02/25/11 jgm

HAYS, Kan. -- Loving God, loving others and serving the world, Fort Hays State University's Christian Challenge has announced two upcoming events that the public is invited to attend.

An invisible war rages in Africa: one man, terrorizing four countries. It is the longest-running conflict on the continent, and the soldiers are children abducted from their homes and forced to fight.

The Human Rights Organization and Christian Challenge are teaming up to present the Invisible Children Tour at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 3, at the Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center.

Invisible Children began in the spring of 2003 when three young filmmakers traveled from Southern California to Africa in search of a story. What they discovered was a tragedy that disgusted and inspired them.

After returning to the United States, the team created the documentary "Invisible Children: Rough Cut," a film that exposes the tragic realities of northern Uganda's "night commuters" and child soldiers.

The film was originally shown only to friends and family but has now been seen by millions of people. According to the Invisible Children website, the overwhelming response has been, "How can I help?" To answer this question, the non-profit Invisible Children Inc. was created, giving compassionate individuals an effective way to respond to the situation.

While on tour, representatives from Invisible Children will share how individuals can help and things that can be done. A boy from Uganda will speak about his story and the troubles he faced. They will also sell merchandise to raise funds for missions projects in the war-torn regions of Africa.

"Invisible Children is a great program and it needs all the support it can get in order to stop the war in Africa," said Tessa Walters, Salina senior. "It is a great organization for people to be active in and a great cause for people to give to."

Challenge will also hold its annual Spring Show from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, March 12, in Beach/Schmidt.

The Spring Show is an opportunity for students and their families to see what Christian Challenge is all about.

Christian Challenge students will exhibit their talents. Desserts and fellowship time will be provided after the show. Displays will showcase how students can participate in Challenge.

Admission is free, but a voluntary offering will be collected to help students going on mission trips this summer.

For more information about Christian Challenge or upcoming events, contact Carin Cochran, Christian Challenge director, at carin@fhsuchristianchallenge.org.