Seattle Metro Church

In an effort to assist devastated nations with reconstruction in the wake of the recent tsunami, as well as other natural disasters such as hurricanes, we have established a planning site at recotourism.org. Recotourism stands for reconstructive tourism - vacationing in a developing country and spending part of your vacation time building homes, infrastructure, and otherwise assisting local people with developing new ways of supporting themselves.

The need for this kind of work is dire. Many coastal nations in the tropics, which are the most likely to be hit by hurricanes, tsunamis, monsoons, and other destructive forces of nature, have economies that are heavily dependent on tourism and agriculture. A single storm can wipe out crops that take decades to reach fruitfulness (such as nutmeg in Grenada), as well as most tourist attractions.

Your help with planning this initiative is needed. Visit recotourism.org to share your insights.

We will watch Ghost in the Shell on January 8 at the Martins’ house. See FilmNite.com for details.

From the Child’s Play Charity:

With the help of hospital staff we’ve set up Amazon Wish Lists full of video games, toys, and movies. You can go to each hospital?s list and buy a toy, and that toy will be sent to the hospital. Some of these kids are in pretty bad shape?imagine being stuck alone in a hospital over the holidays–so getting something from a fellow gamer would really raise their spirits. Some of the stuff the hospital will give away for kids to keep, while other gifts (like consoles) will be kept by the hospital for patients to use throughout the year.

Penny Arcade has a readership of something like three and a half million gamers across the world. We are arguably the largest community of gamers on the internet. The important word there being community. This isn?t IGN, this isn?t Gamespy, we are not a faceless corporation and you are not just a number tracked by a database and then relayed to hungry advertisers. You guys have proven yourselves to be a powerful force when stirred into action. Here is your opportunity to use that power to do some real good.

SMC would like to join in this effort.