YAvillage.com

WRBS is in the middle of 3 Days of Compassion. They are partnering w/ Compassion International to try to have 2000 children sponsored in these 3 days.

All it takes is $32/month! That $32/month provides:

Educational opportunities
Health care and supplemental nutrition
Opportunities for safe recreation
Opportunities to learn about important life skills
Allow them to hear about Jesus and be encouraged to develop a lifelong relationship with God.

What else can you do for $32/month?!

To sponsor a child, call 1.888.972.7951 or Click Here.

Recommended Sites
Compassion International Stories
Assemblies of God // World Missions

YouVersion is a new web application that brings the Bible to Web2.0! It’s brought to you by the LifeChurch.tv people.

Here are deets from a post at blog.youversion.com.

YouVersion is a free online Bible that allows users to associate video, audio, images, text, tags, and links to other websites with any verse or series of verses in the Bible. Each piece of contributed content can be labeled as public or private, so the application can be used both as a personal study tool and a public expression of user-generated commentary. In addition to contributing content, Scripture can be organized by assigning user-defined “tags” to any verse of the Bible.

For users who are skeptical about whether the Bible has application for their lives, YouVersion provides a platform to learn from the experiences and perspectives of others from around the world in a non-threatening and easily navigated environment.

It’s currently in public beta testing. Here are more deets from a post at Swerve.LifeChurch.tv.

• Search for scripture, jump to a book/chapter/verse, or scroll through our Bible Reader
• Star verses and content
• Tag verses and content
• Contribute and/or associate images, videos, links, and text to verses or series of verses
• Start journaling in the “My Journal” feature
• See what others are sharing
• Email items to your friends and family
• Rate content
• And so much more…

Everything is free and will remain free, but to interact with some of the personalized features you’ll need to go through a simple registration process.

And even more deets from a post at digital.leadnet.org.

easily link to verse(s) or embed into your own blog or website (#21; even as a WordPress plugin) — dream of an easy-to-use hyperlink for a Bible verse something like http://www.youversion.com/John/3.16/kjv/ (merely hypothetical; I think the Digerati team will figure out an even better solution)

facilitating group Bible studies (#25) — sometimes Bible studies are done topically with a carefully selected set of verses, and if YouVersion could pull those verses into a handy one-page print version, that’d be a very nice feature

most popular verse or user-generated content of the day, week, month, or all time — I know for me, to browse the things that are creating the most buzz at social networks and/or on the Web is compelling and engaging, and to see what’s popular within the Bible could be really insightful

highest-rated verse or user-generated content — similarly, people can rate things associated with a Bible verse or passage; the essence of this wild idea is that anything you can do with content on the Web, you should be able to do with the Bible

automagically link to user-generated content outside of YouVersion — this would be a big-bonus idea along the lines of Technorati; so that blog can ping the YouVersion server, and link in user-generated content without having to login to YouVersion; the big idea here is to make it very easy to link in user-generated content with YouVersion

Recommended Sites
YouVersion // Create Account
LifeChurch.tv
YAvillage Links // Bible

Do you want to help out in the community? Desire to make the world a better place to live, work, & play? Check out the below volunteer opportunities and resources. Relevant links to all opportunities are listed at the bottom of this post.

YAvillage.com is partnering with a new website, ArkALMIGHTY.com. The partnership provides a resource for people to “easily get involved in practical and tangible volunteer outreach.” ArkALMIGHTY.com creates a secure website where people can login, submit things they need help with, submit skills and talents they have, search for people that need help, and get connected to fulfill others needs. Feel free to submit anything you may need help with (help with a college class, babysitting, car maintenance 101, etc…). Chances are there is someone out there that knows exactly how to help you! The site is monitored by YAvillage.com, so your identity is secure. More Info.

The Reach FM is a local Christian radio station. They simultaneously broadcast on stations from Sumter, SC to Buffalo, NY! They are also a non-commercial site, which means they need public funding to stay on the air. Their Spring fund raiser is running from May 7th-May 10th. Please consider supporting them.

River Valley Ranch is a western ranch retreat located in rural Maryland. Since 1952, River Valley Ranch has provided an exciting and life-changing camp experience to hundreds of thousands of young people from all over America. Kids ages 7-17 can enjoy summer camp opportunities and it is open year-round for families and groups. They need help getting the camp ready for the summer and are hosting a ‘Work Day’ on May 12th.

Recommended Sites:
YAvillage ArkALMIGHTY
The Reach FM
River Valley Ranch

Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. PS.82.3

On Saturday May 12th, letter carriers in more than 10,000 communities will collect food items and deliver them to local food banks to help some of the millions of Americans, including an estimated 13 million children, who face hunger every day.

In 2006, an average of 26.7 million people used food stamps each month—about 1 million additional people per month compared to 2005.*

Research shows that preschool and school-aged children who experience severe hunger have higher levels of chronic illness, anxiety and depression, and behavior problems than children with no hunger.*

Simply place bags filled with nonperishable food items (i.e. canned meats and fish, canned soup, juice, pasta, vegetables, cereal and rice) next to your mailbox on Saturday, May 12th. The post office will deliver the food to your local food bank, pantry or shelter. You may also take items directly to your local post office, but please call ahead first.

Recommended Sites:
Stamp Out Hunger
*US Hunger Facts
Second Harvest

From our Missionary friend & World renowned photographer, Jordan Hill -

If you know of anyone who is interested in setting up water systems, providing agriculture assistance, or building fish farms in developing countries, please have them check out our Community Technology Seminars this summer. We are offereing three hands-on courses in Water Technology, Permaculture, and Aquaculture at the University of the Nations in Kona, Hawaii. More info