Not governments...
Not relief organizations...
Not NGO's...
Not Business...
Not Unions...
Not social ACTION GROUPS...
Not the RED CROSS...
Not food banks or World Banks...can do for suffering folks what the church can do.
Don't get me wrong...all these organizations can do GOOD things to relieve suffering.
But after all the relief organizations have packed their tents and moved on to the next crisis..THE CHURCH REMAINS.
That's why we partner with the local pastor in relief...the church, the Bride of Christ, can bring hope and change to broken lives by introducing them to the good news of God's love and Christ's offer of forgiveness and new life.
Only the church...only the Lord.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
BIG GAP BETWEEN PROPAGANDA AND REALITY
The government of Myanmar is saying...this is our problem...we will handle things.
The reality is...the military junta is dragging it's feet while the people are suffering and starving on a massive scale.
The government of Myanmar says...only a few thousand have died and are missing.
The reality of eyewitnesses is...over 100,000 are dead and laying in flooded fields and delta areas.
The government of Myanmar says...outside relief help is not needed.
The reality is...the government here doesn't want the world to see the horrible state of things in this mess of a country.
The military is saying...give the food and medicine to us and we will make sure the right people get it.
The reality is that top to bottom corruption and paranoid thinking have placed this nation alongside North Korea and Zimbabwe.
Do I sound like a fanatic? Sorry, but every private conversation with citizens leads to the same conclusions..."The military regime in our country cares nothing for the people of Myanmar and this cyclone is just the latest evidence that the generals only care about the generals and the military rule."
Please pray that the church in Myanmar...will be a beacon that people can turn to...for comfort and refuge and hope. The Lord is the only way back to the light.
The reality is...the military junta is dragging it's feet while the people are suffering and starving on a massive scale.
The government of Myanmar says...only a few thousand have died and are missing.
The reality of eyewitnesses is...over 100,000 are dead and laying in flooded fields and delta areas.
The government of Myanmar says...outside relief help is not needed.
The reality is...the government here doesn't want the world to see the horrible state of things in this mess of a country.
The military is saying...give the food and medicine to us and we will make sure the right people get it.
The reality is that top to bottom corruption and paranoid thinking have placed this nation alongside North Korea and Zimbabwe.
Do I sound like a fanatic? Sorry, but every private conversation with citizens leads to the same conclusions..."The military regime in our country cares nothing for the people of Myanmar and this cyclone is just the latest evidence that the generals only care about the generals and the military rule."
Please pray that the church in Myanmar...will be a beacon that people can turn to...for comfort and refuge and hope. The Lord is the only way back to the light.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Finally!!!
I was really starting to seriously doubt if our team would ever actually set foot in Burma.
Well, we left at 5am today after getting the final okay at the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand to travel to Rangoon, the capital.
Driving out of the airport sent me immediately back to New Orleans and the Mississippi coast. Huge trees weighing tons, thrown about like straw in a windstorm. Buildings crushed flat...roofs everywhere, but where they should be...on the buildings...crews of workers in military uniforms, hacking away with hatchets on gigantic fallen oaks.
There is that same LOOK in the face of the locals that we saw at Katrina...disbelief...almost a disengaged , far off stare of watching this drama play out but not really being there in person.
Meeting lots of folks who are very helpful in our assessment...can't go there right now..
Have lot's of stories when we get home, but can't rely on the internet or phones.
I'll fill you in when we get back, but you read the papers, so you know the background here.
OPEN DOORS everywhere for comfort from our father... monks who are seeking...conversations that are amazing...
Well, we left at 5am today after getting the final okay at the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand to travel to Rangoon, the capital.
Driving out of the airport sent me immediately back to New Orleans and the Mississippi coast. Huge trees weighing tons, thrown about like straw in a windstorm. Buildings crushed flat...roofs everywhere, but where they should be...on the buildings...crews of workers in military uniforms, hacking away with hatchets on gigantic fallen oaks.
There is that same LOOK in the face of the locals that we saw at Katrina...disbelief...almost a disengaged , far off stare of watching this drama play out but not really being there in person.
Meeting lots of folks who are very helpful in our assessment...can't go there right now..
Have lot's of stories when we get home, but can't rely on the internet or phones.
I'll fill you in when we get back, but you read the papers, so you know the background here.
OPEN DOORS everywhere for comfort from our father... monks who are seeking...conversations that are amazing...
Monday, May 12, 2008
Greetings from THAILAND
Spent the day Monday at the Myanmar Embassy working on our visa approvals.
That is one WILD compound.
There were hundreds of relief organizations in line there, trying every possible method to get into Myanmar through International Relief documents ...camera crews...journalists...people with every kind of organization you can imagine...with shirts...all screaming, "International AID."
And the answer for all these folks was a resounding, 'NO!'
From the looks on the faces of the relief workers... these folks are not used to being told 'NO!'
They just stand there in disbelief...they've come all this way to help...Lord knows the people NEED the help desperately, and yet the officials are saying that they do not need or want their help...that this is an internal issue to be worked out by the Burmese.
Please continue to pray for us.
They accepted our applications...
They took our money ...
They didn't say NO...actually they said come back tomorrow afternoon!!!
So we are hopeful and blessed.
Can't say any names, but we've been meeting with Burmese people and displaced ex-pats and NGO folks and even MUZUNGUS who are stuck here in Thailand and we have gotten a University education on the history and culture of Myanmar.
JUST HEARD ABOUT THE CHINA EARTHQUAKES...7.8 on the Richter scale.
Pray for the folks there.
Things are getting drastic in Rangoon...with the flow of help equivalent to a trickle...people are dying of preventable causes, and that's just not right.
However, this is a historic opportunity for the church to show unity and model love and concern.
REACHING BEYOND OURSELVES WITH THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD'S LOVE
PS Chris Sharon has been a HUGE help to the team and I.
That is one WILD compound.
There were hundreds of relief organizations in line there, trying every possible method to get into Myanmar through International Relief documents ...camera crews...journalists...people with every kind of organization you can imagine...with shirts...all screaming, "International AID."
And the answer for all these folks was a resounding, 'NO!'
From the looks on the faces of the relief workers... these folks are not used to being told 'NO!'
They just stand there in disbelief...they've come all this way to help...Lord knows the people NEED the help desperately, and yet the officials are saying that they do not need or want their help...that this is an internal issue to be worked out by the Burmese.
Please continue to pray for us.
They accepted our applications...
They took our money ...
They didn't say NO...actually they said come back tomorrow afternoon!!!
So we are hopeful and blessed.
Can't say any names, but we've been meeting with Burmese people and displaced ex-pats and NGO folks and even MUZUNGUS who are stuck here in Thailand and we have gotten a University education on the history and culture of Myanmar.
JUST HEARD ABOUT THE CHINA EARTHQUAKES...7.8 on the Richter scale.
Pray for the folks there.
Things are getting drastic in Rangoon...with the flow of help equivalent to a trickle...people are dying of preventable causes, and that's just not right.
However, this is a historic opportunity for the church to show unity and model love and concern.
REACHING BEYOND OURSELVES WITH THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD'S LOVE
PS Chris Sharon has been a HUGE help to the team and I.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Myanmar Cries Out
Well...just when I had settled back into life in the OC...a round of golf with Kyle...a trip to Disneyland with Connie and our grandson, Luke, hanging out with Caroline and her BIOLA buds, and celebrating the birth of Erin and Jake's newest baby girl, Harper Lane Rutenbar...up comes this crisis...here's what we know:
*feared dead in Cyclone Nargis...100,000
*feared homeless...1 million and growing
*utter crop devastation
*virtually no clean water
*severely delayed response to attempts by the international relief community to help The Myanmar (formerly Burma) government is extremmely hostile to ANYTHING that looks American or Christian ...including relief supplies.
*feared dead in Cyclone Nargis...100,000
*feared homeless...1 million and growing
*utter crop devastation
*virtually no clean water
*severely delayed response to attempts by the international relief community to help The Myanmar (formerly Burma) government is extremmely hostile to ANYTHING that looks American or Christian ...including relief supplies.
Here please read this appeal for prayer from a Myanmar pastor we are meeting with tonight in Thailand. We do not use his name because it would endanger his work and the life of his family.
Our team of Don Thompson, Don Herr, Chris Sharon, and me is in Taipei, headed for Tailand and praying that tomorrow we will be able to get into Myanmar...not as relief workers or missionaries, but as 'eco-tourists'..I've been called alot of things, but never 'eco'-anything.
Our team of Don Thompson, Don Herr, Chris Sharon, and me is in Taipei, headed for Tailand and praying that tomorrow we will be able to get into Myanmar...not as relief workers or missionaries, but as 'eco-tourists'..I've been called alot of things, but never 'eco'-anything.
Dear brothers and sisters,
A week has already passed. Tens of thousands are still helpless in a hopeless situation. Time is running out. People are dying of diseases and starvation. It seems our prayers are unanswered. Those who pray and those who help are frustrated. But as I watch the news, read the news and listen to the news I thank God for the answers He has given although everything does not happen according to our wish and our timing. Let us praise the Lord who is sovereign, who has all the power to do everything he wants to do, who is merciful and compassionate,….
Let us confess our own sins and the sin of our authorities and our people as our own(Dan 9:4-19)
Let us thank God the Lord that
* Our authorities accept the international aid although it seems very slow.
* Burmese people all over the world are considering coming back to Myanmar to assist the relief work which no foreign aid workers are allowed to come into to do. Some are already back with the resources, skills and headed to the affected area.(I feel like many Nehemiahs coming back)
* Myanmar Christians and churches are doing the relief work with the limited resources they have. I am sure the believers of other faith are doing the same.
* The NGOs and UN organizations are doing their very best to help the victims.
Let us keep on praying to the God of mercy on this Global day of Prayer on Pentecostal Sunday when hundreds of millions of Christians lift up their prayers to
* break the power of Satan on Myanmar and the authorities who are very superstitious and make every single decision for the affair of our country from the advice of astrologers and fortune tellers. Let us resist the power of Satan, break the strongholds he has been taking in the lives of the authorities and the people. Let us deliver them from all evil in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
* to soften the hearts of authorities to fasten the relief, inviting and allowing the citizens to assist the overwhelming task and allow the international aid workers to involve in the relief work, to help and open the ways for those who provide resources and aid from outside Myanmar
*to comfort those who lost everything may be reached by the aid He has already provided.
* to strengthen and protect those who are helping the victims. The relief work may not be hindered by any resistance of the authorities and the weather (UN Weather Agency forecasts heavy rain in Burma next week)
*to send back thousands of Myanmar people who have heart and skills to join in the relief work when international workers are prohibited to enter into the country.
* to empower and give wisdom to the Christian leaders in Myanmar in one accord to cooperate strongly and humbly as they come together to give servant leadership to assist the needy.
*help us to pray according to His will that His Kingdom may come and His Will be Done through this tragedy.
A week has already passed. Tens of thousands are still helpless in a hopeless situation. Time is running out. People are dying of diseases and starvation. It seems our prayers are unanswered. Those who pray and those who help are frustrated. But as I watch the news, read the news and listen to the news I thank God for the answers He has given although everything does not happen according to our wish and our timing. Let us praise the Lord who is sovereign, who has all the power to do everything he wants to do, who is merciful and compassionate,….
Let us confess our own sins and the sin of our authorities and our people as our own(Dan 9:4-19)
Let us thank God the Lord that
* Our authorities accept the international aid although it seems very slow.
* Burmese people all over the world are considering coming back to Myanmar to assist the relief work which no foreign aid workers are allowed to come into to do. Some are already back with the resources, skills and headed to the affected area.(I feel like many Nehemiahs coming back)
* Myanmar Christians and churches are doing the relief work with the limited resources they have. I am sure the believers of other faith are doing the same.
* The NGOs and UN organizations are doing their very best to help the victims.
Let us keep on praying to the God of mercy on this Global day of Prayer on Pentecostal Sunday when hundreds of millions of Christians lift up their prayers to
* break the power of Satan on Myanmar and the authorities who are very superstitious and make every single decision for the affair of our country from the advice of astrologers and fortune tellers. Let us resist the power of Satan, break the strongholds he has been taking in the lives of the authorities and the people. Let us deliver them from all evil in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
* to soften the hearts of authorities to fasten the relief, inviting and allowing the citizens to assist the overwhelming task and allow the international aid workers to involve in the relief work, to help and open the ways for those who provide resources and aid from outside Myanmar
*to comfort those who lost everything may be reached by the aid He has already provided.
* to strengthen and protect those who are helping the victims. The relief work may not be hindered by any resistance of the authorities and the weather (UN Weather Agency forecasts heavy rain in Burma next week)
*to send back thousands of Myanmar people who have heart and skills to join in the relief work when international workers are prohibited to enter into the country.
* to empower and give wisdom to the Christian leaders in Myanmar in one accord to cooperate strongly and humbly as they come together to give servant leadership to assist the needy.
*help us to pray according to His will that His Kingdom may come and His Will be Done through this tragedy.
When we work we work,when we pray God works(Hudson Taylor)
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Myanmar Cyclone Relief
Dear PEACE RELIEF and missions team members,
I'm hopping on a plane in a few hours with Don Herr, Don Thompson, and Chris Sharon to assess the scope of the Burmese cyclone crisis.
What we know so far...100,000 feared dead...1 million homeless...widespread waterborn disease outbreaks from rotting corpses being disposed of in local rivers...Myanmar is a very closed...very hostile military regime that hates all-things-Christian and all-things western, so we are going into Myanmar under cover...not as pastors or relief workers. We'll be reporting back in 9 days about what God shows us and what we believe our church response can and should be.
Please pray for our team, that the Lord gives us favor and insight and discernment. A number of you have asked if Saddleback folks can go and give...the answer is yes and yes. We'll return with partner churches (embedded and underground churches) we can work with, and a gameplan for the days ahead, just like the tsunami, Katrina and the recent Kenyan crisis.
You can give to RELIEF through the on-line giving site at Saddlebackfamily.com This is a gigantic OPEN DOOR for the Good News of God's Love to penetrate a closed culture with the Gospel.
PLEASE PRAY ...expectantly...for victory in the midst of chaos.
Pastor Steve Rutenbar
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