Interesting game

My friend and sister in Christ Debbie sent me the following link and it is worth a visit: (copy & paste)

http://www.takingitglobal.org/tiged/projects/ayiti/game.html

For those of you who are of the age to remember the game the Oregon Trail, it is similar, except you are part of a family in Haiti just trying to survive. Every time I have played, my whole family gets sick and at least one has died of cholera or diptheria (both totally preventable in the USA, by the way). I usually quit before everyone dies because it bothers me too much that people are dying and this is really reality for a lot of people.

Debbie and her husband Caleb are missionaries living in Pignon, Haiti. Our family supports them, and several years ago I had the privilege of spending time in Haiti seeing what these folks do every day. Haiti and its people are beautiful but so extremely poor that it is heartwrenching. If you are considering supporting missions financially, I would ask that you prayerfully consider Caleb, Debbie, and the good people at Hosean International Ministries (HIM). (www.hosean.org)

Bon Dieu beni ou! (Haitian Creole for God bless you)

Venting post

On immigration.

I am sick and tired of hearing so many people -- but especially my Christian brothers and sisters (or people who say they are, anwyway) -- talking about "illegal aliens" like they are dirt. Here are my issues in general:

1) The Bible says not to mistreat aliens living in your land, but to love them as yourself. It doesn't ever ask people to check their papers first. The talk I hear is far from that. You cannot call yourself a Christian and not feel at the very least compassion on a section of society that is disenfranchised at best.

2) It burns me to hear people say "They don't have any rights, they're lawbreakers." I know that they have broken the law. But so have you if you have littered, gone through a red light, or gone 60 in a 55. You are a lawbreaker too and you cannot be high and mighty. Jesus broke laws that needed breaking several times too, didn't He?
And isn't it illegal to convert to Christianity in Iran? Does the fact that it's illegal make it wrong?

3) "They need to learn English." And they do. But how do you know they aren't making the effort? Have you talked to them? Have you bothered to ask?

4) "They are coming here to have their babies." Again, have you asked them why they're coming?? I guarantee you that will not be in their answer, though they'd be idiots to miss the opportunity. Unless you can talk to someone (and if you don't speak each other's language, how can you??) and ask them, you are not allowed to assume things like that.

5) "They are taking over our country." Uh, history lesson, people. They were here first. It was our ancestors that took over their country and this entire continent. And our ancestors did not bother to learn the language of the natives. (I'm not saying we need to take the blame for that, but just remember that THAT's the reason we speak English here -- because our ancestors didn't bother to learn another's language.)

6) "They don't pay taxes." I hate to burst your bubble, but yes they do. Rightly or wrongly, most people here illegally (at least in our area) have fake papers that they use to get jobs. Which means that......they get taxes taken out just like everybody else. And most don't file taxes every year, so if they've got too much taken out, they don't get it back. They pay social security, Medicare, disability, state taxes, everything. Sales tax, gas tax, cigarette tax. (I'm not condoning smoking, don't get me wrong.)

7) "They need to come here legally." Duh! But people who say that don't generally have any clue what it takes for a poor (meaning financially poor, not pitiful) Latin American to come here. A Norwegian doesn't have to wait long at all for his visa to the US. A Mexican may have to wait 10 years for his, if he is not a doctor, lawyer, or entertainer (i.e., poor). If his application is even approved. Is that fair? I don't think so. And the Norwegian's children probably won't go hungry in the wait for the visa. (If Kirsi & Maiju are reading this, nothing against Scandinavians...just an example!) So if you want people (who come here driven by need) to come here legally but are unwilling to do something to make that easier, you lose your right to complain when they find a way around it.

8) I heard a politician say just this morning (a Republican, surprise): "Illegals need to know this: when you want to come to our country, knock on the front door first. Cause the fence is going up and the back door's going to be closed." Challenging tone aside, I doubt there were many "illegals" listening to what he had to say...they were probably too busy WORKING.

9)While we're on the subject, could you please use a nicer phrase than "illegal aliens?" #1) No human being for whom Christ died is illegal; and 2) He is from planet Earth, not Mars. "But they are criminals! They don't deserve a nicer title."
Please see point #2.

10) Is your problem really with illegal immigrants, or is it with illegal Hispanic immigrants? Do you look at white faces and wonder if they are people here illegally from the UK? If not, then I have made my point. (not insulting Britons. Nor trying to offend. I just want people to search themselves honestly.)

11) My biggest problem with all this is that most people who make all these assertions and spout this stuff have never actually made friends with an illegal immigrant, or (can you imagine!) invited them to dinner. When you are talking about a human being who has affected your life positively, it is much much harder to demonize them. Whatever numbers & arguments are out there, the story becomes vastly different when this is a friend, a neighbor, or a spouse (and father of your child) you're talking about.

I know this is a dead horse that has been beaten. But it is a reality, and a very close one for me. I am not trying to be hostile; I am telling you what's in my heart. I do not ask you to totally agree, but I do ask you to consider it. I am not perfect. I have recently been convicted by the Lord of my own prejudices, which I did not even realize I had. I hope this will in some way at least make people think. Feel free to print, forward, comment, disagree. Thanks.

Some new words/phrases

English (used after Jesus left to go to his ESL class). "Papa go school English?"
"Thomas eating raisins" (as he feeds his own raisins to his Thomas the train)
"No hitting. Gimme kiss. MWAH!" (after he crashes his trains into each other.)

The grand finale...

wildebeest. As in the animal of the African plains.

I got him some of those capsule things that you put in hot water & they turn into shapes of animals....and one was a wildebeest. So he learned it.

What Daniel & His Father Do For Fun

In case it is not patently obvious, Jesús is pulling his son around in one of our rolling suitcases. I'm not sure who's having more fun....

I have been struggling lately with an increased hunger and thirst for God's presence. This is a good thing but I still use the word struggling, as my spirit is thirsty but my humanity fights against it with everything it has. We are still in the search for a permanent church home, though you will see in our profile that we currently go to Iglesia Rey de Reyes (King of Kings). That is a contributing factor. Another is my work schedule, consisting of Friday and Saturday nights 7pm to 7am. I do not always make it to church on Sunday morning, although Jesus and Daniel go. We do go as a family on Wednesday night. That has helped a lot. What we are praying for is a church where we can all attend, minister, and be ministered to. The place where I am most comfortable is Englewood Baptist, where Daniel goes to school. Jesus is most comfortable at Rey de Reyes, due to the language thing. (His English is growing by leaps & bounds but he still prefers Spanish for worship.) We are fervently praying for a place that will suit both our needs, wherever that may be. I was praying about this last night and the Word of the Lord spoke to me:

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for righteousness, for they will be filled." Matt 5:6

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13

What a God, and what a promise.

Couch Potato

The Man in the Yellow Hat

Happy Boy!

Vegetating

Move Over Santana

I found this very interesting (touching) article about bikers (many of whom are veterans themselves) who make it their goal to attend as many funerals for their fallen comrades in Iraq/Afghanistan as possible. For the record, I do not think we need to be sending our sons & daughters (and mothers and fathers, brothers, sisters, etc.) off to war, especially not this one. However, I support those who are serving and have served wholeheartedly and am nothing but proud of them. I don't think our government has learned anything from Vietnam but it seems like our people have. You may have to cut & paste the web address as Blogger isn't letting me post links.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2771359&page=1

Christmas Morning

Who needs to go Christmas shopping?

...when you can just let them play in the box the Christmas tree came in??

Christmas with Pappy

...also known as my stepdad, who is, as you can tell, not afraid to get down on teh floor and play with kids, even at 90.

Cutest Christmas Present Ever