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BREAKING NEWS! The Western Cape High Court declares the nuclear deal with Russia unlawful and sets it aside. On the Eve of Freedom day and significantly on Chernobyl day Judge Lee Bozalek ruled in favour of the case brought by the Southern African Faith Communities Environmental Institute (SAFCEI) and Earth Life Africa. This is a true David and Goliath Moment. Congratulations to SAFCEI on their hard work and faithfulness Earthlife-Africa Johannesburg and SAFCEI launched their nuclear court case in October 2015 when they realised that the government was preparing for a nuclear power procurement deal in secret. The court case has been pivotal in exposing arrangements for government’s proposed R1-trillion nuclear deal which they believe were entered into unlawfully. ELA and SAFCEI allege that processes of nuclear deal decision-making including the signing of agreements with Russia and the Section 34 Determination to procure nuclear power, were not done in accordance with requirements for lawful and constitutional adminstrative decision-making. This court decision raises serious roadblocks in the government’s and Eskom’s rush towards making the nuclear deal a reality. It reinforce our demand that that accountable government should be the cornerstone of South Africa’s hard won democracy. For further information, contact Liz McDaid (SAFCEI) on 0827315643

A PILGRIM BISHOP When you are a pilgrim, you walk on the Earth, you walk with other people in community, you walk with yourself, and you walk towards God Bishop Raphael Hess, Bishop of Saldanha Bay has spent the Lenten period on a pilgrimage throughout his Diocese. Being a pilgrim bishop has enabled him to develop an incarnational vision for the mission of the Church: “The Diocese of Saldanha Bay is grounded in an incarnational earthy spirituality, expressed mainly in Afrikaans, Xhosa and English expressed also through body, song, dance and that deep stillness which frames all words and actions| Grounded in joy : Grounded in God’s Spirit that comforts and consoles, that challenges coldness and complacency, like the earthly Jesus did.  Grounded in one another, the Diocese greets you and welcomes you” The pilgrim day starts with early morning meditation and Eucharist, followed by a light breakfast. Then the bishop, accompanied by different groups of pilgrims visits communities and churches around the area. Saldanha is a hot , water scarce part of South Africa, and the pilgrims are often relieved to return to the shade by 10 or 11 am. On one of the days, the Bishop was joined by the Green Anglicans and a group from Lamberts Bay. Part of the day was a prayer for the Land. During this service the Bishop read an open statement to President Zuma: Mr President, your people are sad today. Mr President, your people are angry today. Now that you have done the unthinkable, we declare the following: The Anglican Diocese of Saldanha Bay says an emphatic No! to your continuous dispruption to our social and economic stability. We say No! to you Mr President , to your corruption and the endless avarice amongst your friends.  We say No! to you Mr president and we say YES! to the cry so passionately articulated by the late great son of the soil, Ahmed Kathrada when he asked you to step aside and resign, to allow those who carry the hopes of our people to lead” The group visited some of the different areas of Clanwilliam. The town is surrounded by majestic mountains and beautiful landscape. But close the homes are vast piles of rubbish and the water is polluted. The group did a symbolic clean up of a tiny portion of litter to symbolize our awareness of the sin of environmental degradation.. “Almighty God, giver of all good things:we thankyou for the natural majesty and beauty of our land They restore us, though we often destroy them. Heal us”

Earth Day—April 22—marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. In 1969 people first landed on the moon and saw the beautiful blue planet for the first time from space – in the classic photo known as “earth rising”. For the first time there was a consciousness of humans being part of something greater than a nation, we are all living on one planet . At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. Earth Day 1970 gave voice to an  emerging environmental consciousness, channelling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns on the front page. The idea for a national day to focus on the environment came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. On April 22,1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values. Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. By the end of that year, the first Earth Day had led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. Over the years Earth Day has become a huge international movement. 192 countries around the globe now celebrate Earth Day, the biggest civic and secular event in the world today. Today we need Earth day more than ever! The Diocesan service was held at St Stephens, Pinelands and was put together by the youth Here are the opening words: We do not exist outside of nature or above nature or independent of nature –we are simply its most vulnerable part.  (Joan Chittister) O God, Holy Spirit, whose breath gives life to the world and whose voice is heard in the soft breeze we need your strength and wisdom. Come to us and among us; Come as the wind and cleanse us. We join with your creation and with each other.   St Stephens Pinelands performed a beautiful dance to the words of Jabulani “Jesus river of life in our dusty land” Readings were led by the youth of St Chads, Table View. Chris Smith  preached a homily encouraged the youth to care for creation St faiths Epping performed a wonderful dance to the song “footprints in the sand” Ncumisa Magadla from Green anglicans shared the challenge of the 1 trillion secret nuclear deal   Disregard for the duty to cultivate and maintain a proper relationship with my neighbour, for whose care and custody I am responsible, ruins my relationship with my own self, with others, with God and with the earth.  When all these relationships are neglected, when justice no longer dwells in the land, the Bible tells us that life itself is endangered.  (Pope francis, Laudato Si, no 70) The service ended with the beautiful words of Colours of the wind from Pocahontas   You think you own whatever land you land on The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim But I know every rock and tree and creature Has a life, has a spirit, has a name You think the only people who are people Are the people who look and think like you But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger You’ll learn things you never knew, you never knew Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains Can you paint with all the colors of the wind

The Lutheran Church and the Anglican Church (Isheshe) have joined forces for a greener Swaziland. Inspired by the Green Anglicans, the Lutherans have joined in the green movement and a joint organisation LUSHE has been formed The youth of both denominations met for an exciting workshop in Mbabane where they looked at the challenge of climate change and the theology of caring for creation. inspiring presentations were made by the Swaziland Environmental Agency who expressed their excitement to be partnering with the Church. Although they signed an MOU several years ago with the Council of Churches , the Anglican Church was the first to really take up the challenge Rev Dr Rachel Mash, Provincial Environmental Coordinator of the Anglican Church gave a presentation on the theology of the care for creation, and we were blessed to have a visit by our very own Eco-Bishop Ellinah Wamukoya. Then it was action plans and these are very exciting! Anglicans The anglican Youth is committed to a Green Youth July. They will have outdoor green services and outings and use mainly hymns and choruses which talk about the environment. One a local level they  plan for each church to do a community environmental outreach. On a national level there will be a tree planting campaign and national clean up, where they will also involve community and traditional leaders. Lutherans The Lutheran youth plan to have an enviro fun day on the 22nd of July , with a march , fun activities and a green talent show.  They will have environmental debates in clusters. Each church will have a local tree planting and environmental education activity. They will celebrate world environment day with an outdoor service with the Bishop.  They will use all methods to highlight the environmental challenges , from radio, writing to the newspaper and social media. Every first Sunday when the youth lead the service they will make it a green service LUSHE (Anglicans and Lutherans together) On the 3rd of June the two churches will come together  to celebrate world environment day. And each church will have a WED service on the 9th of June. The youth will join together for a fundraising walk to raise money for water tanks for rural churches. The conference ended with a wonderful service in the Lutheran Church , where Rev Rachel Mash challenged us with a sermon on the sacredness of water.