April 3-5 fast materials
Climate Change and Water
Peru
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Children and Fasting | Slow Down — and Fast
Fasting options
The typical fast would begin after a simple meal Friday evening, refrain from food Saturday and break the fast with Communion or a communal meal on Sunday.
Those who are not fasting from food can choose to eat simple meals, skip a meal or design a fast that fits their circumstances.
Fasting from food should be avoided by those with health-related conditions, such as diabetes, heart problems and pregnancy. Anyone with questions about their health condition should consult with their doctor before beginning. Those fasting should read the guidelines in “Fasting 101.”
Special thanks for their help in making this month’s materials possible include Conrado Olivera and the many communities who work with the Joining Hands Network of Peru, Jed Koball (mission co-worker, Peru), Mark Koenig, Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and Presbyterian Hunger Program staff.
Friday evening
Preparing and Focusing
Let justice roll down like waters; and righteousness like an ever flowing stream
A Reflection by the Rev. Jed Hawkes Koball, Mission Co-worker, Peru
We only reached about 12,000 feet, but it was high enough. From there, I could see everything I was looking for. It was my first trek through the Andes and I was short of breath — not only from the hike up the face of the mountain but from the sheer beauty of creation that now engulfed me: the grazing sheep in the pastures below, the winding river that coursed through the hills, the patchwork of flowered potato plants quilted into the sloping terrain. It was stunning. I could see everything I was looking for … except one thing:
The snow caps.
At 12,000 feet in the Peruvian summer, I realized I wouldn’t be trekking through the ice; nonetheless, I expected to see them in the distance, lacing the monstrous peaks far in the horizon. I expected to see something, some evidence of the trademark Andean panorama. Alas, there was nothing. And so I asked, “where are the snowcaps?”
And the answer was as deeply penetrating as it was simple and sharp in words: “They’re gone.”
At an unprecedented and alarming rate, the snowcaps of the Peruvian Andes are melting. In land that holds over 70 percent of the snow caps within the tropical regions of the entire world, this is no mere accident or triviality. At its current rate of dissolution, some environmentalists believe the snow caps will indeed all be gone in less than 20 years. This is a grave situation. This is global warming.
It is neither a topic of debate nor a theory to be analyzed. It is not a slow and subtle change of the climate nor is it an event to be reckoned with by the generations to follow. Generations are reckoning with it right now. The glaciers are melting right now. Global warming is happening right now before our very eyes. It is relentless and it is ruthless. And, some people are paying the price more than others.
On the way up the mountain, we met a sheep herder — a shepherd if you will. As if stepping off the pages of the Bible, he pointed us in the direction of our final destination. He knows the hills. Better than anyone; better than any scientist or environmentalist or politician or preacher, he can tell you what’s happening in those hills. He can tell you the changes he’s seen and the effects it’s had on his life and the lives of many others like him.
As it turns out, global warming and the melting of the snow caps is merely the beginning of the problem. The issue becomes further complicated and further devastating as the water trickles down to the valleys and desert regions below and eventually to the sea. And the issue is not simply that the snow caps are being washed away, rather it’s how they’re being washed away.
For millennia those snow caps have been the breeding ground for water — the original source. Even as their potential to give birth to more water decreases, the demand increases for water. In the valleys and deserts below, agricultural exporters are cultivating increasingly large numbers of crops for international trade including cotton, grapes and asparagus. In fact, Peru is among the leading exporters of asparagus in the world, with the United States among the leading importers. This is no mere coincidence. One can track back to the early 1990s and the Andean Free Trade Pact that developed and encouraged the marketing of asparagus in Peru with the hope it would serve as an alternative crop to coca, from which cocaine is produced. And so it was that the war on drugs marched on and a new struggle arose, one that is directly related to radical changes in the environment, not to mention the resulting changes to lifestyle and sustainability for indigenous communities who have occupied the highlands for generations.
It was through our shepherd friend that we learned about the large cement canal that was built many years ago to usher the water from the highlands to the desert below to fuel the agricultural industry. Today, the results of tampering with the natural flow of water are devastating: pastures are decreasing, livestock are dying, livelihoods are eroding, children are going hungry. And as the snowcaps melt away, the potential for hunger escalates.
Water is life. Among the indigenous communities who populate the highlands, who have lived among the snow caps for generations, water is revered. Among the Andean men and women, water is not treated as a mere resource to be utilized for meeting human ends. In the culture of the Andes water is a god — a god to be cared for, revered and adored. Water fertilizes mother earth, giving birth to the trees and the pastures, nurturing the sheep and the alpaca, sustaining a culture, a people and a place over the generations. Water is life.
As water washes away to the desert and sea below, life is threatened. Hunger looms.
The trees are hungry. The grass is hungry. The sheep and llamas and alpaca are hungry. The crops are hungry. The children are hungry. The earth is hungry. The earth hungers and thirsts. Like the ancient prophet and shepherd Amos did, the earth cries out, “Let justice roll down like waters; and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.”
Yet the question remains, from where will the waters come?
 Retreating Glaciers in Peru
The glaciers of Peru are a source of life. The lakes and rivers nourish delicate soil in the highlands and feed irrigation systems along the dry costal lowlands. This video from the World Bank shows how climate change is already affecting farmers and llama herders alike across the country.
Learn More
Introduction
Our topic is climate change and the food crisis.
As a result of global warming, crop yields are predicted to decrease up to 30 percent in South Asia by 2050 and up to 50 percent in some African countries by 2020.
Subsistence producers are at the greatest risk.
Read this “Summary for Policy Makers” from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a leading expert in the field of global climate change.
The country of focus this month is Peru, but this update from the Agribusiness Accountability Initiative’s Second Global Forum held in Sao Paulo in January provides an overview for Latin America as a whole.
Food Crisis and Climate Change in Latin America
by O. Argueta, Latin America, AAI Co-facilitator
In the last two years over 6 million people worldwide were considered victims of hunger. By the end of 2008, the Latin American office of the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) stated that as a result of the food crisis, hunger has worsened. We must take note that this hunger situation is occurring as agricultural exports in Latin American countries, and in other developing countries all over the world, grow larger and larger, making a few agribusiness companies wealthy. We must therefore recognize that inaccessibility to food is linked to the unequal distribution of resources.
Those most affected with hunger are people from countries importing more and more food like Central American and Caribbean countries. Countries experiencing less hunger appear to be doing so because they focus on producing food for local markets rather than for export, as in the case of Venezuela and Ecuador. Brazil and Argentina, the two largest food exporters who have dedicated thousands of hectares to export crops and biofuel crops, are now facing a huge challenge: climate change. According to Market Skeptics editor Erick de Carbonnel, Argentina is experiencing the worst drought in 50 years as food production is down by 50 percent compared to last year’s production. The drought is so severe that the Argentine government has designated the country to be in a state of emergency. In 2008, wheat production was 16.3 metric tons; production for 2009 is projected to be only 6.7 metric tons. The Argentine landscape is now covered with dead cattle on the roads, dried out soya plantations and dead grass.
During this food crisis, non-governmental organizations and social movements are taking different approaches, and as a result of many meetings and workshops, the declarations they produced strongly indicated that this food crisis has been aggravated by unregulated speculation in the commodities (grains), seed and fertilizer markets. As multinational corporation record their highest profits ever in 2008, these companies are being blamed because the lack of transparency and more responsibility. Most NGOs, civil society organizations, local governments and even some national governments are promoting food sovereignty as a policy to help end the food crisis.
Friday evening prayer
Open me, O God, as I begin this time of fasting.
Open me to your Holy Spirit.
Open me to my sisters and brothers.
Open me to your children in Peru.
Open me to your creation.
Open me to myself.
Open me that this might be a time
of drawing closer to you
of reflecting on how I live
of remembering the impact I make on your world
of realizing anew my relations with others
of renewing my efforts to follow Jesus.
Open me, O God.
Amen.
Saturday: fasting and integrating
Saturday Waking Prayer
God of the very breath we breathe
let your peace be known amidst the economic chaos of the day
be with those bound by worry and anxiety
be with those facing loss of food and shelter
be with those who are desperate and panic-filled
be with those who turn away from the stranger
be with those who cling to apathy and comfort
be with those leaning more on self than on You
be with us all as we strive to live lives worthy of Your grace
be with all your children, Lord
be with all your children
And let your peace be known, Lord
let your peace be known.
Amen.
— The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow, moderator of the 218th General Assembly (2008)
Breakfast-time prayer
God my rock and redeemer, creator and sustainer of all that is, I ask you to pour your powerful Spirit into all who are empty this day: Fill the spirits of persons who are troubled. Fill the minds of men and women who are confused. Fill the stomachs of children and adults who hunger for food. Fill the souls of people who are feeling lost. Fill the hearts of all who have too much. Fill the lives of all who need you, but do not know you. Fill my spirit and mind and stomach and soul and heart that I may reach out to sisters and brothers in need. May your Spirit fill us all to overflowing, dear God and inspires us to work so that will be no more empty hearts and minds, stomachs and souls. I pray all this in the name of Jesus Christ, who fills lives with your endless grace. Amen.
— Bread for the World, adapted
Lunch-time prayer
Loving God, I pray that all of your children might share in the bounty and goodness that you provide. May the day soon come when no children go to bed hungry. Use me to help bring about that day. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Supper-time prayer
Spirit of mercy, trump the hunger of my stomach. Where I hunger for food, teach me hunger for justice. Spirit of compassion, satisfy my longing to consume. Where I seek to horde, teach me to share. Spirit of wisdom, feed me the bread of life. Where I feast on the folly of scarcity, teach me to spread a table of abundance.
— Adam Fischer
Former young adult intern with Presbyterian Hunger Program’s Enough for Everyone
Evening prayer time
O God, to those who hunger give bread,
And to us who have bread give the hunger for justice.
— A prayer from Latin America
Bible Study: The Call of a Shepherd
by Conrado Oliveras and Jed Koball
Amos 5:18-24 (New Revised Standard Version)
(v. 18) Alas for you who desire the day of the LORD! Why do you want the day of the LORD? It is darkness, not light; (v. 19) as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear; or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall, and was bitten by a snake. (v. 20) Is not the day of the LORD darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it? (v. 21) I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. (v. 22) Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. (v. 23) Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. (v. 24) But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. [Read more]
Learn More
Read collective accounts of real-life struggle over water justice in Peru
Waters from Above: A Collective Account of an Ever Flowing Stream
In Peru, global warming is merely a starting point for injustice. As the snow capped mountains relentlessly release their melting waters to the desert lands below and eventually to the seas beyond, there is another injustice at work — the injustice of how that water is channeled. Below is a collective account of the story of how water flows from one mountain area of Huancavelica to one lowland desert area of Ica — from the indigenous lands above occupied through centuries of care and tradition down to the corporate lands below who hope to generate economic growth for years to come.
To make desert land more arable, a channel was built from the high glacier-fed lakes to the Ica desert area, where asparagus, cotton and other crops are now cultivated. In fact, this looks like very successful development — Peru exports more asparagus than any other country in the world. Forty percent of that is grown in Ica. The United States buys more asparagus than any other country in the world. But, with glaciers melting, a larger percentage of water is flowing away from the mountains to the desert to support the production and export of asparagus. This is creating conflict in Peru. Read the story of the waters as told by community members, NGO representatives and government officials from both Huancavelica and Ica.
Climate change issues in other parts of the world
Longer droughts and more damaging floods have increased as a result of global warming. These seriously compromise the food security of developing countries, which have less capacity to respond. The poorest people and countries are being and will be most heavily impacted by climate change, despite the fact that they have contributed least to the CO2 emissions that have caused the problem. The moral argument is strong to provide substantial new funding from the rich countries of the global North to support climate change adaptation in the global South. Much of this funding should be devoted to sustainable agricultural development, especially for small-scale farmers who are the most vulnerable. Adaptation measures which address droughts can save thousands, even millions, of lives. Such measures also ensure greater agricultural productivity during normal times and can reduce hunger.
While support for international climate change adaptation is critical, people in Appalachia are arguing that support is needed right here in the United States. The persistent poverty in Appalachia and in other vulnerable communities in the United States along with the need to shift away from coal mining and mountaintop removal are compelling reasons to provide adaptation funds there. Partners are calling for revenues generated from a carbon tax or cap and trade regime to be used to help transition coal miners and communities toward a regional economy based on renewable energy and green economy jobs.
Learn more about such practices as rainwater harvesting
Rainwater Harvesting: An Adaptation Option in Bangladesh (6 min.)
Harvesting rainfall a key climate adaptation opportunity for Africa: UNEP and World Agroforestry Centre Underscore the Continent's Untapped Potential to Boost Agriculture and Drinking Water Supplies
Sunday: breaking the fast and responding
It's important to break a fast carefully. Eating too much too soon will overload your digestive system, causing uncomfortable and disruptive reactions.
Sunday Waking Prayer
Grant, O Lord, that with your love,
I may be big enough to reach the world;
And small enough to be one with you.
— Mother Theresa
Breakfast-time prayer
O Christ, we live in a world filled with suffering and death, but you call us to follow you and serve you. May your abundant mercy open our eyes to new ways we can create hope and opportunity for hungry people. Amen.
— Bread for the World
Break the Fast with Holy Communion
A majority of Presbyterian congregations have communion on the first Sunday of each month, but some do not. If your congregation doesn’t celebrate the Eucharist on the first weekend of the month, you could break the fast with a breakfast or a lunch before or after worship. Alternately, another time of the month can be chosen to do the fast.
Worship Materials
Bringing it home
The following responses are steps towards solutions. They are ways we can engage in our food system and learn ways of working toward the deeper changes needed. Consider choosing one or two to do during the month as part of your faith practice.
Personal responses
- Go carbon neutral in three easy steps:
- Calculate your carbon emissions using a carbon calculator. Calculators can be found at NativeEnergy, Climate Care and Safe Climate.
- Try to reduce your energy usage as much as possible by traveling less, eating less meat and buying locally-grown food and switching to energy-efficient cars and electronics when they require replacement.
- For your carbon emissions that cannot be reduced, purchase carbon offsets. You can do this online through groups such as NativeEnergy and Climate Care.
- Fight global warming when you shop. Read the article.
- People of faith everywhere are increasingly concerned that the impacts of climate change have and will dramatically and negatively alter God's gracious gift of creation. Because the effects of global climate change are already impacting those least able to cope with them, addressing global climate change is also a justice issue. We must live sustainably, so that all God’s children may live and thrive on God’s good earth. Join us in calling on Congress to create a world with enough for all creation by including these priorities as essential components of future climate proposals:
- Reduce climate change emissions: Enact a mandatory system that lowers greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by 25 to 40 percent by 2020 and by at least 80 percent by 2050, which scientists say is necessary to prevent the most dire results of climate change.
- Support vulnerable communities: Provide substantial new funding for adaptation measures and transition assistance for vulnerable and poor communities both overseas and in the United States.
- Assist and welcome climate migrants: Provide generous humanitarian assistance to people fleeing the effects of climate change and admit a significant number of environmental migrants through a new entry mechanism similar to the special immigrant visa process.
- You can download a letter
 to personalize and send to your Congresspersons, or write your own letter.
- As we await federal energy and climate change legislation, learn what U.S. and world faith communities are saying about global warming. Read and endorse the Faith Principles on Global Warming of the National Council of Churches and read the Uppsala Interfaith Climate Manifesto.
- Presbyterians for Restoring Creation is a nationwide network of people of faith who care for God's creation. A national conference, Embracing God's Call to Be Green, will be held July 7-11, 2009, at Montreat Conference Center, Montreat, N.C.
Communal responses
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