HUNDREDS OF YOUNG ADULTS WILL GATHER TO ' MOVE THE NATIONS ' NEXT WEEK

Last summer, approximately 150 people gathered for Move the Nations – Hawaii's first ever district-wide young adult convention. This year, Move the Nations ’09 will be held on the mainland at Monterey Bay Christian Center in Seaside, California, August 21-22, and event coordinators are expecting record number attendance.

The convention has been expanded to include three districts and will be streamed live over the Internet to young adults around the world. Churches from the Arizona Latin District, Northern Pacific Latin American District and Northern California and Nevada District have confirmed they are sending attendees and/or are watching the event live.

Danny dj and Martha Morales, Move the Nations founders and organizers, lead Lifehouse, Monterey Bay Christian Center’s young adult ministry group. Danny Morales says they are expecting 300 young adults onsite for the convention, but are anticipating a greater impact even beyond the individuals who will physically attend the conference. Move the Nations will be both advertised and broadcast over the Internet via Facebook, YouTube, Livestream Network, AGTV and the Assemblies of God national Young Adult Ministries Web site.

“Martha and I are looking forward to a demonstrable move of the Holy Spirit at this year’s convention that will not only move young adult attendees onsite, but also move young adults viewing throughout the world,” Danny Morales says. “Through the integrated medium of our live stream channel and social networking sites, like Twitter and Facebook, we hope to connect young adults in a common and thoroughly Pentecostal gathering place.”

The Moraleses have noted the power that new technologies have in spreading video and pop culture news around the world, and are hoping to use these same technologies to share the love of Christ through the Play it Forward campaign. They have set a goal of live streaming the Move the Nations event to young adults on every continent, including Antarctica.

As Danny Morales is active United States Navy, they have already “played it forward” to many deployed individuals around the world. The Moraleses hope other young adults will take up the message and “play it forward” by embedding the live stream on their own social sites and blogs.

The Move the Nations event is free and the Moraleses invite young adults ages 18-35 who are in the California area to just show up and attend August 21-22.

Christian comedian Dennis Gaxiola, formerly of the Latin Kings of Comedy, will share his comedy ministry Saturday, August 22. Also included in Saturday’s program will be a panel discussion, “The Young Adult Commission for a PostModern 2.0 World,” which will feature top young adult leaders, including Ryan Moore, Young Adult Ministries coordinator for the Assemblies of God. The discussion will be open live over the Internet, August 22 at 2:00 pm Pacific Daylight Time.

As at last year’s event, Dr. Roger Ovalle, assistant superintendent of the Northern Pacific Latin American District, will be the guest speaker. The Moraleses hope that Move the Nations inspires young adults in the local church to rise up and “do awesome things for God and their peers.”

For more information on Move the Nations ‘09, visit the event Web site or connect on Facebook. Additional information on the Play it Forward campaign is available at http://mbccag.com/mtnlive.

MANDATORY ' GAY DAY ' FOR K-5 STUDENTS IN CALIFORNIA: BOARD IMPOSES HOMOSEXUAL CURRICULUM ON CLASSES

A California school district has approved a mandatory homosexual curriculum for children as young as 5 – and parents will not be allowed to remove their children from the lessons.
The mandatory program, officially titled "LGBT Lesson #9," was approved May 26 by the Alameda County Board of Education by a vote of 3-2. Students from kindergarten through fifth grade will learn about "tolerance" for the homosexual lifestyle beginning next year.
The curriculum is in addition to the school's current anti-bullying program and is estimated to cost $8,000 for curriculum and training.
Parents will not be given an opportunity to opt-out of lessons that go against their religious beliefs. Some parents are threatening to sue the school board and mount a recall. Opponents presented a petition with 468 signatures from people who don't want the homosexual lessons in the curriculum.
At the board meeting, parent Julie Kim said, "The topics covered in this curriculum for all the grades should be left up to the parent to discuss with their children."
The district's legal counsel recommended against giving parents an opportunity to opt out of the lessons, claiming only health or sex education topics require opt-out provisions:

[T]he most prudent course of action for Alameda Unified School District's Board of Education in regards to the proposed lesson is to recommend providing notice to parents, not to allow an opt out of the instruction.
The school district claims it will re-assess the curriculum, but only after it has been in place for a full year.
According to the Island of Alameda, trustee Tracy Jensen addressed a crowd at City Hall following the vote.
"We are not telling anyone what to think," Jensen said. "We are letting children know that gay people exist and they deserve to be treated with respect, regardless of whether or not you believe that homosexuality is acceptable."
But Capitol Resource Institute's Karen England explored the curriculum and released a statement condemning the program before the board's vote.
"This curriculum ignores the fact that every child has a mom and a dad, to redefine ideas like 'family.' School absolutely should be a safe place, but this isn't just about safety. Students have to embrace highly controversial social values or risk being labeled as bigots," she warned. "Five year old kids aren't ready to think on their own about sexuality – and their families' values will be dismissed. That's not an education in critical thinking. It's social activism."

In kindergarten, children will be introduced to "The New Girl … And Me" by Jacqui Robins. The book is about a young girl who is new at a school and strikes up a friendship with another girl after a popular boy refuses to play with her.

In first grade, students will read "Who is in a Family?" By Robert Skutch. It explores different types of families. One page states, " … Robin's family is made up of her dad, Clifford, her dad's partner, Henry, and Robin's cat, Sassy."

"If a student responds that one family in the book is made up of a mother, a father and two children and a cat, you may acknowledge that some families look like this," the curriculum states, "but also ask students for other examples of what a family can look like."
Teachers are told to reflect and "reinforce to students that in our school and our community there are many different types of families that provide love and care to each other. Remind the students that all family structures are equally important."
Second grade students will read about two homosexual penguins that raise a young chick in the book "And Tango Makes Three" by J. Richardson and P. Parnell.
The two male penguins, Roy and Silo, are described as being "a little bit different."
"They didn't spend much time with the girl penguins, and the girl penguins didn't spend much time with them," the text states.
When the male penguins nurture an egg, it soon hatches. "We'll call her Tango," it states, "because it takes two to make a Tango."
The book declares, "Tango was the very first penguin in the zoo to have two daddies."
In the third grade, students will watch a film called "That's a Family," featuring some homosexual couples in addition to traditional families.
According to the lesson plan, it aims to "assist students in developing sensitivity to gay and lesbian family structures" and teach "respect and tolerance for every type of family."
Fourth graders will be required to read an essay titled, "My School is Accepting – but Things Could be Better" by Robert, an 11-year-old who has two lesbian mothers.
They are introduced to terms such as "ally," "gay," "lesbian" and "LGBT."
Teachers are instructed to ask, "How do you think Robert feels when he hears people say things like, 'this is gay' or 'You're so gay'?"
By fifth grade, students learn to "identify stereotypes about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people." They are told that "LGBT people have made important contributions within the United States and beyond."
Teachers are asked to write the acronym LGBT and ask students the meaning of each letter. Students discuss why stereotypes are "incorrect and hurtful" to LGBT people and people with LGBT family members.
The children are provided with a list of famous LGBT people, including novelist James Baldwin, singer Elton John, comedian Ellen Degeneres, pop singer Christina Aguilera, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, poet Walt Whitman, singer Lance Bass, figure skater Rudy Galindo, homosexual politician Harvey Milk, Army veteran Jose Zuniga and basketball player Sheryl Swoopes.

Teachers then ask if students are surprised to learn that those famous people are members of the LGBT community. The curriculum also provides a list of LGBT vocabulary words for students, including the following: bisexual, transgender, gay, LGBT and lesbian.