Hope and endurance

There's been lots of good input since I've been here, and I'd like to talk some big picture stuff. This might be a deep one, I hope you stick with me.

See, as well as all the practical conservation, education and agriculture in which we are all engaged, there's lots of thinkee stuff too. While I've been here we've had a visit from Andy and Sarah Atkins, Andy is the recently appointed new CEO of A Rocha UK, and we've also hosted Peter and Miranda Harris, the founders of A Rocha who ran the first field centre in Portugal for (I think) over 15 years. There's also regular prayer, devotion and worship times, and 'intern teaching' times each week, and we interns have each been assigned a 'mentor' to talk one on one at least once a fortnight. There's been a number of Sundays, with church worship and sermons, and also lots of informal discussions. To top it off I've read the second book by Peter Harris (having read the first one before I came here thanks to Nick Mayne for the loan) which continues their and A Rocha's story.

There's far too much from all that for one blog, so I'll limit myself to my current key takeaways, Hope and Endurance.

Although I have been involved with A Rocha Aoteoroa New Zealand (ARANZ) for around seven years, and been a Christian for much longer than that, I really haven't got the message of hope in the same way as I have since I got here. In the world in which we live, with the problems (if not disasters) of ecological degradation, climate change, rapid species extinctions and seemingly widespread apathy it's really easy to suffer from hopelessness and despair. On top of these challenges, in recent weeks this community has lost two members, each after a lengthy battle with cancer. This has been heartbreaking to witness, even from the sidelines, as I never had the privilege of meeting either one.  And yet the people here, while in deep grief, still talk of the hope we have in Christ. This echoes the hope we have in this battle to uphold and restore the creation God gave us as our home. I have often felt overwhelmed by the problems in the conservation world, and how little effect it feels like we can have. And yet the message of the Bible is one of redemption, not just of humanity, but of the whole world, and everything in it. It's about restoring Shalom, that is the right relationshio of all things. In the past I've certainly been guilty of reading the Bible through an anthropocentric lens, but when you start to take that off, there's so much of creation throughout. Colossians 1v15-20 talks about the reconciliation of 'all things' to himself. Not just all people. All things.

So, no matter what troubles I have personally, or my concerns for creation and the seemingly impossible task to which I'm adding my efforts, I can rest in knowing God is in control.  And my role is to live as part of the people of God, practicing (as best I can) grace, forgiveness, love and hope, and living my life knowing that everything I have is a gift from God. We are called to be stewards of His creation, we'll be giving it back one day, and I want to be able to say I was a good and faithful servant.

The second message is one of Endurance. This came out particularly in the talk from Peter and Miranda, they spoke about various projects, and the obstacles that had to be overcome.  There's also a lot of this in the books I've read. In this world of short political cycles and funding applications, this really struck home with me, especially on the back of the thoughts I've been having about hope. How can you have endurance without hope? The two really go hand in hand. While our God is a God of miracles, they are the exception, not the rule. Mostly He is a God of process, and uses relationship to work in the lives of His children. Sometimes this feels like it takes an age to see any results, and the concept of a 'benevolent dictator' has a certain appeal. However God only ever invites us to join in His plans, there is no decree. This means, as we are to operate the model he demonstrated, we too need to be relational in our dealings with others. And the benefits of this are wonderful. Through all the grief currently here, the relationships are so solid. I have met so many people through the various events and activities, and all are involved because of a core love of God and His Creation.

So I have been inspired already since I've been here, and I'm not even halfway yet. I feel so grateful that I am able to be here, doing this and learning so much.

To finish, here are a couple of pictures of the people here.

Andrew (my supervisor) and Caitlin (fellow conservation science intern, she's doing swallows) in fetching hi-vis, deploying some water quality monitoring equipment.

Jesse (intern co-ordinator) and his daught Skye (who turns three next month) relaxing in the hammock.

Heather (in the tank-top, not a fellow intern, though there is one named Heather - confusing. This one is a summer student) and Ruth (head of the education program) at the Ocean's Day stand showing kids how to do the 'salmon challenge' I mentioned last week.