CARBON FAST

Take the Carbon Fast in 2010: 7 themes to reduce our carbon emissions

Group discussion and action guide

Caring for God’s creation and the world’s poor

Why Fast? FASTING in the Bible takes on huge significance as a period of reflection, giving up luxuries, seeking God, repentance and transformation. We invite you, your church or small group to participate in TEAR’s Carbon Fast to reduce your carbon emissions during 2010, and to explore the impacts of our consumer lifestyle on God’s earth and the world’s poor. As well as changing our own lifestyles, the Carbon Fast is about speaking up to our leaders and those around us about the injustice of how poor countries are impacted by climate change.

Across a number of TEAR’s partners, communities are reporting changes in the weather. For example, in Nepal, participants of TEAR’s partner projects (many of whom have not even heard of climate change) are reporting that the monsoon comes late, rain is more intense when it comes, and flooding is more frequent. These changes have resulted in a range of negative impacts, including failed crops and the severe disruption of lives from flooding which inundates homes, shops and schools. Similarly, in Bangladesh, TEAR’s partners working with coastal communities are dealing with more frequent cyclones and flooding. This has had a detrimental impact on communities by poisoning farm land and drinking water sources with salt water.

The effects of climate change are hitting the world’s poorest the hardest, through increased drought, flooding, unreliable weather

patterns and sea level rise, directly threatening the homes, livelihoods and health of millions of people.

Changing our lifestyles to live more justly and sustainably is an act of worship. It’s also a witness of God’s coming kingdom as we choose to participate in God’s plan to restore all of creation.

Australia is the world's 16th biggest carbon polluter, producing about 1.5% of global emissions. We are one of the largest producers of coal in the world, and the fourth largest carbon emitter per person. The average annual carbon dioxide emissions per person in Australia is 14 tonnes. In China it is 3.2 tonnes, in India 1.2 tonnes, while each Bangladeshi is responsible for just 0.3 tonnes1.

How do I take part?

• REGISTER your group to take part in the Carbon Fast by emailing advocacy@tear.org.au Order a copy of TEAR’s Climate of Change DVD to use with this guide from www.tear.org.au You can also choose to connect with a group from the UK who are doing the Carbon Fast, to share stories and ideas about living sustainably in two different developed countries.

• EXPLORE one theme each session with your group, on reducing your carbon emissions and caring for the earth.

• REFLECT on the biblical passages about our responsibility to care for God’s creation. Use the passages to pray for change in us and in the world.

• TAKE ACTION personally or together in between sessions. By the end of 7 sessions, you will have addressed 7 themes and done at least 7 actions.

1 United Nations Development Program Human Development Report, 2006 www.tear.org.au/advocacy/campaigns/climate-change/bangladesh/

CARBON FAST

Session 1: Cut your transport emissions

Opening discussion

Read Isaiah 58:6-12.

Q. What kind of fasting or religion does God want from us? How

does this relate to the poor and climate change?

Q. Ask each group member to name the mode of transport they

use most during the week. What would you do if this mode of transport was taken away?

EXPLORE

TEAR’s Partners are already being impacted by climate change. Watch Part 1 of TEAR’s Climate of Change DVD.

“Poor people in places like Bangladesh are the ones experiencing its earliest effects, though they have done little or nothing to cause the problem.”

Q. Who is your neighbour? How do you work out how big to make

your circle of concern?

Q. What does it mean love our neighbours when it is our carbon

intensive lifestyles that are helping to make the poor more vulnerable?

Transport makes up 49% of the average household carbon emissions - the biggest household contributor to greenhouse gases2. We need to get serious about changing the way we get around, in order to make a real difference to our carbon emissions. We might even find that, in the process, we rediscover aspects of community that we lose in a culture that insists on one car per person (or sometimes even more!).

2 Sourced from: Australian Greenhouse Office / CSIRO: National Kilowatt Count of Household Energy Use, 2002

Motor vehicles and trucks account for 14% or 79.1 million tonnes of Australia’s carbon emissions. On a per capita basis, Australians own more cars than any other nation except the US3.

The fuel used by cars in Australia increased by 19% from 1990 to 2003 and their related emissions increased by 25% in the same period4.

Over the last 25 years, the growth rate of Australia's carbon dioxide emissions virtually doubled the growth rate for the entire world5.

ACTION IDEAS

• Ride a bike, walk or catch public transport for one day a week. To plan your route, TravelSmart maps are available from your local council. They show safe and quiet bike routes, and trains and trams routes clearly. Avoid short car trips and do your exercise as part of your daily travel.

• Car pool with a friend or neighbour. Explore the idea of sharing a car with a relative, partner or friend, or join a car-sharing program like GoGet and Flexicar.

• Live local. Consider choosing shops, work and leisure activities which are closer to home. Work from home when you can.

• Brainstorm ways to reduce your car’s emissions: lightening the load, choose cleaner fuel etc.

• Do it together. See Travel Smart Australia for resources and training to help your work, school or church to reduce their reliance on cars and travel smarter. www.travelsmart.gov.au

• Brainstorm other ways to reduce transport emissions.

Q. Apart from reducing your carbon emissions, what other

compelling reasons are there for reducing our reliance on cars for individual transport?

DISCUSS & PRAY

“In him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth...all things are held together by him.” Colossians 1:16,17

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Psalm 19:1

“Creation rejoices” (Psalm 97:1), and “sings for joy” (Psalm 98:7-8). Read a lso Psalm 104:14-15, 23, 26.

Q. What do these passages tell us about creation and God? What

place do humans have in this picture of creation? How is God portrayed?

Write down one journey that you take each week and lay it in the centre of the group on a piece of paper. Reflect on how everyday choices in even these mundane things can become part of our ‘fasting’ and spend time worshipping God in prayer.

3 Australian Conservation Foundation, Green Your Home www.acfonline.org.au 4 www.travelsmart.gov.au/about.html#greenhouse 5 Sourced from CSIRO

CARBON FAST

Session 2: Swap to clean or low energy, save water

Opening discussion

Q. What action did you take since last session to reduce transport

emissions? What were the challenges? What were the benefits?

Q. Has your energy use or water habits changed since you grew

up? How are they different?

EXPLORE

Watch Part 2 of TEAR’s Climate of Change DVD.

Q. As we think about reducing our carbon emissions, in what

ways can we learn from the innovative and resourceful response of floating seed beds to reducing lost crops due to rising sea levels?

Residential energy use, including transport, creates around 20% of Australia's total annual greenhouse gas pollution.

Only 1% of Australia’s electricity comes from solar energy, a clean renewable energy source, despite Australia being a solar hot spot of the world.

Despite the relative scarcity of water, Australia’s per capita water use is the third highest among OECD countries, after the USA and Canada.

Some of TEAR’s partner communities are changing their lifestyles to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases they emit. For example, on the coastal plains of Bangladesh, one of TEAR’s partners is encouraging members of their community to install more efficient cooking stoves and use organic methods for agriculture. Using efficient stoves helps families to reduce the amount of wood they use and thus reduce their carbon dioxide output, whilst organic farming methods help reduce the emissions associated with the transport and production of chemicals.

Q. Climate change is an issue we share with our neighbours all

over the world. Poor communities are already looking at how they can play their part to reduce emissions. What responsibility does the Australian community have, especially given the information above? What responsibility do God’s people have?

ACTION IDEAS

• Put the gas and electricity on a green plan. To swap to Green Power, see www.greenpower.com.au

• Change to gas for cooking. Gas produces less than half the greenhouse gases of electric stovetops.

• Do your washing on cool. Washing at 30°C will use 40% less energy than hotter programs.

• Swap to compact fluorescent globes, which last up to ten times longer and use around 75% less energy than a standard incandescent globe.

• Turn your heating or cooling down by just 1°C to cut 10% off bills and greenhouse pollution.

• Install insulation in your ceiling, reducing heating and cooling emissions by 40%. Check for Government rebates at www.environment.gov.au/energyefficiency/index.html

• Replace electric hot water systems with solar hot water systems. Water heating is the second largest source of household greenhouse gas emissions and accounts for 50% of electricity bills. Check for rebates.

• Air conditioners are power-hungry and threaten the stability of the electricity grid during peak power demands in summer. Consider the alternatives: use ceiling fans, solar-powered evaporative coolers, (www.coolmax.com.au/coolmax/solar), or explore installing more shading, awnings, trees and sails.

• Switch the showerhead over to a water-saving one. It costs around $20 and takes 10 minutes. Limit your shower time to four minutes, using a shower timer.

• Connect a grey water diverter or hose from your laundry or bathroom to your garden.

• Install a rainwater tank. It’s the biggest single way to save water. For example see www.handytank.com.au Once installed, it can cut your water bills by around 50%.

• Mulch your garden and reduce evaporation by 70%. Create a sustainable and drought resistant garden and veggie patch. Look into permaculture. ‘Permablitz’ is one volunteer group you can join. They can help you transform your garden. See www.permablitz.net

DISCUSS & PRAY

“And God saw everything he had made, and indeed it was very good... The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden to till (to work, to serve) and to look after (to guard, to protect) it.” Genesis 2:15

Q. God’s command to “fill the earth and subdue it” in Genesis

has often been misrepresented, and this second statement often overlooked. How should the power and authority that God gave humans be exercised?

“The Earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”

Psalm 24:1

Q. What does this statement mean for our western attitudes to

ownership and the use of land and its resources?

Spend time in prayer together, meditating on Psalm 24:1, and that we are to work in solidarity with poor communities to care for God’s earth together.

CARBON FAST

Session 3: Reduce. Re–use. Recycle. Opening discussion

Q. Share an action you took to reduce energy use or to save

water since Session 2. Has it become a new habit?

Q. Share about one ‘recycled’ gift or item you have received or

created.

EXPLORE

Watch The Story of Stuff, to learn about the underside of our production and consumption patterns. Download it for free at www.storyofstuff.com

To transform our throw-away culture, we must buy less, and re-use and recycle more. It’s easy to forget about the energy, water, chemicals and fuel used to produce everyday items like clothes, appliances, plastic bottles, paper or a packet of chips.

Between 1975 and 1998, global spending by public and private consumers doubled from $12 trillion to $24 trillion. It continues to grow rapidly. The average African household today consumes 25% less than 25 years ago6.

Australians have the fourth-highest eco-footprint in the world7. An eco-footprint is an indication of the total amount of land required to supply all the resources one person’s lifestyle demands. If every human was to maintain the lifestyle of the average Australian, it would take the resources of four planets! The average Australian footprint is 6.4 hectares, while in India it is 0.8 hectares.

In Australia’s current consumer economy, about 80% of all saleable products end up as waste, on average within just six months8.

Manufacturing the plastic for bottled water produced more than 2.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2006, not including the energy for transportation. It also took 3 litres of water to produce 1 litre of bottled water.

Half of the forests that originally covered 46% of the Earth’s land surface have been removed, and growing demand for wood threatens those that remain9.

Q. Our present economic system insists on 3-4% growth per

year, which means a doubling of resources produced and consumed every 20 years. How is this sustainable for our earth with its finite resources?

6 UNDP Human Development Report 1998, www.undp.org 7 www.acfonline.org.au/consumptionatlas/ 8 As cited in Ansas Mercury, http://www.anzaas.org.au/documents/mercury/Mercury-0512.pdf by Dr. John White, Chairman of waste processing company, Global Renewables. 9 As cited by Ken Gnanakan, Responsible Stewardship of God’s Creation, World Evangelical Alliance, Theological Book Trust 2004

ACTION IDEAS

• Buy less. Ask - do I really need it? Buy second-hand and recycled products. See www.evolve.org.au and www.freecycle.org.au for ideas.

• Recycle more - from paper, plastic and glass to motor oil, electronics and bikes. See www.acfonline.org.au/articles/news.asp?news_id=160

• Buy reusable, not disposable! Avoid unnecessary packaging. Bring your own containers or bags when shopping. Most plastic bags still take more than 500 years to break down.

• Boycott buying water. Bring a water bottle from home and drink tap water.

• Start composting food scraps into soil fertiliser for your plants, cutting your landfill waste by up to 50% and producing a quarter of the greenhouse gases the food scraps would generate in landfill10.

• Reduce the amount of stuff you have. Give something away to someone who needs it or will use it.

• Instead of buying, explore making food and gifts; repairing rather than replacing; sharing and bartering. See www.lets.org.au for a community-based bartering system.

• Organise a Swap Shop day at your church, school or office, or amongst friends to exchange pre-loved items!

DISCUSS & PRAY

Read Matthew 6:19-24 and Matthew 16:26.

Q. Why does Jesus say we cannot serve wealth and serve God?

“Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world...” Romans 12:2

Q. What factors and influences motivate us to accumulate and

keep buying more stuff?

Q. Is more better? In what ways can living with less be good for

us?

Pray together with hands stretched open as a symbol of emptying ourselves of our need to possess more things, and as a meditation to remember where our real worth lies.

For the next session: Ask each group member to bring a photo or object of a place in creation that is special to them.

10 Australian Conservation Foundation, Green Your Home www.acfonline.org.au

CARBON FAST

Session 4: Switch off Opening discussion

Q. How did you reduce, re-use and recycle since last session? Do

you have any reflections to share from doing this?

Q. Imagine a week without technology. How would you spend

your time?

Q. Share an object or photo that reminds you of something

special in God’s creation.

EXPLORE

Our society has become so dependent on a wide range of electrical appliances, using them indiscriminately as though the energy sources that power them are infinite. Not only is our dependence on appliances and gadgets unsustainable for the environment, but they can also clutter up our lives without us noticing. While these appliances are designed to make our lives easier (and they do have benefits!), as they sap the earth of energy, they can also keep us so busy that we forget how to let ourselves and God’s creation rest - practising the essence of the Sabbath. Part of the key to sustaining ourselves for the work of justice is to take time to enjoy God’s good creation.

90% of electricity used in Australia is generated from coal, a high greenhouse-polluting fuel.

Australia has nearly 8 million households that produce around 14 tonnes of greenhouse pollution each per year11.

Switching appliances off instead of using standby mode alone saves up to 10% of household energy use and up to 700 kg of greenhouse gases.

11 www.acfonline.org.au/default.asp?section_id=89 * Often the standby power serves no useful function or operates at excessive levels for the background task being performed (such as running a clock).

Q. What appliances and gadgets have you become dependent

on? Which would you find hardest to go without? How would you adapt your life if you had to live without this appliance?

ACTION IDEAS

• Switch off lights and electrical equipment for one day. Try it on a Sunday and make it a true rest day. What will you do instead? Remember what it’s like for the poor. Get some candles ready for a fun evening.

• Switch off appliances at the ‘off switch’ or power point when you’re not using them instead of leaving them on standby.* Switch off computers, TVs, stereos, and large appliances, and unplug mobile chargers.

• Have a technology fast. Give up TV, computers or mobile phones after work, for the week or a weekend.

• Switch yourself off and spend some time in nature. Practise the simple discipline of awe, reflection and rest, as God did on the last day of creation in Genesis.

• Calculate your carbon emissions. See www.abc.net.au/tv/carboncops/calculator.htm or www.acfonline.org.au/custom_greenhome/calculator.asp?section or www.epa.vic.gov.au/ecologicalfootprint/calculators

DISCUSS & PRAY

“But in the seventh year, the land is to have a sabbatical rest, a Sabbath to the Lord... It is to be a year of rest for the land.” Leviticus 25:4-5

“The Lord is my shepherd...he makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul.” Psalm 23:1

Q. In the Bible, God instituted a pattern of rest and renewal, not

only for humans, but for the land and even for himself. How does this challenge the world’s pattern of constant consumption and exploitation of the earth’s resources? How do we benefit from rest and recreation?

Share other passages you can think of that speak of God’s healing and rest through nature.

Q. All of nature moves in cycles of growth, dying, rest, and renewal. How can we recognise these patterns in our lives? How can we develop a rhythm of awe, reflection and rest?

Share with each other an opportunity in the next week when you can be intentional about ‘switching off’, and how you might seek restoration and renewal in that space – for either you, or God’s creation, or both! Spend some time in silent prayer together.

CARBON FAST

Session 5: Eat Sustainably

Opening discussion

Q. What were the barriers that stopped you from switching off?

What did you most enjoy about switching off since last session?

Q. What are the questions that drive your choices when buying

food?

EXPLORE

Our food – where and how it is grown and processed, and the impact on the environment is a huge contributing factor to climate change. By becoming more aware of the impact our food choices have on the earth, we can make better choices that ensure environmental sustainability, and use our ‘vote’ when we shop to change our grocery culture.

A typical Melbourne shopping basket has travelled a staggering 70,000 kilometres - equivalent to almost two trips around the world. By purchasing an orange grown in Mildura rather than California, you reduce food miles from 12,879 km to 567 kms12.

In Central America, 40% of all rainforests have been cleared or burned down in the last 40 years, mostly for cattle pasture to feed the export market (often for US beef burgers)13.

Animal products make up 34% - the biggest part of our eco footprint.

ACTION IDEAS

• Buy locally grown. How far has your food been transported? Check packaging on products and choose the locally-made brands, labelled ‘Product of Australia’. See www.ethical.org.au/issues/#Buyinglocal Explore local farmers markets www.farmersmarkets.org.au To find out the food

12 CERES report–l www.ceres.org.au/projects/foodmiles.html 13 As cited by Ken Gnanakan, Responsible Stewardship of God’s Creation, World Resources, A guide to the Global Environment- A Joint publication by the World Resources Institute, The United Nations Environment Programme,1998-99

miles on your fruit and vegetables and grocery items, see www.ceres.org.au/research/food miles report, page 15, for the food miles in a typical shopping basket in Australia. Ask your grocer where the produce is from.

• Buy locally. Buy from local, independent, small-scale shops rather than the big supermarket or multi-national chains. Avoid driving to the shops if possible.

• Buy ethical. Consider the environmental harm or impacts of producing some foods. See the Ethical Consumer Shopping Guide at www.ethical.org.au for the environmental record on companies. For some products, where the production is not environmentally sustainable to grow in Australia, it may be better to choose brands grown overseas.

• Grow your own. Start a veggie patch. Compost your veggie scraps to use as fertiliser and complete the whole cycle of life! www.organicgardening.com

• Have at least one dairy-free or meat-free day each week. The global livestock sector generates 18% of global emissions -more than all forms of transport. Reducing 150g of red meat each week saves 10,000 litres of water and 300kg of greenhouse pollution in a year. Try kangaroo instead - it’s a much more sustainable meat and is healthier for you. Farming kangaroo is less damaging to the soil, uses less water, produces less methane and does not require deforestation.

• Eat more unprocessed foods. They use less energy and water than dairy or meat to be ready to eat, and are healthier. Organic foods are grown chemical and pesticide free, and are produced with less harm to the environment.

• Host a World’s Table meal and invite others. Order the World’s Table resource from TEAR for just $5.

DISCUSS & PRAY

Q. Our everyday actions and choices can be an opportunity to

create a better life for others around the world, and a chance to connect with God’s creation and our local community. How can you change your usual consumer habits?

Read 1 John 3:18 and Matthew 5:13-14.

Q. How can these statements be applied to climate change and

our faith?

Read Isaiah 61:21-23.

Q. What is the justice issue concerning food here? How can we

become more conscious about our food – both the impact on the earth, as well as those who produce it (and those who miss out on it?)

Share a fair trade cuppa together this session and say ‘grace’ beforehand, bringing these considerations before God in your prayer.

CARBON FAST

Session 6: Speak Up Opening discussion Q. Did any of your food habits change since last session? Share

with the group.

Q. What response do you get from others around you when you

raise the issue of climate change?

EXPLORE

Watch Part 3 of TEAR’s Climate of Change DVD.

Q. What do you think are some of the key factors holding

Australia back from making large reductions to our greenhouse gas emissions?

Speaking up for justice is powerful when it goes hand-in-hand with making lifestyle changes to live more justly. It is unjust that poor countries are experiencing the worst of climate change while having contributed the least to the problem. It is unjust that Australia, having contributed more than our fair share to the problem, is not contributing our fair share to the solution. This will only change if the community speaks up to our leaders, calling for a just response.

In 2005-2006, all levels of Australian Government identified energy and transport subsidies of around $10 billion supporting fossil fuel production and consumption, with less than 4% supporting renewable energy and energy efficiency14.

Japan and Germany each have 24 times more solar (PV) panels installed than Australia, despite significantly poorer solar resources. Germany has 25 times more wind energy installed than Australia, even though the very best wind sites in that country are less windy than Australia’s worst commercial sites15.

Climate change hits the poor hardest, and the greatest impacts are likely to be on food security, the productivity of agricultural export crops, health, water security and quality16.

The 2009 UN Climate Change meetings in Copenhagen did not result in the fair, ambitious and binding global agreement on climate change that the world needs. Instead, leaders produced the ‘Copenhagen Accord’, which will not protect the rights of the poor, with greenhouse gas reduction targets far too low and not legally binding. Despite these failures, Copenhagen saw the rise of a civil society movement of millions of people around the globe calling for climate justice.

As of February 2010, the Australian Government has committed to 5-15% range and 25% highly conditional, greenhouse gas reduction targets by 2020 on 2000 levels. In the current international context, it is unlikely the Government will act beyond its 5% target. This falls

14 Chris Ready, Energy & Transport Subsidies in Australia, Institute for Sustainable Futures, 2007 15 A Bright Future: 25% Renewable Energy for Australia by 2020 (p 14), ACF, Greenpeace & Climate Action Network Australia, 2007 16 The UK Department for International Development (DFID)

well short of the 40% reduction targets that are needed to stabilise warming below 2° Celsius.

Australia needs to give its fair share in adaptation funding to help poor countries cope with climate change. While the Government has said it will contribute to a non-binding international fund, it is an inadequate amount that will come out of already committed aid increases. Aid that is required for general development, to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, should not be replaced with climate change adaptation. Money for adaptation needs to be new and additional.

2010 will see a new set of climate change negotiations leading up to Mexico in December. We must continue to call on our Government to contribute to the development of a fair, ambitious and binding international treaty that protects the rights of the poor.

ACTION IDEAS

• Write to or visit your local MP, share about your Carbon Fast and encourage the Australian Government to take action on climate change. Use the letter writing guide at www.tear.org.au/advocacy

• Share about your Carbon Fast in your church service or small group, and do a climate change Bible reflection. Show the TEAR Climate of Change DVD.

• Become a TEAR Australia ChangeMaker. ChangeMakers is TEAR’s advocacy and campaigns network. As a ChangeMaker, you’ll receive Harambee, our campaigns newsletter, three times a year, as well as monthly ChangeMakers emails to keep you informed and up-to-date. Sign up at www.tear.org.au/getinvolved/change-makers

• Encourage your church, office or school to be greener. Watch the DVD, Project Green Church, to see what Maroubra Junction Uniting Church in NSW did. www.mjuniting.org.au/Default.aspx?aCateId=766

• Nurture hope rather than fear when you talk about climate change to others. Share the vision of renewal and invite others to join in with positive actions to care for creation and to speak up for justice with you.

DISCUSS & PRAY

Q. Read Isaiah 32:15-20. What is the connection between justice

and God’s creation; justice and the well-being of God’s people?

Q. The Bible has a lot to say about not only helping the poor as an

act of charity, but also protecting the rights of the poor. See Proverbs 31:8-9, Deuteronomy 15:1-11, Jeremiah 22:13-17, 1 John 3:17-19, Isaiah 10:1-4, 2 Corinthians 8:8-15. Why and how should we care for and stand up for the poor?

CARBON FAST

Session 7: Prayer and Generosity

Opening discussion

Q. In what ways did you speak up about climate change or

caring for creation since Session 6?

Q. What are helpful ways that you try to make sure you

remember the global poor in your life?

EXPLORE

In our campaigning and lifestyle changes, we are called to always “remember the poor” (Galatians 2:10), being aware of their stories, bringing them to God in prayer and making a generous and open-handed response to their needs.

20% of the world's people living in rich countries consume over 70% of its material resources, and own over 80% of its wealth 17.

Communities across the world will have to make a range of changes to cope with the long-term impacts of climate change. Some of TEAR’s partners are already making changes to protect communities from adverse weather that will most likely be intensified by climate change. In Nepal, a savings and credit group facilitated by one of TEAR’s partners has raised the roads and built better drains in their community to deal with increased flooding. This group lobbied their local government to provide the resources for the project, and the group used their savings to pay for the labour. Communities like these demonstrate resilience and resourcefulness that we can learn from – but much more will be needed to help them cope with the intensifying impacts of climate change.ACTION IDEAS

• In your group, pray for the effects of climate change on poor communities, and for TEAR’s partners working to strengthen communities as they face these impacts.

• Give to TEAR’s partners working with poor communities around the world. TEAR Partnership is our regular, monthly giving

17 As cited in Ethical Consumption, New Internationalist, 2006

program. The commitment of TEAR Partners to give this way means we can confidently allocate funds we know will come in to our overseas partners. Sign up as a TEAR Partner at www.tear.org.au/donate/tear-partners/become-a-tear-partner

• Commit to praying regularly for TEAR’s overseas partners and their work in poor communities. Prayer points are updated weekly at www.tear.org.au/getinvolved/prayer or use the prayer points at the back of Target Magazine, TEAR’s free quarterly publication.

• Go for a bushwalk to appreciate God’s creation, and pray for the poor as you walk.

• Choose a gift like tree seedlings, safe water, an organic vegetable garden, a rice bank or even a well for a poor community at www.usefulgifts.org

DISCUSS & PRAY

“All of creation waits with eager longing...groans as if in the pangs of childbirth...(for the time when it will be) set free from its bondage of decay and will obtain the glorious liberation of the children of God.” Romans 8:20

The biblical picture of the end is not an escape from the world into a purely spiritual heaven. Instead, God’s future and desire for us is “a new heaven and new earth”. The good news that Jesus proclaims is for all of creation, for the redemption of all things.

“At that time the desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy... Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.” Isaiah 35:1-2

Q. Read Isaiah 65:17-25. What does God’s Kingdom or this

redemption look like? What injustices and issues are depicted here that will be “no more” in the new heaven and new earth? Our role as Christians is not to wait passively for God’s return but to be active, “co-labourers’ with God”, to participate in and work towards bringing God’s Kingdom to earth.

As you complete the Carbon Fast together, share:

Q. What impact has taking the Carbon Fast had on you?

Q. What are the next steps you would like to take – individually or

together, to continue caring for creation and acting on climate change?

As you complete the Carbon Fast together, pray:

Give thanks for the steps you have taken already – as a group and as individuals during your Carbon Fast.

Light a candle and pray for God to sustain creation, to sustain poor communities as they deal with the impacts of climate change, and to sustain us as we continue to live, work and speak up for justice.