Small Things With Great Love

THE SITUATION

Right now in Mozambique, Africa there is major flooding of the many rivers that pour out of bordering countries into the heart of the poorest country in Africa. This flooding is washing away houses, crops and entire villages, pushing thousands and thousands of people from their homes. Many of them have lost everything. There are pockets of people trapped on all sides by water and many have fled to make-shift camps waiting to return home or relocate out of prone areas. The people in these camps are in a desperate situation. Many of them have little or nothing to sustain their lives. Some of them have escaped the flood only to die of starvation. They need food, clean water and seeds to replant their crops. The government is doing all that they can but they are overwhelmed. There are several Non-government Organizations that are helping and we have a direct contact with one of those organizations, “Iris Ministries”. Our friend Katie Hilditch lives and serves full-time in Mozambique and called back to ask for help. She has told us that $2,000 US dollars will feed and provide new seeds to 100 families for 3-4 weeks – that’s 300-400 people! We are motivated and passionate about helping these people to stay alive and relocate once the waters recede.

OUR PLAN TO HELP

In addition to giving money ourselves we are having a Rice Bag Relay. Some of us have committed to meet at a quarter mile track and use a 40 lb. bag of rice as our baton against hunger. It will be hard, even grueling, at times, but we are serious about this and we are asking you to pledge a per lap donation. You will be pledging an amount per lap that the bag of rice travels around the track. We will be walking together on March 8^th, 2008, from 8am to 6pm. Our goal is to carry the bag at least fifty laps – some of us are trying for one hundred! We invite you to come join us at the East Middle School track:

121 Longwell Ave.
Westminster, MD 21157

All of the money, 100% of it, is going to these people in need of help. Please donate and be a part of saving someone’s life! Thank you!

For more information, contact Jeremiah Luce (443-340-4519) or Scott Cole (410-259-2059). If you would like to mail in a donation, whether flat-rate or per lap, please mail it to:

Horizon Church
P.O.Box 1411
Owings Mills, MD 21117

(make checks payable to: Horizon Church, and put Rice-a-Thon in the memo field)

Watch the following video about the people in Mozambique you will be helping.

Please be praying for the folks at the Simple Way and their neighbors in the Kensington area of Philly. There was a 7-alarm fire that destroyed the Simple Way’s community center and several of their neighbors homes.

Check out their site for more information, photos, videos, etc.

www.thesimpleway.org

Please be praying for them and donate if you can.

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.

The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.”

[isaiah 58:6-11]

Please sign our petition to pardon the young Saudi woman who was gang-raped, but still sentenced to 90 lashes for being alone with a man who was not her husband.

It went great! There were 21 of us and we just walked around the embassy praying and singing with hand drums and guitar. The Iranian author and human rights activist Ghazal Omid, who is on the FoxNews video, came and joined with us. It was great to see her and talk with her. We had a mini worship service and prayer time with her there, and she had many encouraging words for us. She thanked us over and over, and said she was greatly blessed. Our signs said things like “SHOW HER MERCY”, “LOVE NOT LASHES”, “MERCY FOR ‘G’”, “DON’T LASH HER”, “BE MERCIFUL”, “WHAT IF SHE WAS YOUR DAUGHTER”, “WE ARE WATCHING”, and a large one for the public that read “SAUDI COURTS SENTENCE RAPE VICTIM TO 90 LASHES”. After a few hours, we took our signs and music to the mall right between the capitol and the Washington monument. We handed out over 1600 flyers with the web site address and brief story.
We got over 60 people to sign our petition and a lot of commitments to write a letter to the embassy or the state department. We pray that this effort (and the ones to come) make a difference. Thank you for your involment and ask how you can do more. She needs our help.

PLEASE check back to this site, because we will have an online petition for you to sign. In the meantime, please write a letter to one of the addresses listed below. Thank you so much.

For more information, please call: Jeremiah Luce at 443-340-4519.

We are working on getting a site up that looks better, so please be patient!