News

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 here online!

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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.

A Rocha’s Harvest Festival, held for the first time at the Brooksdale Environmental Centre, drew over 400 people! Participants enjoyed live music, apple cider making, hayrides and more.  The day was a celebration of the Harvest season and the thousands of pounds of veggies that were harvested this year through our Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) Project.  A cornucopia of veggies have been enjoyed by those who purchased seasonal “shares,” comprised of weekly Rubbermaid bins overflowing with more than up to 50 varieties of vegetables from carrots to kohlrabi.  In addition, produce has been distributed to local food banks, women’s shelters and service societies, enjoyed by those who often are not able to access to such high quality local organic vegetables.  The CSA project, under the leadership of our farm manager, Paul Neufeld, has connected hundreds of folks in BC’s lower mainland more directly to the source of their food, enriching their lives in the process.

Over 40 friends of A Rocha ran, ambled and walked through Campbell Valley Park in Langley, BC recently to raise money for our conservation work in the Little Campbell Watershed. Another 40 or so folks showed up to cheer them on and enjoy the morning. The event was a grand success, with over $12,000 raised for A Rocha’s conservation activities in the watershed. Some of the funds are targeted for ongoing monitoring of the Salish Sucker (Catostomus sp.), an endangered species, recently rediscovered on A Rocha’s Brooksdale site. Populations of the sucker are in decline as their habitat is being destroyed or fragmented by urban and agricultural development. Not seen since 1976 in the Little Campbell Watershed, an A Rocha intern found the sucker during a routine survey at our Brooksdale Environmental Centre at the end of August. Since then 2 more Salish Suckers have been found close by and A Rocha is partnering with local biologists to assess the condition and extent of this species in the watershed.