
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a healthy church...transformingLIFE |
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April 2007 |
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Pulling pulls for prostheticsOr...Why Gayelene was upside down in the rubbish bin. How many ring pulls from aluminium cans do you need to weigh one kilo? What's in ring pulls that makes them so valuable? Answers: 35,000 and titanium. And the importance of this? ONE kilo of fused ring pulls provides enough material for Thailand's Mobile Artificial Legs Production Unit to make components for TWO prosthetic legs for victims of landmines etc. Recycling aluminium cans has been a part of the donkey ministry for some time. Gayelene Harrower and Arthur and Jeanne Wherrett, leaders of the Anglican Church Donkey Ministry are experts on aluminium drink cans! A number of churches around Tasmania collect cans from members, or cans found by the side of road. These are brought into Church House by visitors to Hobart or picked up in some other way, and then sold to raise money for the expenses of the Donkey Ministry. This has been wonderfully successful and a goodly sum of money has been raised in the last two years. However, an article in the Hobart Mercury last year, about the program run by Hobart's Southern Beaches Lions Club to provide artificial limbs for landmine victims, has made the can collecting even more worthwhile! The thousands and thousands of cans which pass through Gayelene's property to the recycling company are now sent stripped of the ring pulls. There have been times late at night (VERY late at night!) when Gayelene has been heard murmuring in the kitchen as she removes the 35,000th plus ring pull, 'I do hope Jesus appreciates his prosthetic legs!' Think of Jesus' words in Matthew 25:37 - 40: 'Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee?" And the King will answer them, "'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'" This article is just to say a sincere 'Thank you' to all those folk who collect cans to support the Donkey Ministry. We are so grateful for your help. And now you are also helping people overseas to walk and live a better life! We have sent OVER 20 KILOS of ring pulls (from more than 70,000 alumium cans!) to the Lions Club, via a school last year, and now directly. (Some church members are now removing the ring pulls themselves and sending them separately, and we do appreciate this. However, it is certainly not necessary as we are happy to do this ourselves.) The packages are now marked 'Anglican Church of Tasmania' to let our friends in the Lions Club know that we are supporting them in this wonderful endeavour. We appreciate the opportunity to help in this way. So, the next time you see an aluminium can tossed by the side of the road, or in the gutter, do bend down and collect it and send it to us. Tasmania will be cleaner, our recycling will be better, you will have had a little exercise, the Donkey Ministry will financially benefit - and someone will be helped with an artificial limb! From tiny collections together, great things CAN be accomplished! Praise the Lord for such opportunities!
PS. You don't have to dig head first into rubbish bins as Gayelene has been regularly seen to do! (See the photo on the back page of December's Tasmanian Anglican taken at the Brighton Show where the Donkey Ministry Team was doing evangelism with the Pontville Anglican Church.) But we must admit there are a number of older Anglicans who have now taken surreptitiously to doing this as well. It must be something to do with the freedom of ageing!!! |
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