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Cambiando la Gracia por el poder: La amenaza del nacionalismo cristiano

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En el pasado, el cristianismo se utilizó para apoyar la esclavitud y la segregación. Resulta que lo que antes era viejo se ha vuelto a convertir en nuevo. El reciente aumento de las ideas nacionalistas cristianas que se han incorporado a la política estadounidense mayoritaria (sobre todo en las dos últimas décadas) ha hecho que […] Source: https://atoday.org/cambiando-la-gracia-por-el-poder-la-amenaza-del-nacionalismo-cristiano/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cambiando-la-gracia-por-el-poder-la-amenaza-del-nacionalismo-cristiano

Article: The Burman Effect

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Here I Am, Lord. Send Me.

“Surely, if God could keep refugees’ clothes and shoes from wearing out in the desert (Deut. 29:5), He could also supply today’s needs.”

International media reports of people fleeing their homes even before Russia engaged in full-scale war galvanized Heidi I Baumbach, a farmer/musician from central Alberta, to action. 

On Feb. 24, 2022, when the first bombs fell, she was already mid-flight to Warsaw to help refugees. 

Heidi was familiar with Eastern European languages and had studied in Poland. She says, “Laws and regulations that would keep Canadian civilians from attempting any such thing at home are generally less stringent in Eastern Europe. I saw they needed help, so I went.’ 

On her own in Poland, a civilian with no western relief agency to back her, Heidi looked for a place to stay and a vehicle to rent. Miraculously, in the midst of the chaos, she found both. Then she drove the one-hour trip to the border to observe the needs.

One of Heidi’s first tasks was to drive to Ukrainian orphanages and bring children safely back. (Human trafficking was already a huge concern. She was told that one orphan could mean mortgage payments for a year!) One day, she expected five orphans waiting for her; instead, there were 14 women and children. She took them all to her apartment, a safe space to decompress and decide on next moves.

Then she turned her attention to money. Fortunately, Heidi’s work had caught the attention of a Canadian news crew. They shared her protegees’ stories, and funds started arriving. Heidi also posted on social media. She set up a GiveSendGo account. And she prayed. Surely, if God could keep refugees clothes and shoes from wearing out in the desert (Deut. 29:5), He could also supply today’s needs. And He did. People responded with open hearts and hands.

The Premysl refugee camp, a repurposed old shopping centre at the border, was overwhelmed. Supplies were being delivered, but they weren’t always what was needed. Heidi recalls, “I went into a bathroom crowded shoulder-to-shoulder like a nightclub. Outside, the line was over an hour long. Two unisex stalls for the entire refugee camp! And only one out of four sinks worked.” The bathroom became one of Heidi’s side projects. She checked it daily. 

The needs were obvious, and Heidi helped fill the gaps. When she distributed toiletries, the response was overwhelming. When she saw the plight of seniors standing in 500-metre queues for bus rides to refugee camps, she bought wheelchairs, canes, and walkers. Her apartment became a refuge for women and children. 

Although Heidi is now back in Canada, her mission isn’t complete. One of “her” refugee families chose to settle in central Alberta. Others have followed. As she continues to raise funds to assist them with transitioning, she writes, “I could have never ever anticipated our communities to be so incredibly open-hearted, and yet I don’t think their generosity surprises me for a second. We are surrounded in this country by such good people, and I am so excited for us to share this goodness with these new friends and neighbours.”

Burman Alumni – Impacting Their Communities

Source: https://adventistmessenger.ca/features/2824

Inside Story: Jesus vs. the Dragon

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Jesus Versus the Dragon

By Andrew McChesney

Something strange happened to Kue in northern Laos in late 2020. Her body, and especially her belly, started to swell up.

Her worried husband, Cheng, took her to the local shaman, who informed them that a dragon at impregnated Kue and intended to take her away to an underwater world. “You need to give animal sacrifices to appease the dragon and to call back Kue’s spirit,” the shaman said, solemnly.

Kue

Image © Pacific Press

Cheng readily gave the shaman everything that he demanded, but Kue only got worse. Cheng turned to traditional healers for multiple treatments over the next two months, but nothing helped. He spent everything on shamans and traditional healers, but Kue’s health continued to deteriorate.

Finally, Cheng thought about asking a Christian pastor to pray for Kue.

Two Seventh-day Adventist leaders happened to be visiting Kue’s village at the time and, after praying for her, decided to send her to a hospital in Laos’ capital, Vientiane. At the hospital, the physician diagnosed Kue with Nephrotic syndrome, a kidney disorder whose symptoms include swelling linked to excess fluid retention. But after a week in the hospital, Kue sank into a coma and had to be placed on life support. She was transferred to the intensive care unit, where the physician put her chances of survival at 50-50. He asked who would pay the high medical bills to keep her under his care.

Cheng spoke with his relatives and realized that they did not have the money. Adventist leaders, who had brought Kue to the capital and paid her initial hospital bills, also lacked the funds. Faced with high bills and no assurance that Kue would recover, Cheng made the difficult decision to remove her from life support and bring her home.

“It was very painful to send her back home to die, but there was nothing we could do for her,” a church leader said later. “The only hope left was that God would show mercy and perform a miracle for her.”

Days after returning home, Cheng called the Adventist district pastor to ask him to pray for Kue in their home. The pastor, who arrived with several Bible workers, lived far away. He decided to stay for a few days so he also could assist with the funeral. As the family waited for Kau to die, the pastor and Bible workers fasted and prayed daily. Instead of dying, Kue improved. She began to breathe easily on her own, and the swelling subsided. By May 2021, she was able to walk without assistance.

Today, Kue is a living testimony to the people of northern Laos that there is a God in heaven.

Thank you for your Sabbath School mission offerings that support the spread of the gospel in Laos and around the world.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

Amen!(0)

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/inside-story-jesus-vs-the-dragon/

Friday: Further Thought ~ The Biblical Worldview

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Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “Mind Cure,” Pages 241-259, in The Ministry of Healing; “True and False Theories Contrasted,” Pages 7-16, in The Sanctified Life.

Spectacles on Bible

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

 

“The great controversy is nearing its end. Every report of calamity by sea or land is a testimony to the fact that the end of all things is at hand. Wars and rumors of wars declare it. Is there a Christian whose pulse does not beat with quickened action as he anticipates the great events opening before us? The Lord is coming. We hear the footsteps of an approaching God.” — Ellen G. White, Maranatha, p. 220.

“Live the life of faith day by day. Do not become anxious and distressed about the time of trouble, and thus have a time of trouble beforehand. Do not keep thinking, ‘I am afraid I shall not stand in the great testing day.’ You are to live for the present, for this day only. Tomorrow is not yours. Today you are to maintain the victory over self. Today you are to live a life of prayer. Today you are to fight the good fight of faith. Today you are to believe that God blesses you. And as you gain the victory over darkness and unbelief, you will meet the requirements of the Master, and will become a blessing to those around you.” — Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, October 20, 1887.

“The Lord is soon to come, and we must be prepared to meet Him in peace. Let us be determined to do all in our power to impart light to those around us. We are not to be sad, but cheerful, and we are to keep the Lord Jesus ever before us. … We must be ready and waiting for His appearing. Oh, how glorious it will be to see Him, and be welcomed as His redeemed ones! Long have we waited, but our faith is not to become weak. If we can but see the King in His beauty, we shall be forever and forever blessed. I feel as if I must cry aloud, ‘Homeward bound.’ We are nearing the time when Christ will come with power and great glory, to take His ransomed ones to their eternal home.” — Ellen G. White, Heaven, Pages 165, 166.

Discussion Questions:
  1. How can the notion of the person — body, soul, and spirit as an indivisible whole — help us better understand the all-encompassing scope of religion and the importance of our personal lifestyle?
  2. All true revivals and reformations are theocentric (centered in God) and never anthropocentric (centered in human behavior). How does the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (see Luke 18:9-14) illustrate this principle?
  3. In class, discuss your answer to Thursday’s final question. How can you know if you are ready, and can you have assurance without being presumptuous?

<–Thursday

Amen!(1)

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/friday-further-thought-biblical-worldview/

SEC Teens Day of Fellowship impacted by ADRA Appeal

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Your home has been bombed
Your family has been separated
You have no food
You are forced to flee
What do you do?
Nearly a thousand teens from across the South England Conference (SEC) gathered at the Emmanuel Centre in Central London on Sabbath, 10 December, for their yearly Day of Fellowship. But this year, a presentation about the challenges facing another teenager from Ukraine, presented to them by the ADRA-UK team who did the catering for their event that day, made a visible impact on…Source: https://adventist.uk/news/article/go/2022-12-15/1414/

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