The Revolution will be Blogged

Andrew Sullivan is right again: the revolution in Burma is being blogged in real time. One of Sullivan's posts lists these sites:

Here is a site in Burmese (I guess).

This is one in English.

Please make a comment below if you know of others. I think we are seeing real democracy emerging. I wonder if it will be crushed by a corrupt and strong government. I pray it is not.

Democracy in Burma

Something exciting is happening in Burma. I pray for these Buddhist Monks: that they are able to stand up to an oppressive military junta.

Picture above is from the Mizzima News Service.

Seminarian in Scotland

Adam Copeland is a student at Columbia Seminary in Atlanta. He's a member of First Pres, Tallahassee. He is serving a year-long intenship at St. Columba Church in Ayr, Scotland. He plans to keep a blog and I plan to follow it here, and invite you to do the same.


http://adamcopeland.vox.com/

Communion Table

The morning sun came directly into the sanctuary at 7:45 this morning and illuminated the Communion Table with a beautiful light. I was distracted from my prayer and took this picture with my telephone, then continued my prayer. (It is more about my distraction from prayer than the beauty of the Table.)

clouds

News from Mexico after the hurricanes

This note came to me yesterday from a North American missionary to the Yucatan of Mexico. These are different folks from the medical doctor in Belize whose note before Felix is several entries below.


Dear Friends and Prayer Partners:

We have been receiving emails from various of you, wanting to know how we weathered hurricane Dean. Actually, we were ending up our 2-week trip to the States when it hit. We flew in from Houston on Tuesday (Monday’s flight had been cancelled), and saw that there was practically no damage at all in Merida. Only wind gusts of up to 60 miles an hour were felt, and no rain to speak of. Dean came in further south, so that most of Yucatan as well as Cancún, were spared major damage. Our camp at Porvenir was not affected at all. Praise the Lord!

Where Dean came in was further south, near Chetumal and Belize, at a resort town called Majahual (pronounced “Mah-hah-WAHL”). The piers that received cruise boats were destroyed, as well as most of the town. That area of the Peninsula is sparsely populated, and only about ten deaths were storm-related. Dean hit as a category 5, but moved through very quickly. The greatest damage was to the crops and to the trees and jungles of the area. Maya villagers lost their homes and possessions (they had mostly palm-thatched houses). All the crops are gone in a swath that covers northern Belize, southern Quintana Roo and Campeche, and the south tip of Yucatan, the 3 states that comprise the Yucatan Peninsula.

Northern Belize apparently will be without electricity for two weeks more. They lost their trees and crops there, too. Helen Lacey’s garage collapsed, but she and her vehicle were at a refuge, so no serious damage. Amidst the losses, we thank the Lord for His protection!

Here in Merida, Seminary shut down as a precautionary measure. Classes will resume on Tuesday. We have put our downtown house up for sale. We pray the Lord to determine whenever and to whomever He wants it sold.

As a footnote, we had a wonderful 2 weeks in the States visiting friends in Michigan we do not get to see frequently. Times of prayer and praise were very meaningful to us. The high point of the trip was the baptism of Dan and Debbie’s third child, Owen David. We enjoyed some days with our children (Daniel, wife Debbie and daughter Debbie) and grandchildren Alyssa, Caleb and Owen. We praise the Lord for them.

Continued blessings to you as you enter into fall activities and serve Him where you are.

Your servants for Jesus’ sake, (2 Cor 4:5)

Jean and David Legters

For donations, please send (with a note) to

I.D.E.A. Ministries;
4595 Broadmoor Ave. S.E., Suite 237;
Grand Rapids, MI 49512

Finally, information from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance's response to Felix may be found here.

Concert October 14

On Sunday, October 14 Bryan Field MacFarland, a Presbyterian minister and singer/songwriter will perform at Northminster -- probably at 6pm. Watch this blog for much more information.

His site is here.

He wrote saying:
It's not everyday that a musician gets a blurb from such a prominent theologian as Walter Brueggemann. So, I wanted to share with my friends Brueggemann's words about my newest release:


"Re: All That Matters by Bryan Field McFarland... What matters to McFarland is the connection between deep faith rootage and current courage for faith in action. In cadences that bring the listener along, McFarland witnesses to hard issues that must be faced, but sings, in the midst of those hard issues, about healing, hope and finally about the divine “You.” Sung faith generates openness to freedom and obedience. The beat is just right for free obedience and obedient freedom."
- Walter Brueggemann, author of The Prophetic Imagination & Theology of the Old Testament


A portion of the proceeds from CDs sold AND digital downloads of the songs Enough For Everyone & Lyrical Freedom Riders goes to the Presbyterian Hunger Program AND We Shall Overcome: The Fund respectively!

Another Hurricane in Central America

A friend of a friend, Dr. Wiley Smith, is a Presbyterian Medical Missonary in Belize, Central America. The area was hit moderately by Hurricane Dean, and now there is a Category 5 Hurricane headed straight for where they live in Patchakan, in Northern Belize. Please pray for them and the Patchakan villagers.

Yesterday Dr. Smith wrote:
We're watching the weather reports again concerning hurricane Felix and its potential to strike Belize. The forecasters this afternoon are thinking that it may be a problem for southern Belize, rather than for us in the north. Nonetheless, we've been busy at the clinic today seeing our regular patients, fueling up the generator and boarding up the windows. Having done this a couple of weeks ago for hurricane Dean, it's getting to be a bit old hat.

Please be in prayer for whoever this storm affects. Our fellow missionaries Craig and Kim Marshall, who live in Belize City south of us, are moving inland to stay at the American Embassy in Belmopan. Belize City, which is built on a river delta like New Orleans, has a history of massive flooding with hurricanes. It is also where Unity Presbyterian Church is located, whose members live in the swampy ghetto area known as Burial Grounds. Unity Presbyterian members came north to help us last week with the cleanup from hurricane Dean. This reminds me of the Macedonian church, whom Paul applauded for "giving out of their extreme poverty."

Those interested in contributing for hurricane relief here, please be advised that the Mission to the World account to which gifts should be designated is now number 097105.

Yours in Him, Wiley
Dr. Wiley Smith
Presbyterian Medical Clinic
www.missionaryclinicbelize.org

The line above this one is a clickable link to the hospital. This link goes to the PDA response, please click it.