ⓒ 2016 WATV

‘지속 가능 도시상 2016’ 시상식에서 수상의 기쁨을 나눈 호주 멜버른교회 성도들과 관계자들

After winning the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in the U.K., the Church of God received cheerful news also from Australia. It won the award at the Australian Sustainable Cities Awards 2016 hosted by Keep Victoria Beautiful [KVB], which is an environmental organization.

KVB was founded in 1968 as a branch of Keep Australia Beautiful [KAB] in Victoria State to protect and sustain Australian environment. The award KVB confers is one of the most prominent awards in the environment field in Australia.

The award ceremony of the Sustainable Cities Awards 2016 was held at the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne on July 15. The Church of God was nominated to the final list in three out of thirteen categories; and it won the award in the category of Litter Prevention, and certificates in the other two categories as the Finalist.

In the Australian society that shows a special interest in the environment, the Church of God members’ active good deeds in the local communities of Australia must have left deep impression to the residents and related groups. The proof is that the church won the KVB award, after fairly competing with 30 to 50 groups such as the city hall, government offices, and schools that were also carrying out environmental activities systematically.

At the award ceremony, it was announced that the Church of God recently won the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, and the attendees acclaimed and cheered for it. It was because Australia is officially the Commonwealth of Australia and its monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, and it maintains an amicable relationship with the U.K. The news of winning awards in both countries proved the positive power of the Church of God’s voluntary works that have been carried out constantly.

“The Church of God members did a fantastic job,” congratulated Catriona Rowntree who was the presider at the award ceremony and an MC of Channel Nine. “The Church of God members deserve this award enough,” said Kelvin Thomson, former MP, without sparing any compliments.

The church members in Australia shared the joy of winning the award and expressed their resolution: “With this award as a momentum, we are going to display the glory of God with more pride and volunteer services.”