ACTs week!

This coming week has been dubbed ACT:s week. ACT:s is "a network of students committed to exploring what our faith says about poverty and injustice, using creative activism to bring issues to life and change hearts, and using our voices to advocate with our government leaders."

This week, CU's branch is promoting ACT:s through several events, including Orange T-shirt campaign, Lives on the Line, and One Life presentation in chapel on Friday. All of these events pertain to orphans.

For the Orange T-shirt campaign, we are selling t-shirts that say "Orphan" to spread awareness about the number of orphans around the world. We are selling them over the next week and a half and are asking students to wear them on December 1st, World AIDS day.

Lives on the Line includes stringing clothesline around campus and hanging different stories of orphans from around the world. During chapel on Friday, students will be invited to take a name card and pray for the child whose story is represented. Story cards featuring country profiles and stories of 10 different people affected by HIV and AIDS are hung from clothesline in a highly trafficked area of your campus. Students are invited to read the story cards, pick up one to keep throughout the day and respond through giving and advocacy.

In chapel on Friday, we will show a clip that will make students aware of the need in our world as well what they can do about it. The chapel will focus on how, while the overall problem may seem overwhelming, we have the power to change just one life.

We'll also be informing students of Advent Conspiracy. Advent Conspiracy is an international movement restoring the scandal of Christmas by substituting compassion for consumption. Essentially, it takes away the gift/money/stuff focus on Christmas in exchange for the community/love/worship focus. We're encouraging our classmates to give up the material demands of the holiday season for something deeper. For more information, click here.

Please pray for these events over the next few weeks. Pray that everything will come together. Pray that students will be open to our message and that hearts will be changed. Pray the eyes are opened to the needs of our world and a burning passion to do something is created. Pray that God breaks our hearts for what breaks His and gives us the wisdom to do something about our hurting world. Please pray especially as I speak on Friday. Pray that God gives me words to accurately express what He's been up to in my life. Pray that I'm able to stick to my time limit. tehe. Mostly, pray that hearts will be changed, both on campus and throughout the world because of the events of this week.

May God bless you throughout this week!