Yeah I know not too much posted lately.
My offsider at the bookshop is away and several big displays are coming up so I am drowning in the workload. Plus domestic bliss has to be worked at so I am limiting my computer time a little....

anyway here's what's interested me over the past few days:

Spare a thought for the Church in Sudan.
Thousands upon thousands of Sudanese are turning to Christ as their one sure hope in times of trouble.

And yet an unholy alliance of persecution and poverty has the Church firmly in its grip.

Just back from the Sudan, JOHN PONTIFEX from Aid to the Church in Need tells of a people suffering the Way of the Cross and desperate for the dawn of a new era.

“THERE are many people who want to stop Christianity in this country but it will never die. I want to keep it going. I want to serve the people of God as their priest.”

Daniel* spoke his words with quiet authority – even defiance. Until that point, the teenager had been bashful and reluctant to come forward.

And then it all came out – how as a toddler he and his family had left their home in the south of Sudan as the bombs began to fall, how they had struggled hundreds of miles north – mostly by foot it seemed, how they had arrived in Khartoum and moved into the shanty town where their mud-hut “house” was built.

“I really was afraid of being killed,” he then said before falling silent again, his eyes dropping to the ground.

The 16-year-old’s story was typical of those I heard in that grass hut full of excitable children, as dark as ebony. continues : here
[hr]
and doug is a good read:

Where Are God’s Warriors and Wild Men?

also:

Caritas continues its presence in Iraq


The international Caritas agency is continuing its presence in Iraq, despite a deterioration in the relationship between the coalition forces and certain groups in Iraq in recent weeks.

Military conflict between the coalition forces and the Sunni fighters in Falluja and other areas of Iraq has escalated since then, with the bombardment of areas of Falluja and the injury of 1500 and the death of more than 700 civilians.

Caritas reports that Coalition forces have blocked all roads to the city and access to hospitals is limited. It says hospitals are suffering from a lack of medicines, medical supplies, disposables and sterilizing materials. Some operations are being done without anesthesia for the lack of anesthetics.

With the support of the international federation, Caritas Iraq’s response has been to prepare four vans of emergency drugs and medical supplies, to go to Falluja, A’adamiya and Baquba.

"The ordinary people of Iraq continue to need our support, despite the worsening situation and we will continue our work in easing their suffering , caused by circumstances over which they have no control," said Mr Jack de Groot, National Director of Caritas Australia.
Caritas

more fluff:

I've found that worry and irritation vanish into
thin air the moment I open my mind to the
many blessings I possess.
Dale Carnegie

Think deeply; speak gently; love one another;
laugh often; work hard; give freely;
pay promptly; be kind.
Anonymous

I'm grateful for all my problems. As each
of them was overcome I became stronger
and more able to meet those yet to come.
I grew on my difficulties.
J.C.Penny