Do you really need one more red flag: Christians in the Horn

While everyone is screaming over Iraq, another huge conflict exists in the Horn of Africa. I will attach a link here if you don't know much about it. (The Economist article)

Long story short: Somalia has a new bully in town, and they are called the Union of Islamic Courts. They are a militant Islamic group that steadily gained support and took over at breath taking speed beginning in the capital of Mogadishu. This has culiminated in thousands fleeing from the group, including Christians who have taken refuge in camps on the border of Kenya and Ethiopia (mostly Kenya).

Ethiopia, threatened by the UIC moving closer and closer to their border has risen to help the rag tag "transitional" Somali government. The UIC has now declared Holy War on Ethiopia. Eritrea, a long time enemy of Ethiopia is giving arms to Somalia. There have been reports of ERitrean troops moving to the border. This could engulf the whole Horn.

Unfortuanety this is affecting many Christians on the border of Somalia, and elsewhere in Nairobi and Addis where Muslims are rising up against Christians. There has been a surge of violence against Christians in the Oromo region of Ethiopia and to the East as well. An Ethiopian pastor has been corresponding with me and just sent me pictures of a massacre that took place a month ago. I will spare you the pictures, because they are really disturbing. But truely. Pray for Ethiopia and for Christians in the Horn becuase this is a difficult hour and many are suffering for the sake of the gospel.

Old monuments, old Bibles, old battlefields

This weekend i took my mom on a whirlwind of historical sites here in our nations capital. It was a marathon really: old monuments, old Bibles, old Battlefields. The blue sky this morning in Pennsylvania was a stark contrast to the hues of reds and yellow we gazed at on the skyline. In the sunlight the trees glow here. My pictures are a poor represenation of the real thing...

Fire in Southern California

My aunt lost her home yesterday in this fire in California. Pray for those that lost loved ones, or their homes and are having to start over...



October 27, 2006
4 Firefighters Killed by Blaze in California
By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD and JENNIFER STEINHAUER

BEAUMONT, Calif., Oct. 26 — Four firefighters were killed on Thursday and one was seriously injured when an arson fire ripped through a hilly patch of Southern California, destroying thousands of acres and forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate their homes.
By Thursday night, the fire was still uncontained and, buoyed by strong and gusting winds, rolling west along the thick desert terrain.

Officials said the fire, which began about 1 a.m. Thursday just northwest of Palm Springs, was deliberately set but did not give details. Carried by 25 mile an hour winds, it spread throughout craggy, mostly unincorporated areas in Riverside County, where residents began to evacuate in the dark of night.

The flames quickly encountered the Santa Ana winds, which are common this time of year, and streaked through the parched vegetation, igniting ranch homes, some of which burned to their foundations, and scorching at least 24,000 acres, including 10,000 acres in just four to five hours.

By midday Thursday, a long and wide churning curtain of orange-beige smoke cloaked a wide strip of desert, and the smell of smoke lingered as far west as downtown Los Angeles, 90 miles away.

Officials painted a horrific scene in Cabazon, where five firefighters were working to protect a home and found their truck suddenly engulfed in flames when the wind shifted.
Three firefighters died at the scene, and one died hours later at the hospital. A fifth was in critical condition Thursday night. The names of the firefighters, members of the United States Forest Service, were not released.

It was the worst loss of life among firefighters in Riverside County in over 50 years.
Officials said they would offer $100,000 to any informant who led them to an arrest of the arsonist.

“A deliberately set arson fire that leads to the death of anyone constitutes murder,” Chief John Hawkins of the Riverside County Fire Division of the California Department of Forestry said.
Residents of Twin Pines, an area near the origin of the fire, awoke in the middle of the night to the strong odor of smoke and an orange glow over the top of the mountains. By 3 a.m. emergency workers were ordering them out, and they hustled to collect clothes, family photos, insurance papers and pets.

“Does anybody know anything about Wonderview?” Lilly Arroyo, 77, called out through tears at an evacuation center at the Banning Community Center, near Cabazon.

A dozen neighbors huddled around a television hoping for a glimpse of their homes from news coverage, but shook their heads, “No.”
Her cockatiel, Toots, died, Ms. Arroyo said, as she sped from her trailer home in the path of a wall of flames. Officials said roughly 700 people had fled their homes.
Chief Hawkins said that 11 structures had been destroyed but that he did not have details of what they were. The chief said at a news conference last night that the fire was 5 percent contained. “That may not sound like a lot,” he said, “but it truly is.”

The rocky terrain and lack of open roads made it hard for emergency workers to get water to the fire-fighting sites; 400 people in recreational vehicles on a mountain near the fire’s center were told to stay put, protected by firefighters, so as not to clog the only open road to the area. Fire officials said winds hampered efforts to drop water and fire retardant.
“Dry, windy weather can push a fire like this to grow very quickly,” said Patrick Chandler, a spokesman for the Riverside County Fire Department. ”

Dennis Watkins, 54, just finished building his “dream home” in May and, following the authorities’ precautions against wildfires, had cleared away much of the brush and trees near the house. On Thursday he asked neighbors at the community center if they had heard anything and waited for definitive word.

Some residents snaked their way up a one-lane road out of town; using a leash, one farmer pulled his lama alongside his truck.

With 1,000 firefighters already at work and 2,000 more coming, officials worried that the fire could reach an area of the San Bernardino National Forest where a bark beetle infestation had killed trees that could easily fuel a blaze.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the state “will put the full force of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection behind fighting this fire and will reach out to evacuees to see what can be done in their time of need.”

The governor also declared a state of emergency in Riverside County.
Wildfires in California’s national forests are common this time of year. Almost exactly three years ago, fires killed 17 people and burned more than 376,000 acres and 2,600 homes across San Diego County.

Complain productively

Courtesy of a very rational thinker

Crossroads

This morning I went to The Falls Church to hear the head of International Justice Mission speak. His sermon was called: When God's Will is Scary. This was exactly the word i needed to hear this weekend.

Basically, he proposed a question: Do you want to be brave, or do you want to be safe in this life? A good question, and a question I think we are all challenged with in our few precious moments on the earth.

This can mean so many things to people. Do you want to settle in that relationship, because right now there is nothing better? Do you want to pursue that dream even though it may be costly? Do you want to travel 1500 miles across the country? Are you prepared to travel to the other side of the globe? What if you are called foolish? What if it isn't working out exactly as you anticipated?

There is a risk to following Jesus. It is high and it may cost you your life. In fact, He will most definitely ask you for all of it. Don't worry, if you haven't been asked yet, He will at some point in this journey.

I feel like I am at a crossroads in my journey, and I have been asking these questions, during the in between times... in the morning with my coffee in my car, or on the subway... Wanting a safer option, a safer route, one that is more predictable.

Jesus is not the safer option. In the Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe, Lucy sees Aslan, and she asks, "Is He safe?". The response from her companion, "Safe? Who said anything about safe? Of course He's not safe. But He is good. He is the King I tell you..."

Flags of our Fathers

My mom and I are planning to go see the movie, Flags of our Fathers when she comes into town next week. It's a special movie for me because my grandfather fought in the Pacific. He served on Tinian Island where Little Boy and Fat Man were held until the bombings. My grandad was a very meticulous man when it came to his job, keeping the airplanes in excellent condition. He never would really share with us about the atomic bomb and being so close to all that, but he did have some amazing stories about the war.

He served a number of years in Enid, Oklahoma at Vance AFB after the war and knew these two guys written about below who fought in Iwo Jima.

Film brings back Iwo Jima memories

By Jeff MullinSenior WriterOn Feb. 23, 1945, a group of U.S. Marines climbed to the top of Mount Suribachi, a volcanic hill nearly 600 feet high on a small Pacific island called Iwo Jima.The Marines encountered little or no resistance, in stark contrast to the brutal fighting that had been taking place on the island since the Marines invaded some five days prior. The flag-raising spawned a book by James Bradley, “Flags of Our Fathers.” That book has been made into a movie, of the same name, directed by Clint Eastwood. The film opens nationally today and can be seen in Enid at Dickinson Theatres’ Oakwood 8. Among the many men on hand the day the flag went up on Mount Suribachi were several from the Enid area.

Here are three of their stories:

Jim Goodrich

Goodrich was an 18-year-old corporal that day, a member of the 5th Marine Division, 27th Regiment.The Garber native joined the Marines when he was 16 and already was a veteran of the bloody battles at Guadalcanal and Tarawa.“I was considered an old veteran,” he said.He was in the first wave of Marines to hit the beach at Iwo Jima Feb. 19, 1945. He was a machine-gunner.Goodrich and his unit fought their way across Iwo Jima. It was brutal fighting, with the Japanese firmly entrenched in caves and foxholes, fighting to the death to retain control of the island.“The other two battles I was in, I thought were pretty intense,” Goodrich said. “But (on Iwo Jima) I never saw so many mangled bodies in all my life. The artillery was just something else.”On Feb. 23, 1945, a member of Goodrich’s machine gun squad said, “Something’s going on on Suribachi.”“I had binoculars because I was the crew leader, so I looked up there, and there it was, they had raised the little flag,” Goodrich said. “Then they took it down, and I said, ‘It didn’t stay up there long,’ but it was very hard to see. After while, I don’t know how long it was, they said, ‘Hey, there’s a bigger flag going up.’ That was the one Rosenthal got his picture of.”When the bigger flag went up, Goodrich said, “Ships out in the bay, I could hear them tooting their horns. I thought I could hear men hollering, even. Everyone was glad to see it up. It was a real morale booster to us.”Goodrich’s stay on Iwo Jima ended 15 days later when an enemy machine gun round passed through a letter from a pen pal he had stuck in his shirt pocket and entered his intestines. He lost three and a half feet of his intestines in surgery performed in a tent on an Iwo Jima beach. Of the 250 men in Goodrich’s unit who hit the beach at Iwo Jima, only 22 walked off the island.“And I wasn’t one of them,” said Goodrich, who still has a framed copy of the letter that bears the bullet hole.Today Goodrich lives in Enid with his wife, Peggy. The couple plans to see “Flags of Our Fathers,” once with their grandson, himself a former Marine, and twice with friends.“We’re going to see it until we’re probably sick of it,” said Peggy, laughing.

Cass Montgomery

The 1940 Enid High graduate was a radarman on the Navy destroyer USS McCall on Feb. 19, 1945, when the Marines began going ashore.“The first report we got back from Iwo Jima from the Marines was, ‘There’s nothing going on, we’re just advancing right up the island.’ The next report was, ‘Help,’ they were surrounded. And from there on it got worse and worse.”The McCall was doing patrol duty around the island. During the day the ship pounded Japanese positions with its five-inch guns, and at night it would light up Iwo Jima with incandescent star shells.“We never let the island go dark,” he said. “Every one minute we’d put a shell out and kept the island lit every night.”The McCall earned the nickname “Lucky McCall,” since it was never hit by enemy fire. During the battle for Iwo Jima, however, a destroyer sitting near the McCall was hit by a Japanese mortar and a number of men were hurt. Montgomery was part of a team dispatched to help the injured sailors.Reading about the incident this week in the log book he kept during the war, “Almost makes you cry,” he said. “I’d never seen a captain of a ship cry, but when he buried those guys at sea he stood there and cried.”On Feb. 23, 1945, the McCall was stationed about 1,000 yards off the beach at Iwo Jima.“I was standing on the bridge of the ship,” said Montgomery. “We had binoculars watching and I looked up and said, ‘Hey, there’s a flag on top of Hot Rocks (the sailors’ nickname for Mount Suribachi).’”After the war Montgomery worked at Vance Air Force Base for more than 40 years, retiring in 1985. He continued his lifelong love of aviation and today, at almost 85, still owns his own airplane.During a trip to a reunion of Iwo Jima survivors, Montgomery and his wife, Louise, met “Flags of Our Fathers” author Bradley, whose father, John, was one of the men raising the large flag on Mount Suribachi. They say they’re not sure whether or not they’ll see the film.“He told us at that time they were thinking of making a movie of the book,” said Louise.

Nice suprise

My friend "Spearsie" came into town this week and so we had some Tai food in Silver Spring and back to my house to watch Grey's Anatomy. Grey's Anatomy and old friends are a good combo... I forget how funny Spearsie is and how good it is to laugh with her. She made my week.

Momma D and the anklebiters

The picture to the left is of me and my mom when i was just a young thing. My mom likes the little ones and she has been teaching again. Her email made me smile this morning...

I subbed for that same lady in first grade that I had subbed for all those weeks because she had to go to a funeral. The kids had made me a bag with all their little handprints on it plus they had written notes of appreciation. They are such sweet children. If I would have known that children this age are as sweet as they are, I think I would have chosen to teach this age group all those years. They all had to give me hugs when I went out to the playground to pick them up this morning and then they all said how much they had missed me and I told them how much I had missed them too which was true. I hope I said positive words into their lives because I can remember how much my first teachers meant to me and how important it is to start your school years on a positive note. I just hope I never was a teacher that caused a child to dislike school or said hurtful words to them. Anyway, guess I had better get going this evening. Love and prayers, Mom

Can Diedrichs be saved? The saga continues

My friend Joe sent this to me in the mail, a letter obviously not written by him because he would not have mispelled the name of the place in dire need of being saved.

So here's the story folks: My beloved coffee shop from home could possibly be taken over by an unoriginal beauty salon where women pay entirely too much money to get their hair cut.

If you are a Diedrichs (on Hazard and Westheimer) fan like me, who lived there during school, or shared a significant moment of community there please email or write a letter to the addys below. Heck - if you care anything about community and have your own Diedrichs in whatever neck of the woods you lay claim to, please write an email or a letter.

And thanks for your support.

People who own the property: T-Con Properties LTD/2701 Kipling St./ Houston 77098-1214. Their phone number is 713-626-8888

The Upper Hand (Unoriginal, imperialist hair salon): 1905 Westheimer, Houston 77098 Phone No: 713-520-0772 (theupperhand.com) They also have a location at: 11805 Westeimer #390, Phone No. 281-497-8280

Other Emails: If sending emails to houston chronicle, houston press, or khou, for best response identify yourself.

Houston Chronicle: howard.decker@chron.com

frankmiller@chron.com

Houston Press: letters@houstonpress.com

H Town news channel: assignments@khou.com

Knitting machine

Someday I will be able to knit like this:

The Last Knit

One step at a time

Words from a new book I am reading called Ruthless Trust, by Brennan Manning...

"The words of the fifteenth - century theologian Angelus Silesius, 'If God stopped thinking of me, he would cease to exist,' are thoroughly orthodox. Silesius merely paraphrases the message of Jesus: 'Can you buy five sparrows for two pennies? And yet not one is forgotten in God's sight. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. There is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows." (Luke 12:6-7).

We can feel forgotten, but He is always mindful of us. Lately I have felt uncertain about alot of things. I want clarity, direction, a life compass that I can hold in my hand and point me down the right path. Yet as I have been reading B. Manning's book perhaps that is something I need to let go of and what I really need to do is trust that each step He sees and He knows. He loves me too much to take His eyes off me. He is mindful always... He never forgets.

You light a lamp for me. The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness. - ps 18

Can you feel the zoom?

At work today...

Kelly: Man, this month, it has just zoomed on by, can you feel it?

Jeremy: Pauses and thinks. Yes. I can feel the zoom. Jen can you feel the zoom?

Jen: LOL - I can indeed feel the zoom.

The Black Cat

Last night my friends Rachel, Abby, and I went to a concert at the Black Cat.

There we heard the vocal stylings of Rosie Thomas and Damien Jurado. What an evening of music. Rosie was cool because she had an alter ego onstage, but somehow she managed to be very genuine up there, and she had a voice.

I liked Damien for different reasons, namely the cello accompaniment. Beautiful.

Saddest news ever: Deidrichs may close

My coffee shoppe from back home, Deidrichs may be closing as early as November 6th. Two friends of mine, confirmed the rumor.

Where am I going to get coffee when I go home??? Starbucks?

I am just so sad today.

Highlights

Listening to: Fernando Ortega

Good things happened yesterday:

1. I balanced our teams finances from our trip to Morocco and Egypt. I was two dollars off!!!

2. I drove my friend Jeremy to the metro after work and we had a great conversation about church. Jeremy is very wise for his years.

3. I met two new girls last night at a small group that I liked immediately. I haven't been to a small group in a long time, and really enjoyed it.

4. On the way home on the train last night, three guys came on and sang some good old fashioned gospel. The twenty five minute ride flew by.

The nameless

One of my contacts in Sudan is a pastor who travels through the South, and now the West to minister to his people. His name is James.

During the Civil War, he had been separated from his mother, in fact he did not know where she was for almost twenty years. Not too long ago, James discovered that his mother was in a refugee camp on the border. He desperately wanted to take her out of there, but she refused. She had been taking care of children in the camp, whose parents had died. "Who will take care of them if i leave??" she asked James, "this is where I belong."

I know it is in our nature to desire to be great, that our life would be important, or meaningful. We all want that, in some capacity, whether we recognize it or not. I know in the city I am living in, people are striving to be important or successful in their own eyes, and in the eyes of others. To make a name for themselves.

And then there are the nameless, faceless human beings in this world, who will never be recognized by the world, but whose lives are truely significant, because they embody the love of Jesus Christ, and have taken on His name, have taken on His humility. Their glory transcends all that is ephemeral in this world. They are a beautiful sight to behold.

I think on the other side of eternity, we will be surpised at who was considered great.

Waking up is so hard to do

I have a hard time waking up in the morning.

In my 29 years of living, this has never really changed for me. I remember when I was all of seven or eight years old and my mom would have to yank the sheets off of me, because it was so dang hard to wake up.

So, this morning I woke up with the alarm in my hand. I don't remember hitting the alarm button over again, maybe because the alarm was in my hand :) I had scheduled it for 6 am, and ended up waking up at 7:45. My snooze alarm rings every five minutes. Do you know how many snooze alarms that is???

I sleep on a loft, so, it is really warm and cozy up near the ceiling of my room. I am so snug by the time i wake up, that it is chinese water torture to walk down and face my cold wood floors.

Those wood floors!!! Sigh... I can't imagine what this is going to be like in a month or two when it gets colder.

My grandma is on the internet

My grandma is becoming internet savy, I'm so proud of her. My goal is to get her started on her own blog.

"Jen, the internet is such a time taker... and a time waster..."

Oh yeah grandma, it's definitely both...