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Baccalaureate becomes a time of worship,
celebration, thanksgiving
Inspiration Point: Pray when it is much easier
not to
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Showing solidarity with Uganda's Invisible Children |
High school and Friends church will show movie
Tuesday, march to show support |
By Laurent
Bonczink, Newberg Graphic reporter
E-mail Laurent at
lbonczijk@eaglenewspapers.com
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Invisible children will be
given a face at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Newberg High School, when a group
of students will show a documentary film relating the plight of
Ugandan children after 21 years of war.
Josh Reid, youth pastor at Newberg Friends Church, said that the
idea of showing the documentary “Invisible Children” in Newberg came
from seeing it and talking about it with his youth group.
The film documents the length to which Ugandan children have to go
in order to avoid being enlisted against their will by various
fighting groups. At night they leave their villages, walking several
miles to find refuge in cities and hospitals. It is mostly boys,
Reid said, but little girls are also at risk of abduction.
After the viewing, 25 high school students representing several
churches in town will hike from the school to Providence Newberg
Medical Center and spend the night on a conference room floor as a
gesture of solidarity with the children of Uganda.
“In a lot of ways our experience won’t come anywhere close,” Reid
said, adding that one couldn’t replicate the fear, the lack of
school, and the effects of longtime poverty. The group settled on
the thought that the walk and the loss of comfort items before going
back to school would be a good beginning.
Todd Brand, NHS health teacher, and Leslie Murray of North Valley
Friends Church, will also join the group on the march and sleepover.
The project fits with Reid’s teaching that “with awareness comes a
responsibility to act,” he said. He has used the movie as a starting
point for biblical studies in his Sunday school class.
In this case he thought that James 1:27 was appropriate: “The kind
of religion which is without stain or fault in the sight of God our
Father is this: to go to help the orphans and widows in their
distress and keep oneself untarnished by the world.”
Reid said that this was a passage of the Bible that is clear and
not open to multiple interpretations. “Religion is not just about
keeping a pew warm on Sunday,” he said, expounding on the need to
follow awareness by action.
He also thought that Psalm 10, specifically the last verse
“bringing justice to the orphan and the downtrodden that fear may
never drive them from their homes again,” is a clear call for action
to help the children of Uganda.
After learning about this issue, his youth group decided to create
advocacy and awareness in Newberg for the Ugandan children. While
the movie is free they hope that viewers will donate money or go to
the Web site www.invisiblechildren.com and become involved. |
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From
May 26, 2007, Newberg Graphic
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