by Nina Griffin
Las Vegas--In case you haven’t heard, Tyler Perry has created a new comedy. This time--it’s a television sitcom entitled, "House of Payne" premiering on TBS in early June 2007.

The new comedy series is about a multigenerational, working class family who experiences all of life's struggles with faith, love and most importantly--humor. Pops, the uncle and head of the household, has his life and home turned upside down when an unexpected event forces his nephew, "CJ" (played by Allen Payne) and CJ's kids to move into the house, putting three generations under one roof. This chaotic living situation takes its toll on cranky Pops, who is reluctant to have his routine disturbed.

In addition to CJ's family, Pops and Ella's son, "Calvin", a wise-cracking college kid with no money -- hangs out at home which makes it impossible for Pops to have any peace and quiet. It soon becomes evident just how wide the generation gap is as the family tries to find a way to coexist through all of life's hilarious ups and downs.

Putting the family back in family comedy, Tyler Perry's House of Payne tackles real life issues with very funny humor.

To help kick off a fun-filled season of laughs and sidesplitting humor, TBS is offering a $25,000 Grand Prize through its Building onto a House of Faith Contest for one lucky church.

For a chance to win the grand prize, you must write a paragraph--(200 words or less)--about why you think your church deserves to win. There are no wrong answers. Do you think your church needs a new playground for the kids? Was your church there for you during your time of need? Tell TBS about it and you could win.

On June 8th, TBS will present the top five entries for you to vote on. The winner will be announced during the House of Payne Marathon on June 20.

For more information about Tyler Perry's new comedy and to enter the Building onto a House of Faith Contest, go to:

www.tbs.com/stories/

story/0,,110893,00.html.

Global ministry to hold fundraiser

A fundraiser will be held on June 29 at the Milwaukee Public Museum, 800 West Wells Street, downtown for the Medical-Gospel Outreach (MEDGO) Health Clinic located in Kithyoko, Kenya in Africa.

MEDGO offers both curative and preventive services, providing medical treatment for many illnesses including hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Typhoid Fever and other water borne diseases.

Anyone who comes is treated even if they cannot pay. With little or no infrastructure, many people walk for two-to-three days to reach the clinic, some risking death. Without MEDGO many would die.

The goal of the fundraiser is $100,000. Donations and gifts can be sent to GVC-MEDGO Kenya Clinic Fund, P.O. Box 510885, Milwaukee, WI 53203. All gifts and donations are tax deductible.

You may also visit MEDGO website at www. medgoclinic.com

Religion Commentary

We all come up human

by Matthew Lynch
As human beings, we are imperfect creatures, saved only by the grace of God. People often set themselves up by placing expectations on friends, family, etc. without fully pondering on their capacity to live up to them.

Although it is not our fault that they fail to live up to our expectations, we should be sagacious enough to realize that this sort of human fallibility exists inside of the entire human population.

Instead of dwelling on the faults and idiosyncrasies of others, we should examine ourselves and realize that the in the grand scheme of things we all come up human.

Our creator has endowed us with a vast array of gifts, but perfection is not one of them. At 28, I am still learning some of the life’s lessons that I should have learned eons ago. Friends and family members have disappointed me.

But whom do I really have to blame? As long as you are alive, you will have people who will let you down; the trick is to weather each occurrence with equanimity.

My mentor, Dr. Rodney Washington, always tells me stories about the conversations that he used to have with his mentor.

Periodically, his mentor would admonish him for attempting to be perfect in his academic and personal endeavors because as he would say, "In the end, we all come up human."

No matter how you attempt to balance the equation by leading a perfect life morally, professionally, or financially, we all come up short in some area of our lives. This is one of the inevitable sureties of life.

Through the vicissitudes of life, we learn to adhere to Murphy’s Law, "Anything that can happen, will." We all have experienced times in our lives when we think to ourselves, "Lord, can it get any worse than this?" I have had many storms in my life and some have been my own doing.

Through these storms, I have come to realize that I have the power to rebuke them. I remember hearing a story of an African nationalist who was kidnapped and tortured by a rival clan.

When his comrades finally liberated him, they asked him how he was able to endure such hardship.

His explanation was that although he did not have control over the pain and suffering that his tormentors levied against him, they could not control the way he endured or internalized these events.

He counted it all joy and endured it as if he were a modern day reincarnation of Jesus of Nazareth.

I have come to grips with my own shortcomings and also those of others. Placing undo expectations on family and friends can be a dangerous thing. Like the old saying goes, "Never put your trust in men, because they will let you down every time."

Nowadays, the only seemingly safe thing to do would be to trust only you, and still a lot of us can not even do that.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation awards $101,500 grant to Milwaukee Health Services, Inc.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation, the charitable giving arm of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin, has awarded Milwaukee Health Services Inc., (MHSI) a $101,500 grant to purchase diabetic medications and diabetic testing supplies for uninsured/underinsured MHSI patients.

Diabetes mellitus is one of the top ten diagnoses in both MHSI's adult and geriatric lifecycle groups. Access to appropriate medication and adequate health education and case management services would greatly enhance the ability to effectively treat diabetic patients and improve the probability of quality health management and health outcomes.

"Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is committed to improving the lives of the people we serve and the health of our communities," said Steve Martenet, president, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin.

"It is critical that individuals living with diabetes be able to access the necessary testing supplies, such as blood glucose testing strips, in order to control and effectively manage their disease.

"Through this grant, MHSI will be able to provide these much needed supplies to patients who cannot otherwise afford them."

"We at MHSI are quite pleased that Anthem, through its foundation, has shown itself willing to make a substantial investment in the health of the community that it and MHSI endeavor to serve," said C.C. Henderson, President and CEO of MHSI. "This one hundred thousand dollar grant will assist many of the under-insured and uninsured patients we serve to obtain sorely needed diabetic drugs and supplies at little or no cost, thereby promoting health and improving lives."

As a non-profit community health center serving low-income, underserved populations since 1989, Milwaukee Health Services Inc. (MHSI) has played a vital role in the community as a "safety net," providing services to individuals regardless of their ability to pay. MHSI currently operates from two sites: Isaac Coggs Heritage Health Center at 8200 W. Silver Spring Drive, 414-760-3900 and Martin Luther King Jr. Heritage Health Center at 2555 North Martin Luther King Drive, 414-372-8080.