rangoon under seige.

Rangoon was covered with gunfire smoke on Thursday as security forces and armed military troops used an iron fist to disperse tens of thousands of demonstrators in the second day of the Burmese junta’s crackdown on the largest democracy uprising in 20 years. State media reported Thursday evening that nine protesters were killed.

Witnesses in Rangoon believed that the death toll would be higher. Security forces attempted to disperse tens of thousands of people gathered near Sule Pagoda in Rangoon and South Okkalapa Township on Thursday afternoon, witnesses said. The report could not be independently confirmed. Scores of people were beaten by security forces.

Troops fired directly into protesting crowds, using automatic weapons on at least one occasion. Warning shots were also fired above the heads of protesters as an estimated 70,000 anti-government demonstrators braved the overpowering force of the troops and security forces.

Protesters were outraged at security forces following an overnight raid on at least three Buddhist monasteries. Soldiers reportedly beat up and arrested about 700 monks, who had spearheaded the largest challenge to the junta since a failed democracy uprising 19 years ago. One monk reportedly died.

The Japanese Embassy reported on Thursday evening that a Japanese photojournalist died in the gunfire. Pictures released on the Internet show the journalist lying on his back in the street with one hand raised up holding his camera. A soldier wearing flip flops is pointing his rifle at the journalist.



A second photograph shows the journalist’s face contorted and his arm now rests on the ground, apparently shot a second time at point blank range.

The photojournalist was Kanji Nagai, 51, according to the Japanese video news agency APF News.

to read more updates from thursday, click HERE

being pruned?

a man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. so he said to the man who took care of the vineyard,"for 3 years not i've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. cut it down! why should it use up the soil?"

"'sir', the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and i'll dig around it and fertilize it. if it bears fruit next year, fine! if not, then cut it down.'" (luke 13:6-9)


"this is often what we do when we examine our own failures, our "fruitlessness" in light of reality. we look at ourselves (the tree), and we expect to be able to keep our marriges together, to raise perfect children, to make loyal friends, and to perform our work without error (the fruit). when we fail and then become depressed, fearful, or anxious (bad fruit), we cut ourselves down by saying "i should be able to do that." "i shouldn't get so angry." "i should be able to get closer to people." "i should be able to accomplish more." "i should be able to be like so and so." at this point, we are like a house divided against itself. like the tree owner, we want growth, but we judge ourselves quickly and harshly without taking the time to figure out the problem. we operate with truth and no grace...

"sometimes we operate with grace and no truth. we say things like "it doesn't matter." "that's really the best i could do." "i can't help it that he reacted that way." "i couldn't help myself." dead wood (fruitlessness) takes up space in our lives (our vineyard). either we allow our inability to relate to others or to control our anger or to discipline our children to go on as it has been, continually rotting our lives and robbing us of hte delicious fruit God has in store for us, or we deny that we have a problem, with even more disastrous results...

"to some degree, we all do both: sometimes we yell "cut it down," and at other times we ignore it. but one thing is for sure: when we either ignore our failure to bear fruit in the image of God, or we judge its absence with an angry "cut it down," we end up either in grace or truth, and we do not grow." (excerpt from changes that heal, by dr. henry cloud)
whew. i read that this morning after being touched by john 15:1-5, where God tells me that if he hasn't "taken me away" as a branch of his son, then he's just busy pruning me so that i bear MORE fruit. i am reading up on this because i feel very sore from God's "pruning" lately. i'm not having fun with it!

but this morning God broke through my psalm 13 cries: "how long o lord? will you forget me forever?". he told me "i'm just busy pruning you. have grace. have truth. and have patience. i'll be done in time.

i hope this touches some of you as much as it has touched me!

"my monks".

as liz would say, "my monks" are struggling. on monday nite, the government met with the senior monk of the monastery i taught at in yangon.

please be praying for the special country, and all those stuck in the middle of this hell.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Myanmar's military government issued a threat Monday to the barefoot Buddhist monks who led 100,000 people marching through a major city in the strongest protests against the repressive regime for two decades. The warning shows the increasing pressure the junta is under to either crack down on or compromise with a reinvigorated democracy movement. The monks have taken their traditional role as the conscience of society, backing the military into a corner from which it may lash out again.

just some photos for your curious eyes!

ryan performing at the one year birthday party of his radio show "sidewalk talk".


my birthday lunch...ryan was taking many photos of me, and smearing latte foam all over his face in the meantime.


my birthday gift: a sewing machine. our flat is turning into a sweat shop.


ryan and the young soldiers, a group he is helping to make it BIG!!!


the mysterious dj eazy!


good ole' worm with some adoring fans...ryan's former flatmate.


dead whale floating in the water outside of st. james beach.


me, jenni and ponty on a walk to kalk bay...just stopping to check out the belly-up whale in the water!


jenni and ponty with a bionic woman.


ponty :)


birthday day, made my chef ryan: italian chicken :)


spasmol: the medicine for overactive colons!


me without my spasmol!


lion's head: part of table mountain national park in cape town.


mel and i atop lion's head!!!


first signs of spring.


grade 10 prom ryan and i attended!!!


ryan and i at a birthday party!


rainbow outside our flat!


view from the other direction of our balcony :)


campkids: carlen, clinton, and simone.


my new ministry: birthday cakes :)


ryan and i at the prom :)


our latest partner in crime: lindsay at beth uriel.


ryan in an 80's hip hop outfit!


me.

This Video Was Captured by the Anonymous Photographer

Ninja Warrior (Sasuke) Makoto Nagano

man, i miss this show!

aug 23 press release: us campaign for burma.

Abuses by Burma's military regime are not limited to cracking down on protestors in Rangoon. Over 3,000 ethnic minority villages have been burned, landmined, or forcibly relocated by Than Shwe's regime over the past decade. To put this in the context of a better-known world crisis, this is roughly twice as many villages as have been destroyed in Darfur, Sudan. Recent scientific reports show that health indicators for conflict areas in Burma are now on par with conflict zones in Africa. Burma's military regime has
also recruited up to 70,000 child soldiers, far more than any other country in the world, while refusing to adequately fund HIV/AIDs programs. Over 1 million refugees have fled the country, while 500,000 remain internal refugees in the war zones of eastern Burma.