Lord, hear our prayer

The following was forwarded to me through a couple of different lists. The message without the forwarding mess is below.

Urgent Prayer Request for the South Korean hostages held in Afghanistan:
We have received an urgent prayer request from Bishop Kyung Ha Shin head of our sister Methodist Denomination, The Korean Methodist Church, in South Korea, as that country waits in fear for the outcome of a hostage crisis unfolding in Afghanistan.

On July 19th, 23 Korean Christians on a medical volunteer mission trip to Afghanistan were kidnapped and are being held hostage by the Taliban in the Qarabagh district between Kabul and Kandahar.

Demands are being made for the release of rebel prisoners. Negotiations have been hampered by the lack of a central government in the region. This past weekend an envoy from South Korea arrived in Kabul to coordinate efforts to secure the group's safe release. Prior to the envoy's arrival the leader of the VIM group, Rev. Bae Hyung-kyu was shot to death by the captors. Rev. Bae leaves behind a wife and nine-year old daughter. Late word this afternoon (Wed, Aug 1) from contacts in South Korea is that a second volunteer has been executed. The nation of South Korea is united in prayer for the safe release of the remaining 21 hostages.

We ask our United Methodist brothers and sisters to pray:

for reconciliation and a just resolution in the situation

for hopeful negotiation and safe release

for all Volunteer in Mission leaders in our churches as many offer
themselves in mission close to home and in other countries

for Christians in Korea and the entire nation, as the Korean Methodist
Church and others feel the pain and anguish of this unfolding situation.


Let us join our hearts in prayer for the pain and fear experienced by so
many in this situation.


Your Servant in Christ,

Bishop Hee-Soo Jung


There's a news release on the main UMC.org website titled "United Methodists pray for Korean hostages. I tried to link to it but Blogger won't cooperate.

a dry house

So the house we worked on had 1/3 of a roof left after the tree smashed it two years ago. We had to move tarp to do the work we needed to do -- blue tarp from FEMA. There were packs of shingles stacked in the front yard waiting for us. I thought the construction crew was able to get the delivered early. Yeah! Later I found out that those shingles had been sitting in the front yard for 2 years because there was no one to do the work.

In five days, the two teams working on one house left it better than we found it. When the 14 of us -- 4 adults and 10 Jr and Sr High -- were done there were:

• a finished roof with new decking, tar paper, and shingles making the house dry for the first time in two years
  
• a completely painted house with Kilz under the paint to get rid of the mold
  
• a neater yard because the old carpet, padding, insulation, and drywall that were pulled out 2 years ago were finally taken to the dump by our group
• a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen with new insulation and drywall walls and ceilings
• hope for actually being able to live in their home again

On Sunday night our construction coordinator told us that there were two teams on this one house because it was a big job but we could do it. On Thursday night, when it was obvious that we would finish, he finally confessed that he didn't really know if we could get all of it done. We weren't really supposed to get the bathroom done or paint the trim. Our youth were terrific.

On Friday, there were 14 smelly, sweaty youth and adults sitting in the much cooler kitchen under a completed ceiling eating our sack lunches. We brought extra food with us and shared lunch with the momma and the son for their first meal in the kitchen in 2 years. The mamma said, "You are God's grace. You are an answer to my prayers. You are God's grace."