Planting Trees in Awisa, Ghana: How Creation Care Became Practical Neighbor-Love

The useful part

Writer Updated Aug 18, 2026 SHARE Key Points The people of Awisa, Ghana, show how forest restoration can benefit both the land and the families who depend on it. Christians to act with humble love, even in small choices that may never be publicly praised. Faithful service often looks ordinary: picking up trash, planting trees, giving generously, and caring for people we may never meet.

How it works

• If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
• That's why we pay for someone else's coffee, pick up the pile of oranges that fell out of a stranger's grocery cart, leave the places we borrowed cleaner than how we found them, and plant trees in the local...
• If we search our hearts, how often do we volunteer or donate our money and time to uphold our reputation?
• Christians to consider how their choices affect others and to act with the same care, dignity, and generosity they would hope to receive.
• However, this doesn't mean I don't discuss my faith with strangers.

What to take from it

It's because life wasn't meant to be lived in a bubble of self-interest and self-preservation. The Golden Rule feels unconventional because humans have made it a necessity to be both grandiose and grandly rewarded in their deeds. Creation care is connected to neighbor-love because land, water, food, health, and community well-being directly affect the people God calls us to serve.

Example or evidence

• It reminds believers that we may plant and water through faithful actions, but God is the One who brings lasting growth.
• Christians plant and serve in faith, trusting God to bring growth, healing, and living water through acts of obedience.
• I guess once you start nurturing a baby, it's only natural that you nurture other living things.
• Our town has a beautiful indoor and outdoor plant shop, the Greene House, where I frequented with my oldest son (until he became old enough to outrun me and had the intrusive desire to touch and tamper with...

Details worth keeping

Creation Care and Loving Your Neighbor | Christianity.com. I became a bit of a plant gal after having my first son. In the kids' section of this plant shop, they often have gardening-based books.

Related coverage

• Jpost: Trees have repeatedly been destroyed by war, fires, and other causes, but we have always planted again as an expression of Jewish resilience and rebuilding.
• Christianity: How a Teen's Compassion Reminds Christians to Love Their Neighbors
• Christiantoday: Giles Fraser has been working on a new project that aims to combine the Gospel with the English love of gardening.