Being A Haven For Children in Hardship

posted by ACT:S October 18th, 2012

            There are an estimated 10,000 families on the streets of Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh. The only jobs available to these homeless families are those of the beggar and scavenger. For begging, parents send the smallest of their children to tug on the heart and purse strings of passing motorists. Some of the singing and dancing ones can make up to $5 US a day by darting around cars and crying if they are ignored. For scavenging, families scour local trash bins and community landfills for food, recyclables, things to sell, or for anything of use. World Vision staff works with street families every day to try to help kids stay safe in these unstable environments.

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Audacious Goals: What issue are you passionate about?

posted by ACT:S August 21st, 2012

Micro Actions & Audacious Goals

posted by ACT:S August 17th, 2012

by Sarah Slegh, ACT:S Faith & Justice Fellow

This fall, join us in exploring how to live an active faith by rallying your local group around an issue most urgent to the world’s poor – AIDS, Malaria, Microloans, and Trafficking. For each issue, we’ll explore how faith and justice are interconnected while working together to reach an audacious goal. Here’s a glimpse of one of those issues: 

Microloans can help save the world.

You’re probably thinking, “that’s a little extreme.” Maybe so, but most people are not drawn to the term Microloan or Microfinance (I know I wasn’t). It sounds too business-oriented and my mind shuts off with the idea of finance. But honestly, micro loans can be a major player in battling poverty and can be a prevention tool for all kinds of child vulnerabilities, including trafficking.

I travelled to Cambodia this summer with a few other ACT:S student activists to see first-hand how microloans are impacting the individuals, families, and communities where they are being used. Parents are being empowered to provide for their families, children are now able to receive education and are less vulnerable to child labor or trafficking, and communities are developing economically – all through individuals receiving small loans that remind the of their potential. (more…)

Getting Started: Do something audacious this fall

posted by ACT:S August 7th, 2012

This fall, ACT:S is organizing around global injustices and using these issues as lenses to discover how our faith and justice interact.

James 2:15-17 challenges us to live an active faith, saying: “..faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” Let’s not live a “dead” faith. We have opportunities as followers of Jesus and as global citizens, to advocate for, and actually help, our global brothers and sisters. Will you join us in living an ACT:IVE faith?

How will a community of 30,000 young people act:ivate around these injustices? We’re so glad you asked… (more…)