Danika (center left) with former Congressman Bob Inglis and other Y.E.C.A.ers during an event at Wheaton College

By Danika Foster:  A chapter in my life is on the brink of closing, and although you may nor realize it, you have all been part of a substantial time of growth for both me, and for Y.E.C.A.

I will be starting graduate school in the fall, and thus stepping down as the Communications Assistant this month, although I will continue to be involved with Y.E.C.A. as a member of the Steering Committee.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for being a part of what has been and will continue to be one of the most exciting projects that I have ever been a part of. Little did I know when I received an invitation to a planning summit in Washington DC in February of 2012 that Y.E.C.A. would experience as much growth as we have in the past 15 months.

In my time as a founding member of the Steering Committee and in my 6 months as our Communications Assistant, I have seen enormous passion; sparks of dreams have turned into flames of enthusiasm before my eyes, and it is that contagious fire, kindled by the Holy Spirit, that will continue to refine Y.E.C.A. into the organization that God wants us to be.

I have personally learned a lot in my time as intern.  I’ve learned the value of double and triple checking drafts, the wealth of knowledge that a mix of communities can bring to a “whole,”  the power of surrendering something as small as a check-list of projects or as large as an entire movement over to Christ.  I have witnessed and enjoyed the excitement of adding new faces and new experiences to a team, and have basked in the wealth of knowledge of others.

I will always remember the feeling of accomplishment I felt after sending out our first ever e-blast, and then the anticipation I felt as I watched our report climb to 15%, 20%, 30%, and then over 40% of our list opening it.  At that time, our baby list was somewhere between 30 and 50 people.  Now, at around 500 on our list, I am still amazed and wait in expectation to see what the fruits of my labors will yield.

Our work at Y.E.C.A. is a lot of seed-sowing.  We give a presentation, we talk to our friends about our beliefs, and we wait with baited breath for God to do the rest of the work.  I am very excited to turn my role over to another person, with new idea sparks, with his or her own ignighting passion, and to continue to see (and be a part of) Y.E.C.A. as we continue to move forward, and God continues to be present in this work that he is calling us to do.

Onward,

Danika

Although we receive these videos through a grassroots network, we take care to give them a proper presentation. This means, in addition to editing for quality and publishing on our Facebook/Twitter/website, we also seek to write a medium-length description of the video that includes some key quotes. (An example of a video + description is available at here.)

What we are asking for specifically is a micro-volunteer to write a medium-length description of a previously-edited video. We use this description when presenting the video on our website, YouTube page, newsletter and many other places.

We are using the Sparked.com platform to manage this micro-volunteer opportunity. To participate, you will have to sign up as a volunteer on their website. Once there, you can see which videos are available for transcription and description (if there are any, depending on how busy/lazy our video editing team has been).

Go to Sparked.com and volunteer

Thanks in advance for helping complete this crucial step.

Because we are a nationwide movement, our public presence is not so much any of our staff offices as it is our website, yecaction.org. It is important to keep our website professional, inspiring and useful while presenting our movement in a manner that is clear, concise and effective.

We will soon be launching into a summer-long project of polishing our website and updating it for our 2013 Fall campaigns. While we are in the process of compiling this to-do list, we want some input.

We would appreciate it if you took a look at our website and suggested five (or so) simple changes we could make. Especially be on the look out for design flaws, insider jargon, and broken links.

We are using the Sparked.com platform to manage this micro-volunteer opportunity. To participate, you will have to sign up as a volunteer on their website.

Go to Sparked.com and volunteer

This opportunity ends May 19th. Thanks in advance.

Since a group of young evangelical students and young professionals got together in early 2012 and launched Young Evangelicals for Climate Action, our movement has quickly developed into a nationwide network of activists and organizers striving to overcome the climate crisis as part of our Christian discipleship and witness.

Our Climate Action Fund empowers our movement to make real change, by helping Y.E.C.A. cover important expenses such as:

There are a lot of groups out there working hard to combat the climate crisis. What sets Y.E.C.A. apart is that we recognize that climate change is not merely a problem to be solved, but an incredible opportunity to demonstrate the redemptive gospel of Jesus Christ. This is why we hope you will be one of many Christians nationwide who will choose to give to our movement, our ministry.

Two ways to give

Our Climate Action Fund is administered by our sponsor, the Evangelical Environmental Network, who processes our donations without charge. You can either give online or by check. Either way, your full, tax-deductible contribution will be directed into our account.

Give online

The one and only tricky step to online giving: write our name in the comments section!

The Evangelical Environmental Network uses the eTapestry platform to administer online donations. There is one, but only one, tricky step you need to do to ensure your donation goes directly to our Climate Action Fund. In the comments section, write either “Young Evangelicals for Climate Action” or “Y.E.C.A.”

Go to the eTapestry giving platform

Give by check

Feeling a little low-tech? That’s just fine! Make checks payable to Evangelical Environmental Network with “Young Evangelicals for Climate Action” in the memo line, and then mail to the following address:

Evangelical Environmental Network
P.O. Box 57
Kirklin, IN 46050

Thanks for your generous support!

This May, Y.E.C.A. national spokesperson Ben Lowe will lead, in partnership with the Evangelical Environmental Network and Tearfund, other young evangelical leaders to the southeast African country of Malawi. They will meet children whose lives are put at risk from extreme climate disruption which result in new patterns of disease and local instability. It is a narrative sadly all-too-often overlooked when Christians talk about their work in Africa, or even when environmentalists talk about the global dimensions of the climate crisis.

With your help, we can change that.

One of the outcomes of this trip will be a movie documenting the symptoms of climate disruption that have become visible today in Malawi. An online crowdsourcing campaign has been set up on Fundly to cover the distribution of this movie in churches, conferences, small groups, and Christian colleges. Those who donate in the next two weeks, and send the Evangelical Environmental Network their e-mail, will be the first to see the raw clips of the actual stories online and hear about one of the world’s most vulnerable places.

Go to the Fundraising Page

If you want to learn about the impacts of climate change in Malawi, check out these articles:

• World is unprepared for changes that will see parts of Africa turned into disaster areas, say food experts
• Climate Change in Malawi 
• Climate Change Has Devestated Agriculture in Malawi 
• Malawi Poverty & Climate Change

Photos “Lake Malawi” by Frank Douwes and “Child” by Maarten ter Keurs used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

North Park’s Department of University Marketing and Communications was a terrific ally in promoting the event on campus — and to the wider community.

CHICAGO, IL — The “Christians and the Climate Crisis” speaking tour recently completed what probably was the most convenient stop on the spring itinerary, a day at North Park University, as national spokesperson Ben Lowe was able to simply take the Metra train in from his home in the Chicago suburbs, while campaigns assistant Kaleb Nyquist merely had to bike over to his alma mater.

Although North Park University does not have a coordinated sustainability initiative, an ethic of stewardship can be seen in sprouts around campus. Y.E.C.A.’s host organization, the North Park Justice League, is actively campaigning the administration to secure a “U-Pass” for all students, making Chicago’s network buses and trains a more economical option for students. A science and community life building currently under construction is reportedly being built with certain sustainability principles in mind. The school of arts and sciences offers an environmental science major as part of its biology curriculum. On different corners of campus, one can find an electronics waste recycling bin, a community garden, and a compost pile.

What Ben and Kaleb wanted to figure out, however, was how the topic of climate change in particular fits in campus conversation and action.

After meeting with the North Park Justice League, who promoted the Y.E.C.A. event on-campus as part of the build-up to an upcoming public meeting sponsored by a network of Chicago student justice groups, Ben and Kaleb visited Dr. Linda Parkyn’s ”Between Worlds” course, a prerequisite for the Global Studies major. Climate change is a prominent part of the course readings, so these knowledgeable students were eager to hear about current efforts underway to engage the issue. Remarkably, about half the class choose to sign the Call to Action, while others who did not identify as American or evangelical were still sympathetic to the cause.

Ben Lowe addresses students and community members at the evening lecture, sponsored by the North Park Justice League.

Afterwards, Ben and Kaleb grabbed lunch with two North Park students who are working to put together a “simplicity” theme house next fall, focused on living together in a way that resists the greed and waste of consumerism. This was followed by meeting with representatives from North Park University Ministries and North Park Theological Seminary, where Ben and Kaleb heard how creation care and climate change factors into the spiritual life of students on campus, and brainstormed possible future collaborations between Y.E.C.A. and North Park University.

The evening lecture was attended by student leaders and members of the Evangelical Covenant Church, North Park’s denominational affiliation. North Park is known among Christian colleges for its commitment to social justice in an urban setting. While introducing Ben, Kaleb tapped into this remarkable reputation, challenging those in attendance not to think solely about how North Park could become more “green” but rather about how the reality of climate change fits into North Park’s identity as an urban, multicultural and Christian institution. “Climate change is on track to be one of the defining trends of the 21st century,” he said, “and if we fail to incorporate this into our identity…we will fail to live up to our mission, vision and calling.”

In addition to Tuesday’s tour stop, Ben and Kaleb trekked out to the Evangelical Covenant headquarters to meet with Dave Husby, director of Covenant World Relief, and Aune Carlson, director of early adult ministries. The day prior, Kaleb gave a presentation on Y.E.C.A. to Dr. Johnny Lin’s ”Environmental Ethics” course.

Meet Emma Bloomfield, a Ph.D. candidate at Annenberg School for Communication (part of the University of Southern California), and a supporter of Y.E.C.A. who is conducting a survey of environmentally savvy evangelicals.

She is researching the intersection between religion, climate change, and politics for her thesis, and she’s asked us and a few other Christian environmental groups to help her by taking this 15-20 minute survey.

Her survey looks at a few different areas, such as political involvement, importance of faith, and beliefs surrounding the causes and effects of global warming and she’s hoping to get at least 50 responses.

Take Emma’s Survey

Any questions about the survey should be directed to ebloomfi@usc.edu

Ben and Kaleb meet with President Dan Boone

NASHVILLE, TN — This Thursday and Friday, the J.V. Morsch Center for Social Justice at Trevecca Nazarene University hosted Y.E.C.A. national spokesperson Ben Lowe and campaigns assistant Kaleb Nyquist, as part of the “Christians and the Climate Crisis” speaking tour.

The stop began Thursday afternoon, with President Dan Boone taking some time out of his busy schedule to meet with Ben and Kaleb. President Boone has been a strong supporter of Y.E.C.A., so Ben and Kaleb took advantage of this opportunity to thank him and learn more about the work Trevecca Nazarene has been doing to becoming a more environmentally-conscious campus — such as a bike-swap program and implementing an environmental justice curriculum (to learn more, scroll below for his Senior Leader Response).

That evening, Ben and Kaleb met with a small group of young evangelicals interested in taking climate action. The majority of this group was actually recent college graduates in the Nashville area, a somewhat unusual but certainly welcome turnout for one of our campus events.

Starting early Friday morning, Ben began a series of class visits, speaking at Dr. Chris Farrell‘s Intro to Environmental Studies and Medical Technology courses and Dr. Matthew Huddleston‘s Issues in Science course (Huddleston had bumped into Ben and Kaleb in the hallways of the Greathouse Science building, and spontaneously invited Ben to speak in his class that would be happening in a mere two hours!). A number of students were not afraid of asking hard questions, leading to great and fruitful discussion.

Also on Friday, Ben and Kaleb were treated to a campus tour by Jamie Casler, director of the Center for Social Justice. Trevecca Nazarene has certainly been cultivating an awareness of the campus connection to the land, with an urban farm, greenhouse, and chicken coop all belonging to the school. Nearly all of the produce goes to campus dining or is sold to Nashville restaurants! Ben and Kaleb were also able to briefly meet Environmental Projects Coordinator Jason Adkins.

Making the most of their time in Nashville, Ben and Kaleb also met with professors from Lipscomb University, Dr. James English and Y.E.C.A.er/founding steering committee member Andrea Cloninger Wilson. Although no specific plans were set, the mutual desire to see Y.E.C.A. partner with Lipscomb was expressed and different possibilities were kicked around.

In addition to a personal connection of Ben and Kaleb’s, a recent Southern Nazarene University alum who happened to be in Nashville, a total of 30 Call to Actions were signed during the tour stop.

The Speaking Tour will continue with more stops in the American South, with Ben visiting Abilene Christian University and Hardin-Simmons University on April 1 and April 2, respectively.

Y.E.C.A. discusses climate with young evangelicals

Ben speaks to Dr. Chris Ferrell’s class

Jamie Casler shows Y.E.C.A. the campus greenhouse

Ben and Kaleb with Jamie Casler and Jason Adkins

This was not Ben’s first time on Campbellsville campus. He had been invited to Campbellsville following his 2010 congressional run and became acquainted with the campus community. At multiple times throughout the tour stop Ben noted the strides forward Campbellsville had made toward sustainability and creation care – notably the formation of an environmental stewardship group, the Green Minds.

Over dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant, Ben, Kaleb and the Green Minds student leadership exchanged stories and ideas. Later during the tour stop, the Green Minds took Ben and Kaleb to Clay Hill Memorial Forest, a Campbellsville-owned environmental education site.

Ben spoke twice at Campbellsville. The first event was a Tuesday evening lecture sponsored by the Kentucky Heartland Institute of Public Policy. On Wednesday morning, Ben gave the “Christians and the Climate Crisis” talk at Campbellsville Chapel, telling the story of seeing, with his own eyes, climate impacts on fishing in Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania.

Y.E.C.A. has found a champion in Rev. John Chowning. He is Campbellsville’s vice president for church and external relations, and the executive assistant to the president. In addition to interviewing Ben on WLCU-TV’s “Dialogue on Public Issues” series, Chowning helped Y.E.C.A. make many connections with the Campbellsville community and recorded a Senior Leader Response for us. (Rev. Chowning, we are grateful!)

The Y.E.C.A. speaking tour continues to Nashville for a stop at Trevecca Nazarene University. Follow live updates on Facebook and Twitter.

• See Ben’s appearance on “Dialogue on Public Issues” [video courtesy WLCU TV]
• See Ben’s appearance at Campbellsville’s chapel service [video courtest WLCU TV]

Ben speaks with Campbellsville VP Rev. John Chowning on WLCU TV. See video.

Ben speaks at Kentucky Heartland Institute for Public Policy Event

Ben speaking at Campbellsville University Chapel. See video.

Ben addresses the crowd at Campbellsville University Chapel

Campbellsville students give Y.E.C.A. a tour of the Clay Hill Memorial Forest

Y.E.C.A.er Joshua Kendall contributed editing.

As an undergrad environmental studies major at Wheaton College, Allison honed her passion on conserving biodiversity and protecting habitats for certain species. Although she knew climate change was important, it was through re-reading a textbook on conservation biology that made her realize how significant of a problem climate change actually was.

“If climate change continues to happen, then all these ecosystems that we’re striving to protect through habitat conservation, that will just be nullified.”

“I have been trying to explain to people, people that I care about, that are also believers and want to serve God in every aspect of their lives, I have been trying to explain to them why it is in an important issue and simple steps they can take to help with that problem,” Allison says, describing what she is doing to be an advocate for climate change in her community.

“I care about climate change as a Christian because that’s what God created us for…to protect the earth and care for his earth that he created for his own glory,” she testifies. “He gave us an important responsibility.”

Filmed by: Kaleb Nyquist, Kristin Crosby, Ben Lowe
Edited by: Kaleb Nyquist