For those of you who couldn't make it to the live tour stops...or just want to experience it again!

At Restoring Eden's tour top in Chicago at Jesus People USA, Carl Jylland-Halverson got some great video clips.  Check them out!

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On Wednesday of last week, Samford University's Restoring Eden chapter participated in Campus Sustainability Day, an event held at college campuses around the country to show what the university is doing to be more sustainable and to urge students to implement more sustainable practices in their daily life.

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A few nights ago, during the show we were doing at Spring Arbor, I found myself talking to God, saying, "Lord, there are a lot of better musicians that you could have lined up for this tour and certainly there are people that you could have used that are far more knowledgable on this topic than me, yet here I am. Why?" I can't say that I received an audible answer, but I almost immediately felt my insignificance in the matter. It's not a question of how capable or incapable we are, but the fact that we're here and we desire to see this burden weighing down our brothers and sisters in Appalachia lifted.

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At Waynesburg the chaplain arranged for Aaron and I to do a live radio interview and when we showed up it was with the longtime Pittsburgh Pirates announcer!  Later that day a group of the students arranged for Aaron to play an impromptu “teaser show” in the dining hall that got a lot of people excited and even inspired one student to join in on a hand drum!  Later that night when the time came to write a letter asking their Senator to take action addressing MTR, more than a dozen students lined up at the table to make their voices heard.

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On Oct. 11th, Restoring Eden made their first stop at my school, Eastern University.  About 30 students attended, a great turnout for the first day of midterm’s. Against a backdrop of large photographs hung on over 500 pieces of twine (each representing a lost mountain), Aaron played a number of soulful bluegrass songs.  In between songs, organizer Tyler Sheaffer presented a brief history of coal mining up to current steroidal practices, the struggles of residents, film clips, stories of resistance, and hope for the future.

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Sometimes when I am struggling, or when I’m anxious and I’m trying to get through an unpleasant situation, I close my eyes and transport myself to a peaceful haven, to a place where I have always found the most real relaxation.

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Dear Friends, I have GREAT news!  On the eve of Easter, our celebration of hope and renewal through Christ, we now have a new hope for ending the incredible harm caused to Appalachian communities by mountaintop removal (MTR) mining.

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This spring break, I had the opportunity to visit West Virginia on a service trip.  I traveled with a group of ten other students from Dordt College where I am a student.  Our group arrived in West Virginia with very few ideas about what to expect.  We were met with an eye-opening experience.

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I had the blessed opportunity to travel to the West Virginia coal fields during the past week.  The experience I gained in West Virginia was one of a lifetime.  The Lord moved in me in such powerful ways while I was there and upon my return to college.

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Wow, what an experience!  I just got back from Washington, DC as a participant of the 5th annual End Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington and already I want to go back!  It was an incredible time of fellowship, adventure, and advocating on behalf of God's creation.

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Attending the Jubilee conference throughout College, I was always impressed with the quality of its content and the diversity of its teaching. The conference and its speakers always found a new way to broaden and deepen my understanding of where and how we should be following in the shadow of Christ’s example. One aspect, however, I realized was often lacking from its broad spectrum of truth-telling: tending God’s creation.

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"Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return."  These words struck me as I sat reflecting on the season of Lent during an Ash Wednesday service.

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