Rescue the Captors in Colombia ...Russell Stendal / March

March was the month dedicated to prayer for the Body of Christ in Colombia. Many in Colombia would prefer to ignore the existence of the rainforest and jungle guerrilla groups that terrorize a large part of primitive Colombia. Just several months ago, a female French-Colombian politician was rescued along with 2 American petroleum workers after being held in the jungle for ransom for more than 8 years. This is big business for them...as they ask 1 million dollars per hostage. The tombstone is that of Bible translator and missionary Chet Bitterman who was kidnapped and killed within a few days of his capture in the 1980's. He had a premonition that the Lord would ask the supreme sacrifice of him...and was willing to go anyway. A happier ending is that of the Russell Stendal family, who ended up as missionaries in Colombia because of the Lord's call on the life of a 4 year old boy. Read his testimonies in the books written by the little boy grown up...Rescue the Captors 1 & 2...Incredible stories that will make your hair stand on end and leave you gasping with laughter at Russell's daring service for the Lord...for the unbelieving Indigena, the fearsome and Godless FARC Guerillas, and their counterparts, the paramilitaries.

Pray for them, and others like him!

Endure...Living Martyrs

Testimonies of Endurance and Faith For Today's Church ... ENDURE.... Nigerian evangelicals living under the constant threat and weight of Shari'a law. ENDURE... Small word, that says so much about the life of a living martyr...one who lives a lifetime of abuse, discriminacion, arrests, imprisonment, and torture, and then starting all over again. Like Pastor Lamb in China who in his long life as a house church leader has been imprisoned more then 19 times by the Chinese government. Just when he thought he could bear no more, and one more imprisonment would break him, the Lord spoke to his heart and said, "My grace is sufficient for thee!" ENDURE... Small word, but rich to the suffering that know it brings a promise of recompense at the end of the journey, having endured and finished the race. After 20 years of imprisonment in the harsh Cuban system, tortured and abused, Noble Alexander was kept several additional years by the Cuban government just to keep him unbalanced and unsure of his fate. He baptized more than 300 prisoners in different prisons while the guards were looking in another direction, many times using the hot dishwashing water in which to dunk them! ENDURE... "Tear me to pieces and rip my soul from my body, but you will never force that detestable word of denial from my mouth. " Michael Nakashima, had boiling water poured over his head and body until he died in Japan on Christmas Day, 1628. ENDURE... Without wavering let us hold tight to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep His promise. Hebrews 10:23

Starting All Over Again...Beginning a new Year

Leaving All Behind and Starting Over Again...Or Fighting It Out??? Meet Brother Miguel. You may find it hard to believe, that this man sitting so happily with this bunch of well cared for kids, in the 90's had to make the hardest decision of his life...stay in the communitiy and fight for his ancestral lands, or collect his small flock of Tzotzil Indigenas and leave all behind to protect their lives, and avoid possible bloodshed. He had gone through the battle for several years, tolerating the insults, the threats, and abuses that the traditionalist Catholics had showered on him and his people. Thinking about the 40,000 that had been expelled from Chamula, and the many that had been martyred for the gospel he was torn. Finally, he decided that they would leave their fertile lands behind and start over. They left with what they could gather on their backs, and arrived in Ocosingo, where the government facilitated new lands on the side of a rocky mountain. For a year or so they diid without, living primitively and on the bare minimum. They had a wonderful Pastor to encourage and disciple them, and support from an American ministry from Texas. Off to work they went, to build houses, a church, and start up new Artesan businesses. They were willing to sacrifice everything...and the Lord has blessed them.

They still go back to their former community... to share in secret the gospel that means so much to them. They sometimes get caught and are jailed for 3 days and fined 3 days work for daring to preach a Biblical gospel. He has a wonderful testimony, and has been a blessing to those he leads, and to those of us who have heard their testimony. He continues to serve in evangelizing the lost, and defending those who choose to follow Christ at all costs. Others have stayed behind, to fight inside their communities for the right to express their evangelical faith...some of them giving their lives for the cause... What would you have done??

When Gary Lane from CBN/CWN and I went to interview Miguel, we were faced with a distinctive kind of response to the aggressive persecution of believers in Chiapas. In the Ocosingo region, the pastors have waged their battle in a more passive manner, with patience,and developing relations where possible in the communities where the gospel has not been welcome. In other regions where the aggression is more violent, choices may not have been possible, or the church may have decided to take a legal stand and file a complaint with the Mexican government.

I'm using Miguel's testimony as an example of how it is possible to start over again, leaving behind the known and treasured, to go into a less certain future, but accompanied by the Lord. Maybe it's one of the best things I can offer at a time when so much is uncertain because of the economic crisis that will touch all of us. It's never too late to start anew...coming to know Christ as Lord and Saviour teaches us that. He will accompany us through the difficult times and give us the strength and grace to come through it all, thinking and praising Him for His love and mercy.

Mathew 19:29

Cause of Embarassment and Shame...on us!

This ugly or startling monument, is meant to be just that. It's name is the Pillar or Column of Shame. It was donated (?) to Mexico for it's dubious "honor" of deserving it for the horrendous massacre of 45 Tzotzil Indians, mostly women and children, on December 22nd, 1997, in Acteal, Chiapas. It actually puts most of the blame on the Mexican state and federal governments for their abusive treatment of the Indian peoples, but since it is also a tool of Marxist propaganda, it doesn't mention the crimes of the Zapatista Movement against other Indians whose lands they took by force, or expelled. Nor does it mention, while it blames the Mexican government for the murders, that those arrested and sentenced arbitrarily were also Tzotzil Indians, neighbors and even family members of those who were killed, or more especifically, that 40 of the them were evangelical Christians, who insisted that they were not only innocent, but had alibis for that day. Because of the horrible nature of the crime, and the war of continuous propaganda the Zapatistas have waged using it, very little attention has been paid to the plight of the 40 or so innocent evangelicals. There have been those faithful few ministries and brothers in Christ who have stood by our brothers and their families...but I repeat... a few. Mention these brothers in Chiapas, where it makes anyone feel uncomfortable, or around Mexico where it is more likely to be ignored... and you begin to feel as if the Body of Christ is embarassed and ashamed to acknowledge these men as brothers, or their families as ours. It is sad enough to recognize that the State and Federal Mexican governments were somehow involved in, and covered up what happened that awful day. It is shameful that the advocates for liberation theology and Zapatismo have manipulated their religion or political philosophy to maintain hatred and an atmosphere of tension alive after 11 years, but that is nothing...compared to the shame of the Body of Christ leaving these prisoners and their families uncared for, forgotten, or ignored...because they make us feel uncomfortable. Spiritually and physically abandoned for lack of funds, time, and or love. Let these brothers know that God has not turned His back on them... that the Body of Christ does care about their welfare, and that of the families who been left behind for 11 years now. Pray for them and their families, and then DO something! Send a postcard to a prisoner! to his family! Send an email to President Calderon of Mexico telling him, "Christians do concern themselves for these people"! Be polite, Pray for him and for wisdom in his office. Send an offering for their needs, or travel expenses for a spiritual advisor. BUT DO SOMETHING! ************************************************************************************* Matthew 25: 40 Judgement of the Gentile Nations: Verily, verily, I say unto thee, inasmuch as you have done it onto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me.

International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church: November 9th, 2008

Highlands' Vacation Spot? Peaceful Mountain Getaway? or Idyllic Mountain Site? Howabout: Site of Horrendous & Savage Massacre? or, How many Victims after the passing of 11 years? Believe it or not, this rather gorgeous piece of God's earth was witness to one of the worst incidents of mass murders in the modern history of Mexico. And, is one of the most complicated and outrageous cases for the mishandling of information and evidence both before and after the fact. It's called the Acteal Massacre, or La Matanza en Acteal. On January 1, 1994, Indian rebels in the southern state of Chiapas, in what is called the Zapatista Movement (EZLN), and under the leadership of Subcommandante Marcos (a non-Indian) burst with force onto the Mexican scene, and practically toppled the economics of the country in one fell blow! Several years later, after having invaded and confiscated federal and privately owned lands, even of fellow tribesmen, in their "attempt to better the condition of the Indian peoples in Chiapas", skirmishes were still common between the rebel forces, the federal army, and paramilitary groups that had formed, to protect their own communities or political party interests. Evangelical believers were caught in the middle and were unwanted, for being the minority, and for not agreeing with the marxist anarchists manner of achieving their goals. Ambushes were common between the groups, with evangelicals often being targeted. In spite of all the testimony of what actually occurred by the survivors of the savage, frenzied attack that left 45 dead, principally women and children, on December 22nd, 1997, the evidence does not square up with the several versions that have been suggested by survivors, the rebels or by the government. The case was so badly mismanaged from the start from both a forensic and judicial viewpoint, that the result was 90+ Tzotzil Indians rounded up by the PGR, indiscriminately for questioning, pre-emportorily detained, accused and sentenced , even though most did not speak Spanish, many had alibis, and through the years the evidence has not clearly substantiated their guilt... The rebels ,who have gained a cause celebre in unlimited (foreign) support producing propaganda for the massacre of what was supposedly a pacifist group of Indian simpathizers, the liberation theology advocate who maintains his people agitated instead of preaching Christ's gospel of love and forgiveness leading to healing, and the state and federal governments have made the 40 or so evangelical prisoners who profess their innocence into "political prisoners" and scapegoats for whoever is actually responsable for the massacre. At least 18 of the imprisoned who were paramilitaries, confessed proudly that they partiicipated for revenge. Our brothers in Christ have lost 11 years of ther lives so far, and will have to serve another 15 years, if justice is not attained for them, and the families they left behind. Please pray for all those who were victimized by the massacre: the survivors, the falsely accused, and their families left behind. Matthew 5:6: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness sake, for they shall be satisfied!