Georgia! I cry in my heart for you.
How can this be? The country i travelled to less than two years ago to spread the 1858 Great Controversy is being overrun by the Russian army. Tuesday, sitting in the comfort of a cybercafe with lots of young men around me shooting at virtual people, i saw pictures of real soldiers doing the same thing.
The report i read mentioned that the Russians had taken Gori, a town less than 100km from the capital of T’bilisi. That name struck a bell. I had gone thru it twice by bus, on my way back and forth to the Turkish border. Now it is in Russian territory?
What about our Seventh-day Adventist Brothers and Sisters in that country? Even without this attack by the Russians, there were plenty of problems facing the small, 400-or-so member church. What will become of them? My friends, my heart goes out to you. T, I, B, G, are you able to keep strong in the faith during this time of trial? G and O, have you come back from Ukraine to Georgia, and more importantly, have you decided to come back to the truth as Jesus Christ is?
What will happen to the little flock there? Lord Jesus, please watch over them, please keep them safe, please may the entire country become more concerned about eternal things, and may the people called by your name stop petty power struggles among themselves, and stop compromising, and realize what it means to be face to face with you. Please protect them from the attacks of Russia and of Satan.
The following is a email from a SDA missionary in Cambodia. I was shocked at its callousness towards our Georgian Brethren, and the readiness to believe an atheistic power:
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I have just been watching Russian news in English. It seems that the Georgian towns you mentioned have not been attacked. the footag shown on international television was shot by a Russian Journalist in Osetia and the Western stations have taken it and said it is in Georgia. It seems that America has been involved in a propaganda campaign with Georgia to make the Russians look bad while Georgia took Southern Esetia. Over 2000 dead in Osetia.
I sent this response to the missionary in Cambodia:
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At first when I read what you wrote about the Russian TV, I thot you were going to say something about how the Russians like to put out bald-faced lies to the people, but instead, it seems like you believe what they say. I hope that is not the case. We sure don’t want to support the ideals of any country that has been for many years fighting directly against God. The fact is, is that they have attacked a democratic country, one in which the people are free to worship what they believe (altho there are a few restrictions on open evangelism) and are killing many people whose only crime is that they have land that Russia wants. Russia has always been like this – fighting or causing trouble wherever they can. Did you know that they threatened all of Europe with nuclear war if Europe goes ahead with the missle defense system they are planning? And just this week, the Russians threatened Poland with nuclear bombs if Poland joins the western anti-missle radar program!!
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This is a quote found on the internet today. It is so true.
“To see a real war for oil, one need only look at what Russia is doing in Georgia. Vladimir Putin’s Russia is reminding the world how much it needs America.”
And his reply this morning:
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I guess I have less faith in the rest of the world than you. My take on the situation between Russia and Georgia, is that neither side is telling the truth. But you can expect no more than progoganda during a war.
Again, the total lack of concern for our Brethren in Georgia is shocking – and from a missionary!!