Willard Metzger is the General Secretary of Mennonite Church Canada. He currently writes a blog in which he shares experiences and reflections focused about his time of leadership, and has an inspiring message about creation care.
Recently, Metzger was in Durban, South Africa, where approximately 20,000 people gathered from around the world for the UN Forum on Climate Change 2011. Said Metzger in his Nov. 28 blog, “I came in response to a request to strengthen the presence of the Canadian Church leaders.
During his presence at the 10 day climate change forum, Metzger kept a daily blog of his observations. “If the earth cannot sustain my neighbour consuming what I consume—then obedience to Christ must compel me to strive for a consumption practice that can also be shared with my neighbour,” wrote Metzger in his first blog entry from Durban.
On day four at the UNCCF, Metzger wrote of the frustrations and fragility of the conference. With the larger economies hesitating and the smaller economies growing impatient, as Metzger wrote, he was feeling disheartened—until he attended a global youth forum.
A teenage South African girl spoke, encouraging the leaders present to focus on the future. After first acknowledging the economic dynamics and financial costs involved in climate change she said with emphatic stance, “We need you to make the biggest decision of our lives. Forget about the money you have to save, you are in a big debt already…You owe this to us!!”
The 10 day blog is a wonderful resource for us involved with MCCN. As Metzger wrote on Day 9, “Creation care requires all the gifts and strategies we possess as a global family. We need new technologies. We need gifted entrepreneurs. We need committed governments. We need active sacrifice. With this portfolio of gifts, we have all we need to maintain a healthy global community.”
See the entirety of Metzger’s blog here.