Peace, love, and blessings to you!

Featured in Diocese of Tucson (USA, Arizona) New Outlook October, 4, 2022

Let’s be honest, it’s a scary time to think about marriage or start thinking about building a family. I surely was afraid and tried to change the subject every time my newlywed husband talked about his excitement about children. My heart felt the call to build a family, but as a climate and environmental scientist, my mind would think – what state is this world going to be in when my children grow up?

Over the course of just a few months, ignited by the Laudato Si’ Animator Training Program I’m completing this week, I am now standing side-by-side with my husband, waiting for the day we can announce that I am expecting. There is no fear, but rather expectant anticipation to raise children who will be faithful leaders in the times to come.

What changed?

My realization that this isn’t the first time God’s people have faced diversity. It’s written in our human history. Time and time again, we are shown that God takes care of His children. Though His children may complain bitterly of their trials, in the end they come to know that in Him, they find their refuge. Once they embrace His faithfulness, His children learn to put Him first above all things to find strength, perseverance, and wisdom. His children are fortified by the trust that God loves them and that now matter what happens, their earthly existence is to serve a purpose far beyond their own understanding, and they’ll be carried through the flames and floods.

This is the kind of faith our children need. Without it, they will get lost in the chaos of this world that is to come. And we cannot rely on the world to teach them this faith.

The current state of our world does not take kindly to marriages and family, and it’s seemingly a very lonely place to go to battle against an enemy that is disgusted and infuriated by people trying to build faithful families.

So my husband and I want to change that and build a community of those feeling the call to fortify families for what is to come. I say want, but really God has been calling on us to do this and we’re excited to finally get it started!

God has called it The Last Tribe (TLT) and its mission: to build families resilient to the climate crisis through forgiveness, faith, stewardship, and culture.

Here is a breakdown of TLT and the four pillars.

The Last Tribe.

The way we understand it, this community, this tribe will be a home for those who have or are desiring to turn a new leaf and begin again. Perhaps you’re feeling a call to ‘be better’, but your environment (friends, leisure activities, etc.) isn’t exactly supportive of following the call. We hope that TLT can be a place where you find the support and love that you need as you walk through that journey. My husband and I know firsthand how lonely and challenging of a place that can be, being toe-to-toe with the enemy, once you’ve decided you want to begin again, especially when you don’t know where to even begin.

Forgiveness.

The first of the four pillars the Lord gave to us for this ministry. One of the first speakers in the Laudato Si’ Activator Training Program, Yeb Saño, put to words what I’ve always felt but didn’t know how to say – the climate crisis is a spiritual crisis that will require moral transformations. Pope Francis himself stated in Laudato Si’:

“The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, water, air, and all forms of life.”
Laudato Si’ #2

The way I see it, in order for us to attain harmony with sister mother earth, we first need to achieve harmony within ourselves. Whether you just got out of the spin cycle of life or are still in it, there is an ocean of mercy and fountain of grace available to us NOW that can help us heal from wounds, pull us out of our addictions, and teach us to be kind to ourselves so that we can actually experience peace, joy, hopefulness, and purpose. The vehicle for us to get there – forgiveness. Forgiveness of ourselves and others.

Faith.

I spoke on this earlier, about needing to have the faith that God loves us and will always take care of His children. Whether you are just starting on a faith journey, feel like you’re losing faith, or need spiritual food to help you keep growing in faith…the stronger we are in our faith, the more armed we will be in the battles we face. And if we are able to stand tall as warriors of love, we’ll be able to raise warrior children and warrior families as well!

Stewardship.

There is so much we can do as individuals that have significant ripple effects in creating change in our behaviours, habits, and comforts. If we start now, not only are we inspiring and teaching those around us, but we’re investing time and effort into making decisions that are for the betterment of future generations. As Pope Francis said in his September 25, 2022 message for the 108th World Day of Migrants and Refugees:

“We cannot leave to future generations the burden of responsibility for decisions that need to be made now.”

Let’s learn together now what can make a difference later. Imagine a world where ‘living green’ is the norm and no one else knew of any other way of living!

Culture.

My husband is Mexican and I am Kenyan – two cultures that have traditions and ways of living that are inherently sustainable. And that’s something that is true for so many cultures around the world! Thing is, we no longer need to hop on a plane to experience and learn about these cultures.

People from all over the world are becoming our neighbors, not by choice unfortunately, but because they are being forced to leave their homes. We’ve already been experiencing a refugee crisis due to persecution and violence. Now add those that are and will be impacted by the climate (i.e. drought, extreme weather, environmental degradation) – the amount of those displaced from their homes will be unsurmountable. Climate migration has already proved to cause such violence, a great loss of life, and culture, but we believe that the Church, specifically the Domestic Church, can play a special role in this era mass migration that is to come. Again, in the same letter from September 25, 2022, Pope Francis said:

“History teaches us that the contribution of migrants and refugees has been fundamental to the social and economic growth of our societies. Their work, their youth, their enthusiasm, and their willingness to sacrifice enrich the communities which receive them…Enormous potential exists already to be harness, if it only is given a chance.”

As this year’s Season of Creation draws to an end, I pray that we all may follow our calls to Care for Creation. Go green, yes, but also follow God’s call to tend to His beloved creation – ourselves, His beloved children. God really could whisper one word and restore sister mother earth back to Garden of Eden status, but to help us grow to be a better earthly family, He hasn’t. So let us, with trust and courage, follow Him into our journeys to purify our souls and our earthly home.

St. Francis of Assisi - pray for us!

Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17