This time of year gives us reasons to pause. Thanksgiving turns our hearts toward thankfulness, and Christmas prompts us to reflect on the astounding reality of the incarnation—Jesus coming to earth and taking upon Himself the nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. This time of year compels us to pause—to give thanks, to reflect on all that Christ has done for us.

In addition to Thanksgiving and Christmas, I’ve been given a third reason to “pause” this season as I am coming off one hospitalization and likely facing a second. The first was to fight the effects of e. coli bacteria introduced into my blood stream by a biopsy, and the second will be to address the prostate cancer revealed by that biopsy. I have decided that it is especially important for me this year—given this unanticipated reason to pause—to fully embrace the first two reasons.

When I think of the heartfelt concern expressed by so many of you over the past month, my heart is full of gratitude. THANK YOU for your notes, cards, calls, and especially your prayers. My family and I have been buoyed by your love and support. God has been so good. 

Around this time every year it seems our conversations turn to how we get so busy so quickly. I can’t complain about that this year, nor can I use that as an excuse, as my calendar has been cleared for me. This is hard for me to accept as I thrive on activity and had really been looking forward to the trips and appointments I’ve had to cancel. So, during this time when I’ve been forced to “relax,” I’ve decided to heed the words of that old Thanksgiving hymn and count my many blessings and name them one by one. There is something very humbling about inventorying my life and saying each blessing out loud!

I’ve also been prompted to dwell in Philippians 2 for a while. There is great encouragement in the act of God sending His Son, His only begotten Son. I am going to read and reread this chapter, asking God to once again impress these great truths upon my heart.

I trust that you will allow the reasons for Thanksgiving and Christmas to give you pause, and that what you find in those pauses will enrich your hearts and your lives this season. For those of us who find ourselves with an unforeseen and unavoidable reason to pause, may we not waste or resent it, but embrace it and seek out what God might want us to discover and learn.

Blessings, Dave

EVANGELICAL PASTOR MURDERED IN COLOMBIA
Pastor Diego Armando Bejarano, 27, was killed recently in the region west of Bogotá. Witnesses say hooded men took Bejarano by force and stabbed him. The motives for the killing are unknown; however, it is common knowledge guerrillas groups view Protestant pastors who encroach on territory under their control as military objectives. In the last 10 years, guerrillas have assassinated 133 pastors, Protestant missionaries and Catholic priests, according to the Evangelical Council of Colombia. Ask God to encourage and minister to the pastor's family and church as they mourn. Pray his testimony draws his attackers and nonbelievers into the knowledge of Jesus Christ. (Source: AP)

MALAYSIAN STATE INCREASES PENALTY FOR EVANGELISM
Kelantan, one of the most Islamic states in Malaysia, approved legal changes to increase the penalty for trying to convert a Muslim to another faith. Persons accused of sharing their faith with Muslims may now receive six strokes of the cane, five years in prison (increased from two years) and a fine of US$2,800 (double what it was). At the same time, the same amount of money is offered to any "Muslim missionary" who marries an Orang Asli (indigenous) person and converts them to Islam. They may also receive a monthly allowance, free accommodation, and a 4-wheel drive vehicle. (Source: OM)

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MID-TERMER SPOTLIGHT Did you know that part of the vision of Venture 2010 is the recruitment and training of 300 mid-term missionaries? This month we'd like to introduce you to a young woman serving in Pakistan.

JOANNA OLSON
Hi! Since September I've been serving at Murree Christian School in Pakistan. When missionary friends wrote earlier this year about a staffing need for the 2007-2008 school year, I felt God's call on my life to go and serve Him in this troubled country. Several missions trips and other experiences over the years have given me a real heart for children. I am thrilled to be able to invest in the lives of the kids at this school. Some of the ways I am serving include coaching the boys basketball team and working one-on-one with a special needs student. 

Because of the urgent need, WorldVenture allowed me to leave for Pakistan in September without all of my support for the year yet committed. I will be returning to the States for one month, Dec 4th through Jan 7th. During that time I am trusting God for connections with churches and individuals who will consider partnering with me financially. My support need of $6,000 must be met in order for me to return to Pakistan in January. If you'd like to partner with me and Murree Christian School I invite you to contact me at blondie16j@yahoo.com. In Christ, JoAnna Olson 

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Good News About Injustice: A Witness of Courage in a Hurting World by Gary Haugen, 1999 InterVarsity Press
Terrify No More: Young Girls Held Captive and the Daring Undercover Operation to Win Their Freedom by Gary Haugen, 2005 W Publishing Group
Reviewed by David Korb

The good news about injustice is that God is against it. Good News is a call to have the courage necessary to follow Christ into the broken arenas of this world. Author Gary Haugen is president and CEO of International Justice Mission. He reminds us that we do not follow a “domesticated God” but a God who is in brothels, prisons, and all places where people are held in bondage. Haugen dares to suggest to us that the God of heaven is present in these violent and abusive places and invites Christians to courageously follow God into these evil contexts.

Haugen writes, “As Christians we have learned much about sharing the love of Christ with people all over the world who have never heard the gospel. We continue to see the salvation message preached in the far corners of the earth and to see indigenous Christian churches vigorously extending Christ’s kingdom on every continent. We have learned how to feed the hungry, heal the sick and shelter the homeless. But there is one thing we haven’t learned to do, even though God’s Word repeatedly calls us to the task. We haven’t learned how to rescue the oppressed. For the child held in forced prostitution, for the prisoner illegally detained and tortured, for the widow robbed of her land, for the child sold into slavery, we have almost no vision of how God could use us to bring tangible rescue. We don’t know how to get the twelve-year-old out of the brothel, how to have the prisoner set free, how to have the widow’s land restored to her or how to get the child slave released and the oppressors brought to justice.”

Haugen worked as a lawyer for the U.S. Department of Justice and served as director of the United Nations genocide investigation in Rwanda before he founded the International Justice Mission (IJM) to address the issues mentioned in the previous paragraph. The book is divided into three sections. In the first section Haugen opens our eyes to the reality of injustice in our world today. The second section presents four affirmations God makes about justice that should give us hope. The final section provides concrete guidance on how Christians can rescue the oppressed and seek justice throughout the world.

The second book, Terrify No More, contains stories of IJM interventions in many places around the world. The primary story is about IJM’s raid on the brothels in Svay Pak in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The IJM team went undercover to infiltrate the brothels of Svay Pak to identify, video tape, and record conversations with the pimps, brothel owners, and elementary-school-age girls promising to perform specific sexual acts for foreign customers. The book relays in great detail how the raid and rescue mission was planned and carried out. Terrify No More is not a book for the faint of heart. The details are graphic as Haugen gives a real account of what happens when young girls are kidnapped and forced into a life of prostitution.

As the story of Svay Pak unfolds, Haugen weaves in other stories of IJM interventions around the world. In one of these he recounts the saga of Jyoti, a 14 year-old Indian girl who left home to work as a domestic servant in another village. After two months she had saved up enough money to return home to visit her family, but was abducted as she waited at the train station. Her captors drugged her, and when the drugs wore off three days later she found herself in brothel in a major city far from her home. For two months she refused to participate in the sex trade, so the brothel keepers beat her repeatedly, more than 50 times. “Finally the brothel keeper had had enough. Demanding a high price because she was a virgin, she sold Jyoti to an eager customer. Still resistant, Jyoti was beaten on her legs, then pushed violently into the room. …When he was finished with her, the customer paid the brothel keeper about two hundred dollars. Pleased that she had been a virgin, he gave her an additional twenty-two dollar tip. Jyoit took the money and threw it in the face of the brothel keeper.” Jyoti finally decided to give up the fight—outwardly at least—but still watched every day for an opportunity to escape. Over the next three years she was forced to have sex with an average of twenty-five customers a day, for approximately fifteen thousand sexual encounters before her rescue. After her rescue, Jyoti assisted IJM in a raid on that same brothel. More than a half dozen girls were liberated that day.

This book will shock you, make you cry, and break your heart as it opens your eyes to the horrors faced by girls as young as eight years old. It will also give you an idea of what it takes to rescue these girls and young women from their abusers. Going beyond the tales of rescues, Haugen also talks candidly about the necessity and challenges of aftercare.

Tucked in the midst of these tales of terror is the reminder that God—the God of the Bible—is in these places. We hate to think of our holy God being there in the room when these unspeakable things are happening to girls like Jyoti, but our God is there. Gary Haugen is convinced that if our God cares enough to be there, then we also must have the courage to go there and stop pretending that these things are not happening in our world today.

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