The World Evangelical Alliance Sustainability Center (WEASC) based in Bonn/Germany has recently become part of the WEA Global Advocacy department. Over the past years, WEA’s engagement at the United Nations at key locations such as Bonn/Germany (Sustainability), Geneva (Human Rights) and New York (Peace, general UN liaison) has gained momentum leading to the creation of the Global Advocacy department to unite and coordinate these efforts. The department is led by Director Dr. Janet Epp Buckingham who has a doctorate in Public Law from the University of Stellenbosch/South Africa, is a Professor of Political Studies at Trinity Western University and lives in Ottawa/Canada. WEASC is co-led by Dr. Chris Elisara (San Diego/USA) and Matthias K. Boehning (Bonn/Germany.

***NOTE: The first event below starts tomorrow, 6 May!***

This fall UN Secretary General António Guterres is convening a global food systems summit (dates TBA).  Summit preparation is well underway. The vision and goals for the summit have been set, and 5 action tracks are working toward the summit.

To help prepare for the summit, the WEA has been working with several other religious organizations as part of the Food + Faith Coalition to develop 5 Food + Faith Dialogues based on the summit’s 5 action tracks. These dialogues have been designed in collaboration with the UN and the action track leaders, who sincerely want to receive the input of religious groups and organizations. This is the first step in LWCCN’s engagement with the UN Food Systems Summit where we will present our Christian views. 

The first Food + Faith Dialogue: Food Security, Access and Justice is May 6^th at 10 AM, EST (New York time). Please register at this link:

The other Food + Faith Dialogues are on May 13, May 20, May 27, and June 3.  To learn more, and register for all 5 Food + Faith Dialogues, go to this link.

A LWCCN UN Food Systems Summit Working Group to be convened in June. Further information will be announced in June’s Pollinator. If this is of interest please send us an email.

UN-Habitat has launched a campaign responding to COVID-19 (https://unhabitat.org/un-habitat-covid-19-response-plan).  As part of that campaign it is hosting a special on-line series of Urban Thinkers Campuses (UTC). The WEA Creation Care Task Force, which has developed a relationship with UN-Habitat over many years, is co-hosting the UTC focused on “Community Leaders on the Frontline” on May 14. The WEA’s COVID-19 Task Force (https://covid19.worldea.org), which has an Impoverished Communities working group, will be sharing directly about its work and the lessons it is learning from frontline churches and leaders responding to the pandemic. 

Space is limited, so sign up to participate in these UTC’s. The Christian community has something to learn and something to share in all of these conversations. The most important thing, however, is that we can contribute recommendations and suggestions that can have an impact on policy makers, governments, industry, and civil society, including our own Christian community, through our participation. So let’s participate! Learn more and sign up here https://www.worldurbancampaign.org/urban-thinkers-campus

1. Stepping back – What can we learn about humanity, our societies, and our planet from this crisis?
2. Stepping out – In which way does the current COVID-19 crisis provide a historic chance to rethink and redo the “People and Planet partnership”?
3. Stepping up – How can people of faith be inspiring voices of hope and helpful hands of good these days, spreading the positive virus of transformation globally?

This is well worth your time. Featured speakers included (click on any name to access slides if available)                       

• Matthias K. Boehning, Director, WEA Sustainability Center
• Dave Bookless, Director for Theology, A Rocha International
• Professor Katharine Hayhoe, Climate Scientist & Climate Ambassador of the World Evangelical Alliance
• Ben Niblett, Coordinator of Renew our World, Tearfund
• Kuki Rokhum, Head of Training and Mobilization, Evangelical Fellowship of India Commission on Relief (EFICOR)
• Chris Elisara, Director, WEA Creation Care Task Force

More information, including PDF handouts, is here. Please share this information widely and join your global Christian family. We need each other, even though we can’t be physically together.

Prayer from Bishop Tendero:

*Prayer Amid Covid-19 Crisis*

Deerfield, IL – March 15, 2020

On behalf of the World Evangelical Alliance, Secretary General Bp Efraim Tendero offered the following prayer amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Our Almighty Father God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, as Your children living in every corner of the world we come before You today to intercede for our nations, almost all of which are currently affected or under threat of the COVID-19. We praise You that You neither slumber nor sleep and You are watching over our lands and our peoples, especially in perilous times such as these.

Our help comes from You. We cry out for Your mercy and protection against this virus. We declare that You alone are our refuge—our place of safety. We pray that You protect our peoples from this deadly disease and rescue our lands from this dangerous trap.

Grant our governments and the various national and local leaders wisdom and understanding as they establish and implement guidelines, measures, and strategies in fighting against COVID-19.

Enable our health officials and medical personnel with Your strength and power as they attend to the sick and vulnerable, and allow this pandemic to pass quickly. Lead the medical scientists around the world who are working double-time to find the antidote to COVID-19.

In these dangerous times, grant us Your grace and peace to stay calm and to overcome fear, because the spirit of fear does not come from You. Instead You have given us faith, hope, and love. You have given us power and a sound mind. Your Word says that You will keep in perfect peace those whose eyes are fixed on You.

Help us to reflect the image of Jesus Christ in caring for the less affluent who could hardly afford to buy for their daily need and are left vulnerable as more affluent people buy stores empty. Move us to selflessly extend comfort and help to the isolated and lonely, just as we receive comfort from You in times of difficulty.

Finally, we pray that in the midst of this pandemic, You would unite us in love, bind our nations in peace, and bring hope and healing to our lands with Your grace and Your power. In the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we pray, AMEN.

Bishop Efraim Tendero

“We are excited to promote creation care by partnering with Smart Roofs Solar to launch a local context-relevant, web-based platform to guide evangelical churches and institutions to adopt clean renewable energy,” says Dr. Chris Elisara, WEA Director, Creation Care Task Force.  

“We are honored to collaborate with the WEA to ensure evangelicals receive great guidance and state of the art renewable energy systems at the best possible value,” says SRS CEO, Joe Chenoweth.

The Project 20.’25 online platform helping guide evangelical churches and institutions to adopt clean renewable energy will go live on Oct. 30, 2019 in North America at https://www.weacleanenergyinitiative.org.  The platform will guide any church or institution with or without renewable energy expertise or experience to determine what kind of project is possible for the building(s) under consideration; and will identify local contractors, financing options, and provide other assistance to help any WEA member to begin the move to 100% clean energy.

We suspect you don’t have to be a current member to check out the website. Let us know what happens!