Children | Ain't Complicated

Northern Youth Programs

Hey! I know these people!

WORLD Magazine | Northern light

One reason they are talking is the influence of Northern Youth Programs (NYP) and its founders Clair and Clara Schnupp, who have been married and flying all over the Arctic and North America in ministry for 50 years. Beyond the novelty of their given names and Mennonite dress, they are both licensed pilots. They met as counselors at a summer Bible camp in Ontario and married in 1959. They began Northern Youth Programs ministering to at-risk children on the streets of Thunder Bay, Ontario, in 1967.

According to Clair, sexual abuse and absentee fathers are the leading causes of suicide—six times greater in aboriginal populations than among others—and over time this is where NYP has focused much of its effort. Northern Youth’s programs include summer camps and prison ministries, but its soul is in its counseling seminars and family life training to help native people heal from the trauma of sexual abuse and become better parents.

Years ago, Clair graciously and generously gave me permission to translate into Spanish their Family Life Seminar. Thank you!!! My project eventually turned into a Mexican-ized “production” of my own and not really a translation of their work. Publicadora La Merced in Costa Rica happily took my finished work for final editing and publishing…over 15 years ago.

And even more years ago, Ruby and I (we weren’t married yet) attended one of the Schnupp seminars at Fairview Mennonite Church (near Albany, Oregon).

If I may, I’ll play the so-called Mennonite Name Game by saying that one of my first cousins married one of the Schnupp daughters. 🙂

I Saw Them in Our Kitchen

First, this on the window sill above the sink:

Lord, help us to touch each other.

When children were brought to Jesus, He touched them and blessed them.

Bless us, Lord….

That’s a great saying. Digest it, parents! (I love to hug and hold close my grandchildren. But maybe my grown children need that too…?)

And then (speaking of digesting) this, on the table:

A gross thought: lose weight; help feed America!

Lose weight; help feed America — General Mills, sir, that’s a gross thought to put anywhere, but particularly on the front of a wonderful breakfast cereal like Cheerios! Maybe the ad agency could issue you a partial refund.

😆

But to close on a better thought, how about a bit of a mind game: What’s the yellow stuff in the first photo?

Shop. Drop. Hop.

Shop — as in, shop all you want and set up shop all you want.

Drop — as in, drop the above notion(s).

Hop — as in, hop right along to other ventures and venture-ers.

Now, before any further explanations of the title or of the above explanations, a quote to rivet in your head:

“We don’t make haphazard decisions about risks here at CPSC.”
Scott Wolfson, CPSC spokesman

Good. That sounds commendable enough to me. I mean, any reasonable person should be in favor of not making that kind of decision.

With no further introduction or commentary….

New Government Policy Imposes Strict Standards on Garage Sales Nationwide

Americans who slap $1 pricetags on their used possessions at garage sales or bazaar events risk being slapped with fines of up to $15 million, thanks to a new government campaign.

The “Resale Round-up,” launched by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, enforces new limits on lead in children’s products and makes it illegal to sell any items that don’t meet those limits or have been recalled for any other reason.

[…]

In order to comply, stores, flea markets, charities and individuals selling used goods — in person or online — are expected to consult the commission’s 24-page Handbook for Resale Stores and Product Resellers (pdf) and its Web site for a breakdown of what they can’t sell.

Violators caught selling anything on the enormous list face fines of up to $100,000 per infraction and up to $15 million for a related series of infractions.

Waddle that do for eBay, Craig’s List, Amazon, Roth’s Curiosity Corner, Anabaptist Bookstore, and your great aunt’s garage sale?

😯

Breaking Discovery: I was ready to publish this post. I decided to pause long enough to have a peek at the CPSC site. Here’s a quote:

CPSC’s Internet surveillance team
is monitoring
online retailers and auction sites
for sales of recalled and hazardous products.
CPSC 9 Aug 09 Press Release

Favored: Fathima Rifqa Bary

The judge has ruled:

Rifqa Bary, a Christian convert whose parents are Muslim immigrants from Sri Lanka, will remain in foster care in Florida until another hearing is held Sept. 3.

[…]

Florida’s Gov. Charlie Crist weighed in on the mater Friday with the following statement: “I am grateful to Circuit Judge Daniel Dawson for his decision to grant Fathima Rifqa Bary the right to remain in Florida. … We will continue to fight to protect Rifqa’s safety and wellbeing as we move forward.”

Source: Runaway Christian Convert to Stay in Florida for Now, Judge Rules

Over at Atlas Shrugs, Pamela Geller begins her post thus:

Rifqa has been given a reprieve. SHE WILL NOT BE SENT TO OHIO! Praise G-d. She will not be sent back to her terrorized home in Ohio, at least not for now.

If you want to continue following this story, Atlas Shrugs is probably as good a place as any. I do not plan to continue coverage here.

Pray: Fathima Rifqa Bary

In a story headlined Christian girl begs state: Don’t let them kill me! WorldNetDaily is reporting:

A young Christian runaway in foster care awaits her hearing tomorrow when Florida authorities will decide whether she will be forced to return to her Muslim parents – whom she says will kill her for converting to Christianity.

Remember to pray for Fathima Rifqa Bary and the authorities deciding her fate (as it were).

Hey! You could even pray for her parents and siblings!

(And maybe I will as well.)

Update: Fathima Rifqa Bary

We start with the first paragraph of a post at Christianity Today’s blog:

Fathima Rifqa Bary’s story is quickly circulating on blogs and Christian media as proof of Islam’s violent roots and the cost of following Christ. While the latter is true no matter who’s doing the following, the former is disputable in the case of the Ohio teen who fled her home two weeks ago to meet up with Blake and Beverly Lorenz, Florida pastors she had met on Facebook.

If you want to read the full post, of course you’ll have to click the link above. (As I recall, the writer is not entirely sympathetic toward Rifqa.)

The above post is referenced over at Barth’s Notes:

A blog at Christianity Today sounds a note of caution over the case of Fathima Rifqa Bary, a Sir Lankan teenager living in Ohio who recently fled to Orlando claiming that her parents planned to kill her for converting to Christianity….

Frankly, I’ve been wondering about this whole deal, but not to the point of believing Rifqa is lying.

Whatever the case may be, this case raises (yet again) the issue of when the State may intervene in family affairs.

When??!! Did I just say that?

That accepts the premise that the State has such moral authority.

Better to substitute if for when.

If one of my children goes to CSD and says I’m being abusive, is that sufficient cause for the State to take all my children?

So, putting myself in Rifqa’s father’s shoes, well…never mind.

What do you have to say?

If the State comes for a conservative Anabaptist Mennonite’s children, that’s wrong?

But if the States takes a Muslim’s child, not only is that understandable, it’s also justifiable?

Oh, wait…here’s a piece from the Pakistan Daily:

A very disconcerting video is being shown by the Christan church. A minor Sri Lankan girl belonging to well to do parents has been kidnapped by a church in Ohio and being kept away from the legal guardians and parents of the girl. The family maintains that the girls was into drugs, promiscuous behaviour and raunchy messages on facebook. She was discussing sex with multiple older married men. When the parents tried to control her behaviour she refused to do so. On her return to the home she conjured up a story of conversion to Christianity. There are serious accusations against the church on holding a minor girl in custody against the will of her guardians and parents. How many more girls will the church kidnap?

Media reports indicate that the Muslim father denies his daughter’s charge that he plans to take her life in an “honor killing” because of her conversion to Christianity. And certainly he could have no intention of committing such a heinous act.

😯

Now what shall we believe?!

Missing: Lindsey Baum

Lindsey Baum

Police say Lindsey Baum, 11, of the small town of McCleary, with a population of fewer than 2,000 people, vanished the night of June 26 while walking home from a friend’s house just four blocks away.

More than 100 searchers have used dogs, horses and helicopters seeking any trace of Lindsey, but investigators says they have little to go on, and they’re appealing to the public for help.

Lindsey’s father, Scott Baum, made an emotional appeal to anyone knowing her whereabouts, saying, “Please bring me my daughter home before I have to leave” for Iraq.

Source: CBS News

Another news item: Missing McCleary girl’s mom heading to NY