Military Compassion

For those who read OZ, but not Voice in the Wilderness, check out Travis's last post He Gathers The Lambs In His Arms, but read it with a box of kleenex.

Latest Sports Entertainment

OK, I admit it. I'm stuck on watching professional poker tournaments. And yes, I even have my favorite players: Daniel Negraneau (my personal all time favorite cause he's so fun to watch), Scotty Nguyen, Annie Duke, John Juanda, and Doyle Brunson (gotta love the ones who have been around for a while) among others. My friend Velvia likes Phil Ivey, and he's OK; but when it comes to entertaining poker, I like Phil Gordon best of all the Phil's.

If you want to see what it's all about there are several websites: Full Contact Poker, Full Tilt, Party Poker, World Series of Poker, etc...

I like the strategy of it, that and it's just fun to watch these people try to figure each other out. I've always liked people watching, and this is just a new twist on it.

Exotic travel destinations revisited

Well, my trip to the DRC is back on for the end of January. Instead of putting the text of my new support letter in this blog, I have uploaded it to my website. You can see it at http://cjellis.tripod.com/FEFC/Congo_Support_Letter.htm

If you want more info on the trip, feel free to e-mail me at cjellis66@yahoo.com

Holding Pattern over the DRC

The long and short of it is that my mission trip is being postponed.

Africa is an often unpredictable place. Once again we are seeing this unfold before our eyes. In the past month the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has seen the first truly democratic elections in 40 years. The current President Joseph Kabila and Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba will face each other in a run-off election scheduled for October 29.

Unfortunately, since the final vote totals were announced there have been daily gun battles in the capital city of Kinshasa between forces loyal to each of the two candidates. Tensions are rising as the conflicts continue. Given past experience, it is quite likely that Congo will continue to be very unstable in the weeks and months to come. As you can see this is a very serious situation. Please pray for the brothers and sisters in the Congo Free Church, and for all the people of this war torn country during these difficult times.

The Evangelical Free Church of America International Missions (EFCAIM) office has been monitoring the situation closely and has been in contact with the President of the Congo Free Church. A couple weeks ago President Selenga sent an e-mail to the EFCAIM office requesting that we NOT bring a team of Americans to the DRC in late October and early November due to significant security issues. This means the Congo Vision Trip must be postponed until a later time when the security issues have eased and a new government is in place. At this time there are no specific dates in mind as it will be dependent upon the resolution of the current political conflicts. We hope to be able to go some time in early 2007. It is my intention to still be a part of the team when the trip is rescheduled. I’ll let you know when it happens.

Exotic Travel Destinations

OK, so last fall my travel destination was Israel. It was a dream trip. This year's destination is the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The continent isn't the only difference in the trip. It's not a vacation, but a missions trip. Part of my time will be spent working at a hospital in Tandala - which is in the Ubangi Province (NW part of the country.) I gotta admit that it's pretty well out of my comfort zone, but that's OK. God is going to a lot of trouble (at least by our standards) to get me on this trip, so who am I to argue.

The Tandala hospital is a 180 bed general hospital. It has its own nursing school with an emphasis on public health, Aids, and caring for the needs of a huge population base. There are two full time Congolese physicians leading the ministry. However, workers are needed in almost every area for short or long periods of time.

The Evangelical Free Church of America International Ministries has organized a Missions Vision Trip to the DRC from October 18th thru November 5th. As part of the team for this trip I will get to visit the Tandala hospital and spend a few days working there. This will help me get a better idea of what their needs are and how we could possibly partner with them in ministry.

[insert shameless plug here - it's my blog, I can do that...]
Because this is a missions trip, I'm raising support to cover the costs of the trip, which is about $3,000. This will cover airfare, meals, lodging and other group travel. I will be responsible for my own incidentals and any personal things I may wish to buy. If God leads you to support me financially, your check should be made out to “FEFC”. On the memo line put “Congo Vision Trip-Cindy Ellis”. The donation will be tax deductible. If you want a receipt for tax purposes, please let FEFC office know when you send the check. You can send the check to FEFC at:

FEFC Missions
4220 Monterey Oaks Blvd
Austin, TX 78749

If you want to be on my prayer support team, just e-mail me and I'll add you to my list.

Been getting the first round of immunizations. Not fun either but necessary. I go back in September for round 2. The Austin Diagnotic Clinic's Travel Clinic at the North Austin Medical Center is very good and thorough when it comes to determining what immunizations are needed. Some of them still make me sick, but I think I'm done with those. Don't expect side affects from the ones I still need.

I'll be posting more (and more frequently) about the trip and what I learn.

Delusional 'preachers'

OK, so I did a commentary titled Don't Disrespect the Military on Voice in the Wilderness about the followers of Fred Phelps and their protests at military funerals. However, I'm just as upset about the religious aspects of his so-called 'ministry'. Personally, I would call Westboro Baptist Church a cult instead of a church.

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, a cult is defined as being:
"A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader."

and a ministry is defined as:
"The act of serving"; "The profession, duties, and services of a minister."; and "The Christian clergy."

If you need to read it for yourself, see Dictionary.com.

From what I can tell the only person Fred Phelps is serving is Fred Phelps.

Additionally, what he 'preaches' is not in line with scripture. Hatred of people is not of God. While God hates sin, He does not hate the sinner but desires for the sinner to come to Him in repentance. God desires for all to be saved, however, Phelps holds that only his followers will be saved. Do not get me wrong about the stance that God desires for all to be saved. I am not saying that all will be saved. Scripture tells us some will spend eternity in hell. However, God desires that all be saved, although He gives free will and the decision is ours, thus some will perish. And yes, this means that God even desires for Phelps to be saved.

I'm not going to comment on what I think Phelps salvation status is. That's between him and God. However, I am going to say that I believe those who lead others astray will be held accountable for not only their sins, but for all those they led away from God and His will. Scripture says that "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." Luke 12:48b

Sadly, Phelps is not the only 'delusional preacher' out there. He just happens to be the one who is currently the most vocal. Yes, I've left a church before because what the Senior Pastor was preaching did not line up with scripture. We all have a responsibility to hold our preachers accountable for what they preach, and if what they preach cannot be backed up by scripture, then we should not be giving our support to that particular church.

Multiplying things

First, if you don't read "Voice In the Wilderness", you should read Travis's post from yesterday "Go Forth and Multiply". It's a very interesting look at demographics and politics.

The other thing that's multiplying again is internet hoaxes - more specifically, the one about "Touched By An Angel" and Madeline Murray O'Hare. Will this e-mail ever die?!?!? If you get this petition, do not send it on. That's why God created the 'delete' key. It's a hoax and has been going around for years. Unfortunately, it gets sent to those with conservative values who get all riled up and defensive (which I couldn't blame them for if it was true), so they send it out, therefore unknowingly propogating the hoax. Let it die people. Just let it die.

Prohibition and Persecution

For those of you who check "Oz" and not "Voice in the Wilderness", check my post on VITW of this same name.

Wondering about Robertson and the Holy Land

I wonder what Pat Robertson is thinking. He truly shoved his foot in his mouth when he commented that Ariel Sharon’s stroke was God’s punishment on the Israeli Prime Minister for diving the land by pulling our of Gaza. He shoved his foot far enough that the White House criticized him for it. Ok, yeah, sure he apologized, but he never should have made the comment on international media in the first place.

I also wonder whether he apologized because he truly felt remorse, and believed his comment to be wrong; or if it was to restore the good will of Israel so he could go ahead with his proposed theme park near the Sea of Galilee. Either way, it worked. The Jerusalem Post reports that the Israeli Tourism Ministry is reconsidering its decision to cancel its contract with Robertson after he apologized to Sharon’s son.

And while I’m wondering, I wonder what Jesus thinks of Robertson commercializing the Holy Land by building a theme park. I know that tourism is Israel’s biggest industry, and the proposed theme park will bring in a good amount of revenue, but so did the money changers in the temple court.

Having visited Israel a few months ago, I have a problem with there being a theme park in the Galilee region. A church on a holy site is one thing, but a theme park is something else all together. Even so, there were places that we visited that I would have preferred to see without the churches built on them – for example, the Mount of the Beatitudes. While the church is beautiful and has a great view of the Sea of Galilee, I would have liked to see the site as it was when Jesus taught there. I wasn’t the only one in our group who felt this way.

I believe that Robertson’s sees the theme park as being for the benefit of those who would travel to the Holy Land on a pilgrimage, and for the nation of Israel. And I’m sure it will to some degree, and to a large dollar amount. However, I can’t help comparing the proposed theme park with the booths of the moneychangers in the temple courtyard of Jesus’ day.

Finally, I wonder whose idea it was to stop referring to the project as a theme park and start calling it a ‘Christian Heritage Center’. Call it what you will, it’s still commercializing holy sites, and I still have a problem with it.

This brings us back to my original statement. I wonder what Pat Robertson is thinking.