“Down the river go the logs, cut down by Don Germán; when Pepe realizes it, he will say ‘this is a lot of animal!!’, said one of the verses sung by Pastor Miguel Antonio Varón, coordinator of IRI’s local chapters in Puerto Leguizamo and one of the religious leaders who participated in the Validation Workshop of the Environmental Bible Lessons booklet, held by IRI-Colombia on November 20 in the auditorium of the Vilar América Hotel in Bogotá.
The pedagogical day brought together 17 pastors, priests and nuns from Caquetá, Guaviare, Meta, Putumayo and Bogotá, with the purpose of providing a space for dialogue and reflection around this pedagogical tool and validating the suitability of its methodologies and contents.
“What is the relationship between nature and God, its creator, and how to think of the Amazon as God’s habitation animates the ecological commitment of Christians, are some of the questions that can be addressed with the text,” said Reverend Loida Sardiñas, who led the workshop.
With Environmental Bible Lessons, the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative seeks to provide biblical-theological and pedagogical tools to the religious leaders of the 42 local chapters, which promote and strengthen pastoral actions related to raising awareness about the importance of protecting tropical forests, ending deforestation and, in general, conserving nature.
“This day marks a milestone in our commitment, as communities of faith, to the care of creation. This booklet represents not only a pedagogical effort, but an instrument to transform the way our churches address environmental challenges,” said the national coordinator of IRI-Colombia, Blanca Lucía Echeverry, who welcomed the religious leaders, representatives of different denominations, such as the Catholic, Baptist, Episcopal Anglican, Christian Crusade, Assemblies of God and Bethesda Missionary Center. among others.
“We are committed to studying the ecosystems of the Amazon, promoting actions to fight deforestation and reforestation with native trees, joining global efforts and initiatives such as the proposal to forgive foreign debt for the provision of environmental services, for example,” said Sister Constanza Arango, of the Catholic Church of Colombia.
During the session, religious leaders had the opportunity to learn in depth and discuss the content of the booklet, which includes from a chapter on the socio-historical context of the Amazon to an approach to the theology of creation, throughout five blocks of environmental biblical lessons. “Directly or indirectly, we are all involved in the sin of the destruction of nature, because we remain silent and say nothing, by omission. The indiscriminate use of the axe and machete is a cardinal sin against the Amazon,” said Sister Hilda Camargo, of the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Mary Immaculate and St. Catherine of Siena, referring to one of the chapters that addresses the issue of deforestation.
Couplets, hymns, creeds and songs on the care of creation were some of the proposals of the religious leaders, who actively participated in the workshop and contributed their experience and theological knowledge to the construction of the booklet, but above all their commitment to work for the protection of the Amazonian tropical forests. “We have a very strong spiritual responsibility, but also sociological responsibility,” said Pastor William Porras, coordinator of the chapters in San José del Guaviare, Charras Boquerón and El Capricho.
Click here to read the full Spanish edition of the November IRIboletín.
