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​Jadav Payeng has been planting trees in his corner of Assam, India, for the last 30 years. Because of a lack of trees, the Brahmaputra River Basin floods every year and causes extensive damage to crops, homes, and livelihoods. Jadav decided to transform this barren island by planting trees, and the area is now a jungle forest of over 1,360 acres—larger than New York’s Central Park.

These trees have greatly benefited the region. Farming has resumed, the flooding in that area has stopped, and wildlife such as rhinos, elephants, and tigers have made his forest their home. And he has a vision for the future—he wants to make environmental science a part of every school’s curriculum and have each student plant and care for a tree.

That’s not to say that it’s been easy for him. Over the years, he’s had to fend off greedy poachers, corrupt politicians, and loggers, but he says, “I don’t know exactly what I get out of this, but I feel happy when I plant trees. I will continue doing this until I die.”

Another world changer was Wangari Maathai, from Kenya, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for her environmental restoration and community development work.

​When Wangari was a teenager, she attended a mission school where she was an active member of the Legion of Mary club that did local agricultural projects and whose motto was “Serve God by serving fellow human beings.” In her early twenties, she won a scholarship to study at the University of Pittsburgh in the United States, where she met activists who were trying to rid the city of air pollution and saw that their efforts had a meaningful impact. I was growing up in Pittsburgh at the time, and I can testify to the marked change in the air quality.

​賈達夫·佩恩（Jadav Payeng）在過去30年來，一直在印度阿薩姆邦的地區種樹。由於缺少樹木，布拉馬普特拉河流域每年洪水氾濫，對莊稼、房屋和生計造成廣泛破壞。賈達夫決定透過種樹來改造這個荒蕪的島嶼，該地區現在是一個佔地1,360英畝的森林，比紐約的中央公園還大。

這些樹木使該地區受益匪淺。恢復了耕種，該地區不再有洪水氾濫。這裡成為犀牛、大象和老虎等野生動植物的家園。而且他對未來有遠見，他希望將環境科學納入每所學校課程的一部分，並讓每位學生種植並照顧一棵樹。

這對他來說並不是很容易。多年來，他必須驅趕貪婪的偷獵者、腐敗的政客和伐木工人，但他說：「我不知道我能從中得到什麼，但是當我種樹時，我感到很高興。我會繼續這樣做，直到我生命的最後一天。」

另一位改變世界的人是肯亞的旺加里·馬塔伊（Wangari Maathai），她因其環境恢復和社區發展工作，而獲得諾貝爾和平獎。

當旺加里是個青少年時，在一所教會學校就讀。她在那裡是瑪利亞軍團俱樂部的活躍成員，該俱樂部從事當地的農業方案，其座右銘是「透過為人類服務來服事上帝。」二十多歲時，旺加里獲得獎學金，得以在美國匹茲堡大學就讀。在那裡她遇到一些社運份子，他們試圖清除那座城市的空氣污染，她看到他們的努力產生了有意義的影響。當時我在匹茲堡長大，我可以證實當時空氣品質的顯著改善。

Upon returning to Kenya, Wangari tried hard to improve the living conditions of women. She started the Green Belt Movement to help women become self-sufficient by growing saplings from native seeds. The beauty of her project is its simplicity. In her book Unbowed she says, “As I told the foresters, and the women, you don’t need a diploma to plant a tree.”
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Her Green Belt Movement flourished through international cooperation with agencies such as the Norwegian Forestry Society, and over the years, representatives from over 15 countries came to see and learn how they too could implement similar projects in their own countries to fight desertification, deforestation, drought, and famine.

​Now millions of trees have been grown through these efforts, and many other initiatives have sprung from this one, like the UN’s Billion Tree Campaign.

But what does reforestation have to do with you and me? Of course, most of us seldom plant trees, but there is more to it than that. It’s about doing our part to make the world a better place. The first step might be to find out what our “trees” are, and then nurture them while they grow.
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Jesus might have put it something like this: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who goes out to plant trees in a barren wasteland and nurtures them until they become a mighty forest that enriches the earth to bring forth much fruit.”
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回到肯亞後，旺加里努力改善婦女的生活條件。她發起了綠帶運動，透過由本地種子種植幼樹，來幫助婦女自給自足。她的計畫之所以美好，在於它非常簡單。她在《永不屈服》（Unbowed）一書中說：「正如我對森林管理者和婦女們所說的那樣，你不需要文憑就可以植樹。」

她的綠帶運動，是透過與挪威林業協會等機構的國際性合作，而蓬勃發展的。多年來，超過15個以上國家的代表，來參觀並了解他們如何在自己的國家中實施類似的方案，來防治荒漠化、森林砍伐、乾旱和飢荒。

現在透過這些努力，人們已種植了數以百萬計的樹木。與此同時，像是聯合國的「十億棵樹運動」之類的許多其他活動，也應運而生。

但是，植樹造林與你、我有什麼關係？當然，我們大多數人很少種樹，但我們能做到的不僅如此。這主要是指我們要盡力而為，使世界變得更美好。第一步也許是要找出我們的「樹」是什麼，然後培育它們，使它們成長壯大。

耶穌可能會這樣說：「天國就像一個人去貧瘠的荒地種樹，培育它們，直到它們長大變成茂盛的森林，豐富大地，結出很多果實。」