World

L2 Alum Takes Third in Public Speaking World Championship

Anita Fain Taylor brings back to Broward County the third-place trophy of the 2018 Toastmasters International World Championship of Public Speaking held in Chicago on Saturday, August 25.  To make it to the finals, Taylor defeated 30,000 competitors from across the globe including the USA, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Middle East, Africa, India, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia. After competing in the Semi-Finals with the top one hundred speakers, Taylor made it to the top ten with her speech, “Take Your Shot.”  Her final speech, “IT IS WHAT IT IS. IT AIN’T WHAT IT AIN’T,” earned her a spot in […]

-Read More


Cross International Rebuilding Communities After Volcano

Cross International and its ministry partners in Guatemala are launching a major community building effort to help families displaced by the Fuego Volcano eruption. The effort aims to provide new housing construction for 1,100 families with donor support. Because of the disaster, hundreds of people died and hundreds more remain missing. The thousands who fled struggled for days with hunger and homelessness, and most are now living in crowded shelters with little more than the clothing they wore when fleeing. Plans are underway to build 200 homes on donated land in a new community to be named Nueva Jerusalem. The […]

-Read More


Coach Rick Brings Joy to Children Worldwide Thru Sports

Almost 30 years ago, Coach Rick Andreassen, founder and president of SAINTS International Sports Ministry and SAINTS of Florida Homeschool P.E., knelt at the foot of his bed and prayed. “They were going to have me teach Sunday School [at New Covenant Church] and I was like, ‘Lord, I can’t.’ I was making all the objections like Moses did; I felt so unqualified, and God said, ‘Love my children. Just do that one thing… love my children.’ He kept it simple and that’s all I’ve ever done,” Andreassen said. Today, Coach Rick Andreassen heads up an international ministry dedicated to […]

-Read More


The Conversion of Jamel Attar

Stories of how people come to faith in Christ can be moving and powerful. In the earliest days of the Church, for example, we read of the amazing conversion of the Apostle Paul (Acts chapters 9 and 22). Paul was a man deeply committed to a religion (first century Judaism) but came to believe in Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Paul had misunderstood and opposed the Christian message, but one day he met Jesus personally and his life was changed forever. As a result, he became a great missionary for Christ. God still saves people like this, even out […]

-Read More


Cross International Provides Rapid-Response Relief To Volcano Survivors

 Cross International in partnership with its sister relief agency Cross Catholic Outreach, provided immediate aid in response to the devastation caused by the sudden eruption of Guatemala’s Fuego Volcano. The volcano spewed a river of red-hot lava and pushed thick clouds of smoke nearly six miles into the air, and it continues to pose a risk to nearby villages. The initial impact of the disaster was staggering. Approximately 3,000 people were evacuated and 99 confirmed dead (that number is expected to rise, officials fear, perhaps reaching hundreds). More than 200 are reported missing. An entire village was completely destroyed by […]

-Read More


The Midwest Meets the Middle East

“Can’t wait to see snow,” was my reaction when I learned that I had to travel to Chicago on a business trip at the ripe age of 22. I took a night flight, and although cold, the drive to the hotel was pleasant. A date at the federal courthouse awaited me the next morning, and since my lodging was only a couple of blocks from my destination, I decided to “hoof it.” And there it was… white, wet, cold snow. However, this stuff had no resemblance to what I had seen on television. Instead of falling from the sky, the […]

-Read More


The Significance of the 70th Anniversary of the State of Israel

The modern state of Israel celebrated its 70th anniversary on May 14. From its reestablishment in 1948 there has been war, contention and controversy. To be honest, that parcel of land has been a source of contention pretty much since the times of ancient Israel. This is further complicated by the strong polarized views held by many in the church. Battle lines over support or condemnation of the modern state of Israel have pretty much fallen along political lines, which have forced us to either care for Israel or care for the Palestinians. To me this is the symptom of […]

-Read More


Storms Inside Me

  This winter break, I, along with 450 other student ambassadors, embarked on a ten-day expedition to Israel. It was an experience I will never forget, and even more importantly, it taught me just how important Israel is to God. In total, eleven buses were filled with college students from all over the U.S., who had applied through their schools to become student ambassadors with a program called Passages to Israel. Along with thirty new friends, who quickly became family, I was on bus #9, one of eight students brought by faculty member Dr. Andrea Hazim, representing the Elev8Life educational […]

-Read More


Pro-Life Campaigns Celebrate Lives Saved

Three local 40 Days for Life campaigns joined March 2 to celebrate the mid-point of the life-saving initiative, observed Feb. 14 to March 25 in 47 nations. But the gathering for food and fellowship had more to rejoice over than just hitting the halfway mark of the 40-day period of prayer and fasting, community outreach and peaceful vigil for an end to abortion. The same day of the celebration, three women chose life outside the abortion facility where Tom Walker leads the Fort Lauderdale campaign. Two of the mothers chose life for their children because of a simple sign that […]

-Read More


Ten Things You Might Not Know About charity: water

The story of the founder Search Scott Harrison and charity: water and dozens of videos of Scott sharing his story pop up. Let’s just say he had me at Liberia. Even if you’ve never set foot in Buchanan, Scott’s story of sex, drugs, rock and roll, the 180 desperation can inspire, A.W. Tozer, supernatural healings, Mercy Ships, and launching charity: water might convince you of one thing. It makes total sense that God would use a burned-out prodigal nightclub promoter to launch a charity that works like a start-up. Water is often far and dangerous Today, millions of people, mostly […]

-Read More