MARADI, NIGER—More than 60,000 urgently needed Bibles arrived to allay suffering throughout the famine-stricken nation of Niger Friday, in one of the largest humanitarian-relief operations ever attempted by a Christian ministry."Come rejoice, and feast upon the word of Our Lord, Jesus Christ," said Christina Clarkson, executive director of the Living Light Ministries of Lubbock, TX. "Those who were hungry, hunger no more, for the Word brings life."
An exuberant Clarkson said the Bible drop was the culmination of one of the largest and most aggressive grassroots fundraising drives ever undertaken by the organization, which was able to fund the mission largely through local charitable events, such as bake-offs, barbecues, and pie-eating contests.
"We absolutely would not be here today if it were not for the amazing generosity of the people back home," Clarkson said. "People everywhere opened up their hearts and checkbooks to us and said, 'Dig in.'"
Niger, ranked as the second-poorest nation on Earth, is experiencing its worst famine in more than 20 years, as a brutal drought last year was followed by a plague of crop-destroying locusts. An estimated 3.5 million of Niger's 12 million people are currently at risk of starvation.
"That's why it was so important for this mission to happen right now," said Clarkson. "So many people here are suffering. Disease, starvation, and lack of shelter are day-to-day realities in Niger. But once they hear the Good News of Jesus Christ and accept Him as their Lord and Savior—once they really take Him into their hearts—then they will see what poor comforts are the things of this world."
Story Link
9 comments:
Yeap. Let's give them bibles and then ask them to turn to James 2:14
Thank God I checked the story link. I was about to rant on.
TO DO LIST:
1. Change my underwear
2. Walk the trash and empty the dog
3. Put a sticky note on my computer that says ALWAYS LOOK FOR STORY LINK ON JOHN'S BLOG BEFORE COMMENTING
Interestingly enough, UM missionary Wes Magruder (http://preachpeace.blogspot.com) is getting lots of bounce over in Cameroon for doing just the opposite of what The Onion reports. The Cameroonians call the UMC "a serious church" because the mission does things like purifying wells to prevent cholera outbreaks, along with preaching and worship and stuff. Seems the folks over there have had it with the organizations that save their souls and let their bodies die in squalor.
(Dude, why can't I have any fun in my posts over here? Why am I serious all the dang time? I love The Onion...)
Now that is true Methodism.
Started reading: jaw dropped, breathing shallow, stomach churning.
Clicked on link: closed mouth, able to breathe normally again, stomach settling.
One Born Every Minute,
Andy B.
I've been got before by brother John. So I'm glad I'm not the only one. ha ha.
john, it never ceases to amaze me that people don't pick up on your reporting from the onion or lark news. i thought this had to be from lark news, but seeing it was from the onion make me wonder about secular viewpoint on the priorities of the church. hmm...
scary part about these two sites you reference so much is that they are almost believable so misguided our passions can be.
i personally like the rabid fundraising from bake sales to raise money for bibles for the hungry.. that's classic!
Nothing says care for the poor like a pie-eating contest.
Yes, the ability of Lark News to lampoon Christianity so accurately makes it sometimes painful to read.
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