PLEASE PRAY ... for the people of East Africa. This part of the continent stands on the brink of a catastrophic famine that could impact millions of people. Many children are at risk of starvation if the next rains fail and food does not reach them in time.

This picture was taken during Crossroads November 2005 trip to Southern Kenya. I have informed you in the past about numerous World Vision projects. World Vision is one of several organizations responding with much needed food and care, but additional help is desperately needed. I encourage you to visit their website at www.worldvision.org to find specific ways in which you can make a difference.

World Vision is responding to this great need in places like:

Somalia:
Drought and insecurity has resulted in 2.1 million people in need of food aid.

Kenya:
Continuing drought has resulted in 3.5 million people in need of food aid.

Ethiopia:
Due to the absense of rain, 2.6 million people require immediate humanitarian assistance.

Tanzania:
Due to insufficient rains, approximately 3.7 million people are facing food shortages.

Please pray for those who are ministering and living in these areas. Pray for the church to rise up and be the church. I often talk about rebirth and redistribution. In the book The Irresistable Revolution, Shane Claiborne states, "All through the New Testament, we are told of how rebirth and redistribution are bound up in one another. We can not say we love God and pass by our hungry neighbor."

Stay Off the Paved Road ....craig

DISPLACED ... After 21 years of conflict in southern Sudan, just 2% of the region's children finish primary school - one of the lowest rates in the world.

The situation is even worse for girls. In a population of 6-7m, just 500 girls finish primary school each year. Meysun (right) and Balia (left) are in a camp for those displaced by the war in the capital, Khartoum.

A news source presented the above information recently. Certainly life in Southern Sudan is still very difficult. Infrastructure has been destroyed and all basic services are needed. Education will be extrememly important for the future of the South. With all they have endured, we rejoice to see the smiling faces of children in the classroom. Please continue to pray for and support the precious people of Southern Sudan. ...Trusting Him -craig

I want to share a few thoughts about Easter. Next to Christmas, the Easter holiday receives the greatest fanfare in the Christian tradition. I am not bemoaning the existence of pageants and celebrations, but rather questioning their meaning. What exactly are people celebrating on Easter?

I often get the impression that the church is celebrating ceremony rather than a person. Commercialism aside, I am concerned that the church has trivialized the essence of the cross. I am also weary of those who use the Easter holiday to rouse and entertain. I am even more frightened by the prospect that many people sitting in the pews have prayed a prayer but have never experienced radical life change.
More to come...Craig

The Struggle Continues ... We had the awesome opportunity last fall to stand up for the children of Northern Uganda. All across the nation, young and old gathered in many cities to walk, rally, and sleep outside to draw attention to the terrible plight of these beautiful young gifts from God.

The Invisible Children organization continue to make us aware of ways that we can pray and be involved. Be sure to visit their website at invisiblechildren.com. There is another upcoming nationwide event on April 28, 2007.

stay off the paved road ...craig

I recently discovered a statement that I want to share with you. The quote is from a book called The Irresistable Revolution: living as an ordinary radical. The author states:

We have never really considered ourselves missionaries to the poor. Jesus was not simply a missionary to the poor. He was poor --born a baby refugee from the badlands of Nazareth, wandered the world a homeless rabbi, died the rotten death of insurrectionists and bandits on the cross, executed by an oppresive empire, buried in a borrowed tomb. Jesus was crucified not for helping poor people but for joinng them. That is the Jesus we follow.

Perhaps this statement speaks to the state of the church in the United States of America. We spend more time trying to impress than invest ...we are more consumed with convenience than conviction ... more ready to be recognized than to reclaim. There are poor, hurting, abused, lonely, dejected people all around us that need to be loved by the church. Living a Christlike life in our world should not define us as a radical, yet that is how the "on fire" believer is identified. Let's be Ordinary Radicals.

Stay off the paved road ...Craig