World Vision Trip

Sri Lanka Sundays

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Historically, I don’t usually post on SFL on the weekend unless there’s some kind of breaking news. Three years of daily blogging takes its toll and I need a day off once in a while too. Beside which, most of you are busy on the weekend and don’t catch up here until Monday anyway.

But for the next few weeks as I prepare to travel to Sri Lanka I’m going to be taking Sunday to do a spotlight section on both the country of Sri Lanka itself and the efforts of World Vision to help children there.

To start, I’m going to do a bit of shameless self-promotion by showing you my very own personal page over at World Vision’s website

I know that the people who read SFL are a generous and loving group of people because they have been generous and loving to me on more than one occasion. For those of you who are able please do prayerfully consider sponsoring a child who desperately needs your help. And if you do sign up to sponsor a child within the next few days feel free to send me their name and I’ll do my best to coordinate with World Vision to see if I can meet them on your behalf while I’m there.

Websites

FWOTW: preacherboypatrick.wix.com

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Today’s website pick is not of a pastor but rather of a “preacher boy” who is one of the self-proclaimed recipients of The Call™.

As part of his resume it’s worth noting that this young man “grew up in a life of sin in Kentucky” until he was gloriously saved “at the age of 15.” One wonders what his egregious crimes and trespasses may have been. Perhaps the answer is “not honoring the Baptist flag enough.”

I particularly love that the Resources page includes both the 1828 Noah Webster’s Dictionary (before dictionaries went liberal, amen!) AND The Trail of Blood. There’s a little something there for everybody.

Announcement

And Now For Something Completely Different…

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And now it’s time for THE LOOMING NEWS from yesterday!

I’m very excited today to announce that at the end of August I’m going to be taking SFL on a trip with a group of bloggers, writers, and storytellers who will be putting their talents to work to tell the story of World Visions efforts in Sri Lanka. For five days I’ll be taking a break from our usual snarky content here on SFL to tell the stories of people who are doing good to “the least of these.”

Here are some quick facts from World Vision about the current situation in Sri Lanka

– As of 2009, nearly 6,300 children under the age of 18 have been forcibly recruited to fight in the war.

– After the 2004 tsunami and years of civil conflict, Sri Lanka’s population struggles to recover. Almost a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line, and thousands of people are still displaced from their homes by the war.

– According to the World Food Program, about 22 percent of children under 5 are malnourished nationally, but the number doubles in areas affected by the civil conflict.

– The end of the civil war boosted Sri Lanka’s economy, which made major gains in 2009.

The Ella Gap view towards the South Coast, Sri Lanka

Since 1953, World Vision has been helping children and adults around the world both with disaster relief as well as longer-term economic and child sponsorship programs. Their programs stand in stark contrast to the strict emphasis on “evangelism only” that many of us grew up around choosing instead to minister with life, deed, word and sign.

I’d encourage you to check out the World Vision sponsorship program for children in Sri Lanka and around the world. I can’t wait to take go on this journey and explore these stories with all of you.

A silly blog dedicated to Independent Fundamental Baptists, their standards, their beliefs, and their craziness.