Why I Care: Sarah Anderson

Climate Change: For “The Least of These”

After middle school I started going on mission trips every summer with Northland Church. The first year we went to Mexico to build homes and subsequent years, I to traveled different areas of Europe and Eastern Europe, doing everything from visiting schools and planning after-school activities in Germany and England, to hanging out with orphans in Romania and Ukraine.  During this time I really got a sense of how valuable every individual is to God, and the amazing ability the global church has to be connected through our relationship with Christ. After seeing the material poverty in Mexico, Ukraine, and Romania, and remembering the words of Christ when he called us to feed and clothe the poor, I decided to pursue a degree that I thought would help me see how that church can better do that.

Climate change has always been a concern to me, but studying it more in-depth in school, through majoring in anthropology, and minoring in human rights, I have discovered how our exploitation of the environment in the US and other developed countries has begun to change the climate in such a way as to harm societies that rely on consistent weather patterns for sustenance in Africa, India and Southeast Asia. This is what really brought to my attention the moral nature of Creation Care, and our responsibilities as Christians to be good stewards not only for ourselves, but to better love and take care of the poor.

Sarah Anderson

Comments

[Tom Shepherd]

Sarah,

I too care about the planet God gave us to have dominion over. We need to find ways to harness all of the available resources our God has made- wind, sun, waves, etc.

When you mention exploitation of the environment what are you referring to exactly?

How have weather patterns been affected?

Honestly I am concerned that developed and developing nations are getting blamed for the change in the environment, however, we have evidence of climate change from ice ages to volcanic eruptions that happened prior to possible human causation.

Sincerely,

Tom Shepherd