Sometimes, it’s hard to find Jesus. When all the news seems to talk about are the terrible things going on in the world it really begins to seem like maybe Jesus isn’t doing much here. Jesus doesn’t tend to seek the spotlight, He never really did. This can make Him very difficult to find. The voice God uses is still and small; His hands and feet are often the hands and feet of the humble and meek.
Just because He is hard to find doesn’t mean Jesus isn’t here working, it just means we’re not looking in the right places.
(Quick preface: World Vision has a Caregiver program that trains local individuals in typically rural communities to care for their neighbors with HIV/AIDS. You can help equip these Caregivers by signing up your church or group to volunteer to assemble the kits they use to do their work.)
This is a story about Shortie, but you don’t have to look hard to see Jesus.
If anyone is looking for a different perspective than the one the main stream media is offering on Operation Pillar of Cloud – the current operation by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) in Gaza – may I suggest to you English documentary maker Harry Fear, he is broadcasting from central Gaza City. Harry Fear has a UStream channel that runs almost constantly, 24 hours a day. Even while he’s asleep. When the picture is dark the mic is still on, and you can hear the drones, the ambulance sirens, the fighter jets, the bombers, and the bombs.
When Fear is on the updates are in real time, and as unbiased as they can be considering his bed is being shaken by the bombs the IDF drops. You can also follow him @HarryFear. It’s the “view” of the other side, and no matter what you believe, the perspective of the other side is always an important one.
So, Movember or No-Shave-November (the month where men and the occasional lady grow their manliest mustache to raise awareness for manly diseases like prostate cancer) is drawing to a close. While I am a big time Hemingway fan, I am not so fond of the mustache itself. I am quite fond of helping children though. When I see an opportunity to rid the world of a mustache (or 5), and help children that have been orphaned during Syria’s awful civil war I seize it with both hands.
A campaign has been started on Razoo to support a fund that cares for children who have been orphaned in Syria during this ever-worsening civil war. It’s 5 men in 5 different cities each trying to raise at least $1,200 with end goal being to raise to $6000 – the amount it takes to sponsor 10 orphans in Syria. From what I can tell, as each “competitor” reaches his goal they shave their mustache. Whoever gets there first, or raises the most, gets bragging rights.
Help save these handsome men from a mustachey fate. Help 10 children avoid something worse.
Sorry for the delay, technical difficulties. ..moving right a long:
Today is World Food Day. Traditionally, this blog focuses on international issues and crises. Today, because here in the US it’s election season, I’m going to focus on the need at home. 1 in 6 Americans qualifies as “poor”. 1 in 5 of those Americans is a child that struggles with hunger. 16.1 million children in America don’t get enough to eat. 62% of American teachers see kids regularly come to school hungry because they don’t get enough to eat at home. With the ever widening income gap – the rich getting richer, and the poor getting poorer – this problem isn’t going away. It’s not like there is a lack of resources and food in America, the average American family throws away $1,600 worth of food in a year. To tackle the problem of hunger in America Share Our Strength, a non-profit determined to end childhood hunger in America, has two big campaigns: No Kid Hungry and Cooking Matters
No Kid Hungry works with schools, government officials, and families to break down the barriers that come between children and regular nutritious meals. They do this by connecting low-income families to food programs in their area, as well as connecting children with school breakfasts and summer meals.
Through its Cooking Matters program Share Our Strength seeks to educate families on how they can make healthy, tasty meals at home for less than a meal from McDonald’s Dollar Menu. With the help of volunteer culinary and nutrition experts, Cooking Matters course participants learn how to select nutritious and low-cost ingredients and prepare them in ways that provide the best nourishment possible to their families. Cooking Matters has a educational program called “Shopping Matters” that travels the country providing free guided grocery store tours that teach key food shopping skills like buying fruits and vegetables on a budget, comparing unit prices, reading food labels, and identifying whole grain foods.Tours are facilitated by a wide range of local volunteers who work as dietitians, community nutrition educators, culinary professionals, Extension agents, or staff of community agencies serving families in need.
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Finally, Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign works to shine a national spotlight on the crisis of childhood hunger in America, creating a powerful movement of individuals committed to bold action. The issue of hunger is an “out of sight, out of mind”-type issue for many Americans. While it’s believable, but rarely acknowledged, that malnutrition is crippling generation after generation of children around the world, when you hear it’s in your own backyard people seem stunned and amazed. So, advocacy & education play no small part in No Kid Hungry’s campaign. To learn more about the problem here in the US please visit their website.
Look forward to seeing specific page highlights and ways to get involved here in the near future. Again, sorry for the delay.
He holds his son up, the proud father of 28 days. He wants us to see the boy before we leave, though the still-so-small baby seems only to want to go back to the nap he was clearly interrupted from. Like all the fathers in this village, his hope for his son is to get an education. But unlike so many of the fathers we’ve met, this father wants his son to have the life he’s had.
This is a perfect example of why I love World Vision so much. This is the kind of humanitarianism I'm happy to support. Now, if they could just figure out how to foster this kind of environment in the US.
Today is World Humanitarian Day, it’s a day recognize those who face danger and adversity in order to help others. The day was designated by the General Assembly to coincide with the anniversary of the 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, which killed 22 UN staff. Everyday, all over the world humanitarian workers devote themselves to helping others despite the sacrifices this often requires them to make. People risk their comfort, their health, their reputations, and many times their lives to help those in need.
The theme for this years World Humanitarian Day is “I Was Here”. The idea is to honor those who have, and continue to sacrifice for common good by sending out a unified message of hope through both word and action. The UN wants to send the biggest social media message ever, a message of hope from 1 billion people who have added their name and pledge to do one good act today in recognition of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, and those who still carry on their noble mission by rushing assistance to those who are suffering. To play a part in this big even just add your voice to the millions of people around the world who also pledge to do something good, somewhere, for someone else. Even if you miss the deadline, you can still honor international humanitarians by carrying on their hope and mission of a better world for all people everywhere, no matter their location, beliefs, sex, age, or status.
Here is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for World Humanitarian Day:
Secretary-General’s Message for 2012
This year’s World Humanitarian Day presents an historic opportunity to bring together one billion people from around the world to advance a powerful and proactive idea: People Helping People.
That is the best way to honour the many fallen aid workers we mourn today, and to celebrate the efforts of others who carry on their noble mission by rushing assistance to those who are suffering.
The spirit of solidarity that animates these courageous efforts drives our commemoration of World Humanitarian Day.
I have seen that spirit in my travels around the world, as I meet with relief workers who leave the comforts of their own homes to aid others in need.
I also saw that spirit earlier this month when I met Beyoncé Knowles, the superstar who is donating her song, “I Was Here,” to our global campaign promoting action for a better world.
Millions of people have already gone to our website to register their support and share their actions. From international efforts to avert a hunger crisis in West Africa to urgent assistance to civilians in Syria to a single good deed from one neighbour to the next, the spirit of People Helping People improves conditions for all.
Let us give meaning to World Humanitarian Day by registering acts of good on the website:www.whd‑iwashere.org. Individual actions may seem small, but collectively they will reverberate around the world, generating unstoppable momentum for a better future.
Nabeel Rajab, a man I respect and admire very much, who is a symbol and hero to many Bahrainis was dealt an unexpectedly large sentence today – 3 years in prison- for attending and instigating illegal gatherings. Rajab, who is already serving a three-month sentence for posting anti-government comments on Twitter, was in court for the verdict. He is president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights.
Bahrain has experienced near daily protests since February 2011 following an uprising by the kingdom’s Shiite majority seeking greater political rights from the Western-backed Sunni monarchy. At least 50 people have died in the unrest and hundreds have been detained, including prominent rights activists and Shiite opposition leaders.
Rajab’s arrest will certainly motivate even more “illegal” gatherings. Hopefully, the excessive sentence of such a prominent human rights advocate will give western politicians the proof they need that “…Bahrain’s rulers are far more comfortable with harsh repression than with the reforms King Hamad keeps promising,” as Joe Stork, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa division said.
I can almost hear the enraged chant of “Down, Down Hamad” now.
