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.

"farewell (for now)" makes me nauseaus. but it's why i love these brilliant souls.

Dearest Listener,
After seven years of extensive touring in support of three records (seventeen years as a band), we've decided to take a break of indefinite length at the end of 2007 to preserve the environment we've sought so hard to create and to pursue other interests. It has been a pleasure to write, record, and perform for you through the years and we'd like to heartily thank you for your invaluable contribution to our musical lives.

Yours,

Nickel Creek


the first time i read those words, i was riding along the indian ocean in my car withmy husband, listening to nickel creek's recent released "reasons why: the very best" album. good thing i wasn't driving, (a) because i was also reading, and (b) because i felt this pain shoot into my stomach and thought i might need to roll down the windows to throw up.

can it be?

but i love them for it. i love them even more than i ever have. what a brilliant thoughtful decision. something left to look forward to. like when i get a black bean and goat cheese tamale at bosco's in hillsboro village, never know when i'll have one again. i wait for it to come again.

and so it is with my lovely friends, sarah, sean and chris. yes, i'm obsessed, and proud of it! they are brilliant and i remember days just coming off of drugs when i would sit in my car in the front yard, listening to their self-titled album over and over. i had to buy it 3 times cause that's how worn out each one became from the repetitive circling in my cd player.



and WHY did no one tell me that nickel creek left for a tour with fiona apple on august 2nd???? they better make a live cd for me, cause it's beautiful stuff on their myspace page.


and that they are opening for ben harper TONITE in colorado?



and that chris thile is playing with the tensions mountain boys in nashville for THREE CONSECUTIVE DAYS in september?


and that 14 out of their remaing 30 shows on this tour
are within the 6 hour driving radius i set for myself when deciding if i'm going to follow them around the U.S.? you knew that i couldn't handle that, didn't you?

now i have 2 reasons to fly to america. one--to hug you all for giving me money to send carlen, simone, clinton, and dylan to camp for the weekend, and two--two spend alot of time, money, and energy stalking this band!!!! anybody with an extra $2,000 to spare????

what i learned today from poverty.

"there will always be problems. when one ends, the next one takes its place. that's why i don't worry. i just learn to live my life and be myself in the midst of them."

i can pay my counselor R400 to tell me this. i can remind myself, post it up all over my house. but when it comes from the believeing lips of a woman with 5 kids and 3 grandkids living in a shack, it just seems more believable.

asheville, north carolina. stacie conkin.

bono's guru.

if you are wanting to know who's in the anti-poverty limelight, let me introduce you to the picture of the man, jeffrey sach's, author of new york times best-selling book the end of poverty, which i am currently reading and totally recommend. i am NOT an economics person. my mind doesn't understand all that talk about human capital and stablization and fiscal whatever whatever. but after being sucked into this book which i cannot seem to put down, i am hooked on the subject. i am determined to educate myself on it until i can understand it, talk about it, and be up to date on this really important issue.


a recent article in the july edition of vanity fair
updates us on the whereabouts and whatabouts of this man, who is busy all over the world researching, testing, and sharing about his passion. he believes that IN OUR LIFETIME, the poverty of this world can be done away with. that countries unable to even get a foot on the lowest rung of the economic ladder can actually start working towards a stable economy, despite cultural, geographic, and geopolitical barriers. i am totally enthralled!

i know emma's going to love this, being the economic genius in my life who's always telling me "you just don't get this stuff do you?" well emma, watch out...i'm learning. and you out there should too.

so, go buy THIS BOOK
and read up on the Millenium Development Goals, written by Sachs.


let me know if you join me on this bandwagon!

a most splendid book.

it's cool how my last blog was about korean missionaries in afghanistan, and this blog is about a book i recently finished (i spent all saturday morning in bed finishing it!) situated in kabul, afghanistan.

i just want to encourage you to read this book. don't let it's heavy setting, historical content, and size intimidate you. i read S L O W, and i finished it in a few days!!! now I want to go to afghanistan...which makes me a bit of a possible hypocrite in some of your eyes seeing that my last blog was indecisive in my personal thoughts on the koreans entering such a turbulent place.

i still need to think through the why of my desire to go now. i think it's just one of those things good books do to me, they make me want to know more about the world i've just inhabited for a few days.

go go go and read :)

the 21 remaining south koreans held hostage by the taliban are growing sick and weary. apparently, doctors are being sent in for two of the girls who are near-death. amnesty international had a phone call with taliban spokesperson qari yousef ahmadi, appealing for the release of the south koreans and warning the militant group that they are commiting a war crime.

my heart is really going out to this situation. i keep imagining these 21 people, scared and sick, angry, hungry, unsure of their fate. imagine going into a remote village of afghanistan with the hope of providing medical attention to the people, only to find yourself kidnapped, starving, dying.

this is a startling picture of modern-day persecution. our lives are not our own. we were bought at a price, and christ relives his sufferning and sacrifice in the willingness of these 21 people. maybe they didn't expect this sort of reality...but the went under the warning of such things happening.

this is my prayer, my cry out to god, and god's promise for these beautiful servants:

"blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for the in same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
they body of the first korean, shot 10 times in the head and chest, being taken out by taliban officials.



south korean protestors outside a mosque in afghanistan.



protestors holding candles at an anti war rally in south korea.


but, coming from a different perspective, i really wonder if these pretty faces in the first picture understood the fullness of such a venture. i mean, afghanistan? a mission trip? as my friend emma also pointed out, i've lived abroad and seen short term mission teams come and go. i do not argue the impact of such experiences on the missionaries, or the locals who live in a place being visited, but i do hope this situation urges christians to take an incredibly thorough, God-led approach to missions. i hope that this will challenge people to seek God in their decision to go anywhere from alaska to argentina to afghanistan, rather than ever going "for the fun of it" (don't get cross...i know this happens).

this bbc news articlereally speaks to what we are saying.

cracking under pressure.

i got both of these photos in my email today. one is of my friend stephen in russia. the other is of my parents at 1:15 saturday morning. who of these seems to be cracking under the pressure??? cast your vote now :)

is this true? a friend sent it to me. maybe one of my native american, internet-using friends will tell me if it's true or not :)

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of passage? His dad takes him into the forest - blindfolded -and leaves him.

He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not take off the blindfold until the ray of sun shines through it. He is all by himself. He cannot cry out for help to anyone.

Once he survives the night he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience. Each lad must come into his own manhood.

The boy was terrified. He could hear all kinds of noise. Beasts were all around him. Maybe even some human would hurt him. The wind blew the grass and and it shook his stump.

But he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It was the only way he could become a man.

Finally, after a horrific night, the sound of the night disappeared. He could feel the warmth of the sun. He removed his blindfold.

It was then that he saw his father - sitting on the stump next to him - on watch the entire night.

We are never alone. Even when we do not know it, our Father is protecting us. He is sitting on the stump beside us.
All we have to do is take off our blindfolds.

my newest child. his name is cowen. he's the first kid in capricorn who seems to understand my afrikaans speaking!!!!!!!!



did i ever show you what avril did to me??? this is what happens when you get engaged in cape town, south africa. their version of a wedding shower is to embarass the heck out of you. this is a picture of me begging for money outside a local mcdonald's.



while on our trip to the eastern cape, we stopped in the CREEPY town and ended up eating at an even CREEPIER restaurant. it was this very afrikaans meets colonial meets antique store meets new-age-fountains-that-let-out-smoke meets i-can't-believe-places-like-this-still-exist place. believe me, we got out of there as fast as we could. it took me a long time to get back to normal. this is a picture of me doing my famous nervous laugh!!



ryan eating cheese with a little bit of chili!!!! be proud, family! we are eating well :)

oprah update.

cape times excerpt, thursday, july 26th, 2007

"talk might be cheap, but oprah is not, TOPPING the list of the highest-paid television stars in the united states. oprah winfrey, host and supervising producer of the oprah winfrey show, earns an estimated $260 million a year, according to a list in TV Guide Magazine's July 23 issue."

just thinking back...