Who in the World?

It's amazing how much my perspective has opened up in the last few months. I don't mean I've had some political revelation or great change of heart. It's just that, we live in an enormous country and I can't keep up with all the news in our own nation, let alone really get a grip on international situations.

I even considered myself a news junkie and constantly listened to talk radio, mostly NPR and frequently tuned into all-day news stations on TV...at least for background info. But being here and being involved with the lives of people from, literally, all over, things just mean a bit more.

That's why I just want to take a moment and say:

Thank goodness the situation in Indonesia wasn't as bad as last time. An Indonesian girlfriend of mine, June, still has her entire family at home, but they are fine and we will be praying for the other people in their country who struggle to rebuild lives and structures after the recent earthquake.

It is a miracle that a friend of a friend was released from Somalia after being kidnapped from his office in Kenya, where he was working with a French aid/relief agency. Read more about it here.  We will be praying for him, the others captured and freed, and their captors, who are desperate in their situations and surroundings.