Episcopul Longhin – un sfint roman in viata din Ucraina

Episcopul Longhin este un preot ortodox roman din Ucraina. Parintele este staret al unei manastiri intemeiata de el insusi, Manastirea Banceni, aflata in Ținutul Herța. Localitatea Banceni a facut parte până nu demult, din Principatul Moldovei. Episcopul Longhin, sau Parintele Mihail Jar, creste peste 400 de copii, si nu doar …atât! Acest reportaj este un portret al unui mare crestin si roman.

What Evangelicals Could Learn from Pope Francis

(source of picture, here)

In an article written for Christianity Today, Ed Stetzer suggests that Evangelicals could learn at least three things from Pope Francis:

First, the World Notices a Faith that Cares for the Poor.

Second, the World Recognizes Humility.

Third, the World Recognizes Honesty.

The Pope of the Poor Strikes Again

The Pope kisses the feet of residents of a shelter for drug users (CNS)

VATICAN CITY, Dec 12 (Reuters) – Pope Francis said in the first peace message of his pontificate that huge salaries and bonuses are symptoms of an economy based on greed and inequality and called again for nations to narrow the wealth gap.

In his message for the Roman Catholic Church’s World Day of Peace, marked around the world on Jan. 1, he also called for sharing of wealth and for nations to shrink the gap between rich and poor, more of whom are getting only “crumbs”.

“The grave financial and economic crises of the present time … have pushed man to seek satisfaction, happiness and security in consumption and earnings out of all proportion to the principles of a sound economy,” he said.

“The succession of economic crises should lead to a timely rethinking of our models of economic development and to a change in lifestyles,” he said.

Seeds of Hope

Centenar Maica Tereza de Calcutta

Maica Tereza de Calcutta (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) s-a nascut acum 100 de ani la Skopje, Macedonia.

Cititi AICI o scurta prezentare a vietii ei pe blogul Proiectului Sf. Nicolae.

Protestant Delegation Visits Ravaged Kyrgyzstan

The Primary Gift is Love

M o s c o w — A sense of unity and love between the Protestant believers of Kyrgyzstan was the overriding impression made on a Russian, three-man/woman reporter team during its three-day visit to that strife-torn country. “The true God unites;” the Protestants concluded. After their return to Moscow on 27 June, they reported: Despite all the destruction the citizens of southern Kyrgyzstan are presently forced to endure, “the primary gift that God has presented to his children in this situation is love.” Though the Baptist Union of Kyrgyzstan does not belong to international Baptist agencies such as the “Baptist World Alliance” (BWA), it naturally expressed great gratitude for the monetary gifts brought by the team of reporters. Their gift included funds from the BWA and European Baptist Federation as well as from the Baptist Unions of Germany and Russia.

Baptist home for the aged in Belarus officially dedicated

God Finishes What He Starts

Baptist home for the aged in Belarus officially dedicated

M o s c o w / K o b r i n – No government or Orthodox dignitaries were present on 26 June – but 52 guests from Missouri/USA were – as hundreds of Kobrin Baptists celebrated the opening of Belarus’ first privately-run home for the aged. Most of the costs for the magnificent “Baptist House of Mercy” with one- and two-bed rooms for 54 residents were footed by them – supporters of a network of Baptist retirement homes in Missouri. Amazingly, the reconstructed and enlarged building on the grounds of the Baptist-owned “Zhemchuzhinka” (Little Pearl) children’s camp at Imenin just north of Kobrin cost no more than $500.000 US – excluding material gifts mostly from West European sources.

First-ever summit of religious leaders on HIV

The first-ever Summit of High Level Religious Leaders on HIV and AIDS will be held in Den Dolder, Netherlands, from 22-23 March 2010. It aims to generate greater involvement from religious leaders of many of the world’s faiths in the global response to the pandemic.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) will be represented at the summit by two of its presidents – Abune Paulos, patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Rev. Dr Ofelia Ortega Suárez of the Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba – as well as by its general secretary, the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

Largest Private Cash Gift in World Vision History

By Rich Stearns, President of World Vision US

The same week as the tragic deaths of our colleagues in Pakistan, World Vision had another unprecedented event in our 60-year history.

We received a $35 million gift commitment from a private donor – the biggest single gift ever given to us. This is a remarkable blessing which God has provided through the generosity of a couple who have taken their stewardship seriously.

Campanie: Ai citit o carte? Da-o mai departe!

“Ai citit o carte? Da-o mai departe!” – Campanie de strangere de carti desfasurata de biroul din Iasi al WVR, in luna martie. Daca ai carti pentru copii de care nu mai ai nevoie, te asteptam in strada Armeana nr. 4 sau la tel. 0232 233 906
Toate cartile stranse vor fi donate bibliotecii din comuna Golaiesti.

A Tribute to our Fallen World Vision Colleagues in Pakistan

Jeff Hall with World Vision’s Middle East and Eastern Europe advocacy team pays tribute to our fallen colleagues in Pakistan.

ACT – Churches Launch Major Humanitarian Alliance

The ACT Alliance, bringing together over 100 church-backed relief and development organizations worldwide, has been formally launched on 24 March with celebrations in Geneva and around the world.

The new ACT Alliance is one of the world’s largest humanitarian bodies working in 125 countries with a combined budget of 1.5 billion US dollars. It provides emergency food aid, shelter, water and sanitation facilities, and poverty reduction programmes in the world’s poorest countries.

Pir Wadhai – Terminal Life – An Extraordinary Documentary

Half the population of Pir Wadhai, Pakistan’s busiest open air bus terminal, is under 15.  Eighty percent have been working since they were three, or younger.

World Vision Training Midwives in Afghanistan

You absolutely have to watch this. My WV colleague John Schenk, who created this short documentary, is a real artist.

Letter to an Unknown Terrorist

March 11, 2010

To whom it may concern,
On March 10, you killed my friend Ahmed. You killed him, and you killed 5 others. You came into our office, our office, decorated with the happy colors of a kindergarten, and defiled it with the dark colors of your trade.
What was it that sparked your rage? Was it the thousands of children that now go to school because of Ahmed’s work? Maybe it was the trees that he and our friends in the community planted on that hillside? Or was it the health clinic we helped rebuild?
All egregious acts, no doubt.

Pakistan: Attack on World Vision staff brutal and senseless – UPDATE

Last year I spent a wonderful week in Pakistan, visiting with my colleagues there. Among other things, I have spent a delightful night in Oghi, in the World Vision team house with my Muslim Pakistani colleagues. Now, six of them are dead and other eight are injured, fightin:g for their life as a result of a senseless attach from Muslim fundamentalists.

May God have mercy on them, their families and their attackers.

Here is an official message from World Vision on this tragic incident:

Learning From the Sin of Sodom

Nicholas D. Kristof published yesterday, 27 Feb. 2010, in New York Times, an excellent article on the work of World Vision US. The op-ed columnist uses this opportunity to make some interesting comments on evangelicalism and liberalism in the American context.

The article does not distinguish clearly between World Vision International, the umbrella organisation having over 40,000 staff working in almost 100 countries, and World Vision Unitestd States, which is just one of the national entities that form this international partnership, be it the largest. Yet, this is a common confusion and does not detract from the gest of this text. I will paste below just a few lines from this article which is worth reading in its entirety.

Tiny Sparrow

Lidia (Grigorean) Boicu

Am cunoscut-o pe Lidia Grigorean acum aproape 30 de ani la Marginea, în Bucovina. Este nepoata prietenului meu Orest Onofrei, fata surorii lui mai mari. A avut o copilărie frumoasă, dar plină de muncă, aşa cum este la ţară, pentru fiica cea mai mare dintr-o familie numeroasă.

Lidia a crescut, s-a căsătorit (o cheamă acum Boicu) şi a plecat în Statele Unite, acum locuind în Texas. În toţi anii aceştia am pierdut contactul cu ea, până nu demult, când ne-am regăsit pe Facebook.

Bishop Gerry Seale – Haiti: Cursed or Blessed?

Bishop Gerry Seale

Every time a disaster happens anywhere in the world some within the Christian community tell us it’s the judgment of God being poured out on sinful people. It has become increasingly difficult for me to think in those terms.

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sin entered the equation the entire creation was impacted. All creation fell and “groans and labours with birth pangs together until now” (Romans 8:22). Since fallen humans live in a fallen creation we can expect disasters like the Haïti earthquake to happen from time to time.

Haiti – Centre recreationale World Vision pentru copii

Comunicat de presa

World Vision International deschide doua centre recreationale pentru a-i proteja pe supravietuitorii cei mai mici ai cutremurului din Haiti

Separarea de familie devine o amenintare critica la adresa securitatii celor mai mici dintre sinistrati.

Jimani, Republica Dominicana – World Vision a deschis doua centre recreationale pentru copii, in incinta San Jose Recovery Center si a Spitalului “Good Samaritan” din orasul Jimani, situat la granita dintre Haiti si Republica Dominicana. Centrele, cunoscute sub denumirea de “spatii prietenoase pentru copii” au scopul de a oferi copiilor, pe durata unor situatii de criza, un spatiu in care sa se simta in siguranta, unde sa poata sa mearga si sa-si reia rutina zilnica, contribuind astfel la recuperarea psiho-sociala a acestora.

Price of a Child

Human trafficking, and especially child trafficking, this modern form of slavery, is bringing these days more money to those involved in it than drugs or arms trafficking.
We can all do something about it. If this little clip moved you, please share it with others, on your blog, on Facebook or otherwise. Every little bit counts.

Haiti Response: “You Are Not Alone”

World Vision UK – Haiti Emergency Appeal

Jeremiah Evarts – un nou portret pe blogul Sf Nicolae

Am adaugat o noua biografie  blogului Sf. Nicolae, dedicat unor oameni ai lui Dumnezeu, barbati si femei, din toate cele trei mari traditii crestine, care au avut o viziune sociala.

De data aceasta este vorba de Jeremiah Evarts, un protestant american care a luptat pentru drepturile indienilor Cherokee. Povestea, fascinanta, si foarte bine scrisa, chiar daca fara happy end, se datoreaza lui Teofil Stanciu, caruia ii multumesc pe aceasta cale pentru contributiile lui la acest proiect.

World Vision congratulates CNN Hero Efren Penaflorida

Efren Penaflorida paid it all back.

World Vision joins the thousands of people, especially Filipinos, around the world in rejoicing with Efren and the Dynamic Teen Company (DTC) for winning the CNN Hero of the Year Award.

Efren, a school teacher from Cavite was named first Pinoy CNN Hero for his inspiring commitment of helping educate street children with his Kariton Klasrum (Classroom Cart) through a group he founded in the 90’s, the Dynamic Teen Company.

Out of over 9,000 nominees from across the world, Efren emerged the hero in a special awarding ceremony held Saturday at the Kodak Theater in New York garnering the most number of votes worldwide.