
Thankfully, the media has picked up on these humanitarian crises and is running articles about them often (including several well-done, moving pieces). Recently, the NY Times ran Truce is talk, agony is real in Darfur war, which reports that attacks in Darfur continue even though a cease fire between the Sudan government and at least one major rebel group went into affect a couple of weeks ago. Last Sunday, the NY Times ran an op-ed that underscores this reality, pointing out that we have a small window of opportunity to bring peace to that region—and that window is shrinking. I’m not savvy enough to know if the solutions the writer lists are the right ones (hence, my prayer all along has been that God will raise the right people with the right solutions to the foreground), but I echo his call that we not only speak out about the crisis but also act by supporting organizations providing aid and relief to Darfur—and I’d add World Vision to his list of relief organizations. Speaking of World Vision, their web site gives us a short but good snapshot of the effect of the conflict on ordinary people—in this case, students who are struggling to take exams in Darfur while the conflict goes on.

So, does learning about what’s happening in these regions actually affect people’s actions in this country? Heck, yeah. After researching the crisis in Uganda, some Miami Dade College students send words of hope to the kids who escaped the LRA. Tens of thousands of people turned out for Invisible Children’s Global Night Communte (including a friend of this blog). These are only a couple of examples—and there’s plenty of things you can do to help. Consider buying one of Invisible Children’s bracelets, which are hand-made in Uganda to raise money for children suffering in the northern part of that country. Invisible Children then uses the money raised to put children through school and create jobs in an unemployable war area. At the very least, consider signing World Vision’s online declaration “deploring the abuse of children forced by rebels to become soldiers, in northern Uganda.” Or follow Chuck Colson’s lead by calling or writing your senator or congressman to ask them to help end the genocide and violence in Darfur (see Colson’s site for more information). Get involved. Find out more (start here for Uganda and here for Darfur). Pray. Tell others. Whatever you do, God will use it. Just do something.
(Image: Wikipedia Darfur and Uganda)