SWINEflU

Dealing With An Epidemic

The scare ofthe swine flutroubled people all over America Theviruscirculated into many locations, including the cityofLynchburg.

The firstdayofschool,Dr Richard Lane,fulltime physician atCentra Health, sawa student thathad already attended classand was infected withthe virus. Emails were sent and urgent announcements made warning thestudent body ofthe virus Lane was encouraged bythe measures taken toprotect thestudents

According toLane,students who were infected with theviruswere sent toisolation rooms forthreeto fourdays.Also, the school added more hand sanitizer dispensers and stressed theneed forgood hygiene

"Due tothe changing nature ofthe influenza virus, it always has thepossibility ofbecoming avirulentstrain like the1918Spanish flustrain. It helps if everyone takes it seriously,"Dr Alan Gillen, biology professor, said

Inthebeginning ofSeptember there were,"reported to be24cases ofthe Swine Flu on campus," Lane said A survey heconducted showed, "1600 to1700students were at high riskforgetting theH1N1 virus, another name forswine flu."

The swine fluvaccination wasmade available to children, pregnant women, people with healthrisks, health care workers oranyone inconstant contact with younger children inOctober.By December,thevaccine was being offered to all

According totheCenter forDisease Controland Prevention's [CDC] website, by December there were an estimated 246,000 hospitalizations and 11,160 deaths due totheH1N1virus

"Good hygiene and prevention practices generally reduce therisk. If everyone takes theprecautions that the CDC recommends,then it is likelythat we willbe at low riskfora localepidemic," Gillensaid. He also added, "Finally, we need to trustGod forHis protection;Heis the Grea t Physician."

Story by Rebecca Donnan and Stephanie Heverly WHATPRECAUTIONSAREYOUTAKINGTOTRYANDAVOIDGETTING

SICK WITH ILLNESSES SUCH AS THE SWINE FLU?

"Thenumber onethingistowash yourhands.Thereisscientificresearch thatshowsthatwashing handscutsdown onthespread ofsickness Number two isgetrest.Yourbody needstimetorejuvenateand build up itsdefenses Thethirdthingiseatingrightand gettingexercise Allthree seem simple,butwhen puttogethertheygiveyourbody thebestchance itsgot.''

LizGilmore,SR

"Idrinklotsofwatereachdaytohelpkeepmy system cleanandeliminateallunnecessary bacteria I'mafirmbelieverinhand washing,but I'mnotbigon puttinghand sanitizeroneverysecond ofthehour.Too much hand sanitizingcanleadtoan immunity towardshandsanitizer, whichcouldthenleadtoillness." -KaitlynBoone,SO

"I make sure to wash my hands often, and drinkplentyofwaterand orangejuice I try togetagood night'ssleepand eatabalanced diet."

(continued from page 15)

Feb 9th: "I am often caused towish thattherewere some way to bring modern Christiansintoadeeper spirituallife painlessly by short easy lessons; but such wishes arevain No shortcut exists"- A.W Tozer, The DivineConquest

At theairport, thereare hundreds ofpalletscontaining food, water, medical suppliesand othergoods such asshoes These things are being shipped here, but little distribution is accomplished bythe Haitian people. There is not much organization by the peopleof Haiti; therefore, it has been very beneficialtobe "American."With the proper negotiating, haggling and documentation,we can get supplies An organization called "Hope forHaiti" gave usabout $4,000 offood today tostorein ourwarehouse So many of these palletsaregoing towaste because thereeitheraren'tenough white people, orthe Haitian people don'thave the resourcesorthe documentation proving they areworking foran organization tohand outfood

I wish I could writemuch more tonight, but if given thechoice between sleeping and describing the horrificstench ofdeath the most eloquent way...I choose sleeping The smellofdead bodiescan wait I'm notin the mood

Feb 10th: We got theday started meeting with someofficials and coordinators oftheUnited Nations [U.N.] Something may get accomplished long-term butshort-term, I'm notso sure Otherthan going totheU.N compound base, today was notthrilling There's too much delegating and planning and nota lot ofaction, I don't know how we keep getting intothese places, but usually we tell them we are important and thatwe aredistributing food With the little Spanish I know,I was abletogetusthrough a U.N based feeding facilityguarded by troopsfrom ElSalvador It helpstobe awhite American, and I mean thatinnicestway possible We did a lot of driving today We do a lot ofthatinHaiti It takestwo hourstoget somewhere 30 milesaway We visited and brought food toa home forchildrenwith AIDS We gave them money tobuy afridge The home smelled worse thanthe odor ofthousands dead Knowing thatthese kidswould diesoon broke my heart I tried totake it all in and didn'twant toleave Most ofthekidsattheorphanage we visitedearlierin theweek were happy and joyful, loving theexperience asmuch as I was The kidsat the AIDS home reflected a lot ofsadness and brokenness That was tough tosee You knew theirfate, and they knew theirfate I'm justglad I gottospend some time with them

I stopped writing going intothelastdays,primarily because atthe end oftheday,I was tootiredtopick up a pen and tooemotionally exhausted todescribe anything So now a couple ofweeks later, I am sittingdown toreflecton my experience there Inmany ways,it has been good forme asfarasmy relationshipwith Christand its growth, yet I'vefound myselfmuch more apathetic towards thecurrent institutionofthechurch

£ H f^mU^^f D ATION

JOURNALBYDUSTIN ALLMAN

In many ways I feel changed. Every structure was affected and every person I saw knew someone taken by thecatastrophe We were on a plane with a group going to Haiti They all had matching t-shirts thatread, "Haitiearthquake relief team"and they weretaking picturesand being goofballsthewhole plane ride At theend of our trip, we were leaving Haition thesame plane with them,and they looked defeated They weren't smiling, they weren't talkingand they weren't wearing theirshirts I talked toan officerfrom theAirForce thatday who told me many people were coming toHaitiposingas relief workers,butthey were reallytheretojust"seewhat'sgoing on." I do notthinkthey were prepared forwhat they were about to see, smelland hear The bodies have been cleaned up but Haitihas only scratched thesurface ofcleaning up and restoring itself Voodoo and spiritism have been prevalent in the historyof Haiti. Now,Voodoo is on thedecline Many people areconvertingto Christianity because so many Christiansaretheones doing thesimple thingslike feeding and tending totheirneeds The day we left, the President ofHaiti, Rene Garcia Preval, had actually declaredthat weekend a National Day ofFasting and Prayer When we left, the echoes ofpraiseand prayer were ringing throughout thecity. There were church serviceson every streetcornerand people dressedin their"best,"which most times was not much at all

I was hanging out with a kidacrossthe streetrightbeforeweleft who called me David Beckham [avery graciouscomparison thatI do notdeserve] and he asked formy shirt I asked him why and hesaid he needed a niceshirtso he could go tochurch,I wanted totake it off forhim rightthen and thereand would have if I could have given all the kidsone,but I was outnumbered Instead I gave them my coffee and toldthem toshare Each oftheten kidstook one sipof coffee before passing it around tothe next, I couldn't believeit I filled all theirwater bottles [they had picked them up from atrash pile] with theGatorade I had remaining inmy own bottleand left forthe airport I wanted toturn back I know what John 4:13 means now,"Everyone who drinksthiswater willbe thirstyagain."I saw physicalthirst and spiritualthirstin theireyes

Afterhearing the Haitian people singing hymns,reading phrases writtenon broken walls, abandoned facilities and homes and listening tohow they spoke about theircountry and theirGod,this song shows theirspirit in so many ways:

I am inpain, I am despaired

My tearsdo not stop my hunger

My words do notcease my thirst

Your works will nottakeback what I have lostbutthroughthis deepest possible pain...

God Is enough

He is my refuge

He is my comfort, he is my joy

He is my rock, He is my hope

I willbe restored

Story and photographs by Dustin Allman

(continued from page 56)

Q:What other outdoor activitiesdoyoulike todo?

We enjoy playing tennis, skiing and sledding.I bought new sleds forthe kidsthisyear I ordered them from Amazon and they arrived just intime forthe snow They are the type ofsleds that have skis on the bottom and can be stopped by skidding sideways If they work as advertised,maybe they can be used on Snowflex

Q:Where elsedoyouliketovacation with the family?

Most ofour vacations have been to the North Carolina Mountains near Boone,That is, by far,our favorite place togo Becki's Dad still has the big log cabin next to the New River there The road was formerly a railroad and isflatforten miles next to the river, so it is a great place to ridebikes, go canoeing,tubing,kayaking orjustto relax We drive down several times a year for long weekends

When the kidswere smaller, we would vacation inour small motor home For years, all ofour vacations were spent atdifferent campgrounds within a few hours of Lynchburg with a group of neighbors The grand finaleof camping tripsforus occurred when we drove out West in2002, 5.000 miles inthree weeks We visited everything from Mt Rushmore toYellowstone and drove through Utah and Colorado We also visited Glacier National Park That was our lastmotor home vacation because we covered so many milesin such a short amount oftime Itwas a greattripbut itburned us out ofcamping We justsaid, "That's it,"and we parked the motor home Itisstill sitting inthe garage today Inrecent years our vacations have been more traditional and we stay inhotels like everyone else

Q:What doyouliketowatch onTV?

We watch a lotof CSI, even the reruns I don't pay attention while I'm watching TV because I'm always thinking about work or answering e-mails,I can watch the same CSI episode 10or 15times, and I still see something I haven't seen before

We also watch TV on some great seating Becki swore she would never letme buy these seats called love sacks, because they are so huge and ugly,but I convinced her to give them a chance They are likea big bean bag,big enough to sit5 people While they are unsightly inthe living room I can't imagine there could be a more comfortable way for the whole family to watch a DVD on the big screen

Q:Doyouplay Beatles Rock Band [BRB]with your family?

My kids play, not me I have no musical ability

My 20-year-old son Trey isa student and doesn't liveat home, but he isa guitar player and does very well on BRB when he comes by the house

My 16-year-old son Wesley isan expert drummer and gets 100%for hisdrum performances even on the expert setting My wifeBecki, who has never sung anywhere except when the congregation sings inchurch,gets 100% on BRB forher singing Even my 9-year-old daughter Caroline gets high scores on the guitar and drums I tried the guitar once and the drums,but my scores were lessthan 70%, even on the easy setting That iswhy I try not to clap on beat inConvocation

Q:Where is your favoriteplacetoeat?

IlikeCracker Barrel mainly because ofthe Coca-Cola cake It'sa double chocolate fudge cake,and it'sso richyou can only eat about a halfa piece I liketheir breakfast food and country vegetables too Another favorite forour family isa littlerestaurant called Carol's Place They have breakfast all day,nothing fancy, justgood food I also love Waterstone and I get a pizza with all the different toppings

Q:What is the best partabout your job here?

Ilovejust watching allthe exciting growth and to see all the things what were justdreams actually becoming reality I was general counsel here during the tough years inthe 80s and 90s, when we fought to make payroll many weeks,just trying to survivefinancially. Now,to see the school prospering and growing beyond anyone's wildest imaginations isevidence thatthe struggles of those early years were worthwhile As thrilled as I am tosee thisschoolfulfilling the vision of itsfounders,itismore rewarding to interact with the students and watch them grow spiritually and professionally Our students really do livetheirfaith You can see theirChristian commitment inthe way they help those inneed,the way they treat other and intheirwork ethic To me,the achievements and lifestyles ofour students and graduates are the real proof that our schoolis fulfilling itsmission of training champions forChrist

Story

by Stephanie

Heverly,

photographs by Dave Poore

Theyoung women dashacrosstheroom toseniorChristinePettitduringagame attheirChristmasparty TheMasterofCeremoniesannounced thatwhoeverguessed first,who wasthe daughterofSherriePettit,won aprize Withthemoney Freedom 4/24 raised,380prostitutesspentanightaway from thebarsand attended oneoftwoChristmasparties, "Itwasso awesome toseethemissionofFreedom 4/24come alivethroughtheseChristmasparties," Pettitsaid."We gottoseethesewomen behonored,valuedand loved,even ifitwasforjustonenight. Itwasan unforgettableexperienceandthecoolestpartisthatGod isstillworking inthelivesofthewomen who attended theseparties."

(continued from page 10) "Everything her family hadwastaken away," Christinesaid "Wanhadtwoyounger siblingsand she feltprostitutionwas the only waytosupport them Hermother hadbegun to prostitute herself, and soon afterWanjoinedher."

Christinewasableto share the gospel with Wan andtell her how she could have anew life away from prostitution Thegroup she wasworking withcalled "Beginnings"could provide her with education,health care andanew place to live

That young Thai girlandthe many women Christinesawsparked anidea ofawayto help these girls After returning back tothe United States, Christine started anorganization with the help ofher fatherSteve Pettitandfriend, alumni JoeWalston Thename Freedom 4/24stemmed from the idea that$24 bought a prostitutefreedom for24hours

"Our mission istoraiselarge-scale awareness ofsexually exploited women, inorder to move people toaction and support these organizations thatare in the trenches, working dayafterdaywith thispopulation ofgirls," Christinesaid

With the ideaofFreedom 4/24inthe works,Christine struggled tofind a way toshare hervision After hearing about hisdaughter's passion, Steve Pettite, theLifeDevelopment Pastor and overseer ofthe "Nations Program"at Brentwood Church,decided to help He wanted toget the church involved

"Brentwood served asa launch padforFreedom 4/24,andthroughthe church our organization got out rightaway,"Christinesaid "Alotofthe support initiallycame from Brentwood,butnow we arealsogetting support fromour school andfrom differentchurches and it'sreallytaken offin Lynchburg as a whole."

Christineand her team created unique ways toraiseawareness about sexual exploitation through clothing, stickersandaWebsite

"Ihelped coordinate the Web sitedesign, federal paperwork,t-shirt design, and took the initiativetotake Christine'sdream of helping thegirlsinThailand and made it intoa business opportunity thatcould actually happen," Walston said

The idea spread rapidly According toSteve Pettit, oneout ofevery fivecars inLynchburg has aFreedom 4/24stickeron it Christine shared how people in Dubai donated and how other universitiesacrossAmerica planned toorganize theirown chapters ofFreedom 4/24aswell Freedom 4/24teamed up with the ministry team "Beginnings"toassistwith gaining sexually exploited women theirfreedom Themoney raised by Freedom 4/24 wasused by"Beginnings"tobuythe women's freedom andaswell as items necessary forthe girls tostarta new life

During Christmas break, ateam went toThailand It wasChristine'sfirst time back since2008.With the money Freedom 4/24hadraised since herlast visit, over 300girlsspent a nightaway from the bars Alloftheirfees were paid for and they were abletoattend aChristmas party thrown bythe ministry team The girls were ableto relax, smileandeven laugh asthey enjoyed a night off "We paid forthe girls to have a nightoffreedom and hear the gospel onone ofthe fewnightsthey get offayear," Christinesaid

Christinesawmore than justa prostitute livinginsinwhen shesawthese girls Shesawthevalue thatthese girlsheld andthispassion drove hertostart thework that helped freemany ofthem from bondage

"These beautiful, gentle and kind girlshave destinies immersed inpoverty, low self-worth andunfathomable pain," Christinesaid "With thesuccess ofFreedom 4/24,I want to, insome way,provide away out ofthis lifestyle foras many girls as possible Story by Kendra Mann and Stephanie Heverly photographs courtesy Daryl Calfee

First First Lady

(continued from page 65) "The nightthey came overtothechurch, itwasabsolutely crowded," she said "The onlychairsthatwere left weretwo chairsupin thefrontrowwhere they sat Jerry and his friend, Jim, took specialnoticeof my friend andI whowere playing the piano."

Needlesstosay, Dr. FalwellandJimspent more timeatParkAvenue BaptistChurch.They took turnstaking Mrs. Falwellhome from school. Eventually, Dr. Falwellleft togotoschool, but he wrote toMrs Falwell often

"When hecame back home,thefirst thing he did wascome tomyhouse andpick meupto go outthatnight,"shesaid.

Before becoming thefirst "FirstLady"of our school, theyoung Mrs. Falwellwasawoman who loved road trips, caught theattentionof more than oneguyandeventually stole the heartofDr Falwell

According to Mrs Falwell, she andDr Falwell went together forafewyears. Then Dr. Falwell fell forheranddecided togiveheraring. Mrs. Falwellwaspreviouslyengaged,andsentthe ring back to herformer beau, andacceptedDr.

(another view onsoldiers from page 16) O n September 11th, 2001, the world wa s glued to their televisions as four airplanes, hijacked by terrorists, crashed into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. Thousands of people were killed and man y more injured. The nation wa s left wounde d and hurting It wa s this momen t that stirred the hearts of man y Americans to stand and fight for out protection and for those wh o lost their lives

Senior Charles Cash wa s at school whe n 9/11 happened After seeing and hearing what happened, Cash felt called to defend and protect his country That very day, he signed the papers and joined the Marines

"9/11 wa s our generation's Pearl Harbor," Cash said. "I thought it wa s m y calling [to enlist]."

Cash wa s not the only student wh o enlisted due to a sense of duty Senior Josh Marenco joined the National Guard for the sam e reason.

"This country has done so muc h for us, and they ask so little in return," Marenco said "Ho w can you not give back? Ho w can you not serve?"

Marenco and Cash were deployed overseas with man y other me n and women . They left behind friends, family and their comfortable life to risk their lives for our country These soldiers faced danger and heartache frequently

"It's so real whe n someon e shoots at you," Cash said "I don't even kno w this person and they're trying to kill me . It's scary. You don't really worry about yourself. You worry about your buddies."

Sophomor e Wayn e Cofer, wh o fought in Iraq in 200 5 and 2008, lost a fellow friend from high school wh o also wa s deployed with him The loss of his friend caused Cofer to withdraw whe n he cam e back to the States

"I wa s really secluded emotionally and didn't like being around a lot of people," Coffer said "I tried to keep a close group of friends and stuck with them I didn't really want to mak e ne w friends. I wa s under the impression that if I becam e friends with someon e else, I would take the risk of losing them again."

Marenco's unit served as a convoy escort O n every mission, they faced the danger of getting hit by a Improvised Explosive Devices [IED], which were mines placed across northern Iraq to protect the country during the war with Iran

"Our unit wa s extremely lucky, and you could see God's hand at work," Marenco said

Falwell's proposal From there she became a wife and mother of three kids.

This was our first, 'First Lady.' She knew ho w to have fun and where her devotions lie Above all other qualities, Mrs Falwell was a woma n of the Lord She never knew ho w muc h the Lord had in store for her and Dr Falwell, but she trusted God.

It was during an afternoon car ride that the Lord showed Mrs. Falwell another chapter in life he had in store for her and her husband. She was sitting in the passenger seat whe n Dr. Falwell told his family the news; he wanted to start a college

"There's no reason wh y w e didn't get hit more Guys before us were getting hit and guys behind us were getting hit There's no reason wh y I would have gotten off this easy Every mission w e would pray before w e would go If there wasn't a chaplain, they would be like, 'Hey Josh you go to Liberty com e pray for us,'"

After they had served their term, soldiers boarded planes and headed back to their family and friends

"[Coming back home ] wa s pretty amazing, starting with the momen t I stepped off the plane at Cam p Shelby," Marenco said "I remembe r being so relieved."

After experiencing man y intense situations and seeing what they saw, coming back to the States becam e a challenge for most soldiers. It wa s a relief to be hom e and out of danger, but it wa s also hard to adjust to

"I almost killed m y family trying to dodge anything in the road," Marenco said, wh o wa s left paranoid from the lED's in Iraq McDonald bags, sticks in the road and people would scare him Cofer said, "Coming back is always weird because people don't understand the difficulties you face. You see things most people won't ever see or experience in their life."

These students cam e back and shared ho w the war had given them a different perspective on life Their outlook wa s changed due to their experiences

"It mad e m y faith stronger," Cash said "I questioned m y faith for a while, the things I did and the things I saw mad e m e question it Through m y ow n study and God's work in m y life it becam e strong. It's one of the strongest things about m e now."

Marenco said, "I've always been taught that me n are not flawless and are desperately wicked. I got to see this first hand, ho w people are wicked." H e added, "It mad e m e a little mor e cynical, but at the sam e time I've seen ho w Go d has been faithful in m y life I kno w without a shadow of a doubt, Go d wa s looking out for us."

Although there were challenges for students overseas the blessing of fighting for ones country mad e it worth it

"I'm proud to fight for m y country, and I feel like I'm a part of history, Marenco said "At times it can be hard, but in the big picture every day I get to serve is a privilege."

StorybyKendra Mann, photographs byJoel Coleman

"My first reaction was, That's the dumbest thing you've ever thought about and nobody is going to go to your school,'" she said "And little Jeannie was in the back seat and she said, "Daddy, I'll go to your school."

Mrs Falwell saw firsthand ho w Go d worked in creating our college Everything Dr Falwell said the Lord would do, he did Whe n money seemed scarce and the university struggled, God provided Even the dream of reaching 50,000 students at our school became a reality During convocation this spring semester,

Mrs Falwell was present when Jerry Falwell, Jr announced ho w the school had reached his father's goal of 50,000 students Her smile and shining eyes showed ho w proud she was of her husband and the school

"Well I was sort of skeptical when Jerry told m e his ideas for the college because I thought it was impossible to do what he wanted to do," she said "Eventually I would find that everything Jerry said he was going to do actually did com e true Anything he put his mind to he got done."

PREACH THE WORD ; BE PREPARED IN cTrotn the day you were born we both knew that you were a blessing jjrom §od. St s been a pleasure watching you PO ^rom baby to beautiful yoww woman. Tve are so very proud 0/ you.

"J rust in the o^pro with all -your head o^ean notonyourown unoerstanoinp; ZJII all yourwaysacknowleope "Jxirn cA:nd iKe will direct your paths.

"Y\ith. much love, cMom 4 Mad