Caring for creation

The church has a vital role, and Christians all over the world are rising up and playing their part. Through prayer and speaking out for change, we can love our neighbors across the world and build a fairer world that works for everyone.

We have a long history of working on environmental issues and their impact on poor communities around the world. Over the last 20 years, this work has become more prominent and urgent, leading us to develop new water and sanitation, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation programs.

Rubina lives in Pakistan with her young family. "People would burn waste in the open since there were no other means of disposal. This would cause my children to cough and get sick, especially when soft drink bottles were burnt along with other plastics, causing thick, dense smoke."

Until recently, there was no waste collection in her community. Waste was discarded at the edges of the community, where it accumulated in large piles lining the roads and was regularly burned to get rid of it. Rubina’s community is now benefiting from waste collection thanks to a project by Tearfund’s partner PMS, so their trash no longer has to be burned. But simply managing the waste only goes so far — to really tackle the problem, we are looking upstream to the source of the waste and advocating for people like Rubina.

How your gift could accelerate sustainable practices:

• $45 could pay for five trees to be planted in a village to help prevent dangerous flooding that is washing away crops and leading to widespread hunger.
• $130 could train 10 farmers in new techniques that will help them to adapt to changing weather patterns.
• $1160 could provide enough chicks for 12 families, giving them each a sustainable way to earn a living.