The great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took

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• The great crowd that had come to the festival
  heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they
  took branches of palm trees and went out to meet
  him, shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who
  comes in the name of the Lord  the King of
  Israel!" (John 1212-13)
• Prepared by Barbara Hipple, Stewardship of
  Creation Enabler,
• Homestead Presbytery

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The Eco-Palm journey begins in Guatemala (and
Chiapas)
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Countless acres slashed and burned for pasture
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Psalm 10733-38 He turns a desert into pools
of water, a parched land into a spring of water.
And there he lets the hungry live, and they
establish a town to live in they sow fields, and
plant vineyards, and get a fruitful y
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Maya Biosphere Reserve

• 1.6 million acres set aside for preservation
• Lease rights granted to indigenous Maya
  communities
• Rainforest Alliance
• certifies sustainable
• forestry operations
• Communities protect
• the forest

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Psalm 107 33-38

• He turns a desert into pools of water, a
  parched land into spring of water. And there he
  lets the hungry live, and they establish a town
  to live in

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Carmelita Cooperative in Guatemala
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US AID-financed toilets in Carmelita
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Local church
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The community school
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First day of a new semester
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Psalm 107 33-38

• they sow fields, and plant vineyards, and get a
  fruitful yield. By his blessing they multiply
  greatly, and he does not let their (palms)
  decrease.

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• Into the forest

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• Leaving the terminal leaf and enough fronds for
  the plant to continue growing

• Xatero harvesting the palms sustainably

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• Only high quality palms are harvested

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• A second non-timber
• product harvested
• sustainably from the
• forest-- chicle

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• sorting the palms
• for quality and size

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Drying the palms
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Bundling for shipment
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Marking the bundles by community
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Palms stored temporarily
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Palms on the road to cold storagein the city
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Cold storage funded by Guatemalas Ministry of
Agriculture
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Loading into the truck for shipment to
Continental Floral Greens in Texas
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• Tags
• identifying
• product as
• Eco-Palms

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From Guatemala and Mexico to your church for
Palm Sunday
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What difference does your purchase make?

• Allows indigenous impoverished communities to
  remain in the forest
• Provides for social needs secondary school
  scholarships or health care
• Protects the rainforest
• Provides alternatives to out-migration to United
  States

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Recognition certificates and a thank-you gift
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Guatemalan appreciation
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MUCHAS GRACIAS!!(THANK YOU!!)
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• A partnership between
• Governments of Guatemala and Mexico
• Indigenous communities
• Rainforest Alliance / Pronatura
• University of Minnesota
• Continental Floral Greens
• Presbyterian, Lutheran, Catholic, Episcopalian
  and other churches

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• For more information, and to order, visit
  www.pcusa.org/palms
• For additional information, visit the University
  of Minnesotas website www.cinram.umn.edu