October 20, 1999

'Pick a problem & get to work'
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___WACO--Be focused. Pick a problem. Start with it.
___This simple formula is the best way for Christians and churches to get involved in environmental concerns, said David Smith, president of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
___"We need advocates. A group like this is very powerful in the effect you can bring," Smith told participants in an Oct. 10-11 conference on caring for creation as Christian stewardship held at Baylor University.
___The conference was sponsored by Baylor's environmental studies department and the Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission.
___Although some sessions focused on academic and theological perspectives, speakers often doled out advice about how individuals and churches can get more involved.
___Evangelical author Tony Campolo talked about his own work with World Vision and Compassion International and said sponsoring a child in a Third World country through such organizations is a simple way to make a lifelong difference in another person's life.
___For about $25 a month, sponsors help feed, educate, clothe and love a child, he explained. Such a goal is not beyond the reach of anyone attending the conference, he said, challenging especially the students in the audience, whom he suggested spend an equivalent amount each month on soft drinks.
___Then Campolo offered this advice: "It would be a good thing on judgment day when you stand before the Lord and he asks, 'When I was hungry, did you feed me? When I was thirsty, did you give me drink? When I was naked, did you clothe me?' to have a kid standing beside you who would say, 'Well, he did it for me' and then Jesus would say, 'Then you did it for me.'"
___Another association Campolo is affiliated with has begun an effort to buy up large portions of the rain forest in Belize, to protect it from development, he said, noting rain forests are being leveled at a rate of a football field every minute.
___This organization is enlisting individuals to buy an acre of rain forest for $50.
___Another practical focus is to help create sustainable jobs in the Third World, he said. "If we're going to end poverty in the Third World, we've got to create jobs."
___Reducing poverty impacts environmental concerns at the point of population growth, because birth rates are highest among impoverished and uneducated populations.
___Campolo suggested initiatives to create Third World jobs around the business of recycling would do double good. He cited an illustration of helping workers in one poor country create sandals out of used tires.
___Other practical suggestions for action included:
___ Become an advocate for a particular environmental cause. For example, the rate of deaths caused by asthma is rising in the United States, with polluted air cited as a major contributor, according to Smith.
___ Find out what's causing pollution and other environmental hazards at home or around the world. "Seventy-one percent of emissions come from four or five main industries," said Larry Lehr, a professor at Baylor. "These are the result of our consumptive patterns."
___ Change your own habits to reduce consumption and waste by recycling, conserving energy and water, driving more fuel-efficient vehicles, using mass transit when available.
___ Plant trees.
___ Encourage environmentalism as a missionary focus, taking trips to help poor people develop sustainable food supplies. "Environmentalism has become a form of missionary work," Campolo suggested.
___ Plan an evangelistic Bible study group around themes of creation, drawing from accounts such as the Genesis creation story, God's covenant with Noah and New Testament teachings on stewardship.
___ Begin a creation club for kids.
___ Create bulletin boards at your church teaching about care for creation from a biblical perspective.
___ Hold a congregational forum on lifestyle issues such as over-consumption, simple living and frugality.
___For additional resources, contact Terri Morgan at the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission by calling (214) 828-5190 or writing to 333 N. Washington, Dallas 75246.

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