In June 2023 a delegation of Kiwi Christian charity funders including Longview Trust and Wilberforce Foundation trustees visited the A Rocha Field Centre in British Columbia, Canada. It is located about 40 minutes south of Vancouver, right on the USA border on the outskirts of a city called Surrey.
About 18-acres in total, the land and two homesteads was bequeathed to A Rocha many years ago and a ministry commenced allowing young people to train in a variety of areas of creation care. The field centre is run by long serving and faithful couple David and Shauna Anderson.
Each year, often at 6-month intervals, up to 15 interns come to the A Rocha field centre to take up one of four different electives in the a residential creation care programme called the Tatalu Conservation Residency. They come from a variety of backgrounds and include some international visitors. Often the young people have completed a university degree and come to take time out before commencing a career, grounding themselves in the care of creation. The residential programme includes instruction and practical training in these electives: (1) Conservation Science (2) Environmental Education (3) Sustainable Agriculture (4) Food & Hospitality.
- Conservation Science interns work on species monitoring and habitat restoration, including restoring natural flora and fauna both on site and in Boundary Bay in a collaboration with First Nations indigenous iwi the Semiahmoo people. A highlight is the protection and enhancement of beavers.
- Environmental Education interns work with the extensive schools programme where primary school students come to A Rocha to learn about sustainability and experience firsthand the restoration of God’s creation.
- Sustainable Agriculture interns use low impact agricultural production methods to grow vegetables on the A Rocha site which are sold under a subscription model (CSA or Community Supported Agriculture) to needy families in the area. Organic methods are used where possible.
- Food and Hospitality interns help draw the farm to table connection by cooking community meals for the field centre with seasonal produce grown on-site and learning valuable preservation skills to help the community eat local all year long.
While we were there, we watched firsthand a special project sampling urine from the tiny humming birds in an effort to document damage being done to birds in the district from overuse of chemical sprays on the blueberry farms.
Many churches support the work of A Rocha In Canada and interns attend a variety of different churches in the Surrey to grow in their faith and knowledge of God.
Visiting Kiwis Chris Clarke, Gray and Marilyn Baldwin, Ian and Wendy Kuperus remain very grateful for the hospitality shown us by our Canadian A Rocha family.
Question to readers….Would this field centre concept work in New Zealand? We’d be interested to hear your thoughts. Send your thoughts to: [email protected]
