Rachel Mash

Ellinah Wamukoya “For such a time as this” A great tree has fallen. Our hearts are broken at the loss of our beloved Bishop Ellinah  Wamukoya She was truly great in the kingdom of God. The first woman Bishop in Africa, she was a true pioneer.. She  modelled a new way of leadership, a leadership of  heart and hands that inspired and motivated those around her. She did not tell people what to do, she showed us the way. With her high levels of competency and spirituality she opened the doors for acceptance of women bishops in other countries across Africa.  Named as one of the BBCs 100 women of the year in 2016, she said of her ministry “I am going to try to represent the mother attribute of God” The last whatsapp she sent me from hospital was after  I told her that they had appointed a women assistant bishop in Kenya and she wrote “Amen dear sister, that is good news. A legacy indeed. I shall come out to celebrate. Praise God”. Sadly she did not. She inspired us to love God and love Mother Earth. She was one of the pioneer Eco Bishops of the Anglican Communion and her Diocese became a leader in environmental sustainability . Always hands on, she  planted trees, collecting litter and promoting reforestation, and biodiversity conservation. The Diocese won an award for two years as Environmental champion, from the Minister of the Environment. In her Masters Thesis she connected the Eucharist with Creation and shared this insight at Anglicans Ablaze: “Eating and drinking the bread and wine  enables us to touch the clouds, the sun the earth , everything in the cosmos. Christ is food – not bread alone – being food  he is life. Hungry people are all over the world – they do not have life in abundance because they do not have food” She shared memories  of carrying water long distances as a young girl and told me once that she felt that is why she became a bishop at this time, to be able to share the reality of the impact of climate change with her own stories. Like Esther , she came into her position ‘for such a time as this’. When she was already in hospital a prayer that she wrote was sent out by the Lambeth Conference, she wrote: “Creator God, we thank and praise you for giving us the opportunity to be co-creators with you and to ensure the sustainability of “Mother Earth” our meeting place with God.  God as a community of Father, son and holy spirit teach us as the anglican Community to work together for mutual respect with one another and your creation.  We repent for our negligence leading the earth to be in peril from loss of habitats and species. Help us to be caretakers of your gifts., protecting the land from abuse, and ready to share with all in need. Amen The Archbishop of Canterbury tweeted back – Thankyou Bishop Ellinah. Thankyou indeed dear Bishop. The great tree has fallen, but the seeds you have sown across the Green Anglicans movement of Southern Africa, Central Africa  and Kenya, and  the Anglican Communion  across the whole world have been planted. You have taught us, you have inspired us, you have shown us the way.  Now it is our task to let those seeds  grow – so that  your memory may  be blessed. “To be of the Earth is to know the restlessness of being a seed, the darkness of being planted, the struggle towards the light, the pain of growing into the light, the joy of bursting and bearing fruit, the love of being food for others, the scattering of your seeds, the decay of the seasons, the mystery of death and the miracle of birth (John Soos)   Hamba Kahle Bishop Ellinah. Canon Rachel Mash,Environmental Coordinator Anglican Church of Southern Africa.

USING SPORT TO HELP THE ENVIRONMENT   Rev Aurelio Uqueio, Environmental Coordinator of the Diocese of Lebombos in Mozambique has come up with a brilliant idea!. He organises tournaments of volleyball and the entrance fee is to bring bags of litter from the beach. On the 9th of January, the beach of Tofo-Inhambane was the destination for the Green Anglicans clean up and volley ball day.   Looks like lots of fun was had!!    

Green Anglicans at SAFCEI FLEAT The Green Anglicans movement attended a three day Faith Leaders Environmental Advocacy Training at Monkey Valley Noordhoek from 02-04 December 2020, hosted by SAFCEI. This was the first FLEAT programme run in Cape Town. The programme was attended by multiple faith leaders from very various faiths. The training was highly informative. The weekend started with an Interfaith dialogue around what our various faiths says about Land and Water Justice. After which we then  had a session on what is  Dialogue which most Faith leaders are encouraged to have, but at times we fail our communities as we go into conversations already having decided how it should go. This was a good exercise which also allowed us to reflect on what we have done in the past as leaders, and how we could rectify those mistakes and avoid them.  We took some time and did an Eco-audit led by Kim Kruyshaar as looked at ourselves and found that we were all at different levels and can do better to save our planet. One of the attendees did say: “Sometime we score low not because we are good stewards, but rather our socioeconomics force us into situations where we find ourselves being good Eco stewards but not doing it out of love”.  One key element of environment stewardship is having to do things out of love, during this session we were also shown different methods and/or items which we could use at our homes or places of worship to reduce our carbon footprint while saving some money. As faith leaders we need to encourage our members to practice energy and water saving methods, but always insist on doing an audit and looking at what best suits organizations in their context.  The second day of the programme also opened up conversations around the Nuclear power deal facing our country and the negative impacts of nuclear power stations on our environment and its impact on climate change. We also had a session led by Stephen Jacobs from SAFCEI who taught us around the world’s natural cycle and how we humans have made it unnatural by our exploitation of the environment’s resources. This sparked the conversation about how we could reduce human impact on the natural cycle.    The final day we took time to look at issues affecting Cape Town and how best together as Faith leader we can address environmental issues in our communities.  Even though we are members of different faith groups, we live and stay in the same communities where the people we lead are facing environmental issues and we need to join hands in making our communities better Eco-friendly communities which the next generation can enjoy.  Another highlight from the programme was the visit to the Oceanview Organic Food Garden as a success story of 5 women who banded together to start a vegetable garden to sell to local markets at reasonable and affordable prices for the local community. This was something that all participants were eager to get started, and also look at how they could implement in their own communities. The highlight from the programme was the networking that took place as well as the understanding that we all have a role to play in caring for creation, and as faith leaders we are called to reach out to our people and get them to join the cause.    Bino and John-Paul

  Green Anglicans of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa held a Green Entrepreneurial Competition to stimulate ideas that young people could implement around the green economy Mpho Nkonkoane , from Church of the Resurrection in Moshoeshoe, Maseru  Lesotho is the winner. She is going to be establishing a seedling nursery She has identified the gap in the market as people often want to have a home garden and purchase seedlings but there are very few places to buy them and they are often expensive. She has already started a vegetable patch with other young people at the church and this will enable them to grow more vegetables and also be involved in income generation. They plan to train young people and also to support the church with a portion of the profits as the nursery grows   Congratulation Mpho and may you and your team go from strength to strength.  

DIOCESE OF SWAZILAND IS A WINNER! Congratulations Diocese of Swaziland for winning the Environmental Active Faith Based organization in Swaziland as Awarded by Ministry of Tourism and Environment Affairs

“PROPHETIC INDIGENOUS VOICES ON THE PLANETARY CRISIS”- The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is under threat.  It is known by the Gwich’in people as “the Sacred place where life begins” – they  treat it as holy, not even stepping on it-  for  it is the calving area of the porcupine Caribou herd. As one activist said “we have always depended on the caribou, now the caribou are depending on us.” The Gwich’in people are mostly Anglican/Episcopalian. Indigenous communities around the world are the frontline communities facing  climate change  and biodiversity loss – for they live high risk environments. They include nomadic herders living on desert margins,  fishers in small and low-lying islands, hunters across the  Arctic, and dwellers of the forests. Archbishop Mark Macdonald says “ whatever hits society at large, be it climate change, epidemics, or other disasters, usually hits the First Peoples hardest” . In many  of these communities there is a strong Anglican presence. Hurricane Eta crashed into Central America, followed by Hurricane Iota, and Archbishop Julio describes the impact on the indigenous communities in the region “ Those impacted communities  are left with no homes, no land to produce, no way to sustain their families. We need to listen to  indigenous groups when they call us to respect Mother Earth and to care for her, because  Mother Earth provides for us”. However, not only are indigenous communities  at the forefront of environmental disasters, they hold the key to protecting the Earth. For they  are protectors of the land – recent research demonstrates that although the world’s 370 million indigenous peoples make up less than five percent of the total human population, they manage or hold tenure over 25 percent of the world’s land surface and support about 80 percent of  global biodiversity. Forty percent of environmental protectors who have been murdered are from indigenous communities. Not only do they protect some of the most pristine areas on the planet, they offer a worldview which counteracts the raging consumerism that has plunged the planet into this tragedy. At the launch of the Anglican Eco-Bishops movement, the “The world is our host” statement ( shttps://acen.anglicancommunion.org/media/148818/The-World-is-our-Host-FINAL-TEXT.pdf) said the following: “We believe that the voices of Indigenous peoples, whose relationship with creation remains integral to their spirituality and relationship with God, is of central importance to ongoing ministry on climate justice”. In the words of Bishop Nick Drayson from  Northern Argentina “We must listen to their voice, like the canary in the mine, as their awareness of the delicate balance in ecosystems is instinctive, and affects not just whole tribal communities, but also the climate which surrounds the global village”. We would like to invite you to join this Global conversation with the Indigenous Anglican Communities.  We will hear stories of lament, of loss of homelands, rising seas, deforestation, racism, hunger and poverty . But we will also hear stories of resilience, of community, and world view that can heal this planet. Five months ago eleven Archbishops and sixty Bishops from across the Communion signed the  “environmental racism” statement (https://www.greenanglicans.org/environmental-racism-when-blacklives-dont-matter/) . Many of the signatories were  indigenous bishops as their communities are at the forefront of environmental degradation by mining companies and land grabbers. They experience racism and even genocidal attitudes.   And so a conversation began between the Anglican Communion Environmental Network and the Anglican Indigenous Network about how best to share their stories with the Communion globally.  As the discussion continued, we realised that although the story that should be told starts with a lament, it leads to a vision of hope, of prophetic indigenous voices guiding us and leading us into a new relationship with Creation.  In the dark space of the triple pandemics of COVID-19, Climate change and biodiversity loss, may these webinars offer light in the darkness and hope in despair  – a fitting message for Advent. Each Monday during Advent we invite you to join  a  discussion in a time zone that suits you  – each week a video will be shown  from a different region– starting with a sacred moment of prayer and worship, sharing stories of lament, but moving to a prophetic offering   indigenous worldviews that offers hope in our consumerist, materialist world.  Local hosts will lead breakaway groups for in depth discussion and reflection on what we have learned.   On the 30th of November the series will start with the voice of Aotearoa (New Zealand and Polynesia). Students from the three Tikangas of  St. John’s Theological College weave songs and prayers. Archbishop Winston Halapua Emeritus will share stories of lament due to the impact of rising oceans. Theologians voices woven by Dr Emily Colgan explore the theme of guardianship. Fe’íloakitau Kaho Tevi from Fiji brings stories of hope   On the 7th of December we will move to Africa and hear  of the particular  impact of  climate change and drought on women, protectors of the water. We will learn how Africa has sacrificed food production on the altars of oil, and given up traditional drought resistant crops for corporate seeds. Through music and story telling we will hear  voices  of hope from across the continent including  Bishop Ellinah Wamukoya of Swaziland  and Dr Kapya Kaoma of Zambia. On the 14th of December we will hear from the Diocese of Amazonas, of deforestation and attacks on forest protectors, and of the indigenous  world view that can offering healing to a broken world. Bishop Marinez Bassotto is joined by voices from the Manaus area. On the 21st we will hear voices from the Arctic who tell of the catastrophic losses that are occurring. We will also learn from the world view that offers hope to our consumerist society . Voices will include Archbishop Mark Macdonald,  the Very Rev. Jonas Allooloo, Inuit, living in Iqaluit, Nunavut (Canada) and  Risten Turi Aleksandersen, Sami, head of the Sami Church Council, Norway.   Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa. We welcome you once, we welcome you twice, we welcome you three times.   Canon Rachel Mas