Urbana Dispatch #2: Pioneers in a movement
From Urbana09 in St. Louis, Missouri, the question is raised … What are the challenges that students face (and we face) with this thing we call Environmental Missions or creation care?
We had the first of the “Environmental Track” seminars today and the students, through their questions and extremely outgoing personalities told us a lot about what they think, what they fear and what they expect.
Here’s the story in a nutshell.
This week, we are running into students who are passionate about what they do — passionate about the environment and passionate about God. They will tell you that the biggest challenge they face is how to “mash” these two together.
Interestingly enough, many of these students have the expectation that missionary agencies will know what to do with this passion.
In reality, we told them, it is very different. We told the seminar attendees today that they are, truly, pioneers in this field. Very similar to the early church, as pioneers, they are concerned about things that a lot of people have no knowledge about and don’t think about every day. In other words, much of the traditional missions infrastructure doesn’t have a “mental folder” labeled “environmental missions” in which to put them.
With that in mind, our challenge as the “teaching” generation is to disciple these students — lead them and prepare them for a time where they will be leading our congregations and working in industry and working in missions both here in the USA and around the world.
They have the knowledge, we who have been at this “mission thing” for awhile, have the experience and resources and together with God’s plan for salvation, we can make a huge difference in the condition of His creation. The result will be people who hear the gospel and who look at God’s creation through changed hearts.
But, here is an important point. We are at the very early stages in our effort. Our message is solid, the theology is sound and we have the passion about working to restore all four of the relationships that were broken in Genesis 3 (us to God, us to ourselves, us to others and us to God’s creation). As the early church did, we need to persevere and understand that God’s timing in getting this work done is perfect.
Urbana, alas, will be history in three or four days. You may not be here in St. Louis but you can participate in the aftermath of this important experience. We (you and I, Care of Creation and other organizations, those in Kenya, those in the Philippines, those in Tokyo, those in the USA and those everywhere else) need to take what we learn from the attendees and others and translate it to our church youth groups, our short term missionaries, our pulpits, and our long term missions work all over the world. Some of us will expect that this happens quickly (and become discouraged when it doesn’t) but in reality, teaching others about caring for creation is going to require patience, resources and God’s love.
There are amazing things that happen when 13,000 people from all over the world raise their voices in praise and prayer as is happening here. It’s God’s people doing God’s work.
Be part of this. It’s is truly awesome. Bigger than you or I.
Let us know what you think. Drop us a note at: info@careofcreation.org.
God Bless!
For the Care of Creation family,
Fred Gluck
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