If you don't believe some Muslims are not peaceful. Please read this article. Sometimes fewer words here, are better.

This is a sad story concerning the President of Venezuela who is attempting to expel New Tribes Mission from the country.

If you've been reading this blog for some time then you know that people are arrested and imprisoned in countries like Indonesia and North Korea simply for attending a church or pastoring a church. In fact, the persecution is so great in these nations that believers have to start underground churches just to fellowship.

When I saw this story I immediately thought of my friends who were missionaries for a year with New Tribes Mission. One reason why is because for a whole year, when my friends were out of the country, my husband and I watched their lovable dog - "Big Ears". The dog's name was really Leia, but I nicknamed her "Big Ears" for obvious reasons. Which has nothing to do with this story...

http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20051010-045022-3474r

Over the last few days there has been a plethora of news concerning the churches that are being forced to close in Indonesia and those churches that have been bombed mercilessly. Today the Mission News Network cites our very own Todd Nettleton regarding this issue. Nettleton says,

Twenty-five years ago I became a Christian while I lived in a non-Christian environment. And it was a very hard situation because my conversion was pretty radical. Overnight I knew God loved me, I fell in love with reading the bible and my mother opposed everything new that happened to me. And when I found out I needed to be baptized I was forbidden to be because my mother told me I had been baptized as a Catholic when I was a baby. I was devastated because I was a Christian and yet here I was banned from following through on that outward commitment so others would know that I had become a new creature in Him.

I've missed you! I wanted you to know that I haven't forgotten about you or the news we are following with the persecuted church, but I've been swamped this week and haven't had as much time as normal.

I love stories like this because it offers hope to those who are being persecuted from other countries. Here are a few quotes about why this Russian family moved to America.

Recently two more churches were closed in Indonesia. The reason they were closed is because of the pressure from the extreme Muslim group, Islamic Defenders Front.