News

Good Seed Sunday is a National Celebration for Churches and Community Groups to engage their members with the inspirational vision of creation care.

A Rocha has developed a number of resources for pastors, Sunday school teachers, community outreach coordinators and more. The goal is for you use our resources and have a Sunday in April, or beyond, dedicated to sharing God’s love for caring for his creation.

Learn more by clicking here.

Please let us know if you plan on participating by emailing goodseed@arocha.ca

“This is why I came to A Rocha!” exclaimed one of the participants in the first instalment of the A Rocha Earthkeeping Institute.  This past fall, about twenty eager “earthkeepers” gathered at A Rocha’s Brooksdale Environmental Centre for a weekend focused on watershed stewardship.  The goal of the weekend was to explore what it would mean to take our places seriously as the setting for Christian discipleship. Ecologically speaking, place is most meaningfully defined by watersheds. Thus, the jam-packed schedule included a tour of the Little Campbell River Watershed, highlighted by visits with our conservation partners at the local hatchery and estuary.  This exploration of place was integrated with biblical reflection on how a scriptural understanding of identity, redemption and a vision for life, consistently insists that where we are matters deeply to God.

The Institute wonderfully captured a microcosm of A Rocha’s “what, why and who” – intelligent, committed action in a particular corner of God’s world combined with a thoughtful articulation of how our action is part of God’s story, all within a context of intentional, welcoming hospitality.  If such an experience sounds intriguing to you, our next instalment of our Earthkeeping Institute will explore the theme of food and faith.

We would love to see you at the next weekend Earthkeeping Institute: Friday – Monday July 6th – July 9th.

A Rocha brought the hoot to MissionsFest! The owl costume was serendipitously brought that day to MissionsFest by Darian Kovacs, because he thought it was perfect for us!  He also donated it to A Rocha for our kids programs.

Thanks to all the wonderful volunteers that helped us connect people with the missional nature of creation care. There even seemed to be a buzz in the air about creation care; more than in previous years. Our focus this year was on the Good Seed Sunday initiative and promoting internships. Now, can you guess who is in the owl outfit? Yes, it’s an intern–Marguita from Germany!

Along with the booth, we presented three different seminars. Rick Faw’s talk was about Caring for God’s World with Prophetic Hope. Markku Kostamo shared about A God Filled Life and the Kingdom of God changing everything! Finally, Ruth Des Cotes took the kids through a part of our kids creation care program. If you did not have the chance to hear one of our seminar talks, please email action@arocha.ca, and we would be glad to connect with your church by sharing these talks.

As the executive director of A Rocha Canada, it has been my privilege to attend A Rocha’s International Leader’s Forums and meet fellow “A Rochaites” from around the world. Having been raised in Nepal and having an affinity for that part of the world, I formed a particular friendship and appreciation for the founder and leader of A Rocha India, Dr. Vijay Arnand, a man of great passion and kindness.  It was therefore a great shock and sadness to learn of his sudden death on 21 December, following a cerebral hemorrhage. Vijay was an inspiring team leader and a very talented specialist in large mammal research. You can read about his passion for elephant conservation in the latest copy of A Rocha International News.

Please join us in thanking God for Vijay’s life, and in praying for his widow, Sunita, his son Roshan (aged 10) and daughter Alisha (aged 6).

Could you also remember Rev Prem Mitra, the Chair of A Rocha India, and the rest of the team, as they begin to plan for the future.

Peace,

Markku

Do you ever wonder how much the Earth really matters to God? Do you sometimes struggle to answer other people’s questions about the biblical basis for environmental action? Dave Bookless (author of Planetwise and God Doesn’t do Waste) will be answering 12 key questions over the next year. This month he starts with ‘Whose world is it anyway?’ and other themes will include ‘Mission: saving souls or saving seals?’, and ‘What’s the future for Planet Earth?’ Please pause for a moment and consider whether or not you have contacts who would benefit from the blog: perhaps a church leader, colleague or friend? Or could you ask a Christian organization or church magazine to link to it? If so, just go to www.blog.arocha.org and use the ‘Please share’ buttons (Email, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) to pass on the news.

A Rocha Volunteer Days are a fun way to connect with your community and care for creation. In 2011, friends of A Rocha, from across Canada, took the Volunteer Day idea beyond A Rocha “Centres” and into their neighbourhoods. They participated in community clean-ups, community garden building and much more! We want to share the joys these activities with you. So please ask us about how to start an A Rocha Volunteer Day in your community.

Interested in starting a community garden this spring?

The Plot Thickens community gardening workshop will give you a good start! It will be given by A Rocha Canada’s experienced gardening friends, partners and trained community organizers.

Our workshop covers: gathering your garden team, generating excitement about a community project, managing plots, gardening how-tos, facing challenges and more. Participants will receive a community gardening manual, monthly gardening emails, an online space to connect and a webpage for profiling your new community garden. Our goal is to partner with you and your Christian community as you develop a garden to support local food production and facilitate community outreach.

Details

Location: Crossroads MB Church, 231 Kitson Street, Winnipeg MB (Corner of Kitson and Traverse)
Date/Time: Fri. Mar. 23rd 6:00pm – 9:00pm & Sat., Mar. 24th 9:00am – 3:30pm
Food: Meals & refreshments provided. Please let us know about specific food needs.
Cost: $30 for single, or 2 for $50.  Includes garden manual and food (subsidies available)

Presenters: Jen Kornelsen (A Rocha’s Community Organizer) and Kristine (Farmer at Fort Whyte Farms)

Register Today!

Please click here for our online form to register (otherwise call 604.542.9022 to pay by phone).  At the moment our online payment option has not been set up for this event.  However, please do register via our online form.

For more recipes, email Ute – ute.lindenlauf@arocha.ca

Creamy lentil soup

6 cups   vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
2 cups french green whole lentils, rinsed
2 bay leaves
1 whole clove

Combine all ingredients in a large pot, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until lentils are tender.

2 tbsp butter
3 celery ribs chopped
1 medium onion chopped
Saute in another pan until crispy tender, add
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
½ – 1 tsp curry powder(depends on your taste)
1/8 tsp pepper

Sauté for 3 min.or until vegetable are tender, add
3 garlic cloves, minced

Saute for another minute.

Depending how thick you want your soup to be drain the lentils (I don’t), discard the bay leaf, add the vegetable mixture to the lentils. Stir in

1 ½ cup whipping cream
1 tbsp lemon juice

Cook over low heat, add……till heated through and bok choy is wilted.
3 cups coarsely chopped, bok choy (kale or spinach, all very tasty)
1/3 cup cilantro chopped

Friends of A Rocha around the Pembina Valley regularly conduct bird surveys.  Click below to check out their latest news!

Raptor Review Spring 2011

from Mexico and back again

Did you know the Monarch Butterflies seen migrating through Manitoba will not be the same ones that return next year?

A Rocha’s participation in the Monarch Teacher Network’s workshop taught us this and a whole lot more about this amazing insect. We learned how the life cycle of the Monarch is used to teach biology, botany, sociology, foreign language and even geography. We constructed indoor enclosures to house the Milk Weed leaves with Monarch eggs on them. These soon hatched into caterpillars that were then moved to the next enclosure for development into adult Monarch Butterflies. Once they emerge and after “pumping up their wings,” they took a quick drink of sugar water and were ready to be released.

At the Pembina Valley Field Station, some of our very young A Rocha friends had the pleasure of releasing 13 Monarchs to migrate south. The look on the children’s faces as “their” Monarch took flight was delightful and proved to us once again that up close and personal encounters with creation are transformative.