Is Caring for Creation Important to Canada's Youth?
A few years ago, if a drone were to hover over the urban slum in Davao City, Philippines where one of our global partners originated, you would have seen an endless sea of grey tin roofs … and a random patch of green.
If the drone were to descend to the patch and roam around the property, you would have noticed that the entire compound was alive with vegetation – gardens climbing vertically up walls, sprawling across the rooftop, and nested in boxes throughout the common areas. Lettuce, boy choy, and other vegetables grew in these gardens to feed the local community and sell to local restaurants.
The seed of this vision grew, expanding to Hectares of Hope in the mountains surrounding the city. Collaborating with a community development NGO and an agricultural co-op, Hectares of Hope runs the professional operations of the farm and other social enterprises, trains people, meets the demands of customers in the marketplace, and maximizes profits. Those profits are reinvested back into the business for the ultimate benefit of people and the community.
This is one expression of Tenth Church supporting climate justice partners around the world. Fun fact – this is the organization that my wife and I founded more than 20 years ago, so it has been such a joy to see it literally flourish to provide hope and opportunity for impoverished communities. The project is managed by our Global Worker – Tancho Baes, a dear Filipino friend and leader who left the comforts of Vancouver to invest in a harvest that will never perish. Learn more.
Last year, in coordination with World Earth Day and Good Seed Sunday, Tenth Church hosted a luncheon where survey results for a creation care survey were revealed. A Rocha and Tear Fund polled thousands of young people across Canada, and found that:
- An overwhelming majority of young Christians are worried about climate change and nature loss
- 91% Young Christians believe it is important to ACT NOW
- Young Christians believe that creation care is an essential part of the gospel
- Young Christians are eager for the church to take a lead, but admit that it’s absent from the conversation
- The church can cultivate new ways to share the gospel by engaging with climate concerns
Here are a few things you can do. Check out tenth.ca/creation to listen to a sermon on creation care. Participate with a small group that will be volunteering at A Rocha on August 19. Many of our Cambodia partners share a vision for a world where we steward the earth for the glory of God and for the benefit of humanity in unity, in Jesus name, so the world may know Jesus. We will explore some of these themes in our next Cambodia Justice Journeys.
3 global partners that do great work in caring for creation:
Patrick Elaschuk, patrick@tenth.ca
Note: Pictured above are some of the children from Hectares of Hope, who also have fun learning and harvesting on family farms.