A Christian response to …

Here’s a great article by Karina Kreminski on Missio Alliance titled “A Christian response to Iraq and ISIS”.

I shared at our staff devotion this morning from Rom 12.9-21, adapting what Ms Kreminski wrote, on our Christian response to war, persecution, natural disasters and other negative circumstances in the news and all around us.

On 4 Aug 1914, Britain declared war on Germany, a declaration which plunged the nations into WWI. This year, the centenary of WWI, a war which took the lives of around 9 million, is being commemorated by various nations.

This year we commemorate the centenary of the start of the “war to end all wars.” The last veterans have died and the village war memorials, with their tragic lists of the dead, are weathered with age, but war itself is not history and soldiers have not gone away … there are more than 50 conflicts continuing in the world today. As Christians we must not simply ignore or wish them away.

Reflections from experiencing the Korean DMZ

Reflections from Experiencing the DMZ at Korea/N Korea Border from Multiply on Vimeo.

http://multiplymovement.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/francis-and-david-at-the-korean-dmz/
http://thegospelcoalition.org/article/reflections-from-experiencing-the-korean-dmz/

Christian Persecution – World Watch List 2009

Open Doors has published its World Watch List for 2009, listing the world’s worst persecutors of Christians.

1. North Korea
2. Saudi Arabia
3. Iran
4. Afghanistan
5. Somalia
6. Maldives
7. Yemen
8. Laos
9. Eritrea
10. Uzbekistan

(read more)

Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency

One of the most highly anticipated forums in US history, especially in the midst of a pivotal election campaign, took place at Lake Forest, California, on Sat, 16 Aug 2008. Senior Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, facilitated a forum touching on key issues surrounding faith and politics with both presidential candidates Senators Barack Obama and John McCain.

For the full video coverage of the forum, click here. For a full transcript, click here.

The questions asked covered the following issues:
1. Leadership + Personal life
– 3 wisest people known
– greatest moral failure of own life & of America
– example of going against party loyalty and self-interest for good of America
– most significant position changed on in last 10 years
– most gut-wrenching decision ever made (and process)
2. Worldview
– what being a Christian means? On the daily basis?
– at what point is a baby entitled to human rights?
– definition of marriage
– support and funding for embryonic stem cell research
– does evil exist? how do we deal with it?
3. Domestic issues
– which existing Supreme Court justice would not have nominated?
– should faith-based organisations forfeit right to hire people who believe what they do to access federal funds?
– in education, should better teachers be paid better?
– in taxes, define “rich”.
– right to privacy versus right to national security
4. America’s responsibility to the world
– As an American, what’s worth dying for?
– would you consider and commit to an emergency plan for orphans?
– what do you think the U.S. should do to end religious persecution?
– how do we speak out and tackle human trafficking?

Here’s the first 10 minutes of the forum.

Here’s the CNN interview with Pastor Rick on the “Situation Room” before the forum.

Full Video Coverage
http://trevinwax.com/2008/08/17/obama-mccain-with-rick-warren-at-saddleback-forum-video/

Full Transcript
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0808/16/se.02.html

Backtrack to Saddleback – Secularists not pleased (Albert Mohler, CP)
http://christianpost.com/article/20080820/backtrack-to-saddleback-secularists-not-pleased.htm

Chinese believers targeted as Olympics creep nearer

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/chinese.believers.targeted.as.olympics.creep.nearer/16191.htm
15 Jan 2008, Christianity Today

The director of Open Doors China summed up Christian persecution in the country in 2007 by saying that most Chinese still cannot practise their religion openly.

The Chinese Communist Party waged a secret campaign against unregistered house churches from mid-June until the end of November, according to Open Doors USA. During this time, the government police investigated “the content of sermons, personal history of house church evangelists and the sources of their funds”.

On November 18, authorities detained 40 church leaders from China Gospel Fellowship in Xiancheng County in Henan Province.

The director, who cannot be named for security reasons, said many house church Christians are told they must stop their meetings. Some are fined. Some pastors are also locked up for a few days or sent to labor camps.

For Christians living in the countryside, it often is difficult to obtain study Bibles and Christian books or attend a Bible school.

The Chinese Government “is carefully crafting an image of religious tolerance leading up to the Summer Olympics in Beijing”, which start August 8, Open Doors USA said. “But the facts tell a different story,” it added.

(read more)

Police target Christmas services to arrest believers

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59324

Dozens of Christians have been questioned, arrested, jailed or beaten in a series of attacks on house church Christmas programs as China tries to wipe out “subversive” or “reactionary” forces before the 2008 Olympics, according to China Aid Association.

The organization has released a list of the most recent assaults on Christians, including the detention in Henan province of Pastor Liang Qi Zhen, vice president of the Chinese House Church Alliance.

“After disbursing Liang’s congregation, police officials took him by force and transported him to an undisclosed location where he was tortured for several hours. Liang’s ears and right hand were injured during the lengthy assault,” said the organization, which seeks to be a window into China so the world can “witness the oppression, imprisonment and torture of Christians�”

The organization also said of the 270 protestant pastors arrested in Shandong province recently for participating in the Bible study, only 200 have been released and 70 remain in custody.

In Jiangsu province, a house church was attacked by police officials during members’ Christmas celebration, and four women were “detained,” including one who was hospitalized, the group said.

(read more)

China’s Olympic blacklist

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58605
WorldNetDaily, 10 Nov 07

Targets 43 ‘types’ of religious infiltrators, media employees, ‘cult’ members

A man who escaped from China after being imprisoned for teaching Bible classes and now runs an organization to help persecuted Christians is confirming that nation will target 43 types of people with investigations – and possibly bans – when the 2008 Olympics are held in Beijing.And those targeted will include “religious infiltrators,” employees of media organizations, those tied to “illegal” religious organizations and others, the report said.

China Aid Association, run by Bob Fu, says the information comes from a “secretly issued” notice from China’s Ministry of Public Security that went to security officials and departments throughout the nation.

(read more)

South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan

South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan (Wikipedia)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_South_Korean_hostage_crisis_in_Afghanistan

The 2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan began on July 19, 2007, when 23 South Korean missionaries were captured and held hostage by members of the Taliban while passing through Ghazni Province of Afghanistan. Two of the hostages were executed before the deal was reached between the Taliban and the South Korean government. The group, comprised of sixteen women and seven men, was captured while traveling from Kandahar to Kabul by bus on a mission sponsored by the Saemmul Presbyterian Church. The crisis began when two local men, who the driver had allowed to board, started shooting to bring the bus to a halt. Over the next month, the hostages were kept in cellars and farmhouses and regularly moved in groups of three to four.

Of the 23 hostages captured, two men, Bae Hyeong-gyu and Shim Seong-min were executed on July 25 and July 30 respectively. Later, with negotiations making progress, two women, Kim Gyeong-ja and Kim Ji-na, were released on August 13 and the remaining 19 hostages on August 29 and August 30.

The release of the hostages was secured with a South Korean promise to withdraw its 200 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2007. Although the South Korean government offered no statement, a Taliban spokesman claimed that the militant group also received some $20 million USD in exchange for the safety of the captured missionaries.

South Korean mission groups re-strategize for high-risk areas (Christian Post, 24 Sep 07)
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070924/29441_South_Korean_Mission_Groups_Re-Strategize_for_High-Risk_Areas.htm

Pastor: Korean hostage was killed for refusing to convert to Islam (CT, 5 Sep 07)
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/pastor.korean.hostage.was.killed.for.refusing.to.convert.to.islam/12843.htm
Hostages held in Afghanistan return to S. Korea (ST, 2 Sep 07)
http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest+News/Asia/STIStory_154068.html

Mission field dangerous for Church workers (NPR, 6 Aug 07)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12523044

Korean missions in wake of hostage crisis (Christian Broadcasting Network, 3 Aug 07)
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/205754.aspx

Korean hostage crisis pressures US, Karzai (AsiaTimes, 31 Jul 07)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/IG31Dg03.html

Korean hostage crisis should impel, not deter (Christian Post, 28 Jul 07)
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070728/28662_Korean_Hostage_Crisis_Should_Impel,_Not_Deter.htm
Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan raising anxiety (CSmonitor, 28 Jul 07)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0727/p99s01-duts.html

South Korea rethinks mission strategy (BBC News, 26 Jul 07)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6915268.stm

Dead South Korea hostage devout Christian, family man (Reuters, 26 Jul 07)
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP196296.htm

Foreign hostages in Afghanistan
http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest+News/World/BgSty_144119_1.html

Afghan turmoil
http://www.alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/AF_REC.htm?v=at_a_glance