February 23, 2008
· Filed under Organizations, Social Justice, Teaching
February 1 was the deadline for this year’s Invisible Children fund raising campaign. Our Schools for Schools club at my school ended up raising over 5,500 dollars! We did so through 2 car washes, numerous Chick-Fil-A sales on campus, a change-for-change contest amongst the grades, and a requirement for club members to fill a plastic bottle full of change. I hope and pray this money can be used in a fruitful way for the Ugandan children who attend the Awere school.
What’s even more encouraging is the recent peace talks that have been happening between the Ugandan government and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA is the rebel group responsible for the perpetuation of this 20 year civil war that has victimized so many Ugandan citizens and stolen countless children and forced them to be soldiers. Read the BBC article here to learn about the talks that have been happening in just the past few days.
November 9, 2007
· Filed under Articles, Organizations, Social Justice, The Presidential Election
The Just $6 Campaign has a great idea to allow voters to regain the power, and take it away from the private interest groups who end up “buying” our elected officials. Here’s an article about the nonpartisan movement:
Just $6 Campaign Announces Support for Fair Elections Now Act
Nonpartisan Organization Says Bill Upholds Free Speech
Concord, NH. – Americans for Campaign Reform (ACR), who launched the “Just $6” grassroots movement for public funding, has announced its support for the Fair Elections Now Act that proposes voluntary public funding for all Senate races. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) introduced the bipartisan legislation as a way to restore public confidence in the election process.
The legislation would create a voluntary system through which participating Senate candidates––those who establish their credibility by collecting enough qualifying contributions and who then pledge not to accept private contributions ––would receive public funds for primary and general elections. Participants would also be eligible for free media vouchers and discounted commercial advertising rates.
John Rauh, ACR’s founder and president, believes the bill is a well-crafted and common sense approach to returning control of our national agenda to voters. “Imagine how much stronger our democracy will be when we eliminate the influence of big money on our government. It’s high time that we fix the most fundamental flaw in the way we pick our leaders and enact voluntary public funding,” Rauh said.
Read the rest of the article on the Just $6 website.
September 27, 2007
· Filed under God, Organizations, Social Justice, Teaching
An official Invisible Children club has been born at my school and I am the sponsor. Last year, after Chad and I saw the documentary and heard about the program Schools for Schools, I immediately thought that our school should and could get involved. The same week Chad and I saw it, there was another showing in the area where many of my students were also able to view the documentary. I spoke with a couple of them at the time who also felt like this was an effort they would like to be involved with. I made a verbal commitment last year to a student, and we have officially launched! Tomorrow is our first fund-raising event–selling Chick-Fil-A chicken biscuits and Martinelli apple juice. This will be one of many events we organize this year to raise money for our school in Uganda. It has been really heart-warming for me to see the students excited about this project and their desire to show God’s love to war-stricken Uganda. The school that we have been assigned to is called the Awere Secondary School. Money that we raise will go towards their school supplies and books. I will write more about events as they pass this year. This is the first time I’ve ever been a “club sponsor,” and I am very thrilled to be one for this very worthwhile effort.
Here is my original post that I wrote after seeing the documentary last May
August 31, 2007
· Filed under God, Organizations, Social Justice
Chad and I had the opportunity to hear Gary Haugen, the President of International Justice Mission, speak the other night. Gary Haugen is somewhat of a thought mentor to Chad, and has served as a role model as Chad pursues his dream of practicing law so he can be an agent of bringing God’s justice to the world.
Gary honed in on a struggle that I’ve often felt: feeling overwhelmed and helpless by the corruption and sin in the world and not knowing if you as an individual can really make much difference. Gary reminded us of the story of when Jesus fed the four thousand with only a few loaves of bread and fish. When Jesus first commented on the need of the people, the disciples were confounded and said, “how can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness.?” (Mark 8:4) Jesus asks for them to give Him what they have, and what the disciples offered in faith was multiplied by Jesus. In that same vein, even though we may have only very little to offer God, in terms of our capabilities, resources, and talents, if we offer what we do have in obedience, He is able to multiply and bring a much greater result. It’s a natural response to see the need of the world and respond similarly to the disciples; “how can one all meet the needs of these people?” The task seems too great, but within the covenant with God, we are no longer dealing with the natural, but rather the supernatural, and He is able to multiply what we hand over to Him. As for the here and now, we must be faithful in bringing our good works to God. We cannot allow a sense of “I can’t make a difference”, be our truth. Followers of Christ have an awesome responsibility to be ambassadors of God’s love and compassion to a world of hurt, broken people. Although it seems uncanny, God chose His church to carry on His ministry until the time when He returns. The one who called us is faithful and will show up in our efforts to see His Kingdom come and will be done.
July 9, 2007
· Filed under Organizations, Social Justice
I found about this organization, No More Victims, after reading about how it is providing a young Iraqi war victim with prosthetic legs. Read the article about the girl here from Yahoo News. How wonderful that it seeks to help war victims and to also encourage positive, peaceful relations between Iraqis and Americans.
May 20, 2007
· Filed under God, Organizations, Social Justice
Another way to do good….supporting the organization, Children of the Nations. Not only can you send money and support children, but if you have the opportunity you can spend a summer serving abroad or even go on staff for this organization.
It’s encouraging to see God working through organizations such as these. May the children and those most vulnerable be kept safe and given the opportunity to thrive.
May 10, 2007
· Filed under Organizations, Social Justice
Chad and I recently went to a local coffee house to view the documentary, Invisible Children. It was created by three young American guys in their twenties who went to Africa “looking for a story.” What they decided to focus on is the war in Uganda, which has been raging for almost twenty years. As a consquence of such a monumental national crisis, many children are left orphaned and are then vulnerable to being abducted by rebel army forces (the Lord’s Resistance Army) and forced to be a soldier. Other children who are not captured live in fear of being captured.
Since the Invisible Children has come out, a whole movement has emerged. They recently tried to put pressure on our government to take punitive action against the government of Uganda by holding a “sleep-in” in various American cities. For one night, many slept outside under cardboard in order to experience what it may feel like to be displaced and to make a statement to the government that we must do all we can to ensure this crisis ends soon.
Check out the website to see what else they are doing to help restore the broken country of Uganda.
March 19, 2007
· Filed under Organizations, Social Justice
This organization provides corrective surgeries for children who have cleft lips and whose families cannot afford to pay for the surgery themselves. It is actually a relatively easy surgery that only lasts about 45 minutes, but makes such an enormous difference to a child and the way they experience life.
www.smiletrain.org
February 28, 2007
· Filed under Organizations, Social Justice
I was stunned to learn that there are more slaves today than there have ever been in the past. 27 million people are enslaved today. Did you know that? The region where there are the most slaves is in South Asia, in the countries of Nepal, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.
This organization is a non-profit that works to raise awareness, conduct research to identify areas where people are enslaving others, and raises money, and mobilize people to take action to stop this inhumane practice.
http://www.freetheslaves.net/
