Awakening a Love for Nature
“We experienced great success engaging young children through a fun educational process that led to a creative solution for the local bird population,” said Unificationist Gregg Jones, who is the outreach director of the Hyo Jeong International Foundation for the Unity of the Sciences (HJIFUS) founded by Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon and the late Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon.
Since 1970, North America has lost 30 percent of its bird population due to environmental degradation. Jones spearheaded the nonprofit’s recent environmental service project to build birdhouses while educating young children and families.
Unificationists from Capital Heavenly Parent’s Holy Community (CHPHC) partnered with members of the Mid Atlantic Community Church (MACC) in Gambrills, Maryland, where more than 50 people joined the service project held on MACC’s sprawling property August 24.
“Community members including youth, young adults, parents, and other guests met on the 42-acre church grounds to address the issue of declining native bird populations,” said Jones. “Faced with such calamities [like depopulation], parents are looking for environmental education projects that will awaken in their children a love for nature.”
The group, which had some 28 elementary school children, was given an introductory lesson by Jones on the relationship between God, our Creator, and human beings and the natural world, all of which is centered on love. Jones also shared about a 2014 study in the social and behavioral sciences journal, Procedia, where professor Elif Alaydin, an environmental education researcher, said teaching children about nature at a young age is key.
“Environmental education changes the learner’s knowledge, skills and behavior to the environment,” wrote Prof. Alaydin. “Young generations, especially primary school students, are the most important target group for environmental education because this education teaches how to learn about their environmental issues, and to make decisions about how they can take care of the environment.”
HJIFUS was started with the mission of solving environmental problems in the world and living in harmony with nature. The founders, who developed a range of initiatives and annual conferences dedicated toward this effort, expressed that in order to find success in restoring nature people have to clearly understand that “the whole universe is like one body in which human beings are inseparably connected to our Creator and the rest of creation,” states the HJIFUS website.
In spring 2021, HJIFUS launched a new online environmental magazine, The Earth and I, followed by the outreach department headed by Jones. “People of the world need to develop a loving heart toward nature and work together centered on the three principles of interdependence, mutual prosperity, and universally shared values to restore the earth,” he said.
Participants were shown how to build birdhouses (nest boxes) that provide safe and secure shelter for birds. Parents and children enjoyed working together to build housing for a range of native species, including Baltimore orioles and bluebirds.
“I really appreciated how the education that was provided related to the project that we did,” said one parent.
“My three kids loved the activity and learned a lot,” said another parent. “We will certainly attend other [HJIFUS] events!”
Each child signed the bottom of their birdhouse and took a family picture alongside them once they were set up in an area with the best chance of survival for the hatchlings. “Through this activity, and their ongoing care for the nest boxes, these families will continue to practice loving and caring for nature,” said Jones.
MACC Children’s Director Chloe Leonard said she was inspired by how the service project brought together different groups in support of a shared goal and that she hoped to collaborate more in the future.
“I am very happy to see the number of people that participated and grateful to see the birdhouses set around the property,” added MACC Pastor Joe Heinrich. CHPHC Pastor Achille Acolatse and youth pastor Melissa Manor also shared their gratitude for the opportunity to care for nature in such a unique way.
You can learn more about the Hyo Jeong International Foundation for the Unity of the Sciences here.
