Wandering Thoughts is moving
I have decided to make the switch to WordPress.
Blogger has been good and I have no complaints, but Wordpress offers a lot more and it is more user friendly. For those of us who do not know how to creat webpages this is a good site to blog on b/c wordpress is very user friendly.
Check out my new blog by clicking this
linkor past this url on your browser: hhttp://juliuseltrucho.wordpress.com/
Too Long
It has been a while since I have blogged. I have not been able to connect to the web b/c I hurt my back and I have not been able to carry my laptop to school with me. I am doing better now.
Last weekend Lisa and I went with a few fellow Regent students to a music festival on Orcas Island, WA. It is called
Wood Song Music Festival In the picture above you can see our travel companions (l-r Lisa (in pink shirt), me, Andrea and Carla). We had a fun time camping. We went swiming in a beautiful lake. You got to go next summer if you are in Orcas Island, WA area.
Canadian Baptist Ministries Update on Lebanon
URGENT Prayer Requests for Lebanon
Inspite of the recent turn of events in the Middle East, we thank God that our field staff and partners report that they are safe in Lebanon but ask for our prayers for the escalating military situation in Lebanon. Key infrastructure has been targeted, including bridges, electrical power plants and airports. The Israeli military response has made travel in and out of the country extremely difficult. The Lebanese Baptists are concerned about a group of 60 American short-term missionaries that are there with them and unable to leave at this time. Another group of 200 Shiite families has sought shelter at the Beirut Baptist School (BBS) in a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood in West Beirut. Because the ABTS is located in a relatively safe part of town, they may also be called upon to shelter two church groups currently in a hotel nearby.
* Safety. We thank God that our field staff—Elie and Mereille Haddad—and church partners are safe. Please pray for their continued safety, especially as they travel in and around Beirut to minister to those in need. Pray that the group of 60 American volunteers currently at the ABTS for a conference would be able to leave Lebanon and return home safely.
* Relief. The Sharing Way has committed USD$5,000 in emergency relief funds to help feed those seeking shelter at the ABTS and BBS and to support those in need. If you would like to contribute, please designate your donation: The Sharing Way - Emergency Relief. Some supplies are already becoming difficult to obtain, due to transportation difficulties and the stockpiling food by frightened families.
* Peace. Please pray for world leaders to intervene and mediate a peaceful solution for this conflict. Pray that stability will return before the CBM Youth Conference led by Jeff Carter in August.
* Leadership. Elie and Mereille Haddad are playing a key role in mobilizing the Lebanese churches to pray for this current situation and have begun to organize prayer meetings for the local churches. They are also challenging the churches to respond with action and compassion. They have already begun to
jerico beach
jerico beach
Originally uploaded by intransit.This weekend Caleb and I sold some drinks to make some money at the Vancouver Folk Festival. We had a great time, but it was not very lucrative. We learned a lot and hope to rake in the dollars next year when we set up the super water station.
Save Buckingham!!!
I used to help out in the Buckingham Youth Brigade.
The neighborhood is now in jeapordy of being torn down.
Gentrification is threatening a beautiful community.
Historically Northern Virginia serves the interest of the
rich investors and there have been various neighborhoods that
have been torn down. There is a community near Potomac Yard
that had some beautiful murals that was torn down and now the only
remants remain in the pictures. I wish someone had saved the mural.
It has a powerful painting of the Virgen de Guadalupe.
It is not looking good for this neighborhood.
I knew this was coming and it came a year later than I predicted.
But the battle is on. So if you are intersted in saving this community
here is some info:
Apreciadas y apreciados amigos en Cristo,
(Please see English Below)
Por parte de Los Latinos Unidos de San Carlos Borromeo, quería invitarles a una reunión de emergencia sobre la gran crisis en la Comunidad de Buckingham Village de Arlington, en la cual es posible que más de 300 familias pierdan su vivienda, muchas de ellas son parroquianos de nuestras iglesias hermanas de Arlington.. Dicho evento tomará lugar este domingo en la Iglesia de San Carlos a las 2:15pm en Benedict Hall.
Debido a que la Junta Directiva del Condado de Arlington hará una decisión clave sobre el futuro de dicha vivienda este martes entrante (11 de julio- VEA MENSAJE EN INGLES ABAJO), los residentes del Buckingham Village nos hablarán sobre su situación actual y como nosotros los podemos apoyar de manera concreta. Todos están invitados – habrán refrescos.
Que Dios les bendiga Uds. y a todos y todas nuestros hermanos en peligro de perder sus viviendas.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On behalf of Los Latinos Unidos of St. Charles Parich in Arlignton, I would like to invite you to an emergency education and action forum regarding the current housing crisis in the Buckingham Village Community on Sunday, July 9, at 2 p.m. in Benedict Hall.
Development plans for Buckingham Village could result in the loss of more than 300 affordable rental units. Please come and find out how you can help save affordable housing at Buckingham.
All are invited, refreshments will be served.
Peace and Grace,
Erik
Erik Manuel Giblin
Presidente
Latinos Unidos de San Carlos Borromeo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
De Gene Betit de la Parroquia Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz
PLEASE mark your calendars and plan to come out to the Courthouse (County Board Room on the third floor) this Tuesday at 6:30 PM. We will have stickers to identify you as a Save Buckingham Coalition supporter. You really don’t have to do much else but show up, and it’s an educational experience, one that could prepare you for more extensive action some time in the future!
In reality, this is something of a pep rally, so come on out even if you don’t feel peppy or even comfortable. Just your presence might save someone’s home!!
Gene
From: SaveBuckinghamCoalition@yahoogroups.com
Please plan to attend the County Board Meeting on Tuesday evening at 6:30 PM - regardless of the outcome of Monday's meeting, we need your presence and support! Please remember that this is a public hearing and we are at the top of the agenda, so if you are interested in speaking on this matter, feel free to submit a speaker's slip before they begin hearing speakers on this topic.
On Tuesday, July 11th, the County Board will have a public hearing on landmark designation, and will consider whether to advertise a public hearing to extend the Buckingham local historic district to include Villages 1, 2 and 3. In June, County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman, Board Member Walter Tejada and County Manager Ron Carlee convened a group consisting of County Staff, Paradigm representatives, the HALRB chairman and board members, and members of the Save Buckingham Coalition (SBC) to consider a variety of community preservation scenarios that would result in a negotiated solution. As of yesterday afternoon's meeting, we do not have a final resolution; however, Ron Carlee and Stan Sloter are working toward a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). On Monday, our group will reconvene to obtain information about the MOU.
I will send out a status to this group on Monday with the results of that meeting.
Kathleen McSweeney
Save Buckingham Coalition
So who is going to win?
The last couple days I watched the World Cup Games. I was going for Portugal to win today, but France has a lot of momentum and they did very well against Portugal. I went to Vera's Burgers with some friends from Regent. We had a great time.
Now there is a break and I can get back to the studies.
I am preparing for a class called Believing into Life on the Gospel of John.
The weather is phenomenal in Vancouver. We have had a wonderful time playing in the sun.
Tough Day for Australia
This was the saddest loss that I have seen in the World Cup.
Australia played so well, and Italy wins the game with five seconds to spare.
The ref should have let the game play on and let the players battle it out in overtime.
To end the game on a pentaly kick is no fun. Way to go Soccerooos. You guys played with a lot of heart.
Tomorrow should be a good game with Brazil and Ghana.
I can't wait to watch this match up.
More soccer to go!
Reading Glimpse of Jesus
This is an excellent book on Jesus.
The first chapter was excellent.
It was about JESUS' LOVE.
I think he did a good job of capturing Jesus'
love in beautiful images.
He gives this vivid picture of Jesus talking to Judas
at the last supper. It made me cry because of the deep love
Jesus has for everyone even Judas.
I started reading the second chapter about the church.
This one hasn't been as good.
Check it out if you have time.
I need another good fiction recommendation.
Anybody been reading some good fiction this summer?
Parade for Reconciliation
Invitation to: Parade For Reconciliation
Time: 11am, July 1 2006
Marshalling Point: Victory Square (Cambie and West Pender)
Ending point: Chinatown (Gore and East Pender)
Purpose: to compliment the redress of Chinese Head Tax by the federal government with a communal reconciliation and a parade that symbolically reverses the 1907 anti-Chinese immigration parade that turned into an ugly riot where a mob of 9000 ransacked Vancouver Chinatown.
Agenda:
11am Welcome to the event
Historical background: Bill Chu
Need for Reconciliation: Rev. Tama Ward Balisky and Wayne Ho
Symbolic reconciliation between Chinese and non-Chinese Canadians among the audience, with hand-shaking or embrace
11:40am to 12:15am
Parade from Victory Square to Chinatown
Offering of red packages at Chinatown
Closing Remarks
Background:
We live in the shadow of an Empire. That Empire once colonized and now globalize. Like Paul the apostle who was a Roman citizen, we can either claim all the privileges of the Empire’s citizenship or we declare its irrelevance by submitting ourselves to the demands on citizens of God’s Kingdom. Specifically the choice today is to decide whether Canadians’ discriminatory treatment of the early Chinese is acceptable and whether reconciliation is the solution. To help your choice, I have attached a brief history between Chinese and the colonial powers.
This is an invitation to a communal reconciliation event coming up on Canada Day, 2006. The backdrop is the federal government’s parliamentary apology and redress announcement for the Chinese Head Tax survivors and their surviving spouses on June 22, 2006. That was the official redress to an historic injustice. But for the interpersonal and communal discrimination then and now, there is a parallel need for interpersonal and communal reconciliation between the two peoples. We therefore invite you to come and hear the historical and spiritual reasons for reconciliation, then make the people’s choice of walking together with the once marginalized. Invite other Canadian friends and be a witness to the historic truth to others in Canada and the world on coming July 1.
Although Christians have taken an initial lead in planning this initiative, this parade is by no means restricted to christians. It is open to anyone seeking truth and reconciliation. Note also it is not purely a Chinese issue as the government acknowledges discrimination then affected a number of people groups in Canada, and the financial redress will apply to any living spouses of HT payers, be they Chinese, First nations or Canadians. To move on as a country, Canadians need to make an informed decision to seek reconciliation with their past. Please pray that people can see the falleness of human beings in each community and can humble themselves in a collective desire to heal, to honour, to restore and to reconcile.
Bill Chu
Founder, Canadians For Reconciliation
ccia@shaw.ca
I have been using Pandora this afternoon. I just caught Eric Benet's song Spending My Life With You with Tamia. It brought back some good memories.
I listened to an old podcast of KEXP Live and discovered Jose Gonzalez for the first time. On the right is his album Veneer. I never heard of this guy. It was fun listening to his incredible guitar skills and quality music.
Cucaracha's got a funny comic today
Letter from Emmanuel Baptist Church in El Salvador
EMMANUEL BAPTIST CHURCH
Member of the Baptist Federation of El Salvador
And of the World Council of Churches
PASTORAL LETTER
ON THE OCCASION OF THE 42ND ANNIVERSARY OF OUR FOUNDING
Gratitude and Fidelity to God:
We give thanks to our God, who in his kindness and mercy has sustained us and allowed us to celebrate the 42nd Anniversary of our founding.
Reflecting on the theme of our Anniversary “Affirmed as a Church faithful to Our Lord Jesús and to His Gospel”, we feel the moral obligation to share some Pastoral words with our missions, communities and sister churches, with organizations and institutions of like mind and with our people in general.
To be faithful to Jesús Christ our Lord is to stand for the values of the Gospel in our situation of generalized crisis, a situation which is based in a crisis of ethical and moral values. As Christians, as a Church, we believe more than ever, that the values of the Gospel must be put forth as an alternative means to change the violence, the impunity, the injustice and the poverty which surround us like walls preventing our search for a better future.
The Reality of Sin which insults the sons and daughters of God
What face do we see in our society, in our people? We see a face of uncertainty, a face exhausted by our daily reality, but at the same time, a face looking for something, looking for hope, for ways to confront this situation full of violence in all its forms: fraud, despair and death.
As Evangelical Christians we cannot ignore this situation, much less accommodate ourselves to it and remain untouched. It is imperative to identify this avalanche of death as something rejected and abominable in the eyes of God. Who can be safe in this country while death dances its macabre dance, cutting off the lives of children, youth, men and women. These victims, generally poor, have their lives cut short while others look on helplessly.
This economic crisis and all of its consequences, have been here forever, subjugating, oppressing and humiliating each son and daughter of God. This has been the major problem with which we have grappled during most of our history. It is a situation which convicts us all of many things, of meanness, lack of solidarity, greed and ambition. To be clear, this disastrous poverty, which victimizes the majority of our people, must be met with both national and civil maturity. We cannot continue dividing our people into the few who have captured all the national riches and the many whose lives are doomed to poverty and humiliating misery.
This is not primarily a political or ideological problem. It is a permanent mark on the face of this country, which after 175 years of supposed independence, only provides evidence of our continuing moral and spiritual poverty, especially of those in various levels of power, who have served the interests of the few and not the interests of the whole population.
The church of Christ, faithful to her Lord, must identify the real truth about El Salvador. At the same time she must steadfastly confront this truth which systematically denies life, justice, dignity, and peace to the sons and daughters of God here in this country.
The pathetic crises in the health, education, housing, and water distribution systems are the products of a lack of vision and political will, and at the same time, the burdens of corruption which has stolen the public monies and benefited those connected to power. This disgraceful corruption, which is like a curse built into the different structures of power, is something which we must all oppose and denounce.
We are witnesses to a supposed democracy in respect to our laws, but that is just talk in the style of the Pharisees. In our country, in an amazing and unheard of form, the Rights of the State are violated and the laws continue to be applied in a discriminatory and unequal manner without respect for international treaties and laws. It is neither right nor ethical for Public Figures to boast of applying the laws rigorously when they have tolerated and covered up the crimes of those associated within their circles of power.
Our Pastoral Call
As church, as disciples faithful to our Lord, faithful to all truth and justice, and interpreting the feeling of our communities as well as wide sectors of national life, we petition the authorities in each of the Legislative, Executive and Judicial Powers
1º) That they use all means and mechanisms of the Law TO PROHIBIT THE IMPORTATION AND SALE of firearms as well as adopting strong laws which restrict the carrying and use of firearms.
An armed population is simply inclined to violence and crime. It is imperative that we obey God’s law which says “DO NOT KILL” (Éxodus 20:13). God’s intention is that nothing should threaten life. “ They will neither harm nor destroy in all my holy mountain, says the Lord” (Isaíah 65 :25).
2º) That all the Churches in El Salvador, together with all the sectors of national life unite together in a “National Crusade for Peace and Reconciliation against the Violence”
3º) That there be NO INCREASE in the cost of electricity or in any other cost of public services.
The truth is that the population already cannot bear the high cost of living which has only been made worse by the imposition of the dollar as Salvadoran currency. It all contributes to an increase in the price of basic products and services, which in turn affects the economy of the poor majority in this country.
“… Administer true justice, show mercy and compassión to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.”
(Zechariah 7:9-10)
4º) That the Legal Rights of all our citizens be restored so that there will be no more abuses of power or violations of the law.
That there will be no more covering up or consent to impunity, which gives birth to much of the delinquency and criminality that is causing us ruin and despair as a people.
That this abusive gift of $25,000 to each retired magistrate, who already has his pension, not be approved, while poor families among us are humiliated with a mere $15 per month.
“Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the handoff the wicked.
Rise up O God, judge the earth for all the nations are yours.”
(Psalm 82: 3,4, 8).
As a Christian Church we affirm our commitment to sharing the Gospel of God’s Kingdom, to practicing Christian Values and to assuming the responsibility of solidarity in accompanying and serving the poor and marginalized brothers and sisters of our country. We call upon all men and women of El Salvador to walk in the paths of God’s redemption, in the hope that the dream of God, full of peace and justice for our country, will bear fruit and flower for the good of all our brothers and sisters.
“No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates, Praise.”
Isaíah 60:18
May the peace and blessing of God be with us in this hour when our faith is challenged to persevere and remain faithful to Jesús Christ our Lord. Amen.
Rev. Miguel Tomás Castro
Pastor Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel
Vice-President of the Life and Peace Institute of Sweden
June 9&10, 2006.
I didn't like this book
I started reading this book and read three or four chapters in this book.
Unfortunately I could waist my time on it because I was not engaged by this one.
It was about a guy that had a genetic disease that caused him to appear in different points in time, thus a Time Traveler.
In the end, I couldn't engage with the book. I tried to read it, but I didn't enjoy the back and forth and how he would meet himself in different points in time. I put it down.
Now I am reading a book I really like called a Glimpse of Jesus by Brennan Manning. You got to read it if you haven't read anything by Manning. It is an excellent introduction to his writing.
World Cup Fun
Being from Latin American heritage I feel like I must like the World Cup.
In the past I would watch it every now and then, but I never really liked it.
However for some reason the 2006 World Cup has captured my attention.
I have enjoyed watching excellent
fútbol.
In reality, I don't know how to play good
fútbol, but watching teams like Brazil, Ivory Coast, and Argentina I am begining to appreciate excellent teams.
I was so sad to see US go out. It was a tough loss. I felt like they played with lots of heart. Their punishing tie to Italy was one that will not be forgotten. I also thought they played with a lot of class against Ghana. There were games that I saw before that where the teams would play on when a player was hurt, but the US would stop play when a player was hurt. I liked that.
