I invite you to join my friend Bryce Riemer and I on a 24-hour fast for the Amazon rainforest and its indigenous peoples.
We will eat dinner on the evening of Monday, September 30, and then not eat again until 24 hours later on Tuesday, October 1. We will only be drinking water during that time.
During the fast, we will be seek to draw near to God and will also pray for one of the most remarkable features of God’s earth – the Amazon rainforest. Where ever you are, we would love to have you join us
As you likely already know, large numbers of fires have been set in the Amazon this year to clear land for agriculture and other uses.
I urge you to read this interview with Carlos Nobre, who has been studying the Amazon for over 40 years. He explains that the combination of fires and climate change is pushing the Amazon forest to a critical tipping point. Before long, it could begin to change from a tropical rainforest to more of a dry, hot savanna.
This would mean a slow-motion apocalypse for the Amazon’s diverse animals and plants and of the peoples who depend on that life. It would also mean a dramatic decrease in the ability of the Amazon to store carbon. It currently stores, according to estimates, somewhere between one and two billion tons of carbon each year.
As the interview makes clear, deforestation and the spread of fires are no accident. Government policy and international agricultural institutions (like Cargill and JBS) are, by sins of commission and omission, incentivizing the burning.
You and I cannot fly to the Amazon. We can’t directly stop the fires and deforestation and the harm caused to indigenous peoples. But we can pray even as we act in our own local communities. And by fasting we can intensify our prayers and our focus.
King David fasted for his son’s life. Ezra prayed for safety when he and Israelite exiles set out from Persia to return to Jerusalem. In Jonah we read of the people and livestock of Ninevah fasting as a way of repenting and turning away from evils ways and violence. Jesus fasted as he prepared for his last three years of ministry.
Let’s write a new chapter in faithful people praying and fasting for God’s will to be done on earth.
During the fast, we will open our hearts to God and remember his love and goodness. We will plead for God to intervene for the future of the Amazon rainforest and its people. We will pray for the hearts and minds of the people who have created the conditions for this destruction to be undertaken. And we will repent for what we have done and are doing to harm God’s earth.
I’ve found that repeating a Bible verse or phrase that expresses your thoughts and feelings throughout the day is a good way to center yourself. Those words will take on great power. I’d encourage you, too, to use your normal time of eating lunch to take a walk, pray, and open your heart.
This fasting will also be a way to grieve. When I spoke to a local Mennonite church this summer, several members shared a common challenge. They asked, “How do we deal with the grief?” The grief they spoke of was seeing God’s earth damaged and declining. We tend to flee from grief or allow it to paralyze us. Through this fast I want to open myself to letting grief fully take my heart. And then, I hope, there will be Spirit-led commitment to act on the other side of that heartbreak.
I’m still learning how to experience a fast in a deeply spiritual way. So if you haven’t fasted before, be easy on yourself as you experience it for the first time.
Please join us. Please email me at wholefaithlivingearth@gmail.com if you will be fasting with us.
P.S. If you haven’t fasted before, I’d recommend reading The Sacred Art of Fasting and/or this blog post on fasting for beginners.
P.P.S. In general, I would ask that you choose not to eat meat from any major company – like Costco, McDonalds, and Burger King – that sources meat from suppliers connected with the deforestation of the Amazon. Instead, support local, sustainable livestock farmers in your own area.
