Displaying items by tag: Las Vegas

Las Vegas is one of five cities participating in a new nationwide programme to reduce chronic homelessness by 20%. Deacon Thomas Roberts said that a partnership will simultaneously tackle shelter issues and the root causes of chronic homelessness - mental health and addiction. ‘We think that it is important to recognise the reasons why people have become chronically homeless and to address those issues. I think that is where we can effect really meaningful change.’ Within five years, the project hopes to have built 100 homes: Roberts said this will be enough to support 20% of the 500+ people who have been homeless for at least two years. There will be mental health offices in the housing units or transportation to locations off site. The homeless don’t have transportation, so resources need to be accessible, otherwise you have not addressed the underlying cause of what got them homeless.

The USA and the world are still reeling from the horrific shooting that killed 59 people and wounded over 500 more on 1 October in Las Vegas. While we are all still grappling with this senseless act of violence and ‘pure evil,’ as President Trump termed it, there are also stories of courage and heroism which showcase the best aspects of the human spirit. Many people acted selflessly during the shooting. One couple attending the concert fled from the scene in their pickup truck, but returned to help transport the wounded to hospitals. Another story emerged of a husband who gave his life for his wife by shielding her with his body as bullets rained down on the crowd. Two friends at the concert heard the shots and hid under some tables, then a complete stranger came and shielded them.

Taylor was attending the concert at the Mandalay Bay casino when a gunman killed 59 and wounded 527. He said that prior to the shooting he was an agnostic but, ‘In a fight or flight situation you just take it to God and hope that you can make it,’ In the midst of tragedy and fear, not knowing where to flee to, with bodies everywhere, his faith was renewed. The National Day of Prayer president said, ‘The massacre has more to do with the fallenness of mankind than where God is. God is with the people of Las Vegas. He is with everyone who has suffered. We must trust Him, even when we see things like this occur and we have no idea why someone would do it. We are living in days like none before and being called back to God through every terrible event we are observing around the world. The Church must call out to God together.’ See