flying
"Just at that moment the Lord of the Eagles swept down from above, seized him in his talons, and was gone.” —from The Hobbit
In his tale of an unlikely hero, J. R. R. Tolkien presents a vivid picture of unexpected and ordained rescue. Surrounded by wolves and goblins, Bilbo was certain that all was lost. He and his friends were…
faithful lament
Last year we watched with sorrow and concern as an earthquake, tsunami, and ensuing nuclear disaster rocked Japan. MSNBC captured a particularly heart-wrenching photograph of 4-year-old Manami Kon having the sad occasion to practice her recently learned ability to write. Manami slowly penned a letter to her mom who had been missing since the quake: “Dear Mommy, I hope you’re…
deliverance
A 10-year-old human trafficking victim is freed from a brothel in Southeast Asia where she had been abused and sexually exploited. Another child, age 9, is released from indentured slavery in India. Meanwhile, across the ocean in East Africa, a 13-year-old orphaned boy is ushered into a residential home for youth after 5 years of struggling to survive alone on…
God's unobstructed view
Every Sunday I drive an overloaded car full of former street kids to church. While I try to navigate the crazy Kampala roads, the boys are constantly demanding my attention.
“Look over there, Auntie Rox!” one shouts, “That’s where we used to find scrap to sell.” “See those men?” adds another. “They beat me and stole my shoes!” “I used…
remember our manna
We’ve been gone from South Carolina only for a year, but our boys have already begun to forget. A couple of weeks ago, we took a trip to our old town. We drove through our neighborhood and saw the steep hill where they rode their bikes, screaming all the way down. We saw the spot where we always stopped on…
praise in the slum
More than a million people live in Kibera, East Africa’s largest slum, located in the heart of Nairobi, Kenya. A railroad track divides the massive area in half and, when no train is chugging through, also serves as a walking path for Kibera residents and visitors.
One day, as I was trekking down the track, a man in a shabby…
walk forward
His father described him as down-to-earth, generous, kindhearted, life-loving, and unselfish.
Maybe that's why so many people were shocked when Australian-born actor Heath Ledger died of a prescription drug overdose. Before his death, Ledger was reportedly fighting an addiction to heroin.
We all struggle with habitual cravings—food, gambling, and porn are just a few of the things that can enslave…
