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Yesterday was Earth Day, this week is Earth Week.  Many of my creation care friends are in Washington DC right now involved in a number of large scale events that we all hope will have great impact on the environmental and creation care conversation going on in the US in general and within the evangelical community in particular.  I’m not in Washington; I’ve just returned from the bustling metropolis of Arcadia, Florida – where a different kind of and altogether remarkable creation care event took place this weekend.  Let me tell you about it…

There are big things happening in Washington DC this week:  Yesterday marked the kickoff of a year of creation care programming at the National Cathedral in partnership with Blessed Earth, an event that included a visit with Wendell Berry, who is as close to a superstar for the environmental movement as you will find.  The Seminary Stewardship Alliance, a much needed program to encourage evangelical seminaries to train future church leaders who can lead the evangelical creation care was launched at the same event.  There will be a National Endowment for the Arts lecture by Berry this evening at the Kennedy Center.  And the third annual Day of Prayer for Creation Care occurs on Thursday, hosted by the Evangelical Environmental Network, featuring Dr. Chris Wright of the UK as keynote speaker.  [If you're in the Washington area, I hope you can take part in these events, especially the Day of Prayer on Thursday.

Far away from Washington, in the rural town of Arcadia, Florida, a very different creation care event took place this weekend.  Fifty people paid $40. each to sit through a five-hour seminar on caring for God’s creation.  Admittedly not all paid the full fare, and not all were able to stay for the entire event.  It’s not easy to set aside a Friday evening and half of Saturday, no matter how committed you are.  But it was still remarkable.

Even more so was who these people were.   Arcadia is not Madison Wisconsin, that’s for sure!  While Arcadia is the site of the Desoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center, one of the largest photovoltaic arrays in the US, that was not the Arcadia represented at our seminar.  These were farmers.  They were not next-generation anything.  They grow citrus.  They breed beef cattle.  One woman’s husband makes his living selling fertilizer.  My friend Mark Davis, the guy who organized the event is a food-animal veterinarian who treats large herds of cattle before they are shipped from Florida to Texas.  We are talking about people who work at the very beginning of the industrial agriculture food chain in America.  They feed the nation – and the world – and they are proud of it.

Most environmental seminars that feature food would not start with steaks ‘big enough to cover your plate’.  This one did.   On the other hand, most people who are farming land that has been in their family for six generations wouldn’t be caught dead at an ‘environmental’ event of any kind.  These folks came, paid a substantial admission fee for the privilege, and proceeded to wrestle with the topic of God, creation and the environmental crisis in a deep and profound way.

What was going on here?  Why would people who are supposed to be allergic to anything related to environmental causes spend a weekend like this?  What are the lessons for the creation care movement?

First, a reminder: There has to be a local champion.  None of those who came to the seminar knew me or had even heard of me before.  They certainly did not come in response to my reputation.  They came because Mark Davis invited them.  In some cases, Mark is their vet.  In others he’s just their friend.  He knows them – and he knows they need to hear about what’s going on with God’s creation.  Soil depletion, water issues, climate change issues from weather to sea level rise – there are a hundred pieces of the environmental crisis that are going to affect these folks directly.  And Mark cares because God has touched his heart for this cause dramatically.  [Mark has just finished a 23 minute video called Horns of Hope describing his passion for God’s creation and specifically his work to help save the black rhino of Africa.  I’ll post a trailer here as soon as it’s available.]

Second, an observation:  When we start with the Bible, people listen.  The Our Father’s World Seminar is designed around the conviction that God’s people will respond to God’s word when it is presented in a way that is relevant, interesting and connected to their situations.  Out of five hours of teaching, more than half are devoted entirely to biblical concepts.  While there is plenty of material on the crisis itself, those sessions are not the ones that change people’s minds and lives:  it’s the Bible that does that.  And because we agree on the primacy of biblical truth, we can avoid or defuse most of the political themes that often confuse these kinds of discussions today.

Third, a principle:  Wars are won on the ground, not in the air.  Don’t misunderstand me:  The events taking place in Washington this week are important.  High profile decision makers in that city will, perhaps, be persuaded to pay attention and important and necessary changes in national policies may result from these efforts.  I hope so.  But the events are only distant rumbles to the farmers of Arcadia.  Even if they were to hear about these events, there would be no impact on how they think or the decisions they make in their own lives. The battle for the hearts and minds of people like this will not, cannot be won from Washington.  If we want to win this battle, we’re going to have to go to the Arcadias, encourage the Mark Davises – and share biblical truth.

What happens next in Arcadia?  I don’t know.  I can’t wait to find out.  But I do know that there are now 50 people who are thinking differently about God, creation and their own responsibilities this week.  And that’s how it begins.

Are you a ‘local champion’ or would you like to be?  Write to me directly about hosting an Our Father’s World seminar in your community!  There’s plenty of information here, too.

Our Father’s World Seminar

April 20-21st 2012
6 pm Friday – Noon Saturday

$40.00 Registration includes dinner on Friday, lunch on Saturday.

Global warming. Invasive species. Deforestation. Water shortages. Disappearance of coral reefs. Waste buildup. These are all hot environmental topics that seem to be on everyone’s mind these days—except the one place where you would most expect to hear about them: in church.

Ed Brown, author of the book “Our Father’s World”, will be leading a seminar at my house that deals directly with the global environmental crisis from a Christian perspective.

You are invited to attend this most unique seminar that examines the Biblical basis for good stewardship. It answers the questions such as why God created the world and what he had in mind.

Ed will explain how overconsumption, greed, overpopulation, poverty and extreme wealth have led to an unsustainable future for all humanity, unless we all begin to do our part.

He will explain how responsible care for God’s creation begins at home, the church, the workplace and the local community.

Finally, he will help you understand why the church is the institution that can and should be addressing this most critical environmental crisis. We will learn from the Bible that this is exactly what Jesus expects his Church to be doing—bringing his redemption to all of creation. We will see that every element of a church’s life and ministry is enriched and strengthened when the church mobilizes to care for God’s creation.

WHEN:

Friday, April 20th 6:00-9:00 pm    (Dinner served)
Saturday, April 21st  8:30-12:00 noon  (Coffee, bagels, donuts at 8:30, sandwiches at noon)
WHERE:  8625 SW County Rd. 769 (Kings Hwy), Arcadia FL.
(Driving South on Kings Hwy, the last house Right before Lettuce Lake Rd.)
(Cutting across on Lettuce Lake Rd. from Hwy 17, Go North on Kings Hwy, 1st house on Left)

Cost per person:  $40:00 (Please make check payable to Mark Davis, 8625 SW County RD 769  Arcadia FL, 34269)

RSVP by Friday, April 13th, 2012

If you would like to discuss or have questions about the seminar, call 863-494-4808 after 6pm.

One of the highlights of my job is the opportunity to correspond with people from all over the world.  If it is true that the environmental crisis pays no attention to national boundaries, it is equally true that the Spirit of God is moving his people to respond to that crisis in every corner of the world.  Many of those involved in this kind of ministry are simply following their own instincts as they respond to what they see happening in their own regions.  Here’s a neat story from a friend and brother I haven’t met – Damitha – about how he and his family became involved with creation care as a means of ministry.  Enjoy – and if you like what you read, ‘like’ his work on Facebook (see the link at the end).

Sri Lanka is a country blessed with rich plant diversity, 4000 plant species and 800 are endemic to the country and long cultural heritage more than 2500 years combined with ancient agriculture and most of these plants were well utilized in building up healthy rural communities.

In Sri Lanka, God has blessed us with a wide variety of indigenous plant species that can be used for food, medicines, buildings, animals and birds. They are connected with ethical, cultural, spiritual and social activities recognized from earliest days of human history useful in solving global acute health problems.

The primal surprise of God was in the tremendous gift of creation. God made the world to be a pretty special place. He made many special creatures, including human beings, to fill the land, skies, and the sea. He blessed all that he had made, and commanded all creatures to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

But, unfortunately, the present generation already accustomed to the modern technology is unaware of the values of basic creation care or God’s human teachings through the nature but detaching from all spiritual values day by day due to hectic fashionable lifestyles practicing today as common to all over the globe.

We are a grassroots ministry dedicated in reaching the rural church parishes with a spiritual message of environmental stewardship by practically demonstrating in conservation of fast disappearing yet valuable native medicinal, wild fruits and food plants in selected churchyards by getting Sunday schools involved in creation care for the first time in Sri Lanka.

In this context, we are in the process of establishing an Ethno-Garden as an ”Community Gene Bank” with fast diminishing native plant species in order to propagate of these rare and fast disappearing trees by establishing model plant gardens with selected species in rural churchyards  which are places regularly visited by the children and rural community, moreover are typically endowed with sufficient space for the purpose and as it is a wonderful way for churches to demonstrate love for the creator and all that he has made in a practical manner with children.

In addition, we have identified God has allocated each plant for different purpose very specifically and he has made the common man aware of these purpose to sustain the nature and animals in their day to day life what is now scientists called as ethnobotany or indigenous ecological knowledge and now in the process of collecting hundreds of this disappearing traditional knowledge as a part of educating the young generation in creation care.

50% of the project has already been completed by incorporating spiritual landscaping concepts and over sixty species of wild fruits have been collected. In addition, over 70 species of diminishing and rare native plants with timber and food value have also been conserved.

Established “Ethno -Garden” will further serve as a rare plant resource centre with necessary information related to the indigenous knowledge associated with native plants in order to inculcate the future generation and regenerate in utilizing these species as alternative remedies whilst providing the essential species for propagation through the Sunday schools in  rural church parishes.

Therefore, we trust that your kind assistance as a great blessing to develop our future activities.
Also, you could reach us on FB for more details please

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Native-Forest-Foundation-Gampaha-Sri-Lanka/195936893768796?sk=wall

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Happy Easter!  This is a wonderful weekend of celebration for the entire Christian church.  We’re celebrating the heart of our faith, and reminding ourselves that this “religion” stands on a verifiable historical reality:  Jesus rose from the dead!  But Easter has particular meaning for those of us who are engaged in the ministry of caring for God’s creation.  Here’s why.

It is more than 10 years since I had a memorable conversation while on a business trip to Whidbey Island, near Seattle.  Being there over a weekend, I was visiting a local church for morning worship.  I found myself being greeted by a friendly guy just inside the door.  We got past the “I’m so and so…” and “isn’t this weather great?” and landed on “So, what brings you to our area?”

That is when it got interesting.

“I work for a Christian environmental organization…” I said.  There was a long pause.  “Oh.  …  I didn’t know there was such a thing.”  I can’t remember how the conversation went from there – what stuck in my mind was his reaction to my job and ministry.

I’ve had hundreds of such conversations since then.  The shock-value of such an announcement is pretty much gone:  The idea that evangelical Christians can be active in environmental stewardship (that’s what we called it then) or creation care is now well known if not always widely accepted.  But the remaining question hangs over every such conversation:  “Is ‘environment’ really a legitimate avenue for Christian ministry?”

This weekend – arguably the most important in the Christian year – is an appropriate time to revisit this question:  Why do we do what we do?

And part of the answer is… Easter.

The other key events in the Church year and Christian history are also important to our motivation.  Advent and Christmas celebrate the Incarnation: God entered this creation and became one of us, showing in that act that the physical creation is important and should be cared for.  I gave an entire chapter to this in Our Father’s World.

Good Friday marks a critical, central event in redemptive history:  The God-who-is-one-of-us allowing himself to be executed in love, for our sins, and so removing those sins and their effects.  If Christmas shows the value of caring for and even redeeming creation, Good Friday shows how salvation became available for us, and through us, for the rest of creation.  (See Colossians 1:19-20 and Romans 8:19-23)

Easter is as important, perhaps more so.  Why? Isn’t Easter just a follow-on to Good Friday?  Sort of a visible proof that Good Friday was more than just one more person falling to the Roman sword? It is that – but it is also far more:  Easter is the celebration of Christ’s victory over sin and death, but what is amazingly significant is that by means of a visible, verifiable historical resurrection event, God’s ultimate spiritual victory is brought into our present, physical reality.  Jesus did not die and ascend directly to heaven, departing this physical realm for an unseen spiritual existence:  He died, was buried – and then rose from the dead in this physical world: Real life demonstrated in real time!

A couple of things follow from this:  First, Easter as an historical fact stands as the cornerstone of Christianity.  Remember Paul?  “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” (I Cor 15:17)  Our faith stands on a verifiable hypothesis:  Jesus rose from the dead, or he did not.  If he did not, the entire edifice crumbles to nothing. But if he did…

Second, Easter is our motivation for living our faith out now, including our care for God’s creation now:  The resurrection is future salvation breaking into this historical present.  As Bishop N.T. Wright notes:

With the resurrection, a new creation has dawned, and in that new creation new possibilities are open before us. The resurrection is not the end of the story; it’s the beginning of the new one, precisely because Jesus is the first-fruits and the full harvest is yet to come.  NT Wright Feb 2012

Why do we do what we do at Care of Creation?  Because Jesus came (Christmas!) and by his very presence hallowed all of this physical creation; because Jesus died (Good Friday!) and in that great and ultimate sacrifice paid the price to remove and correct the stain of our sin that pervades not only every human soul but every corner of God’s beautiful creation; and because we know from the historical fact of Jesus resurrection (Easter!) that the work that we do now to heal this creation “is not in vain”:

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (I Corinthians 15:58)

Thank you for your partnership with us in this great work!

About 3.7 million Americans live within a few feet of high tide and risk being hit by more frequent coastal flooding in coming decades because of the sea level rise caused by global warming, according to new research.

If the pace of the rise accelerates as much as expected, researchers found, coastal flooding at levels that were once exceedingly rare could become an every-few-years occurrence by the middle of this century.

Thus begins an important article in this morning’s New York Times summarizing new research on climate change and sea level rise as it will affect the United States.  The research is the work of Climate Central, a think tank in New Jersey focusing on both original  research and dissemination of the work of other climate scientists.  They have produced a very cool web page summarizing the results of this latest study that is worth taking a look at (I’ve embedded the map itself below – take a look).

Some highlights from the NY Times article:

By far the most vulnerable state is Florida, the new analysis found, with roughly half of the nation’s at-risk population living near the coast on the porous, low-lying limestone shelf that constitutes much of that state. But Louisiana, California, New York and New Jersey are also particularly vulnerable, researchers found, and virtually the entire American coastline is at some degree of risk.

“Sea level rise is like an invisible tsunami, building force while we do almost nothing,” said Benjamin H. Strauss, an author, with other scientists, of two new papers outlining the research. “We have a closing window of time to prevent the worst by preparing for higher seas.”…

And…

The new research calculates the size of the population living within one meter, or 3.3 feet, of the mean high tide level, as estimated in a new tidal data set from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In the lower 48 states, that zone contains 3.7 million people today, the papers estimate, a figure exceeding 1 percent of the nation’s population…

The land below the 3.3-foot line is expected to be permanently inundated someday, possibly as early as 2100, except in places where extensive fortifications are built to hold back the sea. One of the new papers calculates that long before inundation occurs, life will become more difficult in the low-lying zone because the rising sea will make big storm surges more likely.

A couple of brief comments to summarize:

The fortification idea highlighted above falls under what climate specialists call adaptation.  It goes almost without saying that it would be easier and cheaper to pursue mitigation – reducing the risk by slowing and reversing green house gas emissions now – than relying on adaptation to get us through.

Adaptations are possible:  the Dutch have been fortifying themselves against the sea for years, of course, and many cities have hurricane barriers in place against storm surge.   Singapore actually has a sea wall on the drawing board that would eventually surround the entire island.  But such projects are expensive and take a long time to build.  They require a large present investment against a future hazard, a concept that is rational (anyone out there have fire insurance?), conservative by definition, but apparently almost impossible to propose in the present political climate.

Finally, what is most noticeable about this report is that it only addresses the problem in the US.  That’s fine – the vulnerability of almost 4 million people in our own country should be noted with great concern.  But it pales when compared with the billions of people around the world in countries like Bangladesh (PDF download) who are more vulnerable and have less hope of any sort of meaningful adaption strategies.  17 million Bangladeshis would be affected by a 5 foot rise, but their country is virtually unfortifiable because of its flat geography – even if time and money were available.  For them mitigation is the only possible hope, and the window on meaningful reductions in emissions in time to avoid major effects is closing fast.

Take a look at the map below – and read the article.  Thoughts?

Here’s the video.

And here’s where you can view the other winning entries as well.

Halfway through The Descendants  with George Clooney, I wasn’t really sure where the film was going.   There are a lot of plot layers in this story and it is not at all clear in the middle that the director is going to be able to pull them together:  We have a comatose wife whose marital dalliances surface only after her accident; a teenage daughter with drug issues at the beginning of the film who becomes a pillar of strength for her Dad and sister; a not-very-bright boyfriend who turns out to be emotionally wise and unexpectedly smart; an extended family of ‘cousins’ descended from one of the last kings of Hawaii with fascinating, mostly unexplored relational dynamics; and a land development scheme that is about to make them all rich – but at price of losing one of the last unspoiled pieces of island land.

The pieces do fit together – though the film probably needed to be twice as long to deal with all of the pandora’s boxes that are opened one after another.  What seems to unify the movie is the two word title: The Descendants.   The main characters are all descendants of Hawaiian royalty – this by itself is interesting, and to me appears to be presented with sensitivity and a good deal of research.  How many of us have any sense at all of the rich history of these islands prior to US possession and statehood?  They are who they are, and live the lives they have, because of the forethought and wisdom of their ancestors.

But the film turns on another dimension:  These people also have, or will have, descendants of their own.  The present generation (Clooney and his cousins) with all of their tangled webs of relationships, their saving and squandering of their own wealth and their opportunity to cash in big with a gigantic real estate deal – with all of this, they are a link between the past and the future.  They are living off the bounty given to them by the foresight of their ancestors, and now they have to decide whether to cash it all in, or to try to figure out how to pass that bounty on down to their descendants.

It all comes down to one scene, pictured here.  I have almost memorized it, though I’ve only seen it once.  (Sorry I can’t find a clip to show it to you – you’ll just have to go see the film…).  Clooney and his two daughters are standing high on a bluff overlooking the land that is to be sold for development.  “There’s where the hotels will go…”  “And there’s where we used to camp…”  “It’s too bad to lose it, but times change…”

A pause – then a plaintive line from the youngest daughter:

“But what about me? I want to camp…”

We are being shown two possible future paths set out clearly before Clooney:  Wealth now, at the loss of beauty and a world of natural wonder.  Or careful management now, so the beauty and wonder can be handed down to a new generation, or even to many generations.

Not many of us will ever stand in such a place, with so clear a choice in front of us. The issues are a bit more muddled, but the environmental or creation-care arguments we face in real life  come down to the same thing.  Whether it is a massive project like the XL Pipeline, a local decision about wetland development in our own backyard, or global policies affecting green house gas emissions, the question is almost always the same:  Cash now at the price of a diminished natural world – or stewardship and restraint now, with wealth and beauty for our descendants.

Many of you are young enough to be a “descendant” in this sense.  You represent the generation that is about to inherit this world.  And you need to speak up.  Let your parents, grandparents, elected officials and corporate leaders hear you:

What about me? I want to camp, too.

Here’s the trailer to the film… you’ll have to watch go to the movie or rent it to find the clip I referred to above – but do it.  And let me know what you think.

This year is starting off fast and exciting for Care of Creation.  I am just back from a week-long trip to our project site in Kijabe, Kenya along with Lee Hardman and Nelson Hard, two of our U.S. board members, and I’m excited about what God is doing through our efforts in that part of the world.  Let me share some of what we heard and saw during this visit. 

Farming God’s Way
Farming God’s Way (FGW), a conservation no-till agricultural program that is presented as part of an intensive Biblical-worldview training program, continues to generate a lot of interest among farmers and with the staff of other development organizations in East Africa.  The project site at Moffatt Bible College now features 8 test plots, four for FGW crops with the rest serving as controls.  The week before we arrived, a large group of farmers witnessed the harvesting of beans – the FGW plot produced 3.3 times as much as the control (that’s a 330% increase in yield!). 
While we were there, Craig Sorley and his staff harvested potatoes for a crowd of more than 100 farmers.  The yield increase wasn’t quite as spectacular, but the FGW plot still yielded 180% more than the control did.  The title of Craig’s book, ‘Farming that Brings Glory to God and Hope for the Hungry’ pretty much captures this program, and we’re pleased to be getting more and more requests for training from larger and more well established organizations in the area.

Mobilizing the Church throughout Kenya
Our vision statement calls us to ‘mobilize the church,’ and we are really seeing this happen.  During our visit we spent several hours with the top leaders of two denominations at opposite ends of the theological spectrum.  The Full Gospel Church of Kenya (Pentecostal, about 500,000 members) and the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (Reformed, 5 million members) are each in the process of creating environmental strategic plans to guide their responses to a variety of environmental threats – and both denominations have come to this point because of Craig’s encouragement and consulting services.  It will be some time before the plans we heard discussed move from conference room to pulpit – but we are encouraged, not least because these denominations, and the planning process we witnessed, is entirely driven by Kenyans.  We were also pleased to be able to spend time with Care of Creation Kenya’s local board, a group of local mostly Kenyan leaders who provide Craig and Tracy with encouragement and local advice and counsel.

Housing for the Sorley family – half an answer to prayer
Those of you who follow the ministry of the Sorley family most closely will know that these folks have been facing a hard deadline to find new and permanent housing for their family.  We discovered on arrival that due to the gracious intervention of friends at Moffatt Bible College, our partner organization, the Sorleys can now stay in their present home for an additional year – that is, until August 2013.  This gives us more time to raise the considerable amount of money that will be needed to solve this problem permanently.  We’re estimating the cost to be about $125,000 – and we need to have this in hand by October of this year if the new home is to be ready by the time the Sorley family needs to move.  Praise with us for this extra time – and pray with us that God will release the funds in a timely fashion.  Thank you!

Tanzania is a different kind of place!
As it happened, Erik Ness had just returned to Nairobi from a survey of his new project site in Iringa, Tanzania.  (We are expecting that the Ness family will be on the ground by June of this year.  Thank you to those of  you who are supporting them in this venture!)  We were able to spend an afternoon debriefing this experience with him, and I look forward to sharing more details with you in the near future.  Tanzania is a very different place from Kenya.  For example, the roads are beautiful, unlike Kenya,  but because of frequent security checks it took three days to drive 600 miles from Iringa to Nairobi.  It is going to be an adventure for all of us to see how the things we’ve learned in Kenya translate to another culture, people and even geography.  Thanks for praying!

In other news…
Some upcoming speaking events – drop by if you’re in the area!
…This weekend: Denver Seminary’s ‘Rally for the Common Good’, an annual event hosted by the Vernon Grounds Institute of Public Ethics.  This year’s theme is Caring for Our Father’s World, and I will be speaking Sunday afternoon at 4 at Waterstone Church in Littleton, Monday and Tuesday at 11 am at Denver Seminary.  Drop by if you are in the area.
…February 28 – March 17: I will be in the Washington DC area, meeting with people interested in our ministry and doing some research and writing.  There are still some openings for meetings if you are interested.
…April 20-22 (Earth Day!): The next Our Father’s World Seminar will be held in the Arcadia Florida area. Contact us if you are interested in attending.

Thank you –
We appreciate your partnership with us in this great ministry.  Your donations are needed and appreciated, even more so your prayers on our behalf.

Blessings,

Ed Brown, for the Care of Creation family.

PICTURE CAPTIONS:
1. A group of farmers harvesting FGW potatoes.  2. US Board members meeting with our Kenya board.  3. The Tree Nursery – was a bare field 18 months ago – now producing up to 20,000 seedlings per year.

Eden Vigil is very pleased to announce the launch of the Agabus Project podcast.  In our pilot episode, we interview A Rocha founder Peter Harris about the creation care legacy of his dear friend, John Stott.   John Stott, who passed away this past summer, was a charter board member of A Rocha and accompanied Peter on many birdwatching expeditions.  His commitment to creation care, as an indispensable component of discipleship, was unequivocal.

You can find the Agabus Project on iTunes and also here:

“Peter Harris on the Creation Care Legacy of John Stott”

Since I’m posting this at Our Father’s World, may I break professionalism and say, “I’m having a blast!”  I love the excuse to chat on the phone with those who feel so passionately about creation care, and who think so biblically about it.  For example, our second episode this month features Joel Salatin, farmer at Polyface Farms and author of a new book Folks, This Ain’t Normal!  Many people are familiar with Joel Salatin, but did you know he is an evangelical believer?

Link to the website: www.agabusproject.org