Allow me to paraphrase an old folktale. Thousands of starfish have washed onto a beach, where many of them will die. A young boy gently tosses one back into the water, then another and another. An onlooker asks, “Why are you bothering? You can’t save them all. You’re wasting your time. How can this make any significant difference?” The boy looks at the starfish in his hand, smiles, and says, “It makes a difference to this one.”
In Kenya, as in many parts of the world, there are countless starfish stories that are more than a folktale. The stark truth illuminates every waking day. It feels like many people have been washed onto dry land and are struggling to survive. Poverty is real and affects all areas of life. Basic needs (food, clean water, shelter) are not always easily acquired. Education resources are limited. Poor road conditions present transportation dilemmas. Cultural stigmas affect family and community life.
How do we tackle such huge problems? What difference can an ordinary person make? Here are a few snapshots of those who threw a starfish back into the ocean this year.
Climate change represents a growing threat to people and the planet. In 2015, the majority of countries around the world adopted the Paris Agreement, an international framework to reduce the effects of climate change by limiting the rise of global temperature to 1.5 C. Salvationist features editor Giselle Randall spoke with Major Heather Poxon, the first territorial environmental officer in the United Kingdom and Ireland Territory, about how she is helping to change hardware and hearts.
In 2011, when Drew Harper graduated from high school in his rural hometown of Paris, Illinois, he just wanted to “get out.” College appeared to Drew as a shiny object in the distance—the cure to all his teenage angst. But as he studied, Drew began to realize that the Bible was less of a text he needed to master and more of a life he wanted to live. “What I saw in Scripture showed me that God cares deeply for this world,” he says. “I began to pay more attention to my physical environment.” That blossomed into his desire to build and beautify what he calls “place”—where we spend our time and live our lives. The goal of Drew’s work remains unchanged: to help people live happier, healthier lives.
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