Greetings!
November's EMPD was the whirlwind that was the Lausanne Consultation on Creation Care and the Gospel. (If you would still like to add your signature to the Jamaica Call to Action you can do so here.) Even the Call to Action's introductory paragraph takes note that the convening of the Consultation coincided with Hurricane Sandy's landfall on the Atlantic Seaboard.
Over the years EMPD has tried to mobilize prayer for whatever U.N.-sponsored climate talks are underway. Delegates are meeting even this week in Doha, Qatar. This conference coincides with Typhoon Bopha's destruction on the southern island of Mindanao, the main home of the Philippines' Muslim population. Over 270 are declared dead and thousands missing due to flash floods and mudslides. Bopha is the most southerly typhoon ever in the Western Pacific, and is another incident of the extreme weather events which meet the projections of global climate change.
The link (here and below) will allow you to listen to an interview with Filipino negotiator Naderev Saņo: "As Typhoon Bopha Wreaks Havoc, Philippine Negotiator Urges Wealthy Nations to Address Global Warming." (Quick editor's note: I've found the progressive Democracy Now to be the best source of international perspectives coming out of any of the climate talks. They are broadcasting from Doha this week. Warning: don't listen unless you can handle a harsh critique of the U.S. position.)
Let's pray:
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The Gospel of Jesus Christ also slams into Mindanao
The People of the Philippines Moist Forests
(WWF Global 200: #27)
A phone call this morning confirmed that the staff and the students of the Life Resource
 | | Read at the Christar website the story of Solaimon*: "Other young men, Solaimon's age turned to the lure of drugs, alcohol and the power of becoming a Muslim rebel. However, in addition to his father's stand against persecution, Solaimon also saw a community transformed by development projects such as the introduction of dairy farming." Solaimon was in the most recent LRF graduating class. (*name changed) |
Foundation (LRF) on the island of Mindanao have been spared. Typhoon Bopha veered away from the mountain campus where Filipino believers are trained to serve as church-planting missionaries in Muslim tribal villages. Please pray for the 70 men and women who have graduated from LRF since 2002 and even now are ministering among typhoon-victims.
LRF is relevant for our environmental missions prayers. Students are trained in vocational skills built around sustainability. The campus produces a line of herbal pharmaceuticals and organic teas. The tea is dried in uniquely-designed solar driers. Sustainable horticulture practices are also part of the curriculum.
Please pray: - for Solaimon and the other graduates of the Life Resource Foundation as they risk their lives to help transform communities in Mindanao with the Gospel.
- for the current student body, staff, and trainers of LRF. May they study hard and love well.
- that markets would open (including in the US) for LRF's sustainable products.
- for K. & H. H. and their three daughters who are raising support to join the LRF staff.
Links: "Life Resource Foundation: Changing Lives and Communities" (Christar.org) Photos: Christar
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And let's not forget Urbana 2012!
May we request a quick prayer for the almost 20,000 college students who will be
 | | It's not too late to register to attend. Click here. |
meeting in St. Louis right after Christmas for the triennial missions conference known as Urbana. In fact, come join us. Eden Vigil, Care of Creation, and Terry LaBlanc (First Nations, Canada) are part of the creation care component at the conference.
Thank you for praying in 2012. And thank you to those who made donations to Eden Vigil for the sake of EMPD. We do have a current financial need and you keep us going!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,
Lowell Bliss
Eden Vigil
Links: Contact the editors, Eden Vigil website, Donations to Eden Vigil
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