World Vision 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.
If you are not already a member of ACT:S, we encourage you to check out our About page and join the ACT:S network for bi-weekly e-mail updates.
Below are the latest stories, resources, and campaigns. If you would like to contribute, e-mail acts@worldvision.org.
Free Malaria Film: "When the Night Comes" by Invisible Children filmmaker Bobby Bailey
03/02/2010Create awareness and save lives by screening "When the Night Comes," a film about the deadliest plague that humanity has ever known that is still, today, killing nearly one million people each year. In partnership with Bobby Bailey (Invisible Children filmmaker) and the United Nations Foundation, World Vision ACT:S is proud to offer this film as a FREE resource for your Night of Nets event!
What is the Night of Nets? It’s simple – you organize a fun event and we provide you with the resources to educate, raise funds for bednets, and mobilize advocacy to help end malaria.
Sign up below and we will mail you "When the Night Comes." You will also receive Night of Nets resources for creating awareness, raising resources (just $6 provides a life-saving bednet!), and effective advocacy on your campus, church, or community.
Visit the new NIGHT of NETS website – then create your fun event to save lives and help end malaria!
03/02/2010
Malaria kills more than 750,000 children under age 5 every year. Yet malaria is preventable and the solutions are cheap and available. Just $6 will provide a life-saving bednet. What is the Night of Nets? It’s simple – you organize a fun event and we provide you with the resources to educate, raise funds for bednets, and mobilize advocacy to help end malaria. Check out the new Night of Nets website, which offers a simple 1-2-3 introduction to organizing a Night of Nets event.
Sign up below or on the website and we will send you World Vision’s 9-minute Impact Video, a copy of Bobby Bailey’s new film “When the Night Comes,” and downloadable posters, story cards, and more.
Messiah College: Reflections form the Human Wrong Campaign
03/10/2010
By Sarah Plumadore, Messiah College
I sat in chapel with the word “sold” plastered on my shirt and yet I sang, “my chains are gone I’ve been set free, my God my savior has ransomed me.”
I realized that while God has ransomed me from the curse of my sins (and I, in no way, wish to belittle the incredible and simply awesome nature of that redemptive act), I have never been chained -- literally chained, the way Maya had.
Maya, the girl whose story my shirt represents, was sold by her own mother, taken across the boarder from Myanmar to Thailand, and forced to sell flowers every day. She was 8 years old.
I was struck by this incongruity; that I could joyfully sing “my chains are gone, I’ve been set free” and yet children like Maya are sold every day and forced into lives of slavery – chained. As I looked around, I saw other participants of the campaign singing with hands lifted, totally immersed in this act of worship, proclaiming their own freedom in Christ. Yet their shirts screamed: Forced, Threatened, Indebted, Seduced, Deceived. Each shirt represents yet another child trafficked into slavery.
Please join us in prayer for World Vision Pakistan
03/10/2010
Today, World Vision ACT:S is mourning the brutal and senseless deaths of six members our staff in the Mansehra District of Pakistan after an unprovoked attack by gunmen.
Although World Vision is a big organization, for those of us who work and volunteer for World Vision, we are really a big global family. We may never have had the chance to meet our brothers and sisters in Pakistan, but we share the common vision and desire to bring the fullness of life to children in our world. It is often in times of tragedy, that we recognize our common humanity with those who are suffering and feel a deep sense of loss when hearing news like this. Please join us in praying for the families of the victims.
World Vision's relief and development work in Pakistan is conducted by local citizens. All of World Vision's operations in the country have been temporarily suspended.
Biting back at malaria with bed nets
03/09/2010
By Craig Jaggers, World Vision health policy advisor.
With approximately 24 hours of travel behind me, I arrived in Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia and the location of our first shipment of bed nets. Since Zambia is nearing the end of the dry season, it couldn't be a better time to launch the distribution. The rainy season brings with it an explosion in the mosquito population, carrier of the deadly parasite that wreaks so much damage on children -- malaria.
Bed nets are essential
Ensuring that new nets are properly installed in households before the rains begin is essential in the fight against malaria. Why are bed nets so important? Simply put, they are effective. In sub-Saharan Africa, the use of insecticide-treated bed nets could potentially prevent 1 million child deaths. Studies show that when villagers sleep under a treated net, malaria incidence may be reduced by up to 50-60 percent. Also, they are inexpensive. They cost less than $10 and can last 3-5 years.
