We live in an amazing, wondrous and beautiful place. When we go about our day, we don’t very often grasp this. Most of our daily life is average and ordinary, at least on the surface of it. However, maybe we need to renew our approach to life to rediscover this sense of awe and wonder, even when we go about our everyday lives.
Why We Care
At this point it's impossible to ignore climate change. This is especially true for those of us living in poverty. The poorest countries are witnessing how the weather is changing and how people are suffering. Droughts and heatwaves have grown hotter and more intense. Farmers struggle to raise crops. Floods and typhoons are wiping out communities. For so many, asking whether or not climate change is real isn't the right question. The right question is how we stop it, how we survive it.
An inspirational afternoon
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, met fifty young Anglicans from across southern Africa to discuss the environment and discipleship at a youth conference in Lusaka, in Zambia.
'This was an inspirational afternoon,' he said, thrilled at the energy and passion the young people brought to tackling poverty and climate change as disciples of Jesus.
Democracy in action! Climate petitions handed over to MPs
What happens when a nun, a Pentecostal and two Anglicans walk into their local MP’s office?
Jo Knight, Tom Allen and Yen Daly from TEAR Australia, and Elizabeth Young, a Sister of Mercy, met with their local MP Adam Bandt in July - and had a really positive response! This group of passionate Christians presented him with their signed Climate Action Petition and asked him to support more action on climate change.
Can a stove be beautiful?
Can a stove be beautiful? We think Langar’s is. With support from SSEWA-Pak in Pakistan, Langar and her husband Mana Ram have constructed a fuel-efficient stove, which has made a helpful difference to their daily life. Not only is the stove cheaper to run and better for the environment, but less smoke in the house makes for healthier lungs too.
How one meal can keep on feeding a community
Conversations can change lives, and so can the food that we eat. In the UK a church decided to have a meal together and got way more than they bargained for or expected.
"Our church had felt God’s leading to pray about what we should be doing in order to participate in the Spirit’s work of building Jesus’ kingdom right here in our community. We seemed to think that it might revolve around food" (Rev Dr Rosa Hunt, Minister, Salem Baptist Church).
Creative solutions to climate change in Nepal
Nepal is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, with changing weather and increased flooding and landslides. TEAR Australia's Paul Hansen reports on how their partners are working in a variety of ways to support people affected by changes to their environment.
Church Eco-citizen Forum: Stewardship of Creation
The belief that our redemption in Christ Jesus covers the whole of life motivated churches and Christian organisations to join in the city of Camaçari, Brazil to reflect on how the Church should engage with environmental issues.
Planting trees of life
For Aaden* and his fellow villagers, climate change isn’t just a vague concept, it’s a harsh reality that impacts their lives in devastating ways.
Aaden is a 45-year-old farmer from the Hargeisa region of Somaliland. He is part of a community who are learning that the solutions to environmental problems can come from within themselves.
Whoever loves the Creator takes care of the creation
Written by Bebeto Araújo, originally in Portuguese.
In Christ human beings become able not only of cultivating communion with the Creator, but also with their fellow creatures and the creation of which they are part and which, although it is being hit by our "destructive dominion", remains good and beautiful, and one day will be fully restored.
Vanuatu recovers from the storm
Back in April 2015 Cyclone Pam hit the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. It was the most powerful storm yet recorded in the islands, and it was devastating.
But of course people aren't helpless. Patrick Joseph on the island of Efate had trained to prepare his community for disasters like this, 'We put sandbags and stones on the roofs because we weren't sure if the houses would be strong,' he said. After the cyclone Patrick organised a group of young people to rebuild the community meeting house.
All over the world, the climate is changing
In many parts of the world, climate change is a lived reality.
It's not something that might happen in the future, it's a day to day struggle.
We asked some of our friends around the globe what climate change means to them. This is what they had to say:
