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Dear friends:
If you have continued to follow the minimal cover Orissa
has received in the secular media or the more in-depth coverage
Christian news outlets are giving, you know that violence
against Christians continues unabated in Orissa. More than 2000
Christians are now in refugee camps, hundreds more still in the
jungle, pastors and church believers burned to death, along with
hundreds of homes and churches. The Hindu fundamentalist
government is still preventing journalists and aid teams into
these areas while pledging to continue their 'anti-conversion'
campaign. Pledges coming into BCM for aid are
making it to the needy. Enough said. Please continue
to pray.
The Hindu fundamentalist political party behind the
persecution has stated openly that they consider it their right
and duty to reverse religious freedom in India for a Hindu
fundamentalist state. As distressing as the silence of India's
theoretically secular democratic leadership in this crisis is
the silence of North American and Western governments. Are you
tracking what has happened to the U.S. stance on freedom of
conscience and faith since the war on terror began? During the
Cold war, the West made a stand on religious and political
freedom. Today in the name of the 'war on terror', the US has
paid for and helped institute Islamic fundamentalist regimes
based on sharia law in Afghanistan and Iraq (which was a secular
govt. until the invasion). Our major allies are Saudi Arabia,
Pakistan, Kuwait, and China, currently the most oppressive
regimes against freedom of faith and conscience on the planet.
We just sent Saudi Arabia 20 billion in new advanced weapon
technology, and even while protesting weakly about Musharref
locking away his political opposition, we've sent more aid and
money in fear our 'ally' might lose power.
God is not mocked. The blood of the martyrs is
and always will be the seed of the church. But may
God have mercy on our own nations if we continue out of fear and
business opportunism to support and empower totalitarian regimes
who are shedding the blood of the body of Christ. We will reap
what we sow, even as today we face the Taliban and Al Qaida we
once armed and trained against the Soviets (this scenario, by
the way, is very prophetically tracked in Jeanette's
new Tyndale House Publisher's release, Betrayed,
hitting bookstores next month). As Christians it is time we let
our voices be heard even as our hearts cry out in prayer for our
suffering brothers and sisters around the world.
Attached are pictures of two of our BCM pastors' families in the
rubble of their burned out homes.
Meanwhile, Marty
was in Mexico a week ago, visiting our BCM ministries there. Our
Mexican BCM missionaries, most of them graduates of Rio Grande
Bible Institute, in Edinburg, TX, where Marty's brother Larry is
now president, work mainly in the Chiapas. If you follow Mexican
news, that is the breeding ground for the Zapatista guerrilla
movement. Zapatista signs everywhere read: 'You are no longer in
government territory; here the people rule'. Marty drove between
one such posting directly across the road from a military base
engaged in fighting the Zapatistas. Thank God He is in control
and not our circumstances! This is the one area of Mexico where
there has been continued persecution of Christians with
evangelicals beaten, driven from homes, churches burned, their
water cut off for refusing to participate in (and pay for) the
'traditionalist Catholic' (a mixture of Mayan/Aztec ritual and
Catholicism) religious festivals, which we can testify
first-hand not only include idol worship and witchcraft, but
are one big drunken bash. Pray for courage and the
consistent witness of changed lives in the midst of difficulty.
Now Marty has flown to the UK to meet with the BCM trust board there as well as visiting BCM ministries and missionaries in Northern Ireland, Scotland and the UK. He arrives home on February 9th. Jeanette flies to Scotland February 20-March 3rd for two back-to-back women's conferences in Glasgow. Please continue to pray for God's wisdom, guidance, and the right words in our own ministry travels as well as protection and provision for BCM missionaries and ministries around the world.
And to add a smile to your day, we are privileged to
schedule a wonderful Christian comedian and friend, Charles
Marshall, for an uncoming BCM retreat, along with Dr. Bruce
Wilkinson, Prayer of Jabez, (We'll keep you posted on
that). Check out a couple clips of Charles Marshall's new video
release, I'm Just Sayin'. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbKAVthuXGE;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L4W2vUyNbc (If
the links don’t work by clicking on them, then just copy and
paste them into your browser window.) Please
begin praying with us now for the Bruce Wilkinson/Marshall event
as its purpose to raise awareness of BCM International and our
ministries and missionaries worldwide.
In the service of the King of Kings
and precious fellowship of God's family,
Rev. Marty and Jeanette Windle
BCM International
****Pictures omitted for security reasons**** |