The Puzzle of the Persecuted

My first trip to India was in April of 2002. It was at this time that persecution of the Christian Church was beginning to ramp up.

A pastor and his son had been burned to death in their by radicals in a major city , simply because they were Christians. Other Pastor's reported being dragged from their homes and Churches and being beaten and falsely accused of crimes. One of the leaders we visited had his home broken into and the intruders fired random shots down the hallway and around the house.

I was asked by Open Doors to join a team to travel to a few different areas and teach Pastors and other Christian Leaders about how to deal with persecution.

I thought that this was more than a little pretentious and quite the puzzle.

How was I going to teach anyone about that? 

 While I had dealt with the challenges of everyday life and had helped others walk through their problems, I was simply used to dealing with problems that paled in severity, next to the idea of being burnt to death because of my beliefs.
 
What could I possibly say that would help them on their way? Can you imagine being asked to teach someone else that has faced a life and death situation about how they can successfully navigate that problem, when you've never even faced it yourself? That's pretty much where I was.

But, I found the solution to that puzzle!

 I found that the simple acts of going there, talking to them, reminding them of the hope they have, listening to their experiences and praying with them made a huge impact on their lives.
 
I have recently begun a non-profit organization (in all my spare time) that helps connect people like you and I with International Christian Leaders for the purpose of encouraging them and praying for them, and letting them know that we stand with them. We call this organization "Alentar" (A Spanish word that means, simply "To Encourage").

We dont send them stuff, we dont send them money, we send them ourselves...our time, our prayers and, when possible, our visits. 

I was surprised at how much of a difference that can make, but now I know that it does. Not only in the lives of our International Family, but ours as well.

You can follow along with me by "liking" our Facebook page (facebook.com/AlentarInternational) or by getting on our email list by dropping us a note at alentarinternational@gmail.com.

Cyber Warfare and a sharpened Kabar

Our youngest recently attended a week long Cyber Defense camp with the Civil Air Patrol.

We showed up at the end of the week to see his graduation ceremony and pick him up. The special guest speaker told us that he had literally waged war and killed with his computer and had been given mission orders from computers.

I had visions in my mind of him smashing someone with his old Apple IIe, literally killing someone with his computer, and Skynet becoming sentient and ordering him to wage war. Maybe this isn't quite what he meant.

Then they showed a video. In the video, a team of High Intensity Interval Training fit superbad looking special operators clandestinely sneak in on a compound with a few enemy combatants meeting in a pickup to plan the next 911 or something.

Instead of taking them all out with their Carl Gustav's and  Mark 3's, they get on some sophisticated communication thing that links them with some base in Alaska, a Cruiser in the Mediterranean, a satellite in outer space and a couple of jets flying around. It showed the grand vision of the integrated, high tech and lethal potential of Cyber Defense! It was impressive. Each link of this chain was a sight to see.

Then I thought that integrated systems are awesome! But, if one link in that chain is compromised, will the individual elements of these systems still be able to function independently? Or will a bad cell connection put an end to the entire operation?

At what point does a guy just have to sharpen up his Kabar and go to work?