David Gould is one of the original members of the Lausanne/WEA Creation Care network. With Bishop Efraim Tendero, David carried most of the burden of organizing our first regional conference of the series that became the Global Campaign for Creation Care and the Gospel. He was an OMF Advocate for Creation Care at the time, based in Singapore. He’s long since retired, but we have just learned he is still busy. David has written a 3-part booklet series on Why Care for Creation that is available for free download from the OMF website.
The booklets are targeted for churches in East Asia, but we think they will be usable almost anywhere. Here is the description:
In all of the apostle Paul’s letters, the power and scope of the good news of Jesus is immense and radical. It brings peace and reconciliation with God, and between Jew and Gentile, and as Paul wrote to the Colossians, Jesus’ blood was shed on the cross so that through him God would reconcile to himself all things. While in Romans 8, we see that God’s purpose is to redeem the whole of his creation, which is waiting ‘in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed’. (Romans 8:19).
These few examples demonstrate Paul’s gospel hope is much wider than simply personal salvation. And Christ calls us to participate in this work to restore the whole of his creation by living and proclaiming, embodying and becoming good news to the nations.
Inspired by this all-encompassing good news OMF seeks to share the good news of Jesus Christ in all its fullness. These booklets unpack what that looks like in one significant area: caring for God’s world.
But what does all this have to do with East Asia? Through our work in East Asia we also enjoy the incredible beauty and biodiversity of that part of God’s world, while seeing how extreme weather events, deforestation, pollution of rivers and oceans, and other environmental issues disproportionately affect the poorest and most vulnerable people in society. It’s a worldwide responsibility for the global Church, but, comes down to local churches caring for their local area. It’s an expression of love for the God who made the world, and for their neighbours, who depend on it.
