Adventures and Thoughts of Team Cross

Friday Dec 1 is World Aids Day

Despite recent, improved access to antiretroviral treatment and care in many regions of the world, the AIDS epidemic claimed an estimated 3.1 million (between 2.8 and 3.6 million) lives in 2005, of which more than half a million (570,000) were children.
The theme for World AIDS Day 2006 is accountability. Local and national campaigns are encouraged to develop campaigns and activities that are meaningful in their own contexts under the overall theme of accountability and ideally using the slogan “Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise.”

Billions have been spent fighting HIV/AIDS and billions more have been set aside to continue the battle. Thanks to anti-retroviral treatment (ART), AIDS is a chronic illness in the rich world and progress is being made even in the world’s poorest countries. The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria have made fighting AIDS a major priority. Civil society and the international community no longer debate whether to fund prevention or treatment, but rather what year people living with the disease will have universal access to prevention and treatment.

One could even argue that we are beginning to turn the corner on the AIDS pandemic. An old nemesis, however, is re-emerging at a lightning pace, threatening to halt or even reverse our journey around that corner.

While much more is still needed, as World AIDS Day arrives, dramatic gains have been realized in reducing deaths caused by HIV/AIDS, with more than a million receiving ART in developing countries. But tuberculosis among people with HIV/AIDS continues to take a heavy toll, and the surfacing of extremely drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) raises fresh concerns about a new epidemic far more deadly than standard TB.

To save more lives and combat the threat of XDR-TB, there must be greater coordination between efforts to fight TB and programs that address AIDS. Greater investment in TB and TB-HIV initiatives is essential, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where the two diseases combine to do their worst.

World AIDS Day: 5 Things You Can Do
The Challenge of AIDS, Laid at the Feet of the Church
November 2006

Two-month-old Innocent drinks a bottle of milk given to him by caregiver Seddie, while his mother Vere, 27, lies ill behind him. World Vision is assisting HIV sufferers like Vere by resourcing and training caregivers and providing supplies, and caring for children orphaned or made vulnerable by AIDS. Vere passed away two weeks after this photo was taken by Andrea Dearborn.

Every 14 seconds, a child loses a parent to AIDS. This is a challenge laid at the feet of each and every person on the planet who considers compassion a virtue, and particularly to those who believe there is a God who cares for and identifies with those who suffer in silence.
The clock is ticking. We must do what we can today to start building a better world for children, to do all we can to put their needs first. AIDS is devastating families and communities around the world, and children are suffering the most. We urge you to consider carefully the following practical ideas for putting your faith into action.
1. Pray!
It all starts here, because the One to whom we pray is truly the only One who has the power, ultimately, to bring this crisis to an end. Pray for the tens of millions of children whose lives have been affected by AIDS. Ask God to show you what you can do. Pray that our leaders will make decisions that put children first. Join World Vision’s Hope Prayer Chain to keep informed about ways you can pray intelligently.
2. Learn more about AIDS.
Take the World Vision AIDS Test to gauge your knowledge of HIV fact and fiction. If your score isn’t yet perfect, you can study up on our Hope Initiative Web site. Then send the test to five of your friends.
Visit the World Vision AIDS Experience when it arrives in a city near you. On this World AIDS Day, December 1, it will be in New York, Seattle and Charlotte, NC. You can also take a virtual tour online.
Visit someone who is affected by AIDS. Ask how it has changed his or her life.
3. Get involved.
Join with your church or another group to assemble Caregiver Kits. World Vision aims to collect 20,000 kits by World AIDS Day. The kits are full of supplies that can improve or prolong the lives of those living with AIDS, while protecting caregivers from infection.
Students at nearly 100 Christian campuses are already involved in the battle, through the group Acting on AIDS. Consider starting a chapter at your college.
Pastors and church leaders have an opportunity to get to know their counterparts in AIDS-affected communities through our C2C program for churches.
Through Team World Vision, join or form a World Vision AIDS Walk for orphans. Several are planned, including events in Chicago, and in California at Monterey Bay and in Orange County.
4. Give generously, and encourage others to follow your example.
World Vision’s HopeChild sponsorship offers a way you can help a child orphaned or made vulnerable by AIDS, while also mobilizing an entire community to prevent HIV and care for the afflicted.
Host a Global Dinner event, inviting friends to learn about the people and foods of an AIDS-affected country, and providing the opportunity to sponsor a HopeChild.
Donate to World Vision’s Orphans and Widows Fund to help where most needed.
5. Advocate for our leaders to put children first.
World Vision is asking the Bush Administration to allocate at least $5 billion to the global fight against AIDS in fiscal 2008, with at least 10 percent for programs directly helping orphans and vulnerable children.
You can make your mark for children by adding your name or “orange thumbprint” to one of the petitions at World Vision events. You can also go online to add your virtual signature to a petition.

SaveDarfur.org has a post called “Be a Voice for Darfur” that’s worth checking out…

1. SEND AN ONLINE POSTCARD

Write to President George Bush and ask that he take the immediate steps needed to help bring peace and security to the people of Darfur.

2. EMAIL YOUR FRIENDS

Send your friends and family an email encouraging them to check out SaveDarfur.org and then write their own online postcard to President Bush.

3. WEAR THE WRISTBAND

Wear the green band to show your support for the people of Darfur. Wearing a wristband has proven to be a highly effective way for our grassroots members to engage others in conversations about the crisis in Darfur. To become an effective spokesperson for the people of Darfur, we urge you to check out our backgrounder and talking points.

4. WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Letters to the editor are one of the most commonly read items in a newspaper. They serve as a forum to represent the voice of the public. Seeing these letters in print will make it clear to community leaders, elected officials, and national and international officials, that ending the genocide in Darfur is important to citizens.

5. JOIN A LOCAL SAVE DARFUR GROUP

Team up with other concerned members of your community and organize offline activities to educate your community, lobby your elected officials, and generate local coverage of the ongoing genocide in Darfur.

Sudan president rejects UN troops

Can you believe this stuff??

“ The BBC’s Jonah Fisher, in Khartoum, says Mr Bashir [President of Sudan] believes the Darfur crisis is the invention of the Western media, designed to deflect attention from military problems in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We do not say that there is no problem and that there are refugees and displaced, but any talk of a humanitarian crisis is not true,” he said.

“They say that more than 200,000 thousand have been killed in Darfur, we affirm that this number is not true and that… the number of deaths has not reached 9,000.”

Or this??

“And he [Bashir] criticised the vast humanitarian operation in Darfur, feeding two million people, which he said has become an industry.

According to President Bashir, aid agencies – many with a hidden Israeli presence – were fabricating reports of attacks and mass rape in order to expand their operations.”

Check out more of the BBC stuff here.

Or do something for Sudan here.

Many groups and indiviuals are working to relieve and help end this humanitarian crisis. Please consider doing your part by contacting your legislators, the President directly, local media, and contact your favorite international organization to see what they are doing there. We promised never to let this happen again, but we aren’t doing much to intervene. We need to be doing a little bit more than going through beauracracy that we bypassed to attack Iraq.

After doing some research on Big Butter Jesus I found out it was

written about in the New York Times

cost $250,000 to build

has reduced the number of accidents on that stretch of I-75 in Ohio

is in front of Solid Rock Church in Monroe, OH

About the King of Kings Statue

Height: 62′

Weight: Approximately 16,000 lbs

Construction: A wood and styrofoam sculpture over a steel framework anchored in concrete. This is covered with a fiberglass mat and resin exterior.

The project was constructed in Florida, cut into sections and trucked to Monroe to be reassembled on-site at SRC.

Designer: Brad Coriel
Artist/sculptor: James Lynch

Over 8000 man-hours in development and installation.

Reportedly the “King of Kings” is the largest sculpture of Christ in America

We are thankful for:
1) Marriage and a lifelong companion
2) Families that care for us and want the best for our life together
3) Friends (near and far) who enjoy our company
4) A warm place to sleep at night
5) Resources to meet our needs
6) Safety and freedom

You are thankful for:
1) Long-time friends
2) Great Family and Friends
3) New additions to your family
4) Wonderful opportunities that have come your way

From my local paper:

1. Cold car. Be thankful for a cold car when you take off for your mom’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. For at least you have a car that runs and a mother to go home to.Top 10 things to be thankful for today

2. Pepto-Bismol. Be thankful for a full stomach. At least you had enough to eat today.

3. A blaring TV. Be thankful for the TV and those who gather at your house to argue over what to watch — football or Macy’s parade. At least you are able to hear what is going on.

4. Celebrity gossip. Be thankful for the magazines with salacious headlines while you wait in never-ending lines at the last minute for the cranberry sauce you forgot to buy. At least you still have your eyesight and something fun to read.

5. Heavy totes. Be thankful for being able to have the strength to carry the totes filled with holiday decorations. At least you are lucky enough to have wonderful memories hidden within.

6. Working on Thanksgiving. Be thankful for having to work today. At least you have a job.

7. Clang. Clang. Clang. Be thankful for that noise. At least there are those willing to donate their time and their hearts to help those by ringing bells for The Salvation Army. Be thankful if you are able to have enough money to donate. And if you can’t, at least there are those willing to help you in your time of need.

8. Earmuffs. This is for the bell ringers. They are eternally thankful for the person who invented earmuffs.

9. Modern conveniences. Be thankful for stoves, refrigerators, indoor plumbing on this chilly day and grocery stores. At least we don’t have to kill our own meals (unless we want to).

10. A nagging mom. An overprotective dad. An annoying brother. A loud-mouth sister. At least you have a family to laugh at and with.

My mother-in-law loves this! Note: It is not making fun of Jesus, but of the statue.

Exodus 34:17: Do not make cast idols.

Today is Election Day… hope you voted, the polls are closing shortly.

I’m sure you have heard about Ted Haggard and are wondering about “another Christian hypocriate.” It is important to remember we are all fallen and make mistakes, some happen to be bigger and more public than others. This is a good reminder that no one is perfect, not even major spokespeople of the faith. Please visit the New Life website and read the statement from Ted and Gayle Haggard. It is fairly powerful I think.

I particularly like this line from Gayle’s letter: He (Ted) is now the visible and public evidence that every man (woman and child) needs a Savior.

Lets not judge a brother, but support him and his family during this difficult time.