Friends of A Rocha in Croatia is a group of enthusiasts with a common concern for the environment. We are united by our Christian faith that motivates us to care for all that God has created. Particularly in Croatia, we realized that many people treat nature quite carelessly and awareness of environmental problems is weak. Even less awareness for the suffering of creation is found among church goers and Christians across the country. Sermons and songs generally do not take the wider picture of God’s love for all of his creation (including our non-human neighbours) and his redemption plans for his Earth into account.

Our story

Each of our individual faith and life journeys made us realize that creation care is an integral part of following Jesus, just as reading the Bible, praying and being good neighbours to fellow humans are. Our discipleship in fact becomes more authentic and mature if we realize that caring for people is inextricably linked to caring for creation (even more so as rising sea levels and a changing climate are threatening the livelihoods of many of our poorer sisters and brothers across the globe). And we are inspired by Jesus’s love shown through his simple, non-materialistic, generous and humble lifestyle and his readiness to die for us, redeem the fallen, sinful creation, make us new.

We felt the need to inspire other Christians in Croatia to care for God’s creation. As a side effect, we believe this will also strengthen our testimony before people of no or different faiths, as they will see us being Christ’s hand and feet on Earth. We also realized that a concern for the environment could be a uniting force for Christians of different denominations in Croatia, which all too rarely cooperate. Finally, as we are starting off as a small group and are in search of specific projects we could take up, we also aim to collaborate with existing environmental projects, be it Christian or non-religious initiatives.

Our group started as we were gathering around a series of creation care webinars, which then culminated in a regional conference. After the conference in 2022 that sparked many people’s enthusiasm in caring for creation, we continued to organize regular prayer walks in Zagreb. That way, we can convene various people who want to contribute to our initiative, but don’t yet know how to. The prayer walks also let us just to immerse ourselves in God’s creation, listen to his voice and find meaningful and practical ways to respond to his call to care for creation. Meditating on the psalms, watching the seasons change and talking to each other brings us closer to God and to each other.

Books on creation care

In 2023, our member Naomi Bosch published a book on creation care in German: Und dennoch pflanze ich einen Garten – Wie wir in der Umweltkrise Samen der Hoffnung säen (And yet, I plant a garden – Sowing seeds of hope in the environmental crisis). She presented it to a variety of audiences in Germany and hopes to soon be able to publish it in Croatian.

This year, we translated and published a booklet on creation care named Change the World (written by Dave Bookless and Renew the World). We will distribute it among Christians and churches in Croatia.

We also send out a newsletter in Croatian and are present on social media.

Sowing seeds of hope

Hopefully, we will soon be able to sow seeds that help God’s creation in Croatia flourish, through practical nature conservation activities, as well as through our collaborations with various churches.

The Friends of A Rocha Croatia currently involve Lina Cetinić, Ena Pritišanac, Slobodan Jankucić, Melody Wachsmuth, Steve Michmerhuizen and Naomi Bosch.

By Naomi Bosch, freelance journalist and agronomist from Croatia