Christians in Baghdad...

On the video blog Alive in Baghdad, the most current piece is part of an interview with Father Hani Essa, a Christian priest. It is an extremley thoughtful piece that is really worth viewing. I found it interesting...you can hear the gunshots outside of his church as the interview progresses!

He begins by saying that his society has become very complicated "…now things are so mingled, you cannot distinguish between your enemies and your friends. This affects the whole society, whether Muslims or Christians."

I would love to hear what you think of his final comments about the strife within Iraq, and the forces from outside - "In a garden, you can see a lot of flowers, with different colors, and the more colors in the garden the more beautiful it is. Our nation has many colors and beautiful flowers. But I don’t think flowers fight one another saying, “I am better and more beautiful than you.”

Souper Bowl Time!

Brace yourselves sports fans....the SOUPER BOWL is almost upon us.

Yes the Souper Bowl of Caring! It is a youth-led, grassroots movement of caring, often young people joining together to fight hunger and poverty in their communities. It is an ideal way to engage communities of all faiths in the fight against hunger and poverty.

Each year, on or near NFL Super Bowl Sunday, Presbyterian churches join others in their communities asking their members to donate money or cans of food to those in need. That’s not all- on the Saturday before the big game- your students can participate in a Service Blitz, doing volunteer work within your communities.

Since 1990, $33 million has been raised for charities across the country. Last year in the Plains and Peaks Presbytery the youth in 10 churches collected over $1600, collected 600+ and had over 120 service blitz hours.

If you need more information- please contact me!