Thanksgiving for God’s Provisions

In America, late November is the Thanksgiving season.

A uniquely American holiday, Thanksgiving was originally a celebration to thank God for for His provision. In 1621, as part of the first Thanksgiving, colonists who had settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts (in the Northeastern area of the United States) celebrated a bountiful harvest by sharing a thanksgiving meal with the Wampanoag – the local native American tribe.

Today, during the Thanksgiving season, American families gather around a table to share a meal of turkey, cranberry sauce, potatoes, desserts other traditional dishes. Just like in 1621, the Thanksgiving celebration of today is a time to remember that we serve a God who faithfully meets all of our needs.

Here at Care of Creation, we are overflowing with thanks. The recent day of prayer was a reminder of how God continually provides for us if we simply ask Him to do so (Mat 21:22, Jn 14:14). (Several of you have asked “what happened?” as a result of our day of prayer. It’s impossible to quantify the value of prayers and we are still seeing evidence of God at work as the result of your prayers, but we can tell you this: Even though our financial needs remain, things are much less critical than they were. We are in need but our needs are no longer a crisis, if that makes sense.)

Another reminder of our Thanksgiving is a note we got from Craig Sorley, the Director of Care of Creation, Kenya (CCK) with some stories about how Care of Creation Kenya and Farming God’s Way is making a difference in the lives of some very special people.

Here are the stories that Craig shared with us…

Two months ago, school teacher and farmer Mr. Josehat Macharia, who lives in the Rift Valley near Lake Naivasha, harvested his first bean crop using the Farming God’s Way method taught by Care of Creation Kenya. He was delighted by the results, which showed a 30% increase in yield compared to the adjacent control plot, which was managed in the conventional way. He is now using the Farming God’s Way plot and the control plot to test the difference it will show for his maize crop.

Brother Kanori, the former principal to Kiawanda Primary School, along with the teachers of the school, also harvested their first Farming God’s Way trial just recently. The trial was set up and conducted on fields belonging to the school. Four plots had been planted, including a control plot and Farming God’s way plot for beans, complemented by the same setup for maize. They were delighted by the results. Similar to Josephat Macharia, the bean harvest was 30% larger in the Farming God’s Way field. What was really exciting, however, was the maize harvest, which was more than 100% larger than the control plot. This method offers hope for the hungry in Africa!

Care of Creation Kenya teaches courses on a biblical perspective towards environmental stewardship. Back in July this year we conducted a 2-credit course for 25 young pastors at the Kenya Baptist Theological College. This was a graduating class of students who were completing their diploma’s in theology. When the time came for the course evaluation, 72% of the students rated the course as “Excellent”. And at the end of his final exam, Pastor Elijah Wachirah wrote the following sentence: “This is the BEST course I have ever taken. Thank you sir for your passion!” Pastor Elijah serves a church in the Nyeri district near Mount Kenya.

Several months ago a community based organization called “Kijabe Environmental Care” invited CCK staff members Craig Sorley and Francis Githaigah to share their vision for God-centered creation stewardship. The group was concerned about the disappearance of indigenous forests along the escarpment of the Rift Valley and the resulting decline in water resources. As a result of the workshop given by Craig and Francis, this group has now started an indigenous tree nursery boasting 7,500 seedlings. The group has also inspired the community and members of the local government to clean up garbage in their town. They have recently invited Craig and Francis back for more training.

It’s stories like these that give us wonderful hope and a knowledge that God is working with people to care for creation. It is this hope and joy that is why we can be thankful.

So, from all of us at Care of Creation, whether in America or somewhere else where a formal thanksgiving holiday is not celebrated, we thank you for joining us to care for God’s Creation and we invite you to celebrate a time of joyful Thanksgiving with us.

For the Staff of Care of Creation

Ed Brown
Executive Director

* Image: Norman Rockwell “Thanksgiving” ©