Yanking back the balance one click at a time!!!
Encouraging stories of men/women of faith and what they are doing about a dire situation in Africa that is postiviely effecting how Africa views America!!! Again stories that are largely missed in mainstream media. However, an exception will be noted below. Credit must go where credit is due and below you will find a link to a documentary out of Hollywood that apparently is a must see. My sister and brother in law told me about it and I found a very positive review on the movie down below. I have yet to see it myself, though. But my wife and I are going to put it on our next movie to rent list and are looking forward to seeing it.
South/New Sudan and Northern Uganda
Rev Sam Childers
One of two recent interviews that inspired me to make this email- Interview with a Machine Gun Preacher Literally!!!! Click on above link then scroll down to 03-27-2008 and click listen. 2nd Interview that inspired this email scroll down to Zambia.
Missionary Will Go to Jail before Paying Fine- "The FAA refused to retract its fine charged to the missionary for transporting motor oil, WD-40 and diesel treatment, which were to be used to run a generator that would power the showing of The Jesus Film."
WEB EXTRA: Saving Sudan's Children.- "Watch this video, which orginally aired in 2005 on Christian World News. WARNING! This story has disturbing images and should not be viewed by children."
MSNBC Interview of Sam Childers- "Now, supported by contributions from the American evangelical community, he goes on military-style rescue missions for abducted children. He even joins with local African militias to hunt Kony down."
Boyerspond-"The Sudanese staff at the Children's Village primarily are orphans and widows themselves. We've found that no one understands the needs of our children better than those who have shared their experiences."
Orphans of War video library
Angels of East Africa- "built the first playground in South Sudan."
US pastor rescues Uganda Children- "Sam Childers remembers his first visit to the region, seeing a boy who had been killed by a landmine. He said, "As I stood over the child, I cried and wept and I told the Lord Jesus, I'll do whatever I can do to help these people."
Darfur
John Dau
God Grew Tired of Us- National Geogrpahic Documentary. Featuring refugee John Dau and others. (Angela, I think this is the one you were telling me about.)
Review of "God Grew Tired of Us"- "Since Christians are usually the first ones to complain and get indignant over all of the "junk" coming out of Hollywood, I thought it would be a nice change to give some good news. When a film boasts Brad Pitt and Dermot Mulroney as executive producers and Nicole Kidman as the narrator, the eyebrows of the pious naysayers are sure to be raised. I must admit that I was a bit skeptical myself as the opening credits of God Grew Tired of Us began to roll, but by the middle of the film, I was completely in awe of what I was watching. In an effort to tell the stories of the "lost boys" of Sudan, these Hollywood high-rollers have given the world a great glimpse into the cultural mandate of Genesis 1 and the Great Commission of Matthew 28."-Eric Rauch...the Director of Communications for American Vision.
Interview with John Dau- For video of this interview click here.
Church of the Week- Elon Baptist church honoured for support of Darfur.
Rwanda
Immaculee Ilibgiza
Immaculee Ilibgiza: The Real Life of a Refugee (part 1)- "When she got to the pastor's home, he hid her in a tiny bathroom tucked away in his bedroom. By the end of the day, there were six other women clinging to one another on the cold bathroom floor."
Immaculee Ilibgiza: The Real Life of a Refugee (part 2)- "How did Immaculee not hate the people who killed her family?"
Hotel Rwanda- Official web site of movie. Prepare to be disturbed.
Zambia/Namibia
Benedict and Kathleen Schwartz
2nd interview that inspired this email- Click on link to left and scroll down to 03-17-08 and 03-18-2008 entitled Village of Hope click on 03-17-2008 first. "In 2001, Christian businessman Benedict Schwartz heard the call to begin creating orphan villages in Africa. God moved mightily, and soon the Children of Zion Village was built in Namibia. Today on the broadcast, Benedict and his wife, Kathleen, talk to Dennis Rainey about their work and ministry in southwest Africa. Find out how your church or business can join in God's effort to save the orphans around the world."
One Church, One Orphanage- "Africa: Many churches budgets include funds for missionaries, and many individual Christians donate to large international relief agencies-but one church decided to do more....(30 families in the church of 650 have adopted children)" But now, over hundred children have been adopted by this church. All starting with one woman in the church who had adopted 9 herself according to the most recent interview above.
All Kids Can Learn International- "AKCLI is a founding member of the Voice of the Orphans Coalition. The coalition was organized in 2006 by Family Life Ministries, Focus on the Family and Shaohannah's Hope....In 2006 we purchased a 230-acre farm in Zambia, and are planning to build children's villages there for 200 children."
2 Videos concerning orphans that AKCLI serves.
Partners Worldwide- "Christian Business People Transforming Lives". Check out this quick fact sheet they have produced. This is indeed encouraging though in its beginnings. They have partnered with AKCLI.
Cry of the Orphan
Focus on the Family/Family Life Ministries/Supporters
Cry of the Orphan- "The Cry of the Orphan campaign represents a group of Christian organizations and churches that are joining voices to make caring for every orphan a reality."-Cry of the Orphan is an alliance of Focus on the Family, FamilyLife and Shaohannah's Hope.
A Vision for Church Orphans Ministries -Commercial found on GodTube.
Christian Alliance For Orphans announces 4th annual summit- "This annual gathering presents an opportunity for believers to unite their voices in speaking up for those who have no voice, and their passions in motivating other believers to ask God how they might engage in the lives of orphans around the world. Churches as well as other interested individuals are encouraged to attend. Main session speakers at Summit IV include: Jedd Medefind, Special Assistant to President George W. Bush & Deputy Director of the White House Faith-Based Initiative; John Fuller, of "Focus on the Family" Radio and VP of their Audio & New Media Division; Kay Warren, author and wife of Pastor Rick Warren, and Executive Director of Saddleback's HIV Initiative; Pastor Bob Coy, Sr. of host church Calvary Chapel, Ft. Lauderdale; Howard Dayton, co-founder of Crown Financial Ministries; and Dennis Rainey, best-selling author, president and co-founder of Family Life and host of "Family Life Today" radio program."
Christian Alliance For Orphans- "Official web site of the Summit above."
Letter from White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives sent to Cry of the Orphan.
PEPFAR
George W. Bush
PEPFAR- "The five-year, $15-billion plan, the largest commitment ever to combat a single disease..." But is now being highjacked claiming some Republicans in congress "They object to new proposals by Democrats that would end requirements to fund abstinence education programs, give greater funding access to family planning groups, like Planned Parenthood that promote or provide abortions, and would drop the requirement that groups getting money must take a stand against legalized prostitution and human trafficking. Some argue legalizing prostitution would slow the spread of AIDS. With broad bi-partisan support for the fight against AIDS, insiders are hopeful a compromise will be reached." It seems to me here an argument can be made for a need for Americans to be working hard in America to bring attention to these social ills within our society so that we don't spread our ills globally.
4th Annual Report 2008- (The power of partnerships) "it is the first large-scale effort to tackle a chronic disease in the developing world...The success of the Emergency Plan is firmly rooted in partnerships between the American people and the people of the countries in which we are privileged to serve — governments, non-governmental organizations including faith- and community-based organizations, and the private sector. Together, we are building systems and empowering individuals, communities and nations to tackle HIV/AIDS. And in just four years, it is working." Stats galore...
Helping Africa: Bush's Greatest Legacy?- Article and video to click on. This is where I got the above quote from concerning the Democrats attempting to high-jack PEPFAR.
Case study of the campaigns leading to The Presidents' Ermergency Plan for Aides Relief (PEPFAR)- "While the Presidents's announcement came at a suprise to many, this fundamental policy change did NOT occur in a vacuum...unanticipated events and partnerships played a significant role in leveraging Global HIV/AIDS. The emergence of evangelical Christian groups in HIV/AIDS advocacy was critical and particularly powerful with the Bush Administration and the Republican-led congress." Scroll down to page 6 of the report titled "Evangelical Christian Groups"..."According to GAAN, the call from conservative Christians for a greater US response and commitment to providing ARV treatment was the "decisive civil society voice on Global Aides issues and...effectively ended political opposition to the expansion of these programs.""- This case study presents many other factors besides just the evangelical christians like the UN, Clinton and Gore but this email is more focused on what the media usually misses namely that Bush, Republicans and Evangelicals are involved, also. Not here to report what most already know but rather to report some missing gaps of most media groups.
White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Director Jay Hein to Lead Delegation to Africa- "The White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) today announced that Director Jay Hein will lead a delegation to Rwanda and Zambia from March 30 to April 5, 2008...Pastor Rick Warren and President Kagame will be among the featured speakers...Both conferences will explore best practices and train indigenous faith and community organizations to partner with the U.S. to combat disease and spur economic growth...During his visit, President Bush highlighted the importance of faith-based and community organizations to help the people of Africa deal with the health crises and development issues."
Bush of Africa- "Mr. Bush hasn't gotten much credit for this among the American public, but, as a BBC interviewer noted yesterday, his approval rating in Africa is in the 80% range, which is astonishingly high. The numbers are borne out by the Pew Global Attitudes survey. Critics of Mr. Bush seize on the low numbers in that survey for people's opinion of America in the Europe or in parts of the Arab world. But a 2007 Pew survey found 88% of those in the Ivory Coast view America favorably, 87% of those in Kenya, 80% of those in Ghana, and 79% of those in Mali. These numbers top the Pew charts."
Pew Global Attitudes Project- Latest report as of as of 06-27-2007 that was used in above article. 129 page document with many stats of interest in other subject to!!! But those concerning the subject of Africa and to save you some time check out the portion entitled Anti-Americanism: Deeper but not Wider on page 3, U.S. Remains Popular in Africa on page 13, and Bush Ratings Sag on page 61 but go to the last paragraph of that section on page 63 just before Putin Also Viewed Skeptically. There were some interesting survey questions that partain to this subject. They are: Please tell me if you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable....opinion of the US and check out Africas' opinion on page 88, Please tell me if you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable....opinion of Americans and Africas' opinion on page 89, In making international policy decisions... and Africas' opinion on page 97. Actually there is to much to report. Just check out the surveys from pg 83 to 129 for yourself!!!! This report, also reports what everybody knows namely that Bush is not popular in most countries nor is the US but again I am here just to fill in a gap that is missing in most media groups namely Africa's view of the US and Bush.
Lastly, some added comments about The Church at work
The Bride of Christ may not be perfect but beautiful. Some may be at work in their own homes. Some have been enabled to branch out to their communities. Some have been enabled to branch out to her own nation. Some have been enabled to branch out to other nations. And yes some have even branched out into space. Some may be this and that in almost all areas of human life. Some may be the eyes and some the hands and some the feet but one thing is for sure that when the Body of Christ is seen as a whole she is beautiful even though she is not perfect. But she is certainly balanced as a whole though not individually but may I ask: Was it ever God's intention for individuals alone to be looked at as the whole?
"For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked. That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular."-1 Corinthians 12:12-27.
An attachment to this email is a song from Derek Webb of an artistic expression of Christ love for the church called "The Church". One of my favorite christian singers!!! Lyrics to the song are here off of the album She Must and Shall Go Free-"After ten years in a Christian band, backstage in the music industry and in the hallways of church buildings across America, my attention as a songwriter has turned to a fresh affection for the Church. It seems we know all too little of who She is, how She should dress, or what She was made for. I have found that Scripture is provocative when it comes to these issues and so these songs are not for the faint of heart. Truth is, God would rather die than be without Her, and She is both wretched and radiant. I'm convinced that there is only one righteousness suitable for Jesus's bride, and He is jealous for Her love. For the believer, truth is freedom. Even truth that is hard to hear. May these songs stir all of us to see, as if for the first time, that we have (still) a great need for a Savior, and a great Savior for our need.— God bless, derek
One of my favorite lines of lyric is from this album.
"The truth is never sexy
So it's not an easy sell
You can dress her like the culture
But she'll shock 'em just as well"-Nobody Loves Me
