What comes to mind when you hear the word "genocide"? According to the dictionary, it is the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political or cultural group. Most people are familiar with the horrific genocides during the Holocaust and in Rwanda. After these tragedies, the world said, "NEVER AGAIN."

But what many people don't know is that "NEVER AGAIN" is happening now in Darfur, Sudan.

The genocide of human beings made in the image and likeness of Almighty God is a direct assault on the dignity and sanctity of human life. Genocide pierces the heart of God and grieves our hearts as well.

At Focus on the Family, we believe that human life is of inestimable worth and significance in all its dimensions, including the preborn, the aged, the mentally disabled, those deemed unattractive, the physically challenged and every other condition in which humanness is expressed from the single stage of development to natural death.

We believe Christians are therefore called to defend, protect and value all human life. In Darfur, Sudan, hundreds of thousands of men, women and children have been killed in the genocide and millions have been displaced. Unspeakable crimes of rape and torture are routine tools of war. Women and children are taken and forcibly placed in the sex-slave trade.

These circumstances seem so overwhelming and hopeless. It is natural to therefore feel helpless to do anything about it.

Are there things, however, that we can do to be a pro-life voice in the face of genocide? Absolutely. We can pray fervently for an end to the genocide. We can also educate ourselves, and then raise our voices on behalf of the victims and survivors. Proverbs says to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves (Proverbs 31:8) and rescue those being led away to death (Proverbs 24:11).

Isn't it amazing that we can heed the ancient words of Proverbs in 2009? We can speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves: preborn children, vulnerable elderly people, orphans worldwide, and victims and survivors of genocide in Darfur.

One practical way to be a voice for life is by partnering with Christian ministries working on the ground to bring the love of Jesus Christ in tangible ways to the people of Darfur. One Christian ministry doing precisely that is Make Way Partners in Birmingham, Alabama.

Check out their Web site at www.makewaypartners.org to see how you can be a voice for life!

(Referrals to Web sites not produced by Focus on the Family are for informational purposes only, and do not constitute an endorsement of the sites' content.)

Photo from Make Way Partners.