God as One of Us

Greetings from a snowy and quite cold Madison, WI! The temperature when I got up this morning was minus 4 F, which translates, for those of you in other parts of the world, to minus 20 C.

Don’t feel sorry for us, though! The world in deep winter has a beauty and a wonder all its own, and we love it (most of us do). I rejoice as I watch the sun shine on the snowbanks and tiny birds scrounging for seeds, and I remember that the God of springtime and summer is also the keeper of ‘storehouses of snow’ (Job 38:22).

The Word Became Flesh

And in this part of the world, the onset of winter is a reminder that the end of our calendar year is at hand, a new year approaches and, with it, that wonderful Advent season in which we celebrate the arrival and birth of Jesus, our Savior and Lord. As we at Care of Creation send you our wishes and prayers for a wonderful time of celebration, we trust you are joining with us in remembering Jesus’ birth and all that it means.

“The Word became flesh”, says John. Theologians call this “incarnation” – God became one of us. He humbled himself, yes (see Philippians 2). But in so doing, he lifted us up – “we have seen his Glory!” There are many reasons why we do what we do at Care of Creation, – and this fact of the incarnation is not least among them. If creation was good enough to house the Son of God, it is a very special place.

This is God as one of us: eating and drinking, laughing and playing, walking and talking, sleeping and working. Before we heard God say creation is good; now we see God himself enjoying creation. It must be good, and it must be worth taking care of. [Our Father’s World, p 57]

Plant Trees for Christmas! (But the deadline is approaching)

I suppose it is partly in recognition of the Gift of Jesus that gift-giving is an integral part of Christmas celebration for most of us. If you are, like many, looking for ways to give a gift without giving more ‘stuff’ – we’d like to remind you that you can “gift” some trees in Kenya on behalf of someone you love. We’ll even send you a gift card, or send it to your loved one on your behalf. You can purchase trees in packages of 10, 50 or 100 trees. But please note that if you want us to get a card to someone before Christmas, you will have to make your donation and request by December 18th (that’s next Friday).

Care of Creation is going to Urbana 09

And we hope to see you at Urbana, too! We will be in the Exhibit Hall (look for us near the main entrance), and will be presenting several seminars (Creation Care and God’s Redemptive Plan, Greening your Church, and Creation Stewardship and Missions). I will be signing copies of my book in the Urbana Bookstore (Dec 30 at 5:30 pm). And something we are very excited about – we are partnering with Eden Vigil and SIM to host a reception and discussion for mission leaders on the topic of Environmental Missions. This is an off-program, invitation-only event. However, if you are with a mission organization and you or someone from your organization will be at Urbana, let me know – we would love to have you join us.

And about the Urbana offering

Urbana takes an offering at the end of the conference – and we are very pleased that our Kenya project will be receiving a grant from that offering. “Trapped in Place” was the title of our grant request – outlining how the people with whom we work in Kenya are often just as enslaved as others because they are trapped in poverty on land that is eroded, degraded and no longer able to feed them. Our tree planting and especially our ‘Farming God’s Way’ programs are designed to help people get out of this trap and back into the kind of prosperity and abundant life that we believe God desires for all people.

Find out more about Environment and Urbana and Environmental Missions at our designated U09 site.

And finally

As the end of the year approaches, so does our financial year. If you’ve been following these newsletters, you know that this year hasn’t been an easy one for us. By God’s grace, we’ve kept our activities going, but organizational resources are pretty low right now. We appreciate those of you who respond when we send out an appeal – may we ask you to do so again? It doesn’t take a large gift to make a big difference! [You can donate right now through our website and Paypal.]

Maybe you would consider becoming a regular financial partner? You might be surprised to know that most of Care of Creation’s income is not large grants but small-ish monthly donations of between $50 and $100 each. We can even provide EFT – electronic funds transfer – service that is safer than the mail and saves trees and postage for both you and us. Ask us about it. [We can also accept stock donations if giving that way helps your tax situation. Ask about that, too.]

And of course, more than anything, we appreciate your prayer for us as we seek to respond to a world of need.

Blessings – and again, our prayers and wishes for a wonderful Christmas and a truly happy, because it is blessed, New Year!

Ed Brown, for the Care of Creation family