Meditations
Discover real-world stories of communities overcoming poverty and deforestation! Plant With Purpose, a Christian non-profit, shares examples of environmental sustainability and stewardship from all around the world. These stories show us how faith, resilience, and sustainable practices transform people’s lives as well as their environment. As rural families overcome poverty and heal the planet, embrace empowerment, renewal, and hope.
All, Meditations
Humility: What it is, What it isn't
Humility is an increasingly underappreciated value in today’s culture. In a world where personal branding, hyperbole, and debate are highly visible, humility seems to be a forgotten art. In spite of this, there is something truly refreshing about being in the presence of somebody who is sincerely and genuinely humble. Plant With Purpose holds humility […]
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Shoulder to Shoulder: The importance of solidarity
Solidarity is an act of hope. Solidarity means moving in the direction of pain in the world, standing with those who are suffering and taking up their cause as if it were your own. Doing so is both an act of hope and an imitation of Christ. Vitor Westhelle once said that “the cross is […]
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All, Living Sustainably, Meditations
Earth Day celebrates a chance to love your neighbor
One of our greatest purposes is to love our neighbor as ourselves Many of us are familiar with the two greatest commandments, as found in Matthew 22: To love God with all our hearts, minds, and strength, and, To love our neighbor as ourselves While each of us may find unique opportunities to practice these […]
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Why is it sometimes difficult to take action that helps the planet
We’re constantly in the process of encouraging people to serve our global neighbors by caring for the environment. We’ll be honest, however. Sometimes it can be difficult to see where to get started. There are so many possible choices, but how do you get started? Perhaps you’ve gone from never considering the importance of the […]
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This Earth Day, help restore Creation
The Wonder of Creation is still good. The Story of Creation goes something like this: God made beautiful things. He appreciated and admired them, and called them good. We messed up. We invited sin, degradation, death, and disease to enter the picture. Out of Love, Christ came. His death and resurrection began the process of […]
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Remember the Wonder of Creation
God created the earth and declared it good. And it truly is good. If you’ve ever found yourself amazed by the beauty of a National Forest, reenergized by a weekend spent hiking, or surprised by how intricately the human body is designed, it's hard to disagree. That’s not to say that the earth doesn’t still […]
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God's Trail of Trees
Plant With Purpose is eagerly looking forward to the upcoming book release from our friend Matthew Sleeth. Matthew is a medical doctor who came to faith partly through noticing how trees constantly resurfaced in Scripture and in our world. His book Reforesting Faith will arrive in bookstores in April 2019. Enjoy an excerpt from the book below! […]
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Trees and Christmas are signposts towards Hope
If you planted a tree for every tree mentioned between Genesis and Revelation, you would easily end up planting quite a large forest. You’ll find a bush that burns without burning up, a court held underneath palm trees. You’ll find Jesus in a garden hours before his death and mistaken as a gardener hours after […]
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This is what gratitude looks like
At the end of each year, many of us try to turn our focus towards gratitude. We reflect on what really matters in our lives. We take inventory of blessings. We go around the table at Thanksgiving to share what we are thankful for, then reinforce our gratitude in family newsletters shortly afterwards. We are […]
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To the ones who keep showing up
Trying to make an impact on the world isn’t an easy task. While change is possible, the process isn’t linear. There are ups and downs, setbacks, and moments of discouragement that every person who tries to make an impact faces. That’s why a key trait of people who make a big difference is resilience and […]
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We can't forget to celebrate hope
The communities where Plant With Purpose works are some of the most difficult places on the Earth to live. As much as our stories focus on change and how a better world is possible, they are also incomplete without a reminder that our group members live very difficult lives. In villages across rural Latin America, […]
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The art of taking a deeper look
Noticing is a spiritual act Fred Rogers once said that “appreciation is a spiritual thing,” and that’s an idea that has a profound impact on what we believe and how we live. All throughout scripture, we’re encouraged to engage the world with a profound set of gratitude and wonder at the mystery of creation. When […]
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All, Living Sustainably, Meditations
Sustainability is compassion
When we live sustainably, we live compassionately. Sustainability is both and act of selflessness and humility. When we choose to practice sustainability, we do so realizing that the things we do affect far more people than ourselves. It invites us to consider our own interests less than the interests of others, which is a great […]
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Want to live more sustainably? It takes patience and persistence.
Living sustainably is living the way God intended. It takes persistence and grace. Sustainable living is a good thing. You already knew we wholeheartedly believe that. But living in a way that protects creation and honors its Creator isn’t just a good thing to do. It’s so much more than that. Living as a good […]
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There's a reason God placed us right where we are.
Our homes are no mere coincidence. How often do you think about the reasons God has placed us in the physical locations where we live? Some of us might think about this quite a bit, especially if we’ve undergone a major transition or if we felt led to our current homes to work with the […]
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