Such A Year!, 2015 In Review

2015, not exactly a year worth remembering in my book!

January
Twelve Are Killed in Terrorist Attack at Newspaper in Paris (Jan. 7): Two masked gunmen storm the office of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical weekly magazine, in Paris, and kill 12 people, including the paper's top editor, Stephane Charbonnier, several cartoonists, and two police officers.

Boko Haram Launches Deadly Assault on Baga (Jan. 8): Boko Haram takes over Baga, Nigeria, the only major town in Borno state to resist being taken over by the group. News reports say the militants burned the city to the ground and massacred hundreds, if not thousands, of citizens, making it one of the most deadly assaults by Boko Haram.

February
Denmark Sees Worst Terrorist Attack in Thirty Years (Feb. 14): Two people are killed in two attacks. In the first attack, Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein fires into a cafe where Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks is speaking. Vilks, who is on a list of Al-Qaeda targets for his Prophet Muhammad caricature, is unharmed in the attack. One man is killed, and three police officers are wounded.

March
The Islamic State Claims Responsibility for Mosque Attacks as Violence Escalates in Yemen
Troops loyal to Yemen's President Hadi and those allied with the Houthis and former president Saleh, Hadi's rival, battle for control of the international airport in the southern port city of Aden. After pitched battles, Hadi's forces retake the airport and seize a Special Security Force base, which is controlled by Saleh. Hadi's presidential compound is hit by warplanes believed to be under the command of either Saleh or the Houthis. The Houthis retreat and call for talks and an end to the fighting. (Mar. 20): Two coordinated attacks on Zaydi Shiite mosques in Sana kill about 140 civilians during prayers. Sana Province, an affiliate of the Islamic State, says it is responsible for the attacks. The attacks highlight the deteriorating security conditions in Yemen, a terrorist training ground. The U.S. has counter-terrorism advisers based in Yemen, and after the attacks it withdraws 125 members of the Special Operations unit. (Mar. 22): The Houthis take control of Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city. They start sending weapons and troops to Taiz, signaling plans to continue the fight against Hadi and his forces. Taiz is about 120 miles from Aden. (Mar. 26): In an attempt to stop the Houthi advance, Saudi Arabia launches an offensive on Houthi targets in Yemen. More than 100 Saudi jets are involved in the airstrikes that cripple the Houthi's air force. (Mar. 30): A Saudi-led airstrike hits a camp for displaced civilians, killing as many as 40 people. Iran backs the Houthis, and the involvement of Saudi Arabia runs the risk of inflaming tension or creating a broader conflict in the Middle East.

April
I opt for an early foot rebuild operation.

Somalian Militants Continue to Target Non-Muslims: Shabab militants attack Garissa University College in northeast Kenya. In a daylong siege, the militants separate Muslims and non-Muslims, sparing Muslims. The non-Muslims are taken hostage and more than 140 are killed. Security officials free the surviving hostages and kill the four gunmen. In a statement, Shabab says the attack was a planned "operation against the infidels."

Nigerian Army Frees Boko Haram Hostages: Forces in Nigeria advance into the Sambisa Forest and begin freeing the women and children who have been held as hostages by Boko Haram. (Apr. 28): Almost 300 hostages are freed. (Apr. 29): A firefight between the Nigerian army and Boko Haram kills over 400 Boko Haram rebels. One woman is killed and eight others injured. (Apr. 28): The Nigerian military destroys 13 Boko Haram camps and frees more women and children. By the end of April, close to 700 hostages are rescued.

 A magnitude-7.8 earthquake strikes central Nepal, near the capital, Katmandu, killing nearly 4,000 people, injuring tens of thousands, and damaging or destroying thousands of structures, including the treasured Dharahara Tower and the temple complex Bhaktapur Durbar Square. It causes avalanches on Mt. Everest, which kills at least 17 people. The earthquake is felt throughout the country and affects others in Asia. Continuous aftershocks complicate rescue efforts and further traumatize a nation stunned by catastrophic loss.

May
My new foot works wonderfully!  The titanium internals even allow me to wiggle my toes!  But, my ankle snaps in half!  So rebuild on ankle and in a titanium brace.

Ireland Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage in Historic Vote: Ireland becomes the first country to legalize same-sex marriage in a national referendum. Turnout for the vote is 60.5%. Of those who vote, 62.1% choose in favor of changing the country's constitution to allow same-sex marriage. The vote comes 22 years after Ireland decriminalized homosexuality. The referendum's result shows how quickly the historically conservative country is changing. Of the outcome, Prime Minister Enda Kenny says, "With today's vote we have disclosed who we are: a generous, compassionate, bold and joyful people."

June
Seifeddine Rezgui, opens fire at the Port El Kantaoui resort, killing 38 tourists. It is the second attack on tourists in Tunisia in three months. In March, at attack on the National Bardo Museum in Tunis killed 22 people. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for both attacks.

July
Not much in the world news.

I am broken physically, mentally and spiritually by a series of operations, high fevers and disease.  Ultimately, whatever remained of me no longer mattered.

August
During the summer of 2015, the Balkans route replaces the Mediterranean as the most traveled path by migrants. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees projects that 3,000 people a day will attempt to cross the Balkans to reach Western Europe in the coming months. The German government estimates that 800,000 migrants will seek asylum there by the end of 2015, coming from countries such as Syria and Afghanistan to escape war and conflict. Europeans react to the immigration crisis in different ways. To shut off migrants, a fence is being built in Hungary along the border it shares with Serbia. More than 200 attacks on migrants have happened in Germany this year, including two fires set to asylum seeker shelters in August. The bodies of 71 migrants are found near Vienna. In Rome, migrants are evacuated by police after a protest against them turned violent. Macedonia declares a temporary state of emergency while dealing with the increasing number of migrants passing through on their way to Western Europe.

ISIS militants destroy several important antiquities, including the Temple of Baalshamin, one of the most majestic and well-preserved structures in Palmyra, and a 5th-century Roman Catholic monastery. Militants also behead Khaled Asaad, the 81-year-old former director of antiquities at Palmyra. The militants reportedly torture him for information about unexcavated treasures in the city.

September
I begin physical therapy with my new foot and ankle!  All is well.

The immigration crisis in Europe intensifies throughout September. Migrants continue to flee war and conflict in Afghanistan, Syria, and regions of Northern Africa, pouring into the Balkans at a rate of about 3,000 a day. They hope to end up in Western Europe, but many of those nations only offer refuge to a small number of migrants. The impasse creates a crisis in Hungary, where thousands of migrants are stuck at Budapest's Keleti train station as they wait for officials to decide their fate. Hungary responds to the influx by building 109-foot razor-wire fence along the Serbian border and passing laws allowing the arrest of migrants who attempt to cross into Hungary from Serbia illegally. (Sept. 14): European Union officials meet to decide on how to respond to the crisis. However, no agreement is made. Officials cannot agree on a proposal by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, a plan that would give an additional 120,000 refugees asylum within the European Union countries.

The Taliban seizes control over Kunduz, a northern Afghanistan city. It is the first major city that the Taliban has captured in over a decade. Afghan officials respond by saying that a counterattack is coming. (Sept. 29): Afghan forces launch their counterattack to retake Kunduz.

An 8.3 magnitude earthquake hits Chile, killing at least five people and causing one million people to evacuate. It is the largest earthquake the country has seen in years.

October
Revenge of that horrible summer infection returns and costs me a foot and part of a leg.

Two separate explosions kill nearly 100 people during a peace rally in Ankara, Turkey's capital. Hundreds more are wounded in what is the deadliest attack in Turkey in years. The two explosions happen 50 meters from each other and are almost simultaneous, happening just seconds apart near Ankara's main train station. No one immediately claims responsibility for the bombings. However, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says that there are "strong signs" that suicide bombers have been behind the attack. The attacks come at what is already a tense time in Turkey, which has taken in more refugees than any other country from its war-torn neighbor Syria. Plus, the renewed fight with the Kurdish rebels in recent months has killed hundreds. After the explosions, protesters take to Ankara's streets to express their outrage over the bombings.

 During the first two weeks of Oct. 2015, 32 Palestinians and seven Israelis are killed in what was the biggest spike in violence the area has seen in recent years. The violence breaks out in part over what the Palestinians see as increased encroachment by Israelis on the al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a site important to both Muslims and Jews. However, the violence quickly spreads beyond Jerusalem.

Hurricane Patricia becomes the most powerful tropical cyclone ever measured in the Western Hemisphere when its winds reach an unprecedented 200 mph. Beginning as a tropical cyclone in the eastern Pacific, Patricia rapidly intensifies into a Category 5 hurricane and also breaks the record for the lowest pressure (880 millibars) of any hurricane in history.

 A 7.5 magnitude earthquake strikes South Asia. At least 364 people are killed. More than 2,000 are injured. Thousands of buildings and homes are destroyed. Many of the hardest hit areas are in remote, mountainous areas, which are difficult for rescue teams to reach. The earthquake's epicenter is just north of Alaqahdari-ye Kiran wa Munjan, Afghanistan. The majority of the deaths and injuries are in Pakistan.

Airbus A321-200, an 18-year-old Russian passenger plane, crashes just 20 minutes after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. All 224 people on board are killed. Investigators exploring the debris say that the plane's fuselage disintegrated in the air while flying over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. The cause of the disintegration is not immediately known. However, The Sinai Province of the Islamic State, an ISIS offshoot, claims responsibility for bombing the plane. 

November
ISIS launches three coordinated attacks in Paris, killing 129 people and wounding hundreds. Eighty-nine people die in an assault at a concert hall, the Bataclan, where an American rock band, the ironically-titled Eagles of Death Metal, is performing at the time. Dozens of others are killed in attacks on restaurants and a soccer stadium where France is playing a match against Germany. Seven of the eight terrorists die during the attacks. French authorities are still looking for the last remaining attacker. The attacks are the worst violence in France since World War II. French president François Hollande calls the attack "an act of war," and retaliates with airstrikes on Raqqa, Syria, ISIS's self-declared capital. (Nov. 16): The United States joins France in the airstrikes, sending warplanes to Syria. (Nov. 17): Hours after Russia acknowledges that a terrorist bomb brought down the Russian passenger plane on Oct. 31, President Vladimir Putin agrees to join with France in the fight against ISIS. Putin orders a Russian missile cruiser to go to Syria and cooperate with French troops "as with allies." (Nov. 18): Police conduct a raid in a northern suburb of Paris. During the raid, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the Belgian terrorist suspected of planning the Paris attacks, is killed. At least one other person dies in the raid. Investigators have found evidence that Abaaoud, an ISIS fighter, has been involved in at least four foiled terrorist plots in France this year, including the train attack in August.

Islamic extremists storm into the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali's capital. At least 170 people are taken hostage. The militants are armed with grenades and guns. U.S. and French special operation forces work quickly with Malian troops and take back the hotel floor by floor. At least 27 people are killed, including two of the attackers. An extremist group led by Moktar Belmoktar, a former al-Qaeda commander, claims responsibility for the attack.

December
Fourteen people are killed and more than 20 wounded when two people open fire at a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center, a service facility for people with disabilities and special needs in San Bernardino, California. The suspects, husband and wife Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, are killed in a shootout with police after the rampage.

A suicide bomber detonated his explosives at in the doorway of a Shiite mosque at the end of prayer in Baghdad. Eleven people were killed with twenty wounded, all civilians. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.

Three female suicide bombers attacked markets in different areas of the island Loulou Fou on the Chadian side of Lake Chad, 27 were killer plus the 3 bombers.

Several suicide bombers penetrated the security of a Kandahar Airfield, barricading themselves into an old school building that now contains shops and battled with Afghan soldiers for few hours. The Afghan defence ministry said 50 civilians and members of the security forces had been killed, along with 11 Taliban. A further 35 people were injured, it said. Taliban claimed responsibility.

A suicide bomber detonated his explosives at in the doorway of a Shiite mosque at the end of prayer in Baghdad. Eleven people were killed with twenty wounded, all civilians. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.

Three truck bombs killed up to 60 people and injured more than 80 in the town of Tell Tamer in Syria's northeastern Al Hasakah province. The blasts struck near a Kurdish militia forces field hospital and in the crowded Souk Al Jumla market square, where the majority of the fatalities occurred.

Militants detonated a car bomb near an hospital in central Homs, Syria killing sixteen civilians and wounding another 54. ISIL has claimed responsibility.

Nigerian Boko Haram Islamists, at least some using machetes, attacked residents of the villages of Warwara, Mangari, and Bura-Shika, according to a civilian helping the Nigerian military in its fight against Boko Haram. Thirty were killed, an additional twenty were wounded, and the villages were set on fire, as reported by the vigilante.

A bombing occurred at a clothes bazaar in Pakistan’s Parachinar area in the Kurram Valley. It was not clear whether the bombing was a suicide attack or a remotely controlled detonation. The blast killed 23 people and another 30 were injured.

Three suicide bombers blew themselves up in restaurants in the Kurdish controlled northeastern Syrian town Kamishli, targeting the town's Kurdish and Assyrian Christian populations: 16 killed and 35 injured.

In all, there were over 345 separate terrorist attacks worldwide in 2015!  Yeah, not a year to write home about!

No Easy Choices

Friday I watched a show on ABC, called 20/20, usually I ignore ABC, never have been impressed with 20/20 and certainly anything to do with ISIS is an utter turnoff - I know what affect that subject will have on me - and I already crippled Islamic expansionism out of Yugoslavia once.  Conversely, I also crippled the Slavic Army's attempts to mass murder Muslims in Bosnia.  Hey, am at my core still a Hutterite - I hate war and murder!

But, the program seemed to be about refugees in Iraq, so it might be interesting ...

Link to the program: http://abc.go.com/shows/2020/listing/2015-12/18-2020-121815-escaping-isis

If you are not on a system which allows you to view past programming, you can get the idea via numerous sources here: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=escaping+isis

You really do want to get the idea before you read further:  Rape and murder of women and children, execution for all adult males.

 ... INTERMISSION ...

As I mentioned yesterday, I have been rereading my Bonhoeffer.  He wrote two noteworthy books: "Cost of Discipleship" and "Letters From Prison".  In Cost of Discipleship, he takes a hard look at the cheap grace being sold to the masses through religion and calls for faithful followers of Christ to realize that being a Disciple of Christ comes with a Cost - a very personal and steep cost.  End result however was isolation of the believers and empty piety - the very things he was hammering the Lutheran Church about!  Book backfired because the laity did not understand how to transform from a dead church into a living belief.

His collection of letters from prison make up the second book and you can follow his thoughts across time as he at first believes he is going to be set free shortly, to realizing that he hosed up badly and the gallows awaits him.  Yesterday's quote from him came from the point of realizing he was being held responsible by God.

And so, I watched the Escape From Isis, on ABC.  The story of a refugee camp in northern Iraq of families whose town was run over by Isis.  A Christian town utterly destroyed.  Christians running for their lives - literally!  Of Christians asking the hard questions: "Why" and "What now?".  Ten thousand of them, trying to live their faith in the absence of everything!

Bonhoeffer saw the disappearance of the Jews, he had to have heard the rumors of the camps.  And he did nothing.  He saw the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and never muttered a word in public - although in private he did equate Hitler to Satan incarnate.  And that belief, that Hitler really was Satan, led him down a path of becoming involved in the attempt on Hitler's life!  And a corresponding death sentence for himself and all of the other males in his family whom were involved in the plot.

Coincidental with Bonhoeffer's silence was the rise of the White Rose Group (Die Wiesse Rosen) in Munich.  Kids whom saw the apostasy and lies - and published fliers telling the hard truth of National Socialism and the War on the Eastern Front - which also revealed the existence of the concentration camps.  Bonhoeffer was to follow them to the gallows.

I contemplate the travails of the Iraqi Christians and the cost they are paying for their faith.  Here at home - no one actually cares.  "It does not affect me..." syndrome.

And we, as Christians, now stand at a crossroads - the decisions we make, the leadership we follow, will all have a telling effect upon our our Christianity and witness - or the lack thereof.

God never guaranteed to save any of us from persecution and martyrdom.
God never said life was going to be easy.
God did say He would meet our needs.
God did say all was to be to His glory.

We, like it or not, are to be of one body and we are currently represented by an apostate western church, unworthy of the  price being paid in Iraq by those isolated Christian believers.  The same could be said of believers in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Liberia, Yemen, Egypt, etc, etc, etc!

Get the point?

Christianity is under attack worldwide.
Evil has raised its head.

Now, what are you going to personally do about?  Yes, your choice will be judged and you will be held responsible.  To act is to draw that evil upon you and your loved ones.  To not act will eventually cost the lives of you and your loved ones ...

And what did Dietrich Bonhoeffer think?  Continued from yesterday's poem:
"Until thou wipe out our guilt,
Keep us in quiet patience.

"We will silently prepare ourselves,
Till thou dost call to new times.

"Until thou stillest storm and flood,
And thy will does wonders.

"Brother, till the night be past,
Pray for me!"

So, your move: stand for God and thwart evil or support evil through your disinterest ...  And remember, to fight in God's world is to do so on bent knees - and He will move or He will tell you to.

Standing Convicted

I was reading my Bonhoeffer as I soaked in a hot tub of water - oh such luxury!  I dig my Bonhoeffer books out about every five  years - read, contemplate, sigh and feel inadequate.

Bonhoeffer chose poorly in life.  He rose to head of the National Church (Lutheran), the single most powerful Christian voice in Germany before and during the War.  Unfortunately, the complete lack of a Christian witness during the War, cost the Lutheran church dearly.  A once pious people turned apathetic and then agnostic.

Bonhoeffer's choice to not condemn the assassination attempt against Hitler, brought him to the attention of those with lists. A long investigation as to why, landed him in prison as one of the co-conspirators!  Hitler was cautious, he moved slowly against the head of the church, but eventually - yeah, Bohoeffer and most of the males in his family were jailed and executed.  Bonhoeffer met his end April 9, 1945 - the last official execution by the NAZI's.  There would be no living martyrs allowed in the post war Germany!

Somewhere around July 9,1944, Bonhoeffer wrote these interesting words:

"We sons of pious races,
One time defenders of right and truth,
Became despisers of God and man,
Amid hellish laughter.

"Yet though now robbed of freedom and honour,
We raise our heads proudly before me.
And if we are brought into disrepute,
Before men we declare our innocence.

"Steady and firm we stand man against man;
As the accused we accuse!

"Only before thee, source of all being,
Before thee are we sinners.

"Afraid of suffering and poor in deeds,
We have betrayed thee before men.

"We saw the lie raise its head,
And we did not honour the truth.

"We saw brethren in direst need,
And feared only our own death.

"We come before thee as men,
As confessors of our sins.

"Lord, after the ferment of these times,
Send us times of assurance,

"After so much going astray,
Let us see the day break."

If you think about the perilous times Bonhoeffer lived in, you can understand what he saw as his sins before God.  And knowing God's justice, he knew he was not going to escape, though he longed for freedom.

And think on these words and the state of the world today....

Tomorrow, I have much to say.

Being Faithful

Matthew 1:18-25

Practice Personal Integrity
Joseph was already walking with God and "just" before the crisis confronted him.
We are pressed on all sides ...
If you will be presented with times to mess you up!
Hold on to your faith!
Scripture + friends to walk with us and lift us up.

Trust The One Whom Can See The Whole Parade
Angel told Joseph to marry Mary.
We only see a small portion of time, but the whole is what God sees.
Joseph saw a real problem, but God sees all and told Joseph to do as told!


Leave A Legacy That Lasts
Joseph does as he was told to do in the dream.
Married Mary.
Named the baby Jesus.
He did what was asked of him.

He trusted God.
He was faithful.
He became an example to all of us.
Can you do what He asks of you?

Musical Saturday Morning

You know, George Michaels must like to play the fool - certainly the character portrayed is too dumb to know when to quit and take up needlepoint ...

Merry Christmas

Just a section from the Perry Como 1974 Christmas Special, featuring the Carpenters - and an unexpected outburst from a little kid on stage.  It runs about 13 minutes.  I really liked this special, it shows a part of America I fear to be long dead ... and I truly wish could be resurrected one day.

Christmas Eve

When mother became a Southern Baptist, note I did not say Christian, my high school friends and I were forced into go to Christmas Eve services.  The service was generally meaningless to all of us, but the cookies afterwards were great!  My family really did not have any Christmas traditions - except present opening on Christmas day - and then only presents from "Santa".  Well atheistic Jewish family, what can you expect?

After I became a Christian, I really had no tradition to observe.  What I know of Christmas I learned from Gaelic Girl, to whom Christmas was very meaningful and to be celebrated.  My first Christmas tree was a sage brush - too poor to buy a tree and it was a nice tumbleweed after all.  I found some small - blueberry - sized ornaments and decorated it.  When GG saw it, she was under whelmed, but to this day it is still my favorite tree and Christmas.

Today, post children, all of the kids gather and I cook something they demand.  Of course, this year I am unable to do the kitchen routine, so oldest daughter will be playing chef!  :)  I get to skate on this meal - no hassles and only advice to offer.  Yeah, I am sure I will get yelled at, but hey ...!

So from the chaos which will be my home this day, may I wish for you a Merry Christmas - and a time of Peace.