Linda Ncube is a longtime animal liberation advocate and a member of the 7th-day Adventist tradition in her home country of Zimbabwe. She hoped to bring together these two sets of values while making plant-based eating more accessible for her community. The fellowship helped her confront hidden factors that impact individual and communal food practices – like racial injustice, gender oppression, and colonialist legacies. She gained support from a group of twenty pastors who encouraged her to lead classes about the liberation of animals and the benefits of plant-based eating. She then created an educational booklet that brought together biblical stories and practical guidance. From there, Linda organized an intergenerational cooking school and had over seventy people attend. In a region where animal farming is encouraged for economic advancement, her participants learned to embrace CreatureKind eating practices that stay true to their treasured ancestral foods. The effects have been rippling through the community as more people – including children – opt for plant-based foods instead of animals.

Sydney Caron, a recent University of Toronto seminary graduate, developed and created a CreatureKind course for children by children. This project is a welcome addition to the CreatureKind library of resources. It centers on the experiences and perspectives of historically marginalized identities, including BIPOC and disabled people. She also prioritized the agency of children by constructing the course according to how children might prefer to learn. She says, “Instead of providing answers, my project seeks to ask questions and invite exploration, envisioning, and examination.” Sydney is on a path toward ordination in the Anglican Diocese in her home nation of Canada. Because of all she explored in the fellowship, she is taking time to learn alongside farmers in her region so she can better honor their lived experiences in her theology and ministry.

Bianca Rati is now a Senior Fellow with CreatureKind, helping a new class of fellows on their journey. For her fellowship project, Bianca wanted to create tools for starting conversations. Her target audience was evangelical Christians in her home country of Brazil who were largely unfamiliar with theological reasons for caring about farmed animals or other non-human creatures. Her incredible scope of work includes three podcasts, four bible study lessons with a comprehensive booklet, and a collection of artistic materials to accompany the other mediums. She also provided transcripts and descriptions in English, which is the common language of the fellowship, so that her peers and the team at CreatureKind could learn about her work. The booklet is a free resource available online that has over a hundred downloads. The bible study group was held virtually and attracted more than a hundred participants. And, the podcast has drawn thousands of listeners.

Jordan Humphrey, a student at Yale Divinity School, offers a profoundly brooding essay about his time as a caretaker of four egg-laying hens on the school’s campus. In providing for the hens, Jordan found that they also provided him with things he needed, possibly in equal measure. He took refuge from the “existential days” brought on by theological education – days that made him question everything – by observing the hens and reading them poetry. In addition to crafting this essay, Jordan brought attention to the communal responsibility of caring for the hens as creatures loved by God – not just as commodities or units of food production. He built partnerships and consensus around concern for the chickens by involving student groups, faculty and administration members, and parachurch organizations in dialogue about their well-being. He also hosted a seminar for fellow students about animal ethics. He reports that this sustained attention, as well as the vegan meals he hosted, helped raise awareness for hens, which are the most oppressed animals in factory farms. A major accomplishment, thanks to his work, was the creation of a staff position dedicated to tending the hens.

For her project, Andrea Krudy hosted an educational program and plant-based meal at her large church in rural Michigan. The program welcomed nearly twenty participants who were not previously familiar with faith-based reasons for caring about non-human animals. Andrea used her personal experience, having grown up on a family farm, to convey the importance of these ideas. She brought scripture and compelling theological evidence to the forefront so that a majority evangelical audience could connect their understanding of God with God’s concern for all creatures. Participants reported gaining more awareness of the plight of animals that are farmed for food and how the issue connects with other faith issues and concerns of the Church, overall. Andrea’s explorations in the fellowship regarding disabilities liberation and the interconnectedness of injustice have left a lasting impression on her as she challenges those in her community to respond faithfully as stewards of God’s creation.

Camila Mantovani (she/her/hers) is a Brazilian woman, born in Rio de Janeiro and currently residing in Brasilia-DF. She is bisexual, eco-socialist, vegan, evangelical, and is a member of the Baptist Church of the Way. She worked for many years as a teacher. Now, as a political articulator, campaigner, and builder of different evangelical movements, she advocates in defense of human rights and for the liberation of women, LGBTIQIA+ people, and non-human animals. She is currently the coordinator of the Coalition of Evangelicals for the Climate, which works to raise awareness and mobilize churches about the Christian ethical duty to live in harmony with all creation. She believes in standing up as children of God for the protection of forests, seas, rivers, and native peoples. Camila takes care of three beautiful cats named Purpurina, Esther, and Asherah. She is a lover of music, especially Brazilian Funk and Pagode, and she believes that in the Kingdom of God, there is equality and freedom between all created beings.

Jayda Kechour’s project combines her passions for art, plant-based eating, inter-species spiritual connection, and building thriving communities. During the fellowship, Jayda was especially moved by eco-womanism, disabilities liberation, and indigenous wisdom, which helped her discover new aspects of humanity’s responsibility to care for other-than-human and human neighbors alike. Her deep inner work helped spur rich conversations among friends and peers when they gathered once a month over plant-based meals. In all, she hosted more than twenty-five vegan learning meals. She also created over fifty unique drawings that are circulating among (and far beyond) her community at Pepperdine University in Southern California. The art she made and the gatherings she hosted fostered curiosity and complexity around conversations that can often turn people away. Additionally, Jayda worked with the school’s sustainability committee and their community garden to educate students about the relatedness of land, climate change, and the liberation of animals farmed for food.