by Kate Gorter

In May 2010 I am going to wear a cap and gown and I'm going to graduate from college with an English degree. Whenever I reveal my major to people, their first question is always, "Are you going to teach?" It is a valid question to ask: Dordt College, in Sioux Center Iowa, was established as a teacher's college and Education is still one of the largest student-enrolled programs on campus. But, I confess, I am not going to be a teacher. At the top of my dreams sits a bullet point titled writer, but I also know that starving-artist is only appealing from afar. Therefore, I intend to circle my ambition. I would love to be a critic, but as a 22-year old with only a BA to my name, I will start with anything in the publishing industry.

It is a bit challenging to consider my role within the cultural mandate as a writer. Science is never far from the debate--ethics on cloning and exactly how much sway technology should have over humanity are but two examples of wars that wage day in and day out among enthusiasts in the field. Meanwhile, I am in the corner on my laptop, trying to keep up. How does Genesis 1:28 apply to ink and paper? In truth, plenty.

Writers, and anyone in the publishing industry for that matter, use a lot of paper. This does not bode well for the trees. On average, 30 million trees pay the price each year for our reading material1. But the real environmental impact of writers does not necessarily come from the trees. For starters, transport emissions are surprisingly high from the paper mill to the printer to hauling books back and forth between the warehouse and the bookstore. On average, each book releases 8.9 pounds of emission1. In 2004, the gross sales of consumer books averaged a total of 188 million pounds of diesel emission simply through transport2.

Solutions to this problem are two-tiered. The first tier, albeit noticeably smaller than the second, relies on me as an individual. Growing up I was characterized by the number of journals and lined notebooks that I tended to accumulate. These days, I can do my part to promote a cleaner environment by typing on my computer whenever possible. It is such a simple concept, yet I save reams. This way, I print what I want and save the rest for a later date.

As ambitious as I am, however, I am only one woman. My typing on my personal computer isn't going to make a huge difference in the global scale of publishing. This is the second-tier: The publishing community. As previously stated, many trees are needed annually to supplement our paper consumption. Most of this paper ends up in the landfill.

There are three ways that we, the publishing industry can combat the increasing amount of paper waste that ends up in the landfills. The first, obvious way is e-publishing. It is relatively easy to do, many e-books require a simple Adobe Reader or Microsoft Media Player download (That is, if a reader did not want to buy a reader such as the Amazon Kindle or the Sony Reader, not to confuse anyone). The whole e-publishing industry works like anyone would assume a text-based equivalent of the mp3 impact on music or the Netflix impact on film. But this change is not as easy as it sounds. The academic world is concerned that e-publishing would make peer-reviewing much more difficult because it would help anyone publish that wants to be publish, whether or not they necessarily should6. Of course, for my increasingly tech-based generation, the idea of carrying lots of information on small devices is exciting. Plus, it is another way that we can do things "eco-friendly." But, sadly, at this point Kindles and Readers are still quite expensive for a recently post-graduate budget, and it is much easier to carry a paperback around than a computer--by the time my laptop comes out of hibernation I could have a whole paragraph read already. In addition, there's also the satisfaction of turning pages that just cannot be matched by a simple scroll-down.

Second, companies such as Amazon.com have instituted a system otherwise foreign to booksellers. They buy the books as nonreturnable from the warehouse, then mark down excess inventory until it sells. Other major booksellers ship the excess books back to the publisher, often at least half of the original order. If other booksellers were to buy nonreturnable and simply mark down the price after a period of time, not only would they still make a profit off of the discounted books but they would also save an average of 8.4 million gallons of diesel fuel, up to 30 percent of their time and the postage that sending the books back and forth would cost. Plus, since at least half of these returned books are shipped to a landfill, the waste would drastically diminish2.

The third way that publishing companies can reduce the paper waste that ends up in the landfill is by finding alternative methods to paper-making aside from the traditional wood-pulp. The conservation of trees is not necessarily an issue--but rather the other elements that are involved in paper-making. Currently, there is research pending on more "green" paper, using fibers ranging from bagasse (sugar cane), to kenaf (a long-fiber plant that originated in the East Indies and is grown in the U.S.). Kenaf, for example, can be produced at about half the cost per unit than wood pulp. Hemp is even a viable option; it can be recycled seven times compared to the four for wood. What is even better is that hemp is stronger than wood, lasts longer, and the paper made from its pulp is both acid- and chlorine-free after treatments3.

Fortunately, the publishing industry is already beginning to understand the need for alternative methods of paper-making. Scholastic purchased 22 million pounds of FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council)-certified paper for the printing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the much anticipated seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series. This is considered the largest paper purchase for a single book printing. According to Adam Dewitz from PrintCEOBlog, "the English-language editions of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will save 197,685 trees and 7.9 million kilograms of greenhouse gases"4.

The eco-consciousness goes beyond the pulp, however. Mohawk Fine Papers announced itself as one of the top 25 largest purchasers of wind-generated electricity among manufacturing companies in the U.S. This increase, from 60 million to 100 million kWh RECs (renewable energy credits) now makes the company able to completely run both their New York and Ohio operations on completely wind-generated electricity4.

I am fairly certain at this point that I want to go into literary criticism with the intention of reviewing books. However, creating a profile for myself within the environmental field will help to increase awareness of the steps that need to be taken, as well as the steps that are starting to be taken, to creating a more environmentally-friendly publishing industry.

___________

References

1Hardy Green. Pulpless Fiction. The Business Week. 4089. June 23, 2008.

2Margo Baldwin. Zero-Waste Publishing. Publishers Weekly. Vol. 253,2. August 14, 2006.

3Jim Motavalli. The Paper Chase. E-The Environmental Magazine. Vol. 15, 3. May/June 2004.

4Thad McIlroy. Harry Potter and the Sustainable Forest. Seybold Report: Analyzing Publishing Technologies. Vol. 7, 15. August 9, 2007.

5John Parsons. It's Not Easy Being Breen. Seybold Report: Analyzing Publishing Technologies. Vol. 6, 6. October 5, 2006.

6Jeff Hurst. e-Publishing. Scientific Computing & Instrumentation. Vol. 17, 12. November 2000

check out National Geographic's World in Focus contest for some stunning natural and culture pictures from around the world.

The National Wildlife Federation has published a report on the health benefits of unstructured time in nature. The reported titled Whole child: Developing Mind, Body and Spirit Thorough Outdoor Play can be viewed here. Many Christian families see some benefit in having their children unplug from technology and enjoy God's creation, but it can be a daunting task given how technology saturated younger generations have become.

A recent article in the Washington Post highlighted the changing nature of family vacations as many tech adicted families bring their work and traditional entertainment with them to family outdoings to the beach. As Americans were becoming the sort of people who can't disengage from our surrondings making time with God or relational development with our family even harder to come by.

A few highlights of the report.

• According to the Nielsen Company, the group that measures TV ratings, TV watching among kids is at an eight year high.
• Most prescholars log an excess of 32 hours of TV per week.
• University studies cited in the report conclude that the average child spends less than 10 minutes of unstructured time outdoors a day.

It's hard to develop a biblical sense of creation care if children are increasingly unexposed to the natural world.

Devastating floods in Pakistan have displaced and impacted up to 20 million people. The torrential rains largely follow the pattern predicted by climate models. While it is still hard to tie any one event to climate change, the floods in Pakistan (which in some instances brought more ran in a day than most regions face in a monsoon month) and fires in Russia are part of a larger pattern of increased temperatures which are shifting regional patterns to their extremes.

We are encouraging supporters of EEN to donate to World Relief and other development agencies in the region.

World Relief is partnering with Christian Reformed World Relief Committee and the Interfaith League Against Poverty (I-LAP), a Christian Pakistani organization with years of experience serving the poor and vulnerable in Pakistan.I-LAP will serve 8,000 of Pakistan's most vulnerable families"families who lost everything in the flooding and have nowhere else to turn for support. Initial outreach will include basic food provision to meet their daily needs. Emergency food kits will include lentils, flour, oil, sugar, salt and chili powder. Families will also receive tents, mosquito nets, kitchen sets and gas cooking stoves and hygiene kits.

To find out how you can help and partner with World Relief in the disaster response click here.

To see some of the images from Pakistan and the extent of the damage click here.

Alexei Laushkin gives us an update from Soulfest 2010

by Rev. Mitch Hescox

John 15:12-13 (NIV)

12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)

19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

On Saturday, July 17, 2010, in preparation for the National Day of Prayer for the Gulf, several of us were standing on the Gulf of Mexico shore waiting to be interviewed by Fox News. After the interview, a young woman approached us. On the verge of tears, she told us that she had lost her job and home because of the economic impacts caused by the Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill. She is just one of thousands whose lives have been similarly impacted.

After spending a few minutes listening to her story, I invited Pastor Paul Smith of Romar Beach Church (Orange, AL) to join us. We proceeded to lay hands on her and pray, but we didn't stop with prayer. Pastor Paul invited her to attend Romar Beach Baptist the next morning and after worship, he would insure a box or two of food.

My wife Clare and I arrived the next morning at Romar Beach Church and decided to take a quick stroll on the beach. As we started across the board walk, past the dunes, low and behold but whom did we greet but the young couple. One look in their eyes told both their agony of homelessness and their fear of walking in the doors of a church. Both Clare and I attempted to reinforce their decision to attend worship and greeted them as new friends in the love of Christ. However, this story doesn't end with the brief encounter on the beach.

Worship was wonderful. There was great music, praise, prayer, and a terrific message by Pastor Paul. As Pastor Paul closed with aninvitation to come to the altar of Christ, I glanced toward the young couple. Then grabbing my wife's hand, we hurried toward the couple and invited them to the altar. As the meeting closed, we laid hands on them and prayed for their hearts to open to the Lord.

As the late Paul Harvey would say, "The next page."

Immediately after the meeting, Romar Baptist provided the couple food and a Bible, but even more loving a place to stay. A Romar deacon who owns several vacation condo's that are vacant due to the oil spill (these same condos may be foreclosed upon as the BP crisis affects more and more of the Gulf's economy.) invited the couple to stay in a condo without cost. As they entered the condo, they were invited to make a commitment to Jesus. They did and two lives received the greatest gift of God, salvation. What a blessing to be part of their journey!

I wonder if I had followed the wisdom of another sincere Christian woman if the couples souls would have been saved and if I would have experienced that joy that followed. On Friday, July 16, a woman after seeing an article on the National Day of Prayer for The Gulf and then checking our website call to tell me in very clear language to just get out of Alabama. Several times a week I receive emails or various messages that I am going to hell or that I am a socialist, or a left-wingliberal.

It seems caring for God's Creation, including climate change has become so political, to the point that we the Church have forgotten to read and understand The Scriptures. I freely confess to love the Bible and I also admit the two passages listed at the top of this reflection are pivotal in who God has called me to be. Loving like God, calls me to care for His Creation first because it belongs to God, and second, because God offers His Creation for our physical survival. God created this world to provide food, water, shelter, and for our enjoyment. However, in our sin, we attempt to control creation and spoil it for us and generations to come. Matthew 28 calls us not only to offer Christ,but after an individual accepts Christ, we are called to teach them what it means to be Christ like including loving like Jesus.

God's call pm my life are two fold. One is too continue to be a catalyst for help with those being affected by the Gulf Crisis. Currently we are establishing a network to connect those affected with churches outside the Gulf. We are working to bring school supplies to children of Alabama before the school year (students or teachers must provide their own supplies because of budget cut-backs), assist food efforts for those who have been impacted, and help a community development project which would bring elevated gardens to local families so that they could grow their own food as a replacement for oil poisoned fisheries.

Secondly, God has called me to join with the World Evangelical Alliance who represents 400 million Christians worldwide already standing with those who suffer from climate change. 300,000 people are dying every year from climate change and mal-nutrition, diseases like dysentery andd engue fever, psychological trauma, and other impacts from war to increased violence against women affect 500 million. Unfortunately, we have made this crisis a political football instead of a pro-life crisis.

The World Evangelical Alliance, most Christian Relief and Development Organizations, and 350 senior evangelical leaders across the UnitedStates understand the human havoc happening as the earth warms due largely to our poor stewardship and over reliance on fossil fuels. You can even dismiss the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change but it is hard to refuse the National Academy of Sciences who issued three separate reports in May. The National Academy started by Abraham Lincoln has been the science advisor to the United States Government on every issue including such things as the atomic bomb.

Sometimes, we evangelical have a difficult time with science, but if you drive a car or use air conditioning, you use technology derived from science. Let me share a story.

One day you go to your family doctor. The doctor listens to your heart, takes your blood pressure, tells you something isn't right, and refers you to a cardiologist. The cardiologist does a stress test and after several other tests he recommends immediate surgery to save your life. You aren't too sure and want a second and perhaps a third option before agreeing to open heart surgery. Finally, after numerous doctor visits 9 out of 10 doctors strongly recommend surgery "what choice will you make? Most of us would choose the surgery that will certainly impact our lives. Currently 97% of climate scientists the cardiologists of the atmosphere state that climate change is real and caused by our poor stewardship. Do you choose to believe: the people living and suffering, Christian Development Agencies supported by 97% of the atmosphere's doctors or 3% who agree the problem is bad but think you aren't able to do anything but keep you comfortable until things get catestrophic. Certainly becoming better stewards will change our ways, but I believe that is a Jesus thing.

In closing, I have another confession to make. I am a Jesus freak, a radical for Christ. Taking Jesus' commands to love, witness, and teach are how God made me, and I not going to stop now. Jesus, Peter, Paul, and most of the trues saints suffered more than a little name calling or a request to get out of town. I'm not Peter or Paul just a not so perfect disciple trying to do what I am called to do my God's grace. Evangelism is dear to my heart, but my greatest vision is to see the American church rise up beyond a social institution pushing one agenda or another but pushing, living and transforming into a life that reflects all of Jesus, our Risen Lord, and His Kingdom.

by Alexei Laushkin

Matthew 7:24-27

24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like awise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did notfall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

Now months into this mess in the Gulf, the initial shock of the spill has gone from anxious uncertainty to the reality that jobs, livelihoods, and families will suffer long term impacts brought about by the oil spill.

Change has once come to the region. A land which once boasted some of the richest diverse marshlands on the earth until thosemarshlands were cleared and greatly diminished to make room for the infrastructure needed to support oil and gas at the turn of the 20th century is again being transformed by the same industry at the start of the 21st century.

The people of the Gulf are undergoing a sea change withlong term implications for families that for generations have called the gulf and these marshes their home. Over the past several weeks EEN has been working with communities and people across the gulf from Coden, AL, to Orange Beach, AL, and Port Sulphur, LA the message has been the same we need prayer and we need God to see us through.

As our friend and pastor Rev. Dr. Paul Smith said the weekend of the initial temporary cap on the leaking well, "Even though wehave good news to celebrate, the devastation to the people will continue to beintense for years to come." Pastor Paul continued, "One member of mycongregation, a local contractor who is normally booked for weeks in advance for the past two weeks, has only had one day of work. This tragedy affects notonly the water people but the whole community, and we need prayer to get us through it."

Families and industries are being devastated and though many are receiving compensation, compensation in and of itself is not a longterm substitute for a way of life that many of these families choose. Entire families where their entire livelihoods were oriented around the water now are faced with a much diminished capacity. These families will need food andfinancing to supplement what had become generations of a way of life. This ispart of why we putting together a long term prayer response with the 100,0002 Prayer Initiative which will connect churches with families in the Gulf forhope, support, and encouragement.

These are the sorts of times Jesus was talking about in Matthew. The storms and flood have come against the people of the Gulf, but this time it has the distinct smell of oil. They are the times that push one to act outside the gospel life offered in our Lord Jesus Christ.

While the storm comes, now is the time to put the words of Jesus into practice, to practice the kingdom life in the midst of the hardships that life will bring. That is what we are seeing in the gulf, people banding together for prayer, hope, and encouragement. Now as neighbors to the families in the Gulf we will need to doour part to love, care, support, and help.

One innovative option we've seen to bring some tangible hope would be widespread use and planting of raised garden beds. For families right on the water or in the bayous a raised garden would be a good source of additional nutrition. Let's continue to pray and seek opportunities to bring the love and hope of Christ to the People of the Gulf.

by Rev. Mitch Hescox

Being at the Gulf Shore, what’s missing are the people.  In the height of the summer, the sound of children is absent, they aren't playing in the waves or building sandcastles, what remains on the beach is the residue of crude oil.  From a distance, the beach looks wonderful, but when you walk the beach an oily film coats your feet and pea size tar balls are very common.  Although much of the oil has been either removed or buried by tons of new sand, frothy brown foam still stains the beach.  This weekend we have much to be thankful for as the BP Cap appears to be holding, but for the hotels and restaurants the future remains dim as June’s business was down 50%, and the July/August estimates appear closer to 70%. 

This economic down turn doesn’t just affect business or property owners, but affects those on the bottom of the pay scale.  Just this week, a local pastor received a phone call from a frantic woman, desperately seeking a place to store her furniture as she had been evicted after losing her job.  Just an hour later, while a colleague, Dr. Randy Brinson, Christian Coalition of Alabama, was recording an interview with Fox News, a young woman came up to us seeking help because she has no food, no job, and not a whole lot of hope.  Right on the beach, we prayed for the woman and invited her to go the local church tomorrow, to receive a gift of food.  Many at least for now will benefit from the BP clean up jobs,  but  others are falling through the cracks of this environmental disaster. 

Real people, everyday people, will continue to be ravaged in the aftermath of Deep Water Horizon.  We realize that the oil spew may be ending, but the affects will last for decades.  Today is a beginning, a new day in prayer, thanksgiving and hope for this human caused disaster.  The beginning starts where it should start by seeking God in prayer in the National Day of Prayer for the Gulf.  This day focuses on how, we the American church, came together with God’s children in the Gulf and His creation that is desperately groaning. 

The Church has been wondering what it can do.  First, if you have a vacation planned for the Gulf, please come.  We encourage you to have a sacrificial vacation in the Gulf to support your brothers and sisters –they need you. 

Second, today we announce on the National Day of Prayer for The Gulf The 100,000² Initiative.  Our goal is to connect 100,000 churches and with 100,000 hurting Gulf families.  Plans will be announced shortly on the mechanism being established to connect congregations with those in need.  But for today and tomorrow it begins where it should begin, putting The 100,000²  Initiative, and  the entire Gulf population before the Lord.

People who can, should still come to the Gulf Shore.

By Rev. Mitch Hescox and Alexei Laushkin

The Deep Water Horizon oil spill represents one of the largest environmental disasters in American history. We are thrilled and thank the Lord for what seems to be some positive recent developments for the oil spill. We will need to wait over the weekend to see what this ultimately means for the full containment of the spill. One thing remains clear, the disaster show cases both our God given human ingenuity and limitations. We have shut down an area of the coast line roughly the size of Kansas, over 81,000 sq mi,  to contain one of the largest man made oil spills on record. We cannot forget that this crisis doesn’t end with a plugged well, but will affect the Gulf’s inhabitants for years if not decades. As in all crises the Gulf Oil Spill will fade from public view, but not from the lives of those impacted.

Given the size of the spill scientists and health experts have no immediate way to calculate the long term impacts or the years of havoc on the people, animals, water, and land, but they will be severe and enduring. One thing is certain the lives of those who depend on the Gulf will be changed.  Shrimping and oyster waters will be reduced, commercial fishing boats will devalue, which will force some into bankruptcy; and for many a way of life will be lost, in some cases forever.

The spill in the Gulf is a vivid reminder that God has given humanity responsibility for caring over His creation, including the seas and sea life, the wetlands and the waterfowl. We were created in the image of God to be his image bearers; representatives of His reign to all that he made. We were made in God's image to reflect how He would care for His creation. That reflection became dimmed as sin entered the world and all creation suffers as a result.

Our hopes for humanity and the restoration of all creation does not exist in a new well head, but the freedom and restoration offered in Jesus Christ.  Our Lord Jesus Christ died and rose that all God’s children and all creation might attain true freedom in Him. A creation regained not by our will but by the will of the Father in the fullness of time.

In the present we must consider what being the people of God means in the context of our stewardship of the world that God made. In short we must care for creation. Rather than simply being a stain on our stewardship, we must let the Gulf spill be the impetus that propels us to better works; our Holy Scripture tells that we were redeemed for such a purpose.  If the terrible impacts of the oily water on communities and wildlife have made one thing clear, it is that we must do a much better job of being God's stewards, of protecting His creation and the livelihoods of those who depend upon it while we all benefit from its resources.

We were created to love God and others as summarized by Jesus in the Great Commandment. Creation care is done to honor the Lord our God and to care for our neighbor. Those environmental impacts that have an overt human impact merit the church’s attention. Many of the problems in the world today have some connection to the brokenness that humanity lives in apart from God. Separation from God, self, neighbor, and creation, only with God is full restoration possible.

That is why on Sunday July 18, 2010 the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) and the Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN) are calling for a National Day of Prayer for the people of the Gulf, for God's creation in the gulf, and for the Lord's intervention and deliverance. We believe that the transformative power of prayer extends beyond our human limitations.

We invite you and your church or house of worship to join us in this show of faith and solidarity with our neighbors in the Gulf.

Whether your church chooses to participate by saying a single prayer or centering an entire service on this challenge to our stewardship of creation to learn more about the National Day of Prayer visit http://creationcare.org.

by Alan Bender

"to destroy those that destroy the earth." Revelation 11:18b

As oil is beginning to sink into some of the world's richest estuary,
so is the reality beginning to sink in that our way of living and
livelihood is lost. With storms on the horizon, all of this is just
the beginning of sorrows. Denial has given way to anger and
frustration, but God has provided a way through and to a better place.
Please listen with more than your ears as I share your pain and my
heart.

Whereas world leaders empowered by the enemy of this world would use
the crisis to further their own corrupt agendas (The whole world lies
in the lap of the evil one who is come to steal, kill and destroy),
the Lord allows such tragedies to hopefully bring us into a place we
might never have been prepared to enter without such a crises. He is
come to give Life and Life more abundantly. Not life as most seeks but
the life of God Himself through His Son the Lord Jesus. His life never
dies and is full of qualities the god of this world only can imitate.
The True and Living God gives real peace even in life's storms, rest
in uncertainties, healing in deep hurt. He will bring us out of the
crude of life, place our feet on the solid Rock, establish our goings
and give us hope to endure the final stretch until we enter into His
coming Kingdom on earth, a new heaven and earth. May we allow Him.
I am from what Bohemian lovers called the land of pleasant living, my
favorite refuge being the Gulf Shores. I have salt in my blood and my
passion was to be a waterman, but the Lord used a crisis to reveal to
me "some better thing". Now I wait for that which eye has not seen
nor ear heard nor has it entered into the heart of man, and this hope
gives me endurance to weather the temporary sorrows, losses and deep
hurts this life would deal.

You may feel as Jacob did many years ago when he cried out, "all these
things are against me!" only to discover in hindsight that "all things
do work together for good to them who love God who are the called
according to His purpose". Oh, to have it said that we loved Him in
this little span of time allotted on the earth. It is not too late to
begin if we, perhaps unknowingly, have been living thus far for own
interest.

God has not failed you. Man has failed you and we all have failed God.
He is only pleased in His Son and we must get in Him and Him in us to
please the Father. We are created for His good pleasure and not our
own. Those who live for themselves are shaken when their world is
shaken but there is a Rock we can come to and find refuge, help and
restoration.

Your way is not hid from the Lord nor is your unjust cause. Still your
soul before Him and let His Holy Spirit speak to your heart. Step by
step let Him lead you out of this tragic ending before it ruins you
and into His purpose for your life and His good pleasure.
If it takes this ultimate tragedy to get your full attention then in
the light of eternity it will be worth it (see 2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
God in the beginning created all things. The evil one is having his
hour to destroy all things including us by drowning in sorrow and self
pity, if we let him.

Know Him who is the Beginning."And I saw a new heaven and a new earth;
for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away"". Can you
see the exchange He requires in this life to gain the next? Your life
for His. Let this crisis, this tragedy, the deep pain, uncertainty and
loss work towards His desire, intent, plan and purpose. It all begins
by turning to Him in your heart and that prayer He will birth in you
as you wait before the God of all Creation.

Praise the Living God. There is a day when He will destroy those that
destroy the earth. Let God take vengeance, let God repay. You commit
your soul to a Faithful Creator.

The Lord Jesus said, I am the way, the Truth, and the Life, and He
goes to prepare a place for all those who come to Him for salvation.

This is God's Better Place.

To request free literature or have correspondence e-mail: saltwatergulf@gmail.com

Rev. Mitch walking in the gulf. This interview appeared on WLOX-13 and CNN.

You can view EEN's photos from the Gulf here.

By Rev. Mitchell C. Hescox, President & CEO, Evangelical Environmental Network

2 Corinthians 1:10-11 (NIV)

10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him, we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

If we believe in God, then we have hope. "Maurice, Grand Bayou, LA

Having just spent 80 miles walking, boating, and especially praying in the Gulf region, Maurice (quoted above) is not alone is his assessment of this nation's worst creation care disaster. From the oyster farmers of Mississippi to the shrimpers of Venice, LA, they understand that hope comes not in the form of BP, or fishing boats transformed into oil skimmers but in the One who created all things, and for whom all things were created.

Collecting Oil from the Gulf

We need God in this Gulf mess because it's bad "no it'sterrible. Visible oil coats marshes for 100's of miles destroying some of the most diverse, natural ecosystems in the world. The home to millions of birds, fish, shrimp, oysters and thousands of other creatures is, simply put " shattered. The marshes provide the first defense against hurricanes and other storms that often rage in the Gulf of Mexico. However, the marshes are not just home to animals and microorganisms, the bayou waterways are also home to people. These bayou dwellers have lived sustainably for 100's of years. They are dependent on the water and the marshes for food, and shelter. Most importantly, it is home, home to a simple way of life utterly dependent on God and the creation.

Standing on Pass Christian's dock, one oysterman succinctly put it, "I'm 59 years old, and my chosen profession is gone." In one sense, he is one of the lucky ones. At least for now, he has a job spotting and cleaning this massive stain on creation. However, there are many not so lucky. Countless others in the Louisiana delta depend on the water for their dailybread. Until the oil spill, seniors, the poor and other folks have existed by fishing a bucket of shrimp or crabsdirectly from the water or on the gleanings of their neighbors' daily catch. Now with oil-polluted water,meager incomes and no hope for clean-up jobs, they face hunger and endure increased hardships.

As the oil still spews 60,000 barrels per day, the one anchor that exemplifies the life of so many is faith. They put their trust, hope, and existence in the only One they can,Jesus Christ. From Moss Point, MS to Venice, LA, the common request was please pray. "We need you to be in prayer with us and for us." They truly understand that if God is for us then no one can be against us. That'swhy my organization, in conjunction with the National Association of Evangelicals, are asking the Church in America to set aside a portion of their worship on July 18 to pray for the Gulf region.

Please join us in prayer on July 18, 2010, as we seek God's blessing and transforming power to:

1. End the oil spewing from below the Gulf's waters.

2. Provide God's hope and care to the Gulf area residents. (Many are in great despair including at least one suicide.)

3. Restore the marsh, the water, and all who inhabit them.

4. Witness our faith that Jesus is Lord of all creation.

So many times we, the church, desire to rush to crisis regions as good Samaritans with hammers, shovels,and buckets. However, at this time that is not the need. Prayer is the greatest need, trusting in God as the One who knows best. Maybe the greatest lesson from this tragedy is to trust God for our daily bread, even our daily energy needs, and move toward a life that leads us to new forms of clean energy that doesn't endanger what God has created.

May 11, 2010

by Julie Kilgore Joyner (posted originally at Restoring Eden's Blog, reprinted with permission)

Sometimes when I am struggling, or when I'm anxious and I'm trying to get through an unpleasant situation, I close my eyes and transport myself to a peaceful haven, to a place where I have always found the most real relaxation. I imagine myself on a raft, floating gently with the waves blowing through Palmetto Creek, where I spent my summers as a child. There is a rope tied around my foot, so I won't drift off with the current, and I am bathing in the sun on a lazy afternoon. Sometimes I vary it a bit, and I see myself resting on the bow of my Dad's 17 foot Oday sailboat, sailing through Perdido Bay, with the waves and the sun rocking me to sleep, waking every now and then to look for dolphins, or to come about and head the other way.  I open my eyes to the bluest sky and watch the clouds moving overhead above the tall mast, the sound of the boat moving through the waves interrupted only by the clanging of the rings and the flapping of the sail.

I have gathered, over my fifty-two years of extended visits to this personal paradise, a rich bank of diverse and wonderful memories. Years of deheading shrimp on the dock, of eating those same shrimp that night, breaded and fried to a golden brown. Years of fresh mullet and fresh trout, crab cakes and oysters right out of Perdido Bay. Years of swimming in warm brackish water, of learning to waterski and then teaching my children to waterski along the same routes around the creek. Years of sailing with my Dad, of watching dolphins and amazing sunsets from the dock. A lifetime of sand castles and "turtle cities". Summer days often taken for granted, spent on the front porch swing, watching egrets, cranes and pelicans swooping down to grab dinner from just below the water's surface.

My grandfather bought this land in 1950, seven years before I was born. And no matter where my Dad's job took us, Perdido was always home, from June through August, back when summers lasted three months. Perdido Beach, Alabama. Every summer of my life. Every summer of my children's lives. Year after year, kicking up the same sand down the drive to the mailbox. It has always been there, at the dead end of the two-lane highway where I learned to drive, where I taught my kids to drive, nestled between two creeks, a place where life was simple and time stood still. My very own golden pond.

We learned over the years, how to weather the hurricanes. More than once we packed up the valuables and drove inland to wait out Danny or Ivan or Katrina. We repaired the roof and rebuilt the dock. We cut up the fallen trees and cut down the dead trees, killed slowly by the salt water or the beetles. Adjusting to the altered landscape after such a loss was a real challenge for my eighty year-old father. Now, five years later, the trees we planted to replace the lost foliage are beginning to fill in the gaps. It's just beginning to feel cozy again.

Now we face an enemy most of us had never even thought about. We sit on the porch looking out to the bay and we wonder. The weather patterns direct a menacing darkness of a different kind which is lurking somewhere out there beyond the horizon, threatening our peaceful paradise. We wonder where this ominous oil slick, the size of Rhode Island, will make landfall. We wonder how many dolphins and sea turtles, pelicans, egrets and cranes will be lost. We wonder how, in an already hurting economy, the shrimpers and the fishermen will survive this blow and how tourism will be impacted. Will folks who are just now regaining their footing along the coast be able to withstand a catastrophe of this proportion? We watch and we wait and we listen to the news to see who will be most affected. We wonder how long it will take the marshes and the swamps, the nesting grounds for so many life forms, to recover. We go to the beaches and try to help with clean up before the oil hits. We take classes in how to deal with "contamination", specifically how to clean oil off of animals. It is knowledge that we never knew we would need. We buy Dawn.

With this gigantic shadow looming just off the coastline, we watch, we wait, we wonder and we hope. We watch with sadness and inexplicable grief at the scope of the struggling wildlife, at the potential loss of this haven, this refuge we have called home for so long. We are confused and disoriented by it all. We are uncertain. A general oppression hangs in the air. We are afraid. We wait to see how this unexpected and unwelcome threat will impact our individual communities and our individual lives. And we wonder, most of all, why a company that boasted a pre-tax profit of 14 billion dollars last year would opt out on a $500,000 shut-off valve that could have prevented this catastrophe. We hope that the experts know what they are doing now. We hope that we can learn the lesson from this costly mistake; that we never have to repeat this one. That we can figure out a way to balance our need for energy with our absolute responsibility as stewards of this earth to pursue these goals in the safest way possible, while treasuring and protecting God's creation and people.

It looks at this point like I will be able to enjoy the clean shores of Perdido Beach this summer since current forecasts predict a landfall west of the Alabama line. Our homeplace has probably escaped the worst of it. But I feel the loss for all those along the coastline whose lives will be drastically altered by this tragedy. And there is no doubt that, among those most affected, there are eleven families who will feel the pain of this catastrophe long after the shoreline is cleaned up.

My parents were raised just a few hours down the road in Philadelphia MS. They lived there until they were married and all of my grandparents are buried there in the town cemetery. I still own the house there where my mother was born. Every summer we make the trek from the coast of Alabama, over to our family reunion in Neshoba County, Mississippi. Though miles from the open waters, this sleepy inland town was affected in the darkest way of all. This community lost a son to the oil explosion that resulted in this terrible spill. Dale Burkeen died a hero, the crane operator who lifted everyone else onto the boats to safety. He was thirty-seven, a loving husband and father, a hard working man who saved many lives before going down with the rig. It would be easy for the massive ongoing struggle with the oil slick to obscure the price he and ten others paid. It does seem insurmountable. It's a literal, incomprehensible mess. But, as we muddle through the fallout, it is critical that we remember them. We will deal with the complex problems of this menacing evil and our lives will go on. The debate over domestic oil exploration will go on. But they will never sit down to another seafood dinner with their families; and they won't ever enjoy another sunset over the Gulf of Mexico. After mulling it over, this is where my thoughts land. All the more reason to figure out exactly what happened, and to make sure that it never happens again.

For now, we need to unite our hearts and prayers in support for our neighbors to the South, remembering them as they face these struggles in the days ahead. May the Lord give us the extraordinary patience and supernatural wisdom that we will need as we embrace these challenging times and work towards better solutions. May the Lord bring comfort and practical relief to those who find themselves on the forefront of this adversity. It is His peace that surpasses understanding that brings the calm in the storm and it is His strength that moves us forward to a place of overcoming.

Julie Kilgore Joyner is a native of the Gulf Coast. These days, she and her husband, Rick Joyner, live in Fort Mill, SC. They co-founded Morningstar Fellowship and Ministries over 20 years ago and both participate in ministry leadership, with Julie focusing on music and social justice initiatives. She is the loving mother of Anna Jane, Aaryn, Amber Grace, Ben, and Sam; and proud daughter of Mississippi natives, Jane and Clayton Kilgore.

reposted with permission. Original post at http://restoringeden.org

by Scott Sabin, Executive Director, Plant with Purpose

When I first got involved at the interface of Christian development work and the Christian environmental movement fifteen years ago, voices were few and the audience skeptical. Thankfully, that is rapidly changing. There is a ground-swell of Christians who see care for creation as a vital part of their walk with Christ. However, as I talk to people, I still hear three common myths, which I will address in turn.

MYTH 1: ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN WILL CAUSE YOU TO WORSHIP THE CREATION INSTEAD OF THE CREATOR

I have always found this puzzling. Wilderness and nature have the opposite effect on me. My involvement has taught me about the incredible intricacy and complexity of God's creation, reminding me of His attributes and my own humble place. "What is man that you are mindful of him?" (Ps. 8:4). It is probably no accident that so many of us became Christians while at camp, where, as we learned of God's love for us, we could look up and see that "the Heavens declare the glory of God." (Ps. 19:1). Or where, as we sat in humility, like Job, somewhere inside us a voice asked "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?" (Job 38:4). For centuries, creation has been understood to be part of God's general revelation, something that He called good, and which according to Paul, provides enough evidence of Him to leave us without excuse.

Indeed, I have never met a Christian who was tempted to worship creation. Instead I have met many Christian biologists and ecologists who have helped me to rediscover awe, wonder and mystery in creation, and to see the signature of the Creator in unexpected places. Far from straying from the Bible, one of the things that surprised me was how much these scientists used scripture and relied on it in their understanding of our role in taking care of the earth.

MYTH 2: YOU CAN'T CARE ABOUT BOTH PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

At Floresta, it was our concern for the poor and hungry that led us inevitably towards caring for their environment. In our affluence, Americans have often been shielded from the consequences of our environmental decisions. If water is scarce or contaminated we can pay to pipe it across the country and purify it. If soil is degraded we can pay for fertilizers and amendments. The cost of seafood goes up, but you can still find your favorite delicacy. Because we are buffered from direct feedback, we tend to forget that the environment is our life-support system.

But the poor immediately feel the effects of environmental degradation, whether through drought induced by climate change, chronic diarrhea due to contaminated water, malaria epidemics exacerbated by deforestation, or myriad other examples. Any response to the needs of poor people that hopes to be sustainable must consider the environment. Conversely, in the developing world, any sustainable conservation effort must consider the needs of the poor. I hope to be exploring this relationship between poverty and the environment more deeply in future issues of this magazine. People and creation are part of the same system, and intimately connected.

MYTH 3: DEEP DOWN THIS IS ALL ABOUT A POLITICAL AGENDA.

There are policy issues with immense bearing on the health of creation, which I believe that we should take very seriously. However, much of what is going on around the globe transcends politics, or defies easy political classification.

For example, environmentalism is often depicted as being against private property. Yet at Plant with Purpose we have found ourselves advocating for property rights. Poor farmers who have the right to use wood and products from trees they plant will be much more likely to plant and care for them in the first place. Similarly poor farmers are more effective stewards of land that they are assured of being able to use in the future. But in other situations, government protection might make most sense.

The idea that stewardship and conservation are part of a liberal agenda seems ludicrous in much of the developing world. I remember the shock on our Dominican director's face when I first tried to explain the suspicion with which many of our American donors regarded the environmental aspects of our work. The issues just don't line up the same in Latin America or Africa. Being free of the political baggage that we carry here in the US, many of our brothers and sisters of in the developing world are way ahead of us in their understanding of stewardship.

Americans who are not ready to change votes or party affiliations can still be good stewards and creation care advocates. There are dozens of lifestyle choices that have nothing to do with politics. All of us can live more simply, drive less, recycle, buy food locally, etc. In our churches we can bring attention to the scriptural basis for stewardship"many Bible studies exist. We can encourage our churches and workplaces to reduce their own consumption and waste. And we can support organizations like the Evangelical Environmental Network, A Rocha, Care of Creation, or Plant with Purpose, which balance the focus on politics by working directly in endangered or vulnerable corners of creation.

God has called all of us to be stewards of the earth and in so doing to love our neighbors. There is a place for all of us to respond to Him.

Scott C. Sabin is the executive director of Floresta, a Christian nonprofit organization that reverses deforestation and poverty in the world by the transforming the lives of the rural poor (www.plantwithpurpose.org)

The Gulf of Mexico Deep Water Horizon Oil Disaster is the largest single creation care catastrophe in recent history. As we look at the pictures and people start to point the finger of blame. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, maybe it is time to ask ourselves aquestion: Is it worth 1 hour?

Beautiful bayous, coastline, and marshes will be destroyed or terribly injured in the days ahead. These creatures were designed by God. Millions of God's children will have their lives and livelihoods changed in the region. Is all this worth 1 hour ofthe total United States daily oil consumption?

According to current estimates, the Deep Water Horizon spill has released between 17 " 39 million gallons ofoil since the explosion. According the US Department of Energy Website asof June 2009 the US consumes 819,000,000 gallons of oil per day (19,500,000barrels). Doing the simple math, at the maximum release, the currentspill represents only 67.7 minutes of our US Daily Consumption. Surely,President George W. Bush named it correctly in the 2006 State of the UnionAddress, "America is addicted to oil."

Our short-term response must be to stop the spill, help the affected creation, and care for the impacted people. However, my prayer is that we don't put the blame anywhere else but ourselves. Using this much oil must be an affront to our God.

Let's repent of our oil addiction and learn to follow our Risen Lord. Let us move towards a new and more sustainable economy, care for God's creation, and give our children and grandchildren a future by being Jesus' disciples today.

By Dianne Glave

(you can find the original post on Dianne's blog Rooted in the Earth)

Barbara Kingsolver with Steve L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year in Food. Harper Collins Publishers. 2007.

Barbara Kingsolver says in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year in Food, "Our culture is not acquainted with the idea of food as a spiritually loaded commodity. We're just particular about which spiritual arguments we'll accept as valid for declining certain food. Generally unacceptable reasons: environmental destruction, energy waste, the poisoning of workers. Acceptable: it's prohibited by a holy text." (p. 67). I say both our land and the food produced on that land must be treated as unequivocally holy!

As I began to read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I felt that the spirituality and holiness she describes is at odds with who does and doesn't have accessibility to green places including farms. Certainly, the upper middle- or upper classes could pull off living off the land as an experiment.

I had another response to the book: I realized I shared some of Kingsolver's ideological and practical concerns about American foodways. Louisiana Voices defines foodways as,"obtaining, preparing, serving food and stories and beliefs about food." Perhaps considering some of these concerns could be a bridge to the spiritual and holy when it comes to land and produce.

Stepping back a bit, Kingsolver describes the purpose of her family's foodways journey and book: "We wanted to live in a place that could feed us: where rain falls, crops grow, and drinking water bubbles right up out of the ground. (p. 3). She got away from a life in Tuscon where distributors ship in food from far-away places and water is running so low that in the near future it will not support the existing population. Here are the costs: fuel must be purchased to ship the food and when water is diverted to desert places like Arizona someone else has diminished access to water.

Kingsolver and her family moved from Arizona to the southern Appalachia to live off the fruits of their labor on a farm and limit their purchases to local farmers. The Kingsolver clan made it sound relatively simple: relocate and then experiment on the land for a year.

Let's think it through. "A Year of Food" requires resources, which includes money for expenses, and comfortably owning or renting a working arable farm. Before actually arriving at a farm, the average working- to middle-class family would have to turn on the utilities in a new home"that would be the farm" which could be a challenge. One might ask: Can they afford the gas for the car to make the move? What about motels and food on the way? Can they pay the start-up for some of the utilities? Will they have to physically go and pay with cash or a money order to turn on utilities because of a poor credit rating that does not allow for easy transactions by phone, mail, or the internet? These are real questions and concerns for people living pay check to pay check. Forget actually getting to the point of owning a farm. Most people are not privileged. Kingsolver and her family already own a farm.

Class is a factor. So too is ethnicity. The farm families around her were probably predominantly white though she is not explicit concerning this point. There is a tension here for me. I grew up in Queens, New York in Rosedale, a working class neighborhood of people of African descent. Later as an adult, I lived in Lawndale, Californiain a working class Latino neighborhood. I'm not sure if many of the people in either ethic group would readily relate to Kingsolver's agricultural experiment. Some who work the land to survive might see it as a working holiday. The ethnic disconnect and lack of diversity was problematic, typical of broader environmentalism, including the foodway movements.

With that said, Kingsolver gives the reader much to think about through her beautifully written prose. Many of her suggestions are achievable without going through the financial duress of relocating and purchasing a farm. Consider two ways or reconfiguring Kingsolver's experiment for regular folks with finite resources.

Green tomatoes: it's only June.

• Farmers Markets: Kingsolver does rely on and support the local farmers market near her farm. You too can do the same since these markets are in many cities across the US. The other benefits are eating local organic foods, and diminishing the fuel used to transport produce. Right now I am in Tennessee and plan to visit the Memphis Farmer's Market downtown.
• Indoor Plants and Gardens: The author had a flower garden that was part of the farm. This is not an option for many people live in apartments in cities or townhouses in the suburbs. In both types of housing, keep indoor plants, some that flower for the aesthetics. Consider growing herbs in a box on a window ledge. When I lived in Los Angeles I kept orchids, African violets, and a bonsai. Plants, particularly flowering plants, bring a bit of nature's beauty indoors, which I find soothing spiritually. Tending, watering, re-potting, and fertilizing plants is a break from hectic modern life. Community gardens in cities are another option working side by side with others or carving out a plot of your own. There are benefits to the physical labor of turning over the soil and weeding the rows of plants. At the end of the season, you can enjoy the produce, the fruits of your labor.

So there is a bridge between Kingsolver's experiment and incorporating nature into the daily lives of regular people.

Going a step further, I feel a connection with Kingsolver because of my own environmental concerns. I worry about the planet. I worry about the limits and our dependence on fossil fuels. I worry about how many Americans are disconnected from the land and don't understand how plants actually get to the supermarket.

Kingsolver develops a parallel argument: when the oil runs dry, and we have to return small-scale agriculture to sustain ourselves, we will not have the skills to produce much needed food in rural settings.

Perhaps if we resolve to treat the land and our food as edible holy objects, we can save the planet for our children.

Dianne Glave is a fellow at the Church Health Center. She taught in the History Department at Morehouse College with a Ph.D. in United States social history with an emphasis on African American and environmental history. She completed her M.Div. at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University with a concentration on Faith, Health, and Science in May 2010. In 2006, I co-edited "To Love the Wind and the Rain": African Americans and Environmental History with Mark Stoll with the University of Pittsburgh Press. Rooted in the Earth: Reclaiming the African American Environmental Heritage will be out in August 2010 on African Americans and the environment. Please feel free to contact her by clicking here.

(Reposted with permission)

by Scott Sundberg

Two representatives from MennoniteDisaster Service travelled to Louisiana this last week to meet with localpartners and MDS clients, past and present, to hear their stories and concernsregarding the BP Gulf oil spill.

Paul Unruh has been a communityworker for MDS in Plaquemines Parish since Hurricane Katrina. Unruh and ScottSundberg, MDS director of communications met with several people who areimmediately impacted by the catastrophic oil spill.

Kevin King, MDS executive director,stated, "The main purpose of this trip was to hear, see and know what is goingon down in the Gulf. As we have learned from the past human-caused disasters,listening is an important component of disaster response, and is also acritical step in the recovery process."

Paul Sylve and his family lives in ahouse built by MDS. He is a fisherman, a sometime oil worker and occasionalpreacher at Port Sulphur Baptist Church. Sylve talked about having to sign upfor food stamps. "This is not good. The number one thing we depend on is theseafood"the fishing, the shrimping and the like."

Sitting in the fellowship hall ofPort Sulphur Baptist Church while his wife and daughter and others were settingup for a church children's festival, he discussed the local situation inPlaquemines Parish for MDS since Hurricane Katrina. Sylve compared hissituation to Kansas.

"In Kansas you depend on thefarming; if they said you can't farm" Well, that's what they're doing to us."

Sylve continued, saying, "If it [theoil spill] hits land, then there is land loss, a breakdown of the marshes, thenanimals can't nest right; we're not going to be able to fish right."

"If we can't shrimp, or fish, orcrab, we can't eat. More than fifty percent of our food comes from the water."Carolyn joined in saying the amount was even higher, not to mention what isacquired through hunting, such as ducks, nutria and other wildlife. "My billswill skyrocket," she said.

The next morning over a breakfast ofgrits and eggs at the local, boisterous so-called donut shop in Port Sulphur,the conversations of the locals was peppered with talks of oil. Business wasup, as haz-mat oil spill workers are driving up and down Highway 213, whichsnakes down on the west side of the levees along the Mississippi. The NewOrleans daily, the Times-Picayune, featured at least 12 articles in the paperrelating to the catastrophe. The spill will likely not only affect thefishermen (who also hunt for food), but is also impacting charter boatbusinesses, and the seafood processing sector. There was talk about thecollapse of the Louisiana seafood industry.

"We're here to maintain contact,"said Unruh to the Lighthouse Fellowship congregation before the sermon. "MDSfolks have worked here since Katrina. There are a lot of Mennonite, Amish andBrethren in Christ in the US and Canada who are wondering how you're doing."

Unruh later said, "There's a fairamount of fear that a multi-generational way of life may end. The locals haveone foot in the fishing industry, and they are also beholding to the oilindustry that may eliminate their way of life. There's fear about their age-oldway of life."

At Plaquemines Parish marina, inVenice, all was quiet. Across the water was the boat we were looking for, ashrimp boat called the St. Martin.

Thuong Nguyen has been shrimping inthe Gulf for over 20 years and has been associated with Lighthouse Fellowshipfor years. We sat down to talk in the boat's galley with Thuong and his dogLucky, a Katrina dog he found as a pup.

Thuong voiced what we were to hear afew more times during the coming day. "This is a disaster you can't quite seeyet. You see some of the oil on the top of the water, but not what is goingdown in the water" This oil is like a disease; it kills the seafood, but peoplecan't see it. And if a hurricane comes, it will redistribute the disaster" Myidea is that it will take two to 10 years to get back to normal."

Thuong then said something else thatwas a common refrain, "I'm 50 years old, I can't go out and find a job; this isall I know." Thuong also mentioned that there has been some training for cleanup, but he, like everyone else that we talked to, said though they have signedup to help, no one has called them back.

"I don't know how long I can holdonto my boat, my livelihood." Thuong, like many fishermen we talked to, hadinvested money in getting his boat ready for the season, doing repairs andgetting it ready for an expected busy season"a season predicted to be the bestsince Hurricane Katrina.

"I've been working here for 20years. Katrina wiped everything away, but, thank you God, my boat survived,even with some holes in it, but no water inside. It took me six months to fix it,and the Mennonites came and helped me."

"Please pray; we don't know how wecan survive, but we'd like to help people get food, get seafood on their tablesto eat. Now I'm stuck here, standing by, waiting to help."

"Like a tree planted by the water, Ishall not be moved," said Rosina Philippe, paraphrasing Psalm 1:3. Sitting inher MDS-built house on Grand Bayou, accessible only by boat, she proudlyexhibits her mother's day presents: three recycle bins, standing in her livingroom. But recycling, as noble as it is, is a far cry from the concerns sheexpresses quite vocally about the current crises of the April 20 oil spill inthe Gulf of Mexico.

"We haven't even scratched thesurface of the outcome of this disaster," Philippe stated. "We have been in touchwith those affected by the Exxon Valdez, 20 years ago, and they are stilldealing with problems with their fisheries, their livelihoods. This now willimpact our region for decades."

According to those interviewed,including local officials, the state of Louisiana provides a third of the fish(including fish, shrimp, oysters and crab) for the United States. Ironically,they also say they provide a third of the petroleum.

A typical refrain was howheartbreaking it all is. "The entire culture of coastal life here could beinterrupted forever; we just don't know. Only God can see us through this,"added Philippe. "There are reports, dire reports, and if what we hear and thinkis true, thousands and thousands of people, and all the other things that live herewill be impacted for decades."

"Nobody asked us before they didthings to the environment, dredged the bayous, dug out passageways, built thelevees, nobody asked us who have the traditional and hundreds of years ofecological and intimate knowledge about this place" But others have come intothis place and impacted our lives, and now our lives are intersecting withhazards others brought in here without even asking us."

"In our pursuit of gain and controlof nature, our pursuit of profit, energy independence, in our quest we're justkilling and destroying so much. There are different ways we could be doingthis, and we could be doing different things. But the bottom line is all thatseems to matter to so many. This is impacting us now, but later it willimpact others, everyone."

Virtually all of the fishermen,those who harvest fish, oysters, shrimp and crab, say that this season wasgoing to be their first "clear" season since Hurricane Katrina. After Katrina,they were building up to a good season, getting boats ready, and seeding theoyster beds, ramping up for a good year. Last year the season bottomed out,they said, because of the "storm" of shrimp that came in from overseas, whichbottomed out the Louisiana price of shrimp. "And now this," Philippe said,sharing the same sentiment everyone else was sharing.

"And don't forget Mississippi,Alabama, and even Florida," added Philippe. "This will impact them. It willimpact the parish, the state and the nation. And we're not even learning fromthis" it's bigger than our small little community."

During and after these conversations, Unruh said MDS is asking, "how has thisdisaster harmed you? What can address that harm? And what is it MDS cando? Regardless of the kind of disaster, these types of questions guide the MDSresponse."

Steve Bledsoe, vice chair of theboard for the Committee for Plaquemines Recovery said, "The important thing toknow is that right now we're in meeting mode. Our greatest need is protectingthe environment, protecting and saving wildlife and livelihoods for now. Thisis not the job of a typical volunteer. People will need very specific andspecialized training. CPR is meeting to see what they and our partners can puton the plate, as far as volunteers."

"Who will we become?" Philippe said."We're a coastal village; we've been here hundreds and hundreds of years....And you know, we'd rather be spared, but we don't want to send it off to anyoneelse, either."

by Rev. Mitch Hescox

Washington, DC- The Creation Care Walk is over. I don't know whether to celebrate or cry. The past 18 days have altered my life. The greatest impact came on Tuesday morning. We approached the United States Capitol and climbed "The Hill." Suddenly the presence of the Risen Lord fell on me. As I climbed the Capitol steps I laid my Bible on the granite and knelt in prayer.

I prayed for our nation, God's creation, and the poor being overwhelmed by our lack of care for the creation. Tuesday was two days after Pentecost, and I asked our Lord for the presence of the Spirit for the day. I also prayed for a changed heart for our nation. I have come to understand the miracle of creation is in serious jeopardy. The very creation that was anointed to provide us shelter, food, water, and livelihoods is being destroyed minute by minute and day by day. Yet in the presence of selfishness, lack of concern, and yes "even greed, I sense hope. Hope that a new Pentecost is happening. Hope that the Holy Spirit is transforming people to care for creation and for care for the least of God's children. Hope that a new day is coming and that the Church is rising-up to face its greatest challenge and hope that the church will be successful as we are transformed into disciples of the Risen Lord.

Today, we begin a new journey " a pilgrimage offering hope with the sure, clear, and present knowledge that Jesus Christ is with us, guiding us. Knowing fully that through Him all things are possible. Let's receive the Holy Spirit and do greater works than Jesus accomplished, while keeping His creation. Let's fulfill the command to go into all the world and make disciples teaching them to obey everything He commands.

Thank you for your support of the Creation Care Walk and look for an announcement next week on The Creation Care Walk 1.5 " The We CareTour traveling, listening, and caring for God's children affected by the Gulf Oil Spill.