Haiti has dropped all charges against nine of ten American Christians who were arrested in January.

Idaho Sen. Jim Risch was informed of the dropped charges Thursday afternoon by the State Department, according to Kyle Hines, a spokesman for Risch.

"The senator is pleased to hear that the charges have been dropped and is looking forward to the situation being resolved," Hines told CNN. more >>

The Salvation Army has so far distributed more than four million meals to Haitians since the tragic earthquake devastated the country.

Most of the meals have been passed out to some 20,000 people living in temporary shelters in Port-au-Prince. Other meals have reached small towns, churches and schools.

Packaged meals consist of rice, soy, freeze-dried vegetables with chicken flavoring and vitamins. more >>

The first large-scale evangelistic festival since the massive earthquake devastated Haiti earlier this year will be held Friday amid the rubbles of Port-au-Prince.

Local organizers say they expect more than 500,000 people to attend the event that will feature musical performances by rap and hip hop artist The Ambassador, urban alternative artist J.R., and Jamaican king of reggae Prodigal Son.

Evangelist Ben Cerullo will deliver the message at the event called “Hope Alive!” more >>

More than 100 church-based relief and development organizations worldwide have formally united under an umbrella group.

ACT Alliance, one of the world’s largest humanitarian bodies, was formally launched Wednesday with the main celebration in Geneva. The new body is a merger of the disaster relief network ACT International and its sister organization ACT Development.

Both ACT International, established in 1995, and ACT Development, formed in 2007, were created through the leadership of the World Council of Churches. The two bodies coordinate the work of agencies related to member churches of the WCC and the Lutheran World Federation in the areas of humanitarian emergencies and poverty reduction, respectively. more >>

While Congress is ahead of the public on overhauling the health care system, the public is ahead of lawmakers on immigration reform, said a megachurch pastor Tuesday.

“One of the things that I perceived when I was both at the capital yesterday and in the White House is this (immigration reform) seems to be an issue that the public is out ahead of politicians on,” said the Rev. Rich Nathan, pastor of the 10,000-member Vineyard Church in Columbus, Ohio.

Vineyard Church has a diverse body of congregants who collectively represent 75 nations. more >>

For thousands of Haitian children, the new norm of life is being played out in crowded tent cities or even worse – the streets – with no focused activity and no hope of schools opening any time soon. Even as the beleaguered government of a devastated nation scrambles to make the April 1 goal of reopening schools – the second such goal since the earthquake on Jan. 12 – it’s becoming all too clear that making this goal, according to a New York Times article on March 6, is becoming “increasingly remote.”

Of course, these children need to get back into the classroom so they can learn the necessary skills needed to become productive citizens in their country, but it isn’t only their education that needs to be addressed. Safety is also a major concern as these children living in tent cities are vulnerable to all sorts of crime. In addition, with the rainy season which lasts from March until May and the subsequent hurricane season which runs its course from June to November, the children could be exposed to all sorts of virulent weather.

It’s clear that Haiti will need foreign assistance for some time as the reopening of public schools is just one of many issues the nation’s government is trying to address. However, even as the work to rebuild Haiti has barely begun, interest is waning. The outpouring of support was tremendous at the beginning, but like so many disasters in the past, interest drops off dramatically when the long and tedious process of rebuilding begins. more >>