Kuki Rokhum joins A Rocha International!

After a rigorous global recruitment process, we’re delighted to share that Kuki Rokhum from India has been appointed as Director of Church Engagement for A Rocha International. You can read more here. Many of you will know Kuki from her work with EFICOR, Renew Our World, LWCCN, Micah and other networks. Kuki will be based in Aizawl, Mizoram, NE India but her role will be global…so look out world, here comes Kuki!

Plastic waste is a problem around the world. This story from EcoWatch shows how it is affecting our most iconic wildlife as well as humans:

In a new study published in the Journal for Nature Conservation, titled “Plastic ingestion in Asian elephants in the forested landscapes of Uttarakhand, India,” a team of scientists collected dung samples from inside and around forested areas in Uttarakhand, India, and found that the endangered Asian elephants there had been ingesting human garbage, including plastics.

“Each human-derived item was identified, measured, and sub-categorized into plastic or other anthropogenic waste. About one-third (32%) of the elephant dung samples showed presence of anthropogenic waste,” the study said.

Elephants disperse seeds through their dung, but when their food supply is contaminated with plastic, this natural process transports the ubiquitous and damaging pollutant into wild spaces, endangering the health of the elephants and their forest companions, reported The New York Times.

Read the full story here.

And we thought – why should churches in Indian have all the fun? What about the rest of the world? Here’s Kuki’s message, with resources linked below. We’re not sure how many of you can use the Hindi versions, but you might find the English helpful. If you’d like to communicate with Kuki, send us a note at creationcare@lausanne.org and we’ll send it on to her:

We are facing the destruction of the environment and loss of biodiversity like never before – destruction of land and forests, increase in pollution, the climate crisis, and overuse of natural resources. The resources and natural systems that we depend on are starting to collapse. Pandemics, like the current COVID-19 crisis, will threaten us more frequently if biodiversity loss is not slowed. It is more urgent than ever to restore damage to creation. 

It is that time of year when we observe one Sunday in the month of June as Eco-Sunday. The theme for this year is “LIVING IN PEACE WITH NATURE”. When God created the world he placed human beings in a garden – which had all that was needed for sustainable living – a storehouse of all the needs, a beautiful place where all creation lived in harmony.

We invite you to join us this year to focus on Nature – how can we as Christians take care of God’s beautiful creation and all that live on this planet. We hope the package we have prepared will open our eyes and help us to think deeper on this. Due to the restrictions of the lockdown we are also aware that churches will not be able to meet together. Also unlike previous years we are not able to print the package – which in many ways also helps in preserving forests as we use less paper. Please use these resources as appropriate for your congregation or group. 

Check the following materials (poster, booklet, sample sermon, feedback form). We’ve left out the Hindi versions, but if you want those, just ask!

We have received an update from EFICOR in India. The main bullet points are below; you can read their entire report here:

• All the agricultural lands were destroyed due to entering the saline water and the crops were collapsed. 
• Almost all thatched houses are marooned in the flood water, all the furniture were destroyed and nothing is left in their hands.
•  All the people are in the evacuation centre and consuming the food that is available in the centre.
• People are unable to maintain the social distance due to the crowd in the evacuation center. Due to this, people are fearful and in trauma.
• Health & Hygiene: The affected community is inundated with water and after three days slowly water began to recede and due to this high possibility of spreading the water borne diseases, skin infections, mosquito breeding and snake bites etc.
• The sanitation is a big challenge as most of them are practicing open defecation near highway and rail embankments. Mainly women and children are the most vulnerable to have easy access to various facilities like sanitation, drinking water and the issue of safety and security as most of them are living in relief camps. 
• Many livestock have been washed away in the floodwater, which is one of the household incomes of affected families. In most of the houses they rear the livestock as an alternative source of income, the most of the HHs, which have lost their livestock, are completely dependent upon their livelihood.
• The most vulnerable are women, aged, disable and children as they are deprived of access to various facilities and food assistance

Donations to EFICOR’s efforts can be made here.

• Be a family to them
• Help them enjoy their childhood
• Create a safe environment for them
• Help bring wholeness to a broken child

At the campaign’s launch recently, 200 tree seedlings were given out with the assignment to “be responsible toward’s God’s creation, both nature and children.”