When we witness the relentless onslaught of extreme weather in
Kenya, we’re tempted to wonder about how to hang on to hope. The deck looks impossibly
stacked against Kenyans for whom drought, flooding and changing disease and
pest vectors are spreading hunger and poverty.
But in the last few days, we’ve seen some examples of amazing
resiliency and initiative. Community self-help organizations are terracing hillside
fields to conserve water and prevent erosion. They are adopting Farming God’s
Way, a gospel-based form of conservation agriculture that enhances soil health
and conserves moisture. They are planting indigenous trees in many places to
restore ecosystems and resist desertification. They are building remarkable
sand dams, which turn seasonally-dry rivers into year-round water sources, and
raise the water table.
Where these initiatives are being implemented, parched
communities are showing marked improvement. Women walk fewer kilometers to
carry water home for their families. Children’s clothes are washed more
frequently. Crops flourish in the shade
of the replanted tree canopy. Biodiversity is returning, with a wonderful
assortment of birds, lizards and others of God’s creatures. And all this,
despite indisputable evidence that the climate is becoming harsher, hotter, and
more extreme.
We read Psalm 104 in our morning devotions together, and we
think of these Kenyan communities – “You make springs gush forth in the
valleys; they flow between the hills; they give drink to every beast of the
field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.” For the moment, our hearts sing.
But then, in a cruel reminder of this harsh new world, we
hear the news
from our friends – Scott and Jennifer Myhre – in nearby Kijabe. More than five
inches of rain the night before last pummeled the surrounding area in only two
hours. The road into Kijabe was rendered impassible. The mission hospital and
the Rift Valley Academy were cut off. Water supplies were threatened.
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| Record rains sweep away Kenyan hillsides |
And then last night, another 1.5 inches fell. Mudslides
again closed the roads. Water supply pipes to the Kijabe Hospital have been
destroyed, rendering this vital community lifeline almost useless. Many homes,
businesses and schools have been seriously damaged.
And worst of all, three little girls have been killed in the
mudslides.
Already this month, Kijabe has had more rain than normally
falls in an average year, according to local ecologists who monitor these
patterns. The community has planted many trees, but those trees can only do so
much to hold the soil in place, in the face of such a torrent. And with the
mudslides go valuable topsoil, young trees, this year’s crops, access to the
hospital, and yes – three precious little girls.
Let me acknowledge the Christian Reformed Church (CRCNA) in
all this. Last year, the Synod adopted the Creation
Stewardship Task Force Report. The key findings of your church were these:
- Climate change is occurring and is very likely due to human activity
- Human-induced climate change is a moral, ethical, and religious issue
- Human-induced climate change poses a significant threat to future generations, the poor, and the vulnerable
- Human-induced climate change, as a global phenomenon, poses a significant challenge to us all
- Urgent action at the personal, communal, and political levels is required to address climate change.
But you didn’t stop with the science, or with broad ethical
statements. You sent your own people to vulnerable communities to see for
themselves, and to report back to you. That’s a major reason why we’re here in
Kenya, and that’s why we’re sending these messages back to you.
We all hope you’re getting an up-close sense of the harm that
our treatment of the earth and its atmosphere are doing to our brothers and
sisters in these distant lands – and to God’s countless other beautiful
creatures. We hope that it gives rise to a gospel-infused, grace-filled
discussion within our North American family. And we pray that many of you will
hear the cry that we’re hearing from God’s injured creation – and his precious
little Kenyan girls.
Thanks for reading, and may God bless you.
J. Elwood
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