“It’s okay, God will give us a new Earth anyway.” Is this a mindset that we fall into when faced with environmental issues? Fortunately, we have members of our community like Dennis Tan, Liaw Ann Shin and Vinnie Chua, whose mission is to advocate for creation care.
Brought together by mutual friends and a shared passion for nature, this group of university students came together with fellow Christians to form Creation Care SG. They hope that more Christians will see caring for God’s world as a central part of our faith, and for unified efforts to make churches more sustainable.
The seeds of their efforts have already begun to sprout. Back in July, Dennis, who attends Sengkang Methodist Church (MC), had the idea to create a devotional about creation care. With the help of many Methodists, lay and clerical, this resulted in the Seasons of Creation devotional.1 Within their own churches, Dennis, Shin and Vinnie have also seen efforts cut down on waste such as recycling paper bulletins and reducing plastic use.
Still, there is a long way to go for local creation care ministries. Creation Care SG realises that while church leaders have begun to realise the importance of creation care, and some church have taken some steps towards sustainability, most of their members don’t really know what creation care is about, or what their churches have done. The group hopes that more pastors will share the biblical perspective of environmental issues, as caring for God’s world is one of the Methodist Social Principles. They also hope for more corporate prayer for the environment; reducing waste at church events, and ultimately to move beyond individual churches’ efforts by recognising that creation care is the duty of every Christian.
As young adults on a mission, they are keeping faith that God will provide avenues for them to further their cause, both in job prospects as well as within church. “I think that we have to remember that creation care is something that God has called all Christians to do and that he will help us in our journey to achieve this,” says Vinnie, who is from Bukit Panjang MC.
Adding on, Shin, from Faith MC, reminds us: “Keep exploring and be open to various opportunities and even when prospects look bad, trust that wherever God places us, He can use us mightily to be a blessing to society.”
By the MCS Communications Team / Photos courtesy of Dennis Tan, Liaw Ann Shin and Vinnie Chua
1 Download Seasons of Creation at https://www.methodist.org.sg/index.php/what-s-happening/610-season-of-creation-devotionals