Where We Are, Where We're From

The focus of our Mission team, first and foremost, is to learn more about faith-based ministries among victims of human trafficking, displaced persons, and those fleeing persecution in Myanmar (Burma); to aid and support existing ministries among those people; and to share the Gospel and encourage leaders who are ministering there.

But news headlines, at both the national and international level, urge us to be mindful at all times of where we are, and where we're from. While they have little or nothing to do with our mission, they help shape the perception people overseas might have of Americans, and contribute to the atmosphere in which the mission team must move and work.

NATIONAL POLITICS - "Thailand's parliament will convene after a nearly two-year absence, restoring democracy after a military coup ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and returning many of his allies to politics." HERE is the complete report from AP's Sutin Wannabovorn.

HEALTH - "Last year, more than 500,000 U.S. citizens traveled abroad for health care. As our population grows older and health care costs keep rising, more people want cheaper ways to get hip replacements and liposuction. Web sites facilitate medical tourism and allow potential patients to comb through vacation-like packages for procedures and destinations as if they were going on a honeymoon." HERE is the complete report from Forbes' Alex Davidson.

WAR ON TERROR - "John Rizzo, who was a deputy CIA counsel when the tapes were made and became the acting counsel in 2005, participated in the agency's three-year debate over what to do with the tapes. The videos contained the interrogations of two senior al-Qaeda leaders at a secret CIA prison in Thailand and included a technique known as waterboarding, which simulates drowning. HERE is the complete report from Washington Post's Walter Pincus and Joby Warrick.

ENTERTAINMENT - "In the fourth installment of the Rambo series, Stallone storms through the jungles of a cinematic Myanmar — he calls it by its former name, Burma — like a man half his age, killing the bad guys and rescuing a group of missionaries who are being held by the murderous regime that has waged war against its citizens for decades." HERE is the complete report from Today Show's Mike Celizic.