Prayers for our brothers and sisters

Dear loved ones,

We have returned from Bud's beautiful wedding (Ryan's Dad just got married to Gwenn in North Carolina) to the hectic final days of the term and to the sad news that the people of Burma are suffering. Not long after, we heard more news of the plight of the earthquake victims in the mainland... all of this weighs heavily on our hearts.

This has been hard for our LTS community, as we have many international students from Burma and the people of Hong Kong feel very close to the mainland right now (during this time of Olympic national unity and after having been 'joined' to mainland China for ten years)-- plus, we also have Chinese students from the mainland who are studying at LTS... so we grieve with our brothers and sisters affected by these two natural disasters and pray that God's shalom will touch their broken souls/bodies and give them strength to carry on despite the overwhelming odds they now have to face....

Originally, I was going to ask you all to pray for our students as they have entered exam week on campus, and are battling looming deadlines for papers and dissertations, and I would still like you to think of them, but please also find some time in your day to remember all of those who have lost their lives in these two crises and all of those who are struggling to remain whole in such a desperate situation.

I think of all the children who have perished in their school buildings and all of the parents who have lost their only child. I think of the Burmese people who might be helped but international aid is not being permitted to assist them because of the repressive and paranoid military government. I think of the Christians in Burma who have tried to help their neighbors but have been told by the government that they must abandon any such attempts (the Christians are also seen by the ruling regime as 'foreigners' in many ways because they have embraced the faith of the 'western' 'colonizers' and thus they cannot be trusted). I think of all those sleeping out in the cold because they have lost their homes or because they don't know if it is safe to return to their buildings....

Please pray for our neighbors in Burma and China and for those in our LTS community affected by these disasters.

I hope that you are all well and also find God's calming shalom if you also need healing, peace and strength at this time.

Blessings and love,

Katrina and Ryan