A Rocha

The speakers will:
Consider the biblical and theological connection between the suffering of the earth and the suffering of earthkeepers.
Describe and reflect on real world case studies that demonstrate the relationship between abused ecosystems and abused people.

I volunteered an amazing conference this weekend. The speakers presented papers on the theology for earth keeping and conservation. There were almost 200 people in the conference, Christians who are serious about their faith and interested to learn the biblical mandate on the issue of earth-keeping. If we believe the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, then what are our responsiblities as inhabitants and stewards of the natural resources God's entrusted us with on this earth? This is not just a talk to promote recycling and awareness of environmental issues. But fundamentally the speakers seek to help us recognise that our failures in this area is much deeper and our practices directly reflects our inherent beliefs and values. Far greater than ecological issues, we also talked about issues of poverty and social justice. I found it very informative and challenging. Hearing from theologians who firmly believes this is our calling, as well as Christians who are involved in social justice, conservation and environmental ministry, including a Christian lady from Kenya who is an government civil officer with the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. It's an amazing panel. I can't remember ever hearing of other Christian conferences that is focused on this issue.

One thing that I learned from the Kenyan lady was to think in a wholistic and integrative manner in our conservation efforts. It's not enough to tell the Africans they need to conserve their plants and species that are going extinct when what's foremost in their mind is survival. An example of integrative effort includes teaching them to cultivate and preserve the forest and transform it as an attraction for eco-tourism, which will then become income bearing for them. So they begin to see these natural resources as assets and invest in them. Another important consideration is sustainability. Conservation efforts should be sustainable long term and if possible, income bearing, so that it need not be dependent on charity. It's important to involve the locals and try to look at the interconnected issues when we talk about conservation.

This is not and should not be an exclusive Christian effort, although the sad fact is Christians have not been very active in this field. This is a field which is slowly dying off because they are giving up, exhausted with the lack of results after trying almost everything. It is a field which very much needs to hear the good news that God is concerned with his creation. A Rocha is a Christian ministry which seeks to be a witness as they work alongside these different existing efforts and seek to find new, creative ways to conserve the earth. You can download a short video on the A Rocha ministry, which is produced by a Malaysian-Singaporean couple. I had the privilege of meeting them at the conference. They are professional media people who have decided to give a year and offer their talents to this ministry. Thus neither is this strictly a North-American concern, but the most critical areas are outside of the North America, where balance in the ecosystems are very fragile and the bio-diversity is threatened. These speakers invite us to imagine what God can do if the church, the biggest NGO on earth, catches this vision and begins to take responsibility and take our roles as stewards of the earth seriously. Indeed if we mean what we pray, for His kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.

It's pretty cool to see many of them bringing their own coffee mugs to the conference. No disposable cutleries are used throughout the conference. As much as possible conference materials, including name tags and folders, are reused and recycled accordingly.

It never fails to amaze me the diversity of people I meet here in Regent. Among fellow students I've met here, range from those who've worked as forest rangers, bonsai agriculturist and conservationists, others who are involved in such fields like artificial intelligence development, fossil research, social work, acting and media, artists, medical and health care, including fertility programs, are just some samples. There's also those who worked in the 'usual fields' like accounting and finance, administrative, architecture, business, computing and communication, education, engineering, law, and last but not least, missions, parachurch and church work.