New Christian Environmental Organization Seeks to
Address Creation-Care Issues Abroad
Madison, WI (PRWEB) August 24, 2005 -- "Loving people
by loving God's creation" is the motto of a new evangelical
organization recently formed in Madison, Wisconsin. Care of
Creation Inc. is an evangelical missions organization with
a unique, environmental focus. "We believe you can be
both evangelical and environmental", says Rev. Ed Brown,
Director of the new organization. "In fact, we think
you have to be."
Care of Creation has one project active in Limuru, Kenya.
Brackenhurst Environmental Programme is the organization's
pilot project and will serve to demonstrate hone its strategy
for environmental change in Kenya by "mobilizing the
church" to respond to environmental issues. Named for
the conference center where it is based, the project is three
years old. Craig Sorley, Director of the Kenya project, notes
that Kenya is considered more than 80% Christian. This means
that in Kenya the church is more present than any other institution
or organization, and better able to educate and mobilize Kenyan
citizens than government or schools.
Kenya suffers from a number of environmental disasters in
the making. Rapid population growth has exacerbated poverty
levels, forcing increasing numbers of people into urban slums
like the vast Kibera slum outside of Nairobi, or into the
forests to scavenge for firewood or burn trees for charcoal
for cooking. By some estimates, Kenya has lost 40% of its
forest cover in the last 3 decades. Unlike some other countries,
this devastation as been caused as much by individuals as
by the misdeeds of corporations or businesses.
Care of Creation was formed in April of 2005 when Brown and
Sorley agreed that a new organization was needed to fill an
'environmental ministry' niche that seems to have been overlooked
by both ministry and environmental organizations. The organization's
Board of Directors includes Dr. James Tebbe, Director of Urbana,
the well-known triennial student missions conference sponsored
by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (www.urbana.org).
Care of Creation's approach is a combination of education,
persuasion and assistance, with the goal of increasing the
capability of the local church to respond to environmental
crises. "Creation-care principles are embedded in the
truths that every Christian believes," according to Brown.
"People need to understand the direct connection between
Christian belief and care for God's creation." Craig
Sorley reports that their initial efforts in this direction
have been very successful. Conferences for pastors and meetings
with local farmers, as well as a major nation-wide conference
on "God and Creation" in 2003 have received enthusiastic
responses. One local institution that trains pastors has modified
its curriculum to require future church leaders to take a
course in creation-care as a result of the influence of Brackenhurst
Environmental Programme. Care of Creation provides assistance
in the form of practical training and tree-seedlings grown
in the project's on-site tree nursery.
In the US, Care of Creation hopes to increase the awareness
and response of evangelical churches and individuals to environmental
needs in other countries. Brown recognizes that this may well
involve some soul-searching at home as well. "When environmental
problems in another country are caused by our own lifestyles
here at home, as may be the case with global climate change,
we often find that increased awareness of problems 'over there'
makes us look again at what we're doing right here."
Immediate plans include a major fundraising effort to cover
initial start up costs of the organization as well as operating
costs for the Kenya project. Ed Brown will be traveling throughout
the US speaking in churches and on college campuses, and may
be contacted through the organization's website: www.careofcreation.org.
Donation information is available as well. In the future,
Care of Creation will expand to other countries in Africa,
and will also offer consultation assistance to other mission
organizations working in regions with high environmental impacts.
Also in the works are plans to offer internships to provide
students and recent graduates with opportunities to use their
environmental training in a Christian ministry context.
Company Name: CARE OF CREATION, INC.
Website: www.careofcreation.org
