"It will be a sign and witness to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them."
— Isaiah 19:20
"Let the peoples praise you, O God; let the nations be glad and sing for joy; for you will judge the peoples with uprightness and guide the nations of the earth." — Psalm 67:3-4
Many of you have been praying with us for months that God would release Michael, an innocent 80-year-old man who has spent nearly 2 years in jail - first in a Nairobi remand prison and then on death row, all for a crime he did not commit. Praise God, for he is faithful: Michael is free!
Just hours ago, Michael was granted bail. He is returning to his family. Praise God, for he remembers the prisoner! The final victory Michael’s full acquittal on these baseless charges is yet to come, but this is a huge victory toward that end.
Thank you for praying so earnestly for Michael these long months. Thank you for remembering him. God has heard our cries. Praise God, for he is good!
Posting prayers and Praises from me, IJM [other organizations] and from you, fellow bloggers.
Alacrity Prayer List
"The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace." — Psalm 29:11
URGENT PRAYER REQUEST: Pray for Libya!
President Obama told a bipartisan group of members of Congress today that he expects the U.S. would be actively involved in any military action against Libya for "days, not weeks," after which he said the U.S. would take more of a supporting role, sources tell ABC News.
Prayer for Alacrity's staff to have peace and strength as they finish of this school year. We can get caught up in all the stress and forget that we don't have to carry it on our shoulders. God is caring our burdens for us, and all He asks is that we lay them at His feet. Prayer for Strength and peace in this time is greatly appreciated!
IJM Prayer List
"In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
— Acts 20:35
URGENT PRAYER REQUEST: Over the past several months, we have asked you to pray with us for Michael, an 80-year-old man who was wrongly convicted on charges of robbery with violence in Kenya. Michael has languished in jail for nearly two years. Please continue to pray with great urgency for Michael, especially this week as IJM awaits a decision for bail and for the high court to set a date for an appeal hearing. Please pray that the judge would grant bail for Michael and that the bail would be affordable, so that Michael can return to his family. Please also pray that the high court would expedite the appeal process, allowing Michael to be exonerated during his lifetime. Pray for God’s peace and encouragement to be with Michael and his family as they wait.
Africa
Please continue to pray for aftercare partners in and around Kigali, Rwanda, who can provide desperately needed care for children who have been sexually abused. Pray also that the IJM clients receiving care would be healed and restored.
Pray for God to move swiftly in cases in Zambia in which widows and orphans have had their land forcibly taken from them. These cases can take months, even years, to receive judgment; all the while, these widows and orphans wait for relief with no land or means of earning a living to sustain them and their families.
Please pray for investigations department that our investigators would work well together to effectively collect evidence necessary for successful convictions in court and that the department would continue to grow professionally and spiritually.
IJM HQ
Please pray for IJM Director of Church Mobilization Christa Hayden, who is speaking at LifeChurch Allentown in Allentown, PA, this weekend.
Latin America
Please pray for a sexual abuse case involving several child victims in Guatemala. One of the victims spent two years living very close to the alleged perpetrator. He has been the most affected; please pray for his therapy and restoration.
Praise the Lord for the support that a client of IJM casework alliance partner Paz y Esperanza is receiving. After recently becoming paralyzed, this client will receive a wheelchair, funds for her basic needs and will have improved accessibility in her home.
IJM Bolivia currently has several cases in which the suspect has fled. Please pray for breakthroughs in these cases and that IJM investigators would be able to obtain information to find the suspects and execute arrest warrants.
South Asia
Pray for the South Asia team as they work with the original author of a government-sponsored handbook to complete final edits before the handbook is printed and published. This handbook is a critical resource for government officials who rescue forced laborers and help them adjust to freedom.
One of our aftercare teams needs to identify an NGO to partner with them in supporting freed forced laborers in a state that is a significant distance from the office. Please pray that God would guide the team to the right NGO, and that they would be able to establish a clear understanding, providing the resources the NGO needs to serve our clients well.
Pray for an upcoming sex trafficking operation in South Asia. Pray for protection and in¬formation that could lead to the arrest of powerful traffickers.
Pray for the new community relations assistant who will be starting a year-long internship with IJM this month. Pray for her transition to be natural and peaceful.
Southeast Asia
Pray that God would bring talented, Christian professionals to the Philippines who will serve with courage and commitment. Pray for a godly, competent individual to serve as the National Advocacy Director, leading efforts to raise awareness nationally about effective anti-trafficking strategies. Both IJM Manila and IJM Cebu need social workers, investigators and lawyers who are committed to seeking justice in their country.
Praise God for twelve trafficking convictions secured against sex traffickers by the IJM Manila lawyers this year alone. The Supreme Court issued a circular last year that mandated sex trafficking cases should be prioritized and trials conducted quickly. Pray that the judges will continue to exercise efficient and good judgment in IJM-supported sex trafficking cases, and that these sentences will deter others from committing trafficking crimes.
Please do Not hesitate to send in any prayer requests or Praises you have! We are more than happy to pray for you or rejoice with you!
Recently I heard someone say that it was impossible for one person alone to change the world. I had to disagree.
I disagreed because during the time I heard that statement, the news was abuzz with the deaths of two people who had majorly impacted the world, one for good and the other for evil. In the space of six days Osama bin Laden and David Wilkerson were both killed.
Osama bin Laden was the founder of al-Qaeda, the terrorist group that planned the attack on the twin towers on September 11, 2001 and other violent attacks on different targets. He was on the FBI’s ten most wanted list and became infamous for destroying thousands of people’s lives.
David Wilkerson was an American Christian Evangelist, who, after responding to God’s calling, went to New York City and ministered to gangs, founded Teen Challenge, a Christian addiction recovery program, and also founded the famous Times Square Church. This one person impacted thousands of people’s lives for the better, leading them into the kingdom of God.
It takes as little as one person to change the world.
So where do you fit in with all this? Well, I’m writing this to challenge and inspire you to live a life of purpose. Where you choose to let yourself make a difference is your choice. Hopefully, you’ll go down the road that changes the world for the better, making an impact in the world for Christ’s sake.
You might say “Well, I’m not hero of the faith.” But think about it, those “heroes of the faith” were not born with special spiritual powers. They were regular people like you and me who simply listened to God’s calling and followed it willingly. We are all called to be people like that, but fail utterly. Look around you. We as Christians are less influential than unbelievers are. Take a look at all the celebrities, movies, and music. Why are we as Christians allowing this stuff to take over our world? Why aren’t we standing up and making a difference? Why is it that we’re not fighting pressure to be idle? How are you, personally, going to change all this?
How do you become a world-changer? You get up and make a difference. You publically stand up for what you believe in. You reach people with your vision. You impact people’s lives.If you are a Christian you go into the world and preach the gospel.
It just takes one person to change the world; one person who is willing and ready to give it all for the sake of their cause. Edward Everett Hale, an American patriot, once said, "I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do. And by the grace of God, I will.” There is something for you to do, and you can and ought to do it. There is a baffling amount of opportunities to take in this world; there are so many ways you can make a difference. Whether that difference is for good or for bad is up to you.
Pakistan, an arid and mountainous country nearly twice the size of California, is bordered by Afghanistan, India, Iran and China. This ancient civilization has undergone invasions by myriad people groups throughout its long history, the most recent being the British occupation from the mid-18002. With the departure of the British in 1947, Muslin Pakistan split from Hindu India, with ingoing wars being fought over the disputed Kashmir territory. Since that time, corruption and alternating civilian and military rule have greatly destabilized the fledgling Islamic republic. Pakistan has maintained an uneasy alliance with the United States since 9/11 but has struggled to control the Taliban-linked tribal regions along the Afghan border.
Though the British brought Christianity with them when they occupied Pakistan in the 19th century, today Christians make up less than two percent of the population. With the increase of Islamic extremism and support for Sharia law since the 1970s, Christians have been experiencing progressively more persecution and even martyrdom at the hands of both the state and their communities.
PRAY FOR:
Those without Christ
·That the 97% of the population that hasn’t heard the Gospel would hear and repent.
The church in Pakistan
·That God would grant strength and comfort to those facing persecution
·That God would strengthen the church and cause it to grow.
·That God would send missionaries to the 463 people groups of Pakistan.
1. So tell us how you got started with Imagine? I have always been very creative & administrative, my friends have always joked about all of my crazy projects. When I was 10 years old I started a magazine which I ran for a couple years with one of my good friends. In 2009 I moved to a new city about 3 hours from all my childhood friends and the church I had grown up in. I began to desire a way to keep in touch with my friends and continue to encourage them in the Lord despite the distance between us. It had been a while since I had stopped publishing my old magazine and I missed all the fun I had creating it. So, I decided to put together a little newsletter for my friends, mail it to them, and see what they thought. After an enthusiastic response from my friends and a commitment to help from a new acquaintance in my new city, Tess, I decided to jump full speed ahead with producing Imagine Magazine. 2. When you first began Imagine Magazine, what was the main goal you were trying to achieve? Well, in the very beginning I just wanted to use the magazine as an opportunity to encourage my friends and stay connected with them. However, after the first issue was released and I began to brainstorm with Tess, I began to understand a greater vision for what the Lord wanted to do through this ministry. I desired to provide a wholesome magazine for Christian teen girls that encouraged them to be set apart from the world and glorify Christ in everything they did. 3. Has that goal been acheived, or is it being achieved? I definitely do not think we’ve perfectly achieved that goal but I do think we are well on our way. It is very neat to look back at our roots and see how, as more girls are touched by this ministry, our vision is beginning to be fulfilled 4. How has your ministry grown since you first started? At times I am overwhelmed by the way the Lord has worked, putting the pieces of this ministry together. What started as a small project for 15 of my friends, has turned into a full scale online magazine which reaches hundreds of subscribers all over the world. I have been incredibly blessed to see the Lord use my meager two cents and turn it into something bigger than I could have ever imagined. 5. How do you feel God has blessed you through this ministry? He has blessed me in countless ways, I truly am honored
Allison, the Manager of Imagine
to be chosen to serve Him in this way. Over the years He has provided many wonderful young ladies to serve on staff. These young women have blessed me with their creative talents and sacrificial donation of time. He has also been faithful to provide the financial provisions necessary to keep the magazine running, the wisdom needed to handle sticky situations and the continued vision to stay committed to this project. 6. If you could name one person, other than Christ, who has been one of the most influential people in your life; who would it be? Definitely my mother. She is such a beautiful example to me of a woman who fears the Lord, serves her family and raises up others to do the same. I have been incredibly blessed by her wisdom, emotional support, practical editing help and faithful guidance through this whole project. I could not have continued with this ministry without her and I continually thank the Lord for giving me such a wonderful mother. If I had half of her wisdom I would be extremely fortunate! 7. What is the one thing you would tell every Christian teen? You were created to live an abundantly fruitful life serving the King of Kings! Do not waste these precious years you have been given trying to find fulfillment in the opinions of men and shallow messages our culture presses you with. Seek after Jesus with your whole heart and do not let anything stop you from fixing your eyes solely on Him. Abandon your life to Him and allow Him to use the creative giftings and abilities He’s given you to impact this culture with a message of hope and freedom. Our culture is full of teens who are trapped by the bondage of sin and have no purpose in life - live your life with purpose, seeking to bring life to those who have no hope! 8. Before we finish up, is there anything else you would like to share with the Alacrity blog readers? Thank you for the opportunity to share with you about
Most recent cover of Imagine
Imagine Magazine! Please feel free to check out our website or email our staff sometime. We would love to hear from you!
Imagine's Mission & Goals 1. To encourage teenage girls in their walk with Christ and teach them to glorify God with the gifting He has given them. 2. To equip this generation to defy the world's standards in their daily lives and live a life pleasing to the Lord. 3. To empower girls to find their own ways to reach out and witness to others around them. 4. To be a testimony and example to other girls through our own lives by following these same guidelines and using Imagine to glorify God!
Our History This magazine was created by teen girls and the purpose is to reach other teen girls with the love of Christ. The founder of Imagine, Allison, started Imagine almost 2 years ago as a ministry to her friends. Since then, she has seen God's hand of blessing as Imagine has grown to exceed her wildest hopes and dreams. The Imagine Staff is comprised of young women who volunteer their time and talents
Editor's notes: I first heard about Imagine through another blog online. At first I thought of them as just another magazine for Christian girls. As I began to read there work and of how much passion they had for God, my views changed! Looking at Imagine in a whole new way, I decided to do an interview with them. Allison, the manager, was so kind to lend me her time as well as media for this post! Through this experience I learned more about Imagine but also about the inspiration behind it! I hope you all are touched as much as I was :)
Many blessings
Charity for
P.S
Feel free to leave any comments or praises for Imagine as well as Alacrity.
Posting prayers and Praises from me, IJM [other organizations] and from you, fellow bloggers.
IJM Prayer List
"He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. 'For the foundations of the earth are the Lord's; upon them he has set the world.'"
— 1 Samuel 2:8
Africa
Pray for the widows we serve in Uganda who are struggling with health issues. Pray especially for one of our clients suffering from AIDS, who has recently become confined to her bed. She cannot look after her young son or maintain her sole source of income. Pray for the Lord to restore her health and hope, and that our aftercare team would be able to counsel our client through this difficult time.
Please pray for a skilled candidate for our open investigator position in the Kenyaoffice.
Please pray for the families of two young clients in Rwanda whose abusers were recently acquitted of their charges. Pray for encouragement, strength and freedom from fear for these children and their families. Please cover the families of all of the clients we serve in prayer so that they can face their abusers and the social stigma that comes with being a victim of rape.
IJM HQ
Please pray for IJM Senior Vice President of Education Larry Martin, who is speaking at Hillside Community Church in Alta Loma, CA.
Please pray for the investigation of a homicide case that IJM’s casework partner in Honduras, ASJ, is handling. Please pray specifically that all necessary evidence would be collected and that the witness would be willing to testify against the alleged perpetrators of the crime.
Praise God for the conviction achieved in Grecia*’s case this week; the man who sexually abused her over a period of three years was found guilty after a trial that involved many postponements. Pray for this 13-year-old girl as she heals. She has not been emotionally supported by her family. Pray for the man who perpetrated these abuses.
Please pray for a young IJM Guatemala client who was allegedly abused by her grandfather. Please pray for her restoration and for wisdom for her therapist. She is very traumatized by the abuse and says she thinks she never should have come into this world.
Please pray for wisdom and discernment as the IJM Bolivia team makes hiring decisions for current open positions. Also pray that the teams that currently have vacancies would be strengthened as they work with fewer staff.
South Asia
Pray for our aftercare staff as they lobby with government officials to obtain the rehabilitation funds for victims of forced labor slavery that these victims are owed by law. There is one district where at least 150 rehabilitation checks are still pending.
Pray for our caseworkers in South Asia as they search out forced labor cases. We have a number of cases under investigation, but are facing real difficulties in documenting the victims inside the facilities. Pray that the teams would find ways to get in touch with the victims especially in a brick kiln case on the outskirts of the city.
Many sex trafficking victims will testify in court this month. Pray they are able to overcome the trauma they have experienced and testify truthfully.
Pray that our teams would have the discernment to find committed and professional people to join us in our work as they interview candidates for key positions.
Southeast Asia
Pray for wisdom and perseverance for IJM investigators, that they will build trustworthy partnerships with local authorities in order to conduct successful rescue operations.
Praise God for a Memorandum of Agreement signed by IJM and the Philippine Department of Justice last month. The official agreement will enhance IJM’s collaborative partnership with the Department of Justice to combat trafficking in the Philippines. The agreement is the first of its kind for IJM in the Philippines.
A glow stick is an interesting little object. I used to marvel at the glow they would give up in the
darkness of the night when I should have been asleep for hours. One of the things that really interested me was the
fact that the stick would have to be broken to give off light. Broken not once, but several times to experience the
full radiance of the trinket. I remember my first glow stick. I held it lovingly in my hands for a long time before
my dad finally took it from me and broke it. I hated that crack and snap, and wanted to snatch the stick back
before I finally realized that giving it that one bend brought the dull little stick new life. And afterwards, I cracked it again and again in different places, then shook it a little to spread the light.
I think this is an amazing analogy of the Christian life. In order to fully give off light, we must be
broken and a little shook up, even though we might hate the sound of that crack and snap. Even though we might
even protest and try to grab our life back, we need to rest ourselves in the hands of our Heavenly Father. Sure,
sometimes it hurts, in fact, most times it hurts, but when the hurt is cleared away, you will finally realize the good
behind it all; that the cracking and snapping and shaking was not worthless pain, but merely another step towards
Godliness, and letting your little light shine brighter.
General Summary:
What happens when you have a dream you wish to achieve but suddenly you are majorly
handicapped and it seems almost impossible to achieve that dream? Some people would give up and try
to go on with life. Others would never get over the disappointment and live with sadness. But not Bethany
Hamilton. After losing her arm to a 14-foot tiger shark, the 13-year-old’s dream of being a professional
surfer seems like it will never come to reality. Her future seems to disappear with her arm, and learning to
surf again seems impossible for Bethany, but all things are possible with God.
Objectionable Content:
The actual shark attack is shown very quickly, but it is very frightening for little kids. After the
attack, Bethany’s friends rush to get her to the hospital in a very intense scene. Blood clouds the water, and
soaks through the shirt wrapped around the stump of Bethany’s arm.
Bethany’s best friend, Alana, has nightmares about the shark attack which is also very scary.
The movie is largely set on the beach, thus there is an abundance of girls wearing bikinis and guys
sauntering around with no shirts. Bethany’s bare back is shown once after the accident as she tries to tie her
bathing suit with one arm. In one scene Alana, poses for pictures in a bikini and then changes in front of
Bethany with only towels obstructing Bethany and the audience’s view. A picture of an armless nude statue
is briefly shown. There is some flirting among teens.
Bethany and Alana sneak out of the house to go night surfing and are given a good talking to the
next morning.
Conclusion:
It’s amazing how much people can do with less. I’ve seen no-armed people play piano, a one-
legged person dance, and now I’ve seen a one-armed girl surf. For some people, it’s determination that
makes them do what they do; for Bethany is was both determination and God. Though at first she questions
why God allowed the attack happened to her, her youth leader says “I have to believe that something
good will come out of this.” And Bethany finds out what that good is at the end of the movie once her
perspective is shifted a little.
The suspense and shark attack scene makes this movie a little too scary for younger children, but
for any one else, please do not miss out on this incredible true story of faith, determination, and triumph
through painful circumstances! With a clear Christian message, this movie is sure to bless you.
To sum it up, Soul Surfer is about a girl who loses an arm, but gains a whole new perspective on
life.
NEW YORK—Rich Peluso, vice president of Affirm Films, a Sony Pictures label that releases Christian films, was getting a cup of coffee when he noticed on the wall of the local coffee shop a poster of Bethany Hamilton, a girl who lost her arm in a shark attack but went on to become a professional surfer. Then a friend told Peluso he'd heard Affirm Films was going to make a movie about Hamilton's story. It wasn't true, but Peluso immediately inquired and found that the script was languishing at his office. No one else was interested, but Peluso dug out the box of scripts, called his boss and said, "We have got to make this movie."
Soul Surfer proves that a film with unabashed Christian elements can attract big-name talent like Carrie Underwood, Dennis Quaid, and Helen Hunt while winning at the box office. Although it was originally going to appear at just a few hundred theaters, on its opening weekend in April Soul Surfer earned $11.1 million and the highest per-theater average of any new wide release. The project "lived and died" more than once, Peluso said, but like Hamilton herself, the film bounced back.
My AP teacher made us do this exercise and I thought it was funny. It was called "Extended Metaphors" and this was what I wrote for it:
"Life is like a roll of toilet paper. Just like there is a whole lot of paper on a roll, there is a lot we go through in life before we reach the end. You cannot skip any of the squares to reach another one first, and you cannot see the rest of the paper, only the squares that are before you. Each part of life must be lived as it comes, and cannot be skipped. We never know what life has in store for us, we can only see the present. Once used, toilet paper can not be redeemed, or rolled back up the way it was. Once we live life, there’s no going back to redo or fix what we’ve done. Toilet paper has to be used by someone to be effective and achieve its purpose, just like God must use us so we can be useful and live for Him, which is our purpose in life. Just like the brown paper tube is at the end, yet in the center of the whole roll of paper, our reward, heaven and being with God, comes at the end of our lives, yet our relationship with God should be at the center while we’re living it. Everyone knows not to waste toilet paper. Don’t waste your life."
YOUR TURN!
It's your turn to make your own "Extended Metaphor"!
Well, what are you waiting for?
Get started! ;)
When you finish, comment and share yours with the other bloggers :)
