Creation care mission projects

Habitat for Humanity ... and the energy efficiency

Reforestation

If a Tree Falls. . . is a creation stewardship program of the Church of the Brethren. This is an effort to assist in the preservation of rain forest in Belize and in the reforestation of severely deforested areas in Guatemala. It is part of a multifaceted Brethren effort to work with people and Christian organizations in these countries to protect God's creation while enhancing human life.

Change lives with ovens ?!?

For most people in most churches in the US, cooking might be difficult because of the time  needed for grocery shopping, food preparation, and clean-up. It might be challenging to keep up with the latest nutritional guidelines. It might be frustrating to please the tastes of all family members. For some of us, it might even be difficult afford enough nutritious food. For most of us, though, actually cooking the food is the easy part: most of us have gas or electric stoves and ovens that work well, microwaves, crockpots, etc. etc. etc. It's easy to forget that for many people in the developing world, the ability to cook food is a problem. Here are some solutions that could be a meaningful mission project for your congregation.

Solar Ovens

Looking for an affordable mission project that will improve the economics and health of people in the developing world as well as the environment? Consider solar ovens!

To cook our food, we just flick a switch on our stove or throw it in the microwave, all for just a few cents' worth of electricity or gas. It's easy to forget what a blessing this is.

But did you know that many people in the developing world spend hours each day searching for firewood for cooking? That many people spend a huge percentage of their meager income for charcoal? That many people cook in unventilated areas that cause health problems, especially for women and children? That many countries in the developing world are losing their forests because of the need for wood for cooking - thus leading to many environmental problems for those countries and for the world?

It's very unfortunate that these problems exist, but it's especially appalling that simple solutions exist but aren't being used. One of the best solutions to these problems is the use of solar ovens. Much of the developing world is in areas where solar energy is abundant. Why not consider supporting one of the solar oven projects as a mission project? Providing these ovens, some of which can be made for just $10 worth of materials, can truly be life-changing for people in these areas. An additional benefit is that they also can be used to sterilize water.

Here's the info on a variety of projects. Some projects focus on solar ovens for families, some on community ovens, and some on micro-enterprise projects that help women start small bakeries. All are exciting uses of God's gift of solar energy!

Here are some resources:

Efficient Wood Stoves

Solar ovens are the least energy-intensive stoves, but cultural considerations may make them less acceptable for now. An alternative is to provide efficient wood cook stoves that reduce the amount of wood needed and also reduce indoor air pollution. 

Here's an idea for a mission project - same problem as above, different solution!

Here's what the Church of the Brethren found in Guatemala:

Twice daily people need hot food early in the morning before the sun is up and late at night when it's down. Lunch is often precooked for those working in the fields, and what is cooked needs a hot plate and not an oven. But solar parabolic dome cookers designed as hot plates are more technically difficult and five to ten times the cost. Tortillas are the primary staple food and can only be cooked on a hot plate so a fire is started regardless of a solar oven or not. People with solar ovens still used almost the same amount of wood because they needed to build a fire for tortillas. Thus, the Church of the Brethren project decided to focus on fuel-efficient wood stoves that can cut fuel consumption by 1/2 to 3/4. In an ideal world a family would benefit by having both a fuel-efficient wood cook stove and a solar oven - the solar oven to primarily cook the beans and purify drinking water. For now in Guatemala, if it were possible to have only one stove, choosing a wood cook stove ended up saving more fire wood.