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Wednesday, Jun. 11, 2008

Ichthus concert-goers focus on faith and a greener planet

Perspiration coated the foreheads of Jackson Walker and Jessica Emerson as they filled blue plastic bags with scrap metal and glass scavenged alongside the railroad tracks bordering Coolavin Park this week.

Why would two 13-year-olds from Gulf Breeze, Fla., spend part of their valuable summer vacation in Lexington’s sticky heat cleaning trash from a largely unseen site?

“The world is getting too dirty,” Jackson said. “If we are going to be living here, we need to help clean it up.”

The pair are among the thousands set to attend the 39th annual Ichthus music festival, to start today in Wilmore, and two of the 113 youths from eight church mission groups from Kentucky and other states who spent the first few days of the week completing environmentally oriented social-service projects in Lexington’s inner city.

The projects were part of a new initiative called ECOS, or Earth Commission: Operation Simplify, which grew out of an effort to help students put their faith into action by helping the city’s needy residents while spreading the message that everyone can contribute to a greener planet.

Organizers said Wednesday during a presentation about the new program that they hope the effort will take root nationwide as many faiths begin to acknowledge that, as Christians, they have an obligation to be responsible stewards of the earth by not plundering natural resources, recycling and conserving.

The Catholic Action Center is coordinating ECOS with the help of Lexington churches, and made sure the students got fed and housed, said Ginny Ramsey, director of the center.

Other projects performed this week included building a playground in the Woodhill neighborhood; helping with the summer feeding program for children in 22 low-income neighborhoods; distributing information to those children to encourage them to recycle and reduce waste; and performing environmental assessments of church recycling plans.

As part of the work groups, the students pledged to commit to five ECOS steps:

— Praying daily to be good stewards of the earth.

— Turning off water while brushing teeth, turning off lights and unplugging electrical equipment when not in use, and driving or riding four fewer miles each week.

— Using reusable or paper bags for shopping and lunch, reusing water bottles, and using both sides of sheets of paper.

— Recycling paper, plastic, aluminum, computers and parts, and donating clothing to clothing banks.

— Identifying five people each week to commit to these goals, asking them to find five other people a week, and so on.

Pastor Kevin Clark of Vineyard Community Church told the students during the presentation that, “As a Christ follower, God has given you this earth to take care of.”

Shake Anderson, a Christian musician who will perform at Ichthus with his Ascension Band, told the students that he was part of a generation that did not participate in environmental efforts, but he acknowledged their importance for the future.

Holding his son Bubby, who will turn 1 this month, he said, “Bubby is my miracle, and … you’re making sure there’s a world for him when he gets to be your age.”.

While this was the first year for ECOS, this was not the first community service effort for many of those involved.

Jordan Moody, 15, a sophomore at Union County High School, was among a dozen students who erected the Woodhill playground on Monday. It was his second mission trip.

“Last year, I went on one (in Union County) called You Chip In, where the churches got together to put borders around homes in trailer parks. It really helped disabled and needy people.”

Jackie Patterson, 14, and two other girls stained one of the four new picnic tables under the shade of a walnut tree on the playground. Although this will be her first visit to Ichthus, it’s her second work camp. “Last year we fixed up houses in Beverly, Kentucky,” she said.

At the railroad tracks, Adrienne Rufo, 18, a sophomore at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Ill., examined the twisted remnant of what was once a bicycle. “It looks like it got hit by a train,” she said.

Rufo, part of a group from Naperville, Ill., said her church, Alleluia Lutheran, has done five mission trips, and “I’ve been on all of them. I think it’s worthwhile. It helps the people and the environment. Both are such big projects right now.”

Bill Fry, who lives in Gulf Breeze with his wife, Andrea, and their two children, brought his family to Lexington to help with the project.

Fry teaches school and his wife is a school nurse, so they’ve participated in previous mission projects, including many overseas. He attended Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore and worked for the Salvation Army for a year before entering the classroom.

“There are some great memories here. Lexington is a beautiful city,” he said. “There’s a good spirit of optimism among the people of faith.”