This week I was heavily inspired from my last post on Evangelizing: Persecution versus Freedom to search throughout the Internet to see what is being done about this problem and If other countries are trying to rectify this atrocity. I have found there are organizations out there trying to mobilize support through prayer, financial support, or through providing jobs for the people in that country.

My first website is called Open Doors. This website is dedicated to serving persecuted Christians worldwide through prayer, sending aid, and equipping them with inspirational resources to endure their current situation. The site provides a lot of information on how you can get involved in your own country by sending letters to your congress man/woman and to join in with current petitions that Open Doors is already doing. According to the Webbby Awards, this site does a great job of engaging the viewer in events around the world and inviting them to participate in a number of ways. The next website is an example of people in a persecuted country that try to do something for their own people and to increase their quality of life. This site is called Operation Nehemiah. This site is geared to provide current Sudanese who have been persecuted out of the country or who had their jobs taken away to be financially stable again and to be encourage that Christ can still be trusted in for salvation. Some other projects that Operation Nehemiah is trying to accomplish are: Bee Keeping, Brick and Tile Production Fund and Trumpet Call Radio in which shares the unhindered word of God in their own language. This site definitely gets the viewer involved in giving to specific projects that will help rebuild Sudan. The next site is a blog called Persecuted Church Weblog. This blog is focused on the persecution of Christians and providing viewers with a resource of where they can learn what is happening around the world and in United States as well. According to the Blog Evaluation Assessment, this blog does a great job in updating its events and news under the blog activity section and also has easy, but educated language where anyone with a fifth grade level education can read it. This next site is a site in which I am most found of because it has a wealth of information in the form of reports on video of where persecution is happening around the world too highlights of people who are changing their world for Jesus Christ. This site is called Persecution TV. This site even reaches the younger generation by having a Facebook group where they post videos and allow for people to converse and pray openly about topics that they were not aware of. Also the site has a section where you can download video reports and information to your ipod via pod cast. This site really does reach and incorporates all age groups to view and become spiritually involved with the website.

This next site is from Canada where the Voice of the Martyrs can be heard by viewers like you and me. This site is The Voice of the Martyrs in Canada. As the other sites, this site involves the viewer by encouraging them to remember the captives and shows the viewer how they can do so at the bottom of the page. This site also has the Persecution Report video where you can watch what is going on in another country and updates of captive Christians. Another site is called Chin Aid where their main purpose is to expose the suffering, encourage the believers and to equip the suffering through aid from the larger body of the Church of God. KLove News is another site is very interactive by providing uplifting and encouraging Christian music and educational elements to covey the gospel to millions of listeners. This site also has news that orientates the viewer to news in their own city and how legislature affects their current surroundings. This next site I stumbled across displays Christian History like no site I have ever seen before. The site is called Christian History Institute. It is an extensive site on Christian History from the first century too the twentieth century. It has articles from the most famous Christian thinkers' too interesting facts about today's date in relation to Christians who lived in the past. For instance, on this day, March 29, 1549, the Jesuit Manoel da Nobrega and his five companions stamped Brazil with a Catholic imprint that is still alive today in Brazil. This site even tells you who was born on your birthday in Christian History. Overall, this site is very informative, inspirational, interactive, and takes you back in time without leaving your keyboard.

Evangelizing: Freedom vs. Persecution

Last week in India, forty Christians were kidnapped by extremists who wanted them to convert back to Hinduism, and still no word is known about their well-being. Such stories are not common-place here in the United States of America because American citizens have the First Amendment of Bill of Rights that states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." One might say that this principle is only for the United States and not for the world, but on the contrary, according to Articles 9, 13, and 18-20, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts that all humans from every nation have the right to leave a nation as they please without restriction, to believe or change one's religion, and to assemble publicly without unnecessary seizures from the government. However, worldwide , lives are being savagely ransacked because of their faith. For a shocking reality check, watch these two short clips on lives disrupted by persecution: video, & video 2. Consequently, people of the Christian faith should be excited and readily sharing the gospel to others with at peace of mind because of the laws and regulations in place! One has to ask him or herself, if they are truly taking advantages of the freedom one has as an American citizen than others in persecuted territory. In my opinion, when a discipline is not tested, the authenticity of it is slightly diminished to mere utterances of allegiance rather than a life lived out of its convictions even if it meant harm to one's body or loved ones was inevitable. In my experience as a Christian evangelizing with this freedom, I admit that I do not always live out my convictions, but rather preach them because I am not in situations where I can not even have the luxury of verbalizing my religious affiliations, let alone encouraging others to join my faith, without having to think, "Is it worth my job, health, or life!"

In relation to the picture above, the Bible encourages the believer who may be going through persecution where their strength can and will be renewed when they believe. In John15; 18-21 affirms, “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, "A slave is not greater than his master' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me." Such a passage for warns the believer that God has given us knowledge that this world is in opposition towards you. Actually 1 John 3:13 states that, "Do not be surprised, brethren. if the world hates you." For further encouragement of strength such passages of 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 announces. "We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may be seen in our bodies. Overall, these verses embolden and revitalize the believer who is suffering to understand that God is always with them and he will never for sake them.

For this same reason, I am also taking the charge to go over seas to do exactly what this young man is doing in the picture below, however, I will also be teaching English to college students where I will get a chance to share American culture and to learn East African culture as well. Furthermore, I am going to live out the verses above and to see how complacent I have been and to see what and how a Christian lives their life in a country where it is illegal to share their faith.

Backbone:Updated Linkroll

This week I probed the Web and blogoshpere for superlative resources in the form of websites and blogs that discusses the impact that Religion( mainly Christianity) has on the private as well as the public sphere of one's life. These sites as well as blogs can be found in my Link roll for your informative pleasures. According to The Webby Awards, the content and infrastructure of Christian Coalition of America website is very appealing to the reader where one can know whats happening of importance within Christianity on Capital Hill as well as inviting the reader to join its cause in in acting change in legislature. Like Christian Coalition of America, The Institue on Religion & Democracy educates and supports changes in congress for freedom of Religious rights of people and organizations, but also seeks this out world wide. Thus, this site is great for getting educated on political events in the religion sector within the United States and Internationally as well.In The Girzzley's Lair, Arthur has an interesting view point on various topics that would inspire the reader to interact with him. However, Arthur does not have any sites that explore the faith of Christianity or would inform the reader about his faith. Despite this note, Arthur has an extensive archive section from the present back to February 2006. In Christianity Today, informs the reader with an superlative resource on ways to build and develop leaders in the Church, in the home, and in the work place. Cased on the Webby Awards, Christianity Today does a great job of interacting with the reader on free subscriptions to Voice of the Martyrs or a free trail version of Leader's Journal. Also, the site's functionality is great where the site regularly scrolls ads across or pops up key free resources that the reader can receive. Also, like Christianity Today the PEW is an amazing site that offers news about every area in Religion and how it relates to public life from politics and laws to home issues to the public’s general view point of religion.Within Focus on the Family, this site hits key issues that impact the dynamics of a family, such as, Relationships & Marriage, Parenting, Faith, Entertainment, and Life Challenges and so on. It is overall a resource center for to-be parents or how to have a life long marriage. This site also allows you to interact with a friend by sending an email to your friend about a resource that you think might be of some use/encouragement to them!. In relation to inspiring and developing relationships, Life in Site of Christ is a great blog for watching videos of inspiring, soul invigorating messages that spurs you on or develops curiosity as to what the viewer is living for. The blog does a great job at keeping its sermons up-to-date that allows its viewers an easy one stop solution if they missed church that day. However, it would have been cool to read an abstract of how the message impacted “Gospel lover’s” life or present situation. Furthermore, some of the advertisements like Palm Readings are contradictory to the messages about trusting in God to tell you what your purpose is and the overall point of the site. Lastly, NRB & Evangelical Press Association are two sites provide an opportunity for the gospel and Christian related issues to be viewed in press and on TV broadcast stations around the world. These two sites are great for people who are artist, writers, publishers, or broadcasters who want to join an association where they can be trained, inspired, and network with other professionals. However, it is not accessible for the average college student or non-professionals.