Invitation to hear Chris Naylor, Director, A Rocha International in Dumfries.

Chris Naylor, Director, A Rocha International,

Dumfries − Sunday 5 February

You are invited to hear Chris speak at morning and evening services.

During the 90s, Chris taught science in a school in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. In his spare time he enjoyed birding at a nearby wetland which he realised was of international importance: huge flocks of cranes and white storks moved through in the spring. Migrant waders, terns and crakes stopped off. Chris discovered that the marsh was in danger of disappearing, so he left his teaching job and became A Rocha’s Director in Lebanon, working with local landowners and tenant farmers so effectively that he didn’t just stop the marsh from further drainage – it got bigger and better.

He’s now based in Oxfordshire as A Rocha’s International Director. If you would like a better understanding of the biblical teaching about creation care, or would like to hear encouraging stories about what Christians are doing in various parts of the world to protect threatened species and habitats, please come along – you’ll be very welcome.

Where / when

10.30 am: How big is the Gospel? Dumfries High School (includes communion)

6.30 pm Is environmental care just a matter of survival, or is it really important? Dumfries Baptist Church, Newall Terrace (between the Railway Station and the Midsteeple).

About Chris Naylor

You can watch a 6 minute video here.

For more info contact Barbara Mearns (Mon-Thurs) 01387 710286 email: international@arocha.org

www.arocha.org

A Rocha is a Christian organisation engaging communities in nature conservation

Time Travel for Visitors to the Dumfries Environment Fair

Time Travel for Visitors to the Dumfries Environment Fair

Members the local network took young visitors on a trip into the future from their Eco-Congregation stall at the recent Dumfries Environment Fair. Youngsters were invited to climb into a “Tardis” and after suitable time machine noises they emerged into the future to see how we are tackling current environmental challenges.  Solutions talked about included:

New forms of energy generation and storage eg:

• The cycle path surface in the Netherlands that is made up of solar panels – and, yes you can cycle on it!
• The “Tesla” power-wall which can be fitted in houses to store up to 7kwh of electricity generated from solar panels for use at night or whenever the sun doesn’t shine.
• The buses in Aberdeen that run on hydrogen produced from electricity that can be generated from renewables

Eating locally grown food eg:

• The Incredible Edible project
• Growing local food in cities underground (in London they are using disused “Tube” tunnels), using ultra efficient LED lighting

Sharing:

• A Danish company “leases” baby clothes. You simply return them for reuse, when your baby has grown out of them. There is another company that does the same for fashion items, such as jeans – the fashion changes and you return your out-of-date pair to be made into a new more fashionable item.
• Encouraging people living in the same area to jointly own and use bigger household and garden items such as lawn mowers and hedge cutters so that they can be shared and not everyone has to have their own.

All these solutions really already exist but will become much more common, as we move to a more sustainable, low carbon world. The message was that, in many ways, we have the technology and we have the solutions – we have hope for the future!

Special thanks are due to Grainne Kennedy (who came up with the idea and manufactured the Tardis), Kate from St Andrew’s RC Church in Dumfries and also members of the Dunscore Eco Team who came to help out on the stall and gave our visitors a candle, a message about Earth Hour and a prayer to take home all in specially designed and environmentally friendly bags.

Baked Alaska in Dumfries.

On Thursday 19th November at 7.30pm in Dumfries High School, the Riding Lights Theatre Company is presenting (for one night only!) “BAKED ALASKA”.

This show has been commissioned by the Diocese of Lichfield, Christian Aid and Operation Noah and is presented by a solidarity of Christian organisations committed to raising a compassionate voice in the call to worldwide action on climate change. Coming to Dumfries in the run up to the vital UN Summit on Climate Change in Paris, which begins on 30th November, this is the ideal opportunity to raise awareness and get active in your congregation / parish.

Described as “vivid, sharp and deliciously entertaining, BAKED ALASKA serves up the realities of climate change with flair and clarity about the temperatures involved. In the high-energy, ‘seriously funny’ style for which Riding Lights is well known, BAKED ALASKA is something we can all look forward to… unless we do something about it. Extra-ordinary theatre for these extraordinary times.”

Further information from: http://ridinglights.org/baked-alaska/ . Tickets are £12 or £9 for concessions. (*except where noted below) available from box office: 01904 613000. You can also purchase tickets online but this incurs a booking fee. There may also be a group rate for groups of 8 or more young people (under 18s) of £7.50 per person.

Note: The local phone number on the poster is incorrect. It should be 820448 not 720448. Other contact details are correct.

Click Here to download the poster