whereisjodi.

When I was touring Israel this past year I ran across a large number of Nigerian groups at different locations. In case you wonder how I know they were from Nigeria -- no joke, almost all of the thousand or more I ran across were wearing outfits made from the same material. We saw more of them in Egypt when we were climbing Mt. Sinai. They were coming down that brutal mountain when I was walking up and each group we passed would give encouragements and say things like "Nigeria strong!"

If I'm remembering the story correctly, the government of Nigeria pays for one spiritual journey for each of its employees. The overwhelming majority go to Mecca, but those we ran across were Christians who'd chosen to visit Jerusalem. This led me to the impression that Nigeria was a land of great religious freedoms.

I'm sorry to say that an article I just read proves I had the wrong impression.

Rampaging Muslims have killed 10 Christians, injured 61 others, destroyed nine churches and displaced more than 500 people in northern Nigeria, according to eyewitnesses – all because Muslim high school students claimed a Christian student had drawn a cartoon of Islam’s prophet, Muhammad, on the wall of the school’s mosque.

Read further if you'd like, but please take a moment to pray for our brothers and sisters in Nigeria and the persecution they face. 

Posted by authorjodi at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Person A: An individual who uses her own money to travel to a dangerous, war-torn country to administer aid and comfort under wretched conditions simply because she loves Jesus and wants to help her fellow man in His name.

Person B: An individual who kidnaps Person A at gunpoint, murders her friends and holds her hostage for six weeks while attempting to blackmail the world community into allowing the aforementioned war-torn country to return to the dark ages.

Whom should we blame? According to an AP story about the response of the South Korean public, Person A is at fault. She should have known better than to try to help alleviate the suffering of her fellow man and stayed home in her warm, comfortable bed. Some government officials are even calling for Person A to repay the costs the government expended in trying to obtain her release, including an alleged secret ransom payment.

"The Protestant churches should thoroughly reflect (on their behavior) with regard to why such demands have been raised."

Why indeed. The article I read credits so-called "liberal" paper Hankyoreh with the above statement. How is it possible the blame is falling on these victims?

Posted by authorjodi at 03:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

The Taliban has reached an agreement to release the South Korean hostages in exchange for their government's promise to withdraw troops by the end of the year and cease all missionary work in Afghanistan. I won't give a shout of joy until the Taliban has actually come through on their end of the bargain, but praise God for this positive step forward.

On the other hand, no more missionary work in Afghanistan? Apparently that includes humanitarian work done by believers trying to help their fellow man in the name of Jesus. I don't think this bodes well for other humanitarian organizations in the region... 

Posted by authorjodi at 01:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Thanks to Stacy, I just watched an Al Jazeera report featuring the two South Korean Christians freed by the Taliban -- the most amazing part was that a woman initially chosen to be released gave up her spot for another. Please remember to keep praying for the 19 who remain in captivity.

Posted by authorjodi at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The body of forty-two year old South Korean Bae Hyung-kyu was discovered Wednesday, his soul already gone ahead to glory.

I don't even know what to write beyond that sentence -- I've been sitting here for ten minutes, typing and erasing, not sure what to say. This morning my best friend and I had a chance to spend some time in prayer and I was prompted to pray for my brothers and sisters in closed countries. I prayed for those South Korean hostages, not yet having read the news that one had already been killed. Actually, I prayed that, if it was within God's will, He would protect them. Tonight I read that He already allowed the death of at least one.

I also prayed that God would please, please protect the 18 women from their captors. My mind shut down at the thought of what those evil, violent men might do, my memory flooded with the faces of the young South Korean women I taught English to ten years ago. Young, innocent faces filled with a fervor to share the love of Christ -- the same looks I saw when viewing the team photo of the hostages that was released by their church.

Is God good? To me, that is the one, single, defining question in life. For years I struggled with it, for years I raged against God for all the injustice and tragedy I saw in the world, the injustice and tragedy in my own life. I could recite the theological response in a soundbite: that evil is a result of the Fall and continuing sinful choices of mankind; that God is sovereign but allows each one of us freewill while providing His very own Son to reconcile us to Him.

Though correct, those are cold answers when faced with a young woman who took off work, raised money, got on a plane and flew into a warzone to give medical aid and comfort to the sick and dying. When faced with the knowledge that a woman is out there somewhere, quite likely beaten and violated and God knows what else...and the only reason she's in the situation is because she loved Jesus and wanted to share that love with others.

Is God good? I know the answer to that, but it's an answer that came after bitter personal struggle. I know with firm conviction that God is good, though evil abounds in every corner of the globe. I know that God is good, though His ways are mystifying and He rarely explains Himself. And I know that God is good, though He would allow the death of innocents so that even one lost sheep would come home.

History is scattered with examples that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." If we believe God truly is sovereign, loving and just; if we understand that this life really is nothing but a mist in light of an eternity with or without Him...only then can we begin to catch the slightest glimpse of the lengths God is willing to go to that none should perish.

I have no idea if I would hold firm to my convictions under the circumstances now facing my brothers and sisters in Afghanistan. I pray I'd be able to stand as Job, "though He slay me, yet I will hope in Him." I do know that I serve the God of all comfort, a God capable of being present among prisoners and giving peace that passes all understanding in the midst of horrific conditions. Those are the things I'll ask for my brothers and sisters when I speak to God tonight.

Posted by authorjodi at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

“In terms of punishment the one who comes to a Muslim country to convert people to their religion must face the strongest punishment. The first choice is death and the second life in prison.”

So says Sayed Murard Shrifi, "a religious cleric who is head of the public court in Baghlan" in response to the kidnapping at gunpoint of 23 South Korean Christians on their way to work at a hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The man who claimed responsibility threatened to kill the missionaries if their government doesn't immediately withdraw the 200 engineers, doctors and medical staff that comprise their military presence in the country.

The lives of these 23 young believers hang in the balance because, as their missions director released in a statement, they couldn't "turn away from poor people and children there just because of safety risks."

You can read more here. What aggravates me most is that I had to wade through story after story about Potter-mania and never found much more than this small amount of information. Thankfully there was a brief yahoo headline about the possible murder of German hostages that first alerted me to what was going on.

Posted by authorjodi at 08:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Someone told me about seeing Walid Shoebat on Fox News a month or two ago and I finally tracked down the clip. The video is four minutes long if you want to watch it, but at about 2:40 they're talking about how to defeat terrorism and whether or not you can talk terrorists out of that ideology <specifically in regards to a tape showing a jihadist graduation>.

Walid comes right out and says that conversion to Christianity is the most successful strategy. Fascinating to hear this from an ex-PLO terrorist...fascinating also that he gets away with saying it. I imagine he's got a fatwa or two hanging over his head.

Posted by authorjodi at 07:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A Christian was arrested in Mecca...for being a Christian in Mecca. Apparently it's against the law and the Saudi government was able to track him down by using a new fingerprinting system. The system is being utilized by the Expatriates Monitoring Committee and is "very helpful and will help us a lot to discover the identity of a lot of criminals and overstayers."

Saudi Arabia has been a touchy subject for a number of years -- supposedly our friendly ally, yet holding one of the worst records regarding religious freedoms. To me, the most troubling quotes in the article:

"In the U.S., an estimated 80 percent of mosques are supported largely with funds and imams from Saudi Arabia." and "...the government of Saudi Arabia is disseminating propaganda through American mosques that teaches hatred of Jews and Christians and instructs Muslims that they are on a mission behind enemy lines in a land of unbelievers."

<HT: Hal> 

Posted by authorjodi at 09:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)