Overcoming All Odds

Sometimes you get athe perfect message at the perfect time. God Bless you Es!

Overcoming All Odds
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Thursday, August 19 2010

..."Because you have prayed to Me...." Isaiah 37:21
Have you ever had your back against the wall so badly that if something didn't happen to change your situation, you were sunk? King Hezekiah was one of Israel's greatest godly kings. One of the greatest challenges to his reign came when the king of Assyria threatened to attack Israel and wipe them out. The Assyrians were the local bullies of the region and had wiped out all other enemies in their region.
They mocked the idea of having a God who could save them.
Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you! Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, "The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria" (Isaiah 36:14b-15).
The workplace is full of "Assyrian kings" who mock the idea of a living God who delivers. Without God's help, Israel would not overcome. Their backs were against the wall. They would be destroyed.
King Hezekiah saved Israel because of one act. He prayed; and because he prayed, God moved on his behalf. In fact, God moved so powerfully that Hezekiah did not even have to fight the battle.
Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies! (Isaiah 37:36)
The king of Assyria was even murdered by his own sons. Imagine seeing your enemy totally destroyed without one hand raised in battle!
God wants to act on behalf of His children if they will call on Him. One of the motives Hezekiah had in seeking God's help was "so that all kingdoms on earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God" (Is. 37:20). This is what happened. God was glorified.
God wants to let your workplace know that God is a living God. He can deliver. Seek Him today for the crisis in your life. Keep your motive pure and God will surely answer.
 

Guest Blogger Reviews the Play "Ruined"

Today I am blessed to be able to share with you a post from a guest blogger named Kim who might also be my sister...smile. Kim was able to attend a recent showing of the play "Ruined" Set in the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ruined follows a young woman's nightmarish path to Mama Nadi, a savvy businesswoman who—in the midst of a complex civil war— both protects and profits from the women whose bodies have become battlegrounds. At once heartbreaking and captivating, Ruined pays homage to the courageous and resilient women who must piece themselves together after the ruin. and participate in the panel discussion after. Here is what she had to say:

The play "Ruined" was great. It was not as graphic as it could have been but certainly there was enough to cause an unpleasant churning in my stomach. I forgot what the review had said but basically the whole play takes place in a brothel. One of the main girls was given to to brothel by her uncle, after she has endured six months of captivity pleasuring one of the rebel groups resulting in her female organs being ruined. Another girl there was married and had a baby. She was attacked by four men while gardening, her husband was away buying her a pot. After being had by them, one of them stomped on her baby's head killing it. She was then brought back with the soldiers and spent 4 months experiencing the trama the other girl did, being used by the solders constantly. When she was released and returned home, her village turned their backs on her and her husband threw her out. Later he came back as a soldier, looking for her, carrying the pot he had
bought her, but she was pregant from being in the brothel and her husband had already called her a whore from the first event. She dies after birth, her husband was at the brothel and his anger brings him right back to being a soldier with more conviction.
The brothel served men from both sides of the conflict and in the end was at the heart of it. The brother owner had fed and housed 10 girls who worked for her on the premise that the brothel was safer than being out in the bush and at the mercy of the soldiers. She made good money, and was even going to help the ruined girl have surgery to fix her. Unfortunately the conflict was too close at the point and the girl's ride to the doctor in town (and through unpteen roadblocks). Left in a hurry for safety reasons, without the girl. At the end the war is all around them, the uncle and a few other visitors detailing horrors they saw of the conflict and the brothel is no longer making money. The uncle all along had been flirting with the owner, telling her they should go into business together and be together. In the end when she is no longer making any money he comes back again to ask her to be with him. Thoughout the play she was very much in charge,
ordering the girls, being stern with soldier, and again she refuses his proposal. Throughout the back and forth between them, we find out that she herself was ruined. The uncle comes back in fights to hold her, until she relents and falls into him in tears. He tells her again that he wants to be with her and that they will go slow and that he would always be gentle and caring.
Balled my eyes out! Donations were requested at the end of the play with 2/3rd going to the hospital that fixes the physical problems of the girls. Operations cost $500, in the Seattle run of the play to date they have raised $82,000 which means 400 surgeries. Donations can also be made be texting INTIMAN to 50555 to give a donation. I guess they text you back and you confirm and they add $10 to your phone bill to go to this purpose. The other third percent goes to continuing to expand the world/cultural plays at the theater to shed life on issues like this. Ruined was the first play to kick off this initiative.
At the discussion afterwards there was a guy from the Seattle chapter of FOTC, a woman/refugee from the Congo who has lived in the US for 10 yrs (since she was 17) and was a victim of the horrors described in the play, and a lawyer who works with immigration and refugees.
Much of the discussion was on what we can do to help. I will give organization names at the bottom of this email. but right now there are two legislative pieces. One is the "Name of Shame Bill" that forces US companies to disclose where they mine cobalt and coltan The other is an internation movement to create new "sullivan principles" which you would have to look up for the details but I think it was a treaty thing that was established to have fair working conditions ets in Africa and the rest of the world to only buy from them....basically human rights, but they need to be updated. There is also a group called the "Enough project" look online. They are trying to get all the info on where companies get their minerals etc out by Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving) to help consumers know which companies to avoid. FYI hybrid vehicles contain minerals from the congo.
They also discussed rape as a long time weapon of war. In WWII Russian soldiers raped 900,000 women. The premise was explained (new to me) and I will try to explain some of it. The root of a community is the women. Rape is easy for the men committing it, it's cheap, doesn't require weapons, and is a crime of power. The women are the soul, they are raped. The husbands feel weak because they couldn't or didn't protect their wife. They feel shame for themselves, they feel disgused by what happened to the women which often translated to them being disgusted by their wives because their wives are a reminder of their "inadequacies" as a husband. So the women are the first in a series of domino, after them the men fall. They may turn the women out and/or join the conflict engaging in their own acts of rape to try and feel like a man again. Of course the effects on the women and men tear about the families, communities, and any ability to fight back
for what is right. They now have to retrain the men and there are some classes or groups that are trying to teach men to deal with what happens after their wife is raped and to not be shamed by it. This is an entire transformation in cultural thinking and no easy task.
A movie of interest "Cumo" It is actually what started the bill above "Name of Shame." A woman (from FOTC) showed this movie to a group of 12-20 people. I think a mix of adults and children. They were so enraged that a group of kids from the neighborhood decided to fill up a bag with 50 lbs of rock (what kids in the congo carry daily) and walk it around the neighborhood with posters about the issue and making as much noise as possible. Somehow this got the attention of the representative here that started this bill as an ammendment to the fair trade act. We are encourage to not limit what we think one person (by showing the movie) is capable of starting. Another book for history on teh Congo is King Leopold's Ghost.

Okay web sites organizations:
Breaking the Silence week is Oct 17-23, encouraged to host a movie, host a fundraiser, etc.... www.congoweek.org

Women for women international - they help all women around the world and help with the hospital in the congo that surgically fixes women
www.womenforwomen.org/

Thanks Kim for all the great info and links! Kim will be participating in the "Run for Congo Women". If you are able to support her, please send a check to before Oct 16th:
Intiman Theatre
Attn: Run for Congo Women
1307 N 43rd St, #305
Seattle, WA 98103

All is quiet on the Western Front..

Heat. Humidity. No AC. Its like I'm in Africa! Although some in the house would say its just preparation. When a man I know who lives in Phoenix year round says he's never felt heat and nasty humidity like he did while he was in Africa. It kinda makes you wonder.

Need I say more???

Seriously??

After a wicked sinus headache kept me up a good amount of the night tossing and turning, I finally couldn't take it any more and started moving around at 5:45 am, noticing the sun was coming up and everything was a strange yellowish hue. Surprisingly, when I finished with my shower, everything was black again??? Then it started with little warning, 50 mph winds, a tree bangs against the back of our house, and rain coming in the back windows drenching my cat and everything in the vicinity, while T is running around shutting windows, the doors slam shut from the wind. Finally it calms and just the rain is left. Thinking we somehow got out if it unscathed, I continue to get the boys ready, head downstairs for breakfast and look out the back window and notice there is a tree in our yard where their hadn't been before. Crap! "T" I yell, "you need to move that branch off E's historic oak tree before you leave before it kills it!", just then I notice the power line "Never mind, it is on the power line, I don't want you to get electrocuted before work", wait a minute....the power didn't even blink and the tree is laying on top of the line on the ground...how in the heck do we still have power? Phone line is a different story, clearly snapped in half and hanging from our house. Johnny on the Spot Electric Utility was over in about 15 min's even with all the other issues in town. The guys looked at it and somehow, it was not damaged at either the house or the pole! We must have the super stretchy Inspector Gadget kind of electric line. As I left, they were going to cut away the branches and pull the line back up. Way to start out the morning.

Life and Lemonade. Who's got the spoon?

It hot, muggy, (at least to me) downright miserable around here lately. What better way to cool off, than a nice cold glass of lemonade. Heck, whats the saying.. "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!"

Got more lemons than I care to have at the moment. Its about time for some mixing...

Who's got the spoon?

Yes Virginia there is a ... (what?!?) Lawn mower fairy?

Driving home today, into the driveway, a bit weary from some long nights, the lawn in the front yard just looks odd to me. I stare at it. Shrug my shoulders thinking that with the drought (at least before this weekends storms) the lawn went dormant. But no! I notice it has got recent mower marks, and there is grass on the driveway. Thinking I've finally lost it, I walk out to the back yard. I'll be darned if its not the same thing. I start counting on my fingers the number of days since the lawn mower died. Try to factor in the heat then rain to approximate grass growth.

No explanation.

There must be a lawn mower fairy that cut my lawn. May God Bless that kind soul. (although, now I am embarrassed since I usually only "pickup" after the dog when I mow the lawn, so the back yard was a bit of a mine field. (sheepish look and shoulder shrug) sorry... :)

Good Job Buddy! You did it!

With our recent car purchase, I am still in the haggling/bargaining mood. With the Lawn mower and the washing machine both crapping out the day after we bought the car, we felt $$ strained. Especially with airfare to Africa spiking into the $3000-$5000 range. I already researched and picked out our replacement washer, did some preliminary haggling down to $800 from $1160 retail (and that's before I really hit the block stores hard for their best pricing!) J asked me to at least attempt to fix the washing machine. So to oblige her, I did. Low and behold. Looky looky.. a broken motor coupling. Saving $800 on a new washing machine, good. $20 on a new part, Better. The satisfaction of fixing a major appliance yourself. Priceless!!


To be fair though. After searching for awhile, I did find exceptional help and photos on how to fix a motor coupling. So I can't take that much credit.

Peace

All Good Things Must Come to an End

I have never been shy about quoting how others should give up their possessions and follow Christ, or pointing out to people how their possessions are getting in the way of their relationship with Christ and have always been keen to demonstrate how I live without a lot of excess, no jewelry, no air conditioning, wearing shoes and clothes until they practically unravel off me. In the last few months, I have been slapped in the face with the complete and utter error of my ways, of course I don't care if I have fancy jewelry or clothes, 'cause dugh! I don't really care about those things while some people do. I consider diamonds not only a complete and utter waste of money, but also, a means to fuel some of the deadliest conflicts in Africa, the same way the minerals such as coltan in our cell phones and Wii's have resulted in the murder of over 5 million people in the DRC and 200,000 rapes. I would like nothing better than to sell my jewelry and do something positive in Africa if not for a reluctant hubby. While jewelry, electronics and shoes are other's crosses, who was I to talk about giving something up when I was totally OBSESSED with my Mini Cooper. Yes, there it was, all wrapped up in a pretty bow with my name on it. TO J, WITH LOVE GOD. It is easy to give up something up we really don't care about, but it pretty much BITEs the big one to give up something that we do. Once I recognized that, it was hard to look at the Mini the same way again. This weekend I traded in the Mini Cooper for a Toyota Sienna, a practical family car some might say in an impractical world, which I guess makes me officially a soccer mom, and a very thankful one at that to have 3 beautiful little blessing that will be riding comfortably in back.

Every long journey begins with 14 miles..

OK so I already started the Destination Kinshasa. But that was really nickel and dime time of mileage adding up. I am starting to get into more substantial mileage. Like the first 14miler of the season last weekend, and the upcoming 15miler on Saturday. It will still likely take a couple of years to finish Destination Kinshasa, but I'm on my way.