A Rocha International’s Ethos Statement
A ROCHA’S DISTINCTIVE CONTRIBUTION TO CREATION CARE
1.The conviction that Christ is Lord
A Rocha is not merely an association of people with a common Christian cultural heritage and shared interests in nature or conservation policy, but an organisation in which caring for God’s handiwork is done out of the conviction that Christ is Lord. Our work is a response to God’s love for his whole creation, revealed in the Bible and personally in Jesus Christ. This establishes the character of our work as both grateful and hopeful, and defines our methods which reflect the conviction that we are undertaking work to which we are called by Christ. Therefore, an expected part of the work of employees and trustees is praying for each other and encouraging each other according to the Christian Bible, and the main objective of all our work is to give glory to God.
2.Practical action
Our niche as an organisation among many other Christian environmental organisations is that we put God’s call to care for creation into practice in multiple local contexts world-wide. In our implementation of A Rocha’s programmes we are wary of anything that promotes a lack of connection between the ‘spiritual’ / intellectual and practical action. While we want to explain the significance of our work to many audiences -- particularly those involved in the conservation world -- the explanations are born out of work with nature and out of convictions lived. Although we recognise the value of conferences and communications as a means to this end, our main commitment is to conservation activities involving people from local communities. Diversity of local experience among the trustees is very important to this practical community orientation.
3.Credible advocacy
Our practical conservation activities give us credibility in the conservation world, where we are alongside others, often with common objectives. While A Rocha is distinctively Christian, we choose not to speak exclusively to Christian audiences. We are working to show God’s love for ALL creation, including all people. Some of our communications and environmental education activities should certainly be targeted at awakening the church to the imperative of stewardship -- of caring for God’s creation as God does. However, the professional credibility of the work that we as Christian trustees, scientists, managers and educators do in practical conservation also enables us to speak to those who do not share our Christian convictions.
4.Diversity of cultures
In the context of the emerging realities of globalisation and exclusion, A Rocha celebrates mutual relationships within a large number of A Rocha national organisations. We work not only with a diversity of local habitats and a diversity of species, but also with a diversity of cultures. Our trustees and professional employees have a diversity of languages, and national and ethnic backgrounds that is important to the effectiveness of our work. Our emphasis on community leads us to value both our exchange of world-wide perspectives and our learning from one another.
A ROCHA MISSION AND COMMITMENTS
Mission statement:
A Rocha is an international conservation organisation working to show God’s love for all creation, committed to environmental action through community-based conservation projects.
A Rocha’s five commitments:
- Christian: Underlying all we do is our biblical faith in the living God, who made the world, loves it and entrusts it to the care of human society
- Conservation: We carry out research for the conservation and restoration of the natural world and run environmental education programmes for people of all ages
- Community: Through our commitment to God, each other and the wider creation, we aim to develop good relationships both within the A Rocha family and in our local communities
- Cross-cultural: We draw on the insights and skills of people from diverse cultures, both locally and around the world
- Cooperation: We work in partnership with a wide variety of organisations and individuals who share our concerns for a sustainable world
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