Dear friend of A Rocha,

Every December, I like to reflect on where I have seen God at work in my life for the calendar year. This December, as I take inventory of the multiple answered prayers, the countless times I felt His comforting presence amid a difficult situation, or the wisdom I received when I did not know what to do, my reflection turns into a prayer of gratitude and praise. Once again, I can see God’s faithfulness and goodness in my life and the ones He called me to serve.

I am honored to share a small piece of my end-of-year gratitude list:

• I am grateful for the 25 Hispanic/Latino families we served in Central Texas through Picnics en el Arroyo, our time shared exploring parks and creeks, and my conversations with children and adults about God’s creation. Seeing the families enjoy nature and each other filled my heart with joy.
   
• I am grateful for the staff and volunteers who supported Picnics en el Arroyo. God blessed us with a dedicated group of teens and young adults who love to spend time outdoors and serve these families.
   
• I am thankful for transitioning to a full-time position with A Rocha USA in August! I am grateful for my dear group of sisters in Christ who faithfully prayed with me through my journey to a full-time job in conservation.  

Please join me in gratitude and praise to celebrate what Jesus has done in 2022 through the A Rocha USA family to restore people and places (read more about some of this work below).

In this season of endings and new beginnings, may we be reminded that Jesus was and is making all things new. He invites us to be part of the renewal. Thank you for considering an end-of-year gift to support A Rocha’s work.

May you experience abundant life in Christ in the new year.

Dr. Verónica Godoy
Central Texas Project Director
A Rocha USA

Act Locally

Pomona Hope Q&A with Dr. Mark McReynolds

Q: What is Pomona Hope?

A: Pomona Hope is a Christian ministry that is focused on after school enrichment for students grades 2-8 and serves mostly Hispanic families from low-income areas in Pomona, California.

Kids do homework, have gym time, a snack or meal, and an instructional workshop. Workshop topics vary, but there is always one Bible study workshop during the week. Mentors and volunteers are often high school graduates, college students, and adults from the area.

Q: What is A Rocha’s role?

A: SoCal A Rocha has an office at Pomona Hope, and it is our Urban Center. A Wild Center is being developed at a local Christian camp in the nearby mountains. The Wild Center will provide an additional opportunity for children to get outside and learn about God and nature.

Every Monday, I teach an environmental education workshop to each of the three age groups of kids. We have covered many topics, built a weather station, and put up bird boxes and a bird feeder. 

Last year’s topic was habitat. This school year, the focus is on animals. For the first animal, I brought my cat and the following week, I brought a cat skeleton. 

Conservation and Christian values are intermixed with the instruction. This school year, I will also lead one group in Bible study on Wednesday afternoons. Genesis has much to say about creation care.

Q: What are some of the successes and impacts of Pomona Hope?

A: Generally speaking these kids have not had a lot of opportunities to get out of the city. I discovered the students weren’t familiar with the geography outside their city, including the huge mountain range that looks over the Pomona Valley. 

To love your place and God’s creation, I think you must be geographically familiar. In our lessons, we worked on finding kids’ houses on a map, identified the cities around Pomona, and named the local mountains and creek.

Q: What are some ways people can get involved?

A: We appreciate your donations and support. I’m trying to get animals for their lessons this year. Often folks will come out and show a hawk, owl, or some other cool animal, but for a fee. I also do birdwatching with them and two more good binoculars would be useful. 

Read the full interview with Mark McReynolds below.

Think Globally

Can Carbon Offsetting Really Work?

The whole community of creation—from people to habitats to wildlife—are already suffering the effects of a warming climate, stirring more and more people to take a hard look at their own carbon emissions. For many organizations, companies, and individuals striving to make up for their emissions, carbon offsetting has become a popular and attractive solution. Offsetting is a way to compensate for unavoidable carbon emissions by supporting a project that removes an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Unfortunately, large-scale carbon offsetting projects can go very, very wrong. Companies may be murky about how much money goes towards offsetting or if the project actually has an impact on atmospheric greenhouse gasses. The most popular carbon mitigation project is planting or protecting swaths of trees, and this can be fraught with problems: some projects plant trees that are not ecologically appropriate, fail to take care of seedlings once they are planted, or even abuse indigenous land rights. Other projects may use technology that ends up discarded and unused.

Climate Stewards USA offers a unique and holistic approach. The carbon calculator tool helps individuals and organizations see how our everyday decisions—from food, to travel, to home energy usage—can be modified to lower emissions as much as possible. An essential component of Climate Stewards USA’s carbon offset program is their close relationship with their project partners, several of whom are A Rocha organizations. Because the projects are on a small scale, there is accountability and an incredible attention to detail, making sure that the carbon offset claims are accurate and that they benefit communities.

Offset your carbon footprint with Climate Stewards USA

Have you ever wondered what your household's annual carbon footprint looks like? Now is the perfect time to take a look at your home energy, travel and transportation, food, waste, and water-related carbon emissions for 2022.

Angela from Colorado: “The science is clear that we're wreaking havoc on God's good creation with our fossil fuel emissions. That destruction doesn't fit with God's mandate for us to be good earth keepers, so my husband and I work hard to reduce our carbon emissions as much as we can and offset the rest. We're grateful for Climate Steward's online carbon calculator and carefully vetted offset program and have been participating in that to offset our carbon emissions since 2018.”

We invite you to use our online carbon calculator to measure your annual household carbon footprint and offset it before the end of the year.

Your offset donation enables our project partners in Peru, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Nepal, and Ghana to grow community forests, filter safe drinking water, and cook food more sustainably and safely, all while removing or reducing carbon emissions. Thank you offsetting with us.
 

Support A Rocha with a Year-End Gift

Thank you for your support of A Rocha USA. Your gift helps us sustain our U.S. based projects and programing throughout the year, including:

• Community-based conservation projects in Florida, Texas, and Southern California
• Resources to help local communities love God and neighbors in creation
• Internship programs training the next generation of emerging scientists
• Theological education on biodiversity and church-based climate action initiatives

Thank you for considering a year-end gift to help us continue our work to restore people and places and bring hope to all creation.