Hope for AIDS Orphans

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

God loves orphans! They are precious in His sight and are made in His own image just like everyone else. My family and I wish we could help all of them. We know we alone can't but the Body of Christ can join hands and make it more plausible. At times, it may seem overwhelming and we might prefer to shut it out. But we're called to look after orphans. Praying...giving... adopting...advocating...doing whatever helps! My 18 year old daughter has been advocating for orphans posted on Reece's Rainbow website on her blog and Facebook.

I'd like to introduce you to Hope for AIDS Orphans (a ministry of Cross International). Their main mission is to care for the AIDS orphans (14,800,000...as of 2010) in Africa. Can you imagine almost 15 million kids suffering with AIDS and having no parents? I can't wrap my mind around this heart-wrenching fact! These are not just numbers; they're precious lives who desperately need Christ's love and our help. Please watch the video below (if the video doesn't work, please go watch it on the website) and consider the 3 ways you can help these orphans: Express Your Care (sign their Angel of Hope Photo Mosaic), Share Their Story (share the orphan video with your friends), and Give Them Hope (donate to this wonderful cause).

We're very excited to help provide for these orphans through Hope for AIDS Orphans. Would you please join us, too? Any amount helps! Please visit the website for details. Thanks for caring!

Pro-Life or Pro-Choice (Pro-Death)? Watch and Decide...

180 Film Turns Opinions Around Regarding Abortion
New award-winning documentary is changing minds and saving lives!

Dallas/Fort Worth, TX—What would you do if…? Thus begins the question being asked by author and film producer Ray Comfort in his new documentary,180. Titled to reflect the complete turnaround in the mindsets of all to whom the question is posed, the award-winning film shows eight pro-choice people (mostly college students) changing their stance to pro-life just moments after the question is asked in its entirety. It is Comfort’s hope that the documentary, releasing online September 26th, will go viral.

While skeptics of 180 (Living Waters Publications) say they can’t believe anyone would change his or her mind so quickly, Comfort accepts and even understands their disbelief, stating that he could hardly believe it himself when he first viewed the footage in the editing room. Initially, 180 was not the film he meant to produce. At the time, Comfort was taping interviews for a DVD to go along with a book on Hitler and the holocaust. In the course of the interviews, one question led to another, and the discussion led to abortion. Comfort explains, “It began with two male university students completely changing their minds about abortion when we asked them this one question. We realized it wouldn’t be convincing to have only males speaking on the subject, so we took to the streets, asking that one particular question, and found that six women changed their minds from pro-abortion to pro-life in a matter of seconds. It was amazing!”

Though it was not Comfort’s original intention to create a documentary specifically about the abortion issue, when he saw the direction the film was taking, he quickly recognized its potential to open the doors of discussion. “I have held up pro-life signs. I have printed pro-life literature and spoken against abortion in pulpits and in my books, but I have felt that all my efforts were almost futile—that is, up until now. In 180 we have a nation changer.”

A spokesperson for Living Waters, the production company behind the documentary, further explains the abrupt change this way: “There really isn’t that much to debunk because there is no argument against it. Its message is very powerful, eye-opening and watertight. It leaves no room for a comeback.”
Comfort adds, “Most of us know that we should be doing something to stop this horror, but the thought of protesting is a little unnerving, especially with the demonization of those who do so. But here is something each of us can easily do—we can give this DVD out. We can pass them out on the streets, leave copies on park benches or on seats in malls or give it to the checkout lady at the supermarket. This isn’t hard to do, and it will save lives—perhaps millions of lives.”

As to the rest of the question Comfort asks in 180? You’ll have to wait to watch the video to find out what it is. “For me to tell you what the question is,” he explains, “would be cheating you. You’ve got to see the facial expressions change. You’ve got to see the people, when they are asked that one question, change from one of a hard look in their facial expressions to one of a light going off, as they change their minds and realize how evil abortion is. Their thinking makes an abrupt 180 degree turn, all because of that one game-changing question.”

Although the film is just now being released to the public, an early edit of 180 was submitted for consideration and won a 2011 Telly Award.

~Thanks to Audra Jennings at The B&B Media Group for the news release info. above.

The documentary is now available for free viewing online at http://www.180movie.com/ or you can watch it below (please turn off my music playlist at the bottom of this page before starting the video).


By the way, my daughter (when she was 16) made a 2 minute video comparing abortion to Holocaust: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gqcj_651Rik (you can watch it below :)).

Review and Giveaway: The Shunning DVD

The Shunning is the Hallmark Channel Original Movie starring Danielle Panabaker & Sherry Stringfield. The DVD was released on 9/13/2011.

Beverly Lewis' The Shunning - About the Movie
Before she succumbs to cancer, the dying wish of Laura Mayfield-Bennett is to be reunited with the daughter she never knew. Unfortunately, that daughter, Katie Lapp, is a member of the Amish order. Katie is about to be married, but uneasy about the path ahead. Now she discovers the secret her parents have kept from her: she's adopted.

The film is based on the celebrated first novel of the best-selling "The Heritage of Lancaster County" book series from author Beverly Lewis. Stars Danielle Panabaker & Sherry Stringfield.

BEVERLY LEWIS - Author of "The Shunning"
Beverly Lewis, born in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, is The New York Times bestselling author of more than eighty books. Her stories have been published in eleven languages worldwide. A keen interest in her mother's Plain heritage has inspired Lewis to write many Amish-related novels, beginning with "The Shunning," which has sold more than one million copies. In 2007, Lewis' "The Brethren" was honored with a Christy Award.

Lewis has been interviewed by both national and international media, including Time magazine, the Associated Press, and the BBC. Lewis lives with her husband, David, in Colorado.

Website: http://hallmarkchannel.com/theshunning
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheShunningMovie
You can watch the trailer and the interviews with the cast and the director/executive producer (Michael Landon, Jr.) here.

My Thoughts and Review:
Raised in an Amish community in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Katie Lapp struggles being an Amish. To conform to their beliefs, she has to constantly fight against her passion for music (guitar playing and singing) and confess as if it was sin. She's about to be married to the Bishop, yet she can't shake off the love and fond memories she still has for her deceased boyfriend. One name, Laura Mayfield, changes everything. The long-kept secrets of the past are threatened. The promise is broken. The family love is tested. The true identity is discovered.

I have never read the book but I was totally captivated by the movie :)! I've always been intrigued by the way the Amish live. I love their simple living but I don't agree with some of their beliefs/rules. I've heard of "shunning" before but the movie really made me feel so sad for those who have been shunned. It's a very cruel way of punishment. It's not a way to show the love of Christ for sure. The unconditional love of Christ leads to forgiveness, healing, and restoration. I had sympathy for both birth mother and adoptive mother in the movie. I cried and I did not want the movie to end. I wish it would continue; I wanted to know what happened next :). This is a touching movie of love, forgiveness, and family. It's a story of two worlds (the Amish and the English) colliding in a tangle of adoption, deception, and emotions.

GIVEAWAY: You can win a copy of The Shunning DVD.
To Enter: "Like" The Shunning's Facebook page and then leave a comment here including your Facebook name. Make sure you leave your email address, too. Deadline: Sept. 30th at midnight (Pacific time)

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