| Friday Focus |
March 7, 2008
| Dear Families and Friends, Join us in raising $150 for AIDS Orphans in Lesotho. |
| On Their Own--But Not Alone |
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For the next two weeks we have an opportunity to partner with other Adventist schools in North America to help a group of children who need our help. This week we got a firsthand look at the work being done on behalf of African children in Lesotho who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS and who now live in child-headed homes. During the week days the children receive food to eat; however, they have nothing to eat on the weekend! (You can watch the DVD and find additional resources at www.hope4.com/notalone.) The Orphans Weekend Feeding Program at Nhlengelo Home-based Care and Center and Khomelala Community Services Center will provide supplies and commodities (including cornmeal, beans, vegetables, and cooking oil--as well as other essentials such as soap and candles) for use in these homes so that the children can cook for themselves on the weekend. This project is sponsored by the North American Division Office of Education and Hope for Humanity, an Adventist ministry that supports HIV/AIDS initiatives in southern Africa and throughout the world. This project in Lesotho will assist about 300 orphans living in 90 child-headed homes. I believe that every one of us can make a difference in our communities and our world. I believe that in loving others and meeting human needs we are models of God’s grace and compassion. I believe that when we love and care for others, we are making the invisible God visible to others. The needs of a hungry child cannot wait for tomorrow; they cannot wait for someone else. God calls us to service today--to reach out as God reaches out to us in love. “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink... whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:35, 40). Attached you will find a flyer that further describes the needs at Nhlengelo. I am hoping that every child in our school will collect a minimum of $1.50. Together with Adventist school in North American we will raise $85,000 to feed these children on the weekends for an entire year. Thank you for your help as you give to help change the lives of these children that are in such great need. |
| Sincerely, Robert J. Robinson, Principal
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It was an experiment set up more than a year ago now by the Washington Post. I don’t know how I missed it, and most of you may have seen the online video clip of the event already. (In case you haven’t, you can get more details and see what I am about to describe at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html.) In what the paper dubbed “an experiment in context, perception and priorities,” the newspaper enlisted the aid of an internationally famous virtuoso musician. Joshua Bell, who would shortly play to a standing-room-only audience in the Washington area, played some of the world’s most beautiful classical music at a Metro station. As more than a thousand people walked through, he played for just over 40 minutes. And hardly anyone noticed or cared. The violinist played Bach and Schubert. He played them on a Stradivarius for which he had paid $3.5 million. With his violin case open before him and a few bills tossed in to prime the pump, his 45-minute concert took in a total of some $32 from a grand total of 27 donors. And that for a man who gets paid at the rate of $1000 per minute to perform in packed symphony halls. What are we to make of such an event? I’m not sure. Maybe it means too many of us are too busy to notice people – their skills, their place in our world, their needs, or their value to God. Maybe it underscores how poorly we assign value in life. Several people walked by with their iPods on and never even turned their heads to the music being played for them. At a level deeper than the aesthetic, money, sex, and power trump just about everything – including virtue, self-discipline, and purity. Perhaps it means that we humans are sometimes so self-absorbed that we diminish others – in their own eyes. Bell said the experience made him terribly uncomfortable. The man accustomed to standing ovations heard only thunderous silence and shuffling feet as a piece came to its end. For today, however, let me suggest this as a primary meaning for your reflection: There is always more beauty in this world than most of us take the time to appreciate. There are the manifold beauties of nature – sunrise and sunset, falling snow and blooming flowers, majestic mountains and roaring oceans; they are God’s gifts for our appreciation, enjoyment, and stewardship. Yes, there is music – classical, country, jazz, and rock. There is rest at the end of a hard day’s work. There is conversation between friends, playful time spent with laughing children, and a walk with someone you know loves you. With eyes to see and ears to hear, God will show you so much beauty. |
This week in our small groups our kids explored the story of the Good Samaritan. As they worked together they wrestled with the questions: Who is my Neighbor? Banners of their work can be found in classroom windows at school. In the process, they discovered that our neighbor is anyone who needs our help. 
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