Website: http://jae.adventist.org T H E J O U R N A L O F October/November 2013 SPECIAL ISSUE EMBRACING AND TEACHING ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS The Journal of CONTENTS ADVENTIST EDUCATION EDITOR Beverly J. Robinson-Rumble ASSOCIATE EDITOR (INTERNATIONAL EDITION) Luis A. Schulz SENIOR CONSULTANTS John Wesley Taylor V, Lisa M. Beardsley-Hardy, Benjamin Schoun, Ella Smith Simmons CONSULTANTS GENERAL CONFERENCE Mike Mile Lekic, Hudson E. Kibuuka, Luis A. Schulz 4 16 36 50 EAST-CENTRAL AFRICA Andrew Mutero OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2013 • VOLUME 76, NO. 1 EURO-ASIA Vladimir Tkachuk SPECIAL ISSUE: Embracing and Teaching Environmental Awareness INTER-AMERICA Gamaliel Flórez INTER-EUROPEAN Barna Magyarosi 3 Editorial: Caring for God’s World Is Very, Very Good NORTH AMERICA Larry Blackmer 4 What Does the Bible Teach About Our Relation to the NORTHERN ASIA-PACIFIC Environment? Ten Key Concepts Chek Yat Phoon SOUTH AMERICA By Humberto M. Rasi Edgard Luz SOUTH PACIFIC 10 How Can We Teach Principles and Practices of Environmental Ken Weslake Care? SOUTHERN AFRICA-INDIAN OCEAN By Rodger F. Jones Ellah Kamwendo SOUTHERN ASIA 16 How Should Christians Treat Animals in Research? Nageshwara Rao By Mark F. Carr SOUTHERN ASIA-PACIFIC Lawrence L. Domingo 23 How Does Human Activity Affect Species Extinction? TRANS-EUROPEAN By William K. Hayes and Floyd E. Hayes Daniel Duda WEST-CENTRAL AFRICA Chiemela Ikonne 30 How Can Christian Industries and Institutions Practice COPY EDITOR Environmental Care? Randy Hall By John F. Ashton ART DIRECTION/GRAPHIC DESIGN Harry Knox 36 Schools Going Green: Practical Ways That Schools Are ADVISORY BOARD John Wesley Taylor V, chair; Veronique Anderson, Lisa M. Impacting the Environment Beardsley-Hardy, Larry Blackmer, Erline Burgess, Hamlet Canosa, Keith Hallam, Hudson E. Kibuuka, Linda Mei Lin Koh, Mike Mile By Lori Futcher Lekic, Michael Ryan, Luis A. Schulz, Carole Smith, Tim Soper, Evelyn M. Sullivan, Charles H. Tidwell Jr., David Trim 44 Green Is an Important Part of the Spectrum By Joy Brunt Veverka 50 What Can We Do in Our Homes and Schools to Care for the Environment? By Carrie A. C. Wolfe THE JOURNAL OF ADVENTIST EDUCATION publishes ar - ticles concerned with a variety of topics pertinent to Ad - ventist education. Opinions expressed by our writers do not necessarily represent the views of the staff or the offi - Due to system upgrading, links to cial position of the Department of Education of the General supplemental materials that ap - Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. peared in the December 2012/Jan - THE JOURNAL OF ADVENTIST EDUCATION (ISSN 0021- uary 2013 and February/March 8480) is published bimonthly, October through May, plus a 2013 issues of The Journal of Ad - single summer issue for June, July, August, and September ventist Education did not work for by the Department of Education, General Conference of Sev - a while. 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Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists ®. 2 The Journal of Adventist Education • October/November 2013 http://jae.adventist.org EDITORIAL John Wesley Taylor V Caring for God’s World Is Very, Very Good s a child, I grew up not far from a rain forest. trustees of the ecosystem in which we live. 12 Quite often, our family would hike through the God remains vitally connected with and protective of forest, and I would marvel at the towering trees His creation. 13 At the time of the Flood, for example, God covered with epiphytes, the birds that called not only preserved the various species, 14 but also explic - from the green canopy, and the translucent but - itly included the animals in the subsequent covenant re - tAerflies that fluttered in the occasional pools of sunlight. At lationship. 15 Instructing the Israelites regarding His ex - night, I would listen to the logging trucks lumber by, car - pectations, God stipulated kindness to animals, as well as rying to port the massive logs to cut from trees that had a sabbath rest for the land and the animals. 16 Even in war, been growing for centuries. And I felt a certain sadness. I the environment was to be protected. 17 also remember, at that time, my sense of pride as I com - Conversely, God is distressed when His creation is des - pleted the construction of a wall-to-wall desk for my bed - ecrated and exploited. 18 Through the prophet Ezekiel, for room, made from a single slab of mahogany. Disconnect. example, God decried those who contaminate and de - Not so long ago, I spotted a late-model, zero-emissions stroy the ecosystems: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who car, with a “Go Green!” sticker displayed on the bumper. only take care of themselves! . Is it not enough for you In a steakhouse parking lot. Disconnect. 1 to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the Sometimes in schools, we talk about global warming rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for and the ozone layer; we make posters to “Save the Dol - you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest phins” and create murals on protecting our planet. Then with your feet?” 19 In Revelation, the 24 elders, seated next we buy disposable plates and utensils, leave lights on and to God’s throne, cry out, “The nations were angry; and faucets running, and toss our trash into a single recepta - your wrath has come. The time has come . for destroy - cle. Again, a disconnect. ing those who destroy the earth.” 20 As Christians, why should we care about the environ - So what are we to do? What are the implications for ment, anyway? Didn’t God make us the masters of the Adventist education? That is the focus of this special Earth, 2 to use it for our benefit? Aren’t human beings of theme issue. greater value than animals, trees, and rivers? 3 Weren’t the Humberto Rasi starts us on the journey with an ex - Israelites punished for worshiping the earth and what is ploration of 10 biblical concepts that form the building in it? 4 Don’t we believe in the Second Coming, when the blocks of our relation with the environment. Rodger Earth will be consumed by fire, 5 and God Himself will Jones follows with a look at how principles and practices create “a new heaven and a new earth”? 6 Isn’t our com - of environmental awareness might be taught at elemen - mission to save souls, 7 rather than save the planet? tary, secondary, and tertiary levels. Mark Carr then ad - While valid concerns, perhaps we should start with a dresses how Christians should treat animals, particularly different question: As Christians, why shouldn’t we care in research, including strategies for developing ethical about the environment? The answer is simply: Caring for policies for educational institutions. the creation is biblical. Other articles examine the influence of humans on It all begins with God, the Creator, who brought into species extinctions (William and Floyd Hayes) and how existence a physical world which He viewed with delight. 8 Adventist institutions might best practice environmental He then created human beings in His image—to reflect care (John Ashton). The issue concludes with a number His character and priorities—and placed them as stew - of intriguing case studies by Lori Futcher and Joy Vev - ards of His creation. 9 They were commissioned to serve erka, and an array of practical suggestions by Carrie and preserve the planet and all that was in it 10 —a divine Wolfe of what we can do in our schools and in our lives commission that has never been rescinded. In essence, to better practice environmental stewardship. the earth is the Lord’s, 11 and we are to be responsible It is all good, very good. Connect. Continued on page 55 http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • October/November 2013 3 What Does the Bible Teach About Our Relation to the Environment? TEn KEy COnCEPTS n 1962, U.S. marine biologist Some Christians believe that since this Rachel Carson published the book “The Lord world will be destroyed at Jesus’ second Silent Spring , which focused on the coming, we should not be overly con - harm caused by widespread use of would have us cerned about what happens to our chemical pesticides on the planet earthly home and its creatures.