Issues@Hand

AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs

August 2019 – AFA Journal writers were recognized at the June 2019 Southern Christian Writers Conference with three of the top four awards for magazine writing. Robert Youngblood, who joined the staff just last fall, won honorable mention for “The war within” (AFAJ, 11/18), a story about PTSD among military veterans and Crosswinds Foundation, which ministers to that demographic.

Second place went to Anne Reed for “Jews help Christians help Muslims” (AFAJ, 6/18). Reed’s feature recounted her visit to Camp Ichay, a Christian outreach of Friend Ships to Syrian refugees on the Israeli border.

Joy Lucius received first place for “Remember the prisoners” (AFAJ, 10/18), an insightful feature on Voice of the Martyrs and its long-time ministry to the persecuted church around the world.

SCWC director Cheryl Sloan Wray said the 2019 event had more entries than ever before.

The annual Tuscaloosa, Alabama, conference was founded by Wray’s parents, Dr. David Sloan, retired journalism professor at University of Alabama, and his wife Joanne Sloan, a prolific writer. The Sloans founded the conference as a ministry in the mid-1990s, and it has grown into one of the nation’s premiere writers’ events.

“I’m extremely proud of the caliber of all the Journal staff writers, and it’s exciting to see some of them recognized for their excellence,” said editor Randall Murphree.