A new blog entry by James Copple: Balkanization: To break up (as a region or group) into smaller and hostile units. Webster’s Dictionary Balkanization is a term coined to describe the political and ethnic divisions in that region of the world known as the Balkans. For the past 30 years I have worked internationally in a variety of capacities. Most of my focus has been on international development, subs ... Read the full blog entry

A new blog entry by James Copple: Blue Cross Kenya sponsors a group of moms and their children living in the Korogocho Slums in Nairobi who have given up distilling homebrew alcohol and abusing their own product. Recovering moms and their ... Read the full blog entry

A new blog entry by James Copple: I had the good fortune of working for and studying with the late Timothy L. Smith, Professor of Religious History at The Johns Hopkins University. I was his Associate Pastor when he was Pastor of the Wollaston Church of the Nazarene in Boston and I was his doctoral student in American Religious History at Hopkins. Smith was the author of Revivalism and Social Reform: American Protestantism on the ... Read the full blog entry

The Charter for Compassion aims to start a cooperative effort to restore compassionate thinking and action back into religious, moral, and political life.

Strategic Applications International was recently notified that it received a $2.2 million dollar grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to combat methamphetamine in ten rural states. SAI will facilitate a national rural summit and launch planning activities with rural law enforcement in ten states participating in the Summit. This is a two year grant and is funded from recovery act funds supporting employment of ten staff as part of a workforce development initiative. For information contact James E. Copple at jcopple@sai-dc.com.

AllAfrica.com: Thanks to a solar-powered water system that pumps about 8,000 litres a day from a borehole, their school now enjoys access to clean water and improved sanitation. The 20,000 dollar project, funded by the Swaziland Nazarene Health Institutions, also supplies the nearby clinic and high school.

Today we talk to Dr. Jim Copple. Jim and his wife Colleen serve as consultants for Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, Inc., and are the grant directors for the Swaziland Partnership. He is working with government and church leaders on some of the toughest issues facing Swaziland.