Play a game and help CURE children

International (MNN) ― Did you ever think that when you played a game on Facebook, you could help heal a child? That may be the case, according to CURE International.

CURE reports ToonUps have created a fun and engaging Facebook game called "A Better World." Through mid-January, by playing the game and sharing positive messages and expressions with other players, you can help to heal 10 kids through CURE.

If CURE is able to reach 1 million positive expressions in the game by mid-January, ToonUps will donate $10,000 to heal 10 children through CUREkids. The good news is they're already at more than 600,000 expressions.

CURE is asking you to consider taking a few short minutes to sign up and play. If you have a Facebook account and a little extra time, it will make not only a physical difference for these kids but maybe even an eternal difference as CURE does this work with the love of Christ. That great thing is: you'll also have fun doing it,

To help CURE a child, click here.

Tim Tebow and CURE building children’s hospital in Philippines

By Mark Ellis
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA (ANS) -- Quarterback Tim Tebow has become the miracle man in fourth-quarter comebacks for the Denver Broncos this season. But off the field, his foundation is partnering with CURE International to bring God’s healing miracles into the lives of young people in the Philippines.

Tim Tebow

The Tim Tebow Foundation and CURE will build a 30-bed surgical facility for children focusing primarily on orthopedics on the island of Mindanao – an area that holds a particular interest for the Heisman trophy winner.

"I was born in the Philippines and my parents have been missionaries to that area since 1985,” Tebow says. “The Philippines have always had a special place in my heart. I'm excited to be a part of this hospital that will bring healing to thousands of children who would not otherwise have access to care."

Groundbreaking for the facility in Davao City is set for January 2012 and it’s expected to open in 2013. This is the first project between the two organizations since they announced their partnership in October. The relationship grew out of an informal conversation between Tebow’s brother and CURE’s new president at the Lausanne Congress last January.

The hospital is CURE's first in the Philippines and 12th worldwide. The construction project is expected to cost $3 million, with donors from CURE and the Tebow Foundation sharing the costs.

“We see what we do as an extension of Jesus’ healing ministry,” says Scott Worrall, vice-president of CURE. Physical and spiritual healing for children has always been a primary focus since the organization’s founding in 1996 by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Scott Harrison and his wife Sally. “Their intention from the start was to value spiritual ministry along with medical care,” Worrall says.

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Mark Ellis is a senior correspondent for ASSIST News Service and the founder ofwww.Godreports.com.  He is available to speak to groups about the plight of the church in restricted countries, to share stories and testimonies from the mission field, and to preach the gospel. mark@Godreports.com

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** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

Heisman Trophy winner homecoming launches outreach in the Philippines

Artist rendering of CURE
 Philippines. (Photo by CURE)

Philippines (CURE/MNN) ―CURE International will be opening a new children's hospital in Davao City, Philippines.

The dream will likely come true sometime in mid-2013. It is CURE's first in the Philippines and 12th worldwide, and will be on the island of Mindanao--a particularly poor area of the Philippines.

It will be a 30-bed surgical facility focusing primarily on orthopedics. The groundbreaking is slated for January 2012 and will be a celebration of the first project between CURE and The Tim Tebow Foundation. 

That partnership was announced in October 2011 and is a sort of homecoming for Tebow. The starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos and a Heisman Trophy winner at the University of Florida says, "I was born in the Philippines, and my parents have been missionaries to that area since 1985." He adds, "I'm excited to be a part of this hospital that will bring healing to thousands of children who would not otherwise have access to care."

With 80 million children suffering from clubfoot and other surgically correctable deformities, it's not hard to see the need for CURE's outreach. Dr. Scott Harrison, founder and president of CURE International, says, "We feel blessed that the Tim Tebow Foundation has chosen to partner with us to bring first-world quality care and spiritual healing to the children of the Philippines."

The construction project is expected to cost $3 million, with donors from CURE and the Tebow Foundation sharing the costs. Due to the poverty in the area, about 30% of the children treated at the hospital will be unable to pay for treatment.   One of CURE's most basic operating principles is that their teams will not turn away a patient due to an inability to pay, ethnic background or religious affiliation.

CURE International's mission is to transform the lives of disabled children and their families in the developing world through medical and spiritual healing, serving all by establishing specialty teaching hospitals, building partnerships, and advocating for these children.

As part of their service to the community, CURE also incorporates a faith component in a culturally-relevant and sensitive way. Their team works in the name of Christ and often has opportunities to share their faith with patients

One way this component will be included in the Philippines hospital will be through Timmy's Playroom. The play area will provide workers an opportunity to incorporate faith, hope, and love to children before and after their surgeries. It will be the Tim Tebow Foundation's first international playroom.

The Tim Tebow Foundation was created in January 2010. Its mission is to bring faith, hope, and love to those needing a brighter day in their darkest hour of need. The foundation is accomplishing this mission through the building of playrooms in children's hospitals, supporting orphans worldwide, and making "dreams come true" for children with life-threatening illnesses.

A ministry in Niger overcomes challenge during its inaugural year

Niger (CURE/MNN) ― A "first" often marks a rite of passage.
A first tooth, first step, and first night the baby sleeps all night. People mark the first haircut, the first day of school, first car, and nearly any other memorable moment in life involving a "first."

Each marks independence, growth, accomplishment and excitement. CURE International is getting ready for a whole series of "firsts" in Niger.

The CURE hospital is getting ready to mark the one-year anniversary of its grand opening, October 2010. At the time the facility was nearing completion, Niger faced devastating flooding that displaced 200,000. It didn't stop the launch, but the crisis hit the general health of the population and further destabilized the infrastructure.

Overcoming that challenge, the CURE Niger team continues to experience many firsts. During the inaugural year of operation, the hospital was thrilled to receive a visit from a cleft lip and palate team.

This team was led by Dr. Byron Henry through a partnership with the organization Free to Smile. During their time at the hospital, the team of eight medical professionals was able to treat and heal 30 children with cleft lip and cleft palate.
Cleft lip and cleft palate are birth defects in which the upper lip and roof of the mouth do not fuse, leaving a gap. Children with these defects often have difficulty eating, speaking, and even smiling, making the need for surgery essential.

Dr. Roark, CURE Niger's medical director said, "Dr. Byron Henry proved to be a gifted leader, organizer, and surgeon. The Free To Smile team was also very dedicated to building longer-term relations, both with our Nigerien hospital staff and workers, as well as with the local surgeons with whom they were working, training, teaching, and exchanging ideas."

CURE's focus is transformation. And healing a child changes a family. At CURE, parents of children with disabilities, who are burdened with feelings of guilt and shame, find healing and hope through God's love.

While the hospital staff was encouraged by the visit from Free to Smile, it was really the children who marked the "first." They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and the children were finally able to experience a major one of their own: their first smile.

Famine impacts hospital ministry

Kenya (MNN) ― The famine in the Horne of Africa is having an effect on just about every facet of ministry.

CURE International runs hospitals in Ethiopia and Kenya. Vice President of CURE Joel Worrall says, "When a food shortage occurs in a country like that, everything costs more -- food prices have gone up, fuel prices cost more, which impacts our patients ability to get to our facility as well as our abilities to cover the cost of energy."

Food may be the biggest issue. In most 3rd world nations, family and friends are responsible for feeding patients.

However, at CURE Hospitals, not only are the patients fed, so are their family members. 

CURE is taking action. "We end up having to make all sorts of contingency plans about what the impact's going to be on the budget of those hospitals and then how that going to affect other parts of our work in Africa."

CURE cares for disabled children. Worrall says it makes ministry even more profound. "In the developing world the family that has a disabled child has lots and lots of strikes against them. And, the child obviously does as well. Worrall continues, "People who are abjectly poor, are even poorer. We're dealing with an even greater sense of despair and abandonment and these feelings of, 'where is God in their circumstance.'"

Opening doors to share the Gospel. CURE is helping answer these questions Worrall says, by "being able to provide a location, we're meeting their physical needs at that time, and also giving them an opportunity to be either introduced to

Jesus or refreshed spiritually."

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