Clashes, protests stir Bangladesh

(Photo by Rajiv Ashrafi)

Bangladesh (MNN) ― Deadly political unrest in Bangladesh continued to escalate over the weekend. 

Hundreds of demonstrators rallied in Dhaka at the end of last week, demanding capital punishment to the war criminals, and a ban on Jamaat-e-Islami. The date last week had historic significance.

On March 07, 1971, the Independence leader of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibar Rahman asked people to make the Bangladesh free from Pakistan. On March 26, 1971, Bangladeshis started the liberation war against Pakistan. Horrors and crimes against humanity followed. 

This month's uproar is blamed on the verdict of a tribunal, which was supposed to help Bangladesh come to terms with its bloody birth in 1971. However, the verdict seems to have provoked an outcry louder than any other heard in their 42 year history. 

It's not likely to die down soon. Shahbagh demonstrators staged rallies in Uttara, Chittagong, and Ashulia on March 10 and had plans to strike again on March 16.

Over 50 people have been killed, and many houses have been burnt in the rallies. Transportation has become difficult in the major cities. Some persecution of minority religious groups has occurred. 

So far, all Compassion-assisted families and Compassion staff members are safe and unharmed. As a precaution, Compassion Bangladesh temporarily suspended project activities of 20 centers last week. Re-opening is dependent on whether or not the turmoil settles down over the next few days.

All staff members have been instructed to be on emergency alert. Additionally, due to the difficulties, the staff of Compassion Bangladesh has enough to do without having to be concerned over the safety of visitors. For the time being, they won't be hosting any Tours or Vision trips.

Every child who participates in a Compassion program is given the opportunity to learn about Jesus and discover how to develop a lifelong relationship with God. This good news is modeled and shared in age-appropriate and culturally relevant ways. Community transformation results. 

Please pray for the protection of Compassion-assisted families and Compassion staff members throughout Bangladesh.

Attack on church youth group a disconcerting shift in Mexico

(Cover photo by Alejandro de la
 Cruz. Story photo courtesy
 Compassion International)

Mexico (MNN) ― A gang of nearly a dozen armed people stormed into a church youth retreat near Mexico City on Saturday and went on an hours-long rampage of beatings, robberies, and rape.

Any connection between the gang and the drug cartels is still unconfirmed. However, Mexican authorities say that campers and hikers have been targeted in the past by common criminals, and the region is known for violent drug-related crime.

That said, the attack on children presents a disconcerting change. Tim Glenn with Compassion International says they have several projects in the region between Oaxaca and Mexico City. While none of their sponsored kids were victims of the attack, "I think it's a scary new venture in the active criminal activities. Historically, in the past they left the church alone, they left the kids alone. This new act of violence is a step in the wrong direction."

Because Compassion's Child Development Centers and other projects are in somewhat secluded areas, they do take precautions to prevent such attacks. Glenn explains, "One of the things we require of our church partners is that they have a safe place for kids to go so that they can learn, they can play, they can grow and be away from these type of things in their community."

Ironically, while the Mexico attack is a step in the "wrong direction," Glenn says the exact opposite is happening in nearby El Salvador. The country's two largest street gangs called a truce.

Up until now, the cycle of gang violence made the country the most murderous in the world last year after neighboring Honduras. Glenn says, "Part of that agreement was that they were going to stay away from the kids, agreeing that they weren't going to try to get kids to join. They were going to stay away from kids as targets of their violence."

Glenn goes on to say, "One of the things that came out of that truce in El Salvador is one of the gang leaders saying that they'd finally come to the realization that 'all we're doing is hurting each other, killing each other, and we're not getting anywhere.'" As a result of the truce, the homicide rate has been cut in half in just four months. In fact, police say the most dramatic change was noted on April 14, a day when El Salvador recorded its first 24 hours without a murder.

Glenn says El Salvador provides a great example that he hopes others will follow. "The sooner the gangs and gang leaders realize the affects they have on their own communities, the safer our own kids will be."

In the meantime, the Church needs a lot of prayer in Central and South America where gang activity is on the rise and growing increasingly violent. "Gang activity, sadly, is a reality in a lot of the developing world. Kids who have very little to cling to go to a gang for some source of acceptance and relationship."  

But, says Glenn, Compassion International is making a notable difference. Sponsorships help with education and more. The Gospel is what transforms the community from within. Getting the Gospel to the streets is the hard part. "All we can do is pray for the protection of our kids and communities, and bring our kids to the safe haven of that local church that Compassion partners with."

The church youth group that suffered Saturday's attack has a lot of healing to do emotionally and physically. Glenn urges prayer support for the Gospel workers who are on the front lines. "One of the first prayer needs that we have is for the church to be the Church in those communities, for the body of Christ to step up and say 'we're going to take these kids under our wings. We're going to give them a safe place. We're going to protect them  from this type of thing so that they don't have to look to a gang for relationship and acceptance."

Compassion's work in Mexico began in 1976. There are currently more than 20,500 children participating in 130 child development centers. Compassion partners with churches to help them provide Mexican children with the opportunity to rise above their circumstances and become all God has created them to be.

Human Trafficking Awareness Day is every day for Compassion International

International (MNN) ― Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day in the United States.

Today--and actually the whole month of January--has been set aside to reflect on the state of slavery in the world. Currently, there are 27 million slaves worldwide--a higher number than there has ever been at one time in history. 80% of that 27 million are women, and 50% of that 27 million are children.

Human trafficking accounts for a wide range of violations, including the coercion of women into the sex trade to forced child labor. Compassion International does everything they can to prevent all of it.

"There are a lot of groups that do rescue, and we're so thankful for them. But there are very few who actually are involved in the prevention part of it. And that's where Compassion fits in," says Compassion's Kathy Redmond.

Compassion works to bring children across the globe out of poverty, a key component to fighting human trafficking as well. "Wherever there's poverty, there's this kind of risk," Redmond explains.

Compassion has indeed come across many children who either have had relatives trafficked or who have been trafficked themselves.

"It's a very easy way to make money for survival," explains Redmond. "So in quite a few countries, we deal with mothers who have been prostitutes themselves to turn their kids over to that when they're ten years old."

It's a way to make money to eat in some nations. In others, the poor kidnap children to use them to make money themselves. This is especially a problem in regions with a high demand for prostitution.

For instance, says Redmond, "With the Olympics going to Brazil, and the World Cup going to Brazil, there's a very lucrative market for sex trafficking. And they're already working on it now; the market is there."

Compassion cracks down on these horrors in a number of ways. The first and most obvious way is to just get kids off the streets, to feed them, to give them an education, to share the Gospel with them, and to therefore provide them a way out of the cycle of poverty. If poverty and human trafficking are so closely linked, eliminating poverty helps cut down the vulnerability of Compassion children now and later on.

Compassion is also able to go beyond the kids though. The ministry has been able to intervene and talk to mothers about trafficking, sharing the freedom of Christ with them as well.

Compassion also has some ministries directly in the heart of high risk areas, including a ministry in a neighborhood in India full of sex workers. Victims of the human trade then have access to Compassion workers and churches.

Compassion is working to make a dent in the growing issue of human trafficking, and you can help. Sponsoring a child might seem like just a drop in the bucket, but Redmond says that sponsorship can be the difference between ending up in a vulnerable life of poverty and escaping the cycle and the horrors that accompany it.

To commit to sponsoring a child, thus preventing human trafficking and introducing the life-changing message of the Gospel, visit compassion.com.