The Church and Social Issues
Encountering Climate Change in India - Witnessing to Hope amid Rising Waters
Encounter participants meet with Daluakani villagers. The local women maintain the forest belt in the background as protection from the rising sea. © Annie Watson |
About 25 persons from India and other countries met in the coastal community of Puri, India, 16-20 April 2009 to witness firsthand the dramatic effect of climate change in the area, and to reflect on interconnections with developments in other parts of the world.
What they saw were disturbing changes such as villages swallowed by the sea or “climate refugees” struggling for survival in the teeming metropolis of Calcutta.
What they experienced was hope in the form of strong bonds of care and communal sharing, an intimate connection between the spiritual and the practical, and a strong sense of empowerment to take responsibility for the future.
What they heard was an invitation to inform others about their encounters and the keen desire for global solidarity.
Read more in the event communiqué about the inspiring witness in the Puri area and the participants’ call to confession and action. 
A DTS event, in cooperation with the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of India and Lutheran World Service India. Organized as part of the overall LWF response to climate change.
DTS study program Theological Responses to Climate Change
For further information, please contact:
Dr Kathryn Johnson, DTS Interim Director
