Michigan, USA – On this day of gratitude, commonly referred to as Thanksgiving, Chaldeans help show the spirit of good will and giving.  Chaldeans throughout the metro-Detroit area are once again out in full force helping their neighbors this thanksgiving.  Chaldean churches, businesses, and Chaldean charity organizations will be giving out well over a thousand turkeys and side foods to needy families.  Chaldean churches and groups like the Chaldean American Ladies of Charity, Chaldean Teens Coming Together, and Chaldean American Professionals plan on distributing thanksgiving meals and turkeys. 

Other Chaldean charity groups like UR of the Chaldees are buying grocery for seniors who live alone. Adopt-A-Refugee-Family is raising funds to help needy refugee families scattered throughout the world.  The Newcomers group is taking underprivileged youth out on field trips.  Chaldean grocery stores and restaurants are also helping. 

Danny Yono, owner of J's Kabob restaurant will provide free Thanksgiving feasts for anyone who can’t afford a meal with the trimmings or doesn’t want to eat alone.  From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, J’s Kabob, 2941 Coolidge, Berkley, will host its second annual free Thanksgiving Day dinner. Anyone can get a carryout of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn and rolls.

Michigan, USA – St. Joseph Chaldean Catholic Church in Troy, Michigan continues to host an array of services for refugee assistance.  Along with English classes, school tutoring for children, and family support services the church campus will now feature special workshops geared to refugee families.  

“The love and help for us at St. Jospeh and all the churches, makes me thank God every second,” says Habiba Yousip through a translator.  “If it was not for our Church we would all be dead.”

The workshops provide informative sessions to help refugee arrivals transition to life in the United States.  Sessions include knowing your neighbor, taxes and financial planning, keeping your children safe, apartment living, senior housing, food safety, and disaster preparedness.

You are My Sunshine, My only Sunshine'….Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling.

They found out that the new baby was going be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sang to his sister in mommy's tummy.   He was building a bond of love with his little sister before he even met her.

The pregnancy progressed normally for Karen.  In time, the labor pains came. Soon it was every five minutes, every three, every minute. But serious complications arose during delivery and Karen found herself in hours of labor.

Would a C-section be required? Would the mother survive?  Would the baby live?  The entire family and medical staff were on pins and needles.  Finally, after a long and exhausting struggle, Michael's little sister was born. But she was in very serious condition.

California, USA – The results are in for the www.CHALDEAN.org voter knowledge survey.  The survey was created to register Chaldean voter knowledge of the presidential campaign and extrapolate which presidential candidate would best address the needs of Chaldeans. 

Dr. James Brothman, psychometric expert and president of Brothman Research, created the survey for www.CHALDEAN.org.  A psychometric survey is a more sophisticated method than the traditional polls that ask respondents who they plan to vote for in the election.  The scientific survey reveals that not every issue carries the same weight of importance to a voter, nor does every voter prioritize the issues in the same way.   

“We create a scientific survey that captures issue concerns and matches the concern to the candidate that would best meet the respondents need.  We do not ask who they are voting for or why.  Instead we apply a reverse engineering process that filters out emotions.  We ask what issues are important to you and how important are those issues to you.  Based on the information we receive are able to determine who the respondents would vote for if they are truly voting on issues only.  The difference between the survey results and the actual voting results tells us how much campaign marketing influenced the vote.”     

Based on Dr. Brothman’s research of Chaldean voter respondents, 88% of the Chaldean community should vote for McCain / Palin if they are driven by the issues important to them.

Dr. Brothman also reveals the leading issues important to Chaldeans this election.

Michigan, USA – The Chaldean Education and Career Center urges Chaldean parents with sons to take advantage of an upcoming family workshop featuring national best selling author and internationally recognized authority on boys and men, Dr. William S. Pollack, PhD.

The event will be held on November 3, 2008 from 7 pm - 9 pm at the Oakland Schools Building, located on 2111 Pontiac Lake Road in Waterford, Michigan, 48328. 

Dr. Pollack's presentation will address the crisis of boyhood in America, specialized techniques for reconnecting with boys, new approaches to "Mothering" and "Fathering", and new models of understanding "What makes boys tick"

The event is free to those who RSVP by e-mailing info@chaldean.org. 

Michigan, USA - Sister Beth Murphy, the Volunteer and Community Outreach Coordinator of the Refugee Services Office in the Archdiocese of Detroit is looking for two dedicated volunteers who can assist their staff with the important task of helping Iraqi refugees adjust to life in the United States.

Chaldeans are invited to this uplifting and rewarding opportunity of sharing their gift time and talent for the benefit of the hundreds of refugees who are arriving in the Detroit Metro Area.  The Office of Refugee Services has already resettled more than 700 refugees this year, improving the quality of life for many Chaldeans.  The office anticipates another 200 refugees by the end of this year. 

The Archdiocese of Detroit is looking for fluent speakers in English and an office assistant to help with clerical work.  Both positions require less than a few hours a week. 

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver Colorado recently addressed a group gathered in a in Sydney, Australia. The topic was, “Mission Possible: This Double Life Will Self-Destruct.” In a chillingly honest fashion, Archbishop Chaput shares his thoughts on our lives today, as Catholics, and how we ought to realize our need to live wholly and completely for Christ.

We can't live a half-way Christianity. The organizers of tonight's event were right [those who named it ‘Mission Possible: This Double Life Will Self-Destruct’]. Every double life will inevitably self-destruct. The question then becomes: How are we going to live in this world? How can we lead a Christian life in a secular age? We can't really answer that question until we get some things straight about what it means to be a Christian. And that means first getting some things straight about Jesus Christ.

This is another one of the by-products of our secular age: we don't really quite know what to think about Jesus anymore. A few years before he became Pope Benedict XVI, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote something that is unfortunately very true. He wrote: "Today in broad circles, even among believers, an image has prevailed of a Jesus who demands nothing, never scolds, who accepts everyone and everything, who no longer does anything but affirm us. . . . The figure is transformed from the 'Lord' (a word that is avoided) into a man who is nothing more than the advocate of all men." 

We all know people -- friends or family members or both -- who think about Jesus in these terms. It's hard to avoid. Our culture has given Jesus a make-over. We've remade him in the image and likeness of secular compassion. Today He's not the Lord, the Son of God, but more like an enlightened humanist nice guy.

This is, very much, the message in Catholic radio host, author, and speaker Teresa Tomeo’s new book, “Newsflash! My Surprising Journey from Secular Anchor to Media Evangelist.” Teresa did her best to live a half-way Christianity and found the great many ways in which such a life will self-destruct.

Planning a wedding is surely one of the most romantic and exciting times in people’s lives. From the moment a couple gets engaged to the moment they say “I do”, couples are fully submerged in planning for the big day. Furthermore, the excitement of engagement prevents many from realizing that there are other events that must be planned during the engagement period. This can be extremely stressful and time consuming, particularly in today’s day and age where couples are both working and/or going to school full time.

As a full time wedding coordinator who realizes the complexity of planning big events, it is no surprise to me when married couples approach me after the fact and say, “I wish I would have hired a wedding planner when I was getting married!”  And you may ask, why?

“For the Catholic there is no room for cowardice," says Frank Dado.  “Cowardice is the opposite of the moral virtue of fortitude.  Cowards are weak in difficult times and inconsistent in the pursuit of good.  They are unable to resist temptation and easily succumb to sin.  They fear death, trials, and persecutions.  It is from either pride or cowardice that sin takes hold and grows.  A Catholic coward will quickly become a Judas and sell-out his faith, his church, and his people.” 

Most Chaldeans are secure about their faith.  A legacy of courage in the throngs of tragic trials and persecution has proven Chaldeans do not break easy.  “Evil has tried to penetrate the church walls of Chaldeans since the early formation of the church.  The walls remain.  Our church leaders are assassinated, thinking the flock will scatter.  We do not,” says Dado defiantly.   “Evil has now changed its strategy.  It can not break Chaldeans, so it is trying to melt us.”

Dado refers to the slow burn Chaldeans endure in the West.  “Forced to flee Iraq, rather than convert from their faith, Chaldeans now have to contend with the steady fire of Western sin.”  Western society and culture continues to promote forbidden deeds as trendy, modern, progressive, or hip.  Dado says Chaldeans are afraid to take action against what they know is immoral and evil.  “Instead children call their parents boaters and misguidedly run into the arms of evil thinking it is cool or that they will be accepted.”

The pressure to remain silent or tolerate evil is real.  Schools and college campuses have long used humiliation and shame to force Catholics and other pious groups into silence.  This is why Dado considers them cowards.  He says the cowards have been frightened into obeying what they know to be wrong. 

Michigan, USA – The Church of Transfiguration in Southfield, formerly St. Michaels hosts the Southfield 40 Days for Life kick-off campaign.  The 40Days for life team invites the public to join the prayer effort as the prayer group gathers at 6:45 p.m. today, Tuesday, September 24th to help put an end to abortion. 

From September 24 - November 2, our community will be one of more than 170 cities in 45 states joining together for the largest and longest coordinated pro-life mobilization in history -- the 40 Days for Life campaign.

40 Days for Life is a focused pro-life effort that consists of:

40 days of prayer and fasting, 40 days of peaceful vigil, and 40 days of community outreach.  Chaldeans4Life help lead the effort in the Chaldean community.  Group leaders say the are praying that, with God's help, their groundbreaking effort will mark the beginning of the end of abortion in our city -- and throughout America.

Chaldeans interested in becoming part of the growing movement are encouraged to take a stand for life.