Remember Ambassadors

It is always a pleasure to represent Remember and our ministry to the Christian community.  This weekend, I will be at the SC-Bridge homeschool convention.  It starts tomorrow, so my Ambassadors posting may be sporadic or non-existent for the rest of the week.  If you're in the Charleston area, and will be attending the convention, please stop by and say "hi!"

Please pray that God would use this conference to raise up Ambassadors for the persecuted church!

Here are a couple of persecution news headlines for today–

Eritrea Prayer Warriors Expect Miracles, God's Intervention

IEM's Evangelist Arrested for Showing Jesus Film 

The testimony of Korean Pastor Paul Song sounds very similar to that of the Apostle Paul, in many respects.  He has been bloodied, beaten, and left for dead numerous times, all because of his desire to preach the gospel.  Even his family rejected him for his faith.

You can read Pastor Song's story here, courtesy of Assist News Service. 

Remember's work takes us into countries that are often ruled by cruel dictators.  Burma is no exception.  General Than Shwe became Burma's despot when he took over as chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council in 1992.  Even though the SLORC has changed its name to the State Peace and Development Council–a highly misleading name, if you take it at face value–General Than Shwe has remained on the short list of the world's most cruel tyrants, especially in his persecution of Christians.

I've often wondered what the day to day life of a dictator looks like.  Apparently I'm not the only one, and The Irrawaddy has launched a special feature called the Than Shwe Watch.  It is a fascinating look at the daily life of a man that has been responsible for the death and persecution of thousands of Christians.

The survey team that just recently returned had two specific goals on their venture into Thailand and Burma.  First, they wanted to scope out the ministry possibilites for Remember in the changing situation in the Karen State of Western Burma.

After arriving in Bangkok and driving many hours northward, the team's first ministry leg was to the Mae La Refugee Camp, where Remember funds the Freedom House Orphanage.  There they took the time to interview the local leadership to see what doors might be opening.  More on these doors to come!

Click on the pictures to see the full-size version.

The second leg of the ministry was down south of the refugee camp, and on the other side of the border–inside Burma.

Border checkpoint between Thailand and Burma.

They travelled in pickup trucks on the narrow jungle trails to get to a small village of internally displaced persons (IDPs), where a number of Christian Karen have fled to avoid the violence in the north.  They took Bibles, clothing,  medicines, and toys and candy, all of which were donated by believers in the United States.  The primary goal of this leg, though, was to talk to village leaders about the possibility of opening a ministry for the IDP children.

Like any survey trip, this one was designed to "prepare the way" for our future ministry.  Please be in prayer for the Remember Board as they now look to implement the most effective ministry possible for these persecuted believers.

Last night, over on the Remember homepage, we posted a new update on how you can get involved to help the persecuted church.  We just had one trip return home from Thailand and Burma, and they were very successful in distributing supplies to the Body of Christ living in abject poverty.  Most of those supplies were donated by American believers–from clothing, to medical supplies, to toys and coloring books.

If you've ever been to an impoverished area overseas, you know the blessing that even these simple items can be.  And the likelihood is that you, and members of your church, have extras of these blessings collecting dust in your homes.  What better use could there be for them than to bless Christians who have next to nothing?

Now we're gearing up for a medical trip next month, back to the persecuted Karen believers in Thailand and Burma, and are planning potentially multiple trips all across the world in the upcoming months.  We want to take an assortment of these blessings on each one of our trips!

So check out the supply list.  If you can, print it out and give it to members of your church!  The responsibility to "do good unto…the household of faith" is on every member of the Body of Christ, and this is a simple way to carry out that requirement.

The supply list is not exhaustive, so if you have an idea of an item that could be helpful to the persecuted church, feel free to contact Remember using the phone number or e-mail on the list.

Our Remember team is back on the ground in the United States! I am looking forward to being able to share their pictures and stories with you.

In the meantime, the changing situation in Burma has garnered quite a bit of attention on the international news front.  Our team will have first-hand reports, but to "prepare the way" you can read these stories:

Chiang Mai Op-Ed (this article is not written from the perspective of Christian persecution, but gives a background to the Karen State developments.  Warning: Contains rather graphic photos of the violence.)

Relief Worker Executed as Burma Army Launches New Attacks on Karen Villages