Hello, friends! We invite you to join us in pollinating creation care happenings across different directions: not only global event, news, and announcements, but also stories from the grassroots! So, if you’ve a project, story or news about Creation Care that would be of interest to others around the world, please tell us! It’s helpful if you can send a summary (50-200 words) with a photo or two and a link to a webpage if possible. Please send this to creationcare@lausanne.org.

This month we’ve heard back from members of LWCCN involved in…

• Turkana County, Kenya, assessing how Faith Groups (Churches) can be involved in tackling the impacts of extreme drought. The droughts are leading to cattle and other animals dying and to increasing malnutrition and starvation. LWCCN member, Nshizirungu Hubert is working to help Church and Faith Groups access Loss and Damage funds from within Kenya and internationally.
• Pakistan about using natural methods to recycle Waste-Water for economic, environmental and social benefits. Riaz Yousaf, known as ‘The Waterman’, has recently published a book ‘The Responsibility Ignored’ looking at the water and waste-water economy of Pakistan.
• Nepal where a ministry dedicated to working with single women, ‘Rise and Shine’ is dedicated to building strength in unity, including providing agricultural advice and training.
• Arizona, USA researching how evangelical Christian views on environment and creation are changing, linked to views on end-times theology (eschatology).

The nature of the news cycle is such that a disaster last week quickly fades, and one that occurred two months ago might as well not have happened. The Pakistan floods, did happen, however, and even though almost half a million people are back in their flood-ravaged homes, at least 50,000 remain in tent camps, and with the complete loss of this year’s harvest, recovery is going to take a very long time.

This update from the AP:

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan said Tuesday that most victims of the unprecedented floods that struck the country last summer have now returned to their homes, with only a small portion still living in makeshift camps in the worst-hit, southern Sindh province.

The country’s disaster management agency said the latest data shows that slightly less than 50,000 people are currently staying in camps in Sindh, compared to half a million who were living in tents there in September.

The record-breaking floods — which were worsened by climate change, that hit Pakistan last summer — killed 1,735 people and displaced 33 million. In Sindh alone, the floods affected 12 million people and killed 796.

Pakistan has asked the international community to scale up aid for flood survivors, now threatened by the upcoming winter. Last month, the World Bank estimated that the floods caused $40 billion in damages.

Harsh winter weather could worsen the misery of flood victims — if food and other supplies were not delivered quickly.

Cash-strapped Pakistan was already facing a serious financial crisis before the abnormally heavy monsoon rains hit in mid-June, triggering the floods that at one point left a third of the country’s territory submerged.

The disastrous floods in Pakistan can hardly be captured in pictures or words. As of this writing, about 1300 people have been killed, with perhaps 1/3 of them children. 33 million people affected, more than a million houses destroyed. The entire agricultural crop (fields and animals) wiped out. Disease rampant. And the rains have not yet stopped. All of this as the world already faces food shortages because of the war in Europe.

The Pakistan story is that much more devastating for your editor: I (Ed Brown) grew up in the Sindh province (in the yellow area in the map below).

There are plenty of opportunities to donate for relief efforts – we’re sure many of you have done so already. Beyond that, this story obviously shows the importance of increasing our efforts communicate to the global church and human society as a whole that climate change is not a future problem, but a present threat.

May God have mercy.