World – Kallos

Come, My Beloved – God’s gentle call to us in times of uncertainty

Alina Teo — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 12:50:00 +0000

WHAT'S GOING ON?

I’ve found myself finding it a little harder to hope. With uncertainty looming from so many fronts — from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the massive earthquake in Turkey and Syria, to the almost monthly shootings in the USA. Sure, these events are not happening to me, but somehow, I feel their effects. Not too long ago, with the decrease in supply of chickens to Singapore, even the seemingly simple task of buying a plate of chicken rice proved to be a feat in itself. What is happening in our world?

Sometimes, I don’t know how to feel or process these happenings. It is hard. At times, I feel hard-pressed to hope for some semblance of good news next month. Because to be honest, I’m not even sure what next month holds.

WHAT DOES GOD'S WORD HAVE TO SAY?

But as I sat in church the other day, with the preacher declaring God’s Word from Psalm 17, I realised that these feelings of being surrounded and pressed in from all sides may not be unfamiliar to the people of faith in the ancient past. David, the shepherd boy who became king of Israel, was in that place of distress and anguish. He described his enemies “as a lion [being] eager to tear his prey” and “a young lion lurking in secret places” (v. 12 NKJV).

Although his life was in danger from his enemies and fear must have been mounting, David refused to take matters into his own hands. Instead, he cried out to God to “attend to my cry” and “give ear to my prayer” (Ps 17:1)! David’s response was not to go against his enemies with his own might or cleverness. In contrast, David laid himself bare before God and asked God to test his heart; David “purposed that my mouth shall not transgress” (v. 3).

David refused to take matters into his own hands.
Instead, he cried out to God to “attend to my cry” and “give ear to my prayer”!

David was not going to fight his battle his way (v. 5). He determined in his heart and had the humble faith to allow God’s vindication to come in God’s own way and God’s own time. Trust is what David resolved to do. In the midst of trouble, he turned to God and relied on God’s help and vindication. He actively sought God and remembered who God is — a God who saves those whom He loves and who trusts in Him (v. 6–9).

AN ENCOURAGEMENT

Maybe today, your battles aren’t because of global wars or local unrests, but your battles take the form of war and unrest inside of you — the despair you carry around that no one sees; the crippling thoughts about yourself that you keep under wraps. Perhaps your battles are hardships in school or among friends or colleagues, or the difficulty of fitting in or having someone close enough to confide in. Perhaps it is the heavy burden of work placed upon you that is crushing you. The same encouragement holds true for you too:

“I have called upon You, for You will hear me, O God …
O You who save those who trust in You” (vv. 6–7)

Today, God is calling to you to come to Him, you who are His beloved. He is asking you to give Him your despair, your heartache, and your pain. Turn to Him, and He will save you.

He actively sought God and remembered who God is —
a God who saves those whom He loves and who trusts in Him (Ps. 17: 6–9).

This brings to mind the hymn, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. The lyrics sing of us beholding Christ again in our everyday lives. Despite our circumstances, good or bad, there is a call to be present and to “turn your eyes”! Not tomorrow, not later, but turn now. Sovereign Grace Music composed a modern version of this song, adding a chorus:

Jesus, to you we lift our eyes
Jesus, our glory and our prize
We adore You, behold You, our Saviour ever true
Oh Jesus, we turn our eyes to You

When we turn our eyes to His beauty, goodness, and faithfulness, when we behold Christ, we turn our eyes away from the craziness, the messiness, and the despair that we may be experiencing. It doesn’t take away these circumstances, but it changes our focus to the One who is in control.

Today, God is calling to you to come to Him, you who are His beloved.
He is asking you to give Him your despair, your heartache, and your pain.
Turn to Him, and He will save you.

To behold means to observe or to see, usually something remarkable to us. When we behold Christ, we are intently looking upon, we are gazing, taking time to appreciate Him. We let Christ be our centre. We can keep our eyes fixed on Christ and say, I trust in You, God, my hope and my light.

Would you come and behold Christ today?

Life and Hope in War

Kallos Team — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 04:29:00 +0000

Ukrainian Christian ANASTACIA NEVMYVAKA reflects on how she can have hope and joy as she surrenders to God her life disrupted by war.

Traveling the world has always been my biggest dream. Given a chance, I would have become a photographer or maybe an artist to be able to go places and take pictures of magnificent clouds all over the globe. Growing older, one stops anticipating Christmas celebrations or counting off days before yet another birthday party. Still the moment I book a ticket to a new destination point, the moment the realisation of “It is happening! I am going there!” hits never ceases to make me feel so full of joy; it feels like my heart is doing a proverbial somersault in my chest. Endless discoveries, cultural heritage explorations, meeting new people, trying out new things, expanding my music playlist, seeing the shades and the hues of foreign skies under the same sun — nothing could ever be better than that for me.

I have always been up for a good challenge, therefore, spending about ten years working and studying in various regions of Asia had seemed like a perfect one for me. I even studied in Singapore Bible College for a few years. It never ceases to impress me how unique every world community is and, at the same time, how much we all have in common. At the end of the day, our core values are pretty much the same: kindness, honesty, gratitude, open-mindedness, love, and respect when it comes to diversity.

LIFE, INTERRUPTED

On 23 February 2022, I did my first stand-up monologue while still celebrating my birthday. It seemed like another cool challenge, yet another skill to master, another fear to overcome. The day was hectic and exhilarating; I had been looking forward to it literally for months. I was still running high on adrenaline when the first news of attacks on Ukraine popped up on some social media dashboards.

Exactly 24 hours later, my sister and I were sitting at a random Kyiv metro station after yet another warning of a possible missile attack.

I REMEMBER STAYING AWAKE ALL NIGHT THINKING ABOUT THIS IN THE UNEASY DARKNESS OF A DISTURBED, FEVERISH CITY.

Earlier that day, we were on our way to the airport to finally go on a well-deserved vacation and birthday celebration trip when we heard the first sirens and found out that the transportation system had been blocked all over the country.

Now, I just did not get it. Why did some people believe that they have got a right to control my life, cancel my plans, make me stay up and flee from home in the middle of the night? Were our lives of any lesser value than theirs? I remember staying awake all night thinking about this in the uneasy darkness of a disturbed, feverish city, full of sound and fury, and could not come up with even a single reason to justify what was happening in Ukraine at the moment. What is still happening there now. Because there is none.

About two months before, I had been in Auschwitz for a day tour. What I saw there in the Nazi concentration camp, what I felt there, literally shook me to the very core. It shocks me that there are still people around who remember the horrors of WWII, and yet we find ourselves in the midst of another brutal war. Was that not enough?

KNOWING HE’S IN CONTROL

I am in Germany at the moment. The rest of my family made a decision to stay back in Ukraine, and as much as I wish it was otherwise, I really cannot do anything about that. However, eventually accepting their choice has become the most liberating spiritual experience of the past months. Acknowledging that their lives are in God’s hands, that He is the only one calling the shots now, originally prompted a tsunami of what seemed like righteous anger, uncontrollable fear, deep resentment, and utter frustration within me. And then it dawned on me that it has always been this way. God has always been in control; I simply refused to accept that truth in my stubborn, self-assured ignorance of a sinful foolish human. As it goes in one of my favourite songs, “and I discovered that my castles stand upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand.”

Apparently, the biggest challenge is to let go of one’s worries, of this incessant need to always seem in control. Deep inside we know who is, in fact, in control — God always has been and always will be. I have learned to be happy even amidst the chaos and pain of everyday news reports and scarce messages from loved ones whose trust in Him appears to be way more solid than mine.

GOD HAS ALWAYS BEEN IN CONTROL; I SIMPLY REFUSED TO ACCEPT THAT TRUTH.

In retrospect, I realise that each and every nation has had a history of tragic losses, and the present as well as the future belongs to God. It’s a humbling thought yet a great reminder that even bad things are finite, and there is always hope amidst suffering.

BUT WITH GOD THERE IS LIFE AND THERE IS HOPE.

The world is still fuelled by the kindness of strangers, by the honesty of friends and neighbours, by the gratitude of those blessed by others’ virtues, by the open-mindedness of colleagues and allies, and by the love and respect within the world community.

I have learned to finally enjoy my life as it is, to experience it without postponing till better days, as they may never come. I cannot stop the war, neither can I change the world. But with God there is life and there is hope. It is tough some days, yet there are times I feel so exuberantly, gloriously happy and blessed despite all the sorrow. Looking back at one gloomy day back in December 2009, when a sad, depressed, and disappointed girl dared to accept a challenge of going on a lifelong journey with the Lord, I know that it has been totally worth it.

Man-made Famine in Tigray, Ethiopia

Kallos Team — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 15:08:00 +0000

STATISTICS

0% OF THE POPULATION NEEDS ACCESS TO EMERGENCY FOOD AID (TUFTS UNIVERSITY, 2021)

400,000 AFFECTED BY FAMINE, WITH ANOTHER 1.8M PEOPLE ON THE BRINK OF FAMINE (BBC, 2021)

How did it begin?
In November 2020, war began in Tigray when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed attempted to disarm Tigray’s dominant political party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), after an attack on a military base. Caught between the TPLF and Ethiopian government troops, local civilians are stuck in the crossfire. To worsen the situation, Eritrean troops have also joined the fighting in support of the Ethiopian government, and are widely accused of sexual violence, ethnic cleansing, and outright massacre of Tigrayans. While all involved in the conflict have been accused of human rights violations and mass killings, the man-made famine is now one of the most pressing humanitarian concerns in the region.

Why is there a man-made famine?
In February this year, Tigray’s most effective aid groups were disbanded by the Ethiopian government (The Guardian, 2021). Subsequently, food aid and medicine that should have reached the most vulnerable in Tigray were blocked by Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers from entering the region or stolen. Alarmingly, soldiers are also preventing farmers from planting, harvesting, or plowing their land. Livestock has also been killed, creating a long-lasting problem with the nation on the cusp of widespread famine.

Local humanitarian groups report that if these methods of war do not stop soon, it will quickly become irreversible. Locals simply cannot wait for the next round of harvest when no food is available now.

While Ethiopia’s government denies that starvation and rape are used as weapons of war, the fact remains that farming has become scarce, and those engaging in farming have not only been beaten, but those given food by the government have not been given enough to live on (AP, 2021).

According to the U.N. World Food Program, the full extent of this hunger situation is hard to pinpoint. Officials and food aid are unable to access remote locations due to inaccessibility and armed groups blocking major entrances. 1.4 million people in Tigray have been reached, but that’s barely half of the population who need access to resources.

What else is happening?
While families and children have been gravely impacted by the famine, perhaps the most disturbing evidence is not just the starvation and malnourishment, but the fact that these point toward a larger aim of ethnic cleansing. Gang rapes and sexual abuse committed against Tigrayan girls and women by Ethiopian and Eritrean troops are commonplace, and worse still, increasing reports are surfacing of women being violently assaulted to prevent them from giving birth in the future. Horrific accounts of a hot metal rod being inserted into a woman’s genitals, or of nails, rocks, and pieces of plastic being found inside rape victims tell a disturbing story of the extent of torture these women face (Al Jazeera, 2021). Many are gang raped over days, and have reported their limbs being broken or even being shot for resisting. Some victims are as young as 9 years old, a sickening revelation.

The combination of widespread starvation and sexual violence is a devastating situation that demands action, yet very little is being done to condemn and stop the fighting, and provide help to the vulnerable civilians who are in need.

PRAY FOR:
– Victims of sexual violence who have been deeply traumatised by their physical and emotional wounds.
– The leaders of the TPLF, Ethiopian government troops, and Eritrean troops to come to a ceasefire.
– Government officials and humanitarian aid groups to work together to create long-lasting and effective measures to combat starvation and violence.
– The troops committing these atrocities to be convicted of their wrongdoing and show compassion to their perceived enemies.

Uighur Genocide In Xinjiang

Amber Ginter — Sat, 01 May 2021 13:38:00 +0000

STATISTICS

BIRTH RATES DROPPED 60%
FROM 2015 TO 2018
AS A RESULT OF FORCED STERILISATIONS
(ASSOCIATED PRESS, 2020)

OVER A MILLION
Uighurs have been detained in re-education camps
(BBC, 2021)

MORE THAN 570,000 Uighurs
involved in forced cottonpicking
(Centre for Global Policy, 2020)

In recent months, increasing attention has been brought to a series of human rights abuses against the Uighur population in what has been termed the Uighur genocide. AMBER GINTER explores what is happening in Xinjiang, China.

HOW DID IT START?
The Uighurs (also known as the Uyghurs) are a Turkic ethnic group originating from Central Asia. There are 12 million of them in Xinjiang, China, roughly half its population. A largely Muslim minority, the Uighurs and Han Chinese in Xinjiang have experienced rising tensions in recent years, as the Uighurs have had limits imposed on their religious freedoms, and believe the Han Chinese are given preferential treatment in jobs and education. The unrest and violence reached its peak in 2009, with large-scale rioting in the capital Urumqi, as well as the infamous knife and bomb attacks in 2014.

As a result, the Chinese government launched a “year-long campaign on terrorism,” with controversial methods used to manage the violent separatists and others sympathetic to the Uighur cause. These include forced “re-education camps” and “vocational education centres,” which the Chinese government claims aims to stop the spread of religious extremism. However, they are now widely believed to be aimed at erasing the Uighur culture completely.

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
Recent reports by the BBC revealed that these re-education camps and vocational centres are a guise for ideological indoctrination, systematic rape, forced sterilisations, and sexual and physical abuse — all with the aim of destroying Uighur identity. Tursunay Ziawudun, who was detained in one of these camps, recounted horrific accounts of women being removed from their holding cells nightly and being raped by 1-3 masked Chinese men in black rooms. She herself was tortured and gang-raped three times, but remained silent for fear of being sent back to said camps. She later fled Xinjiang after her release. And she’s not the only one. Numerous other women have spoken up about similar abuse.

In March 2021, the first independent, non-government report into China’s treatment of the Uighurs revealed that the Chinese government has breached every single article in the UN 1984 genocide convention with an “intent to destroy” the Uighur population, an accusation the Chinese government has vehemently denied.

WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW?
Since the report was released, a spotlight has been shone on the human rights abuses faced by the Uighurs. In particular, there is a growing awareness of Uighurs forced into cotton-picking in Xinjiang, which produces over 20 per cent of the world’s cotton supply. Many of these Uighurs are also forcibly relocated away from their families because their lifestyle and customs are seen as a barrier to modernisation (BBC, 2020). The Chinese government maintains that cotton-picking is a way out of poverty for the Uighurs.

Major brands like H&M, Nike, and Adidas, all members of the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) have expressed their concerns over the forced labour used to produce cotton in Xinjiang, and have faced boycotts in China as a result.

WILL THE SITUATION IMPROVE?
The Chinese government has categorically denied all allegations of human rights abuses, and these camps continue to exist. While the international attention on the issue is certainly a cause for hope, it has proved mostly ineffective to change things in China. Many Chinese citizens have expressed their support for Xinjiang cotton and the boycott of Western brands who raised concern about the Uighurs. However, the growing awareness about the potential abuses in Xinjiang could also gain important momentum as more pressure is placed on the Chinese government.

WHAT NOW?

PRAY FOR:
• The Uighurs, who are loved by God. He grieves for the abuses they suffer.
• The Uighur women who are sexually and physically abused, and those that have undergone forced sterilisations. Pray that they can find healing from the trauma.
• International brands to value ethics over economics, and continue to place pressure on the Chinese government to ensure ethical cotton-picking.

Rising Porn Exposure In USA

Amber Ginter — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 08:01:00 +0000

STATISTICS

9.1 MILLION SEARCHES
FOR PORNOGRAPHY
USING
COVID-19-RELATED ITEMS
(E.G. MASKS, GLOVES, MEDICAL SUPPLIES)

11% INCREASE
IN GLOBAL TRAFFIC ON PORNHUB
FROM FEBRUARY TO MARCH 2020
(JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL ADDICTIONS, 2020)

Since the initial onslaught of Covid-19 one year ago, it is startling to see just how much porn usage has advanced alongside this deadly disease. As the pandemic rages on, porn exposure in the US has risen as well. AMBER GINTER explores why.

WHAT’S HAPPENING?
With worldwide lockdowns and the pandemic raging on, the demand to be comforted is at an all-time high. People are lonely, so victims are more easily seduced, and sexual means are seen as coping mechanisms to stressful life circumstances. Covid-19 lockdowns have caused a surge not only in the use of websites like Pornhub but also an increase in those seeking help when their intimate pictures are posted online without their permission.

According to Pornhub, 42 billion visits to the site were made in the last year, an average of 115 million visits per day. At the same time, the BBC reported that traffic to Revenge Porn Helpline, a UK-based service for adults experiencing intimate image abuse, nearly doubled in the first four weeks of the pandemic, more than any other reported time. None of this is new — but the pandemic has certainly made things worse.

WHY IS THIS A PROBLEM?
While some media posted to pornography sites like Pornhub is consensual, much is not. In a now-famous investigation by New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof, it was revealed that Pornhub’s defense from rebuke is that they provide solicited adult images, for adults, and fight to remove videos of rape or abuse. Victims like Serena K. Fleites, 19, however, would say otherwise. Fleites attempted suicide twice after her naked videos were posted on Pornhub by a boy she had a crush on. Her naked videos, since they were taken at 14, are tantamount to child pornography, yet remain online for the world to see.

And she’s not the only one. The Internet is rife with child pornography and videos of non-consensual violence. As porn exposure in the US (and around the world) rises, these precious souls are victimised again and again, for years and years, for as long as these media remain online.

WILL THE SITUATION IMPROVE?
Covid-19 has only amplified what was already in existence — the insatiable hunger for love, devouring lust as a substitute, with the huge increase in traffic to pornography sites as testament.

G.K. Chesterton, an English writer and lay theologian who died 100 years ago, is thought to have said, “Every time a man knocks on a brothel door, he is really searching for God.” Unless people recognise that the false comfort they find in pornography will never satisfy, pornography consumption will continue; there are no immediate, simple, or permanent fixes to end porn exposure for good.

Encouragingly, following Kristof’s journalistic expose on Pornhub, some concrete actions have been taken by the company to make access to non-consensual pornographic material more difficult, including disallowing downloads on videos and improving moderation to remove videos of rape and child pornography. In addition, Visa and Mastercard have blocked the use of their cards for payment on Pornhub. All of these give hope that the situation can improve as more people recognise the evils of being complicit in another’s suffering, or worse still, using their abuse for enjoyment.

WHAT NOW?

PRAY FOR:
– Those whose lives have been compromised by their intimate images being leaked online, or who have been sexually abused for someone else’s pleasure.
– Companies who can make a difference to take a moral stand against child pornography and rape videos, and to stop enabling companies like Pornhub that profit off the sexual exploitation of millions of victims worldwide.
– Those seeking comfort in pornography, to find healthier outlets and find their true fulfilment in Christ.

The Plight of Foreign Domestic Workers

Eunice Sng — Fri, 01 Jan 2021 03:39:00 +0000

STATISTICS

APPROXIMATELY
400,000
FDWS IN HONG KONG,
ROUGHLY 5% OF THE
POPULATION

PAID MINIMUM
HK$4630 PER
MONTH (SGD800)

Imagine living and working within the confines of the same four walls, far from the comforts of home. To make matters worse, your ‘bosses’ are the housemates from hell. How does one navigate that — and is there help? EUNICE SNG shines a light on the plight of foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong.

Like many before her, Wanda* (name changed for her protection) left home in hopes of greener pastures abroad, hoping to provide enough for her family back home. However, it was not to be. Like many foreign domestic workers (FDWs), Wanda faced abuse at the hands of her employers. She was physically and verbally abused by her employers and their children. Not only did she have to endure an unsafe work environment, she had no rest days and had her mobile phone confiscated from her. When she was running a fever after being bitten by the family dog, she was even told to pay for her own medical expenses.

WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
Unfortunately, Wanda’s case is far from unique. A 2014 survey of 3000 FDWs revealed that 58% experienced verbal abuse, 18% experienced physical abuse, and 6% experienced sexual abuse (Mission for Migrant Workers). Due to a law that prohibits FDWs from working while allegations of abuse are being investigated (which can take months or years), many of these cases often go unreported. The global pandemic has only made things worse, as it is even tougher for FDWs to get out of the house and get help due to the ever watchful eye of employers and the lack of work-life balance. Social-distancing also prevents FDWs from taking a breather with their friends on their off-days, and in Hong Kong’s infamously small flats, many do not even have their own rooms in their employer’s homes.

Even if they do try seeking help with local migrant worker agencies, they are often rejected because of how complex the case might be. This is when non-profit organisations like Justice Without Borders step in, because they are able to deal with complicated, cross-border, legal process, such as mediating between employers and the domestic workers when disputes arise that cannot be resolved. Most FDWs find it difficult to remain in Hong Kong to seek justice, and unfortunately, the legal aid systems cannot extend to these workers when they return to their home countries, since they lack the networks and knowledge to access justice there. As such, many workers end up giving up their rights altogether. At the same time, bad actors in the host countries understand that they can act with impunity, escaping responsibility once they send a worker home.

WHY IS THE SITUATION SO BAD?
Many acknowledge that one of the reasons abuse of FDWs is so rife is the “live-in requirement” that FDWs must reside in their employer’s home, resulting in long working hours and very little privacy if they do not have their own rooms. Global Voices reports that this makes FDWs more vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse, with few avenues to seek help when it happens.

In the event that an FDW decides that she has had enough and wants to find a new employer, she faces further complications. Immigration laws stipulate that FDWs need to leave Hong Kong if they do not find a new employer within two weeks, which they know is difficult and unlikely. As these domestic helpers are often made to pay exorbitant agent fees in order to get a job in Hong Kong, leaving and re-entering the country (and paying the fees again) is typically not an option. As a result, many FDWs simply have to endure the abuse they face in hopes of making it through their contract so that they can pay off their agent fees and earn enough money to send home.

WHAT NOW?

THINK:
– Is Hong Kong the only place where this happens? How can we fight for the rights of FDWs in our own country?

PRAY:
– That Hong Kong’s lawmakers will value the dignity of FDWs and pass laws that give them the rights they deserve.
– That those equipped with relevant skillsets (e.g. lawyers, doctors) will be moved to volunteer to help FDWs who have been abused.

ACT:
– Donate to organisations like Justice Without Borders or PathFinders, who serve the migrant community in Hong Kong by offering them legal and social support.

Kenyan Women Affected By COVID-19

Amber Ginter — Thu, 26 Nov 2020 01:11:00 +0000

STATISTICS

WORKING MORE TIME FOR LESS WAGES,
WOMEN IN KENYA HAVE BEEN
DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACTED
BY COVID-19
(BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
RESOURCE CENTRE, 2020)

50% DECLINE
IN ACTIVE TRADES
BY EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY
(EAC) WOMEN TRADERS
(THE AFRICA REPORT, 2020)

All across the globe, many are settling into what has become one of the most unprecedented times in history. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, lives have been turned upside down. In Kenya, Africa, specifically, the women impacted by this deadly disease are at a much greater threat. AMBER GINTER explores why.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?
With border closures and a reduction in regional help, countries like Kenya and its women are on the forefront of fatal repercussions. Due to a disruption in trade routes, imports and exports have ceased in an attempt to contain the spread of COVID-19, and trades have now declined by 50-60%. With an increase in caring for needs at home while attempting to still provide for those needs amid a pandemic, this tension is creating immediate financial inadequacy, leading to poverty and hunger (Foothold International, 2020). Women are among one of the most vulnerable groups exposed to the negative impacts of COVID-19, as they are direct caregivers and essential providers. They are therefore directly exposed to the virus by more than 60%. As traders, these women are the primary breadwinners, and with few avenues for success due to limited time, lacking resources, and accrued debts, existing inequalities are widened.

According to Cherie Catron from Foothold International, young women are particularly at risk during this outbreak due to schools being closed. Schools often provided one meal daily and menstrual pads, and with the closure of trade routes and schools, many girls are now at higher risk of facing early marriage, sexual abuse, or turning to prostitution in order to provide food and extra materials now needed for their families. As a result of these increased risks, teen pregnancies are now beyond what Kenya has ever seen, showing thousands in each region (Kenya Department of Health, 2020).

WILL THE SITUATION IMPROVE?
Like many East African countries, the rates of infection due to COVID-19 are not nearly as high due to younger populations, cultural distance, environment, and the government’s response; however, the effects of the virus have directly impacted a lack of supplies, transportation, and food scarcity beyond the disease (Foothold International, 2020; Advisory Board, 2020). Therefore, on their own, it is unlikely that Kenya’s women will recover successfully from this major impact.

HOW CAN WE PRAY?
– Women in Kenya to find support so that they do not have to resort to extreme decisions like prostitution in order to provide food for their families.
– Organisations in Kenya such as Foothold International or World Vision as they assist women with better avenues for these needs.

The Women Giving Away Their Children

Amber Ginter — Wed, 16 Sep 2020 03:42:00 +0000

STATISTICS

AN ESTIMATED 6.5 MILLION VENEZUELANS
WILL HAVE FLED TO ESCAPE POVERTY BY THE END OF 2020
(New York Times)

70% INCREASE
IN ABANDONED BABIES IN 2018
(BBC, 2020)

90% OF THE POPULATION
LIVE IN POVERTY
(INE, 2020)

Having to give your child away is a reality no mother wishes to face, yet it is one that many in Venezuela face on a daily basis. AMBER GINTER explores why.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?
Venezuela has been in the throes of what the United Nations has called one of the worst humanitarian crises. In fact, according to the U.N. World Food Program, 9.3 million people — nearly one-third of Venezuela’s population — are unable to meet their basic dietary needs. The recent COVID-19 outbreak has only worsened overall conditions, as access to food, resources, safety, and adequate education are increasingly out of reach. For women in Venezuela, however, another heartbreak is present.

Under socialist president Nicolás Maduro, Venezuelan women are encouraged to have as many children as possible to heal the economy, a solution with fatal results. For most families, the crippling economic situation means that caring for the children they already have is a struggle in itself. More children means more mouths to feed, resulting in older children being kicked out of their homes or voluntarily sleeping on the streets to find food for themselves.

With the 2020 demand to re-populate, more women are forced to give up their newborns or live on the streets to survive. From warning signs to not abandon children in trash cans to beggars on the streets, Venezuela’s economy is increasingly declining, even with additional births.

WILL THE SITUATION IMPROVE?
With Venezuela in the midst of an ever-worsening economic crisis, the problem can only worsen. With an urgency to reproduce, women are forced to give up a child they can’t provide for, become homeless, or leave the area in attempts to find a new life. Children are often left behind with neighbours, other family members, or simply abandoned when their parents leave the country or region in search of better prospects (The Guardian). As a government-wide authorisation (U.N. Population Fund 2019), 17,000 hormonal contraceptives have been distributed at hospitals and clinics to prevent pregnancy. For those not receiving the implant, however, pregnancy is still possible. Once a child is born, the vicious cycle of reproduction, homelessness, and malnourishment begins all over again.

HOW CAN WE PRAY?

– For children living on the streets after their parents have been unable to care and provide for them to find the help they need.
– For government officials who have citizen’s interests at heart to be elected so that children can be better cared for.

DONATE TODAY

1. UNHCR
The UN Refugee Agency that works on the frontlines of providing food, medicine, shelter and water to those in need.

2. Save the Children
An organisation that provides safe spaces, emotional support, and learning centers for children.

Dig Deeper: Does The Old Testament Promote Racism?

Jackie Hwang — Wed, 16 Sep 2020 03:39:00 +0000

Does this question make you uncomfortable? It should! The answer that any Christian wants to hear to this question is “NO!” But how do we answer people who claim that the Old Testament (OT) itself promotes racism? Perhaps we secretly fear that this claim is somehow true.

The claim that the OT promotes racism usually comes up because it seems that God gives the Israelites preferential treatment in the OT. God calls the Israelites His chosen people (Deut 7:6). Did God choose them because they were a superior race? Did God not care about other races? Is the God of the OT different from Jesus, who offers salvation in the New Testament (NT) to all people regardless of race (John 3:16)?

When I was a young person growing up in church, I was never brave enough to ask my parents or church leaders these questions. I was afraid that if I did, it would mean that I was doubting God. Years later, I discovered that these are important questions that godly Christians have already asked. I was relieved to know that I was not a “bad Christian” for having these questions. In fact, asking them showed that I cared about what the Bible says and who God really is. If you are asking similar questions, I hope my experience is an encouragement to you. In my search for answers, I was able to find several reasons for a definitive “no” to the claim that the OT promotes racism.

I WAS NEVER BRAVE ENOUGH TO ASK THESE QUESTIONS. I WAS AFRAID THAT IF I DID, IT WOULD MEAN THAT I WAS DOUBTING GOD.

CHOSEN FOR OBEDIENCE, NOT SUPERIORITY
First, God did not choose the Israelites because of any idea of racial superiority. God’s choice was instead based on obedience to Him. To understand this, we need to go back to God’s calling of their ancestor — Abraham, also known as Abram. Genesis 12:1–9 records this important event in OT history, when God called Abram to leave his homeland to go to a faraway place. The incredible thing was that Abram obeyed God, no questions asked! Obedience to God was the only thing that set Abram apart from his kinsmen/tribe in Ur (Gen 11:31), who were likely worshippers of false Chaldean gods.

Generations later, when God acted on His promise to Abraham and began nation-building with his descendants, He chose an equally unlikely group of people — the Israelite slaves in Egypt (Deut 7:7–8). If anything, they were inferior, not superior! With these acts, God showed that His grace can overcome the racial prejudice that the Egyptians had against the lowly Israelites.

CHOSEN TO BE A BLESSING
Second, when God chose Abraham and the Israelites, He did not disregard other races. In fact, God chose the Israelites with a purpose to bless everyone else (Gen 12:3) and to defend the marginalised (Deut 10:17–19). The Israelites were given a special mission to be examples of holy living so that all other nations would learn about God’s holiness (Exod 19:6; Deut 4:5–8). This was important because they were living in an evil world where kings and false gods were cruel and capricious (Exod 1:8–16; 2 Kings 17:31). God was calling the Israelites to live as shining examples of holiness and justice in a corrupt world.

CHOSEN, BUT WITHOUT SPECIAL TREATMENT
Third, God did not give the Israelites preferential treatment because they were His chosen people. We can see this in the stern warnings against evil that God gave to the Israelites. For if, instead of serving as examples of holiness, they acted like other nations, God would judge them and remove them from the promised land (Deut 28). The sad history of Israel was exactly this — they neglected God’s warning against sin and began to imitate the evil ways of other nations. Israel thought that God would give them preferential treatment because they were His chosen people (Hos 8:2; Jer 14:13–14). However, God took issue with their sense of racial superiority (Amos 3:2; 9:7). The sinfulness of the kings and people finally led to God’s judgement after their repeated rejection of God’s warning (2 Kgs 17:7–20). Hence, God’s favour to the Israelites was based on holy living, not race.

WHEN GOD CHOSE ABRAHAM AND THE ISRAELITES, HE DID NOT DISREGARD OTHER RACES.

THE GOSPEL FOR ALL, REGARDLESS OF RACE
Looking at how God chose the Israelites in the OT, something should begin to sound familiar to us as Christians today. In the NT, Jesus has also called us to obey God’s commands (John 14:15), and Abraham is mentioned as an example of faith for us (Heb 11:8; 12:1). Just like the Israelites, Christians have a responsibility to live as examples of holiness to draw others to God (Acts 1:8; 1 Pet 2:9). For those of us who have grown up in Christian homes, the negative example of the Israelites reminds us that salvation is not automatic because of family or race. A genuine and active faith in God is required, and it is in fact the only requirement for salvation. In many ways, God’s selection of the Israelites in the OT foreshadows the call to Christians of all races in the NT (Luke 10:25–37; Acts 10; Rev 7:9–10).

In fact, even in the OT, God’s favour was not only toward the Israelites. There are many OT stories where God was gracious and loving to non-Israelites who turned to him. Some examples are Rahab (Josh 6:22–25), Ruth (Ruth 1:16; 2:6, 11–12), a Sidonian widow (1 Kgs 17:8–24), and Naaman (2 Kings 5:1–14).

GOD IS NOT RACIST. HE IS THE BIGGEST ADVOCATE FOR RACIAL RECONCILIATION!

God was gracious and loving not only to individual non-Israelites; He was also compassionate to whole groups of them. A good example would be the story of Jonah. Unlike the well-loved children’s version of the story with a big fish, the focus of the book is actually about God’s heart to warn, forgive, and save a foreign people (Jon 1:1–2; 3:10; 4:2). When the people of Nineveh were willing to repent from evil and worship God (Jon 3:4–9), He was more than willing to forgive them and remove the judgement against them (Jon 3:10). But when Jonah acted like a racist and was unhappy that God saved the people of Nineveh (Jon 4:1–2), God even scolded Jonah for his racism (Jon 4:10–11)!

Reading these parts of the OT should help us know that God is not racist. In reality, He is the biggest advocate for racial reconciliation and delights in true worshippers from all races! From all these examples, we see that God is passionately interested in working against the sinful human tendency toward racism. As His followers, this should be our passion as well.

Victims of Revenge Porn

Amber Ginter — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 16:20:00 +0000

STATISTICS

207,405 VIEWS OF PORN ARE ACCESSED EVERY MINUTE
(Forbes, 2020)

27% of non-consensual media is retrieved through images, videos, and recording,
23% privacy violation,
20% voyeurism,
11% peeping,
9% a combination,
and 11% disorderly conduct
(Psychology Today, 2020)

Non-consensual and Revenge Porn is the release of intimate images and videos without proper consent. Through sex tapes, explicit photos, upskirting, or hidden cameras, voyeurs and ex-partners have one goal: to expose an individual in a sexual way either for personal pleasure or to harass, threaten, coerce, or intimidate the person depicted (revenge). AMBER GINTER explores how it can affect young women and how we can pray for them.

WHAT IS HAPPENING? WHEN DID IT START?

Dating to the 1800s, porn is said to have originated as “a powerful vehicle for social and political protest” (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2020). Deriving from a desire for pleasure, however, the exact origin is impossible to pinpoint because of its subjective definition. While many scholars side with the 1800s, others argue that the artistry of sexual religous art or explicit Rome sculptures could be the guilty culprit as well.

Nevertheless, fighting porn can be increasingly difficult. According to the NCSL(2020), non-consensual porn is popular as human trafficking with often deadly results. In a recent study, 1 in 20 females, 53% of 3,044 surveyed, reported revenge porn. As a result, these victims received numerous hate claims because of the leaked selfies.

Although many releases come from consensual uses sent to a lover, the difficulty is stopping the widespread availability once publicly exposed, especially when victims are unaware of its exposure. This can lead to significant mental health stresses and affect a young woman’s very identity.

BECAUSE CONTENT REMOVAL IS NOT CHEAP, PERPETRATORS MAKE BETWEEN $300 AND $550 ON EVERY CLICKED LINK.

WHY IS NO ONE DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT?

Porn is more accessible than ever before. With more social media platforms comes an increased risk of content spread. Because of accessibility and a low likelihood of being caught, non-consensual and revenge porn are in high demand with little repercussions for its viewers. Most victims never report the crime due to embarrassment, therefore, it goes unpunished. The Internet is always capturing our past, present, and future. It’s almost always irreversible and impossible to retrieve something once it’s released to the public, hence many victims feel a sense of helplessness and do not know what to do.

HOW CAN WE PRAY?

– Young women who are being harmed by non-consensual or revenge porn to not to be ashamed to get help, especially for mental-health issues.
– Perpetrators to be free of the greed of using non-consensual porn to make a profit.
– Victims and perpetrators alike to know that true love and fulfillment only comes from the Lord. Pornography kills love and reduces human beings to temporary pleasures which dissipate with its use.
– Young people to recognise that true sexual fulfillment can be found in the safety of covenantal marital relationships. “Love teaches us to serve others. Porn teaches us that others exist to serve us” (Covenant Eyes, 2020).