It’s Time for Idaho Falls to Help the Invisible Children

Posted by JeremyPlo
July 15, 2006

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Imagine the entire city of Idaho Falls disappears. All of your friends, children, uncles, gas station attendants, the mayor, the garbage man, even yourself, gone wihout a trace. Now, imagine that nobody notices or cares.

This is exactly what is happening in Northern Uganda, where a 13-year civil was has killed hundreds of thousands and left an entire nation displaced and living in constant fear. Since the inception of the war, more than 50,000 children has been ripped from their homes in the night and drafted into the Lord’s Resistance Army, a paramilitary revolutionary force that propogates the war.

These children are desensitized to violence by being forced to watch their friends, brothers, and sisters cut to pieces with blades or shot with automatic weapons. Then they are forced to fight and kill.

To avoid the night raids, everynight, hundreds of thousands of families march through the darkness from villages and settlements into major cities, where they crowd into gymnasiums, city buildings, schools, and hospitals, huddling together in hopes that their numbers will protect them from the LRA.

Now, just imagine this is happening in America. Is it possible that we would allow such events to continue? Now ask yourself, what is so different about Africa? Does geography really change so much? Are we less responsible for helping these people?

In Uganda, there is a war that we can stop. No, it’s not our business, but it is in our ability and in our grasp to do so. Imagine if a group of idealistic Americans could band together and help save this country from the fate that so many other African nations has suffered. Just imagine. Imagine what else we could do if we proved our influence with this one endeavor.

That’s what the network known as Invisible Children is hoping to accomplish through educational screenings, fundraising events, and politicall gatherings, hoping to gain the attention of world leaders and corporations to help stop this war.

So where do you come in? I’m planning an event for the end of summer in Idaho Falls which will feature a performance from a prominent local Christian band, a screening of the film, and hopefully other events that will help spread the word about the Inivisible Children. You can help in whatever way you decide is right for you. If you’d like to help organize and raise funds, then God bless you. If you would rather contribute by simply attending an event, God bless you. My plea is that you just do something. You have the power.

Everyday, the people of Uganda cry out to God for help. Will you be the answer to those prayers?

If you would like to learn more, visit www.invisiblechildren.com or talk to me and I can send you a copy of the film, Invisible Children. I have an .avi version of the movie on my computer.

Open Mike

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