Earth Day–not just a slogan

Earth Day is a good time to remind myself that “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof” (1 Corinthians 10:26). But there are many places on earth that bear the ravages of not being overseen with stewardship worthy of the Lord.

A couple of years ago, Talitha and I visited Kenya for the purpose of thinking about just these things. Our hosts were Craig and Tracy Sorley, missionaries from our church who serve with Care of Creation.

I met a man in Old Kijabe Town who says he cries every day remembering how today’s bare hills used to be green and covered with trees.

We had the totally humbling experience of trying to trek into the Rift Valley with women who spend an average of 40 hours a week just finding and hauling water and wood–necessities for their households.

Talitha was 12 at the time, but her thoughts about life there were amazingly mature.

What we saw was not all hopeless.

I sat with a room full of farmers in a  Care of Creation seminar about Farming God’s Way. We spent a day in Nairobi, where we visited a seminary and college that, at the time, were teaching or considering adding a course about caring for God’s creation. There were also visits to tree nurseries and a school and church where water is being collected.

When it came time to leave, Talitha’s goodbye to Kenya was sweet and thoughtful.

________

You can read more on this topic in Our Father’s World: Mobilizing the Church to Care for Creation, by Ed Brown, Director of Care of Creation. You might also like to visit Ed’s blog, also called “Our Father’s World.”

• Leave a Comment (2)