Persecution in Orissa

The most sobering moment of the recent World Watch conference was the account of the persecution that is going on in the Indian state of Orissa at this moment. Although it has barely been reported in the western media, Christians are having their houses burned and are being attacked by unrestrained mobs. Thousands have been forced to flee and are living in the forests.

We heard harrowing accounts from the ground of pastors being pulled from their houses, and then being beaten to death, sometimes while their helpless wives and children looked on. There were twenty-five such accounts of pastors and church leaders who had been killed in this way.

India is a country where the gospel is spreading and accelerating at an unprecedented rate, accompanied by signs and wonders and miracles that could come straight from the book of Acts. This backlash of evil against our brothers in Orissa is something that we must stand against. They need our prayers.

Reuters UK: India authorities impose curfew, Christians attacked

A true champion

I watched the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, and like many Brits, I'm very pleased at how well Lewis Hamilton is doing in the championship. However, it wasn't Lewis who impressed me the most...

Many will have seen the images of Felipe Massa driving away from the pit lane trailing his fuel line, which was not detached before he was given the green light to drive off. It was a mistake by one man that dropped him from pole position in the race and an almost certain victory to last place and going home empty handed. Not only this but from being only one point shy of championship rival Hamilton, he is now 7 points behind; with only three races left, this mistake has probably cost him not just the race, but the championship.

What not so many may be aware of is how Massa reacted to this man after the race. Read this article, and especially Massa's quote and the last paragraph. He went to comfort this man, then public spoke of how every member of the team, this individual included, was valued and needed.

Some measure greatness purely by what someone is seen to have achieved. And so to them, no doubt, Massa's greatness will have slumped along with his standing in the championship. But true greatness is not just defined by what you achieve, but who you are: your integrity and character as an individual.

No-one who has watched this season of Formula 1 can doubt that Massa is a great driver. But by offering comfort and forgiveness in the face of such disappointment, this incident has revealed is that he also has true greatness.

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Photograph by Mark McArdle licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0

Michael's Baptism

Today was a great day. I baptised Michael my five-year-old son. It was his second attempt. The first time he didn't go through with it because the water was too cold. This time, despite his enthusiasm, nerves nearly got the better of him - but I'm delighted to say that he overcame his apprehension and was one of about ten children baptised at the Without Borders Bible Week today. Praise God!

For the one in fifty-five

I am the one in ten a number on a list,
I am the one in ten even though I don't exist
Nobody knows me but I'm always there
Statistical reminder of a world that doesn't care.
~ UB40 - One in Ten

Statistics:
40,000 - Reported death-toll for the Chinese earthquake (source BBC News)
78,000 - Official death-toll for the Burma Cyclone (source Boston Globe)
193,700 - Number of abortions in the UK in 2006 - 1 in every 55 pregnancies. (Source Department of Health)

Here in the UK, the emotive subject of abortion has been back in the news as MPs voted not to lower the abortion limit from 24 weeks to 22 weeks.

Now, I don't claim to be an expert on the subject of abortion. I do believe in the sanctity and intrinsic value of every human life that is beyond price. I do believe and understand that in some exceptional and tragic circumstances a termination of pregnancy can be necessary. Most of all, I would say, I understand statistics... and as I have looked at the figures, I have to say, I think the battle that was lost in the Commons was the wrong battle in the first place...

The number of abortions in the UK that occur at over 20 weeks is around 1.5% and it is likely that most of these late abortions will be for medical reasons that are not bound by the time limit anyway. So even if the time limit had been dropped from 24 to 22 weeks it would have barely made a dent in the UK's shamefully high abortion rates. Now, I'm not saying these lives are not worth fighting for, every life is worth fighting for, it's just I think the most obvious problem lies elsewhere.

Of the seven legal grounds for an abortion in the UK, the one that covers serious illness or handicap in the unborn child only accounts for 1%. This means 99% of all abortions in the UK are of healthy children! The ground that is the most common is ground C - "The continuance of the pregnancy would involve greater risk of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman". When you unpack what this means in practice, it is considered that the mental stress caused by carrying an unwanted child falls into this category! So these are basically (with doubtless a few exceptions) the numbers of pregnancies aborted simply because the child is unwanted - these account for 97%! Of these the highest section, by far, is among teenage girls, with the peak at age 19.

I would seem to me, that if we want to make a real difference for the voiceless one in fifty-five, the real issues are a tightening up of the wording of ground C to bring it back in line with its original intention and prevent it being used merely for unwanted pregnancies, and a tackling of the thorny issue of teenage pregnancy.

Baby comes back from the dead

This news story from the BBC caught my attention!

I have been listening to the news a lot lately, and so many stories are bad news of loss, tragedy, war and hatred. Stories involving children can be especially heart-wrenching. So it was so uplifting to come across this wonderful, miraculous story of tragedy turned into joy.

All good things come from God. Though he isn't mentioned in this article, everyone involved acknowledges that it was a miracle!

I wonder who was praying