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This November, I had the great privilege of traveling with Rev. Tafue Lusama from the South Pacific island nation of Tuvalu for Restoring Eden's "Ankle Deep in Reality" tour. The experience impacted me profoundly, and I wanted to share some of what I learned with you.
Rev. Tafue Lusama is an unassuming man, quiet and contemplative with a subtle sense of humor. Meeting him in passing, one would never know his incredible passion, strength, courage, and resolve. You see, for Rev. Lusama global warming is not just a distant problem we might have to address sometime in the future. Global warming is threatening the very existence of Tuvalu, his small, low-lying, south pacific island home. Faced with an unprecedented amount of storm surges and cyclones; an accelerating rate of coastal erosion, flooding and sea-water rise; the complete salinization of the underground freshwater table; extensive coral bleaching and depletion of fish stocks; and the consequent increase in poverty and public health issues such as water-born diseases, the people of Tuvalu are often referred to as the first casualty of global warming.
Rev. Lusama‘s fight to stop global warming is, in essence, a fight for the very existence of his homeland, people, and culture. It is also a fight to revive two key tenets of the Christian faith- justice and stewardship of God’s creation. The people of Tuvalu did nothing to contribute to this problem. And yet they are now suffering, as the western world stands by and debates if, when, and how we should solve this distant problem. Unfortunately, Rev. Lusama and the people of Tuvalu do not have the luxury of distance and time.
It is this message that Rev. Lusama brought to Christians across the United States on Restoring Eden’s “Ankle Deep in Reality Tour.” From Sunday morning church services, to nightly presentations at churches and colleges, to meetings with national congressional leaders- he pressed on, sharing his story and pleading for help from his fellow Christian brothers and sisters in the United States. “Jesus came to fight for justice and stood with the poor and vulnerable,” Rev. Lusama reminds his audience, calling on the American church to stand with the people of Tuvalu- a nation that is 99.9% Christian. The trip was difficult and tiresome, but incredibly successful. Rev. Lusama left with great hope and faith that Christians here had heard his message and will respond to the plea of vulnerable communities being harmed by global warming. I hope he is right, and though the fight to stop global warming will continue to be difficult and tiresome, Christians across the United States will stand for justice and stewardship with the people of Tuvalu, and be met with grace and victory.
Article submitted by Anna Jane Joyner. Anna Jane is a 2007 graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and current co-coordinator for Renewal. She fell in love with God's creation while studying in New Zealand, and has since been inspired and driven to protect it. Being a pastor’s child from the southeast and knowing little about the subject, when she returned home she eagerly began studying Christian perspectives on environmental stewardship. Since graduating, she has dedicated her life and work to engaging the Christian community in caring for God’s amazing and life-sustaining creation. Her recent endeavors include co-authoring the Sierra Club report 'Faith in Action' and teaching environmental studies at a Christian high school. Anna Jane lives in North Carolina and enjoys hiking, travelling, frequenting independent bookstores, listening to bluegrass and writing poetry.
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Eastern Hosts Creation Care Chapel for Renewal's Day of Prayer! |
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.
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International Day of Climate Action at Wheaton College |
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Students and community members at Wheaton College (IL) came together for a series of awareness-raising activities on October 24 to commemorate 350.org's International Day of Climate Change. Organized by the student group, A Rocha Wheaton, the event included stations for calculating personal carbon footprints, conducting a campus waste audit, reading first-hand accounts of how climate change is affecting communities around the world, enjoying a rousing musical perfomance by a local band, and even composing environmental haikus... Here are some of the entries:
Sunflowers in bloom
Acid rain falls on its blooms
Destruction ensues
-Chelsea
So many species
Still left to be discovered
Save to discover
A water bottle
Water covered in plastic
So very wasteful
-Drew
Breathing is awesome
I hope we can tomorrow
Forest almost gone
-B.W.
Rain falls to the ground
What a peaceful melody
We must keep you pure
-Jennifer
Strong branches reaching the sky
Inviting me to climb, explore and rest
But not to fall out
-Ella
Nature is a treat
Don’t treat it like a sickness
All I love is trees
-Rob
Autumn’s fiery leaves
Glistening winter snowflakes
Preserve this beauty
-Laura
Beauty of the earth
We must take care of it now
Lest it waste away
-Renee
Pollute and all die
Stewardship means love for all
It is that simple
-Arielle
This wrinkled paper,
Pulled from littered past—
Means more tomorrow
Why even bother?
Because it’s not only ours
Be responsible
-Ben
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The A Rocha Wheaton organizing team (and Ben Lowe)!
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Planting Seeds: Montreat College is Going Green! |
Seeds, Montreat College’s environmental stewardship club, is having a fantastic and successful semester!
Creation stewardship is an ever-growing ethic on Montreat’s campus- and not just in the ranks of students- but within the administration and faculty as well. Montreat’s administration is reviewing a campus sustainability proposal submitted by Seeds co-founder and Renewal student leader, Aaryn Joyner. They also just reinstated the Green Campus Task Force- a collaboration of students, faculty and staff focused on integrating creation care into every aspect of Montreat life. What’s more, after reviewing the campus sustainability proposal, Montreat’s cabinet members recently voted to make sustainability one of the top budget priorities in the coming years!
Seeds is also reaching out to the student body through hosting creation care initiatives and events. This semester, we launched the Garden of Eaten’, Montreat’s student-led campus garden, and just recently planted our fall crop of veggies. We also hosted a garden grill-out party; sent delegates to the Power Shift Carolinas Summit, representing Christian students at this major student environmental summit; held a successful Day of Prayer for God’s Creation that we co-sponsored with our college’s Crossroads Christian Literature festival; and sponsored a convocation, dinner, and evening talk with best-selling creation care author and speaker Dr. Matthew Sleeth.
We’ve got big plans in the works as well! Seeds is working to improve Montreat’s campus recycling program and launch a month-long energy saving dorm competition. The idea is to have dorms compete to see who can conserve the most electricity on a percentage basis. This will be our 2nd annual dorm conservation competition. Last year, however, we worked on water conservation.
Seeds is also looking at how we can affect positive change in our local community. For example, Duke Energy is trying to expand its Cliffside coal-fired power plant just down the road from us in Rutherford County, NC. The new expansion would use conventional coal technology and emit an estimated 6 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually, which is equal to adding one million cars to the road each year! Needless to say, community groups in North Carolina are rallying to stop this massive and harmful expansion- and Seeds is exploring ways that Montreat students can get involved in this critical campaign.
At Montreat, it’s often a struggle to engage and mobilize the student body. This fall has been especially challenging due to near epidemic levels of influenza ravaging the campus, and thus creating a huge backlog of schoolwork that often precludes extra-curricular activities like Seeds. However, despite these obstacles, Seeds is going strong with growing turnout numbers and student involvement at each meeting and event.
Though we may get fatigued, stressed, and overwhelmed- as a campus and club we have reaped amazing benefits from our 2 semesters of active environmental stewardship. And we’ve got even bigger and better plans for Montreat! It’s going to take some work, but we will get there. God’s calling is too strong to be ignored- and God is calling for the renewal of this blessed earth. We here at Montreat are working hard to do our part.
Article submitted by Lee Elliott. Lee is studying Environmental Studies and Communications at Montreat College where he serves as Seeds' Public Relations Officer. Lee enjoys hiking, reading, drawing, and listening to a huge variety of music. He is also very involved with Powershift, a movement led by young people that is calling for bold action on climate and energy issues.
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Renewal's 2009 Day of Prayer for God's Creation! |
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Renewal’s 2nd Annual Day of Prayer for God’s Creation was a great success, with Christian students from nineteen campuses across North America joining together to pray and fast for the renewal of God’s creation!
From candle-lit vigils to worship services, energy fasts, art walls, prayer meetings, and poetry readings, Christian students demonstrated their passion for creation care in a variety of creative ways!
Recognizing the severe degradation of human and environmental health caused by poor stewardship of energy resources, Renewal’s student leaders chose to focus this year’s Day of Prayer events on energy stewardship & climate change. By coming together in prayer, Renewal’s student leaders stood in solidarity with the people and places that are being harmed by poor stewardship of energy resources, and asked for grace, forgiveness, and guidance as we seek God’s help in addressing this crisis.
By happenstance, one of Renewal’s advisors was meeting with Senator Graham (SC) on this momentous day. He mentioned Renewal’s Day of Prayer and Senator Graham was so encouraged to hear that Christian students across the country were praying for the renewal of God’s creation! Praise God, our prayers are being heard!!!
Participating campuses included: Asbury College (KY), Bethel University (MN), Belmont College (TN), Dordt College (IA), Eastern University (PA), Gordon College (MA), Grace College & Seminary (IN), Houghton College (NY), John Brown University (AR), Montreat College (NC), Moody Bible Institute (IL), Mount Vernon Nazarene University (OH), Point Loma Nazarene University (CA), Redeemer University College (ON- Canada), Trinity Christian College (IL), the University of New Hampshire, Westmont College (CA), Wheaton College (IL), and Whitworth College (WA).
Pictured above: After participating in an energy fast and prayer walk, students at Trinity Christian College in Illinois attended a bonfire service and enjoyed fair-trade hot chocolate warmed over the fire!
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