South Korean Hostages

Can somebody explain to me why our Christian President has not said one word about this?!?!

Taliban Claim To Kill 1 Korean hostage; 8 Reported Free

A police official said Wednesday that Taliban militants told him they shot and killed one of 23 South Korean hostages, while two Western officials said some others from the group of captives were freed and taken to a U.S. military base.
Purported Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said one of the captives had been shot and killed around 4 p.m. (7:30 a.m. EDT), and a police official who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation said militants told him the hostage was sick and couldn't walk, and therefore was shot.
Ahmadi said the Korean's body was left in the Musheky area of Qarabagh district in Ghazni province. Police said they were going to look for the body.
Some of the Koreans, meanwhile, were freed and were taken to the U.S. base in Ghazni, according to two Western officials who asked not to be identified because they weren't authorized to speak publicly. The officials did not know how many were freed.
The South Korean news agency Yonhap, citing unidentified Korean officials, reported eight Koreans had been released.
Earlier, a German journalist and two Afghans colleagues apparently kidnapped by Taliban militants in eastern Afghanistan were freed, an Afghan governor said.

Update

A relative of South Koreans kidnapped in Afghanistan, cries after watching TV news reports of negotiations in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, July 23, 2007. A purported Taliban spokesman said Monday the hard-line militia has extended its deadline for the lives of 23 South Korean hostages until Tuesday evening. The militants have pushed back their ultimatum on the Koreans' fate at least three times. Afghan officials in Ghazni province have met the militants in person and are also negotiating over the phone, but little progress appears to have been made so far. (AP Photo/ Korea Pool)

No Title Needed

A woman, a family member of one of the kidnapped South Koreans in Afghanistan, cries as she waits for television news about them in Seoul at around 1300 GMT July 23, 2007. The Taliban kidnappers of 23 Korean hostages on Sunday extended the deadline for the South Korean government to agree to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by 24 hours to 1430 GMT on Monday. REUTERS/Korea Pool (SOUTH KOREA)

South Korean Believers Captured In Afghanistan

Most of you have heard of this, either by my many emails or by reading the headlines in the news yourself. Please keep praying for these Believers. They need our support and prayers. Fortunately, this land and these people are not a distant reality for me anymore, so I am personally feeling the ramifications and devastation of this.....

S.Korea urges release of hostages in Afghanistan
KABUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on Saturday called for the release of 23 countrymen held hostage by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, saying they were medical volunteers.
The call came as the Taliban threatened to kill two German hostages seized this week if their demand to free all of the Islamic movement's members in Afghan prisons was not met by an 0730 GMT (8:30 a.m. British time) deadline.
The Taliban is also seeking the withdrawal of all German troops from Afghanistan, a demand rejected by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a newspaper interview on Saturday.
Insurgents kidnapped 23 South Koreans from a bus in southwest Ghazni province on Thursday in what was the biggest group of foreigners seized so far in the militant campaign to oust the government and its Western backers.
"We understand the kidnapped South Koreans have been doing medical volunteer services," Roh told a news conference in Seoul.
"The kidnappers must release our people as soon as possible, and safely. In any case, valuable lives should not be damaged."
A South Korean Foreign Ministry official had said on Friday about 20 South Korean Christian volunteers were feared to have been kidnapped by Taliban insurgents.
Last year, the South Korean government tried to stop a group of 2,000 Korean Christians travelling to Afghanistan for a peace conference, fearing for their safety.
But 900 of them still came to Afghanistan, causing an uproar in the staunchly Muslim country -- where many accused them of being evangelical missionaries -- before they were all deported.
South Korea has no combat troops in Afghanistan, but has a contingent of 200 engineers, doctors and medical staff. Roh said they would remain in Afghanistan until their mission was complete.
"The troops in Afghanistan are non-combatant, doing medical and support work. They have been trying to treat hundreds of people everyday and help reconstruct Afghanistan by building welfare facilities and bridges, and their mission is nearing an end," Roh said.
Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf told Reuters from an undisclosed location that the group's leadership council would decide on Saturday the fate of the Koreans, who included 18 women.

Perspective

Today I heard a 75 year old woman say, "I have some sin I need to deal with..."

Although I shouldn't be all that amazed by this, it still moved me.

I promise to get back in the blogger mold now that some other dealings in my life have settled a little.... :)

The 1st Church

Every time I read this passage I have to sit and dwell on it for a while. 1st century living. Ive always wanted to live that way to tell you the truth, but have always come up for an excuse or a reason why it isn't plausible here in the suburbs of the US. But, again, I read it yesterday...and again, the Spirit tugged at my heart and soul and beckoned me to this calling. Now, there is more significance to this story than meets the eye. For starters, and this is a big starter, I rarely feel the overwhelming presence of the Spirit..mostly its because I'm not tuned into it (I was overseas though..more on that later)...but whenever I read certain passages or pray about certain things, the Spirit comes alive like something supernatural. Its truly amazing. This is one of those passages that the Spirit always confronts me on...also, as many of my friends can attest, there was a brief period in my life when becoming a monk looked like a very available and doable "profession". Now, the Lord has obviously called me to a different life as you all know. Nevertheless, I cant get away from this passage. It beckons me. It burdens me. I wanna share what these 8 verses have. But go ahead, read it yourself. Ask the Spirit to talk to you....

Peter testified and exhorted....with words like "be saved from this perverse generation".

3000 were added.

Continued steadfastly.

In fellowship, breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Signs and wonders.

All who believed were together!...and had all things in common!

Sold their possessions..divided among all.

With gladness and simplicity of heart.

Having favor with all people.

Praising God.

Amen.

Thank you, Luke, for writing Acts 2:40-47....I hope I can learn from this account....