Posts Tagged ‘Environmental Impact’
6 Ways the Church is Talking About Climate Change
In August, World Relief partnered with the National Association of Evangelicals to release Loving the Least of These, an updated report on climate change and its impact on the world’s poor.
At World Relief, we understand creation care as a core tenet of our Christian faith. While individuals and congregations may differ on particular understandings or points of action, we believe the church needs to be part of the conversation about climate instability — not divided by partisanship, but united in the Spirit to bring hope and restoration to communities impacted by climate-related disasters around the world.
In this round-up, we’ve highlighted how people within the church — both inside and outside the evangelical tradition — are joining the conversation on climate change, its impacts on those in vulnerable situations and the Christian calling to care for creation.
You can join the conversation on climate and creation care by exploring the perspectives in this round-up. Then, take action with us as we build stronger, more climate-resilient communities together.
Relevant Magazine: What Can Christians Do About Climate Change?
World Relief President and CEO Myal Greene and NAE President Walter Kim share how evangelical views of climate change are shifting in the U.S. and urge American Christians to commit to creation care as an integral part of loving our neighbors around the world.
“In American evangelical communities, there has been a current of skepticism about [climate] changes. But as the effects become clearer, greater numbers of Americans — including evangelical Christians — are thinking more about the consequences of climate change…
“For the majority of evangelical Christians who reside in Africa, Latin America, or Asia — the parts of the world experiencing the most significant effects of climate change — this is neither new nor controversial.” — Myal Greene and Walter Kim
The Christian Science Monitor: Young Evangelicals Seek to Save the Earth — and Their Church
Journalist Erika Page covers a movement of young evangelicals who are taking a stand at the intersection of faith and climate action. For those like Elsa Barron, loving our neighbors includes caring for creation.
“Until then, [Elsa Barron’s] religion and her love for the natural world had existed in separate spheres. Now, she began to see the environmental crisis as a deeply spiritual crisis, built on a foundation of greed, extraction, and irreverence. And with that understanding came an accompanying spiritual obligation.
“‘If we don’t care about it and don’t do something about it, we’re failing to fulfill two of our callings as people of faith: to care for creation and to love our neighbors,’ she says over Zoom from her family’s home in Illinois.” — Erika Page
Holy Post Podcast Episode 525: Why Don’t Evangelicals Care About the Environment?
The Holy Post’s Phil Vischer, Christian Taylor and Skye Jethani react to the NAE’s climate report, discuss historic evangelical positions on climate change and share how we, as Christians, can move forward in light of the report’s findings.
“Well what is my responsibility? What can I do? How should I be changed by hearing this news? I’m walking away from this today, realizing that I do need to double up my prayer efforts. We need to […] lament these ways we’ve treated the planet and God’s creation in the past. I think that we need to continue to pray that the truth will be revealed about how we should care for one another well. We should care for God’s creation well, and that’s part of our biblical mandate.” — Christian Taylor
CNN: How Evangelical Leaders are Citing the Bible to Combat Climate Change
Reporter Rene Marsh highlights the NAE climate report and sits down with evangelical mega-church pastor John K. Jenkins, whose congregation believes protecting the planet is synonymous with a commitment to God’s word.
“Psalms 24 says, ‘The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof and they that dwell there in it.’ It’s God’s creation; he made it. We shouldn’t abuse or neglect something God created. […] I’m not going to allow political pundits to influence what I believe the Bible teaches.” — Senior Pastor John K. Jenkins, First Baptist Church of Glenarden
Wall Street Journal: Famine Threatens East Africa as Drought Persists
Journalists Michael Philips and Gabrielle Steinhauser report on the devastating climate-related drought creating a hunger emergency in parts of Africa, despite the fact that Africa is responsible for little of the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute towards climate change. International organizations like World Relief are responding, but say that available assistance has not yet risen to meet the increasing need. World Relief’s Elias Kamau is among the experts they interviewed.
“The World Meteorological Organization, part of the U.N., last week said that climate change is hitting Africa, which is responsible for just 2% to 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, disproportionately hard. […]
“The agency estimated that around 250 million Africans already lack sufficient water and that water scarcity will displace up to 700 million people by 2030.
“‘These are ‘not problems that are originating from Africa,’ said Elias Kamau, Kenya country director for World Relief, a U.S.-based evangelical Christian aid group.” — Michael Philips and Gabrielle Steinhauser
National Association of Evangelicals Blog: Worship the Creator
NAE President Walter Kim encourages Christians to view creation care not as an expression of partisan politics but as an act of worship through which we join with creation in praising God, our Creator.
“Creator, forgive us.
The earth is yours and everything that is in it. But we forget.
In our arrogance we think we own it.
In our greed we think we can steal it.
In our ignorance we worship it.
In our thoughtlessness we destroy it.
We forget that you created it
To bring praise and joy to you.
That you gave it as a gift, for us to steward,
For us to enjoy,
For us to see more clearly
Your beauty and your majesty.”
— prayer from the “Lift Up Your Hearts” hymnal
Those experiencing poverty and vulnerability are already being impacted by climate-related disasters, but it’s not too late to help. Learn more about World Relief’s commitment to creation care, and join us as we help communities build resilience against climate disasters and create change that lasts around the world.
Kelly Hill serves as a Content Writer at World Relief. She previously served as Volunteer Services Manager at World Relief Triad in North Carolina before moving to Salt Lake City. With a background in International and Intercultural Communication, she is passionate about the power of story to connect people of diverse experiences.
To Address Climate Change, We Must Be Proactive & Reactive
“Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many…If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” 1 Corinthians 12:14 & 26
Too often we don’t recognize something as a problem until it affects us personally. Take climate change, for example. One of the reasons it can be so hard to find common ground on this issue is because it affects each of us in unique and disproportionate ways — some severely and directly, and some, barely and at a distance.
As a boy growing up in the suburbs of Orlando, I was interested in environmental issues from a young age. I loved the outdoors. The thought that people’s actions could damage the environment and squander our resources broke my heart. So, I took action.
I insisted on water conservation in our house. I got my family to start using cloth bags for grocery shopping — and this was the early ‘90s. We were way ahead of the curve! I even organized a recycling program for my neighborhood. This was long before the city would pick up recycling. I would collect bottles, cans and newspapers from other homes and my mom would drive me to drop them off at the local recycling center.
In many ways, I was motivated by a conservation mindset. I loved the idea of protecting what was beautiful about God’s creation — rivers, forests, oceans.
But my view was incomplete. It didn’t include an important part of God’s creation — people. I hadn’t fully realized how protecting, and not protecting, the environment and our climate could affect other people.
Drawing Closer to Climate Change
Twenty years later, in 2007, I moved to Rwanda where almost the entire population relies on agriculture for their livelihood. Farmer after farmer that I met spoke passionately about climate change, highlighting that the rainy season had been predictable for generations.
But in recent years, the rains had changed and crop cycles were ruined. It was becoming harder to live off the land, and many families were suffering. That experience gave me a deeper personal understanding of why this challenge is so great.
Though thousands of miles may separate us from those impacted by climate change right now, Scripture is clear: When one suffers, we all suffer.
At World Relief, we work every day to stand with the vulnerable and equip churches to be agents of change in their communities. This means we’ve had first-hand experience working alongside people facing the most devastating effects of climate change. Our experiences around the world have taught us that if we want to be a catalyst for change that lasts, we have to address the root causes of poverty, which include climate change, and not just bring temporary solutions.
Becoming a Reactive and Proactive People
Over the last several months, World Relief has partnered with the National Association of Evangelicals to update a report on how climate change often affects the world’s poorest the most. It’s called Loving the Least of These, and it’s scheduled to be released on August 15th.
According to our findings, the impact of environmental instability on the poor can be summarized into four main problems:
- Poor people are more affected by disasters, particularly in regards to their health.
- The financial cost of mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change are higher for poor people relative to their income.
- They are more likely to be displaced.
- They are more likely to be affected by conflicts that ensue as a result of migration and displacement.
Even if we don’t feel the effects of climate change as dramatically as our sisters and brothers in other parts of the world — people like Akiru in Kenya and Nyawaraga in South Sudan — we share one planet and must acknowledge that our actions have a direct effect on their lives.
None of us is exempt from Jesus’ call to love the least of these, and right now, one of the best ways we can do this is by being both the reactive and the proactive people Jesus calls us to be. We can respond compassionately and practically to the immediate impacts of climate change and work towards lasting solutions that protect and preserve the environment we all depend on for generations to come.
In the coming weeks, as we share more about how World Relief is putting our commitment into policy and action, I hope you’ll also spend some time reflecting on your call as a Christ-follower to care for God’s creation and for all who are created in his image — including those who are suffering as a result of climate change.
There is so much we can do to make a difference, and it starts right here, right now. Let’s be reactive and proactive people who realize that what we do has ripple effects on the most vulnerable of our world. And then let’s change how we live to better care for our environment and for one another.
Be among the first to receive a link to the report and World Relief’s new policy on climate change by signing up below.
Myal Greene has a deep desire to see churches worldwide equipped, empowered, and engaged in meeting the needs of vulnerable families in their communities. In 2021, he became President and CEO after serving for fourteen years with the organization. While living in Rwanda for eight years, he developed World Relief’s innovative church-based programming model that is currently used in nine countries. He also spent six years in leadership roles within the international programs division. He has previous experience working with the U.S. Government. He holds B.S. in Finance from Lehigh University and an M.A. from Fuller Theological Seminary in Global Leadership. He and his wife Sharon and have three children.
Creation Care in Haiti
A global problem
While creation care is one of the core tenets of Christian witness, there is mounting evidence that we, as humans, are failing badly in the responsibility of stewarding our global home. Climates are changing, storms are happening more frequently with more intensity, systems that were once reliable for livelihoods are now becoming unpredictable, and the amount of accumulated waste continues to increase:
- Every year, an estimated 11.2 billion tons of solid waste is collected worldwide, and the decay of the organic proportion of solid waste is contributing about 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
- Only 9% of all plastic waste ever produced has been recycled. About 12% has been incinerated, while the rest — 79% — has accumulated in landfills, dumps or the natural environment.
- Around the world, 1 million plastic drinking bottles are purchased every minute, while up to 5 trillion single-use plastic bags are used worldwide every year and generally thrown away after only one use.
Though these statistics are staggering, there is so much we can do individually and collectively to prevent a wasting of the environment. World Relief is committed to working toward environmental stewardship and climate-sensitive policies both internally and throughout our programs around the world.
A Collective Commitment
In October 2020, we began a partnership project called Environment Plus (EN+) with Tearfund UK and Arris Desrosiers, a Haitian waste management company, to provide sustainable solid waste management services in Carrefour, a metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince.
“When we were traveling out to our programs, we would see densely populated areas right outside the city that had become like dumpsites,” recalled Athanase Ndayisaba, World Relief Haiti’s Country Director. “All kinds of domestic waste from homes in the city was just being dumped outside in these communities. It was filthy and it creates huge issues for the general health of the population.
“Children in this area were playing in trash, and waste creates disease — this concerned us.”
Something needed to be done, so World Relief engaged with partners like Arris Desrosiers, who not only seeks to manage waste but uses recyclable waste to make school backpacks and fertilizer that can be sold to farmers in the area, to design the project.”
Together, we are raising awareness about the importance of reducing waste dumped into oceans, improving environmental conditions for those living in poverty and creating income-generating activities for local Haitians.
A key component of this initiative is the community mobilization of local churches and pastors. We are developing a biblically-based training and curriculum that we will use to train church leaders and volunteers of the value and importance of creation care. These leaders are essential in spreading the word about best waste management practices and the importance of creation care in their communities while supporting the waste collection process.
Currently, we have 30 local churches involved, and they are excited to help. “Church leaders recently spent a whole day collecting trash,” Athanase said. While church and community leaders are essential to mobilize their communities, youth are also integral in continuing this project into the future.
A Future for our Youth
By training young people in Carrefour about waste management and how to collect and separate trash, we can ensure these practices will be carried on long after the project ends. This project also brings income earning potential for young people by employing them in the recycling process.
“We want to see the waste in this area cleaned up,” Athanase says. “We want to teach the general population how to handle and separate domestic waste for recycling, creating a network of clean-up and conservation in the area.”
As a result of EN+, we anticipate that 15,000 individuals in Carrefour will have access to solid waste management services and an additional 5,000 individuals will be connected to interventions to help limit waste. Ultimately, the project will reduce waste dumped in oceans by 182.7 tons per month, 148.3 tons of which will be recycled.
While immediate and specific actions are necessary, we recognize that understanding the greater purpose behind waste management and our call to care for creation leads to meaningful solutions and lasting change.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Psalm 19:1
Dana North previously served as the Marketing Director at World Relief. With a background in graphic design and advertising and experiences in community development and transformation, Dana seeks to use the power of words and action to help create a better world. Dana is especially passionate about seeking justice for women and girls around the world.
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