Vital Signs is the publication from the Pittsburgh Presbytery.
It is the pulse of the Pittsburgh Presbytery.
Their Web site www.pghpresbytery.org
Go to the Resource Center and click on the Usefull Websites
link and you will find many helpful links such as American
Bible Society - Daily Bible Readings and Upper Room -
Daily Reflections.

Presbyterian Book of Order can be found along with other
interesting sites at---
The Web Site for Ministry & Mission of Presbyterian Church USA is http://www.pcusa.org/index.htm
Type Book of Order in their search window
There are many, links for local, national and world news.
also
A link to the Presbyterian Book of Confessions and Book of Order
http://www.pcusa.org/oga/publications/boo07-09.pdf
At this site you can download versions or search an online version of both books.

HUNGER IN AFRICA
Johannesburg - In more than 12 African countries many problems
have joined together and caused the awful famine we see on TV
news each day. Poor governing, inattention to agricultural
production, AIDS, drought, and last year's locust plague, has
created the most widespread food shortages and famine in
decades. Mauritania, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Lesotho,
Swaziland, and parts of Mozambique and Zambia are the countries suffering the most.
While Niger has received much attention there are huge numbers
of people starving in other nations as well. Unless new long-term strategies are put in place to improve agricultural output the
starving will increase.

If you want to learn about the Presbyterian Hunger Program
go to www.pcusa.org/hunger
To learn about the Presbyterian Committee on Self Development
of People click on www.pcusa.org/sdop
Interested in Presbyterian Disaster Assistance click on
www.pcusa.org/pda.

Darfur Dilemma

Darfur’s Dilemma Update 2007 & 2008
Wed., Apil 11, 2007, Deputy Secretay of State John D. Negroponte
--to deliver another strong message to Sudanese government
about killing in the Darfur region, critics say the diplomacy is
allowing Sudan to play for time as the death toll mounts.
The administration has been trying to come up with a way to make
good on repeated threats that the U.S. will hold President Omar
Hassan al-Bashir accountable for the violence in Darfur, where
200,000 people have been killed and more than 2.5 million
displaced.
Mr. Bashir has yet to yield in response to a U.S. demand that
Sudan allow a U.N. Peacekeeping force to help the African
Union troops stop the militias from raping and killing unarmed
civilians.
April 17, 2007
Sudan agreed yesterday to let 3,000 U.N. peacekeepers deploy
in Darfur with attack helicopters, opening the door to the first
significant U.N. force to help African Union Soldiers who have
been unable to halt the death and destruction for the past 4 years.
However since the U.N. has no army ready to go, it may take
several more months to have them on the ground.
April 18, 2007
Is Sudan flying arms and heavy military equipment into Darfur
in violation of Security Council resolutions? Are they painting
Sudanese military planes white to make them appear to be U.N.
or African Union planes? The killing, burning and horror
continues.
Our government is talking sanctions again.
July, 2007-(information from McClatchy Newspaper's Shashank Bengali) One of the biggest obsticles to peace-and the gravest
threat to Darfur's people - is the rebels themselves, who have split
from three groups into as many as 16. There are few political
demands but the undisciplined fighters act as bandits, targeting
Darfur's aid workers(12500) and African Union peacekeepers (7000).
The various armed groups are using the international community
as a resource to equip themselves. It seems like everyone has a
gun and everyone is dangerous. It is terrifying for the humanitarian
staff.
September, 2007 Some of the Arab Tribes in Darfur are turning on
each other. According to U.N. officials, the various militias may be jockeying for power and trying to seize turf before the long-awaited hybrid force of U.N. and African Union peacekeepers begins to
arrive, perhaps later this year.
Nov. 07 Negotiations between the Sudanese gov. and Darfur rebels
have been postponed until December. The prominent rebel leaders
failed to arrive therefore stalling the talks. The dying continues.
Feb. 2008 Darfur refugees are pouring into Chad. The killings
continue in Darfur and the long-awaited deployment of U.N. and African Union joint peacekeeping force is being stonewalled by the Sudanese Government. The refugee crisis in Chad has been overwhelming. that country.
March 16, 2008
While the presidents of Sudan & Chad signed an agreement this
week to supress attacks by armed groups operating along their shared borders, the dying continues.
It is meant to end cross-border attacks in the Darfur frontier region. Accusations go back and forth of advancing rebel troops (Sudanese)
even as the agreements are signed.
March 26, 2008
Darfur desperately needs water! Water is so scarce that villagers
have to travel for miles to a water well..thousands of women have
been beaten and raped on those long dangerous journeys for water.
An Egyptian-American geologist, Farouk El Baz hopes to change that. He is an expert at radar topography, which is a scientific technique he uses to find out what lies below the land's surface. He believes he has found a massive lake beneath the desert. In the 1990's he discovered water deep under the sands of Egypt and Libia, where he turned the desert into fertile farmland. He believes there are many other sites beneath the Darfur desert that have the potential to be drilled for
water.
He hopes to begin drillling late this year. They are hoping more water will help tame and not inflame the violence in Darfur.