Care for the Earth

by Britt Halaas, Council Missions Representative                                                              
As I step into my new role as Missions Chair, I am excited to tell you all about our focus for the month of April. As Earth Day and Arbor Day both occur next month, it is time for us to focus on the planet in which we live.

Nature and Wildlife conservation are both incredibly important aspects of my life. I am a nature and animal lover and want nothing more than to preserve both of those for future generations to enjoy. This may not make sense immediately, but I come from theatre world, stay with me, when you break down a set after you’ve completed all your performances, the rule is to leave the stage better than when you initially found it. I have now carried that over into my everyday life as well, which includes this planet. One of my life goals is to leave this world better than it was when I got here.             
I am nearly thirty-six years into this journey of mine, and while it’s difficult to make a big difference as one person, I feel like if everyone just made a little difference, we could accomplish my goal, and hopefully yours too. I know it feels overwhelming sometimes with all the pollution and news articles that talk about how bad a shape our ozone is in, but don’t let that deter you from putting your mark on the world by making even just the smallest difference. That’s why in April the Missions Committee is focusing on Care for the Earth.               
We, as a team, want to make our little difference to the world. With this we have a couple things that we will focus on and accomplish.              
First, I would like to bring your attention to our Rain Garden Project. Rain Gardens, also known as Bioretention Facilities, are used to assist in rain run off so that it gets reabsorbed by the soil. This will help nurture our soil and help plants grow.             
If you’re unaware of what they look like or how they work, it is a piece of destressed (or sunken) land, that will, with the assistance of gravity, pull water down into the sunken land which will allow for more rain water to end up back in our soil than in the city sewers, which is where a lot of our rain water goes thanks to how sidewalks, roads, and parking lots are designed.               
What we ask from the congregation, is for people of all ages to come together to learn more about rain gardens and how to maintain them to assist in keeping our rain garden functional for years to come. This is a great family project if you and your kids want to spend more time together. Or if you love yardwork and want to learn more about it for your own yard one day. We could use all the help we can get to make sure that our Rain Garden is here for St. Luke’s next one hundred years!               
So, you want to help but worried that you may not know enough about Rain Gardens? Don’t you worry! Nine Mile Creek is coming to assist with all the training you will need! If you have any questions regarding this project, the Missions Team is happy to help find the answers.              
 As St. Luke’s one-hundred-year anniversary nears, we are also focused on planting our “Promise Tree.” If you don’t know, Arbor Day was designed as a day for everyone to go out and plant a tree. Trees are extremely important for our eco-system as they bring in carbon dioxide and they release oxygen. They say that the rainforest is the lungs of the earth, and that’s true. It is, however, very important to make sure that the world outside of those rainforests are also well planted. This will help reduce pollutants in the air as they act as our air filters. They will also provide places to live for animals that have been forced out of their homes that have been taken over by human interference.              
As much as I love a good view of our concrete jungles, I still want to see humankind come together to make sure that we maintain regular jungles, forests, and wetlands as all of them are important and personally they make me feel a little more connected to God and His creation.               
The church council will be looking for the perfect place to plant our tree and will let you know where that will be soon. If you have any questions regarding this project, or how you can help, please contact Marc Dunham, Council Property Representative.               
It’s always good to give back to a planet that has given us so much. Even more so, God entrusted us with this planet, and as a thank you, it is immensely important to keep it alive and well. Please join St. Luke’s journey to help the planet thrive by volunteering for our projects, and if you have any other ideas on how St. Luke’s can make a little difference in the world, please reach out to me or anyone else on the Missions team to let us know.               
As a team we look forward to giving a bit more to the planet in the month of April, and we hope that you join us on that journey as well. ​