Live Lightly Tour

The focus of our tour is teaching others how to live lighter on the earth…and making it a better place for future generations. These passions are deeply rooted in our spirituality and our love for Jesus Christ. In the past, the word “environmentalist” was seen almost as a swear word in the Christian community. It used to be that if you were calling yourself an environmentalist, you must be extremely liberal and you probably spent some time chained to a redwood tree . It’s such a shame how the church has distanced itself from any kind of creation care…completing disregarding scripture that teaches us to protect the beauty around us. With this in mind, another goal of ours is not only to teach EVERYONE how to live lightly…but also to speak to people of all faiths about how their spiritual journey directly relates to their love of the earth.

With that in mind, we were very excited to get in touch with Ed Brown, director of the non-profit organization, Care of Creation. Here is a description of their ministry from their website:

Care of Creation was formed in 2005 to bring together two important themes: Love for God’s People, and love for God’s world. We’re evangelical and we’re environmental, and, yes, we think we can be both. More than that, we think we have to be both… Our goal is to mobilize the Church to respond to environmental challenges with and through the love of God – and that’s what evangelism and evangelicalism is – or should be – all about..

In fact, we believe that in terms of theology, to be truly evangelical – believing that Jesus Christ has come with ‘good news’ for the human race and for all creation – you have to be concerned about the environment. And in terms of reality – what is really going on in the world right now – there is an environmental crisis in many countries that is rapidly approaching a disaster point. In sum, the church can no longer “do missions” without addressing environmental – or creation-care – issues. That’s why we exist…

Ed and Susanna are perfectly suited for this ministry…and after hearing their story, we know that God hand-picked them for this task! Here is their bio from the site:

Ed & Susanna Brown both grew up in the country of Pakistan as children of missionaries. Ed is an ordained minister and received the Master of Divinity degree from Gordon Conwell Seminary. He has served in a variety of roles in a number of different organizations, including pastor of the Protestant International Church in Islamabad, Pakistan, missions administration with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and most recently as Chief Operating Officer for Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies.

Ed has worked within a variety of organizational structures and is a talented writer and public speaker and is the author of Our Father’s World: Mobilizing the Church to Care for Creation. His years with Au Sable have given him a deep passion for Christian environmental stewardship, and he believes that the creation of Care of Creation will allow him to pull together his organizational development skills, his overseas and missions experience, and his concern for the cause of environmental stewardship. Ed directs Care of Creation and travels a great deal leading seminars and preaching on the topic of caring for God’s creation.

Susanna is a former nurse and midwife, and a teacher and Bible study leader. The Browns are living in Madison, Wisconsin, and have four grown children, Melanie, Timothy, Katrina , and Amy.

When we arrived at their house in Madison, it was swarmed with neighborhood children trying to sell them stuff It’s cookie fundraiser time at their schools. It was great to see how they’ve embraced their community. Their home is a welcoming haven with open doors. Susanna cooked up a delicious meal of bean and cheese burritos with all the fixins…cornbread with butter and warm apple pie with ice cream for dessert! Oh…so yummy. Susanna has an extensive teacup collection…and we all got to use one for our tea/coffee! We talked about our paths through life and about God’s amazing provision and faithfulness. Their daughter, Katrina, and son, Tim, were also there. Katrina is a student at the U of W studying Chinese, and Tim is awaiting his location assignment for the Peace Corps. Bella was enchanted with their toys and their hospitality as well. Both Tim and Ed sat on the couch and read Bella books, and Susanna gave Bella a delightful book called “Miss Fanny’s Hat”, and some other goodies to take back to the camper.

It was a great evening…full of laughter and like-mindedness. A blessing on the road.

Be sure to check out Ed’s book and Care of Creation!
Photo album here.