Despite many victories, the world still is besieged by poverty, pandemic diseases, social injustice, racism, gender inequality and political oppression.
In fact, more than half the world, more than 3 billion people, live on less than $2.50 a day according to Global Issues. More than 33 million people were estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS in 2007 world-wide, and more than 25 million people have died from AIDS since 1981, according to Avert. Added to these figures, there are 300 to 500 million clinical cases of malaria each year resulting in 1.5 to 2.7 million deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
What impact could
77 million American Christians have on these problems? How different would the world be if the Church of Jesus Christ became the leading responder to these issues? Why don't more Christians get personally involved?
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"Mother Teresa said it best -- 'Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin'," says Michael Seaton, creator of
Start>. "For most of us caught up in the hectic demands on our lives, the biggest problem is not desiring to be the Good Samaritan; it's acting on that desire! It's
starting!"
Hosted by John Ortberg, and featuring some of the most important voices in Christianity today,
Start> Becoming A Good Samaritan is designed to help churches, small groups and outreach organizations of all shapes and sizes inform, train and inspire individuals to
Start> putting their faith into action!
Start> Becoming A Good Samaritan was developed in partnership with Zondervan, The C2 Group, World Vision and more than 50 leading social justice voices from around the world. In six dynamic sessions, Start> Becoming a Good Samaritan is in a video-interview format and will explore the critical needs the world faces.
Here a
list of voices committed to this ground-breaking project:
Amy Sherman
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu
Bishop Horace E. Smith
Bishop James Jones
Bishop John Rucyahana
Brenda Salter McNeil
Bryant Myers
Christo Greyling
Christopher Crane
Chuck Colson
David Anderson
David Batstone
David Beckman
Dean Hirsch
Denver Moore
Dolphus Weary
Eugene Peterson
Francis Collins
Gary Haugen
Gerald Durley
Heidi Unruh
Jason Russell
Jayakumar Christian
Jim Cymbala
John M. Perkins
John Ortberg
Joni Eareckson Tada
Kay Warren
Mary Nelson
Matthew Sleeth
Mike Yankoski
Miles McPherson
Noel Castellanos
Philip Yancey
Philippa Lei
Princess Zulu
Rich Stearns
Rob Bell
Romanita Hairston
Ron Hall
Ron Nikkel
Ron Sider
Sandra Thurman
Scott Sabin
Shane Claiborne
Shirley Mullen
Stanley Green
Star Parker
Steve Chalke
Steve Haas
Steve Stirling
Tri Robinson
Zach Hunter
With session titles such as
The Church and Social Responsibility,
The World's Pandemic but Preventable Diseases, Social Justice & Race Reconciliation, The Poor & Poverty, The Environment: Stewardship of God's Creation, and The Disenfranchised: The Least and the Lost, the goal of Start> is to empower participants to get out of the pews and seize "Good Samaritan" opportunities in real world applications.
The curriculum is formatted in a video-interview format, offering a complete set of teaching tools including; the six-session DVD, a leader's and participant's guides with questions for group discussion and practical ways to get involved. There is also a Web site,
JustStart.org with additional interview segments, in-depth white papers on session topics and links to a variety of charitable organizations, which will provide individuals, small groups and other organizations with ideas and ways to implement Good Samaritan activities.
