Radical Womanhood

Ministry to North Korean Refugees

Hannah Kim, a friend of mine from church, wrote this guest post for my blog about her interest in North Korean refugees. Please read and join her in praying for this people group.

I just came back from a rejuvenating weekend in the hills of Virginia – the annual retreat for a ministry called Durihana USA that assists North Korean refugees as they resettle in the States. This year was the fourth year that I’ve attended the retreat as a volunteer, and it is such a privilege to see now-familiar faces of North Korean brothers and sisters who have traversed many miles to be there. But what astounds me are the individual stories of how they left their homeland, crossed many countries, and experienced much heartache in the process. Each story is different, but each story has providentially found its way to the United States.  

The name “Durihana” means “two become one” and refers to Ezekiel 37:16-17, where the prophet is instructed by the Lord to grasp two sticks in one hand, a gesture that symbolized the reconciliation of divided Israel. This theme of restoration is something that is so needed for the individuals in this group (many people-groups--actually, all of us!). I think about how each person has experienced significant suffering and how hearts need mending. On the larger scale, I think about the fact that Korea is still a divided nation.

The peninsula of Korea has been divided since the Korean War (1950-1953) and technically the two countries are still at war. The Korean conflict ended with a stalemate but there was never actually a peace treaty. Some people call the Korean War the Forgotten War because it didn’t garner much press and the general public doesn’t know much about it.

As I’ve gotten to know some of these North Koreans, I can’t help but get the feeling that they also may feel forgotten. Misunderstood, at least. Adjusting to a new country is stressful on so many different levels – and when you can’t speak or be understood, you naturally turn inward and feel more alienated. I talked to one of the teenagers who came to America five years ago, who shared how kids would bully him at school for not speaking English. Even his teacher threw hurtful remarks at him for being from North Korea.

He told me about how over the summer he went on a group tour of the U.S. with other North Korean youth, and there he responded to a call to confess his sin and turn to God. He said he doesn’t quite understand what his decision meant, but he tells me his role model is Jesus and he wants to understand. I asked him if he had any good memories in North Korea and he told me no. His story is marked by suffering and loss that no child should go through. I told him about God’s promise in Jer. 29:11 – despite his difficult journey from North Korea to America, God has good plans for him and a special purpose for his life. He said he had never heard this before. Please pray that his relationship with God would grow and that he would experience healing.

I spoke with another older North Korean man who just arrived in the States just a few months ago. He said he’s been to church a couple times but it’s hard for him to accept the message (that day the pastor spoke about prayer). His education taught him to be self-reliant, and that he should work hard to get ahead. He said he’s not ready to think that he needs other people’s help…why then would he pray? We asked him, have you tried praying? Please intercede that many hearts would be softened to the message of the Gospel.

When I first became interested in North Korea in college, it was a far-off and inhuman place to me. When I thought of North Korea I thought about the politics, the media coverage, the prison camps and malnourished children. It was very cerebral. I thought about how I could intellectually understand the situation, and protest in a big, noisy way. But these days I’m thinking about the individual stories that are forgotten, the hearts behind the statistics. Young North Korean moms who are raising babies in a new environment, or students who diligently strive to earn a GED through evening classes after working a full-time job. The quiet lives of people struggling to adjust to the States, mostly separated from their families, working menial jobs and attending ESL classes.

Please pray for the 30 or so North Koreans (from newborns to people in their 50s) who attended this year’s retreat – that Jesus would become real to them. The gospel is bearing fruit in some of their lives, and in others the seed has fallen on shallow or rocky ground. But God is doing a work in this small North Korean community he’s brought to the U.S. I believe he has appointed many in this group to carry the message to people that no one else can reach. 

___________________________

To read about the work of Durihana Korea, which assists people in their journey out of North Korea, go here. For basic information about North Korea and general prayer topics, visit this site.

Photo: Hannah Kim in the China/North Korea border city of Tumen.

In the Land of Blue Burqas

Today, tens of thousands of Pakistanis rallied in support of a 14-year-old girl who was shot and critically wounded by the Taliban for promoting the education of girls. If you have never heard of Malala Yousufzai, you need to get to know this brave girl. She has been facing down the Taliban since she was 11 years old, risking their vengeful wrath to criticize their policies and peacefully stand up for girls' education. 

Two years ago, I spoke about her in a message I gave a number of times during the True Woman 2010 events on women's global issues. I was also graciously given permission by a New York Times filmmaker to show a short film he made about Malala and her family, called "Class Dismissed in Swat Valley." If you haven't seen it, please check it out because I think Malala is more than worth 15 minutes of your time. In fact, please join me in praying for her recovery!

From our perspective, it's hard to understand why the Taliban takes this harsh stance against girls. The Taliban, fortunately, are not representative of all Pakistanis. Nor of all Muslims. But one book I read recently was very helpful for me to grow in my understanding of Islamic practices and beliefs. It's called In the Land of Blue Burqas. It was written by Kate McCord (a pseudonym for her safety), a single female missionary who worked for an NGO in Afghanistan for a number of years. Kate's description of her daily life and conversations with Afghan Muslims was illuminating and helpful for understanding some of the dynamics of the rest of the Muslim world. Plus it's a great read!

The book opens with a tense scene of Kate riding in a rickshaw with two men, Muslim mullahs who openly stare at her. "That was rude, and they certainly wouldn't have stared if my face had been hidden. I was used to it. Virtually all Afghan men, completely unashamed, stared at me wherever I went--another price of being a foreign woman in Afghanistan," she writes. "There's no place in Afghanistan for an independent, unmarried adult woman. I dind't make sense."

The tension in that rickshaw builds as the men attempt to convert her to Islam on the spot. As she diplomatically but firmly declines to convert, her physical safety becomes questionable. They tell her that her life would be better in this world and the next if she converted. That thought invites Kate's ruminations on what she understands of her Afghan neighbors' view of the next life.

Many Afghan men have told me exactly what heaven is like, in stunningly great detail. Men will get their wives back as well as, if they've been very good, seventy virgins who regain their virginity each time it's taken. There will be wonderful food, even meat. Ah, the good the life. What every Afghan man dreams.

Once, after a male Afghan friend had detailed his understanding of Muslim heaven and derided me for my very incomplete understanding of what heaven looks like according to Jesus, I had privately asked an Afghan woman what she expected to find in heaven. Was there anything for her? Her response was jarring. ... She looked down, shrugged her shoulders, and said in perfect Afghan slang, "Machem," meaning, "How should I know?" 

One of the most illuminating insights I received from Kate's account is how the collective pressure works to keep Islam protected from the contaminating influences of "infidels." In a real, street-level sense, the local mullahs are the ones enforcing the rules in Afghanistan. Everyone else complies because it is a deeply-embedded value to protect the community from any non-Islamic influence or temptation. 

I was also intrigued by the way Kate recounts her conversations with her Afghan neighbors--how eager they were to speak of spiritual things. Her detailed accounts of these conversations (somewhat altered to protect others) were helpful in learning how to contextualize certain concepts for non-Christians. But sometimes the barriers between our cultures can just seem insurmountable, as illustrated in the conversation Kate had with a teenaged boy who was learning English. 

He was quite proud of his work. He turned to the page that listed family relationships, and I read the corresponding English text he had written beside each Dari word. On the second page, I read the word ambuk. An ambuk in Dari defines he relationship between a man's multiple wives. He had translated the word into "step-wife." 

I couldn't help but laugh. I told the boy, "No, no. We don't have 'step-wives' in English. We absolutely don't say that."

The boy argued with me, defending his translation and his teacher. I told him I didn't care what his teacher had taught him; we don't say "step-wife" in English.

He asked the obvious question: "What word do you use?"

I was stumped. I said we don't allow men to take two wives simultaneously so we don't have that relationship. It's illegal.

He said, "You have to have a word." 

I couldn't find one. How can we have a word to describe something that, for us, doesn't exist?

The boy told me the Prophet of Islam directed his followers to take multiple wives and therefore that's what men should do, everywhere. How could we not have a word for it when it's the right way to live? 

Kate's faithfulness to share her faith and beliefs put her at personal risk every day. She and her office staff were watched very closely to make sure they were not converting anyone. If that had been confirmed, judgment would have been swift and severe, for as she writes, "Judgment in Afghanistan is a serious matter. It comes with the threat of punishment. That punishment might include gossip, public shaming, or shunning. It might include stoning, beating, rape, or even murder. These are the strongest tools the community uses to enforce the rules of their religion on its members."

Despite Kate's unflinching words about the culture, her affection for the specific people in her community is warm and clear. She takes her readers behind the private walls of the aouli, the family compounds where Afghan women live, to introduce us to her friends and their hospitable culture that exists within these Muslim norms.

Having read In the Land of Blue Burqas, I better understood the cultural pressures that exist in varying degrees for Muslims in other places. Highly recommended for our multicultural world.

A Prayer for Cuba

Few Americans have traveled to modern Cuba. But I had the privilege of visiting there in August 2011, right before some of the travel restrictions for Americans were lifted. Because we did not travel with a tour group, we had a credible view of real Cuban life.

I loved our visit there. The country's faded but regal beauty was visually appealing and its people were warm and welcoming. But the message of socialism is the only public advertising you'll see there. (Cuba may be one of the few places on earth that is not branded with Coca-Cola signs).  

My prayer is that one day the gospel will be the most prominent message of Cuba. I hope you will join me in that prayer. In the meantime, here is a poetic short film we created after our visit. May it inspire your intercession!

 

Gifts with Benefits for Christmas

Two years ago, I met an incredible band from Uganda as I was there filming for my forthcoming film, A Note of Hope. The Macedonians are a group of talented musicians from northern Uganda who use their music to further social causes in the nation and to promote the cause of the many orphaned children there. They are led by a pastor named Joshua Ijala, who told me back in 2009 that he led a church that cared for 400 orphans. Four hundred orphans! Though many were orphaned due to HIV/AIDS, Joshua said the bulk of the children in his charge were orphaned by the brutal tyranny of the LRA rebel group. (LRA stands for the Lord's Resistance Army and they are certainly resisting the Lord in the way they have terrorized central Africa.)

Ever since meeting Joshua, I've been working on a way to help raise funds for his work. Now I have a way to do it. The band's first U.S. project has been released through the ministry of Covenant Mercies. (You may recall that I sponsor a girl named Emebet in Ethiopia through Covenant Mercies.) When you purchase the $15 CD , you are helping to fund Covenant Mercies' work in Uganda and the cost of recording this project. But for an extra $10 donation, you can also support the ministry of the Macedonians. (This portion is tax-deductible, too.)

The Macedonians play indigenous instruments with amazing skill. They are mesmerizing. Below is a brief trailer that shows the spontaneous performance that erupted when the American musicians from A Note of Hope met the Macedonians. I don't recall any words being exchanged--everyone just picked up their instruments and began to play. The Americans were enthralled by the sound of the thumb pianos and bass harps. (This segment starts at 2:35 in the trailer and runs until 3:35. Joshua appears at 2:50 in the trailer. He's the man wearing a white polo shirt and sunglasses.) And below that trailer from my film is a full clip of the Macedonians performing, recorded by another production team.

I'm ordering this CD for my nieces and nephews because I want them not only to learn about the music of another culture, I want them to become aware of the plight of children their ages in other nations. I want them to think about Christmas not as what they can get, but what they can give. "Gifts with benefits" model the kind of giving that actually can improve the life of a fellow human being. 

I hope you will join me in supporting the Macedonians. If you place your order by this Friday, the 16th, you'll receive the CD before Christmas.  You can listen to three sample songs here. But you have to use this special link to order the CD and make the extra donation (it's a pulldown menu). 

Ever since we met, Joshua has patiently been waiting to find out what I could do to help him. I told him I don't have a lot of influence. But I do have many like-minded friends who care about people in other parts of the world. I said I would present the opportunity to help and pray that many people would respond. So here's a unique holiday gift. I hope you will consider it!

Watch the Film, Save a Life

So, my friends, it's World AIDS Day, which actually kicks off AIDS Awareness Month. I know this isn't usually the topic people want to consider during the holidays, but I'm actually kind of excited myself. The reason is because for the past year, I've been immersed in the topic of HIV prevention and the AIDS pandemic in Africa, thanks to Citygate Films' newest film, THE ROAD WE KNOW. More importantly, there's actually some good news on the horizon about reducing HIV infections!

And that's the message of THE ROAD WE KNOW. This film follows seven college students in Botswana who are boldly challenging conventional wisdom about AIDS in Africa to bring the low-cost, dignified message of sexual restaint to their younger peers. They were filmed in 2009 by my colleague, Suzanne Taylor, who directed and edited this production. Suzanne found out about them through the global missions fund of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, GA. These Botswana college students are all Christians who are motivated by their faith to intervene in a crisis where one in four adults (ages 15 to 49) are infected with HIV. Can you imagine living among such an epidemic? It's almost unthinkable.

Yet as we were finishing the post-production on this project, we read a special report from the UNAIDS organization that talked about how young adults are leading the revolution in HIV prevention. In this 2010 report, UNAIDS could point to a 25 percent drop or more in new infections for young adults ages 15 to 24 in 15 of the most infected nations--primarily due to sexual behavior change! This confirmed that what we had documented in Botswana was not an isolated trend.

Today we are releasing this film. It won't be in theaters near you. It will, in fact, be even closer than that. Citygate Films has the privilege of participating in the beta project of an exciting innovation in online video viewing. We have teamed up with European technology company UbicMedia™ and its proprietary PUMit tool to allow audiences to digitally share our film, while simultaneously contributing to a fund to further develop youth HIV/AIDS prevention programs in Botswana. UbicMedia actually approached our film promotion team, CrowdStarter, to find an independent film to pioneer this technology and we were very pleased to be selected to be part of this beta project.

"Ubicmedia is working with leading U.S.-based entertainment networks and file-sharing and content management companies," says UbicMedia's Olivier Pfeiffer. "The global importance of the theme addressed by Suzanne Taylor in THE ROAD WE KNOW is a perfect fit to showcase the flexibility and the virality of our solution. We're all very happy to potentially increase the awareness around the cause and the amount of collected funds through the use of UbicMedia's technology."

So I'm asking you to check out our "Watch the Film, Save a Life" campaign--and then spread the good news about both the film and the youth revolution in HIV prevention! And if you are in the Marietta area, come on out tonight to the premiere screening at Johnson Ferry. It starts at 7:00 pm, it's free, and Suzanne will be there for a director Q&A afterward.

But no worries if you still prefer the big screen experience. You can arrange for the film and/or our team to come out for a community screening for your group. Details are on the film's website. Help us populate that screening map with some love for the film! 

Watch the film, save a life!

 

Recycling Pain for Good

My friend, Elaini Garfield, is doing something creative to raise awareness and money for orphaned children in India. I know, I know! Another fundraiser. But please don't click away just yet. I think Elaini has something compelling to tell us. And it starts with her own experience. Here's what she wrote on her blog about the motivation for her new campaign:

All my life I’ve had various health issues but I still managed to graduate early from high school at 16.  Instead of getting a head start on college, I woke up one day and realized I was sick.  For the next six months, my health rapidly declined.  It was almost impossible to go out of my house and I spent much of my time in bed or in the big cushy chair in our living room.  For a while, I stayed curled up since when I moved my skin would crack and bleed.  During the next four years, I struggled not to go completely crazy from the pain and sleepless nights.  I have seen some improvement in the last two years and have even been able to take some classes at a community college.

Living for four years in survival mode doesn’t help you dream at all, yet alone dream big.  I can’t change the past but I can affect the future.  This year I am setting out to dream. Not just little dreams but big ones.  I believe my pain has a purpose, and Jesus brought me through it so I would have compassion on others.  My experience has given me a desire to help other children dream. Even though I am still weak, I don’t want to waste the life I have been given. Here I am setting out on an adventure to help others with whatever strength I have.  

I love that Elaini sees that pain that can have a purpose. If you've been a long-time reader of this blog, you may remember what I wrote about Elaini back in 2008 in a post titled, "The Grace to Help Others." This other-oriented perspective is nothing new about Elaini. She has been faithfully cultivating it for awhile. Therefore, when she became aware that many orphans in India can't go to school unless they can afford to buy a uniform, she set out to do something to help. 

Orphans in India can’t go to school without a uniform.  However, they often don’t have clothes to wear.  Growing up surrounded by turmoil, human trafficking, and loss, an education can help these orphans dream about a different life.  I have been given so much that I can have “fashion,” while these children struggle to stay clothed.  I have to do something.  I’m hoping you’ll do it with me.

Here’s the deal: I’ll wear a black dress for several months (don’t worry—I’ll have two of the exact same style so that I don’t start smelling) to identify with the children who only have one outfit.  I’ll accessorize it in different ways, take a picture every day, and blog it.  Think of it as a dress marathon. Here’s where you can help.  I want to raise $50,000 for the orphans in India.  I’m going to wear this dress as a reminder of these children.  Would you help me help them? 

The money that Elaini raises will go to a nonprofit called Warm Blanket Orphan Care. As she writes: 

Warm Blankets is a non-profit Christian mission, dedicated to the rescue and care of orphans and widows in developing nations. There, children are raised, not in cold institutions, but in loving church orphan homes by widows from their own communities. Women who understand their loss and pain. The children  become a part of a nurturing family environment where special care is given to their physical, emotional and spiritual needs. It is a safe haven.

All contributions to the One Dress Project go directly to Warm Blankets Orphan Care. They will be used to give these children a future and a hope through educational and vocational opportunities. The children will have the opportunity to go to school with their peers and be taught skills that will enable them to become productive citizens. Warm Blankets also provides ESL programs, computer training, and agricultural instruction, equipping the children with skills to further economic progress in their native countries.

I have not heard of Warm Blankets Orphan Care before, but I like their philosophy. They have a four-star Charity Navigator Rating, which is the best. 

I hope this post encourages you to think about what you have (in all your circumstances) that can be recycled for the good of others for the praise of God's glory. I like Elaini's spirit and I hope her outlook is contagious!

 

Prayers for Pakistan

A few days ago, I received notice that a friend in Pakistan has received death threats from militants because he has been speaking up for the rights of persecuted people, especially Christians, in Pakistan. I first met Joseph Francis in 2008, when I filmed his visit to Washington, DC, to make appeals on behalf of Pakistani minorities to the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. He is an attorney and the national director for CLAAS (the Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement) in Lahore, Pakistan.

Joseph Francis works with Virginia-based attorney Ann Buwalda of the Jubilee Campaign, another human rights organization that protects religious liberty. When I was working on my book, Radical Womanhood, I decided that a portion of my book royalties would be dedicated to Jubilee to support their efforts. It's through Jubilee that I became aware of Joseph Francis. But now, after two high profile assassinations of Pakistani leaders who advocated to end the blasphemy law, I have become very concerned for our brothers and sisters who are in Pakistan. Last week, the Pakistan Christian Post carried this notice about Joseph:

The London office of CLAAS have appealed for special prayer request for the safety and protection of Joseph Francis, the director of CLAAS Pakistan, who has received death threats from militants because of his work speaking up for the rights of persecuted people, especially Christians, in Pakistan. The death threats started coming in after Mr. Francis spoke about the misuse of the blasphemy laws on the Policy Matters programme on the Duniya TV channel and Kal Tak on the Express TV Channel.

After the murder of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer and Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti in the last few months, these threats are being taken extremely seriously.

Religious extremists have become active in their pursuit of the full imposition of Sharia law in Pakistan. They are silencing anyone who speaks up in support of changes to the blasphemy laws, and the lives of those advocating the protection of human rights at this time are at real risk.

Despite the dangers, Mr Francis is refusing to back down and we urge you to keep him and all CLAAS staff in your prayers as they continue to serve on behalf of persecuted people in Pakistan.

Mr Francis said: “Even though I am receiving threats to my life, as a soldier of Christ I am willing to stand up for the rights of those persecuted and pressed down by these unjust laws, even if the ultimate goal demands my blood too.

“I know I have opposition from the religious extremists who want to stop me from defending my brothers and sisters in Christ from all kinds of persecution, but I will continue my struggle for the repeal of blasphemy and other Islamic discriminatory laws.”

I've written previously about Christians persecuted under the blasphemy law in Pakistan. So now I'm soliciting prayers not only for Joseph Francis' safety, but also for the complete dismantling of this law. It's a bold prayer request, but I offer it in the spirit of King Hezekiah's faith. In the 2 Kings 19 account, when Hezekiah is taunted by the king of Assyria not to trust in God, he goes to the house of the Lord to ask God to uphold His name: "So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone" (v. 19). 

A Perspective from the Arabian Peninsula

One faithful reader of this blog is an American working as a teacher on the Arabian Peninsula. I asked her to submit a guest post as her region is in the news. I think you all will enjoy her perspective.  It's a long entry, but worth the reading. At the end, you will find a list of her prayer requests. Please do intercede for her! I am grateful for her witness and labors where she is.

______________________________________

If you watch the news today, you’ll hear about protests and fighting across the North Africa and the Middle East. If you’ve been watching the news in the past year, you’ll have linked the names of certain countries across North Africa and the Middle East with terrorism and oppression.

But remember that the news highlights the 10% of life in these countries that is sensational and often overlooks the 90% that is merely interesting. And many of God’s most brilliant moments are hidden in the merely interesting or in the mundane, and you will never hear about them on the news.

I moved to the Arabian Peninsula in the summer of 2010 to help teach expat kids and to study Arabic, as well as to learn more about the people and culture of this region. Even though a year ago, I would never have run my finger down a list of countries and chosen this one to move to, God (naturally!) knew my heart and what I would love better than I knew myself. Living here has been fascinating and delightful, though certainly full of challenges.

One of the biggest challenges that I anticipated would be living as a single woman in my 30s in a culture that values early marriage and childbearing. Though everyone asks about my marital status and most good friends offer to help me find a local spouse, only one well-intentioned friend has reminded me that it is a shame not to marry young. Instead of being a stigma, my status has allowed me to spend lots of time getting to know my local friends. So I have found it easy to say, “Thank you, Father, for where you have me right now.”

I wish I could turn down the news noise where you are for a minute and introduce you to my friends here. Those figures shrouded in black that you might feel sorry for or—you might not say it out loud—be afraid of? They’re beautiful and stylish women who would open their homes and hearts to you and serve you milk tea until you’ll never sleep at night. They are daughters and sisters and mothers and grandmothers. They’ll talk freely about faith, because faith is the core of their lives. They’ll challenge you to articulate what you believe, and why. Their weddings, baby celebrations, work, and hospitality are a quiet backdrop to the protests and violence around them. I’ve learned to see the hearts under the veil, and I’m eager to return.  I want my friends to know what I know about all that God offers them. Last night I pictured Him with his sleeves rolled up, telling me, “You all have done a good job here. Leave it to me now.”

I’ll let you in on excerpts of a few blog entries that trace my interactions with the culture here:

September
I hear "Welcome in -----" fairly frequently. There must be something about me that looks like I wasn't born here. Maybe the bad scarf job with the pin poking into my ear and the end of the scarf flapping in the breeze? It's probably also the local hospitality . . . and the chance for the speaker to practice a little English.

This is truly a country where almost anything goes. "Adi" ("normal") is the mantra. Did you just see a woman fall out of the mini-bus and roll on the sidewalk? Adi. See people cut you in the drive thru line? Adi. Have the man collecting your money in the drive thru tell you you didn't pay enough when you're 98% sure you did . . . because he probably pocketed the extra? Adi.

I told one of my students' fathers that I didn't desire to drive here. "Why not?" he asked me. "It's so free!" Well, yes. He is right. You don't have to stay in your lane. You don't have to use turn signals. You can go the wrong way on a one-way. Stop signs don't exist. You drive with your horn. You can nose out into traffic and people won't be surprised. Maybe that could grow on me.

It's exciting enough to be a passenger or pedestrian! You can also stop in the middle of the road and get something out of your trunk. You can walk out into the middle of traffic and expect people not to hit you (usually). You can whiz down the highway in someone's trunk, if you're small enough to fit. You can ride cross-legged on the mattress set on a truck bed—not in a truck bed, on a truck bed. I could watch him bounce. You can ride seat belt-less in the back of a taxi zooming down the road. (They actually are cracking down on seat belt use in the driver's seat and maybe the front passenger's. The taxi driver will wear a seat belt, but there may be none in seat behind him.) It's all adi.

Speaking of cell phones, I've heard that the locals use theirs regularly on plane flights. Speaking of plane flights, I heard that the local airline once had a plane that started to take off, then stopped, because the pilot realized during taxi that he was too heavy to take off. At least he figured that out before he attempted. Apparently no one had taken weight limits too seriously when loading the plane.

Speaking of ice cream, which I wasn't speaking of (but it can contribute to human overweightedness), a friend told me the other day that she witnessed a worker at the local Baskin Robbins come on shift, then pick up a plastic spoon and test every single ice cream flavor one by one down the line with the same spoon. She'd had a friend who'd seen the same thing another time. Okay, count out x workers a day on x shifts with x plastic spoons . . . That could be a lot of germiness living in those glorious flavors. Does freezing kill germs? Because I sure like Baskin Robbins. But that's adi. Everyone shares dishes here, so it probably never crossed the workers' minds that that might be a problem.

There comes a point where you really have to laugh! It's all so crazy and bizarre, because it's so unlike home. It doesn't mean that it's all wrong, though! My teacher friend pointed out that, because people tend to be more fatalistic in their mentality ("if it be the will of God"), they actually tend to be more patient. If someone stopped in the middle of traffic at home, he might see multiple obscene gestures. Here people honk, but they're not going to scream and be mad because they're missing an appointment. They accept more.

Well, I do feel welcome in -----. And I do have a lot to learn. But I'm not sure that I'll ever use "adi" as wholeheartedly as the locals . . . unless I'm laughing.

 

"Jihad Cosmo"

With the deluge of bad news this week, I almost missed the announcement of Al-Qaeda's new magazine for women. I'm not kidding. Fortunately, some sharp friends noticed and passed the information along to me. Here's an excerpt from a report on this publication from The Independent:

Not content with launching an English-language magazine that debuted with a feature called "How to make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom", al Qa'ida's media wing has followed up with a magazine for women, mixing beauty tips with lessons in jihad.

The 31-page glossy, Al-Shamikha, which translates loosely as "The Majestic Woman", features a niqab-clad woman posing with a sub-machine gun on its cover.

Much like Elle or Cosmopolitan, it includes advice on finding the right man ("marrying a mujahideen"), how to achieve a perfect complexion (stay inside with your face covered), and provides tips on first aid and etiquette.

Alongside sisterly advice such as "not [to] go out except when necessary" and to always wear a niqab for protection from the sun, the magazine runs interviews with martyr's wives and praises those who give their lives in the name of the editors' interpretation of Islam. "From martyrdom, the believer will gain security, safety and happiness," it says.

For those readers not quite ready for such a drastic step, it argues the pros and cons of honey facemasks and lobbies against "towelling too forcibly".

The magazine's editors explain their thinking in a launch issue preamble: "Because women constitute half of the population – and one might even say that they are the population since they give birth to the next generation – the enemies of Islam are bent on preventing the Muslim woman from knowing the truth about her religion and her role, since they know all too well what would happen if women entered the field of jihad... The nation of Islam needs women who know the truth about their religion and about the battle and its dimensions and know what is expected of them." Analysts say the idea is to market global jihad with the same slick feel as Cosmopolitan or Marie Claire push Western culture to young women. Al-Shamikha certainly isn't the first jihadist magazine for women. It follows others such as The Granddaughters of Khansa, which launched in February 2010 only to fold after two editions. It bore a number of similarities to Al-Shamikha.

The US security establishment is reportedly concerned with al Qa'ida's publishing ambitions, which are self-evidently intended to recruit followers among the wider Muslim world.

The launch of Al-Shamikha comes nine months after al Qa'ida launched an English-language glossy, Inspire, a magazine targeting young Muslims in the West whom it hopes to incite to acts of terrorism. Inspire is believed to be edited by a US citizen-turned-militant, Samir Khan, currently in hiding in Yemen. Before fleeing the US, Khan turned out a series of jihadi magazines called Jihad Recollections which, like Inspire, were trumpeted by cyber jihadis across the web.

Sophisticated media campaigns are a hallmark of Al Qa'ida's strategists, and although some of their ideas have an almost ludicrous resonance among a Western audience, they have been masterful at tapping into the disenchanted youth in many Islamic countries.

I put that one sentence in bold because it's similar to what many Christian leaders say to women, minus the Islam reference, of course. The kingdom of God needs women who know the truth about their religion and about the battle and its dimensions and know what is expected of them. Murder and suicide are not one of the expectations, however. A big, big difference there.

For the record, I'm no fan of the superficial, overtly seductive image pedaled by the American women's media. What we export around the world in terms of our mass media is often vulgar and shallow in its portrayal of women--and shockingly immodest to Islamic cultures. That said, this publication is a good reminder that we have three reasons to pray for its readership:

• That the oppression of women in these areas would cease, and women and girls be treated as fully equal to men;
• That Al-Qaeda's terrorist agenda is thwarted and terminated;
• That the light and truth of the gospel penetrates where jihad is promoted.

Let's do battle, my sisters. But let's do it in our prayers and petitions to our all-sufficient God.

(Photo: Getty Images via The Independent.)

Fistula and Faith

Over the past year, I've spoken to hundreds of women about the issues that other women face in the developing world. One of the most common problems these women face is fistula -- but few American women seem to be familiar with it. That's because we have relatively good maternal health care. There's one woman who has become the face of fistula, so to speak: Dr. Catherine Hamlin. If you don't know about her, you need to become acquainted. Fortunately, Her.meneutics, the Christianity Today blog for women, posted about her today. Here's an excerpt from what Elissa Cooper wrote:

Vesicovaginal fistulas (VVFs) and the people who champion their eradication are fascinating. For Dr. L. Lewis Wall’s Christianity Today piece “Jesus and the Unclean Woman,” I spent a lot of time learning about VVFs for the accompanying news article, and enjoyed a refresher course for documentary review of A Walk to Beautiful for Her.meneutics. But I finally got to the heart of the story when I met Dr. Catherine Hamlin last month.

The world knows Hamlin’s name. The Australian obstetrician-gynecologist has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof dubbed her “the Mother Teresa of our age,” and Oprah has featured her story. However, Hamlin’s most striking quality is her Christian faith. It has driven her life’s work in healing women withVVFs in Ethiopia and her goal to end VVF worldwide by the end of the century. During her trip to launch Hamlin FistulaUSA — the newest member of Hamlin Fistula International — 87-year-old Hamlin sat down with me to talk.

Hamlin and her late husband, Reginald, also an obstetrician-gynecologist, were initially hired to work at an Ethiopian government hospital in 1959. “I believe God put us there. We came across these patients soon after we got there. They touched our hearts so much we stayed working with them.”

However, they soon found themselves overwhelmed by VVF patients. VVFs are holes or tears that occur during labor where the baby cannot be delivered without intervention, such as a cesarean section. The child usually dies, and the women are incontinent and become outcasts because of their condition. It is unknown how many women suffer from VVF as it usually strikes those in poor, rural areas, but one estimate puts the figure at 3 million women worldwide.

Fortunately, VVFs can be repaired with a simple surgery, and over the decades, the Hamlins have cured thousands of women. In 1974, the Hamlins founded Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia with the sole aim to treat VVF. Catherine still lives and works there as she performs surgeries one day a week, helps manage the hospital, and visits with patients. “I’m usually occupied all day with something,” Hamlin says. “I lie down after lunch for a bit of a rest, since I’ve gotten old.”

Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital is not a mission hospital or affiliated with a particular denomination, but the Hamlins’ faith defines it. The staff begins the day with a prayer meeting, and recordings of Scripture readings and messages are available in at least 25 languages for the women to listen to on headphones as they recover. Many patients have become Christians.

As the second fistula hospital in the world (the first ran in New York from 1855 to 1928 whenVVFs became obsolete in the U.S.), Addis Ababa depends on donations to provide free surgery and care for these women. Organizations give financial support to run the hospital and provide each woman with a new dress, a bus ticket home, and, if they would like one, a Bible. Hamlin Fistula International also raised money to launch five regional hospitals in Ethiopia that serve 3,000 patients a year and hopes to treat 4,000 annually. In order to prevent VVFs, another project involves training midwives to serve in rural areas and supporting them in their work.

“Most of the midwives in Ethiopia are congregated in the big city, Addis Ababa,” Hamlin says. “But our midwives are committed to work in the countryside, and they’re happy to work back in their own areas.” One of their first trained midwives returned home to find her sister was in labor, and she was able to deliver the child.

Read the rest of the post on Her.meneutics.