The UmBlog

The HBO documentary Nanking was made in the honor of historian Iris Chang who wrote a ground breaking history of the atrocity, see my book report . As is the usual case, a book is better because it can tell more of the story. In fact, this film was pretty faithful to the history but it only told half the story, the bad part. It didn't explain the circumstances of the city's liberation. If one were clueless, but then why would they watch this depressing movie, one might think the city was still occupied by the Japanese, and men were still on the prowl for women to rape or men to practice wielding their bayonets on. I was disappointed in not even some afterword in text on the screen providing the date of liberation and by which country's armies, US, USSR and UK. The half of the story it did tell, was told well and in an artistic manner. Instead of typical voice overs, reading journals, letters, and news clips, actors were filmed in period dress speaking the lines, as if the...

I encountered this history on display in a local library among other books related to China in response to the upcoming Olympic games in Beijing , also known in 1900 as Peking. Peasants across China were being displaced by modern technology brought in by the Europeans and Japan. Railroads were making camel trains obsolete and the telegraph prevented secrets being kept in the countryside. As resentment built a longing for the past rose up and found expression in the practice of martial arts, which looked like boxing to the Europeans, who named the practitioners " Boxers ." The Boxers were work themselves into a frenzy and claim possession by local spirits. Their demonstrations attracted large crowds of Chinese as well as their xenophobic message. The foreigners were to be expelled. The spirits had showed their displeasure by bringing a drought which brought shortages to the rice crop. The Boxers reasoned and proclaimed that once the foreigners were expelled, the spirits would...

The depravity is so intense it was hard to read. A short history can be found at the History Place . In fact, the atrocities recounted and photographed in this book were so disturbing I had to take a break from this genre for awhile. I'm reading JND Kelley's Early Christian Doctrines for a breather. In her assessment of the mentality of the Japanese army she touches on the reality of total depravity. Looking back upon millenia of history, it appears clear that no race or culture has a monopoly on wartime cruelty. The veneer of civilization seems to be exceedingly thin - one that can be easily stripped away, especially by the stresses of war. How then do we explain the raw brutality carried out day after day after day in teh city of Nanking? Unlike their Nazi counterparts, who have mostly perished in prisons and before execution squads or, if alive, are spending their remaining days as fugitives from the law, many of the Japanese was criminals are still alive, living in peace ...

from the WorldServe website short video here However, there is another story in each strand of Christmas lights, told in the little paper tag on the cord: Made in China. This story also has a powerful link to Jesus; Chinese pastors and believers, imprisoned for sharing their faith, perform much of the tedious manual labor. Many believers in China are persecuted and suffer greatly for professing Jesus as Lord and sharing His message of hope with others. For these Chinese pastors and believers, the same Christmas lights that remind Westerners of joy, togetherness, and peace are a harsh reminder of prison, pain and beatings. The Facts Most of the world is unaware of the torture that Chinese believers suffer. • While China presents a picture of increasing religious tolerance, Christians face constant harassment and the most intense persecution in the world. • On Septemb...

no link for this old book, The Mongols by E. D. Phillips, 1969, Frederick A. Praeger Publishers, New York after reading about Ivan the Terrible , i had to learn more about the Tatars, or Tatars, he was constantly worried about, remnants of the Golden Horde , the Mongol army that could have made it to the Atlantic Ocean if not for the inconveniently timed death of Ogedei , Genghis Khan 's son and successor, which required the generals to return and accept the next Khan. discipline was strict in Genghis's armies. death was the usual punishment for infractions. technology played a large role in Genghis's sieges. fear and fairness were also helpful. cities that surrendered were only subjected to heavy taxation. cities that didn't were exterminated. the Mongol army perhaps killed as many people as all of WW2, but over a hundred years, anywhere between 30 and 60 million deaths . The army was guilty of some horrific devastations though. Consider the Seige of Baghdad . The C...

If I asked you to name an Asian country ruled by an oppressive regime whose people suffer from chronic malnourishment and whose Christian population knows what "persecution" really means, chances are that your answer would be "North Korea." While that's a correct answer, there's another, even less-discussed one: the country formerly known as Burma, The Union of Myanmar . As Frontline documented last night, the biggest difference between the ruling junta and the gang in Pyongyang is that power in Burma is shared among a ruling military elite -- General Than Shwe's title is "Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council," not "beloved leader.".... Not that it makes any meaningful difference to the Burmese people: a police state is a police state, no matter what you call its head. And malnourished children -- a diagnosis that fits an estimated 40 percent of Burmese children -- are still malnourished children.

"Do economic, political, and religious freedom go together?" - not in India

ASSIST News Service The number of persecuted Christians is on the rise worldwide, according to Professor Thomas Schirrmacher, director of the Religious Liberty Commission of the German Evangelical Alliance. Three in four cases of severe persecution are targeted at Christians, said Schirrmacher in a lecture at a gathering of the Protestant Association of the Christian Democratic Union in Dresden. According to Schirrmacher at least 55,000 Christians are killed each year for religious reasons. Christians in India, Indonesia and Pakistan run the highest risk of losing their lives. Schirrmacher encouraged politicians to increase their efforts for religious freedom. They were often reluctant to address the persecution and discrimination of Christians in Islamic countries in case this may jeopardize religious dialog. Schirrmacher is convinced that interest in religion is rising worldwide: “The Communist atheistic realm has shrunk to small countries like North Korea”. Christianity is experienc...

Welcome to China Aid Online : "CAA learned that a Chinese House church in Henan was raided and 28 Christians were arrested. At 11 am, May 28, during a Christian worship service at a home at Xiguan Ma Jia Chang, Fugou County, the PSB raided the gathering and took 28 church members to the police station. Twenty-three were released later that evening. One Christian lady, 59-year-old Ms. Liu Yuemei, was released June 1, after her family was forced to pay a fine of 1600 Yuan (US $200). Another lady, 35-year-old Ms.Lu Xinhong, was released June 8, after she promised to pay her fine in cash. Three Christians still remain at Ba-Yi Prison, Fugou County, Henan Province. They are 58-year-old Ms. Chen Xuelan, who hosted the gathering, 55-year-old Ms. Cao Yan, and 52-year-old Pastor. Li Shunmin. According to those familiar with this case, during the raid, the police produced no ID, summons, or detention papers. Bibles and notebooks belonging to the church members were confiscated by the police...

this is short enough to quote in full.... Philip and Kim and family wake on Sunday morning. They snooze for a while and read the Sunday paper. Their three boys aged 9, 6 and 4 are playing together in the lounge. At about 8:30am they eat breakfast together and Mum quickly whips up some muffins to take for lunch at church. At just before 10:30 am the family jumps in the car and drives over to their friends the Jackson’s who are hosting and coordinating the meeting that week. When they arrive the kids run outside to play and the adults stand around and enjoy a nice brewed coffee. For a while people hang around catching up and talking about how things are going. After a while the kids are called in and the adults and kids sit around the edge of the lounge (there is 18 people their today). Without opening his Bible, John begins to tell a story of the Prodigal son. After he finishes he asks every person what thing spoke to them the most out of the story. The kids share first because they can...

The Banterist is more of the insanely funny ad copy blogger, but he comes through with an insanely funny travelogue. Just a few snips from one post, but there are many more posts to make you laugh out loud at your desk. I thought China would be filled with grim-faced, machine-gun toting People's Army types with government agents shadowing me every step. That's very much not the case and either I was just misinformed and paranoid, or the government agents are very, very good. ... To say that the city is enormous is an understatement. It's filled to the brim with a vibrant and very pleasant population - most of whom live in giant apartment complexes, the likes of which I'd never seen before. No one seems to have a dryer. Laundry is everywhere, even thirty stories up. ... Noticed: TOYS I am tempted to purchase 'Baby Urinate' for the box alone. BEGGARS Beggars are aggressive and don't take bu shi for an answer. They are predominantly situated near tourist areas...

The Japanese invasion of China was absolutely horrible. But this single woman of God rescued 100 children from the invaders. She had seen so many miracles in her life, that these steps of faith were not unusual for her. Madame Chiang Kai-shek had an orphanage to the South, a 6 day journey by adult foot under normal circumstances. She determined to flee to the government orphanage at Sian, bringing with her the children she had accumulated, about 100 in number. (An additional 100 had gone ahead earlier with a colleague.) With the children in tow, she walked for twelve days. Some nights they found shelter with friendly hosts. Some nights they spent unprotected on the mountain sides. On the twelfth day, they arrived at the Yellow River, with no way to cross it. All boat traffic had stopped, and all civilian boats had been seized to keep them out of the hands of the Japanese. The children wanted to know, 'Why don’t we cross?' She said, 'There are no boats.' They said, '...

the isolated nation of North Korea came top for the fourth year in a row, but the charity found that overall ‘slightly more openness’ was being observed in other communist countries in the top 10 – Vietnam (7), Laos (9) and China (10). Saudi Arabia came second in the list of countries most dangerous to the health of Christians, followed by other Islam-dominated countries such as Iran at three, Somalia at four, the Maldives at five and Yemen at eight. Bhutan represented the only Buddhist nation in the top 10 at six.

Read Part 1 and Part 2 . from part 1 Bro Ren(Chinese): Let us take prayer first. The leaders of the church in China try to pray three to four hours a day. That is normal. But then there are some brethren who are totally committed to pray. Almost every minute they are awake, they are praying. They have two kinds of leaders in the church. They have spiritual leaders, who fast and pray; then they have practical operational leaders, who are active in everyday affairs of the church. The praying leaders are praying for the whole church, and especially for the practical leaders. They are not in a preaching ministry. The operational leaders go to them for direction and wisdom. Very few Westerners have ever met these elders. These men are older men who cannot travel anymore, so they are mainly in that ministry. It literally keeps the church on track. They hear from the Lord and give answers to the practical leaders. from part 2 Bro Denny: Could you comment on the name given to these Chinese Ch...

Just finished a biography of Mao Tse-Tung called Mao:The Unknown Story . It caught my eye after reading The Heavenly Man . I wanted to learn some more about China. It was interesting to read the amazon reviews after the fact. People seem upset that the author left out some info on Mao that might not be as condemning. However, no one is saying she needs to shave off a few million deaths here or there. Has anyone in history been responsible for more than 70 million deaths? Last spring, related to my WW2 reading, I picked up a biography on Stalin, Stalin and His Hangmen : The Tyrant and Those Who Killed for Him . At least he could try to blame 20 million deaths of his people on fighting the Nazi army. Mao's and Stalin's strength was the ability to manage people without conscience. The ends always justified the means. They blackmailed their cronies. They terrorized their legions. They turned on their "friends" in a heartbeat. They took selfishness all the way down its sli...

I’ve been reading The Heavenly Man , a biography of the Chinese house church leader Brother Yun. He says, I taught that the church should not give in to Pharaoh’s trick, when he tried to convince Moses and Aaron to leave their women and children behind while the men went to worship the Lord (see Exodus 10:10-11). I encouraged the leaders to include their families in their ministry for the Lord, and even to take their sposes and children along with them if possible…The leader of that house church network, however,  disagreed with me. When I finished speaking he privately rebuked me, “Yun, I can’t believe you’ve used your opportunity to teach such a message. Are you trying to destroy my leaders?” Not surprisingly, many of the marriages and families of the leaders from that group are in complete disarray. Many appear to be “successful” in their ministries while ther families are falling apart. For all the strengths possessed by China’s house churches, this area is one of its weak...