A huge issue: hunger

An estimated 1.02 billion people in the world are undernourished. Every 5 seconds, a child dies from malnutrition and hunger-related causes. Poor nutrition and calorie deficiencies cause nearly 1 in 3 people to die prematurely or have disabilities. Hunger and malnutrition kills more people than HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined.
In the Unites States, 16.7 million children live in households where people have to skip meals or eat less to make ends meet. 49 million people - up from 36 million in 2007 - are threatened by hunger. In Jaruary, 2010, 3 in 7 Americans reported buying less food or worrying about going hungry.
President Obama recently announced a development initiative to comprehensively address global hunger through investments in sustainable agricultural development, nutrition, safety nets, and emergency humanitarian response.

Animals 2

Animals 1

The beautiful nature 1

Birds in danger

Turkey's wetlands and lakes are drying up, and with them the nation's bird species are also disappearing. Total bird counts have dropped 50 percent in the past 20 years, and now up to 70 percent of the bird species regularly observed in Turkey are threatened with extinction, according to İlhami Kiziroğlu, a professor of biology at Ankara's Hacettepe University.

A total of 435 different bird species can be found in Turkey, "including those that reproduce in Turkey and those that visit the country during the winter," Kiziroğlu told the Anatolia News Agency. "Ninety-five species will have significant decreases in their numbers, while 101 species face possible extinction."
Because many of these birds are migratory and don't recognize national borders, most of these Turkish bird species can be found in other parts of Europe, Asia and Africa, and may maintain healthy populations elsewhere. Turkey, however, has historically been an important breeding or wintering location, and the loss of suitable habitat there can affect species's total health.
For example, "one seventh of the European population of the white-headed duck exists in Turkey," Kiziroğlu said. The duck (Oxyura leucocephala), which is listed as an endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, winters in Turkey's Lake Burdur. But Kiziroğlu says the duck "is threatened by the level of industrial waste and the decreasing water levels in the lake." According to BirdLife International, Lake Burdur is "very important for wintering water birds, and is the single most important wintering site" for the white-headed duck—two thirds of its world population spends winter there.
Species that have already disappeared from Turkey include the oriental darter (Anhinga melanogaster) and critically endangered northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita), the latter of which now only breeds in captivity.
Another species at risk in Turkey is the eastern imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca), which according to the IUCN has already stopped breeding in nearby Greece.

From Scientific American (http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=70-percent-of-turkeys-birds-are-hea-2011-01-20&print=true)

For an economy of life

In 2003, 7.7 million persons owned wealth worth US$ one million or

more. The sum of their wealth reached US$ 28.9 trillion, or almost

three times the United States national product that same year. In the

meantime, 840 million people worldwide are undernourished and 1.5

billion - the majority of whom are women, children, and Indigenous

Peoples - live on less than one dollar a day. The world’s richest 20 percent

account for 86 percent of global consumption of goods and services.

The annual income of the richest 1% is equal to that of the poorest

57%, and at least 24,000 people die each day from poverty and

malnutrition. Environmental problems - global warming, depletion of

natural resources, and loss of biodiversity - loom ever larger. For instance,

we will lose 30 to 70 percent of the world’s biodiversity in a time span of

20 to 30 years. Wars rage in many parts of the world, and militarization

and violence have become part of our daily existence. Financial crises

have become more frequent and intense. Joblessness is becoming

pervasive, threatening the people’s livelihoods. In a word: human life

and the earth are under grave threat.

This text is from AGAPE, A background document, Justice, Peace and Creation Team, World Council of Churches, Geneva, 2005

Sermons on Creation from Psalms

Every Thursday, from 9:00 (Romanian hour) at Radio Voice of the Gospel Oradea you can hear pastor Ghita Mocan preaching from the Book of Psalms on the topic of Creation. This is a rare ocasion, since Romanian preachers usually avoid this topic.

Forests - The Green Gold of Terra

The Green Living

In order to live a life that is according to the principles of Creation and to the critical situation that we are in, there are some hints to be taken into account.
We have to live a simple life. Jesus is a good example in this sense for all Christians.
We have to live a sustenable life. We need to think of tommorrow and find ways so that our resources are not wasted today.
We have to live a life of solidarity. There are many people living in poverty and we should share our bread with them.
Living green means living responsably.

Psalms of Ecology - Psalm 8

¹ LORD, our Lord,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!
   You have set your glory
   in the heavens.
² Through the praise of children and infants
   you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
   to silence the foe and the avenger.
³ When I consider your heavens,
   the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
   which you have set in place,
⁴ what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
   human beings that you care for them?^[c]
 5 You have made them^[d] a little lower than the angels^[e]
   and crowned them^[f] with glory and honor.
⁶ You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
   you put everything under their^[g] feet:
⁷ all flocks and herds,
   and the animals of the wild,
⁸ the birds in the sky,
   and the fish in the sea,
   all that swim the paths of the seas.
 ⁹ LORD, our Lord,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!