One in 7 Billion

The Last Train Home

Watch the full episode. See more POV.

Last evening I watched a fascinating program on PBS entitled The Last Train Home.  It is the story of a Chinese family who are migrant workers in their own country.  They chose to leave their small, rural community to find work in a larger city.  This is not unusual for there are at least 130 million Chinese residents who do the same. 

The story highlights many contrasts: rural vs. urban, poor vs. rich, uneducated vs. educated, young vs. old.  Though this is a story about Chinese nationals living in their own country the parallels to the immigrant waves that came to this country cannot be missed.  In the struggles of this family I saw shades of what my great-grandparents and grandparents experienced during their lifetimes. 

I encourage you to watch the trailer, visit the link, and check your local listings.  I also encourage you to watch the film and pray for those you see.  In particular pray that the Gospel would reach these far-flung places and that the church in China would flourish. 

One other note: watch the film as an American and take note that we ought to be looking over our shoulder.  Unless we get our act together China will surpass us economically, militarily, and in just about every other imaginable way. 

August 19,1942 Dieppe

This date and place is not a particularly significant date for Americans as far as WW II is concerned.  However for Canadians it marked a major battle where they suffered more than 900 soldiers killed and over 1,900 taken prisoner. 

Most of the men had no idea about this mission until they were aboard their ships and landing crafts. No major objectives were taken and the main purpose of this amphibious assault was to probe German  defenses (this helped preparations for D-Day).   

Click on the link to listen to a firsthand report by CBC war correspondent Robert Bowman which was broadcast to that nation a day after the battle.  Fascinating.  The only thing I didn't like was the report of the chaplain reading from Ephesians 6 - a misinterpretation and misapplication of that passage.

Of Life and Loss: The Polish Photographs of Roman Vishniac and Jeffrey Gusky « Photography

Yesterday seemed like just another day but then I saw a headline that WW II started 70 years ago. Stayed up late last night watching a documentary about it on the Military Channel.

Earlier this summer our family had hoped to go camping but 60 degree weather with lots of rain forced us to change plans (we tent camp). So instead of going up north we went to Detroit -- yes I can hear the questions of unbelief. We haven't done much in that part of Michigan so we spent the day at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

One of the exhibits we viewed was Of Life and Loss: The Polish Photographs of Roman Vishniac and Jeffrey Gusky « Photography It has left Detroit but if you get a chance to see it please do. In a nutshell, during the winter of 1938 Jews were being oppressed throughout Poland. A photographer (Roman Vishniac) was hired to chronicle the Jewish communities of that country. Done in black and white the photos are haunting because we know how the story ended. Sixty years later Jeffrey Gusky visited the same places and photographed what he saw.

When WW II broke out there were 3.5 million Jews living in Poland. Today there are barely 20,000. Anti-semitism remains high. One of Gusky's photographs showed a home that was once owned by Jews having been converted to a public restroom. Another sad account was that of Jewish headstones being taken from their cemeteries and then being used to form the foundations of barns. One man has dedicated his life to retrieving those stones and returning them to their appropriate cemetery. I left there wondering to myself, "Haven't these people suffered enough? Can't their graves be left in peace?" Of course I also thought about the theology of Romans 9-11.

NOTE: check out the Unreached Peoples link for today. Interesting coincidence, er, bit of providence.

CBC News: Iran's Young Rebels

One of the advantages of living near the Canadian border is getting CBC news as part of our cable package. I've been watching the Detroit Red Wings pursue the Stanley Cup on CBC as I prefer their coverage over that of NBC or Versus (plus, they have Don Cherry). I also watch CBC news from time to time to get a different perspective on the world. Canada, as you may know, maintains diplomatic relations with countries that the US has deemed repressive.: Cuba and Iran are at the top of that list.

On Sunday night I caught the end of the CBC broadcast and saw a fascinating story about Iran. Did you know that 70% of the population is under 30 years old? We in the US are transfixed by the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979 -- that is the lens through which we view Iran. Yet, 70% of Iran's population wasn't alive during that crisis and their perspective on the US and the rest of the world is not the same as the mullahs.

Click on the following link to see an enlightening glimpse into that mysterious country. With national elections looming (June 12th), it is possible that we in the west might see a regime change. With Iran's headlong pursuit of nuclear weapons that is a tantalizing hope.

CBC News: Sunday

Some CBC reporters are in Iran all this week leading up to the election. Click on the following link to read about the lead up to the election.

Iran Election Blog: A vitality that wasn't expected

Atlas Shrugs - A Religion of Peace?

As Israel's military incursion into Gaza nears the end of its 3rd week pro-Palestinian rallies are occurring around the world. Of course there has been some pro-Israeli rallies but much of the attention is has been focused on the Muslim world.

I came across an interesting story about the response of Muslims in Europe -- not everyone is shouting slogans or burning cars. Some are gathering to pray at churches for the expansion of their faith (takbir). Click Here to see photos.

Imagine Christians going to Jerusalem and holding similar events at the Dome of the Rock or some other holy site. Would it be tolerated? Hardly.

The photos tell an important story -- Islam is more than a religion of peace -- it's very name means 'submit.' I hope that people in the West have their eyes open.

Israel Mourns...

The terror attack in Mumbai, India shocked a nation and the world by its length and ferocity. I was particularly interested in the attack on the Jewish center and the fate of Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife Rivkah. Hoping for the best I knew deep down that they were in serious trouble.

What is sad about the whole affair is that this couple were tortured and killed for who they were -- Jews. They were in the country to care for others: to provide meals for strangers, a place to stay for travelers, counseling for the downtrodden and forgotten, and a place to pray and study for those seeking spiritual sustenance. They weren't very old either: he was 29, she was 28.

Here is an interesting story summarizing the Jewish perspective of this tragedy. Atlas Shrugs: Oh... the humanity. The author, Pamela Geller, has made several other posts about this terrorist attack and militant Islam in general. I cannot support every word that she has penned but I found this post and the accompanying photos to be very compelling. Warning, the final picture is very graphic.

A Glimpse Inside Iran

Living near the border with Canada has some advantages -- getting CBC news on cable TV is one. It's interesting seeing ourselves and the world through the eyes of our neighbors to the north.

Recently some Canadian journalists were allowed to visit Iran after waiting more than two years to get their visas. They were the first westerners to visit Teheran in quite some time. Perhaps there is more interest in the West and western ideas than we might imagine. Based on what could be found in Teheran's major bazaar I wondered if one could purchase a Bible from one of its shops.

Click on the link below to see some photos and hear their reflections:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/photogalleries/insideiran/index.html