Field Notes
May 19, 2021
Field Notes bonus episode – Ellen Davis on Psalm 65
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This is an A Rocha Field Notes podcast bonus track. We asked Ellen Davis to walk us through one of her favourite Scriptures. This is what she shared.
More episodes from Field Notes
Mar 7, 2023
Ep 28: Judith Ochieng – How digitising data about nature can change the world
If you have never heard of GBIF (the Global Biodiversity Information Facility) you are not the only one, but after this conversation you will be glad to have discovered it. Funded by the world's governments and free to access, this global network and data infrastructure is used to inform endeavours tackling everything from farming and food security, to disease control, to habitat restoration planning and so much more.
Judith Ochieng is a Kenyan scientist who has spent the past three years coordinating a project to digitise data from four forested landscapes in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda, a partnership of 11 organisations. She speaks articulately and passionately about how the importance of information-based decision making, especially when it comes to conservation, and shares how her faith keeps her grounded and hopeful when the data so often paints a disheartening picture.
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Feb 8, 2023
Ep 27: Guillaume de Vaulx & Nabil Shehadi – Prophetic acts of hope on Lebanese soil
Hope is sometimes understood as a feeling of optimism, but as we all know, feelings are transitory and not a rock on which to build a life. What if we instead understood hope as a practice, an active way of living? Lebanon has a turbulent history, a troubled present and an unknown future and A Rocha Lebanon has had its own traumas, not least the death of its founders, Chris & Susanna Naylor, in a car accident in 2019. In this episode of Field Notes, A Rocha Lebanon’s new co-director Guillaume and chair of the board Nabil reflect on the small-scale but tenacious and resilient story of their work to restore a piece of communal land in the town of Mekse, once a dumping ground for burnt out Syrian tanks, for the good of all. As Nabil puts it, “We’re not a big organization. But with the Lord’s help we can do big things.”
*Guillaume de Vaulx* shares the role of National Director of A Rocha Lebanon with Damien Kasper. A French national, he comes from a background in academic philosophy. *Nabil Shehadi *is Alpha levant coordinator and became chair of the A Rocha Lebanon board in 2022.
The story of A Rocha Lebanon’s beginnings and early years is told in the book, “Postcards from the Middle East” by Chris Naylor. For more information about what is going on these days please visit www.lebanon.arocha.org
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Jan 17, 2023
Ep 26: Christine Warner – Learning from the snail: joyful living within painful limitations
Beauty and suffering coexist in this world. There are breath-taking mountains and devastating volcanoes; healthy children and children born with acute medical challenges; birds that sing in war torn countries. How do we endure suffering and retain awareness of the beauty that surrounds us?
Christine Warner loves snails. Since surviving an encounter with a truck which by all accounts should have ended her life instantly, snails have been an inspiration. During her long, slow recovery, she has learnt to find joy through embracing life within new limitations.
This is a raw and moving conversation which we hope you will find a profound encouragement whatever your circumstances.
*Christine Warner *grew up in Central America during civil war and natural disasters. She is the Director for the Matthew 25 Initiative, the Anglican efforts to companion the vulnerable, marginalized, and under-resourced communities in the US, Canada, and Mexico. Christine is a trustee of A Rocha International and lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and their four children.
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