seriously, does anyone care?
i’ve been closely following through eugene cho’s blog the events surrounding the south korean hostages taken by taliban militants. i’m troubled by the two week situation but lifting up prayers nonetheless. however what is more maddening is that the coverage of this tragic news is practically silent amongst u.s. media and by evangelicals overall. the hostages are missionaries in central afghanistan working as aid workers, a brave group of 23 souls – mostly women. is this not newsworthy? so far 2 hostages have been brutally killed. are the lives of two asian men not newsworthy enough? more killings are promised.
e.cho’s blog is one of the few resources tracking the situation in the blogosphere and helping us all realize the severity of it all. i post to also bring some greater awareness to the situation that will result in prayers rising up like incense and action that will bring these people home. you can also go to my other blog here.
as for me i will continue to read, pray, prepare messages, conduct meetings from the comfort of my air conditioned office in philadelphia. i’m not saying that what i have to do here is unimportant. i’m very grateful that eugene cho and others have helped me see outside of my box but sometimes reading news like this makes me feel like some of the things i do pastorally is just frivolousness and well, sitting here behind a screen…i’m not as engaged as i’d like to be.
you can sign this petition
avaaz.org has a petition going on to free the south korean hostages. the goal is to reach 70,000 signatures.
as of this post they have 68,874.
from their site,
The Taliban are guided by the Afghan Pashtunwali code, a principle that requires “hospitality to all, especially guests and strangers” – and this kidnapping is a clear violation of the code, offending the weary people of Afghanistan on whom they depend. So it’s time for the global community to stand with Afghanis and South Koreans, demand that the Taliban to honour their code and release the rest of the hostages. Sign the petition NOW –To the Taliban leaders,
Please honour the code of the Pashtun people, respect aid workers as guests in Afghanistan and release all hostages unharmed.
some informative links
bbc international news
djchuang
michelle malkin
some links to help us process
next gener.asian church
daniel so
controversy. i guess we need other viewpoints.
time.com article on camcorder missions? i don’t know even how to begin thinking about this one.
i think i’m just mad now. but i do think that this will spark a greater discussion about missionwork.
the question raised by time, “is it worth the risk?”
next gener.asian church has a discussion going on about it.
read this post from tentmakersbytrade.com the silence in the Godblogosphere is deafening expressing the outrageousness of the current cares and silence from the Christian community.
peace – LT
to be honest, i had always thought no government should negotiate with terrorists, even when threats to kill innocent people are made. so, the same thought was on my mind when news about the 23 were announced… that is until i found out one of my friends is actually pretty close with the pastor who was killed.
i still don’t know what else to do but to pray for the situation to somehow be resolved. tragedies always feel more real when it’s closer to home.