Merry Christmas to each of you!

With all of the turmoil in the world today, we are more grateful than ever for the blessings we have in our lives. Among those blessings, of course, are the many friends we have around the world, and we want you to know how very grateful we are for you. I am sure that you are as aware as we are of the uncertain times in which we live – and like us you also take hope from the Christmas story.

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.)

I want to let you know that “Renewal”, a new group seeking to connect students around the US with each other around the subject of Creation Care, has called for a “Day of Prayer for God’s Creation” this Wednesday, October 29. I want to encourage you to find a way to take part, as I will be doing.

Just a quick note to let you know that Craig Sorley, Care of Creation’s staff member in Kenya and Director of Care of Creation Kenya is featured in this week’s International Edition of Time Magazine as a “Hero of the Environment”.

Time’s International Edition is distributed throughout Europe, Asia and Africa. You can read the story online here.

Craig would prefer not to be called an eco-evangelist’(!), and he shared a great deal more with the reporter about Care of Creation’s vision and theological foundations than were included in this short article – but he and we are pleased that overall God was honored and the biblical nature of our mission was highlighted for a large, worldwide audience.

Feel free to share this article with others who might be interested in what we are doing.

Pray with us that God will use this piece to increase our opportunities to share his love with people – and thank you for your support and partnership with us.

In Him,

The Care of Creation Family

In a recent newsletter, Craig and Tracy Sorley, serving with Care of Creation in Kenya, expressed one of the goals of our ministry:

“Our hope is that the farmers of Kenya will look to the First Farmer (God, Genesis 2:8) and catch a new vision. A vision to make their gardens as beautiful and bountiful as God’s garden… Christ-centered farmers, who have a vision to glorify their Creator, can make great gains in restoring land and eliminating hunger.”

All eyes are on China this week – most of this month, in fact. The long-awaited Beijing games kick off on Friday, and the most discussed topic of the games seems to have nothing to do with sports. It’s been the question of air pollution. The world waits to see if the draconian efforts of the Chinese government will give them the ‘blue sky games’ they are hoping for.

The claim is that US$10 billion has been spent trying to clean up the air: Half the cars are off the road, factories and construction sites have been shut down, much of the working population has been given a compulsory (and probably unpaid) holiday. Foreign athletes are being given masks to wear as they prepare for their events.

The media is breathlessly waiting for the answer: Will it work?

“Your conference blew me away!”

This was coming from a Professor of Pastoral Studies at Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology (NEGST) during a visit over lunch about 10 days ago in the school cafeteria. He was telling us of his own longstanding concern for the environment in Kenya. He has land – a family farm, we would say – a couple of hours east of Nairobi, and he has been planting trees there for many years. As with many of his generation (I would guess he is in his fifties), he has watched the population explode and creation collapse throughout his homeland. An academic with a Ph. D. from a western university, he is as aware and knowledgeable as anyone of theology, economics and environmental issues.

March, 2008

Greetings once again from Care of Creation! And a special thank you for praying for our people in Kenya over the last month – things are better but far from normal (see below for more on the current situation in Kenya).

“Ten years ago I used to attend [a large well known church] and I tried to tell them that they had to do something about the environmental crisis. They wouldn’t listen – and now it’s too late. It’s fine that you guys (Care of Creation) are finally trying to ‘mobilize churches’ but there’s no point. It’s too late…”

I wonder what you would have said?

Dear Friends of Care of Creation,

Kenya forces plan changes

If you are following the news, you are aware that after a couple of weeks of declining violence things have erupted again last weekend all across Kenya. What started as a dispute over elections now appears to be all out ethnic war between various tribal groups. Roads are blocked, trucks are being burned, buses are being stopped to remove individuals of different tribal backgrounds. The effects are being felt far beyond Kenya, since the port at Mombasa supplies much of what is needed for all of East Africa. Prices in Sudan have gone up 5 fold, and there are 18,000 shipping containers stuck in Mombasa because they can’t be moved on either the railway (which has been destroyed in several places) or the roads. Brackenhurst Conference Center, where our staff live and which is the home base for our project activities, was the subject of threats one nighyt this week – though we thank God that the night passed without incident.