Heartbreaking New Zealand News

Many of you know that Sondra's parents were born and reared in the beautiful country of New Zealand (NZed). To be honest, I was so geographically ignorant that I did not even know where NZed was until Sondra and I started dating in 1984. But since then, I have grown to love NZed and the people who live there.

The news that usually comes out of NZed revolves around the beauty of the country side and the amazing number of sheep that call NZed home. There are also reports at times of the devastating earthquakes that can happen in that region of the world known as the "Ring of Fire." Every time that NZed is in the news,  I can tell you that the Turners focus in to hear and know what is going on. 

But when we hear NZed in the news, we see peoples' faces. Faces of family and friends that we have grown to know and love. So when the latest news came out of NZed this past weekend, while we wanted it to be news of the beauty of the islands and its' people, the focus was on the evil of one who decided that "this quiet little place was the best place to show how fragile our security really is." 

A man who chose evil over love, killed 50 people who were gathering in their mosques to pray. Children, men, women, husbands, wives, sons and daughters were heinously gunned down as they prayed. One of those men shot (and as of this post still alive) is a neighbor of Sondra's cousin. His wife and children were out of the country and he was at the mosque to pray. Another young man who was killed was a soccer teammate of another of Sondra's cousins. A young man who was at the mosque to pray. Another of Sondra's cousins was in his car close to the mosque when he stopped to answer a phone call preventing him from being outside the mosque as the shooting was happening.

The land of the "Lord of the Rings" movies is a beautiful land full of beautiful people.
People who need to know that we support them and love them. People who need genuine prayer for healing, strength and comfort. People who need to know the transforming love of Jesus Christ.

Jesus reminds us of what He is about in Luke 4:18 - “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,"

May we be faithful to love those in NZed and also those who live next door to us. People whom God has given us the command to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Everyone is created in the very image of God. People who need Jesus. Even people who choose to do evil.