Posted in Prayers

Having the Olympics in China has stirred strongemotions in our household. On our wrists during the Olympics we are wearing Pray for China bracelets giving to us by The Voice of the Martyrs. We have vasicilated between watching and not watching...Supporting our atheletes and condemning China for its persecution of Christians, Tibet Monks and supporting the Genocide in Sudan. We pray and we stand in awe as we listen to the opening ceremonies parade of Nations. They speak of the atrocities, they highlight the evils about the world as for a few weeks evil and politics are suppose to be put on hold.  Well in China this hold has not been honored.

Who thought it would be? Oh the Misguided Olympic commitee.

I just watched the US team march into the Stadium SHOUTING TRUTH to China as our flag bearer isin fact a LOst Boy of Sudan. Praise God for the bravery of our US Team to make such a Shout for truth!

At the same time China trying to quiet te truth did this.... This is a news story from CNN Pray about this. What Satan meant for evil has become one more way to say stop the genocide in Darfur!

(CNN) -- Chinese officials have revoked the visa of former U.S. Olympic speed skater Joey Cheek, an action that has worried the White House.

Cheek said he was informed of the action by the Chinese Consulate Wednesday night as he prepared to travel to Beijing for the Games.

"They said, you know, you're not going to be able to travel to China; your visa's been revoked," Cheek said. "And when I asked for a reason, they said, we don't need to give you a reason."

Cheek, a 2006 gold medalist, was not going to the Games to compete but to support 70 athletes who are part of a group he co-founded called Team Darfur. The group's mission is to raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan.

One of the members of Team Darfur is Lopez Lomong, a 23-year-old competitor in the 1,500-meter race, who has been chosen to be the flag bearer for the U.S. Olympic team, leading it into the stadium for the opening ceremony Friday.

Lomong's connection to Sudan is personal, as his family fled the country to escape attack when he was 6. He was separated from his parents and spent 10 years in a refugee camp before the U.S. government resettled him in the town of Tully, in upstate New York, according to the U.S. Olympic Committee.

He was among roughly 3,800 refugees, dubbed the Lost Boys of Sudan by reporters and aid workers, who were resettled in cities across the United States.

Human rights groups have faulted China for doing too little to pressure Sudan, a trading partner, to halt unremitting bloodshed in Darfur. An estimated 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million forced from their homes in a campaign of violence in Darfur that the United States has condemned as genocide.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the U.S. ambassador in Beijing has spoken to Chinese officials to "express our concern and complaint" about the revocation of Cheek's visa.

"It's slower than we would like," she said, "and they're actually running out of time to be able to rectify it."

Wang Baodong, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said China's visa system is "above reproach and deserves respect."

"We sincerely hope as the Beijing Olympic games is a sports gala of the whole world, that relevant parties stop politicizing the games and help create favorable conditions for a successful event," Baodong said.

 

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On another note, Our President is at the Olympics. He is the first sitting President to leave our country and go to another host country for the Olympics. Pray for his safety. He is wearing a Pray for China bracelet presented to him by the Prescuted Christians in China last week.

God is present at the Olympics .

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Come meet our Flag barrier!

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- A U.S. athlete who overcame the chaos of war in Sudan to become a middle-distance runner in the United States will carry the American flag during Friday's opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Games.

Lopez Lomong, a 23-year-old competitor in the 1,500-meter race, will lead the U.S. Olympic team as the flagbearer.

Teammates chose him Wednesday, the U.S. Olympic Committee said in a statement.

Lomong is a member of Team Darfur, a group of athletes committed to raising awareness about chronic violence in the Darfur region of western Sudan.

He was among roughly 3,800 refugees, dubbed the Lost Boys of Sudan by reporters and aid workers, who were resettled in cities across the United States.

Nearly all were boys who had been separated by relatives during fighting in Sudan. They endured months of wandering during which thousands died of hunger, disease or attacks by bandits or wild animals.

Human rights groups have faulted China for doing too little to pressure Sudan, its trading partner, to halt unremitting bloodshed in the Darfur region. An estimated 300,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been forced from their homes in a campaign of violence in Darfur that the United States has condemned as genocide.

The Chinese government this week revoked the visa of Team Darfur's co-founder, speedskating gold medalist Joey Cheek, the group said without offering a reason.

Lomong said he is thrilled to be a flagbearer.

"This is the most exciting day ever in my life," he said in a USOC statement. "I'm here as an ambassador of my country, and I will do everything I can to represent my country well."

At age 6, Lomong fled his home in southern Sudan with his family to escape an attack but became separated from his relatives, the USOC says. He ended up in a refugee camp near the border of Sudan and Kenya, the USOC says.

Lomong was uprooted in 1991 by a grinding civil war in Sudan that pitted black southerners who practiced Christianity and animist religions against a government dominated by Arab Muslims from northern Sudan.

The north-south war in Sudan killed 2 million people and displaced 4 million others before a 2005 peace deal ended the fighting. Yet violence still rages in the unrelated conflict that erupted in 2003 in the western region of Darfur.

Lomong spent 10 years in the refugee camp before the U.S. government resettled him as a refugee in the town of Tully, in upstate New York.

Lomong attended high school in Tully and went on to Northern Arizona University. He became a U.S. citizen in July 2007.

"The American flag means everything in my life -- everything that describes me, coming from another country and going through all the stages that I have to become a U.S. citizen," Lomong said in the USOC statement. "This is another amazing step for me in celebrating being an American."

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Evil is also making his presence known as Tonight Russia has attacked Georgia as well.

Much to pray about here! God bless you all!

Team Darfur weblink