NGOs

A seventh World Vision worker in Pakistan has died after the office was attacked last week by gunmen, the Christian humanitarian agency announced Tuesday.

Imtiaz John, 34, served as a field coordinator with World Vision since 2006. He passed away Sunday, leaving behind a wife, a four-month-old baby and an extended family who depend on him for financial support.

In total, seven local staffs working for children and displaced communities in North Western Pakistan have died following Wednesday’s attack on the World Vision office in Mansehra District, north of the capital, Islamabad. The staff members who died from the violent act range in age from 23 to 43 years old. more >>

Anti-poverty Christian groups are up in arms after popular political commentator Glenn Beck urged Christians to leave their church if it talks about social justice.

Beck, a Mormon, said the word “social justice” is code for communism and Nazism.

“Beck says Christians should leave their social justice churches,” wrote the Rev. Jim Wallis, CEO of the social justice ministry Sojourners, in response to Beck’s comments. more >>

WASHINGTON – We have different opinions, admitted the White House's faith-based advisers on Tuesday when they presented their recommendations. But we were able to find “meaningful common ground,” they added.

After a year of work, the 25 members of the first Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships presented a report that included more than 60 recommendations for six issues - economic recovery and domestic poverty, fatherhood and healthy families, environment and climate change, inter-religious cooperation, global poverty and development, and reform of the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

The proposals provide suggestions on how the government can better work with faith-based and community groups to tackle major social issues. more >>

Churches and aid organizations already have massive relief efforts going on in Haiti but that's not stopping them from looking more south where Chile is reeling from one of the strongest earthquakes on record.

"[W]ithout even stepping a foot into Central Chile, it is clear that the hundreds of thousands affected by this earthquake desperately need our prayers – and will also need our help as we learn more about the extent of the damage," said Randy Hurst, World Missions Communications director for the Assemblies of God.

International and local relief organizations are still assessing the needs and damage on the ground as initial deliveries of food and supplies are being made. more >>

A Scottish man who benefited from the Salvation Army’s services to the elderly left the ministry with an unexpected $1.27 million in his will.

The Salvation Army in Angus, an eastern county in Scotland, revealed this past weekend that Robert Saddler, a retired architect, had given the second largest donation ever to the branch’s community care service. The largest gift, $1.5 million, was given 13 years ago and used to set up the service.

Saddler, who reportedly has no immediate living family, had received help from the Salvation Army Angus since he was in his 80s. Ministry workers had shopped and collected medicines for him until his death at the age of 95. The particular Salvation Army service that Saddler used helps elderly people maintain an independent life. more >>