Haiti: Remember?

Earthquakes all over the place, it seems.

And each seems to blur further the memory of the previous.

So a reminder about Haiti seems in order:

Three months have passed since the earthquake struck Haiti. In that period of time, three other significant earthquakes of greater or similar magnitude struck Chile, Taiwan and, just this week, China.

However, the road to recovery in Haiti seems so overwhelming. “The extent of the damage and the people who have been left homeless, and the many who are still recovering from injuries is of a tremendous magnitude. That need still exists,” said Ron Sparks of Baptist Haiti Mission.

Much of this is due to the poor infrastructure which existed in Haiti prior to the earthquake. According to Mid-Hudson News Network, “It was certain pre-exisiting economic factors that led to the amplified devastation which occurred in that impoverished country.”

Sparks said other countries hit by earthquakes had internal support through resources and jobs. But in Haiti, “They have no jobs. They have no food or medical care beyond what’s brought in and offered to them.”

Building from the ground up will be a slow process.

Thus, Haitians are looking for hope.

Source: Pre-existing problems slow reconstruction and continue to plague Haiti

Census Senses

This afternoon, I finally got the US 2010 Census completed. Well, mostly so, anyway.

Since my answers are quite understandable, they don’t need to call.

If I provide my birthdate, why do I need to also provide my age on April 1, 2010? 🙄

White is not a race. Neither are some of the other race cards they play.

I was tempted — sorely so — to put Human in the “Some other race” section.

About sometimes living or staying somewhere else, what’s with that? I answered in the negative, but also considered marking “For another reason” because sometimes I go visiting for overnight or overweek. But then I thought someone might not understand that and want to give me a call. I’m not a phone person.

In an unrelated development, today we got our new Spy Meters. 😯 😉 😆

Harmony in the World

Well, Harmony on World, anyway.

Or maybe this should be titled “Headings for World”?

World Magazine: April 24, 2010
Her name is Harmony

I know that girl! She’s the daughter of one of my babyhood friends and good buddies, Darrell. (We grew up in Mexico together.)

Many WORLD readers nominated compassionate ministries for this year’s Hope Award for Effective Compassion contest. Charity expert Jill Lacey and I researched and assessed the entries and then sent a reporter and a photographer out on the road to see firsthand what groups are doing.

The first fruits of this exploration are on the pages that follow. We chose three finalists—Christ Clinic in Spokane, Youth Horizons in Wichita, and New Horizons in Colorado—and in San Diego late last month announced the champion: New Horizons.

Source: Effective compassion

Wow! Congratulations to New Horizons. God bless them in their service. And Harmony and other nannies also.

Read it all

Will Work for Food

And fuel. And rent. And utilities. And insurance. And bills. And…well, you get the pictures.

But what I mean is, “Will work for cash.” Actually, more like checks and PayPal payments. But let’s not go getting too analytical.

Maybe I could do some editing for you. (Years ago I even did one of the final edits on a Nike catalog.)

Maybe I could do some English-Spanish translation for you.

Maybe I could maintain your web site.

I could set up a blog for your site. Like I set this one up on one of my sites.

Or maybe you’d like part of your site made into a Spanish version, eh?

Or I could convert your site to CSS if it needs that.

Oh, and I suppose you want to see some of my Web work.

Well, you could start from here: Anabaptist Solutions

And here are four sites that need my revamping attention:

I will be taking jobs on a very selective and limited basis.

I know. I didn’t tell you my hourly rate yet.

$15.00

Seriously.

It may be way too low. But I may be way too desperate. 🙄

You can reach me via our bookstore’s contact page.

If you don’t have a site for which to retain my services but would still like to help support what we’re doing on the Web, I have some suggestions for that also.

Bible, Cellphone, Census, Caskets

No. I. Am. Not. Connecting. Them.

So if you came here hoping to read the conspiratorial concoctions of some unhinged kook, go away.

😯

No! No! No! Please stay. Read this. Read more. Bookmark. Subscribe. Comment. Facebook it. Tweet away. Trackback. Ping. Email. Go viral.

Introductions aside, this post archives some current event reflections.

1

This post was simply going to be a verse fragment from one of the verses read by our bishop during his message yesterday morning. But I couldn’t find it in the passage I thought it was in! 🙁

2

Thanks to Facebook, I remembered to turn on my cellphone this morning.

3

I decided I better fill out Census 2010. So I opened the envelope I got a week or so ago. Thankfully, before I put pen to paper, I read this: “This Census must count every person living in the United States on April 1, 2010.” So I stuck the census back in the envelope and tossed it on a pile.

4

I got a phone call from someone I respect highly. Would I like to start a new business? I wouldn’t have to worry about the financing. Just the marketing. Selling casket kits.

Good day?!

Slavery USA

In the “Land of the Free” and the home of Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution?!

According to the International Justice Mission, human trafficking is the third most-profitable criminal activity in the world after drugs and weapons. Seldom do people stop to notice the implications of that statistic for the United States.

The number of trafficked victims in the U.S. is rising quickly. Ten years ago, there were approximately 50,000 slaves in the U.S. Now there are over 300,000. Modern day abolitionist and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship evangelist York Moore says people know about the issue, but few see it as a real problem.

“What’s most concerning to me is not the proliferation of the persons involved or the profitability of this illegal enterprise,” says Moore, “but specifically the increasing tolerance that I think I’m seeing in people.”

Source: Mission Network News

The Price of Life

Census 2010

It came today.

I haven’t opened it yet.

Maybe I shouldn’t. It doesn’t have my name on it. Instead it has TO RESIDENT AT. 😯

How lame is that?!

Tain’t my name.

Never has been.

Maybe I should mark the envelope “Return to Sender” and give it back to the Postal Service.

🙄

(Some folks think Christians shouldn’t fill out the census. I disagree.)

Above all, love God!
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