Globe Trot: It’s Lord of the Flies in Venezuela

VENEZUELA: Hard to imagine how the situation in a once-prosperous nation could get worse. U.S. President Barack Obama this week called for the release of political prisoners, as the Organization of American States and others begin to chart a way for recalling and replacing President Nicolas Maduro.

MIDDLE EAST: CIA Director John Brennan testified recently to Congress, “Unfortunately, despite all our progress against ISIL on the battlefield and in the financial realm, our efforts have not reduced the group’s terrorism capability and global reach.” That’s a good setup for a conference next week in Washington (attendance is free and the lineup impressive) focusing on how churches in the United States can help the disappearing church in the Middle East.

TURKEY: Perhaps the best summary of what ISIS is up to with the Istanbul bombing, and beyond. It takes only five minutes to watch.

REFUGEES: Relieving a global refugee crisis isn’t only the work of politicians.

A great new read on the subject is Seeking Refuge: On the Shores of the Global Refugee Crisis by Stephan Bauman, Matthew Soerens, and Issam Smeir.

SUDAN: William Levi has moved home. Levi is the first Sudanese I met nearly 25 years ago when he was a young, single refugee making the plight of his people known. After establishing the work of Operation Nehemiah in South Sudan, he, his wife Hannah, and their six children are back permanently to fully embrace the work of the Messianic Jewish congregation he helped establish in the heart of Muslim Africa.

CHINA: This week Ann Voskamp told her story of adopting a young girl from China, and being “relentlessly present.”

INDIA: The share of the population in India and China living in extreme poverty is “easily the biggest economic story of the past 30 years,” writes Adam Belz (my nephew), business reporter for the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. Gotta agree.

LONG WEEKEND NOTE: No Globe Trot on Monday, July 4. And no longreads to report, but would be glad to hear from you on great summer reading.