"Dispatches from the Front"

Recently the Westminster Bookstore has promoted a set of DVD's and a book titled Dispatches from the Front.  It is a collection of stories, a kind of travelogue, from different places in the world where the gospel is radically changing lives--that is to say, some very hard and dark places where the gospel is at work.  Here is the blurb on one of the DVDs:
In our world of comfort and convenience it is often startling to realize that poverty, slavery, and persecution grip much of the globe.  Yet it is also thrilling to realize that the work of the gospel transforms, empowers, and equips us to make a lasting difference there on the frontier of human need.
So far I have watched most of the first video, mainly about southeast Asia (the nations around the super-modern city state of Singapore).  It is well worth watching, though it is disturbing--very much so.  And it puts our lives--and our discomforts, such as they are--into perspective.  At the same time, it does highlight how Christ changes lives, and brings hope to truly hopeless pats of the world.  Stay tuned for more about this, or check out their web site.

Sudanese Woman goes to Italy

Here is a report from the BBC web site that gives an update on the previous post.  The Sudanese woman (a Christian whose father--though an absentee father--is Muslin) was freed last month, and released into the custody of the US Embassy in Khartoum.  It appears that Italian diplomats have assisted her in leaving Sudan, and that she is now in Italy.  There she met with the Pope.  Nothing states whether she is Roman Catholic or not; perhaps she is.  Whatever it may be, it is an answer to prayer.