A Damaged World
REV FIONA MCCREA CONTINUES HER UHAMBO BLOG SERIES…
Welcome to instalment two of my South African Uhambo (Journey).
iN THIS BLOG, let me tell you about our visit to Wentworth Community Hall, to a meeting of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance.
There were over 150 people in attendance, representing many different community groups who have been affected by the area’s growing environmental problems. It was heart breaking to hear story after story of people affected by flooding, pollution and government corruption resulting in loss of homes, income and in some cases loss of life. Graham Philpott from the Church Land Programme (World Development & Relief partner) put into words what we were all thinking: ‘How do we discern the presence of a life-giving God in a death-giving society?’
Following the community meeting Desmond D’Sa took us on a ‘toxic tour’ to show us the damage done by the local oil refineries and petrochemical industry.
He led us to the top of a hill with a scenic viewpoint overlooking a huge sand dune, a sight which took my breath away… on one side of the sand dune was the beautiful (although polluted) Indian Ocean and beach, on the other side was a huge oil refinery which had polluted the land, air and water.
As I stood looking at the contrast of the two sides of the sand dune, God reminded me which side was His and which side was humankind’s.
God created a perfect ocean and beach, unpolluted and unspoilt, it was humankind that built the oil refinery. As I reflected on the sand dune, I realised where the presence of God is … God is present, here and now with these people, he is in the community hall listening and his heart is breaking alongside theirs, he is living in the make shift settlements with the people and he is weeping with them….
‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.’-Genesis 1 v 1 & 31
God created a good world, humankind have damaged it, so what now…
Desmond was wearing a T shirt that day which had the following words on the back…
The right to know
The duty to inquire
The obligation to act
Having seen the damage to the environment with my own eyes, I now knew…
having heard the people’s stories that morning, I had inquired…
now, I was left with the obligation to act!!
But what action can I take?
How can we, the Methodist Church in Ireland, respond?
WDR and its sister agency, Christian Aid Ireland, do a fantastic job of keeping us abreast of global issues and if you are signed up to their mailing lists they provide amazing resources and opportunities to learn more about our partners, the work they do and how we can support them best.
God calls each of us to love our world and our global partners in word and action, this requires us to stand in solidarity with them… to give, to pray, to advocate and act.