Author: Admin account

This article first appeared in the August 26, 2022 issue of Anabaptist World.​

To cool the planet, plant a tree. Together we can plant a million.

As St. Teresa of Avila said, “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on Earth but yours.”

The last report of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is disheartening. It finds climate change is widespread, rapid and intensifying. These changes will lead to humanitarian crises — food in- security, scarce resources, health issues and other population stresses.

And, according to last year’s report of the National Security, Military and Intelligence Panel on Climate Change, these conditions will contribute to political insecurity — increasing conflicts, violence and mass migrations.

As followers of Jesus, we must respond. But we often don’t act until we experience the problem or feel the heat.

In Indiana, I’m rather insulated from these impacts. What really gets my attention is our grandchild, Lily.

Around the time of her birth, I read in The New Yorker: “If you’re younger than 60, you have a good chance of witnessing the radical destabilization of life on Earth — massive crop failures, apocalyptic fires, imploding economies, epic flooding, hundreds of millions of refugees fleeing regions made uninhabitable by extreme heat or permanent drought. If you’re under 30, you’re all but guaranteed to witness it.”

I worry about our grandchildren and all God’s creatures. I imagine our grandchildren asking two questions about climate change: “Did you know? What did you do?” I hope to answer with, “Yes, I knew about global warming, and here’s what we did about it…”

I’m worried, but hopeful enough to act.

What can we do? We must use less fossil fuel, turn to renewable energy and adjust our diet, to name a few ac- tions. Protecting forests and planting trees are also among the most critical actions we must take.

As the best means to sequester carbon dioxide, trees are the most essential natural solution to mitigate global warming. With their unparalleled capacity to capture and store carbon, protecting and increasing tree cover are front-line actions to mitigate catastrophic climate change.

And yet, global tree-cover loss continues at a rate of 11.6 million acres per year, adding to the 46% loss of the Earth’s tree cover since humans began clearing land and logging.

Annual per capita wood consump- tion in the United States is 640 pounds — equal to a white pine tree 43 feet tall, one foot in diameter. With decreasing forest cover and increasing carbon emissions, rising temperatures will continue to create greater crises.

Mennonite Men, the men’s organization of Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada, is responding to this global crisis with our JoinTrees campaign to plant one million trees.

The campaign is rooted in biblical wisdom and scientific knowledge, with the aim to restore the Earth.

The first and last chapters of the Bible feature trees of life, revealing their importance in God’s design for the Earth. The woodland garden of Eden in Genesis represents what its Creator intended on Earth: beauty, biodiversity and abundance, where trees give life with God. The last chapter of Revelation presents the tree of life again as a central part of the new Earth for healing.

In Genesis 2:15 we read that God put the human creature in the garden to serve and protect it as its steward. This stewardship includes planting, tending and protecting trees so they may serve their critical role in the ecology of God’s creation.

A Jewish midrash (ancient commentary on Scripture) says that after God made the first human, God led him around all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said, “See my works, how beautiful and praiseworthy they are. Be careful not to spoil or destroy my world, for if you do, there will be nobody after you to repair it.”

Ancient wisdom recognized the importance of trees, as does modern science. Trees have benefits far beyond beauty, shade, wood and food.

Trees capture and store carbon, cool the planet and moderate the climate. Trees improve water and air quality and stabilize soil. Trees support biodiversity, which is endangered, by providing food and shelter.

Trees reduce storm water runoff, cool urban heat centers and curb energy use. Trees promote commu- nity interaction and reduce aggres- sion and crime. Trees have personal health benefits.

Trees provide a great return on investment. According to iTree (based on USDA Forest Service research), each $1 invested in urban trees returns $3.93 in Goshen, Ind., $6.09 in Indianapolis and $5.80 in New York City.

While all these benefits are significant, our JoinTrees campaign focuses on establishing trees as a natural solution to mitigate global warming. The campaign involves planting trees on private, business and church properties, marginal farmland set aside for afforestation, public rights-of-way and interna- tional projects.

We especially focus on large-scale tree planting and agroforestry in the Global South, where trees have the greatest impact to cool the planet, restore degraded land and support vulnerable populations.

We call on communities of faith to participate in JoinTrees. People can:

• Plant trees and report these to us.
• Devote land for afforestation projects.
• Help with planting and caring for trees.
• Provide financial support for planting trees.
• Make carbon-offset contributions to JoinTrees.

People are looking for ways to be carbon-neutral or carbon-positive for the good of God’s Earth and future generations. Individuals, churches, schools and businesses can calculate their carbon use with the Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions’ Carbon Tax Calculator (sustainableclimatesolutions.org/carbon-tax-calculator-full) and submit carbon-offset contributions for large-scale tree projects to JoinTrees. For this and to participate in this campaign, go to mennonitemen.org/jointrees.

Thanks to strong participation and support, since our campaign began in 2020, nearly 90,000 trees have been planted or funded. And we have pro- posals to plant at least 34,000 more trees in our next grant cycle.

Let’s take action with God to answer prayers to save the Earth. Let’s do our part for a healthy, thriving planet.

Steve Thomas is the U.S. director for Mennonite Men. A certified arborist and graduate student in urban forestry, he is coordinating the JoinTrees campaign to plant one million trees with the larger church.

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An idea germinated within our congregation when we received a newsletter from Mennonite Men highlighting their JoinTrees campaign with a goal of planting 1 million trees by 2030. That spring challenge came about the same time that our congregation began our annual search for someone to mow our 1.5 acres consisting of mostly weeds. And it came as the reality of climate change hit closer to home with increasing temperatures and wildfires consuming entire neighborhoods in nearby cities. We wondered if our congregation could use our small plot of land to benefit our community.

Our pastor reached out for more information from the US Coordinator of Mennonite Men, Steve Thomas. Steve encouraged us to be in contact with local experts to determine what trees would grow best in our Colorado climate. He suggested also planting a variety of climate-appropriate shrubs and flowers. And he reminded us that volunteers from the community are often available to help with a new project.

We began to envision how our 1.5 acres could be an oasis in our Denver suburb of Arvada. We used our monthly potlucks as forums for brainstorming: planting trees, wildflowers and herbs, installing beehives, expanding our current community garden, creating walkways, maybe even developing a solar farm. Instead of an annual headache, our yard became a source of dreams.

Of course there were voices of caution. We’re a small, older congregation. Do we have the energy to take on an ambitious project? Who will do the initial work and who will provide continuing care? As it turned out, the experts and the volunteers we needed were already onsite!

For many years there has been a community garden managed by Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) on a portion of our land. We learned that they were eager to expand that garden with their Food Forest Initiative.** Staff members facilitated a neighborhood meeting, complete with a translator, for our mostly Russian and Ukrainian neighbors. Many of these families already have plots in our community garden. We learned that they especially wanted sour cherry trees. Last spring DUG volunteers planted twenty trees and assorted bushes adjacent to the garden. They are providing the initial care for the trees and have identified volunteers in the neighborhood for continuing care. In a few years our orchard will provide our neighbors with apples, peaches, pears, and hazelnuts in addition to sour cherries. Any extra produce will be donated to the local food bank and a nearby day shelter.

We are happy to add our first twenty trees to the 90,000 that Mennonite Men will have planted by the end of this year, on their way to 1 million by 2030. And this is only the beginning of our land transformation! We still have room for wildflowers, herbs, beehives, and more trees. Hopefully, each year will bring an expansion of climate-friendly uses.

For more information about the JoinTrees program of Mennonite Men, visit https://mennonitemen.org/jointrees.

​Don Antonio and Doña Hermelinda are farmers from the village of Patzocon, in Baja Verapaz, Guatemala. Antonio, 45 years old, and his wife Hermelinda, 37 years old, have created a farm` growing a wide diversity of crops which gives them food for their daily consumption. They are the father and mother of 5 children for whom they have been able to provide care through their hard work. Their goal has been that their children do not grow up in the same conditions of scarcity in which they lived years ago.

Don Antonio is the oldest of his siblings. He only remembers growing up with his mother, since his father died when he was just four years old. He remembers that his mother did not have the economic resources to allow him to go to school, although his greatest desire when he was a child was to study.

At the age of 7, he helped with the chores around the house, and on some days he worked as a day laborer in the corn fields of the neighbors’ farms near his home. When Antonio reached the age of 9 years, he had to begin migrating to work in the coffee plantations of the south coast of Guatemala to be able to help support his mother and younger siblings. His job consisted of using a machete to cut the weeds around the coffee trees, and in the months of the coffee harvest he picked coffee. In addition, he was entrusted with other jobs such as fertilizing the coffee trees and cutting pacaya (an edible palm). For 10 years he made regular trips to the coffee plantations, his only company being the group of day laborers from his own community. He mentions with a discouraged voice ‘going to the coffee plantations was good because one got to know other places, but at the same time, one hardly earned anything, one always ate very little and we didn’t sleep well…. The salary was not fair, because the plantation owners only paid what they wanted to pay you’. However, Antonio is more encouraged now because he and his wife can work their own improved farm growing a diversity of crops. This has permitted them to be able to experiment with the planting of a wide variety of vegetables, grains and fruits which has improved the profitability for their family farm. Additionally, because he doesn’t need to migrate to the plantations for work, he has more time to be with his family.

However, Don Antonio and Doña Hermelinda face a problem that plagues their community: the deforestation of the forests that surround their village of Patzocón. For several years, the commercialization of wood has been a means of subsistence for many local families, who have no other cash income for their necessities. However, the logging problem increased drastically when a new access road was built, which made illegal logging by companies much easier. Antonio and Hermelinda expressed concern that they see that the streams where there used to be sufficient water have now diminished considerably, to the point that in the dry season, some water sources have dried up completely. This situation has affected many of the crops on their farm, including the corn and beans, because they used the water from these streams for a miniirrigation system. Antonio continues to grow some sugar cane to make panela, using a traditional method taught him by his grandfather. It is a special brown sugar used to sweeten coffee and other drinks. For years they have used the streams of the village to supply water to the sugarcane. However, now he is planting less sugarcane due to the lack of water. Selling the various sweets that they made from sugarcane in the local markets has been a source of cash income for the family.

In early 2022, Don ‘Tono’, as he is affectionately called in his village, together with Doña Hermelinda and their children, created a forest tree nursery to replant the deforested areas surrounding their community. This year they intended to plant 5,000 forest trees of different varieties, among them: cypress, jacaranda, cuje, and pine. With the participation of their neighbors, the technical assistance of the Baja Verapaz Program, and the collaboration of EPIC and Mennonite Men, they are working to achieve their goal of rebuilding the plant life and ecosystem of their village. They state that the fruit of what they are now cultivating will be seen in the future, benefiting their children and grandchildren who will be able to take advantage of the effort they are making today.

The work of Don Antonio and Doña Hermelinda is only part of the reforestation project being organized by EPIC and the Baja Verapaz Sustainable Agriculture Health Education Program. Their goal for this year was to plant 20,000 trees with assistance from a JoinTrees grant from Mennonite Men. Epic recently reported that they were able to greatly exceed this goal by planting 35,385 trees this year, with the help of local communities and families.

​JoinTrees has formed a partnership with the Guatemalan non-profit FUNDAMARCOS, legalized 1996. The Baja Verapaz Sustainable Agriculture and Health Education Program of FUNDAMARCOS has taken on the commitment to plant 20,000 forest trees in cooperation with Mennonite Men-JoinTrees. Because of this program’s excellent track record of working in reforestation, a regional government nursery will provide 10,000 small trees (2+ feet tall) for the project.

To arrive at the goal of planting 20,000 trees, the Baja Verapaz Program has recruited two families who will each grow 5,000 trees from seed in tree nurseries on their farms. These two families have been selected for their leadership in their communities, which will be essential for organizing the members of their communities to actually carry the small trees to the mountainsides, dig the holes, and plant the trees at the beginning of the rainy season, a busy time for farmers but important for the long-term success of the transplanted trees.

The following stories describe one of these couples. Join Trees pays for all the motivation, organization, and instruction involved between a tree seed and getting 20,000 small trees planted on the hillsides of Cubulco, a deforested mountainous region of Guatemala. It also pays the transportation costs of taking trees from the government nursery and distributing them in many remote villages.

Armando Tomás, Baja Verapaz Program director, interviewed Miguel and Manuela for these personal stories. Click the link below to read more about Manuela and Miguel

Manuela Avila Velasquez

Miguel Rodriguez Hernandez