Brian Cress
Director of Development
International Justice Mission
Brian Cress is the Director of Development for the International Justice Mission. IJM is a human rights organization that rescues victims of violence, sexual exploitation, slavery and oppression. IJM documents and monitors conditions of abuse and oppression, educates the church and public about the abuses and mobilizes intervention on behalf of the victims.Brian grew up on the shores of Lake Sammamish in Bellevue Washington, is a graduate Issaquah High School and of Biola University in Southern California. In 1980, he joined the staff at Westminster Chapel in Bellevue working with junior high and high school students, families and served as the Executive Pastor prior to joining the staff at IJM in 2007. Brian has been a conference speaker in Africa, Peru, Mexico, and throughout the United States.
Brian has spent many seasons as a basketball coach for the Bellevue Boys and Girls club and the Issaquah Park and Recreations teams. Brian and his wife Lori enjoy movies, travel and reading good books at the beach. They have three children, one junior in high school, one freshman in college and one recently graduated college student.
Rotary & Rotaract World Citizens
Rob Rose
How can we humans, as citizens of the world, treat each other and our planet with such disregard? It is as if we are the righteous and hold the key to all that is right.
I look around the world and see how inhumanely humans are treating other humans and I am appalled. Our world is an insignificant speck of dust in our vast universe and our survival as a species utterly depends on our ability to work together, celebrate the differences, practice tolerance and ultimately, treat others the way we would like to be treated. Why is this so difficult for us to put into practice?HUMAN BEINGS ARE ALL THE SAME. Inside, we are virtually identical. We may look different on the outside, we have our flaws and imperfections, our likes and dislikes, but basically, inside we are indistinguishable. How do we break out of this cycle that tells us that we are somehow better than someone else, that we know the “right” way to believe, that we know all of the “right” answers? I submit that if we give of ourselves to others without regard to their color, gender, race, caste, nationality, religion or physical and mental abilities, we can cure this intolerance, anger and apathy.
Rotary and Rotaract have always been a great means to achieve international understanding and peace, even in times when these commodities are in short supply. Rotary circumvents politics, transcends physical borders and encourages tolerance, world understanding and friendship.
I would assert that we, as Rotarians (and Rotaractors), are Rotary World Citizens. That we are one nation as Rotarians of the World helping others without prejudice or discrimination and for no personal gain other than the satisfaction of helping someone in need. We can make the changes necessary that countries and governments either won't or can't to insure that there is clean water, food, education, immunization from disease, equality, empowerment and equal opportunity.
Within the context of our immense universe, our diminutive earth is but a pinpoint. It spins in the perfect relationship to the sun to allow us an ideal environment for existence. As humans responsible for its care we are quickly spinning our tiny planet in a direction that will make us extinct, either by creating war and hate or by ruining the planet's environment, thus preventing us from surviving on its surface, or both.
I'm sure that in many ways I am “preaching to the choir,” as we say here in the United States, since many of my readers are Rotarians/Rotaractors; you already know the impact that Rotary can have as one of the best tools for peace and understanding. However, I don't believe that most Rotarians fully understand the power within our grasp to do “good” in the world.
We can BE the change. We are ONE through Rotary. We are Rotary World Citizens!
Email from Shova Thakuri Nepal Kathmandu
It was really a matter of great pleasure to get enrolled in the programme done at Jorpati Kathmandu at Nepal Disabled Association Hall, organised by Rotary Club Nepal, February 16th, 2008. It was really a beautiful moment to get such oppurtunity to make a small gathering with you all. We were lots of disabled together there at that time. I have no words to convey that thanks for you all.
Please forward the photos that you have snapped via mail. Really, I remember that moments which I will never, ever forget, that even we disabled were given facilitated and time by you all honourable guest. I hope that you wil also come back again to see us and you all have also a greeting from a lady Goma, sleeping horizontally in the wheel chair all the time. She also misses you a lot.
Hope to get the replies from you with the photos snapped at the Programme in Nepal Disabled Association Kathmandu.
Fellowship Event: Golf at Trilogy
Brad Hunt
We have reserved 32 spots for the spring golf fellowship at Trilogy Golf Club, Redmond Ridge, on Wednesday June 4th. The cost is $100 for balls, carts, greens fee, prizes and food. The first starting time is 1:00 pm, and we will be playing a "Scramble" format.Spaces will be held on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information and to book a spot, please contact Brad Hunt (Ph 425-417-6794).
By Dan Nixon and Vivian Fiore
Rotary International News - 14 February 2008
Rotary International News - 14 February 2008
Rotary International has received a US$3.5 million challenge grant from the Google Foundation, a nonprofit managed by Google.org, in support of Rotary’s top goal to eradicate polio worldwide. Rotary will raise funds to match the Google Foundation grant dollar-for-dollar over one year.
The grant and matching funds will directly support polio immunization activities carried out by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), a partnership spearheaded by the World Health Organization, Rotary International, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Following the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s $100 million grant to Rotary in November, Google.org represents another response to the call for support by Rotary and its partners to finish polio,” says Dr. Robert S. Scott, trustee chair of The Rotary Foundation. “Both challenge grants reflect strong confidence in Rotary’s leadership role in working relentlessly to help achieve this vital public health goal for the world’s children.”
Eradicating polio has been Rotary’s number-one priority since 1985. To date, Rotary has helped immunize nearly two billion children and contributed $650 million to the GPEI, a figure that will rise to more than $850 million by the time the world is certified polio-free.
Globally, the number of polio cases has fallen from 350,000 annually in the mid-1980s to approximately 2,000 cases in 2006. The GPEI has succeeded in slashing the number of cases by 99 percent and decreased the number of polio-endemic countries from 125 to just 4: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan.
“This grant comes at a crucial time for the initiative, as more funds are needed to reach children in the most challenging regions of the world,” says RI President Wilfrid J. Wilkinson. “We have the technical tools to beat polio, and we’re almost there. All we need is for the rest of the world to follow the Google Foundation’s lead in supporting the effort to eradicate this vaccine-preventable disease once and for all.”
