Bethany was one of the very first registrants for our Trek4Change Kilimanjaro challenge. Later this year she, along other Baptist World Aid Australia supporters, will be tackling the Tanzanian mountain to raise funds that will support the work of our Christian partners in Africa.

We caught up with her recently to find out more about her motivation for taking part in the challenge.

Q: What made you decide to do Trek4Change?

The trek is definitely something that interests me. I think it would be phenomenal to experience because I just love the outdoors. However, I wanted to do more than just a trek. I wanted to have an impact somehow and when Baptist World Aid said that you can raise money alongside it. That just really excited me.

The fundraising is investing in nations in Africa, in specific areas that really pull on my heart such as helping to end child marriage and helping with sustainable farming and education. So this is definitely something I want to be a part of.

Q: What is it about the work of Baptist World Aid that excites you so much?

I really like that Baptist World Aid isn’t just an organisation of people who go into a nation and say “This is how you’re going to do it.” It invests by learning about the culture and helps to equip the people of that nation to learn how to do sustainable farming; to learn how to educate their child; to learn the rights of the child and the rights of the human.

Q: You seem very passionate about this. How did you first become interested in these sorts of issues?

My parents raised me with knowledge of where my clothes had been made. As a teenager my dad used to encourage me to look at the labels of my clothing and then we’d find the nation it was made in and we’d do some research. This helped to raise awareness in me that while I might have scored a bargain in Australia, there was someone else who had been cut short. So social justice has definitely been on my heart for a number of years and Trek4Change combines my love for advocating for others with the outdoors, so I thought “Hey! This is perfect!”

while I might have scored a bargain in Australia, there was someone else who had been cut short

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to say about the Trek4Change challenge itself?

It’s also a bonus that I get to do it with a Christian organisation. Again, it’s not just ‘I just want to do this to prove to the world that I can climb a mountain,’ no. It’s the bigger picture.

It’s a challenge with more than just one challenge. Physically you will be challenged with climbing the mountain. Spiritually you will be challenged as you see God’s creation in a new light. Intellectually and emotionally you’ll be challenged when you see a new nation and how they operate and function. As well as the challenge of raising money.

Q: How would you encourage others who might be considering doing Trek4Change?

I’d just encourage people to really think about it and pray about it and consider how they can impact others and how others can impact them . . . And I feel—why not!? Whether you’re young or old, the mountain is there. We may as well go climb it and help others in the process.