Don't Forget!

The excitement of the past month in Burma may seem to be dying down - but now is not the time to forget Burma! The people living there are fighting for their lives - literally. The protests did not end - they were silenced with guns. The monks have not gone back to meditating in monasteries - they are in prison. The eyes of the world have been on Burma these last few weeks - something that probably should have happened decades ago. There were protests around the world this weekend, Stallone has a new Rambo movie out - focused on Burma, and the UN met in an emergency session focused solely on Burma.

God has indeed not forgotten the people of this land. He does want to heal their land, but He also wants them to turn away from their idols and towards Him. Would you join us in serving the people of this country? Would you pray that they would turn from their worthless idols to the living God who can heal their land (2 Chron. 7:14)? Would you pray for God to remove the ruling military junta and put in the true elected leader of that country, Aung San Suu Kyi? And would you follow the news and latest developments there? It is so easy to forget about something that is so far away, but please don't let that happen. And finally, would you write a letter to your Congressman, Senator, and/or editor of your local paper asking them to keep Burma on our foreign policy agenda and in the public eye? To stay informed go to GRI's website: www.globalrefuge.org; and the BBC's website: www.bbc.com.

Thank you for taking this journey with us these last four weeks - we have a ways to go yet...

Kerri

Abandon the middle, not hope

So the girls to the right are proof that we should abandon the middle in our walks with the Lord, but we should never abandon hope that He IS moving among the lost and hurting. This picture shows two girls rescued from the bars of Chiang Mai who now work as jewelry makers. They are paid a salary, and they are learning what it means to be a forgiven child of God. The girls in these bars need desperately to know that there is hope for their futures - that there is a God in heaven who loves them and wants what's best for them. And that is where we come in. God has revealed the hope we have in Him to us, and we cannot keep that amazing Truth to ourselves.

This is what we mean by abandoning the middle. Not walking in that safe, middle ground we want to pretend is faith. Faith is stepping away from the worldly logic of safety and stepping into God's will for our lives. Do we really trust Him with our lives, our finances, our children? I know so often I don't (okay, so not so much with the children part), but I want to and need to. I know that God brings hope to the hurting through His Church - and often times that means we have to go overseas and deliver that hope in person. Selfishly, I really want to be that person who gets to bring the hope! These girls in the picture were blessed because someone gave up her career to go and share the hope of Jesus Christ with them.

With all that is going on in Burma right now, I have to ask myself - is there hope for those suffering in that awful place? But that is a topic for my next entry. Thanks for reading and praying for the people of Burma and northern Thailand with me.

Kerri