North Korean Kids Sent back to Hell
An international outcry has rightfully emerged at the Laotian government that sent nine North Korean refugee kids back to North Korea for certain imprisonment in a concentration camp, probable torture, and possible death. They were part of a group of kids who had at various times escaped North Korea, been orphaned in one way or another, lived on the streets in China, and found by South Koran Christians who gathered them in. The youngest and oldest got to safety. The remaining nine pictured here made their way into Laos, with the aim of getting to the South Korean embassy in…
The Totem Pole
The first will be last, and the last will be first. Along the shores of British Columbia you can find totem poles among Indian villages, beside their great lodges, or along the shore. The animals of a totem pole are special to the people of that village. One village was very poor, and no animals had come to be their totem pole. The villagers were sad, and their eyes had no joy because they had no totems. Many of the animals knew about it, and finally a bear decided that if no one else were going to be these…
Crowded at the Top
Who’d have believed that Mt. Everest would become crowded– crowded! The mountain was first conquered in 1953, a feat most thought was impossible. BBC reports that now “the summit has become as congested as a five-lane motorway during bank holiday weekend.” One day in 2012 234 climbers reached the peak–in a single day! This year some climbers have complained of having to wait in bottlenecked lines for as long as two-and-a-half hours. The BBC quotes experienced climber Graham Hoyland as saying, Tweet
The Prisoner Who Set Himself Free
When you forgive someone, you set a prisoner free—yourself. The jailer sat by the prison cell door. He glumly looked at the man inside, who abruptly turned his head away and folded his arms. The jailer said to the prisoner, “You need to let me go.” “No!” snapped the prisoner from behind the iron bars of the cold, gray cell. The thick stone walls afforded only a tiny window that peeked out to the surrounding world. “Please let me go! You must,” the jailer insisted. “Why should I?” demanded the prisoner. “Because there’s no use carrying on like this….
Storms that Shatter Illusions
The madman violence of a tornado, especially the horrific one that hit south of Oklahoma City, makes one numb. After the numbness, one may well wonder. A lot. About life, death, and God. Where do you start and where do you end? What do you do in between? Tweet
