Many of you know of my involvement with In His Shoes, the outreach organization of our church. Our goal is to put ourselves in the shoes of others who are suffering in the world, to reach out to those less fortunate, and to combat evil with acts of kindness & love.
Each year on April 24, Armenians around the world commemorate the genocide that took place in 1915. My grandparents were survivors of this genocide, coming to America in the 1930's. The Ottoman Turks killed 1.5 million Armenians back then, and sadly genocide continues today throughout the world. This year, April 24 and Easter Sunday coincide, and we at In His Shoes have decided to commemorate our genocide by working to STOP A GENOCIDE. One that is happening today in Darfur. Currently 450,000 Darfuri have been killed and over 2,000,000 are displaced, living in IDP camps in Chad.
This year, on April 22 and 23, we will be fasting for Darfur. And this is where you come in. We will be raising money and awareness for Darfur. Our friends at Stop Genocide Now visit the camps in Chad where the refugees are living. They are working toward setting up schools and education programs for the children there. The funds that we raise will be going -- 100% -- toward the children of Darfur and providing them an education.
Will you help? Any amount you give is appreciated. Cash is fine. Checks can be made payable to St. Peter Armenian Church. If you need further information, please email me, or just ask.
Finally, I wanted to share a video with you. It's a message of hope from our community to the Darfuri community, and this week, it was taken to the camps and shown to the refugees. If you'd like more information about our organization, please visit our website at http://www.inhisshoes.org/, and please help!