Free Republic

Matt Tarka speaks with the confidence of the faithful. Discussing a trip he will soon be taking to Northern Uganda to spread the word of Christianity, the details roll off his tongue like he’s describing an upcoming camping trip, with enthusiasm and confidence. He and four other missionaries—representing three Fort Collins churches—have flights booked, itineraries mostly finalized and contacts in Uganda awaiting their arrival. They’re working out their ground transportation, gathering aid supplies like clothing and toys, and hosting fund raisers to pay for the mission’s considerable expense. But most importantly, they have their goals firmly in mind. “We want...

I got myself a Twitter account just four weeks ago. It seems that my fortunes have taken a turn for the worse, having me barely edge out al-Shabaab, Islamist terrorists’ recent cause célèbre, which logged its first tweet on December 7. Al-Shabaab, or “The Youth,” is a militant Islamist group with ties to al-Qaeda that has laid siege to much of southern Somalia since 2006. The group is persistently fighting (and winning) an insurgency against the United Nations-backed Transitional Federal Government, which is contained in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. Still more pressingly, al-Shabaab has mounted attacks against African Union Mission in...