Freddie Mac to give unemployed homeowners a break

"Homeowners who lose their jobs will be able to skip payments on loans backed by Freddie Mac for up to a full year under a new policy taking effect Feb. 1 at the mortgage finance giant."


Read more on the new policy here.

MLK and Religious Freedom: Mark the Day

"Monday, January 16, is Martin Luther King Day. Most schools recognize the day — as they should. But will they teach students about Dr. King’s Christian faith, which motivated and guided his campaign for civil rights?

During his Birmingham civil rights campaign, Dr. King required every participant to sign a pledge committing to do ten things. The first was to 'meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus.' Others included the expectation that all participants would 'walk and talk in the manner of love, for God is love;' and 'pray daily to be used by God in order that all men might be free.'”

Click here to read more of Chuck Colson's commentary. 

Child-Centered Spaces Help Children Recover

"ChildFund continues to provide emergency relief aid to 2,000 children and families in the hard-hit province of Cagayan de Oro, in the wake of flashfloods and landslides brought about by Typhoon Washi [known locally as Sendong], on Dec. 16.

The relief packs ChildFund is distributing contain food supplies (rice, dried fish, bottled water, canned sardines and noodles), as well as essential non-food items including cookware, laundry detergent, hygiene kits and intimates. All of these items are much needed by families who’ve lost all their belongings, if not their homes as well."

Click here to read more.

Make yourself exercise in the winter, says AARP

"AARP guest blogger,  Annie Lynsen, writes that combating the blahs of winter can lull exercise into hibernating until spring. Wake it up by making your exercise mandatory by helping others, Lynsen says."

Start your winter exercise program by clicking here.

Shrimp Farming in the Vegas Desert

"Nearly a decade ago, I drove northeast out of the Davis Mountains of west Texas into the barren plain of the Permian Basin on the advice of a gourmand I trust. His directions: detour 25 miles off of IH-10 to a tiny town called Imperial and ask for a lean, weathered marine biologist named Bart. There, in the most landlocked place imaginable, Bart the biologist would provide me the most delicious shrimp I had ever eaten, grown in his backyard."

To read more, click here.

United Nations downgrades some famine zones in Somalia

"The United Nations has officially downgraded the famine situation parts of Somalia: in Bakaool, lower Shabelle and Bay. At the peak of the crisis, malnutrition was affecting 53 percent of the population in some areas of Somalia, now, that figure has fallen below the famine threshold of 30 percent. But although conditions have begun to improve in the Horn of Africa for some, challenges remain great for the families who live there and the aid workers trying to respond."

Click here to read more.

Unborn son's struggle inspires Christian singer

"Told that his unborn son had only half a heart and little chance to survive, the lead singer of the Christian rock band Sanctus Real began pouring his fears and doubts into music.

The songs were meant to comfort his family while they searched for answers and sought to understand God's role during the months before and after the baby's birth that were filled with surgeries and life-threatening complications.

It didn't take long for him to realize that his words needed to be shared so that others struggling with life would know they're not alone."

Read more here.