News media is always looking for the next big story.

The death toll is now nearing 200,000. Of those, at least 11 are Canadians who were working or visiting Haiti at the time. Although almost 1,000 Canadians have already been evacuated, 859 are still missing and unaccounted for. (Source: Globe & Mail)

Some of those 1,000 Canadian evacuees are a group of 17 students and their chaperones from Vancouver, who had arrived in Haiti only hours before the earthquake to help set up a goat farm. They arrived back safely in BC. Other groups, such as a humanitarian team from Ontario, sent by Glen Acres Baptist Church to work with the Sauble Christian Fellowship just north of Port-au-Prince, will be coming home soon after working tirelessly for several days “non-stop at a medical clinic, helping with patient care and repairs at the mission” (Source: Toronto Star)

These personal stories makes the tragedy hit much closer to home. I hope that, even in the midst of an economic recession, that the kindness of those of us who live in relatively prosperous western nations will not be limited by geographical borders, but will extend to whoever is in need.

• See videos taken by our humanitarian organization Global Aid Network on the ground in Haiti: GAiN Haiti videos
• If you would like to contribute to the relief work going on in Haiti, please visit our Haiti relief donation page to give safely.
• Read our article on the Haiti earthquake.

Have you or someone you know been personally affected by the Haiti earthquake? Please feel free to share in the comments, or contact us privately if you prefer to talk to someone confidentially via email.

By now, nearly everyone has heard of

However, as many critics have pointed out, such focused attention on SARS has done more to alarm people than inform them about the disease. Thus, although everyone has heard of SARS and its rapid spread around the globe, few understand what SARS is, how it is spread, and the magnitude of the threat it poses to the world. In addition, this constant focus on disease and war has created a sense of fear that is causing many people to wonder if the end of the world had finally arrived.

The straight goods on SARS

Lack of solid information about SARS has added greatly to people’s fear of the disease. When the first cases of SARS were reported, not only were scientists unsure where SARS came from, they also knew very little about what caused it, how it was spread or what differentiated those who are able to resist the disease from those who succumbed to it. This sent many people into a panic, such that surgical masks – thought to help prevent the spread of SARS – were quickly out of stock in Asia and other places where SARS has been most prevalent.

But scientists from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and other health organizations have been quite successful at filling in the blanks. Here is a brief summary of what has been discovered so far.

• Where did SARS come from?
  Scientists suspect that SARS originated in China’s Guangdong province, where the highest concentration of SARS cases continues to occur. However, efforts are still underway to determine whether the outbreak of atypical pneumonia that began there in November 2002 is linked to other cases of SARS worldwide. The first widely reported case of SARS involved the death of an American businessman who died after traveling to China and Vietnam.

• What causes SARS?
  The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that SARS is caused by a virus, called a “coronavirus,” previously not found in humans. Scientists at the University of Hong Kong are seeking to determine whether this virus is a mutated form of a similar virus found amongst poultry and swine.

• How many people have been affected?
  According to WHO, as of April 17, 2003, 3,389 cases of SARS have been reported worldwide. Approximately five per cent of those cases have been fatal, with 165 people succumbing to the disease. This death rate is higher than that of most other influenza-like diseases but still well below that of other recent epidemics, such as the flu pandemic that killed an estimated 40 million people in 1918. In Canada, 126 cases of SARS have been reported, twelve of which have proved fatal.

• What are the symptoms of SARS?
  SARS usually begins with a high fever (over 38 degrees Celsius/100.4 degrees Fahrenheit), headache, body aches and sore throat. Other symptoms include a loss of appetite, rash and diarrhea. Respiratory symptoms, such as a dry cough, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing, appear two to seven days after exposure. Anyone experiencing a combination of these symptoms and who has also travelled to a high-risk area or been in contact with a SARS victim is advised to see their doctor immediately.

• How does SARS spread?
  SARS appears to spread primarily through close person-to-person contact. Most cases of SARS have involved health care workers, family members and anyone else in close proximity with a SARS victim. According to Dr. Colin D’Cunha, Ontario’s Public Health Commissioner, for members of the general public, the risk of catching SARS appears to be very slim. There is no evidence that SARS spreads through casual contact, such as being on the same airplane with someone who has SARS.

• How can you protect yourself from SARS?
  Health professionals advise that people take the same precautions against SARS as they would against any other flu-like disease, such as washing their hands frequently and avoiding close contact with infected persons. The Canadian government has also advised that people avoid traveling to areas where the disease is most prevalent, such as China, Hong Kong, and Hanoi, Vietnam. For current travel warnings, please visit Health Canada’s web site.

• Can SARS be cured?
  Although scientists have made many advances in finding a cure for SARS, such as identifying the virus that causes the disease and then mapping its genome, so far they have been unable to find a drug that will cure it. Research into various potential cures is ongoing.

Where is God in all of this?

Some Christians interpret diseases such as SARS as a judgement from God against the sinfulness of the world. Others see them as attacks from Satan. Still others regard SARS and other diseases as the natural consequences of living in a fallen world. Whatever the true cause of SARS, we do know one thing: No matter how deadly the disease is or how far it spreads, God is still in control, and his will, will prevail.

Where is God in all of this? He’s right where he always is: living in the hearts of every believer. As Christians, we have no reason to give in to the fear and gloom that the rest of the world feels when confronted with such epidemics, because we know the one who conquered disease, sin and death on the cross: Jesus Christ.

Thus, rather than cower in fear, secretly celebrate the imminent demise of the world, or sit in smug judgement on the world’s sins, it is our duty to be agents of grace, love and hope to those who do not share the same assurance in God that we have. In the face of a threat such as SARS, it is always wise to take precautions. But we should never respond in fear.

As Hebrews 10:39 says:

“We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.”

Threats like SARS will come and go, but none of this ever happens outside of God’s knowledge or power. Thus, we can be free to share our hope with others, knowing that whether we succumb to SARS or not,

“To live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).

**A note from the producer of Retirement With a Purpose:

If, after reading this article, you are not sure about your relationship with God and if you are not sure you will have eternal life with God after you die, I encourage you to, in faith, pray this suggested prayer. God knows your heart and is not as concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart:

Lord Jesus, I want to know You personally. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me be the person You want me to be.

If you prayed this prayer today, Christ came into your heart as He promised.

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me” (Matthew 25:35).

Most every newscast these days shows pictures of refugees streaming from their homes and everything comfortable and familiar, taking with them only what they can carry – mothers, small children and old people fleeing from potential war and destruction.

Have you ever been a refugee?

Or do you know someone who has been? My mother was – her family fled during the Russian revolution. Having grown up in an affluent home with servants, they now had to beg for food, shoes, everything. One day my grandfather bought shoes for his children only to find out that they were all for the same foot. They wore them anyways. Another time when they were able to buy some meat, they found to their consternation that when they unwrapped it, it was a woman’s breast. Cruel, hard times. But God was faithful and the whole family immigrated to Canada in 1923.

I was privileged to hear from a woman who had been of the Muslim faith. At an international women’s event she told us how she had left the Middle East with her children. Her son was very ill and after moving from country to country she ended up in England. She met a man who prayed to Jesus for the healing of her son and he was healed. When she saw that Jesus Christ had power to heal, she accepted Jesus as her Saviour and Lord.

Father, I pray for Your protection over the thousands of refugees fleeing from their homes right now. Give strength and wisdom to the mothers, children and old people. Supply their needs. Cause someone to introduce them to Jesus who is their Hope and Shield. Amen.

Shortly after September 11, 2001, the news media began airing coverage of Martin and Gracia Burnham, a missionary pilot and his wife

Gracia returned to her home in Rose Hill, Kansas, where she has spent the last year rebuilding her life with her three children and carrying the mantle of her husband’s legacy.  In a recent conversation with In Touch Magazine, she talked candidly about her spiritual journey during captivity and how that translates to her life now.

On May 27, 2001, Gracia and Martin – along with 18 other hostages – were seized at dawn from the resort where they were celebrating their wedding anniversary.  They were forced by gunmen into a speedboat and whisked away with only the clothes on their backs.  For the 377 days that followed, they trekked through a dense, hot jungle as the military attempting to rescue them strafed them with gunfire.

During her tenth week of captivity, Gracia made a critical decision that stabilized her throughout the remainder of her 53 weeks of perilous hardship. Angry and discouraged, she wrestled with God until her soul reached the conviction that she would let God be God and do whatever He wanted with her life.  “Life’s not all about me getting my way; it’s about Him getting His way,” she says.  “We can fight it, or we can go with it and make the best of it.  I decided that I was gonna believe God was good, no matter what.”

As the weeks rolled into months, her captors beheaded three male hostages, forced marriage upon four women in the group, and opened fire on a village, killing many of its civilians.  Aside from the terrorism she endured, dysentery, hunger, and oozing blisters became daily afflictions for Gracia.  She fought her discouragement with prayer, always seeking to find the Lord’s purpose for her life.  “It seemed like God would answer every prayer but to get us out of there.  So I started asking God for a hamburger, because that would mean I was out of there,” she recalls.  “In a very unusual way, God got us out of the jungle for 24 hours, and I got my hamburger; and then we went right back in.  I think it’s then that Martin and I saw that truly God can do anything.  God has the power to do anything.  He could get us out of there if He wanted to.  Very easily.  This wasn’t a problem for God.  He showed us very clearly that He could get me a hamburger.  I think we realized that He wanted us in there for a reason.  Our prayers really changed at that point – we just wanted God to be teaching us.”

After a harrowing year in captivity, only three hostages remained.  Two were killed and Gracia was shot in the leg during a bungled rescue attempt.  “When Martin died that day, I thought, ’Well, you know, we’ve been asking for an answer and here’s the answer.  Now I go on,’” She says. “You forget those things that are behind you, and you press on for the prize.”

When she returned to America, Gracia faced a barrage of questions from the news media.  One of the most frequently asked is, “Do you ever just sit down and say, ‘Why me, God?’” She responds to this query with questions of her own.  “The first time someone asked me that when I got out, I said, ‘You know what?  I have those thoughts all the time, But it’s “Why me God?  Why did you choose for me to be born in America where I hear about you, where I have a loving family, where we have plenty to eat, where I can make a choice of my career?  Why did I have beautiful children that are healthy?  Why do I have a place to live when there are some people who live in a little cardboard box somewhere?  If I write down the bad things that have happened to me in my life, there’s very, very few.  One of them lasted quite a long time.  But when I write down the good things God’s done for me, my goodness!  You just go on and on and on.  You just fill page after page after page after page.’  That’s what I say to people. ‘Why me, God?  Why have you blessed me so totally?’

“When a bad thing comes along, why do we expect a perfect life?  I don’t know.  Why do we think that nothing bad is supposed to happen to us?  Is that something that someone has told us is supposed to happen?  Scripture never says that.  The servant is never greater than his lord.  And look at what Christ suffered.  People hated Him.  People misunderstood Him.  Bad things happened to Him.”

The strength and clarity of vision Gracia gained during her captivity are evident in her graceful demeanor and humble outlook on life. Her children will attest to that. “I’m much more, I think ‘lenient’ is the word.  If somebody’s bed doesn’t get made, how does that effect eternity?  I guess it doesn’t, you know.  Just have a messy bed.  If you don’t get somewhere on time, well, you didn’t get there on time.  I’m just more lenient and not so hard on myself.  And I know that kids have to have discipline and that you have to get to your job on time or you’re gonna lose it.  I know all those things, but I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to perform and to be perfect.  The Lord calls us to keep our hearts right with Him.  He doesn’t call us to have a perfect home and perfect kids.  He calls us to have a perfect heart.”

That grace extends to her theology as well.  “I’m just not dogmatic about things the way I used to be.  I am choosing to believe that God’s good.  I’m choosing to believe that Jesus is who He said He was.  I’m choosing to believe that He died and three days later, He rose from the grave.  I’ve rethought my faith from start to finish.  I think back to when Jesus told the disciples some things that were hard for them to understand.  Jesus asked, ‘Do you believe this?’  One of the disciples said, ‘Yeah, were else could we turn?  You have the words of eternal life, and if we didn’t believe this, what else would we believe?’”

While her belief is a choice, Gracia’s faith is supported with solid evidence.  “The Lord gave us the strength to go through that,” she says.  “I believe the Lord did it.  I certainly don’t think Mohammed did it.  I don’t think I drummed it up within myself.”  When Gracia was in the jungle, the strain of her ordeal exposed flaws in her personality that she never imagined existed.  “I saw myself as I really am – I saw sinful man.  When you take everything away from a person, you see what a person really is.  I didn’t want to believe that that Gracia even existed.  I wanted to think I was a better person than I was seeing.  I didn’t drum up the peace God gave me because it didn’t come from me.  I certainly saw the Holy Spirit work it Martin’s life.”

The same strength that sustained her in the jungle upholds Gracia today as she works to raise her children alone and to move ahead. Although she has a support group, she struggles with loneliness and the weight of her new responsibilities.  “Just like everybody, I wonder if I have the strength to do what’s on my schedule,” she says.  “Everybody faces that.  I don’t see that there’s a lot of strength in me.  I think the Lord grants me the strength I need every day.”  To other single mothers, she says, “Just go one day at a time.  Trust that Lord for each day.  That’s what we did in the jungle, and it’s a jungle out here too.”

Gracia’s objective in life now is to be a channel for giving.  The Martin and Gracia Burnham Foundation supports missions aviation and work in Muslim communities.

“I think of people that have been persecuted totally because of their faith in the Lord Jesus and that won’t back down,” she says. “They won’t stop doing what they feel God has called them to do, and they have lost their lives over it.  Those people have families, communities, and churches – I would love to be a help with the persecuted church.”

A conduit of God’s grace to others, Gracia lives up to the origin of her name.  “Martin’s spiritual gift was giving,” she says. “I used to just watch him give, and I loved it.  No matter how much or how little we had, he was always giving to the lord’s work over and abundantly.  One of our friends that has known Martin since he was young said, ‘I just think that’s neat that you’ve got a foundation, because Martin’s giving is living on.”  That’s comforting.”

Would you like to have the power of the Holy Spirit in your life? Why don’t you pray the prayer below, and ask the Lord to fill you with His Holy Spirit.

Father, I need you. I acknowledge that I have sinned against you by directing my own life. I thank you that You have forgiven my sins through Christ’s death on the cross for me. I now invite Christ to again take His place on the throne of my life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit as You commanded me to be filled, and as You promised in Your Word that You would do if I asked in faith. I pray this in the name of Jesus. As an expression of my faith, I thank You for directing my life and for filling me with the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

“A Work of Grace” by Tonya Stoneman appeared in In Touch magazine, August 2003. Copyright 2003 IN TOUCH MINISTRIES. P.O. Box 7900, Atlanta, GA 30357. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

**The names in this testimony have been changed to protect the identies of those involved.**

Fatima shivered in her cell as she reviewed her desperate circumstances. Her husband Hasan was confined in another part of the Greek prison.  What was he thinking right now, she wondered?  Did he regret fleeing persecution? Was he remembering the time he’d spent in an Iranian jail for playing in a band at a Christian gathering?  Though a Muslim, he was still beaten for the offence.

Fatima, a teacher of the Islamic catechism for women and children, had also run afoul of the government.  She had gotten into trouble for wearing the wrong colour of clothing and for allegedly teaching little girls to remove their head coverings, though in reality she was only checking them for lice.

The couple finally decided to escape to the West.  On their way through Turkey, Fatima had a dream about Jesus, where she saw herself walking behind Him as His servant.  Several months later, the couple arrived in Athens, and that’s when their hopes began to unravel.  First they lost all their money, and then the police arrested them.

“Greece is a Christian country,” Fatima reasoned in her cell.  “Perhaps I should pray to Jesus because He will have power here.” Later that night, Fatima’s cellmate told of a dream she’d had in which four great shining angels surrounded  Fatima as she was praying.  The angels prayed for Fatima and Hasan and then the dream ended.  Twelve days later Fatima and Hasan were released from jail together.

After their release, the couple went to the only friend they had in Athens, who just happened to have a Bible in Farsi.  Fatima couldn’t stop reading the Bible and even read parts of it aloud to Hasan.  It seemed so wonderful!

One night Hasan had a dream where the Lord came, placed His hand on Hasan’s head and said, “Follow me.”  That was all the man needed.  He woke Fatima, told her of the dream and decided that he too must become a Christian.

On a sunny Athens beach not long afterwards, a crowd of refugees, believers and curious sunbathers listened as Hasan passionately sang his confession of faith in his native Farsi.  Then he and Fatima were baptized as the multitude looked on.

Since that moment, Fatima and Hasan have continued to grow in their faith.  During this time they have suffered through two miscarriages, haven’t had a permanent place to live or been able to find work.  Despite the problems, when asked how she felt about being in Athens, Fatima’s face lit up, “We have lost everything, but have found Jesus,” she said.

With today’s current events, there is a feeling of unrest in our world. Some people may be feeling as though they have lost everything like Fatima does, or you may be feeling as though you might lose everything soon.  You may have a general feeling of fear or panic.  These feelings are all normal.  But we have a Savior who we can put our trust in.  He will always be there for us, offering us His presence and His peace.  With the lack of peace in our world, it is a wonderful knowledge that we can have peace in our hearts.  Today, if you would like God’s peace in your heart, why don’t you pray this prayer and ask God to be Lord of your life, ask Him to be your savior, and your friend.

Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally.  Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.  I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord.  Take control of my life.  Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life.  Make me the kind of person you want me to be.  Amen.

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?  You can pray it right now and Jesus Christ will come into your life, just as He promised.

If you invited Christ into your life, thank God often that He is in your life, that He will never leave you and that you have eternal life.  As you learn more about your relationship with God, and how much He loves you, you’ll experience life to the fullest.

Wouldn’t you love to wake up on Christmas morning

Wait a second…

If that doesn’t sound like your Christmas fantasy come true, then you’re probably not one of the 1.4 billion people who live without clean drinking water each day.

You’re also probably not the parent of the child who died from a water-borne illness eight seconds ago – or the one who will die eight seconds from now.

Or the 180 children who will die this Christmas Day from diseases related to contaminated drinking water. Kind of difficult to enjoy yet another serving of turkey with all that carnage going on, isn’t it?

Fear not. You can have your turkey and eat it, too.

Just follow the example of Bob and Tere Friesen of Abbotsford, BC. Together with their extended family, they raised enough money, by cutting back on Christmas presents last year, to pay for a water well to be drilled in a village in India. And they still had more than enough money left over for turkey and a few small presents for themselves!

Prior to April 2003, when the well was actually dug, villagers had to walk one kilometre each day to get fresh water. Thanks to the generosity of the Friesens and their family, the 1,000 people in this village now have a source of clean drinking water right in their own community. Just imagine the impact this well will have on that village! Imagine the hours saved by not having to haul water each day, the improved health conditions which will give children opportunities that they’ve been prevented from experiencing before due to illness and death.

And what’s the price tag for such a life-changing gift?

Between $2,000 to $4,000 per well, depending on the location of the well and how deep it has to be drilled. Communities in India, China and Africa are desperate for such basic amenities. Will you help this holiday season?

For more information on how you can turn this Christmas into an opportunity to truly give the gift of life, please contact the Global Aid Network (GAIN) and ask about their Water for Life initiative.

I remember gasping and the realization that I was crying. I remember the confusion, and even though what I watched was happening on the other side of the country I remember standing in my tracks unable to move. I remember not knowing how to act or what came next. Should I keep getting ready for work? Should I stay off the roads? Is there someone I should l call? What just happened?

Now here we are, years later and I think a lot of us are still asking that same question “what happened?” We know so much more now than in those early hours and days, but the questions remain. We have seen the faces of our attackers, but cannot fathom how they walked onto four planes that day. We know the names of the fallen but are still learning how to live in a world without them.

Years later we know what strength looks like.

Courage has a face, sacrifice is real. Words that had gathered dust over the past years have been polished and returned to a place of honor. A few years later we know that the world may shake but it does not stop. We have lived the words of Tennyson’s poem “Ulysses”:

Though much is taken, much abides;
And though we are not now that strength
Which in old days moved earth and heaven
That which we are, we are:
One equal temper of heroic hearts
Made weak by time and fate but strong in will:
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Years later we are shaken, but stronger, wounded but still walking, full of questions but still willing to hope that the answers, in time, may come.

This time a few years ago, people across the country and around the globe were drawn to churches and prayer meetings searching for something higher than themselves, looking for meaning. The book of Psalms, in the Bible, is full of people who looked to God when their world stopped making sense. Psalm 61 verse 2 says “From the end of the earth I will cry to you, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

Over the last few years there have been many times when my faith in God has been the one thing that got me through. Throughout everything that happened, God did not change, and the knowledge that He is alive and active in this world is the basis for the hope I have. As we face the anniversary of one of the most painful days in recent memory, if you find yourself looking for shelter, for peace, for comfort, you can find it. There is safe ground you can run to. You can find peace, even now, a year, a lifetime, later.

The God of the Bible is the only deity who has lost a child. He knows what it feels like to have a loved one taken away. He understands grief and pain and suffering. There is a line in an old hymn that says “Let there be peace in the world and let it begin with me.” It can begin with you right now. John 3:16 tells us that God loves the world so much that He sent Jesus, His only Son, to die for us so that everyone who believes in Him can have everlasting life.

You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer. Praying is simply talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. Here’s a suggested prayer:

Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of woman you want me to be.

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? You can pray it right now, and Jesus Christ will come into your life, just as He promised.

If you invited Christ into your life, thank God often that He is in your life, that He will never leave you and that you have eternal life. As you learn more about your relationship with God, and how much He loves you, you’ll experience life to the fullest.

Pier 1 teams up with UNICEF to help women around the world

(ARA) - In a time when current events have many people feeling helpless and uncertain, there are some positive ways they can connect with others and make a difference in the world.

On Mother’s Day, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF and Pier 1 Imports have created a program that will enable people throughout the United States to make a significant impact on the lives of women and their newborns in developing countries.

For each purchase of a Pier 1 Gift Card of $50 or more, Pier 1 will donate $1.20 to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. Funds raised will provide vaccines to immunize women of childbearing age against maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) - it only takes $1.20 to immunize a woman and protect her newborns against this disease.

“The best gift you can give a mother is a healthy child and a healthy life,” said Charles Lyons, President of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. “We take for granted some of the most basic medical needs that are available to us here in the U.S. Unfortunately, for many women and children in developing countries, MNT is a reality that causes a swift and silent death, yet it is extremely preventable.”

MNT kills more than 200,000 newborns and 30,000 mothers each year. The illness strikes when tetanus spores, found in soil everywhere, come into contact with open cuts during childbirth in unsanitary conditions. In the industrialized world, tetanus is a thing of the past, but the disease remains a major public health problem in 57 of the poorest and most remote nations on earth. More than 80 percent of infants and mothers who develop this preventable disease die within days of exposure.

“What really made an impact on me is that this illness is preventable,” said Marvin Girouard, chairman and CEO of Pier 1 Imports. “Pier 1 has had a long-standing relationship with UNICEF, and we wanted to do something to help.”

Pier 1 has supported UNICEF for nearly 20 years; until now, primarily through the sale of greeting cards. The new program is being launched around Mother’s Day for good reason. “It provides a way to not only honor your mother on Mother’s Day, but also helps thousands of newborn babies get a healthy start on life,” said Girouard. “Through partnering with UNICEF this Mother’s Day, Pier 1 is hoping to help make this disease history.”

Visit UNICEF for more information about the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, its partners or to donate to the program to eliminate maternal or neonatal tetanus.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Founded in 1946, UNICEF helps save, protect and improve the lives of children around the world through immunization, education, health care, nutrition, clean water and sanitation. UNICEF is non-partisan and its cooperation is free of discrimination. In everything it does, the most disadvantaged children and the countries in greatest need have priority.

Pier 1 Imports, Inc. is North America’s largest specialty retailer of imported decorative home furnishings and gifts with Pier 1 Imports stores in 50 states, Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico; The Pier stores in the United Kingdom; and Cargokids! stores in Texas, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina and Kansas.

Content courtesy of ARA content

Cultural practices often create suffering and hardship for women. In 1996, life for women in Afghanistan changed drastically

Women live in fear of their lives for the slightest misbehavior. They have to wear “burqua” and make sure that not any part of their bodies are exposed which could be offensive to a man. Also, the windows of a house where a woman lives must be painted so that she can never be seen by outsiders. There are almost no medical facilities available for them and the levels of depression and suicide amongst women in Afghanistan are skyrocketing.

Cry out to God on behalf of the many Afghan women.

Sometimes the abuse of authority or the tyranny of government, like the rule of the Taliban, may seem overwhelming. What can I do to overthrow a government or change a cultural practice that has gone on for centuries, you might ask. Have you considered a time of fasting and prayer to break the yoke of injustice?

In Mark 9:29 Jesus tells His disciples that certain changes can only be affected by prayer and fasting. Queen Esther called a three-day fast for her nation. Daniel fasted and set his eyes toward heaven. What are you willing to do?

We can go to a God who sees every woman and intercedes with us on behalf of those who most need our prayers.

Thank the Holy Spirit for interceding, especially when we don’t quite know how to pray.

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express”. (Romans 8:26)

Used with permission by Discovering God’s Heart for Suffering Women, a 40-day prayer pilgrimage.

There are now more martyrs in this century than all previous centuries combined. What’s going on?

Today, around the world, more than 480 Christians will die. Not because they live in war-torn countries. Not because our brothers and sisters do not have enough food. And not because believers face natural disasters. Instead, Christians are raped, beaten, beheaded and cut down because of what they believe. Totalitarian governments and regimes of hatred persecute and kill Christians in more than 60 countries worldwide simply because they follow Christ.

In southern Sudan in 1995, a Christian man trekked north to locate his wife and two daughters who had been kidnapped for slave labor. Risking torture and death, the man found his wife and 5-year-old and bought them back with his life savings. The 9-year-old is almost old enough to be a concubine; she costs more. The going rate is five head of cattle per child. He cannot afford to reclaim her yet. The young girl is only one of more than 1 million Sudanese, mostly Christians and non-Muslims, who have been abducted or killed by the National Islamic Front.¹

In Morocco, Rachid Cohen, a Jewish Moroccan who had converted to Christianity, was arrested for being an “unauthorized guide.” Cohen was tortured for 10 hours a day, burned with cigarettes, shocked repeatedly in a low-voltage chair and dunked in his own excrement.²

In China, Amnesty International reports examples of Christian women hung by their thumbs from wires, beaten, shocked with electric probes, starved and dehydrated. Communist leaders there call underground evangelical and Catholic congregations “a principle threat to political stability.”³

In the lion’s den

An on and on and on go the stories from Cuba, Egypt and Nigeria, from Lebanon, Uzbekistan and North Korea. So many that there are now more martyrs in this century than in all previous centuries combined.⁴

In 1960, more than 70 percent of all evangelicals lived in North America and Western Europe. In 1990, however, 70 percent of evangelicals lived in the Third World.⁵ That number continues to grow, presenting an increased threat to totalitarian governments. Although there are 1.7 billion Christians in the world, believers represent a religious minority in 87 territories and countries.⁶

“Christians are the chief victims of this religious persecution around the world today,” says Nina Shea in In the Lion’s Den. “Christians are targeted by ruthless dictators who demand total power and control, intolerant of those who believe in the Supreme Being–the Transcendent God–or in the dignity of all persons created in God’s image. They serve as scapegoats for societies that aim to vent, foment, and popularize hatred of the West, and most specifically, the United States. . . . By their faith, Christians pose inherent threats to those regimes that rely on bribes and threats to maintain power.”

Until recently, these atrocities and injustices against Christians were greeted with silence by the West and the evangelical body, save a few courageous Christian and human-rights groups such as Voice of the Martyrs, Open Doors and Christian Solidarity International.

Richard Land, president of the Christian Life Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, blames the government silence on ignorance and apathy. The indictment against the evangelical church, however, is harsher, according to Dr. Paul Marshall, one of the world’s leading authorities on religious persecution. Marshall asserts, “Many evangelicals in particular seem to be so obsessed with their own well-being that they cannot get their noses out of their own navels to pay attention to the plight of their brothers and sisters around the world.“⁷

In his book Their Blood Cries Out, Marshall also blames evangelical silence on:

• An obsession with end-times prophecy,
• A nationalist form of Christianity that confuses God and America,
• A popular “success” theology that emphasizes prosperity and inner comfort as results of spiritual integrity,
• A competition for fund-raising dollars, and
• A lack of information.⁸

Intercession: A call to action

The tide of silence turned to a murmur, however, in January 1996 when more than 100 Christian leaders and activists discussed strategies to end Christian persecution. Ministries and denominations from Campus Crusade for Christ and the Family Research Council to the Southern Baptist Convention and the Christian & Missionary Alliance organized an International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, observed by thousands of churches countrywide on September 26, 1996.

The National Association of Evangelicals also issued an unprecedented “Statement of Conscience and Call to Action” that pledged to end “our own silence in the face of suffering of all those persecuted for their religious faith . . . [and] to do what is within our power to the end that the government of the United States will take appropriate action to combat the intolerable religious persecution now victimizing fellow believers and those of other faiths.”

An unlikely noisemaker on this issue is Michael Horowitz, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, who challenged his fellow Jews not to be silent in the face of “persecutions eerily parallel to those committed by Adolf Hitler.”⁹ Horowitz also called on Christians to consider the implications of their reticence: “America’s Christian community is most directly challenged. Its moral authority will be gravely tarnished if it fails to exercise its growing political influence on behalf of people now risking everything to engage in the ‘simple’ act of Christian worship and witness. . . .”¹⁰

Today the murmur is becoming a buzz, according to Steve Haas, U.S. coordinator for the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. “I wouldn’t have said this two months ago,” admits Haas, “but people are beginning to wake up.”

Haas cites a few sounds of life around the country, including: a significant growth in prayer groups for the persecuted church; a Denver church that raised $10,000 beyond their collection for the cause; and godly men and women in government like Frank Wolf (R-Va.) and Tony Hall (D-Ohio), who will introduce bipartisan legislation to Congress concerning the issue of Christian persecution.

“Once awake,” Haas cautions, “let’s make sure we don’t go back to sleep. [This plight] has everything to do with our understanding of our citizenship in God’s global kingdom.”

These are our brothers and sisters. Paul encouraged the Church to care for its family members, exhorting, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Galatians 6:10, New International Version). Your opportunity may be to pray, or to write a letter to the government or your local paper, or to support advocacy groups. Forbid it that God should find us forgetting His body.

Find out more information on this year’s International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

Reprinted with permission from Worldwide Challenge, the award-winning magazine of Campus Crusade for Christ.

Notes:

1. Testimony by Kevin Vigilante, representing the Puebla Program on Religious Freedom of Freedom House, before the House Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights, March 13, 1996.

2. Robin Wright, “In the Name of God: The Khomeini Decade” (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989), p. 81.

3. Terry Mattingly, “Allegations of Christian Persecution Spur Congress to Act,” Scripps-Howard News Service, September 28, 1996.

4. James and Marti Hefley, “By Their Blood” (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996) p. 637.

5. Religious Liberty Commission of World Evangelical Fellowship newsletter, September29, 1996.

6. “The Suffering Church,” Christianity Today, July 15, 1996.

7. Telephone interview of Paul Marshall by Kim A. Lawton, May 15, 1996, quoted in “In the Lion’s Den”, page 15.

8. Paul Marshall, “Their Blood Cries Out” (Dallas: Word, 1997), p. 152.

9. “New Intolerance Between Crescent and Cross,” Wall Street Journal, July 5, 1995.

10. Ibid.