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....

My Mind's Eye

Debriefing. The process that translates easier as, "Oh my, I'm back in America and this doesn't feel like home anymore." I started to feel like a sojourner before I left overseas at about this time last year, but now, I really feel like a wanderer. I think it is a way God prepares some people to deal with starting basically a new life. Well, now I'm back "home" and the transition has been tough.

I wonder if people look at me different. I wonder what they think. I try to just blend in, but inside that couldn't be any farther from reality. I know people cant necessarily see my heart and my mind, my soul, but I still feel like they can. So I try to act as normal as possible even though I will never be normal again. To see what I saw, to hear what I heard, to understand what I now do about life, and this vastly different culture I once lived, is irreplaceable. I mean, I know I still have much to learn, but I did learn some valuable things while I was "there".

America is the same as I left it. TV's. Movies. Starbucks. Gyms. Churches. Radio. Cars. Houses. Etc. But, I have a new reality now. I have images and stories imprinted in me that will never go away.

Everyday I see Gulagha. My guard. My friend. Who died the day before I left.

I just pray that the Lord guides me through this journey of readjustment and applying lessons learned from overseas . I ask that my life will never be the same, and that I learn and draw closer to him as a result of it......

My Fear of Flying

Ok. So, I have a huge, huge fear of flying. And I have issues with the fact that I have issues with flying..I don't like having the fear of it. I mean, I have some memorable horror stories of flights I have been on, but I also break out into a cold sweat even when the plane is just leveling out!!

Flying is by far my biggest fear and I have made it a point to search out the fear and deal with it. Here are some observations: I like to control (and I know this isn't godly). I understand fundamentally that a person has a greater chance of dying in a car crash than a plane crash, yet I have never hesitated getting behind the wheel. There is a sense of control there. When in a plane however, all seeming control is out of my hands. Next, when a plane "fails", that's it...the chance of surviving is slim to none. The fatal element of crashing in a plane is reality. Finally, knowing when you are going to die. Personally, I am very content to never know when I am going to die...having to stare that reality in its face in the midst of a tragedy on a plane is a little discomforting to me.

Recently, I have gotten better with flying. I still have issues, but it doesn't lead me to take drugs to fall asleep on planes and I have never gotten sick. But, its recently become a bigger issue for me again. You see, I live in a country that has "shaky" airplanes to say the least. One time, they flew a commercial plane into a mountain because they ran out of fuel..I mean, who does that? But all of this said, I feel that although fearing things may have some validity, unhealthy fear has no place in a Believer's walk...this is an unhealthy fear....I mean I have no problem walking the streets of this dangerous country I reside in and I could fear that...so, what's the issue here?

My confession. I need your input, your help. One of my friends here says, "Its a win-win situation if your plane goes down." And I believe that, but for some reason I can't grasp that. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions/etc.? Am I a control freak? Is it because I don't feel I'm ready to die? But, shouldn't all Believers be ready to die, not being attached to this world....What do you think?