Restoring Eden’s ANKLE DEEP IN REALITY Tour Features Christian Leaders from Uganda, South Pacific
LA CENTER, WASH., Oct. 30, 2009 — Christian leaders from Uganda and the South Pacific will talk about impacts of climate change being experienced in their nations, as part of the Ankle Deep in Reality tour in six Midwest and Southeastern states, October 30-November 18, 2009.
The tour, sponsored by the Christian education and advocacy group Restoring Eden (www.restoringeden.org), features Rev. Tafue Molu Lausam, a Christian pastor and activist from the South Pacific island of Tuvalu, and Sara Kaweesa, who works with the Christian conversation group A-Rocha in Kampala, Uganda,
The tour will begin in Chicago on October30 and will include events at Christian colleges, seminaries and churches in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
“The climate change policies of the industrialized nations are destroying innocent people elsewhere in the world, especially in the small low lying island countries in the Pacific,” said Rev. Lusama. “I must carry on this advocacy work to the global church until the world hears and decides on a positive, coherent and meaningful deal for stopping climate change and the tragic impacts that are threatening our very survival.”
Tentative Tour Schedule
Southeastern Tour
Nov. 3 Charleston, SC Church Event
Nov. 4 University of South Carolina
Nov. 5 Charleston Church Event
Nov. 6 Columbia, SC
Nov. 9 Eastern Mennonite Univ., Harrisonburg VA
Nov. 10 Duke Seminary, Durham, NC
Nov. 12 Vineyard church, Raleigh, NC
Nov. 17 Washington, D.C.
Midwestern Tour
Oct. 30t Wheaton College Wheaton, IL
Oct. 31 Goshen College, Goshen, IN
Nov. 1 Christ United Methodist Church, Dayton/Kettering, OH
Nov. 2 Columbus Vineyard, Columbus, OH
Nov. 3 Taylor University, Upland, IN
Nov. 4 Valparaiso College, Valparaiso, IN
Nov. 5 Huntington College, Huntington, IN
Nov. 6 Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI
Nov. 8 Ann Arbor Vineyard,Ann Arbor ,MI
Nov. 9 Notre Dame University, South Bend, IN
Nov. 10 Anderson College, Anderson, IN
Nov. 11 Ashland College, Ashland, OH
Nov. 12 Wilmington College, Wilmington, OH
Rev. Tafue Molu Lusama
Rev. Tafue Molu Lusama is from the island of Tuvalu in the South Pacific, was raised as a Christian, and earned his theology degree in Samoa. He pastored congregations throughout the South Pacific before becoming the program officer for Peace and Justice in 2002. As part of his position, Rev. Lusama studied in Taiwan for a Master of Arts in Religion, where he wrote a thesis on the theological perspectives of climate change. As part of his current advocacy work, Rev. Lusama established the Tuvalu Climate Action Network in 2006. As chairman, he represented Tuvalu in important negotiations in Kenya and Poland. In addition, Rev. Lusama has been appealing to the industrialized countries to consider Tuvalu’s very survival from their daily individual decisions to their political decisions.
Sara Kaweesa
Sara Kaweesa is based in Kampala Uganda, where she leads A-Rocha Uganda Initiative (ARUI), a Christian conservation organization. Sara earned a Masters of Science in Forestry in Vienna, Austria and holds certificates in climate change from outstanding agencies such as Tearfund, UNEP, Oxfam GB, IIED, IPC Denmark and a host of others. Sara travels throughout Uganda and Africa taking the message of creation stewardship to Bible colleges, pastors, elders, church congregations and to local communities in both rural and urban settings. She also works to help local people work as best they can to prepare for and mitigate the damage the changing climate is having upon their survival. Sara is also a lay pastor at the Makerere Full Gospel Church where she serves in the ladies ministry.
Peter Illyn/Restoring Eden
Rev. Peter Illyn is the executive director of Restoring Eden (www.restoringeden.org), a network of people working to become a grassroots movement within the church dedicated to encouraging faithful stewardship of the natural world as a biblical, moral, and wise value.
Raised in South Carolina as a Russian Orthodox, Peter Illyn graduated from Rhema Bible College where he earned credentials as an evangelical minister. He spent nine years serving as a pastor in Foursquare churches in Portland, Oregon and Yakima, Washington. Peter returned to school for an undergraduate degree in marketing. Upon graduation, as a sabbatical, Peter took two llamas on a four-month, 1,000 mile trek through the Cascades, which set the long-distance record for llama packing. According to Peter, “I went into the mountains an evangelical minister, but I came out an environmental activist. I believe God made a good earth and I am called to be a good steward; to protect the fruitfulness and connectedness of creation.” Peter worked as the Northwest representative for the Evangelical Environmental Network and for Target Earth before starting Restoring Eden in 2001. Restoring Eden, Illyn says, makes hearts bigger, hands dirtier, and voices stronger by encouraging Christians to learn to love, serve, and protect God's creation. The organization’s people are involved in nature appreciation, environmental stewardship, and public advocacy.
To interview Tafue Lusama, Sara Kaweesa, or Peter Illyn, contact Debbie Payton at dpayton3@msn.com; (770) 831-7572.
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