| Eastern Hosts Creation Care Chapel for Renewal's Day of Prayer! |
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 At Eastern University, a group gathered on the evening of October 21st, for a special chapel on environmental stewardship. Some of us had spent the day fasting from an energy source. I had chosen to simply unplug everything in my dorm, and only work of my laptop’s battery. Not exactly a hard life for a student spending most of the day going from classroom, to cafeteria, to library, and so forth. The chapel began with contemporary worship. We sang songs like “Mighty to Save” and “God of Wonders.” The slides had gorgeous backgrounds reminding us where such glimpses of the Lord’s glory can be found. I read one of the prayers that was posted on this website, and Professor of Biology Dr. Hoferer led from there. He started off with the story of the dueling churches (you know the Catholic and Presbyterian ones with the debating signs about dogs going to heaven.) Well this was really all about the fact that God cares for all His creation. He has made it all, redeemed, and reconciled it to Him through the work of the Cross. But tonight was not about why we should care, rather Dr.Hoferer questioned us about why we don’t. We looked at mountaintop removal and the harm caused by this extraction technique a natural resource(coal) for the cheap energy. He told us of how pepto-bismol turns to black in residents water. Of how, a father thought to give it to his daughter suffering stomach pains until then. Clean water and health have been taken from them. The Lord has also given every animal the gift to be fruitful and multiply, but we take this away through these acts that poison them and destroy their habitat. We have taken parts out of the gospel and we have made it exclusive. The challenge of “spreading the whole gospel to the whole world” seemed to really impact our group. Our partner seminary has this as their mission statement after all. A few gathered on that campus to pray as well. Yes. Our gathering was small to some, many seats were unfilled; but more than two had gathered in agreement and the Lord was present and good. We ended in worship together, singing of how our Savior can move the mountains. We have become sure He can save them too, but He has commanded us to be their stewards. Brittany Bennett is a member of Renewal's Student Leadership Team and also serves as one of the leaders of the Earthkeepers group at Eastern University. She first got involved in Renewal by helping to spearhead the Eastern Summit in the fall of 2008, and has been an active organizer in the student creation care movement ever since. |