Adaptability discussed by Alex McManus and Dale Swinburne.

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Read an interesting article today on an endeavor that hasn’t been attempted before.

Apparently there are a group of Norwegians who are attempting to preserve the world’s food supply by stashing about 3 million of the worlds crop seeds in a frozen vault on some Acrtic island. The project is called Svalbard Global Seed Vault.

Take a look at the article. I guess this is a good idea. But that would be in a perfect world…which this isn’t. Potentially this could go either way….this endeavor could be just the thing to preserve the earth’s potential to supply its inhabitants with the food it needs to live….or…..it could be what starts World War III.

Call me a pessimist but based on the way we’ve so graciously handled sharing our oil resources it is very conceivable.

Just what I think.

dale

Holy Squid! Photos Offer First Glimpse of Live Deep-Sea Giant

Maybe it is not your thing but I find it exciting. It is exciting to know that this is the first live Giant Squid ever seen in modern history. That tells me that God’s world is so much bigger than we give it credit for. We haven’t see it all.

Take a look at that link…some interesting picture…never before seen in fact!

What’s next? Big Foot?

Dale

I’ve just returned from the local offices for the Red Cross. I signed up. Now, after about 4-5 hours of condensed disaster relief training, I will be headed south to do whatever I can to lend myself to the hurting.

Starting about a week ago I began to hear in my head “You should go.” At first I listened only casually but before a day had gone by I shared it with Jennifer, my wife. When I did she said “I knew you were going to say that.”

An hour later I got a call from a very good friend. I picked up the phone and said “Hello.” His first words were, “So, when are you going down?”. I knew then what my immediate future held, a trip down south.

At this point I don’t have many details. I know I need the Red Cross training but after that the future gets pretty hazy. I know there will be travelling down south but as to what my assistance will look like I am still in the dark. As I am about the length of time I will be gone. Details are difficult to come by when the disaster relief business is booming. Some have said they are asking for 21 days and some have said 30. I guess I will find out when I approach that turn in the path.

This will severely limit my connectedness. I don’t imagine that I will have even phone service available to me, never mind internet access. This will mean my postings will be brief if any. I’m sure my wife, Jennifer, will be posting all the details she can. Her job is weighty as well. She is remaining home with our 4 children and that is a daunting task when faced alone. I know she can do it and do it well. Our church community has offered a lot of help to her in the face of my departure. I see it as her way of helping those faced with the tragedy of Katrina. I’m sure that my children would enjoy an encouraging word as well, Dale, Emily, Gwyneth, and Audrey.

What can you do? Well, for starters, you can come with me. Now, I doubt we’ll even see each other but if we do please be sure to wave! If you are not able to do that here are some other options.

The Red Cross – For monetary/material donations and volunteer opportunities.
The Salvation Army – For monetary/material donations.

If you aren’t able to relocate to the south for a month and you’d like to do more than give money here is another excellent option. Open Your Home There are many different options available…if you have space for a single person or for an entire family of six they could use your help.

I will update you when I can. I ask for prayers for my family while I am away.

Dale

Looters Take To Streets; Conditions Deteriorate in New Orleans

I remember hearing when I was younger – “Man is basically good.”

Basically.

Wouldn’t basically good include helping others at the point of their greatest need? Maybe. I guess that can be up for discussion.

What about taking advantage of someone’s tragedy to steal their possessions? That is not up for discussion. That simply can’t be justified with the condition of “basically good”.

I guess I’m angry. I said to Jen last night while watching footage of people pouring out of stores and homes with valuables in tow, “They should shoot them on sight.” Yeah, a bit severe.

But I wasn’t just angry. I was feeling loads of concern for the massive pain in that area. What an opportunity to touch! I was wondering what I could do. They are saying now that New Orleans will basically be closed for 3 months.

I think this is an incredible moment to reach God’s healing hand into very wounded lives. But when the aid volunteers have to have the National Guard protecting them so they can help the hurting without being assaulted can we be done with the “basically good” conversation?

Here is a link that resources to help can be funneled through… The Red Cross or call 1.800.Help.Now

Dale

600,000,000 Children in Poverty

Erwin McManus wrote in The Unstoppable Force, “The starting point of living by faith is recognizing that God has revealed so much of his will that we have plenty to live by without ever hearing another word. Some things you simply do not need to pray about. When God has spoken and commanded his people, praying sometimes becomes a way of resisting God’s will rather than a way of responding to it.”

If you read the article that I linked to you would see the criteria for defining poverty. The “Growing up in Asia” report states that 600m Asian children under the age of 18 lack access to either food, safe drinking water, health or shelter. But it does get worse. Of those, 350m were described as “absolutely poor”, meaning they do not have access to two or more of a child’s essential necessities.

If you had to choose 2 of those necessities for your children to do without which 2 would you choose? It’s not an easy choice but it is a condition that is forced on 350m Asian children every single day of their lives.

I think this is probably what Erwin was talking about. How many hundreds of thousands of God’s followers around the world are praying right now to have his will revealed to them? Maybe if we listen closely, ignoring the commercials that bombard us with the things we lack, ignoring the race to succeed in our economic culture, maybe if we listen we will hear 600 million answers to the prayer “God what is your will for me?”

Dale