Let it speak for itself

This was posted by my good friend P. Wade

Blessed and Overwhelmed

Today I feel blessed and overwhelmed. I will start from last night, the beginning. I took yesterday afternoon off as it was sunny in Seattle and went with my family to the zoo. After supper I went out to a local establishment to study and get my work done that I didn't do in the afternoon. My good friend met me there and we were going to study together. We were only there for 15 minutes or so when my friend reached for his drink and it spilled all over the table and all in my computer. The computer shut down immediately and has not came alive since, 24 hours later.

As you could imagine this caused an awkward silence and deafening wonder between my friend and I. There was not much to talk about after this, we both were thinking about the disaster we just witnessed, not the spilling of micro brew, but the computer drowning. Anyway, the time came for us to talk about the worst possible situation. What if we needed to replace the computer? My friend did the noble thing and said that he would pay for it, just as if I had spilled the drink on his computer I would pay for it. It is amazing how quickly beauty can turn into pain

So, this morning I took Justice (computer) into the apple store and got the estimate. It was going to cost $1350 to get her back to normal. I was sick by it, but what could I do. I was not sick because my computer was broke, or because a drink was spilled, but I was sick because someone had to sacrifice and lose out as a result. Here is where my #1 strength empathy comes in. After I dropped off the computer Amy and I went to a store on the way out of the mall to buy some presents for family. I told her that the present she picked out would go great in my mom and dads house. We both looked at each other and I just stood there and started to cry. My parents have been separated for four years now. I couldn't believe my words. Amy just looked at me and said "I never realized how emotional you are Phil."

So now I am done another day. I still feel horrible for what happened with my friend and the computer, but it is feeling bad for him, not for me. I am grateful to you my friend for being cool with this. Thank you for making it easy on both of us and for being a responsible, and true bro. In light of these last 24 hours I have felt, through my small, minuscule loss a heart for those in San Diego who have lost homes, memories, family and more as a result of the fire. I pray God give them comfort.

Thanks for listening.

Phil

Winnipeg in the 80's

So I am taking a short break from my studying to make a quick post. I am sitting in the Library listening to 80's rock, poison to be specific on the i-pod and I had a flashback to 1988. I was living in Winnipeg in grade 11 at the time. In my flashback I was getting off the metro bus, in the winter to go to my after school job. I worked across the street from the CN railroad station sweeping floors at an electronics warehouse. It was so weird, I was just transported there so clearly. I ended up getting fired from the job as I was a lazy a#@ and didn't do a very good job sweeping. I have attached a picture of what I can remember the bus and the day looked like, as well as what I looked like back in the day with my friend Jeff. I am thankfull we grow up.

Anyway, back to studying.

Bloglines

So I just finished adding all my blogs to Bloglines. I have a lot of blogs in my bookmarks. I don't even read them all, I just have them there and open them all up in tabs once in a while. I want to be better at keeping up with my friends and I also want to have my hand on the pulse of what is going on in the world more. I hope that this little tool helps me do that as each time a new post comes up bloglines will show it. It should keep me on top of things more. Hers hopin.

Phil

Seattle

So I woke up this morning to a dark, gloomy, rainy Seattle morn. It was beautiful. Some people hate waking up and it being dark and cold, but me, well I find it rather contemplative. I put on some music and puttered around the house making my coffee and feeding Abby breakfast. It wasn't long before I felt myself in this place of worship, where I was overwhealmed by the grace and love of Jesus, for me and for the world. It is weird, and I can't explain it, but I do know that this morning, in the cold and rain of Seattle I felt Jesus and am thankfull for Him and for who He is and what He means to me.

Happy Thanksgiving (Canadian)

Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving. On Sunday we had a bunch of people, mostly Canadians and their spouses or soon to be over to celebrate. We ate till we swore we would eat no more, then an hour later we were eating again. It was a great night and the food ruled, thanks to P.Wade. Yesterday Emma and I carved a pumpkin. I found out real fast that I don't have pumpkin carving skillz.

The Forgotten City - Firozabad, India

It is day 27 of Ramadan. There are only 4 day's left, ending on
Oct. 12. I was reading this prayer profile today for Firozabad and was deeply moved to pray and share it with you. It is so brutal that there are no known believers there. Please take a moment, if you have and read and say a prayer for these men, women, boys and girls of India.








Firozabad is a significant city of approximately a half million people located 45 minutes east of Agra by car (the city where the Taj Mahal is located). Firozabad is still being researched for ministry purposes. No local congregation of Christians exists there at the present time. It appears that about half the population is Muslim. The remaining population is comprised of Hindus and Jains (believers in Jainism). A very large Jain temple is located on the outskirts of the city.
Breathing Glass in Firozabad
The glass industry is very well established at Firozabad. It has been called the glass capital of India. Local artisans and factories produce glass bangles (bracelets), drinking glasses and a wide variety of other glassware. Some people have observed that the people of Firozabad do not breath air but glass. Dozens of shops in the markets sell nothing but glass bangles. Thousands of children work in the glass industry around the 300 glass factories polishing and painting the glass bangles in very poor conditions. The city also suffers low literacy and there is significant pollution linked to the glass industry.
The tallest building in the city is the main mosque in the heart of downtown. During Friday prayers this mosque is full with several hundred Muslims present. Large numbers of young boys are attending the Qur’anic school linked to the mosque. It is still not certain if most of the Muslims in this city are truly religiously Muslim or simply culturally Muslim. The women wear traditional Muslim dress.
No Known Churches… Yet
There is no known believer in this city. Some Christians who recently visited Firozabad saw God open doors for the Gospel with four young Muslim men. They gave a copy of the Bible to one of the young Muslims who is also sharing it with the others. Through phone calls and e-mails it seems that they continue to read the Bible. Some of the visiting Christians were even invited to a wedding in the same family as the young man who has a copy of the Bible. The young Muslim men know that the Christians are followers of Jesus and that we pray for them daily. Hopefully Christians visiting the city will continue to find men and women of peace and good will.
Firozabad in some ways is what you would call a forgotten city. It is the closest large city to Agra, the tourist capital of India, and yet there are no tourists who visit this city. When a tourist does come to Firozabad, traffic literally stops on the streets.

Prayer Points for Firozabad:
* Pray for God to raise up workers to go to this city and share the Gospel message (both short term and long term workers are needed).
* Pray for discernment of those who go to work in this city as they do research and minister.
* Pray for God to speak to the city’s youth through His Word (including those mentioned above).
* May people become dissatisfied with Hinduism and Islam and long for more than they presently have.
* Pray for the many children used as cheap labour in the glass factories and for real solutions to the pollution problems.

The source

Muslims of Mauritania

Ramadan is over in approx. 7 day's, but please continue to remember Muslims and the believers in Christ who live in and are in relationship with Muslims that God's work would be done and His name be praised.

“The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.” (Isaiah 35:1)
Mauritania, an Islamic republic in North Africa, is a vast desert; constantly hot, dry and very dusty. Its legal system is a combination of Shari’a (Islamic law) and French civil law. Independent from France in 1960, Mauritania has suffered from a succession of military coups and ongoing tribal conflict. A severe drought over the past decades has devastated the country. In 1957, a small fishing town called Nouakchott was chosen to be the capitol of the new country. Now there are more than 600,000 people living here. The capital has become a crossroads for many ethnic groups with nomadic roots.
Miracles Despite the Heat

A Christian who recently visited the country described the general situation of Mauritanian believers. “You can have freedom of speech, if you are a Muslim. You can have freedom of religion, if you are a Muslim. It is in fact OK to be a Christian, but it is offensive to speak of Jesus as anything other than one of the prophets.” In this setting God is doing wonders, despite the guards that sometimes stand at church doors to ensure that Mauritanian citizens don’t enter. God has given dreams to Mauritanians even in remote areas. In the interior of the country, an Imam showed the Jesus Film in a mosque. The Iman later died and the results are unclear, but such seed sowing needs to continue. By God’s grace, there are now Mauritanians following Christ in many countries around the world.
Testimony from Mauritania:

Soon after coming to faith in Christ, Bokar told his Christian friends that he wanted to do away with a special undershirt inscribed with Koranic passages and interwoven with dozens of amulets. Several Mauritanians were afraid and said the shirt could not be destroyed, that if burned, it would jump out of the fire. This type of shirt makes the wearer impervious to any weapon. It is one of the most powerful enchantments known to the Hal-Pulaar (Fulani). After much prayer, Bokar burned his iron shirt, and the result was tremendous spiritual growth in his own life. Many who heard of the incident gained a new respect for the power of the Gospel.

Subjects for Prayer
* Pray for revelations of the love of God for whole population of over three million people.
* Desperate poverty plagues the lives of most Mauritanians, causing a sense of hopelessness and despair.
* Despite the grip of Islam on the country, animism is practised by most people. The deep-rooted fear of evil spirits (known as jinn) binds many people. Many seek supernatural help through divination and occult practices.
* There are often tensions between different tribal groups, (Soninké, Fulani, Maures, Wolof, etc.) which can lead to violence.
* Corruption is endemic in all areas of society.
* Divorce is widespread, and women and children often suffer the most.

Pray for Muslims

More on Myanmar

For those who are not farmiliar with why there is protests and resistance going on in Myanmar here are some things I saw on the BBC front page this morning.

"On 22nd February, a small group of around 25 people attracted little attention at first in the crowded Rangoon market. Then they brought out home-made posters, and began shouting." "Their complaints seemed innocuous enough. "Down with consumer prices," read one poster. "We want 24-hour electricity," read another. They pointedly avoided saying anything critical about Burma's military government." "UN figures show that one in three children is chronically malnourished, government spending on health and education is among the lowest anywhere in the world, and average income is below $300 a year. Diseases like tuberculosis and HIV/Aids are increasing at frightening rates.

"The World Food Programme [WFP] provides food aid to 500,000 people across Myanmar [Burma] but that really only represents the poorest of the poor," said Paul Risley at the WFP in Bangkok.

"What we've found is that over the last decade, opposite to virtually every other country in Asia where slowly poverty is being gnawed away at and food security is becoming more commonplace, in Myanmar there are more people living below the poverty line and more people facing food insecurity," he said.

Towards the end of last year, prices of basic commodities began rising sharply in Burma. Rice, eggs, and cooking oil all went up by around 30-40%.

For a population that on average spends 70% of its income on food, this was very difficult to absorb. It is not clear why this happened, but the inherent distortions and rigidities in the military's economic management can easily lead to sudden bottlenecks in the supply and prices of basic necessities."

"Then came the rise in fuel prices on 15 August. There was no warning. Gas prices rose by 500%, and diesel - which more or less powers everything in Burma, from transport to the essential generators - doubled in price.

The impact was immediate. People could not afford to go to work, and the increased cost of transport started pushing food prices even higher.

Within days activists were out on the streets in protest. When they were arrested, the monks - who can accurately measure economic distress by the food put into their begging bowls every morning - took their place.

Myanmar

Please pray for Myanmar and the grave injustice that is going on right now as thousands of peaceful protesters are dead and the bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle, according to reports today. The people being executed are sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and children of God. Read full article below.


The Crisis in Myanmar