Mark's Views, Perhaps — from behind my eyeballs
What’s the deal with Timothy David Miller’s alleged involvement in Lisa Miller‘s alleged international parental kidnapping of her own biological daughter (a minor of whom she had legal custody)?
I don’t know, even though I’ve read plenty of news accounts and other online commentary.
Is Timo guilty as accused?
I don’t know that either. After reading a document purporting to be the official Read it all
I learned a few minutes ago (thanks, Google Alerts!) that, as of yesterday, there’s a new travel warning for Mexico. (Sonora is of particular interest to me partly because I share responsibility for some people there.) Here are some portions of the travel warning, followed by a link to full deal, which includes sections addressing other states:
The Department of State has issued this Travel Warning to inform U.S. citizens traveling to and living in Mexico about the security situation in Mexico.
[…]
Millions of U.S. citizens safely visit Mexico each year, including more than 150,000 who cross the border every day for study, tourism or business and at least one million U.S. citizens who live in Mexico. The Mexican government makes a considerable effort to protect U.S. citizens and other visitors to major tourist destinations.
[…]
There is no evidence that U.S. tourists have been targeted by criminal elements due to their citizenship. Nonetheless, while in Mexico you should be aware of your surroundings at all times and exercise particular caution in unfamiliar areas.
[…]
Due to ongoing violence and persistent security concerns, you are urged to defer non-essential travel to the states of Tamaulipas and Michoacán, and to parts of the states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sinaloa, Durango, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi and Jalisco. Details on these locations, and other areas in which travelers should exercise caution, are below. Read it all
I wasn’t there.
Nancy and Sam Davis were riding along a highway 70 miles south of the border town of Reynosa, Mexico, on Wednesday when they approached an illegal roadblock. Rather than stop, they continued driving and were chased by several gunmen in a black pick-up truck, according Pharr Police Chief Ruben Villescas.
Rather than stop, Sam Davis gunned the engine of their blue 2008 Chevrolet pick-up, a vehicle popular with the dangerous Zetas drug cartel that controls the area. The pursuing gunmen fired at Davis’ truck, and a bullet hit Nancy Davis in the head.
Her husband raced the 70 miles to the Pharr International Bridge, speeding the last part of the way against on-coming traffic to avoid the long lines of northbound cars at the border checkpoint, arriving at 12:25 p.m., according to police reports.
Source: ABC News
I don’t know why Sam didn’t stop at the roadblock.
Neither do I know what I would have done in his shoes.
Unless “in his shoes” means all that it suggests. In that case, I expect I would have done what he did.
Some folks, though, (will) say Sam’s decision to run the roadblock was foolish and/or wrong.
An interesting concept and a neat contraption by Steve Saint, son of missionary martyr Nate Saint:
Well, not really a mechanical shepherd, but a shepherd who looks like a mechanic and a mechanic who acts like a shepherd. But makes a much-too-long title.
Every Christmas we trot out the crèche again. We peel off the newspaper wrappings and arrange the usual cast of characters—three wise men holding presents one kneeling; three shepherds one with lamb on shoulders; infant bearing adult’s demeanor, arms outstretched; Mary genuflecting by the straw crib; Joseph hovering over his wife.
We say the usual things about the shepherds: “See how God loves the humble. See how He revealed himself to those rough men and not to the wise and learned. Were there no great scribes and teachers in Jerusalem that God should pass them over to go to a field?” We say all that but we would drop dead with surprise if in our day God brought important news to Joe Homeless in South Philadelphia and gave him the assignment of delivering the message to the local accredited Bible schools. He wouldn’t get past the receptionist.
I met a real live “shepherd” last week in Bernville, Pa. His name is Andy Merrick and he looks a little rough, to tell you the truth. It’s because he spends a lot of time under cars and at car auctions, buying and repairing vehicles for missionaries. In high school his friends took bets that he wouldn’t live past 19. God had other plans. After he got saved, Andy thought part of that plan was Bible school. But when he tried to wrap his mind around Greek and Hebrew paradigms, he didn’t know why he was there, and he says the teachers didn’t either.
Andy went to Peru as a missionary for 18 months and noticed they were working with lousy equipment, so he came back home and started collecting and fixing cars for them, till his neighbors in South Jersey objected to the fleet on his lawn and he had to ask God for more land, which the Lord obliged him with.
Andrée Seu wrote that (and a bit more) over at WorldMagBlog: The shepherd thing.
Here’s the March 13 story from the Huntsville Times:
| Aegis joins search for missionary family’s plane
A Huntsville company specializing in the enhancement of satellite imagery has joined efforts to find a missing Jackson County pilot, his wife and five other people whose plane apparently crashed in a Venezuelan jungle last month while on a missionary trip. Aegis Technologies is working with Colorado-based DigitalGlobal, an operator of high-resolution, earth-imaging satellites, to photograph the dense jungle terrain where the plane was last seen in the hope of finding any wreckage. […] Edwards said he believes Norton and his passengers could still be alive. “He’s an incredible pilot,” he said. “If anyone could stick a landing in that type of terrain, he could.” If they were able to survive the crash, he said, they would have a difficult time finding their way out of the dense jungle. But Edwards said they would have plenty of water, and the natives would probably provide them with food. |
Current.
Retired.
Aiming2B.
A revolution in missions taking place
| In the last few decades a profound yet quiet revolution has taken place in mission which is best observed from a field perspective. There are many facets of this shift, which is accelerating in speed and intensity as the timing of our Lord Jesus is coming closer.
The first change, according to The Bridge International’s RK Ulrich, is the pulling back of the Western church as torch-bearers of the Gospel to the unreached, and the merging of national churches with strong leaders who effectively are reaching their own. It is interesting to note that the Church-at-large is presently growing far more rapidly in the third world and emerging nations than in the West (Europe and North America) Secondly, Ulrich says, “The definition of who is a missionary is changing. Traditionally, it was the person with a life-long call, trained through mission-school and sent out by a church or mission organization to one geographical field where they lived and died.” […] And finally, the rapidly increasing availability and use of the internet and satellite television is changing outreach. Ulrich says, “These media are already blanketing every square inch of our globe with an unfathomable amount of information. It’s said that the paradigm shift caused by the coming of the information highway is causing as profoundly revolutionary changes in our present global community as the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press did to the world culture at the time.” |
Generally speaking, I think the pulling back in the first change is unfortunate. Why pull back? If the national churches overtake us, praise God! But pull back…?
Anyway, I enjoyed this short article. Sure, I grew up in Mexico as an MK. Sure, I served in Mexico as an adult missionary. Sure, I’m chairman of a mission board. But I hope I enjoyed the article as a Christian and not just because of my involvement in foreign missions.