Feeling Sorry for Yourself?

Then you should click the link and read the full article:

Afghan girl begs for bread, prays for help

Little Banafsha wakes up in her small mud home, has a cup of tea and braces herself for the day ahead.

She is just 11 years old, but she is the breadwinner for her family. Literally.

Without the bread that she begs from strangers, she, her sisters, her baby brothers and her mom would all go hungry.

[…]

She is not bitter, explaining: “My two younger sisters also work. They beg for bread and sell gum. There’s no choice.”

[…]

“A few days ago, some girls were kidnapped around here, and many people have gone missing. The girls’ mother still comes around here looking for them, but they still haven’t been found,” Banafsha says.

This time of the year, the sun begins to set at 4:30 p.m. in Kabul. But Banafsha continues to roam the dark streets. The 6 o’clock rush hour is her peak business time.

Her eyes well with tears, but she doesn’t allow them to fall, quickly wiping them away and biting her thumb like the vulnerable child she is.

She prays every day: “I say, ‘God, take me out of this poverty and have my father go work so I can go to school.’ ”

[…]

…among the estimated 60,000 other street kids in Kabul, dreaming of a better life.

So?

What of it?

Who will care?

Who will do “to one of the least of these”?

Especially in the name of Jesus?

Where is the Heavenly Father?

I don’t know much of anything about Aschiana, but to the extent that they’re helping this little girl and thousands of others like her, God bless them!

OK, next subject? Now we can move on to our own “real living.”

Who Wants Children?

34th child abandoned under Neb.’s safe-haven law

A 5-year-old boy has been dropped off at an Omaha, Neb., hospital only a day before the state Legislature begins a meeting to change the state’s safe-haven law.

[…]

Nebraska’s safe-haven law was intended to protect unwanted newborns from being abandoned, but unlike similar laws in other states, Nebraska’s doesn’t include an age limit.

The Legislature opens a rare special session Friday afternoon to change the law and add an age limit.

As of Friday, 34 children have been abandoned under the law. Five have been from out of state.

Free birth control.

Easy abortions.

Safe dumping.

Abuse. Neglect. Unkindness.

Yup. Who wants children?

“Without natural affection,” the Bible says.

Cell Phone Security

I keep trying to get the point across to people that email and cell phones should not be considered private and secure. I think most think I’m a paranoid kook. Or at least paranoid. Albeit a well-meaning one. Like a kindly old uncle (which I am, which I feel like, which I am) or a gentle befuddled grandpa (which I’m kinda, which I’m not, which I am) 🙄

Well, here’s something new I learned this morning while scanning the newsletter of a mission-related agency:

2) Is Cell Phone Security Even Worse Than We Thought?

Here’s a question from a field worker who writes, “Our mission team is located in a ‘police state.’ We know the police listen to our phone calls regularly. We also know they can use triangulation to locate us. We’re fine with that stuff. 🙂 But now we’re facing a couple of new concerns:

“*** REMOTELY EAVESDROPPING WHEN WE’RE NOT ON THE PHONE — The microphones in cell phones are now being turned on remotely to allow eavesdropping on their owners anytime (even when you’re not making a call). We’ve figured out how to overcome this problem… but we kind of hate to always have the batteries out of our cell phones. 🙂 [By the way, if you think this worker has been watching too many episodes of “24”, just do an Internet search for the term, “FBI taps cell phone mic as eavesdropping tool.”]

“*** REMOTELY ACCESSING CONTENTS OF YOUR PHONE — We’re hearing (from some pretty tech-smart guys) that it’s easy to remotely hack into the contents of our phone, getting full access to our pics, calendars, docs, task lists, etc. The implications are huge. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Now what?

Orissa Updates

Mission Network News

Four Christian relief workers were beaten, threatened and then arrested in Orissa on Tuesday, November 4. The World Evangelical Alliance says the four were arrested under “forced conversion” charges.

The workers were on their way to the Discipleship Centre which focuses on holistic care, education, health care and similar disaster relief projects when an unknown motorist collided with one of their motorbikes, causing minor injuries to the worker.

A crowd gathered around the scene, quickly turning into a group of 400. The mob beat the DC staff members, threatening to set fire to them at a local cremation centre. Included in the mob were two Hindu groups that had already been protesting against what they perceived to be forced conversions from local Christians.

When police arrived, the workers were arrested for supposedly forcing Christian conversions and causing the motorbike accident. The four are currently in the custody of Orissa police.

Read it all

How to Pray for Them

Secret Service agents guard President-Elect Obama

Here are some ways to pray for President Bush, Vice President Cheney, President-Elect Obama, Vice President-Elect Biden, and those who guard them.

  1. Pray for their protection.
  2. Cover wives and children in prayer.
  3. Pray that they will govern with God’s wisdom.
  4. Ask God to keep them humble.
  5. Pray for wise and righteous advisers to surround them.
  6. Ask for the spirit of reconciliation.
  7. Pray that they will adopt pro-life convictions.
  8. Bind all evil forces assigned to manipulate our leaders.
  9. Pray that their door will remain open to the church.
  10. Pray that our nation will enjoy God’s peace and blessing during their administration.
  11. Pray that God’s people would honor them as the Master commands.

I modified these from Presidential Prayer. And I added #11.

What would you add to the list?

Above all, love God!