Christian Non-Profit Organization Love INC May Be Forced To Shut Down

click to read original story from Christian Post.com
A national nonprofit that unites churches to meet the needs of the poor has to raise $1 million in funds by year's end or the organization's headquarters will be forced to shut down.

Love In the Name of Christ’s mission, as stated on their website, is to “mobilize the Church to transform lives and communities In the Name of Christ.” However, the organization may soon halt its mission because of the economy.

“As the economy continues to struggle, there is an entirely new demographic of people who are in poverty. They are the new poor. This growth in demographics has required that Love INC step up to meet more needs," said Robert Odom, president of Love INC, in a recent statement. "We are answering God's call to help the poor; however new affiliates mean a greater need for funding at the headquarters.”

Since Odom’s start with Love INC – which was spun off from World Vision in 2003 – in 1996, the organization has gotten over 900 hundred churches involved and currently serves 1 million people in need.

He told The Christian Post, “It’s a state-of-the-art movement and the most effective ministry that’s out there.”

Across America, 43.6 million people or 14.3 percent of the population are living in poverty, according to a 2009 Census report. And double the numbers from a decade ago, almost 50 million people skip meals just to make ends meet – the definition of food insecurity. Children account for a fourth of those in poverty and almost oneof every two poor children lives in extreme poverty.

Love INC's headquarters in Minneapolis starts new affiliates and provides affiliate support and training. There are 16 new Love INCs that have started this year alone with six different denominations working together. It relies primarily on individual givers to meet its annual budget of $1.6 million. With the economy in the shape that it is, however, the budget may not be met by the end of this year.

“God has blessed us mightily and we just have run into a hardship like never before,” Odom said.
Since his public announcement of the possible shut down of the organization back in September, he said there have been ten times more contributions made. However, they have been small contributions.

“You can’t fail in the name of Christ, which is why this is so ironic,” Odom said.

Appealing to the public for support, he said, “We are desperate for major donors who believe in the call to bring the church together in communities across America to help those in need.

“When an affiliate has an impact on its community, other nearby communities also want to open an affiliate so that they can bring the church to the center of its community. That is what the church is called to do and that is why we have grown. We need givers who feel called to support this mission.”

On the Web: http://www.loveinc.org/

Violinist Continues to Play After Losing Shoulder To Cancer

click to read original story from ABC Action News

ODESSA, Fla. - When Joe Ginem plays the violin, nothing else seems to matter.

"It's definitely my biggest passion."

Joe was coming into his own as a musician when four years ago, at 15, what started as a sore arm and shoulder turned out to be a rare form of bone cancer. Joe had Osteosarcoma. "When my arm finally gave out, I couldn't even pick up a pencil."

During a tough year there was no music for Joe. Just hospitals, surgery and chemotherapy. But he wasn't giving up. Not on his arm, and not on his violin.

"At one point I said to him it's not even about the arm anymore. You gotta save your life. And he just kept saying no, I know I'm going to play. And I need that arm," said a tearful Peggy Ginem, Joe's mother.

Treatments at Tampa's Moffit Cancer Center were successful, but John's shoulder had to be reconstructed. And there was a choice to make.

"My surgeon gave me the option of being able to make daily tasks easier or being able to play the violin better and I chose the musician route," said Ginem.

South Korea Vows Enormus Retaliation After Bombing From North Korea

click to read full story from Fox News

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who convened an emergency security meeting shortly after the bombardment by North Korea, said that an "indiscriminate attack on civilians can never be tolerated."

"Enormous retaliation should be made to the extent that (North Korea) cannot make provocations again," he said.

North Korea bombarded a South Korean island near their disputed western border Tuesday, setting buildings ablaze and killing at least two marines and injuring 16 others after warning the South to halt military drills in the area, South Korean officials said.

South Korea said it returned fire and scrambled fighter jets in response, and said the "inhumane" attack on civilian areas violated the 1953 armistice halting the Korean War. The two sides technically remain at war because a peace treaty was never negotiated.

The United Nations Security Council could hold an emergency meeting in the next day or two over the attack, saying "It's in the works for either today or tomorrow. We are for it and planning is ongoing," Reuters reports.

The United States, which has tens of thousands of troops stationed in South Korea, condemned the attack and called on North Korea to "halt its belligerent action," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in Washington. He said the United States is "firmly committed" to South Korea's defense, and to the "maintenance of regional peace and stability."

The North's artillery struck the small South Korean-held island of Yeonpyeong, which houses military installations and a small civilian population and which has been the focus of two previous deadly battles between the Koreas.

A senior military official tells Fox News "no one is interested in escalating this, but we are taking this very seriously."

Drug Smuggling Tunnels Found At Mexico U.S Border

click to read full story from Fox News

Scores of trucks pass through Otay Mesa, California, each day, loading and dropping off cargo at various warehouses located just yards from the U.S.-Mexico border.

One warehouse bearing the name "Medi Int Enterprises" -- an alleged storage facility for toilet paper -- seemed to be running business as usual, equipped with a front desk and receptionist. Yet, on Nov. 3, 2010, Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents found they were storing much more than bathroom supplies.

ICE agents intercepted a truck leaving the warehouse and discovered 20,000 pounds of marijuana. An additional 32,000 pounds were found in 10-kilo bricks throughout the warehouse, making it the second largest seizure of marijuana in U.S. history. But, the biggest find was what lurked below.

Agents found 1,800 feet of tunnel running underneath the warehouse to Mexico. Designed with tracks and pulleys, the smuggling tunnel is the most recent to be discovered in a growing number popping up along border states.

Since Sept. 2001, 113 tunnels have been discovered -- a 63 percent increase in just the last two years. ICE agent Tim Durst said they are becoming an increasing threat with the “growing presence of law enforcement above ground.”

With tougher enforcement and new barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, smugglers have become more creative in their methods, finding alternative routes by sea and land and now underground.

71 smuggling tunnels have been uncovered in Nogales, Arizona, with San Diego, California, a close second, counting 34 in both Otay Mesa and San Ysidro. The tunnels are "golden goose eggs" and if they're completed and become operational, they are of great value to smugglers, Durst said.

The majority of the tunnels ICE agents have found are unfinished, which makes this find that much more concerning to law enforcement. Durst says the tunnel in Otay Mesa took approximately a year to build, but had been operational for less than a month.

While the tunnels can be sophisticated drug smuggling routes, the engineering behind the creation of the tunnels is not. Would-be smugglers use jackhammers, concrete saws and shovels that can be purchased in retail hardware stores


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/11/23/americas-war-smuggling-tunnels/#ixzz168B4p8OM