World Vision Note To Friends On FaceBook

By MAD21

World Vision posted this to their friends in FaceBook: Haiti Response: Fast Facts about Haiti (Link will only work if you have a FaceBook account.) They have a few good pictures posted there as well.

Dear Fans,

Haiti has long been a place of desperation -- the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. This catastrophic quake has only made Haiti's problems worse, leaving its people in even greater need. We hope the following facts about Haiti and World Vision relief efforts will promote an understanding of the situation there, and what an effective disaster response must entail.

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Prayer Requests and Stories From Haiti

By MAD21

"Please pray for the victims of the earthquakes, especially those who are still searching through the rubble looking for lost loved ones," said Jack Munday, Director of the Rapid Response Team. "Pray also for our team as they bring hope and comfort in the midst of this disaster."

World Vision Magazine: Haiti: Hope in the Heartbreak. The story of an 18-month old survivor and his family.

World Vision Report: I was really regretting my choice of wardrobe in that moment... by Amelia de Sousa. A UN employee who was at work when the earthquake hit.

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What Can We Do For Haiti?

Updated on Friday, January 15, 2010 at 2:30PM by MAD21

By MAD21

When an earthquake happens in California, it may get our attention, but it's such a normal occurrence, most of us don't give it much thought. However, when a similar earthquake hits an area already suffering from poor infrastructure and appropriate housing codes, it is, to say the least, devastating.

Many of us here feel so helpless. Once the money is donated, then what? If a disaster happens in our own neighborhoods, it's easy to go out and help. Look at the devastation from Hurricane Katrina. People opened their homes to the now homeless, medical personnel, construction workers, and many more jumped in their cars and traveled down to help. It's been years, and we are still trying to help them rebuild. Even with the resources of our country and allies, they are still building, they are still healing. What is this going to mean for a country that doesn't have the same resources? For a city who has lost almost everything, and so many of it's citizens?

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Prescription for Hope, Part 2

By MAD21

A few weeks ago I posted Part 1 of my interview with Ashley Wagoner from Prescription for Hope, Samaritan's Purse. A wonderful organization that works with people all around the world to help those affected by and infected with AIDS/HIV. They bring them health care, educational programs, and the love and knowledge of Jesus Christ. As promised, here is Part 2 of this series. Thanks again to Ashley and her team for taking the time to talk with us about their experiences.

Prescription For Hope

MAD21: In the communities around the world where PFH ministers to people who suffer from HIV/AIDS, what is the general view of life itself? What kind of value do they place on an individual’s life? Since so many of the people who are infected are outcast from their communities, does anyone care if they live or die?

Ashley: The outlook on life differs, and is dependent on each country where we work. We do come across all sorts of stigmas, mainly due to lack of knowledge about the disease. For example, in many areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, there is a prevailing myth that AIDS is a curse from the ancestral gods. Those who have AIDS are then quarantined, and left to live out their lives in isolation, without true knowledge of the disease. Becoming HIV-positive in these societies can be a lot like receiving a death sentence.

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Prescription for Hope, Part 1

By MAD21

A few months ago, I posted an awesome interview I had with Stacey Wilson from Samaritan's Purse's Operation Christmas Child. I was recently blessed with another opportunity to interview someone from a different group within Samaritan's Purse called, Prescription for Hope. I was less familiar with this group so when I had the chance to talk with them, I was happy to do so if anything to learn more about it myself.

Thanks so much to Ashley Wagoner and everyone else at Prescription for Hope who may have helped put these answers together. I pray they will be richly blessed for taking the time to talk with us.

This interview will be a 2-part series. I hope you enjoy it, but mostly I pray that you learn something, and that it will encourage you to act. To love the "untouchables" as has God has loved us.

Prescription For Hope

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