Dear Jason, It was nice to read your writings. I too felt sad to hear and see those news and images of burned down churches.
It made me think of two things: the fanaticism of a religion and helplessness of others .I have always felt a lot of respect for those Christians in Muslim dominated countries and regions of the world. I have often thought if I would hold on to my faith if I were in Egypt or in Sudan. Nevertheless, it is great to see and know that there are fathers of our faith in all these countries too. WE SHOULD PRAY FOR THEM. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven". Islam is one pain on earth and we Christians have the greatest challenge dealing with this nomadic religion. Jaison, there are always things like Miss World. However, we Christians have to depend on the Word for our loves and joys in life. I have felt it crazy to parade a bunch of slim, half-naked girls and the world watching them tell those silly answers! But crazy are the things of this world!! We have to live with it. 2000 years ago, our Lord too felt it. So there is nothing new in my feelings. "Things of God, for the people of God". Bonded in his love abbyabraham ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jason :)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, December 09, 2002 6:45 PM Subject: [JOYnet] Beauty is in the eyes of the Beholder ???? > Dear JYs > > Beauty can be described as something wonderful in the eyes of the beholder or > so the saying goes. Not so when in the month of November 2002 towns like Abuja > and Kaduna were rocked by Riots. And the target of the riots : Christians just > like us. I wonder how come none of us (me included) ever mentioned about this > in our Prayer Requests out here. > > I didnt realise the gravity of the situation till the Saturday issue of > Zenit.org really caught my eye. The writing was there. More than 200 people, > mostly Christians, were killed; several others were maimed. As well, 15 > churches were burned and pulled down, and more than 30,000 people have been > displaced. > > What was that spark that ignited the lives of over 30,000 Christian. A Beauty > Paegent - The ever famous Miss World. > > Yep. the same Miss World that is supposed to showcase 80 of the World's most > beautiful women every year. Yep that same Miss World that added India to the > Glamour world. Yep that same Miss World that gave the ever drooling India its > Aishwarya Rais, its Lara Duttas etc. That same Miss World that had millions of > viewers (including Christians) this Saturday glued to their Television Set. > And yet as on today that same Miss World whcih was supposed to "declare" some > fortunate woman as the most beautiful woman of the world has actually dug 200 > graves for Christians and have blown the roof tops for over 30,000. > > That anytime trouble would be errupt was evident from the reaction from > different Muslim circles months before the Paegant could commence in Nigeria. > What actually fanned the flames was after a Kaduna newspaper, ThisDay, > published an article alleging that the prophet Mohammed would have approved of > the Miss World beauty pageant. > > According to Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, the surprising > thing was that Christians were singled out for attacks by Muslims enraged by > the Miss World event, given that the beauty pageant was a "purely a secular > project." Just like our Gujarat it is believed that the reason for inciting > violence seems political as elections are scheduled to be held next year. > > None of those christians affected might have ever expected on that faithful > day to find their lives suddenly uprooted. None of them must have ever > expected that they were chosen to be one with Christ in experiencing > sufferings and rejection. Like us they too were followers of Christ leading > normal 'daily lives'. I wondered how many of them during those faithful hours > must have questioned their faith. Sure like St, Peter there were some > Christians who retaliated and attacked their Perpetrators. > > The report in Zenit.org further goes on to say that according to Archbishop > Onaiyekan, Christians right now are terrified in the wake of the riots, and > many are ready to flee their homes at the slightest sign of further violence. > > So dear JYs let us not forget to pray for our bretheren whom we cannot reach > out to but who depend our Prayers as they face one more night of uncertainity. > May the Lord give us all strength in the time of our trials. May the might of > his strength be witnessed in the power he gives us to not only forgive but to > love our enemies and may his peace be always with us. > > urs in faith > > Jason > Mumbai > > **************************************************************** > This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. > For more info on the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet > To unsubscribe from the list send a mail to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To subscribe to the list visit > http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet/join > To get a standard help message on the list services send a mail to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > **************************************************************** **************************************************************** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. For more info on the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet To unsubscribe from the list send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet/join To get a standard help message on the list services send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ****************************************************************
