God and Nature

Corey Beals has been with us here for two weeks teaching the course titled God and Nature. Corey and TA Caleb have taken us all around Kaikoura for some field-based learning.  The course has been, quite literally, a breath of fresh air. Hear from Bethel student Colin Veerman about what he's experienced:

"These past two weeks of God and Nature have been jam-packed with all sorts of activities. We went on some day-hikes in and around Kaikoura, visited a few local farms and cheese factory, and took a “night sky tour” (just to name a few). The first week of class was focused on our relationship with Christ and with creation and the multitude of ways we humans have distorted and ruined these relationships through our sin. However, the second week was primarily focused on how we can reconcile our relationship with Christ, as well as with our food, health, shelter, and water.

Field trips during God and Nature have given us breathtaking views of the Pacific, to an inside
look at where our food comes from during a visit to Stoney Creek's hydroponics greenhouse.

Everyone picked one of these subjects to study further and to present a project at the end of the week. Regan, Ruthie, Nora, Megan, and I all choose to be apart of the food group and our final project was to create a feast; a feast mostly made from locally grown ingredients (including our gardens). Without going into too much detail, eating locally is the most important factor to a healthy relationship with your food. Most farmers selling their produce to locals grow their food naturally - that is without the addition of toxic chemicals in the form of fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides. Buying local food decreases our dependency on oil and literally saves tons of toxins from being released into the air we breathe and water we drink. Eating locally supports the people in your community and fights against those who ship their corporations overseas - exploiting the workers and the land and striping those communities from their wealth.

At first, it was a daunting task. How on earth are we going to make a five course meal for thirty people? Intimidating as it was, we accepted the challenge and had fun doing it! It was so different from any other meal I have planned. Instead of thinking about random creative and fancy dishes, we first had to walk through the gardens and assess what was available to us. The pear trees are ripe for the picking, the pumpkin and butternut squash season is just beginning, plenty of potatoes remain the pantry from the harvest a couple weeks before, local lettuce, lemons, honey, carrots, and raw milk can be purchased from Kaikoura farmers, and a lamb was bought from some close friends (the Topps) where we all witnessed and participated in the slaughter and preparation of the lamb (which is the best alternative we could find in terms of  reconciling our relationship with our consumption of meat).

Local feast preparation!

A long story short, we had quite a feast! A lot of people think in order to eat local, you have to give up and miss out on a variety of foods. Well, I would beg to differ! We ate like kings and queens - celebrating and eating what the season has to offer. Isn’t that how we ought to eat? Ringing in the new season with the fresh, tasty, and simple fruits and produce our land has to offer? In my opinion, this is how God created food to be, and if I can prepare five courses for thirty people here in New Zealand, I know this is something I can achieve back home too."

Megan (Gordon), Ruthie (Westmont), Nora (Houghton), Regan (Dordt), and Colin (Bethel), all part of the local feast group, prepared us a fantastic five course meal!