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Blog has moved

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:48:43 GMT

Hello friends, we are moving to a new blog and a new format. We will still include ways to pray for the world (more frequently than this blog) however, we will also be posting on how to engage the community around you and other important topics related to world mission.
www.beyondknowing.wordpress.com

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:58:08 GMT

Justice in India: Former Slaves Build Groundnut Business

In February of 2006 many men and women working as slaves at a rice mill in Chennai, India finally heard freedom ring. International Justice Mission (IJM) teamed up with local government authorities in Chennai to arrest those in charge of enslaving many men and women. IJM help to guarantee that each freed slave was given official documents ensuring them emancipated slaves. With this documentation men and women are able to gain financial government assistance. By Indian law emancipated slaves received a rehabilitation payment equivalent to $467.

One married couple that was enslaved together at the rice mill brought their payments together and decided to build an agricultural business from this sum of money. Goshwick and Geetha planted groundnuts on a plot of land they were able to rent. Their business has become very successful, with their beginning crop bringing a favorable profit. From this success they were able to expand their business and hire on employees. Through this business they are able to remain financially stable and are able to provide stability for other people as well, helping to stay away from poverty and enslavement in rice fields.

IJM also reported that many other men and women that were freed from this same operation have also taken up their own businesses and are finding was to support themselves. This is possible because of the help by IJM and India’s governments’ efforts to empower these emancipated slaves.

Please rejoice in this good news with me and thank the Lord that these men and women’s prayers and cries to be freed were heard and answered.
I also pray for Goshwick & Greetha- that their souls would also be freed and that they would come to know Christ and the Gospel.
Pray for those who face the bondage of modern day slavery.
Pray for organizations like IJM – that their work would continue to be successful in their efforts to bring justice to situations like these all over the world.

http://www.ijm.org/articles/caseworkbulletin

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:52:23 GMT

Seeking Refuge

The United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) reports that so far in the year 2008 there is 486,000 people seeking refuge in Southeast Asia. Thailand hosts 396,00 people from Myanmar and 7,800 from Laos. There have been 22,000 people that have left these camps since December 2007.

Refugees in Thailand are not allowed to legally work outside of the camps but, USCRI estimates that 40 % of refugees do work outside of their camp. Work outside of the camp, typically agricultural work, pays 40 to 60 Baht a day or 1.30 to 1.90 U.S. Dollars. Workers also risk being arrested and having to pay off police officers. Although refugees are offered the option of a work permit there are many strings attached to this documentation. These things include a fee of $120 and several trips to the government office, of which most refugees are unable to afford. Thai government does not allow refugees to receive business licenses, or ownership of farmland, a house, or any thing that they consider a capital asset. (http://www.refugees.org/countryreports.aspx?id=2174)

USCRI tell of a young woman that was sexually harassed and abused by Lao police officials but, was forced to testify that Lao police had treated her well before she could seek refuge in Thailand.
Hmong and Lao refugees are faced with brutality by Thai government officials. The governmental branch, Ministry of Interior, claims that one of their top priorities is to stop all refugees and force them back to where they are coming from. They claim that they will follow through with this priority using violence and guns if needed.
(http://www.refugees.org/uploadedFiles/Investigate/Publications_&_Archives/WRS_Archives/2008/wp2008.pdf)

Life as a refugee is very challenging and discouraging. A persons since of hope diminishes as they are confined to this camp and the camps lifestyle. When hope diminishes a passion and desire for living also tends to fade.

Pray with me for refugees in Thai camps as well as those around the world. I am asking you to pray that a revival would take place in these camps and these people would come to know the name Jesus, as the savior of their souls. I pray that the Lord would work in these camps to show is glory even in the heartache and pain. I also pray that Christ followers would become passionate about these displaced peoples. That they would have compassion for them and through this the Lord would lead their hearts into action.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:24:34 GMT

School Violence in Freetown

Violence has broken out among the children in the educational institutions of Freetown, Sierra Leone. The violence has been linked to the inter- school sporting events. During these events students have been starting fights and riots. They have smuggled in guns, knives, and razor blades into the stadium where sporting events take place.

Violence for students in the schools is not something new for Freetown. In 2002 children that participated as soldiers in the rebel armies were released at the end of the Civil War. As these children transitioned from soldier to student they continued to carry their weapons into the schools. The violence has continued to escalate since this time. Simeon Jaka is a teacher in the Freetown school system and he said that he sees the violence as the outcome of the influence of the Western culture. Jaka said that there has been a great increase in the popularity of hip hop music filled with violent and vulgar lyrics. Some students have then brought these lyrics into action against their peers.

There are some students that are refusing to tolerate the violence and have hope to end it. Some students from the St. Edwards school in Freetown have formed the Students Anti- Violence Movement and are working on convincing their peers at St. Edwards and other schools that violence needs to be eliminated.

We lift these children in Freetown, Sierra Leone to God and we pray that violence in the school systems would completely end.

Pray also that the students that are working against violence would be strengthened and encouraged by adults around them.

Pray that children would learn how to live in peace with each other in Freetown and that they would come to truly love their neighbor as their self.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7465836.stm

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:36:57 GMT

Burma Cyclone

The southern coastline of Burma, an already impoverished area, was attacked and devastated by Cyclone Nargis on May 2^nd and 3^rd. Along the southern coastal area of Burma homes were demolished by water and winds, destroying resident’s belongings. Crops and farmland have also been devastated by the cyclone creating problems for residents of the coastal region as well as the entire country of Burma, which depends on the rice crop as their main food source. BBC news said that the UN Food and Agriculture Organization reports that crops must be planted within forty or fifty days to be able to harvest the rice by the end of the year. The issue is greater than waiting on the fields to dry up so they can plant; new equipment is needed for planting as well as seed and fertilizer. The transportation of these materials is difficult since roads in the delta are flooded or severely damaged and unstable. Some people have found their income and meals from fishing but, now they are also in need f fishing equipment to be replaced. The World Food Program was already in Burma prior to the cyclone, providing food to half a million malnourished citizens of the country. This situation was previously unstable but can only have gotten much worse after the cyclone. The number of malnourished and starving people would expectedly reach heights beyond imagination.

There are many things that threaten the Burmese people, economically, physical health, and spiritual health.

In this time as many of us are left with a feeling of powerlessness I ask that you would find power in the relationship and conversation we have with our Heavenly Father. I ask in prayer that the people of Burma would hear and believe in their Savior, Jesus and trust in Him for their time of spiritual and physical desperation. I also ask that God would provide the necessary resources for the Burmese to rebuild their homes as well as the resources to grow crops. In this time of desperation that they may come together; that Satan would not be able to divide and stir up problems among the Burmese.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7405414.stm

Children on the Frontlines

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:06:17 GMT

There has been serious conflict in Northern Uganda since 1986. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) was formed by leaders Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo, Raska Lukwiya, and Dominic Ongwen. The LRA has planned to overthrow the Ugandan government by raiding villages, killing many people there, and abducting the children that they saw fit to serve in the LRA.

The LRA was expanded by the recruitment and abduction of children. Adult leaders lured some of the children into the army but, many were captured and held against their will to serve for the LRA. Boys are given guns and are trained to be warriors, ordered to kill other children, or adults that their commanders want dead. Girls that are abducted are used as sex slaves and labor slaves for the adult leaders of the LRA. Children are not only beaten, physically and emotionally exhausted, starved, and sexually assaulted but, they are also forced to kill other children within the army and in the villages they raid. These children may have been as young as 7 or 8 when they were commanded to take the life of another person.

Since January 2008 the LRA has still been active in abductions of children to increase their army. The Human Rights Watch organization estimates that nearly 100 children have been brought into the LRA since the beginning of 2008 as they have traveled to the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and also Southern Sudan.

After nearly 20 years of committing these vicious crimes the International Criminal Court (ICC) has taken action against the LRA and in 2005 issued warrants for the arrests of the five main LRA leaders (Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo, Raska Lukwiya, and Dominic Ongwen) on charges of many war crimes as well as crimes against humanity. Of the five leaders only three of them are known to be alive.

Please pray that these men would be found and captured quickly. Also, that the ICC and Northern Ugandan government would be able to work together to successfully end the reign of the LRA. Pray for the children that are still in the LRA and those that have been recently freed, that there would be many people ready to receive them and help them through this terrible experience. Also, that all children in the LRA would not only be physically free but, also spiritually free from the lies that the enemy has and will bring to their minds, that they may know this freedom and receive it through Christ.

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/05/19/uganda18863.htm

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/lra.htm

Modern Slavery and Abolition

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:44:35 GMT

Twenty-seven million human beings are slaves in the modern world. Many are in debt; some were forced into debt by subterfuge and seduction of desperate people; some are sold or given away to pay debts. Even though slavery is illegal nearly everywhere, it is protected by exploitative practices. After World War II the population explosion produced a growing body of people who had so little to live on and such little leverage that they were easily exploited. “[S]laves are cheap and disposable; control continues without legal ownership; slavery is hidden behind contracts; and slavery flourishes in communities under stress”.

Putting a face on 27 Million:

Sari, a 15-year-old woman in Thailand. She was sold into bondage by her parents. She will be bought by as many as 10 or 15 men every night. The industrialization of Thailand has created a whole new class of men with money to spend. In fact, between 80 and 87 percent of the male population of Thailand has had sex with a prostitute. Many see sex slavery as a way to spur the national economy. Sex tourism brings in a great deal of money to the nation, and makes the slavery practiced in Thailand a global issue. The entire world is complicit in this industry.

Bilal. A different practice of slavery exists in Mauritania. Slavery was abolished there in 1980, but no one bothered to pay attention. A slave named Bilal works for his master delivering water door to door every day. If Bilal does not return with the required amount of money he will be punished and receive less food. If a slave leaves a master, there is nowhere for him to go. He is immediately recognizable based on skin-color, as well as clothing and speech, and will not be able to find work.

Brazilians. In Brazil poor individuals are lured into isolated work camps in the forest where they are forced to work in squalid conditions, without pay or communication with the outside world. This work is temporary, however, because the destruction it involves is temporary, and slaves get used and then discarded. They are held as debt laborers who have no hope of paying off their debt. The system diffuses responsibility so that recruiters and landowners and officials all have an excuse.

Baldev. The practice of slavery in India is “a survival of the oldest enslavement on the planet”. The debts of agricultural slaves in India can go back for centuries . Baldev, for instance, did not know how long his family had been enslaved. “We have always lived here…It’s a regular thing. Kohl people like us have always been bonded to Brahmins like my master” . And yet some slaves have come out of bondage thanks to government assistance. But many stories of corrupt government dealings lead Baldev and others to reject government help, because they have heard of government officials who receive bribes to forget about the slaves they were sent to free.

If any aspect of the human condition exposes the underside of human nature it has to be slavery. The willingness of modern human beings to tolerate such treatment diminishes all of us. (For full article click here)

Please pray for the twenty-seven million people who are currently bonded laborers or slaves. Thank God for the freedom we have, physically, and spiritually through Christ and pray that this freedom may be experienced by many more. Pray against corrupt officials and governments who either turn a blind eye to practices or encourage them. Pray for government leaders and organizations such as International Justice Mission who work to combat such evil.

Kenyan Elections and Protests lead the nation to uncertain crossroads

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:18:46 GMT

Kenya's opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) claims that last month's election was rigged in favour of President Mwi Kibaki.

Protests have led to some 600 deaths nationwide and 250,000 people have fled their homes.

That uncertainty is the result of the wave of fury that has swept Kenya since the presidential election on 27 December.

It's about resources, it's about land, it's about tribe, it's about so many issues that successive governments have not addressed

Gladwell Otieno
Africa Centre for Open Governance

Everyone knew that the presidential election would be close, but few predicted that the events that followed would herald what many are calling a "generational revolution" in one of Africa's most stable states.

The straw that broke the camel's back was the perception by many Kenyans and the international community that the election was rigged.

Yet could the election fiasco merely have been a trigger to ignite simmering tensions, bubbling under the surface for decades?

The level of displacement and killings in the past few weeks has been unprecedented. More than 500 people have lost their lives and 250,000 have been forced to flee their homes.

Kenya is in a mess, yet half the country still backs the 76-year-old President Mwai Kibaki.

Many privately hope the tensions will simply fizzle out but the country has been plunged into a deep crisis.

In the morbid marketplace that is Kenyan politics, young men are rumoured to be getting $14 (£7) for each person they kill, and half that amount for every house torched.

We are having a serious generational revolt

Mutahi Ngunyi
political scientist

It is sickening to see the charred remains of the church in Eldoret that was set alight in a cold-blooded attack reduced to a simple transaction. But there is growing anecdotal evidence that in part the violence was pre-meditated.

Generational frustrations have transcended ethnic affiliations.

Please pray for this nation at a pivitol turning point. Pray for neighbors who cower in fear as they watch buildings burn. Pray that believers will be given the oppurtunity to share God's love and mercy by assisting their neighbors. Pray for the peace that dwells within God's people to prevail in each community even in the midst of great political turmoil.

This info taken from a BBC article http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7187603.stm

For a Picture Essay Visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7199920.stm

Assassination of Bhutto: the murder of the wishes, aspirations and demands of the bottom rung of soc

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 23:15:23 GMT

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Pakistan on the 27^th of December.. Her death has shocked and angered many in Pakistan. Protests, riots and looting have broken out all over the country. The smell and sight of smoke is all over the city. There is great uncertainty right now as to what is next for this nation. Elections were due on the 8th of January, and were rescheduled for 18 February, but nothing is certain, and martial law is a strong possibility. The majority of Pakistanis are fed up with the ruling government, but now have little hope for a more democratic transition in January. There are many forces vying for power right now in Pakistan and seemingly very little unity among the various parties and groups of people. The poor lower classes are feeling especially powerless and hopeless at this time.

Below are pieces from a report from Sheraz Khurram Khan a freelance journalist based in Pakistan:- for the full story click on the link below

http://www.acctv.com.au/articledetail.asp?id=5658

Ms. Bhutto, an international icon and the democratic face of Pakistan was very much popular with the people of Pakistan in general and Pakistani minorities in particular, who trusted that Benazir Bhutto would address their problems upon coming into power. For the Christians of Pakistan she was the leader they trusted. Having unflinching faith in her they knew she would never betray them. Instead they hoped they would be treated on the basis of equality during her stint of power. They were filled with deep optimism that their long-standing demand of getting representation in Senate, the upper house of Pakistan parliament would be fulfilled during her term as a premier. Senate has been a no-go area for Pakistani minorities since creation of Pakistan.

Christian rights groups and human rights organizations have long been demanding minorities' representation in the upper house of parliament. They believed without any iota of doubt that all draconian laws perceived as discriminatory by them would be either abolished or amended when her party comes into power. They were also expecting legislation during her tenure as a premier that would increase the number of minorities' representatives' seats in the National Assembly (Lower house of Parliament) as well as in the four provincial assemblies of Pakistan. Ms. Bhutto's murder came as a horrible jolt to Pakistani minorities. It is tantamount to the murder of the wishes, the aspirations and the demands of Pakistani Christians, most of whom are at the bottom rung of society.

Some of the Pakistani Christians, who I talked to said that the assassination of Ms. Bhutto had rendered them orphans. Others expressed their apprehensions of attacks on Churches. Yet others said they still were in a state of shock. Most of Pakistani Christians supported Benazir in the belief that only she could counter the Islamists' influence by advocating moderation, tolerance, enlightenment, peace and harmony. Her assassins have cut her life short but she will be long remembered due to her services for the cause of democracy in Pakistan

PRAY: Ask the God of peace to be at work in the nation of Pakistan as there is much uncertainty and turmoil. Ask for protection for minority groups, including Christians. Pray that those who step into leadership will make wise and godly choices in the upcoming year..

Death of Christians in Iraq

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:51:54 GMT

As you read below of the chilling murders of Maysoon Farid and Osama
Farid, two Iraqi Christians, please pray for the Christians in Iraq who
are under tremendous persecution. Many are murdered, and most have had to
flee the country. Maysoon was a brave woman to walk into such a trap,
which she probably understood to be life-threatening to herself.
Christianity in Iraq predates Islam.

Sadly, how often we forget our brothers and sisters in Christ who are
Arab, whether they be in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Jordan, or even in Israel. I
have found Arab Christians to be among the most beautiful of God's gems
in his kingdom here on earth.

Please join me in praying for these beloved Christians, regardless of
which branch of the Church to which they belong--Catholic, Coptic,
Orthodox, Protestant, Evangelical, Reformed. They all count among the
precious martyrs of our present age. They are suffering saints with a
history that goes back to the earliest years of the Christian Church.
Their roots are long and strong, and they have much to teach us because
they have persevered throughout history to the glory of God.

Let our hearts be touched by their sorrow and sufferings, and let us give
them priority in our prayers. This is the unity of the faith spoken of in
Scripture, and shows the world we are truly one in Jesus Christ. In the
past, there were great lapses of Christian love and unity that marred the
reputation of the Church and grieved God. Today, we are given an
opportunity to redeem that reputation through sincere love of the
brethren.

Helen Louise
Archbishop calls for muted Christmas after 2 killings By Leila Fadel and
Ali al-Basri
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
Wednesday, Dec. 12 2007

BAGHDAD The Christian archbishop of Basra has canceled the celebration
of Christmas in that southern city to protest the murders of a brother
and sister, both Christians, as bombings and mayhem struck at cities
throughout Iraq.

Archbishop Imad al-Banna said Tuesday that Christians in Basra should
still pray to mark Christmas but should forgo such celebratory trappings
as trees, gift-swapping and family gatherings to protest the deaths of
Maysoon Farid, a 30-year-old cashier at a local pharmacy, and her brother
Osama, 33. The two were found dead Monday night, dumped in a neighborhood
controlled by the Shiite Muslim Mahdi Army militia.

Meanwhile, two police officers in Baghdad were killed by a car bomb that
struck near the homes of two prominent politicians, while south of
Fallujah, in the west, family members mourned a 9-year-old girl who they
said was killed by U.S. troops.

A friend of Maysoon Farid, Jassim al-Mousawi, said Osama was kidnapped around noon on Monday. The
kidnapper then used Osama's phone to contact Maysoon and demanded that
she meet with him to win her brother's release, Mousawi said. She left
to meet the kidnapper. Their bodies were found Monday night, morgue
workers and police said, in a poor neighborhood in downtown Basra.

There was no claim of responsibility, but Amal Fuad, 52, who said she was
a relative and attended their funeral at Mary Afram Catholic Church, said
she was certain that the pair's religion was the reason for their
deaths. The killings, she said, were intended to make Christians live in
fear "until they leave."

The Baghdad bombing happened about 20 yards from the home of a Sunni
legislator, Saleh al-Mutlaq, and about 400 yards from the home of former
Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

Police said the car that exploded was driven by a dapperly dressed man
who passed unchallenged through a checkpoint leading into a neighborhood
where many Iraqi officials live, just outside the Green Zone. At a
second checkpoint, guards asked him for identification, but he sped
forward and detonated the car, killing two police officers, al-Mutlaq
said.

U.S. officials in Baghdad confirmed that U.S. special forces and Iraqi
troops arrested one suspected member of al-Qaida in Iraq in a raid near
Karmah, south of Fallujah. But they had no information about the death
of Hadil Walid Majed Mitaab, 9, who family members said was in a house
in Sicher, near Karmah, with her mother when U.S. and Iraq troops
attacked about 2:30 a.m.

With helicopters flying overhead, the U.S. and Iraqi troops blasted away
the doors of two houses and opened fire on a third, which is where Hadil
was, family members said. Police and relatives said a bullet pierced
Hadil's neck, and she bled to death in her mother's arms.