# 790 (2/13) "10 Russian Historical Events The Sochi Games Totally Ignored"

THE BULLETIN BOARD: 

* Be sure to NOT buy any Girl Scout Cookies! Check out post # 782 below.

SIGN NEW PETITION - (Jan. 27) American Pastor Saheed Abidini -  An Iranian leader has said that clemency for the pastor after almost 1 and 1/2 years being falsely imprisoned. Please sign this new petition at: http://beheardproject.com/ 2/6 - PRAISE GOD that after pastor Abedini has been unjustly imprisoned for over a year and a half, President Obama finally spoke out himself for the pastor's release as well as that of Ken Bae from North Korea (see below)!

SIGN A PETITION TO THE UN FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHRISTIANS :" The church in Syria has shone brightly for 2,000 years. But today violence and persecution threatens its survival. Thanks to an incredible response, Open Doors is helping 8,000 families in Syria survive each month. We believe the signatures and prayers of 500,000 people will encourage the UN to act and protect the rights and lives of all Syrians, especially the vulnerable Christian community." Go to: http://lp.opendoorsusa.org/emails/nov-13-action/save-syria.html?utm_source=action&utm_medium=email&utm_content=button&utm_campaign=november

WORLD-WDE PRAYER REQUESTS:

PRAYER ALERT! - Soci, Russia, Olympics -1) TERRORISM THREAT: Let's be sure to be praying for God to move against all who would bring harm to the athletes and others. Pray that the security forces would be effective in rooting out any terrorist plans and preventing them from being carried out. Pray for the families of the athletes who must be very anxious for their loved ones being in harm's way; 2) EVANGELISM EFFORTS: Let's also be praying that the many efforts being made to share the gospel with athletes and visitors to the Olympic Games will be effective in seeing many respond positively and make decisions for Christ. Pray esp. that athletes and visitors from little evangelized countries will take the gospel back with them and share it with others.

Oct. 23: "Christians Fleeing IRAQ Area Once Considered Safe," - CBNNews.com, http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/October/Christians-Fleeing-Iraq-Area-Once-Considered-Safe/ PRAY that believers in Iraq will know God's protection and provision; that believers will know[ whether they are called to flee or remain and persevere; and that their persecutors  may come to hear the gospel and come to faith in Christ. - Stan] 

Continue to Pray for EGYPT - Continue to pray for the tense situation in Egypt and especially for the Christian believers who are being targeted with violence by Muslim Brotherhood members.]  

Update on Kenneth Bae: "US Ready to Bargain with N. Korea for Bae's Release,"-  CBNNews.com,  Aug 14, 2013  http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/August/S-Ready-to-Bargain-with-N-Korea-for-Baes-Release/  - The United States is willing to engage North Korea to secure the release of imprisoned American Christian Kenneth Bae. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the United States is "willing to consider a number of different options" to bring him home.In a video recently released by a North Korean newspaper, Bae requested the United States send a high-ranking official to North Korea to seek his pardon. It is unclear if he spoke of his own volition in the video. Bae, 45, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for sharing his faith. He suffers health problems such as diabetes and is currently hospitalized.[PRAY for 1) God's healing of and presence with Pastor Bae, 2) His earliest release by the North Korean government, and 3) God's comfort for his family and friends.] Monday, 

November 04, 2013 - Saeed's Life in [Greater] Jeopardy After Prison Transfer - CBNNews.com, ; http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/November/Saeeds-Life-in-Jeopardy-after-Prison-Transfer/ IRAN - Vigils Mark One Year Imprisonment of Pastor Saeed - CBNNews.com, Thursday, September 26, 2013 - Today marks one-year that American pastor Saeed Abedini has been held in an Iranian prison. He is serving an eight-year sentence because of his Christian faith. It has been a year of torment as he has suffered beatings, physical pain from untreated medical conditions, and separation from his wife and two children... The suffering has not dampened his passion for Jesus. Pastor Abedini has led more than 30 prisoners to Christ during his time in prison. This afternoon, thousands of Americans from coast to coast will pray for his release. Events will be held in 40 states at capitols, city halls, parks and churches. Thousands more will join from 15 nations around the world 

PRAY: - For comfort and peace for Saeed’s wife and children here in the U.S.\

- For a strong witness and testimony from Pastor Abedini in the prison where God has placed him

- For Christians around the world who are being persecuted for their faith in Christ

- BOLDly (Beside Our Leaders Daily) for leadership from the White House and State Department in defending the freedoms of Abedini and other Americans

- GO TO SaveSaeed.org to sign a petition over 600,000 others asking for his immediate release

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"10 Russian Historical Events The Sochi Games Totally Ignored"- By Lee Edwards, February 10, 2014 

(Stanislav Krasilnikov/ITAR-TASS/ZUMAPRESS.com) [via Newscom] [1]
Russian history in the 20th century is bookended by the disastrous rise and eventual collapse of Soviet communism. And no one did a better chronicling communism’s failures than master story-teller Alexander Solzhenitsyn. >>> Check Out: Cronyism Corrupted Sochi Olympics [2]

So let’s suppose the Nobel Laureate had lived long enough into this century to contribute commentary to the opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Games. The hosts provided a highly romanticized version of modern Russian history. Solzhenitsyn would have insisted that the following events be included:

The Gulag. The Soviet network of 1,000 forced labor camps through which an estimated 20 million prisoners passed. At least one-third and perhaps as many as one-half of them died of starvation, overwork, disease, or a bullet in the back of the neck.

The Holodomor. The forced famine of 1932-33 during which more than six million Ukrainians died of starvation, a Soviet crime described as “genocide” by many historians.

Giant photos of Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky, the three Soviet leaders who led the Bolshevik Revolution that resulted in the deaths of more than 100 million victims of communism from 1917 to the present.

The Lubyanka, the KGB headquarters in the heart of Moscow where for decades, countless political prisoners were tortured and executed.

The Katyn Forest, where some 22,000 Polish intellectuals, officers, priests, land-owners and others were executed in 1939-40 with Stalin’s written approval.

The Hungarian Revolution of 1956, when young freedom fighters celebrated a few weeks of Hungarian independence from Soviet rule, until Soviet tanks and troops crushed the revolution, murdering thousands.

The Prague Spring of 1968, when a Czech bid for more political freedom was wiped out by ubiquitous Soviet tanks.

The Hitler-Stalin Non-Aggression Pact of August 1939 that precipitated World War II by allowing Hitler to invade Poland, forcing Great Britain and France to respond with a declaration of war.

The Korean War of 1950-1953, begun when North Korea invaded South Korea, an action encouraged and abetted by Stalin. Among the costs: the deaths of some 35,000 American servicemen.

The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, when the world came closer to a nuclear confrontation than at any other time in the Cold War. It was a crisis caused when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev tried to install in Cuba intermediate nuclear missiles capable of hitting Washington, D.C. and other American cities.

Every one of these communist crimes was omitted from Sochi’s shameful airbrushing of the seven decades of Soviet rule from 1917-1991. Amid all the celebrating and the gold medals, the Russian people would do well to remember that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

[bold and italics emphasis mine]
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Article printed from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News from The Heritage Foundation: http://blog.heritage.org; URL to article: http://blog.heritage.org/2014/02/10/10-russian-historical-events-sochi-games-totally-ignored/

URLs in this post:
[1] Image: http://blog.heritage.org/wp-content/uploads/olympicsagain.jpg
[2] Cronyism Corrupted Sochi Olympics: http://blog.heritage.org/2014/02/08/cronyism-corrupted-sochi-olympics/

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