Because I sponsor...

Editorial: World Vision

            An average of 14,000 children die every day to a lack of necessities. That’s one child dying every 7 seconds because they don’t have the basic means of survival. All over the world children are starving. They need clean water to drink. They need medical attention. But they are so poor that they don’t have these fundamental requirements of life; these things we take for granted every single day.

Shouldn’t we all be able to have these necessities?

            I think so. And so does World Vision.

World Vision is an organization that helps children all over the world by providing them with food, water, medicine and education, as well as biblical teaching. They do this through sponsorships from people like you and me. For only a dollar a day you can provide for one child’s needs.

They can live on $365 a year!

Can you believe that? Only $30 a month pays for everything they need. Can you imagine only having 30 bucks to pay for all the food, water, doctor bills, school tuition, and gas money you need for a month. What I would spend in gas could potentially save a child’s life.

World Vision is a great way to make a difference in the lives of so many people. Not only do all those children benefit from your sponsorships, but so would you. Through this organization you can touch each other’s lives. They are blessed with your support and you can be blessed by writing to them and learning their stories and experiences. When you hear of their hardships you will realize how truly blessed you are.

If you are interested in sponsoring a child through World Vision, or if you just want to learn more about the organization, go to http://www.worldvision.org/.

Give these children what every person has a right to; life.

Bless and be blessed.

UC student recording album in Nashville

             Tori Wright, a junior at the University of the Cumberlands, is currently working on an album in Nashville, Tennessee.

            “I’ve been singing since I could talk,” Wright said. She started singing in church and started singing auditions at age 3, and started leading worship at church at age 15.

            When Wright was 8 months old her mother took her and her sister to a modeling audition in New York. While there, Wright’s mother met a woman named Beverly  Sage-Crocker, whose daughter is now Miss New York. The two mothers lost contact but found each other on Facebook not long ago. When Crocker learned that Wright sings, she told her about the vocal coach that her daughter goes to before her pageants.

            Wright called the vocal coach, who’s name is withheld, is also the vocal coach of Beyoncé, TobyMac, Francesca Battistelli, and many top Christian artists. She took Wright as a student without even hearing her sing. Wright started her song writing in March, and at her second meeting with her vocal coach they started talking about recording an album.

            Wright travels to Nashville on some weekends to clarify and work on songs. Recording will begin in January. So far there are seven songs chosen for the album, Wright said she hopes to have between 10 and 15 songs total.

            “My songs are all to God, not necessarily about Him,” Wright said. “Mostly worship songs. It’s all about how glorious God is.”

            The songs are written about things Wright has learned from going through hard times and about praising God through them. Quiet places are ideal for Wright when writing songs, “anywhere that’s quiet, when I can zone out and forget about everything else,” she said.

            Wright said her music has a “coffee shop, indie type of feel, a mix between Kari Jobe and Ingrid Michaelson.”

            Wright said that she could not have put any of this together on her own. “God opened all the doors. It’s kind of cool to just marvel in His awesomeness.”

            Robbie Fiefhuas, a life-long friend of Wright, said, “Tori is a very good singer, so I think she will do good. The hardest part will be her publicizing herself to the community.”

            The album will be finished in the spring and will only be available for sale at Wright’s concerts, which are not yet set. They will later be available in stores.

            “This isn’t about me. This is about the Lord and leading people in worship,” Wright said. “Worship the Lord in beauty and holiness.”

New to America

University of the Cumberlands is home to 87 international students representing 23 different countries.  Students come from as far away as Australia, Brazil, China, England and Mongolia. How did they hear about a small university in Williamsburg, Kentucky? Wanda Hensley, who works in the Office of International Student at UC, said that sometimes students hear about UC through friends, on the Internet, or through an agent.

Moving to the United States, for most foreign students, is a big change, and probably not what they had expected.

“Not having my family, moving to a small town; everything was different,” said David Intal, who moved here from New Zealand but is originally from Cambodia. Intal had been to America before. He had visited Orlando, Chicago, and Los Angeles, but Williamsburg was nothing he had expected. “I expected there to be big train stations in every city. I thought everything was big.”

Some students experienced more of a cultural shock than others. The biggest challenge for many was the language. Most students could speak or read at least a little English, but with the southern dialect and slang, picking up the language proved to be harder than what would have been studied at home.

“I think food is a big thing too,” said Hensley. “They miss their home cooking. They’re not used to pizza and hot dogs and stuff like that yet.”

Intal said another challenge is making friends. “Finding where to fit in was hard because I was the only Cambodian student. But I made some friends,” Intal said.

UC is very diverse, and all students, whether from China or Williamsburg, are adjusting to life on campus and are trying to find their place.

 “I think our internationals have a lot to offer,” Hensley said. “I’d like to see more interaction between the foreign students and the others. I think they have a lot they can teach us.”