Prior to joining A Rocha, Chris had wide experience of science teaching and schools’ management in the UK and the Middle East, attending Bible College and learning Arabic (in Jordan) along the way. He joined A Rocha in 1997 working, until 2009, as Lebanon Director where he cofounded the work. He oversaw the habitat restoration programme at the Aammiq Wetland, the development of the environmental education project and the field research programme, identifying 11 new Important Bird Areas. Since April 2010 he has been Executive Director of A Rocha International and is based in Oxfordshire. His book Postcards from the Middle East: How our family fell in love with the Arab world was published by Lion Hudson in March 2015.
Devastation of communities and habitats was not all that hurricane Irma left in its wake – an intense public debate immediately started about whether or not we should talk about climate change at times like these.
Our family has been living abroad for the past 21 years and relocated to Florida – the week before Hurricane Irma hit. In a way, bad timing. However, it was good to go through this experience living with family.
With most of the population now living in cities, Harvest festivals can seem archaic and quaint. At its worst Harvest can simply be a longing for a mythical rural idyll that never really existed, yet I believe we need to celebrate Harvest today more than ever. Here’s why.
It is easy to get increasingly technical about the year in, year out, work of nature conservation. So, from time to time it is good to be reminded, in an entirely different register, of what we are dealing with, of what creation is.
I recently returned from a lecturing visit to Hong Kong, Beijing and Yanji. Speaking about environmental sustainability to students and professors in three such very different contexts got me thinking afresh about China’s place in the world and its significance. My thoughts here are inevitably personal and subjective.
What do we mean by ‘abundant life’? Both Western and Eastern cultures tend to value ‘success’ in terms of prosperity, wealth, health, long-life, security, freedom and mobility. The pursuit of these goals is putting increasing pressure on the natural environment, and also on social and economic stability.
Recently a couple of us attended the Conservation Optimism summit in London. I went with an open mind, but concerned that this was simply an exercise in papering over the cracks: what room is there for optimism when 58% of the world’s wildlife has disappeared within my lifetime? I’ve been asking myself about hope, optimism and what gives us the ability to keep going even when things are bleak.
Sabbath has an image problem. Victorian strictness, long church services, overwhelmingly negative ideas: ‘Don’t do that … especially if it’s enjoyable!’ How far this is from God’s plans for Sabbath!
When I read modern history at University in the 1980s, India’s ‘Green Revolution’ was held up as an example of progress: how technology can save and feed us all. Today things look rather different. There were heavy costs: social, economic, environmental. Can we feed the world without destroying communities, cultures and creation? What, if anything, does the Bible have to say about soil, farming and land-use? Rather a lot, it turns out!
Valentine’s Day can simply seem like a product of our shallow, materialistic culture. The thing is, love needs actions to make it real. This Valentine’s Day, whether or not you’ll be romancing a loved one, why not take a risk and do something practical to sow love for God’s creation?
