环球英语—1013:Season of Service

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Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Liz Waid.
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And I'm Joshua Leo. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no matter where in the world they life.
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On a Saturday, a woman stands cleaning windows in a school in Portland, Oregon in the United States. Two young men repair lights in the class rooms. An old woman collects leaves outside. These people are not being paid for their work. They are working for free in an event called "Season of Service." Today's Spotlight is about this event and about how people all over the world are serving their communities.
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A few years ago, a man named Randy Thomas stood in a school in his city of Oregon. He looked at the faces of the children as they slowly walked by. They looked sad. They were not excited to be in school. He was not surprised. The school did not have much money. In the past, twenty six people worked to clean and maintain the building. But now, there were only two. The school was dirty. There were marks on the walls. The paint was coming off. And no one cared for the plants and grass outside the school.
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Mr. Thomas wanted to do something to help the school and the students. So he talked to school officials and his church leader. A few months later, Mr. Thomas returned to the school with 1,200 people. They worked for days improving the school. They cleaned the things that were dirty. They repaired the things that were broken. The group made the school look new again. When the students arrived, they were surprised. They asked each other "who did this?"
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Thomas was excited that he and his church group could help the students in such a simple way. Later that year he talked with well-known church leader Luis Palau. Reverend Palau lived in Portland, Oregon. Thomas told him about the work his church had done in the community. Thomas wanted Reverend Palau's help to help more people in Portland. Reverend Palau's son Kevin loved the idea of churches serving their communities. He wanted to be involved.
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So Kevin Palau helped to organize the first "Season of Service." He wanted to organize thousands of people to volunteer, to give freely, to help their community. He gathered a small group of people together to plan the first event. The group decided to focus on five main areas: homeless people, the environment, public schools, hunger, and health.
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The group started organizing projects all around the city. They asked churches, businesses, and government leaders to join with them. After months of planning, the Season of Service started. Over six months the group organized 550 local churches, 68 non-profit groups and businesses, and 27,000 people to volunteer to help their community. The volunteers worked on 300 different projects around the city.
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But why did so many people come out to work for free? Why did they give their time and energy to do this? Many of the church volunteers did it because they are Christians. Kevin Palau described why the people were serving.
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"We are not doing this so that we can talk about the Bible. We are doing this to demonstrate the love of Christ."
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These Christians follow the example of Jesus Christ. They want to live lives that honor him. But instead of telling people about Jesus, they want to show what Jesus would do. They want to serve people like Jesus served people.
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A volunteer helping at a school said this:
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"Season of Service works because Jesus told us that he was here to serve, not to be served. And there is no reason why we cannot just take a few minutes out of a busy day and our busy lives and do exactly what he did."
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The Season of Service was created to show love. The creators of Season of Service wanted to show their community that Christianity is more than a religion. It is a way of life. It is people showing love to the people around them.
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But the Season of Service did not just happen in Portland. It happened in other cities in the United States. The idea even travelled all the way to Rwanda. Rwanda is a country that is still recovering from a tragic past. In 1994, around one million people were killed. This genocide came out of conflict between two ethnic groups.
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Today, the country still feels the effects of this horrible event. People lost their homes, businesses were destroyed, and families were killed. But people in the city of Kigali are coming together to make things better.
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In July of 2009, 70,000 people attended a worship event held by Reverend Luis Palau. They sang songs, they played games, and they heard church leaders speak. But before this three day event, another event happened.
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Hundreds of volunteers joined in the Kigali Season of Service. It started in a village of genocide survivors. The volunteers helped to build a water pump. This provided clean water to the village. And the group promised to provide water systems for schools in Kigali. This project will take three years, but it will provide clean water for many students.
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Other groups organized games of football with local children. Another group provided medical care for people who could not pay for it. When the Season of Service ended, 22 service projects were complete and 60 more were planned for the next three years.
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But groups involved in the Season of Service are not the only people who can help their communities. Groups all around the world are organizing service events in their communities. In August of 2009, people in South Africa Celebrate Nelson Mandela's birthday by giving 67 minutes of service to people in need. 67 is the number of years the human rights leader Nelson Mandela has spent fighting for freedom.
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In the United States, groups celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day by making it a day of community service. Martin Luther King Jr. worked to gain rights for African Americans in the United States. He often spoke about how people can make positive changes in the world.
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Anyone can make changes in their community. Anyone can create their own season, week, or day or service. Is there something that you can do in your community? Where do people in your community need help? What are you good at that can help other people? Maybe you can have your own season of service.
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The writer and producer of this program was Joshua Leo. All quotes have been adapted and voiced by Spotlight. Computer users can hear our programs, read our scripts, and see our word list on our website at http://www.radio.english.net This .program is called "Season of Service".
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If you have a comment or question about this program, you can e-mail us. Our e-mail address is radio@english.net. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye!