Pushing the Elephant

Last night, I stumbled upon a documentary film called “Pushing the Elephant.”  This film chronicled the life and family of a Congolese woman named Rose Mapendo who was captured in the Congo and held captive along with her husband and nine children.  Her husband was killed and her eldest daughter bore the child of a soldier who later helped Rose and her children get out of prison and gain favor with the man who is now the President of the Congo.  It was an amazing story of forgiveness, strength, and the power to overcome.

As I sat and watched the struggles of this woman and her children, tears filled my eyes.  We are so blessed to be Americans-to be free.  We have more freedoms than we know what to do with and as a result, many of those freedoms are abused.  Unlike many people in this world, including the Congo, we do not have to wake up each day worrying what we will eat, how we will survive another day without being killed, raped or pillaged, or any other number of worries that these people endure on a daily basis.  We are beyond blessed.  So, I encourage you to take just a minute right now and thank God for your freedom and the blessing of American life.  I also encourage you to then pray for countries like the Congo where they fight to survive.  Pray for God’s intervention, protection of brothers and sisters there doing His work, and His favor on the right leaders to make a difference.

Here and there

As I sit here in lovely, yet rainy, Oregon, I am thinking of all the places that I will soon be going to.  I’m here now for a fun and relaxing trip with the Ryans.  I visited Newport Beach yesterday and we were lucky enough to have a pretty clear day there and the cold was bearable, especially having experienced PL cold.  🙂  I will be here through Friday and then, it’s back to Ooooooklahoma where the wind goes sweeping cross the plains….no, really, it’s more like gusting down the plains.  I had forgotten about Oklahoma wind.  Ugh.

In May, I’ll be heading to South Dakota where I will be visiting some Covenant brothers and sisters.  I’m excited to get to see another part of this beautiful country of ours.  In July, I’ll be going to Colorado and Minnesota for more visits with Covenant family members.  Then, in August, I’ll be going on the roundtrip tour of Texas including Houston, the Dallas/Ft. Worth Area, and a camp near Tyler.  So, as you can see, I’ve got a lot coming up and I would greatly appreciate your thoughts on my travels and my speaking engagements.  Please hope for wisdom and favor in all these travels.  Thanks!