Recent Posts

South Sudan: Can independence bring a brighter future?

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Joyce Mulama, World Vision South Sudan in Advocacy

Southern Sudan preliminary results announcement celebration in Juba, South Sudan on January 30, 2011. ©2011 Abraham Nhial/World Vision

Editor’s note: South Sudan, a region left devastated by decades of civil war, held a referendum last January in which voters decided to split from the northern part of the country and become an independent state. Preparations are in full swing for festivities to mark the upcoming independence of South Sudan. The mood is upbeat. On July 9, some 30 heads of state will travel to Juba, the acting capital city, to witness the birth of this new country. The history behind this event The region’s path to independence was preceded by 21 years of conflict between rebels in the South and the government based out of Khartoum, Sudan’s capital city in the North. This created a massive humanitarian crisis,...

‘We refuse to be enemies’

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Rich Stearns in Christian Witness, Stories

"Peace" graffiti in east Jerusalem. ©2011 Jon Warren/World Vision

It was one of the most memorable meals I’ve ever had. The location was a hilltop west of Bethlehem about a month ago, and my fellow dinner guests were 30 pastors and church leaders from the United States. That night, our bus parked at a cement-and-barbed-wire barricade, and we hiked about half a mile over two such barricades to have dinner at the top of the hill — in a cave! The prominent sign at the end of our hike proclaimed the slogan: “We refuse to be enemies.” The parcel of land west of Bethlehem is only about 100 acres. It is owned by the Nassar family, a Palestinian Christian family who have lived on and farmed the land since...

Bad news… good news

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Kelli Trujillo, REJECT APATHY in Partnerships

Sunday worship at Eglise de Dieu Nouvelle Alliance de Corail church in the Corail camp for Haiti earthquake victims. ©2010 Jon Warren/World Vision

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the first-ever issue of Reject Apathy. Earthquakes. Tsunamis. Nuclear disasters. Crazed dictators. War. Sex trafficking. Blood diamonds. Rape. Poverty. Racism. Disease. The stark reality of all the “bad news” in the world can leave you reeling. Like a high school physics equation with a minute amount of force working against a massive, immovable object, at times it can feel impossible to make a significant impact. But consider one more piece of bad news: According to World Vision, 24,000 children die each day around the world from preventable causes. Preventable causes. We may not be able to stop a tsunami, but we can prevent malaria deaths by providing inexpensive mosquito nets. We may not...

Photo stories from tornado survivors

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Laura Reinhardt in Disaster Relief

Editor’s note: Here are a few of the latest photos from World Vision communicator Laura Reinhardt, in the American Southeast following the deadly tornadoes on April 27 that left survivors across the region without homes........

Disaster disadvantage [infographic]

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Jane Sutton-Redner in Disaster Relief

Last year’s catastrophic earthquake in Haiti was all-consuming for a time, dominating the news and mobilizing compassion from all corners of the world. During those first few months, it was hard to imagine that Haiti’s suffering could fall off the radar. But shortly after Haiti’s one-year anniversary came fresh disasters—New Zealand’s earthquake and Japan’s quake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis. Scenes of destruction in formerly functional cities, tragic stories, and the threat of radiation riveted media attention and provoked fears that something this bad could happen to us. (And then it did, with last month’s killer storms and tornadoes in the U.S. South.)...