Rachel Mash

Pula! – Kgowe Moleme greeted the crowd of about 900 people gathered for the Annual Diocesan Family day of the Diocese of Matlosane. “Pula” is a Setswana word which is used to mean both  “rain” and to wish others well. The Setswana word pula means rain, a rarity in our semi arid climate. It is therefore no wonder that pula is the word that is used by Batswana to wish others well – good life and health follow the rain Kgowe is one of the Green Anglican “movers and shakers” and had been invited to speak on the theme of Climate Change. What are the Green Anglican ? Green Anglican is a movement that is raising awareness about the environmental issues that we are facing these days. Growing up people called themselves Machache a manchonyana, Jaanong we must call our self machache a matalanyana. Global warming- the earth is warming due to Carbon pollution which people pump into the air due to fossil fuels. Burning petrol, coal, electricity – which is made from burning coal, is forming a blanket around the earth Challenges Caused by climate change Drought/komelelo/leuba/lesekere   growing up people used greet Pula!!! The respond then Be Aene!!! These days the greeting has changed Too Pula !!! Haeyo.   The is drought in our country and neighbouring countries. Otlhoboge o bona le Kolobe e bopame. In the diocese of Namibia they have a severe drought.  Fr Lazarus Ngube’s brother died digging a well because the was no water for them and the animals to drink, they were buried alive. Scientist says in few years to come the will be less drinking waters for us and our animals. Tshaba bogale jobo tlang. Floods/morwalela Because the oceans are warming there is more evaporation and it causes excessiv, rainfall that causes floods and hurricanes you remember Huriccane Dineo,and recently hurricane IDAI that caused floods in Mozambique and KZN. What can we do to help in preventing this? Isaac Newton in his third law of motion state that for every action the is equal but opposite reaction. We need to learn more about what causes Global warming and act. Example. Stop littering- the rubbish that we litter will end up in the oceans and rivers. How do we feel when we see a cow eating plastic? RRR- Reuse,Reduce Recycle. Use electricity wisely –that electricity is generated by coal and is hurting the environment and making people sick from air pollution Stop buying plastic bags and  bring your own bag or use  paper bags. Stop using plastic straws- ask yourself where is it going after you use once. Stop using Styrofoam cups and  glasses and plates(di gooi veg) Plant and Grow trees- people these days plant trees but don’t grow them plant and take care of that tree. In closing I quote Psalm 24:1 in Setswana Lefatshe kela Morena le tsotlhe tsedi mogo lone, LeFatshe le baba agileng mogo lone,Gonne ole theile mo mawatleng ale tlhomamisa modinokeng. Amen. The Earth is the Lord’s PULA!!!!!!!!

Green Anglicans in Machakos Diocese, Kenya has taken another dimension it’s gone to the villages to inspire care for creation. On the 27th of October  they cleaned Ikalaasa town area and planted trees. They also made use of the opportunity to evangelise to the town dwellers. The diocesan Mission Coordinator together with the Administrative secretary was joined by clergy and Christians around the diocese for the full day of clean up. The event was organised by the DYO Rev. Simon Kavita

The Diocese of Swaziland held an event dealing with  invasive species in Hhohho region. The church and community members worked hard to pull up the invasive species. These alien plants use up a lot of water and do not allow the indigenous plants to grow. So one of the important lessons for creating drought resilient communities is to teach them to use invasive species for fire wood and leave indigenous trees to grow.  A wonderful outdoor service of celebration was held followed by snacks.

  Click — > WED 2016

“The River of God is full of water” Psalm 65:90 Thirty people joined the Diocesan Environmental Group for a meditative walk with Jesus along the Upper Liesbeek River.  We listened to the voice of God in Creation, in Scriptures and in poetry. Green Anglicans has started monthly services to listen to worship in Creation. Once a month we will be exploring a different part of our this beautiful city, with River Church, Vlei Church, Mountain Church, Forest Church , Ocean Church and so on. The Bible teaches us that we can hear the voice of God in Creation: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. Psalm 19:1-4”   God is speaking through Creation, the question is – are we listening? Sometimes we forget that we can hear God in Creation and we limit ourselves to only listening to God’s word in the Bible.  Throughout history the Church has believed in General Revelation (in nature) as well as special revelation (through Scripture). So what happens when we take this seriously ? We go into nature and say God speak to me, through the rivers, the mountain, the wetlands… and God does!! Our first service was Wetlands Church where we listened to the voice of God as we walked through the Wetlands at Glencairn. Next month we will have Vlei Church and this will be followed by Mountain Church. These are wonderful services of meditation, silence, some scripture readings, some poetry readings and a time to re-fill your soul. You can also bring a friend especially those friends who say “I am spiritual but I don’t go to church”   Join us on the 7th March at Rondevlei (Grassy Park) for an experience of God in “Vlei Church” For more information contact Rev Mash on [email protected]