On Faith: International Justice Mission
The International Justice Mission recently held its annual benefit and shared the story of 13-year-old Griselda, who was walking home from church with her mother and brother in Guatemala when three men grabbed her, drove her to an isolated location and brutally raped her. Only the driver was arrested, and the police did nothing to locate the others. The Newport Beach Indy reports Griselda turned to Guatemala’s IJM office for help, which provided her with therapy and also helped bring the all her attackers to justice. Griselda has since completed high school and plans to study psychology to help victims of violence and abuse. The benefit raised more than $1.4 million for IJM.
The Voice of the Martyrs helps Bring Peace to Egypt
Partners of The Voice of the Martyrs are reaching out to the families of Christians in Egypt who have been murdered by anti-Christian terror groups like ISIS, providing clean water sources for their communities, but upon learning Muslim groups in those areas suffer from the same issue, the group decided to provide water to both Christians and Muslims alike. This olive branch comes as tensions between Muslims and Christians are increasingly high in Egypt, enflamed by the constant media attention of Christian persecution, according to Mission Network News. The group has now served two of the five villages in which families of the deceased live and will continue on to serve the remaining three.
Mission Aviation Fellowship Reaching Isolated Areas of Nepal Hard-Hit by Quake
In the wake of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Nepal in late April, Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) sprung into action, providing helicopter transportation to remote areas of the country for aid workers, reports Christian Newswire. The Christian organization, which uses aviation and technology to enable isolated locations to receive aid in times of need, arrived within days of the quake to determine the need. The small Kathmandu airport was overwhelmed with traffic, so MAF began carrying search and rescue teams to mountain locales and transporting medical teams to treat the injured in remote villages. The organization has played crucial roles in providing aid during international crises like the Haiti earthquake and Typhoon Haiyan.
Samaritan’s Purse Responds to Texas Floods
Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief organization, has deployed a disaster relief team Hays County, Texas, which was hit by severe flooding over Memorial Day Weekend. More than 350 homes were destroyed, and approximately 1200 people in the area are now homeless, the Citizen Times reports. The team from Samaritan’s Purse will assist victims in cleaning out flooded houses and removing water-damaged belongings, as well as tearing out damaged sheet rock, insulation and flooring, and spraying for mold. The organization will also be working alongside a team of chaplains from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s Rapid Response team to encourage and support the victims and their families.
12,000 Join Church’s Weekend of Service
North Coast Church, based in Vista, Calif., hosted a weekend of service April 25-26, 2015 in its community, drawing more than 12,000 volunteers to work on 400 community projects across Oceanside, Vista, Carlsbad, San Marcos, Escondido, Fallbrook and Camp Pendleton, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. The weekend provided free renovations to 100 different sites in the area, such as hospitals, city parks, shelters and public schools. Volunteers of all ages, including hundreds of marines from Camp Pendleton, completed an estimated $2.5 million in repairs and improvements. North Coast Church, which also has campuses in Carlsbad, Fallbrook and San Marcos/Escondito, has organized a service weekend in lieu of traditional church services once every other year since 2007.
