From the Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy:
The Supreme Court…announced it would not hear a case that focused on the right of a religious service provider to base hiring and firing decisions on employees’ faith. At issue was whether the Lancaster Jewish Community Center in Pennsylvania could be sued for religious discrimination for firing an evangelical Christian worker.Read the entire article here.
WORLD Magazine recently published a short feature on Ben Homan, President of Food for the Hungry about his extensive travel to serve the people of the developing world. An excerpt:
Two … trips have left indelible images: one to the mountains of northern Afghanistan where he saw children barefoot in the deep snow, and one to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where “systems had melted down. No banking, no schools.”
How does he cope with that ugliness without growing numb? “I deal with it by reminding myself that we are fighting back. It is unacceptable to do nothing. I have a connection to doing something.” He’s learned to affirm the good things he sees, even while recognizing “how broken the world is . . . and in the midst of the brokenness you do what you can.”
Read the entire article at http://www.worldmag.com/articles/13886 (subscription required for full article).
In recent days several members have requested an “AERDO Member” logo for their agency web sites. To make this process more convenient for members, we are placing the logo options on a page on the AERDO web page. If you’d like to utilize this option, go to: www.aerdo.net/logo.php
It looks like Rick Warren is continuing his PEACE Plan in Rwanda. An article in Christianity Today online reports that he’s opened a campaign in Kigali Rwanda.
From the article:
“Never sacrifice sustainability for speed,” Warren said to U.S. business, government, and development agency representatives. “This conference is about partnership, not paternalism. The number one problem in international development is not lack of money, but lack of trust in local leaders to know what to do.”
Read the full article here.
Ben O’Dell, who serves as the Associate Director of the Faith-Based office at the Department of Health and Human Services, recently conducted research that focused heavily on the AERDO HIV/AIDS Alliance. He was working to learn if “religious identity could drive religious behavior within organizations, specifically collaboration, ”
The abstract for his findings, “The Power of the Space Between” is available here. If you’d like to read Ben’s full report, please send me an email.
John Schafer from InterAction wanted to make sure that we all know that we are welcomed at their next info security workshop:
INFORMATION SECURITY WORKSHOP
Presented by the InterAction SAG
To: Hppc, Security, SAG, Sudan
InterAction Conference Center
1400 16th St. Ste 210 DC.
21 May 2008 1000 - 1600 hrs
RSVP: Jkearns@interaction.org (there will be limited space at this event high attendance expected)
The session is designed to help you gain information; insight, tools, and techniques regarding information security onitoring that you can take back to the office for immediate implementation.
The returns of the latest SAG ten second survey showed that only 11% of InterAction Memberships have updated nformation Security policies. Most members do not even have policies protection technology, equipment and procedures current methods used to compromise information building and system plans, drawings, and schematics
current trends and techniques for compromising information
TOPICS:
An article from CNN this week shows how Google is using its program, “Google Earth” to map the movement of refugees in crisis situations. Read the full article here.
You may be interested in learning about an upcoming academic forum to explore what it means to be transformational in all aspects of Christian development work. To go beyond a mere label, we must acknowledge the demands placed on us by the promise the term connotes. Transformational development’s distinctives should be found across the spectrum, impacting not just our scope of activities but our outcomes, not just motivations but operations, not just where we go or send but the posture with which we serve.
The event is co-sponsored by Food for the Hungry & George Fox University August 14-16, 2008, Newberg, Oregon
This conference hopes to bring together a broad interdisciplinary group of participants interested in wrestling with these issues and building sound academic foundations for both engaging in and educating for Christian development.
The Transformational Development Conference will be held this first year on the West Coast, and our plenary speakers include Dr. Bryant Myers, Dr. Evvy Campbell and Dr. Brian Fikkert. We are looking for presentations from faculty and graduate students (and poster presentations from undergraduate students). See the Transformational Development Conference call for presentations for more details or visit the conference web site to register.
The Association of Fundraising Professionals published an article outlining how the economy could affect the ability of charities to raise funds. Read the article here.
The Overseas Security Advisory Council would like to invite members of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), faith-based organizations and academic institutions to our upcoming event:
NGO & Academic Institution Spring 2008 Safety & Security Seminar
Atlanta, Georgia at the Georgia Institute of Technology
April 17* & April 18, 2008
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This free seminar, hosted at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in
*On Thursday, April 17, a NGO and faith-based workshop will be held at Georgia Tech to address the specific issues humanitarian and relief workers face overseas. This workshop is designed to complement the broader agenda for the joint seminar on Friday, April 18. NGOs and faith-based groups will be given first preference for the April 17 workshop.
Topics for the event include:
Risk and Crisis Management Challenges (crime, accidents, injury and terrorism),
Mental Health,
Orientation Programming,
Resources to Support Effective Program Administration.
Please RSVP as soon as possible, and no later than Thursday April 10, due to limited space.
Please provide the following information:
Name(s) of attendees, Organization and contact information
Type: Academic Institution OR Non-governmental Organization and/or Faith-based Group
Yes, I plan to attend BOTH Thursday April 17, NGO Workshop and Friday, April 18, Joint NGO & Academic Seminar
OR
Yes, I plan to attend ONLY Friday, April 18, Joint NGO and Academic Seminar
RSVP to Melissa Lee at Georgia Tech’s
Office of International Education:
E-Mail: Melissa.Lee@oie.gatech.edu
Phone: (404) 385-7329
For questions regarding the event’s program and sponsorship, please contact OSAC Coordinators Lauren D’Amore and Elena Carrington.
John Schafer the Sr. Security Coordinator of InterAction and Mike O’Neill, Director of Security for Save the Children, will be participating in a seminar focusing on NGO security. Please mark your calendars and join us at the seminar.