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This year Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s day fall on the same day! So today is a time to confess before God the damage that we are doing to the Earth, but also to celebrate the wonders of the Creation that God asked us to care for. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent. It’s a time to slow down, a time for penitence and fasting, a time to draw closer to God again. The readings for today include Joel 2 – the army of locusts – a terrifying swarm beyond number causing incredible destruction. The insects swarm over vast areas,  ravaging landscapes and communities. Famine and starvation can follow in the swarm’s wake. God is telling us that our actions have consequences – each of us may be small like a locust but together we are an enormous swarm of humans, devouring and destroying, eating beyond the limits. And so God calls us to turn from our ways, our actions that are destroying the planet. Our focus during this Lent will be plastic, in particular single use plastic – the average South African uses 800 shopping bags per year. Globally a truckload of plastic waste is dumped in the ocean  every minute. Everything from plastic bottles and bags to microbeads end up in our oceans.  It is time to say enough, we have sinned! You and I are only one of the mighty swarm of plastic throwing locusts but change starts with me and you. 12 Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 rend your hearts and not your clothing. Joel 2:12-13 Commit to joining us for these forty days where we confess our over- use of plastic and commit to change, on both a personal and a community level. Let us fast from plastic, love the Earth and love God our Creator!

On the 10th and the 11th February 2024 , the Anglican Youth Fellowship (AYF) in the Diocese of George  held is annual opening at St Monica ( Kwanokuthula) Plettenberg. The theme for this years opening was Care for Creations ( Green Anglican ), were young people wore green clothes which not only symbolized creation but also livelihood. AYF believes that they is no livelihood if we do not do justice and act with care towards all God’s creation . By : Vincent Pye ( AYF Diocesan President )  

On Sunday 28th January 2024 the Parish of St Patrick’s Anglican Church  in Diocese of Free State held a Green Anglicans day for their Sunday School children .  On the day Dr Mofokeng (Medical Practioner) gave a talk on the Creation Story ( Gen 1-3) followed by Ms Fifi Morite ( Eco-Champion)- Teaching the children why is it important not to pollute Land, Water and Air as their the source of life. Mrs Keba Sepato ( Eco-Champion)- spoke on sustainability and Conservation of Land, Air and Water so as to meet future generational needs.  The day ended with Mr Mogorosi Molisapoli ( Diocesan environmental coordinator) – explaining the  purpose of Green Anglican Movement and its work in striving to safeguard Creation and Sustain the life of the earth.   The day was filled with great laughter and joy as the kids not only sat and learned but also got to enjoy themselves by playing and singing   

This Lent we will do our part in helping to heal the Earth, and reduce the damage we are doing. Through reducing your personal use of single use plastic, inspiring and educating others, and getting involved in clean ups, we can make a difference We will also learn about some of the important global changes taking place such as the UN Plastic Treaty  Join the Forty day clean up – you can download the calendar here;  

The Diocesan youth Conference for the Diocese of Kimberly and Kuruman took place from the 1-3rd December at St Luke’s Prieska, Gariep There was a presentation about Climate Yes! on the topic of Climate Change and caring for the environment. We encouraged the young people that they should stand up and speak out. We need to the be the change that we want to see. We planted a tree to mark the event and encouraged the young people of the parish to take care of the tree with faith that the tree will grow and the youth in their archdeaconry also grow by Kaone Gaetsewe Photo credit: Kamogelo Mosinki

As we reach the end of 2023 you may feel that it has been all doom and gloom with so many climate disasters and devastating wars. But there a was  A LOT of progress on climate action which often the news doesn’t focus on So here are twelve gifts for you ! ON THE FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS  MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME –   CARBON EMISSIONS ARE PEAKING Peaking global emissions : there is a 70 percent chance that emissions from energy will begin to  drop in 2024 ON THE SECOND DAY MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME : AN ELECTRIC CAR In 2023 18 percent of new car sales were Electric.  A total of 14% of all new cars sold were electric in 2022, up from around 9% in 2021 and less than 5% in 2020. ON THE THIRD DAY –  MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO  ME:   SOLAR ENERGY! Solar is now the cheapest form of energy , the prices have dropped 90 percenhttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-19/solar-energy-has-crossed-a-global-tipping-point-study-finds ON THE FOURTH DAY – MY TRUE LOVE GAVE ME WIND ENERGY Wind energy costs  also fell by 56 percent in the last decade ON THE FIFTH DAY – THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR COALCoal use is predicted to have peaked and to  begin dropping next year ON THE SIXTH DAY – CLIMATE COURT CASES Successful climate litigation cases are growing ON THE SEVENTH DAY –  A LOSS AND DAMAGE FUND After years of campaigning it was a agreed that a Loss and damage fund would be set up to help countries most impacted by climate change ON THE EIGHTH DAY – A TRANSITION AWAY FROM FOSSIL FUELS COP28 also agreed to begin to transition away from fossil fuels – given how strong the oil lobby at COP28 was this is significant as will make investors consider potential future stranded assets ON THE NINTH DAY – DROP IN DEFORESTATION IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON Deforestation dropped by 22 percent as President Lula reversed President Bolsanaros’ policies ON THE TENTH DAY- A TREATY TO PROTECT THE HIGH SEAS A historic agreement was signed with the goal of protecting 30 percent of the oceans  by 2030 – The treaty addresses a blaring gap in ocean protection, as only about 1% of the high seas is currently protected. ON THE ELEVENTH DAY – BATTERY STORAGE The challenge of intermittent energy from renewables is solved by battery storage.  This is being solved by massive growth in battery storage – set to grow 15 fold by 2030.  The price has also plummeted ON THE TWELFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME FOREST PROTECTION BY EU The European Union has passed regulations to stop import of products grown on land which has been deforested since 2020