Do you ever feel weary or burdened after hearing yet another report about the continual onslaught of sexualized messages in our children’s schools? And finding out how well-funded all the sexual advocacy groups targeting our classrooms with their messages are certainly doesn’t make things any easier. Well, I have some good news for you: This week we’ve got a refreshing story to share with you that will encourage your heart.

These brave parents and local school board members in Erie, Illinois – a town of only 1,600 people – are resisting pressure from national activist groups and liberal media.

They made their voices heard after discovering plans to introduce materials from GLSEN – the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network – into their elementary school, which serves children between the ages of 4 and 9.

The good news is, the school board listened to the parents’ concerns and voted 5-2 to reject the GLSEN material. But as a result, the gay-activist groups have launched a national campaign to pressure the board into reversing its vote.

However, the school board says it’s not changing its vote, no matter what GLSEN does. Parents and citizens in this community are standing firm for their kids, their schools and their community values. Those actions are having a ripple effet that will empower other parents nationwide.

If you have concerns about whether this type of curriculum is headed to your local schools and how you can respond, you’ll want to check out www.truetolerance.org. This online resource provides examples of homosexual-themed classroom materials to be aware of, as well as tips on how to respond to efforts to introduce them in your children’s classrooms in a loving, fact-based way.

For faith and the family,

Mexico’s most wanted man, Joaquin "El Chapo" (Shorty) Guzmán, the notorious leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel that has been blamed for thousands of homicides, was indicted April 2012 in El Paso along with 23 others on federal charges.

Guzman is the boss of the Sinaloa Federation, the 5 foot 6 inch son of a poor rural family. Despite having virtually no formal education, Forbes estimates Guzman is worth more than $1 billion. He has been declared the most influential trafficker in the world.

Guzman is infamous for the smuggling of cocaine from Columbia, and heroin from Southeast Asia. His organization also produces their own brand of heroin. U.S. law enforcement have identified Sinaloa Cartel distribution centers in Arizona, California, Texas, New York, and Chicago, where street gangs such as MS-13 and the Mexican Mafia distribute the drugs.

Guzman has eluded capture for more than a decade, is known for coming up with original ways to smuggle, like putting cocaine in fire extinguishers, and is suspected of helping Mexicans and Colombians launder as much as $20 billion in drug profits. Guzman is the heart of the drug war, perpetuating the image of the bulletproof bad guy.

Guzman's influence is reportedly deeply imbedded in the political structure of Mexico, even spilling over to the United States. Guzman's typical plan is to recruit a low-level official and continue to pay that person as he rises through the ranks. Once an official or politician is on a cartel payroll, he is subject to blackmail should he stop cooperating. And it goes beyond cash; it can also involve murder. Whatever the relationship entails, once a cartel gets its hooks into a person, it tends not to let go -- and the person thus entangled has little choice but to continue cooperating, since he can be subject to arrest and political or financial ruin or even assassination if he is caught.

U.S. law enforcement officials say that no other cartel has the international cocaine distribution networks of Guzman's Sinaloa Federation, which is also making a major push into methamphetamines in Mexico and Central America. He has a $7 million bounty on his head in Mexico and the U.S., and teams of law enforcement agents from both countries are devoted to his capture.

PRAY:
1.    We call upon You, Almighty God, for the capture of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman (Sinaloa) (Hebrews 4:13 & Job 12:22).
2.    That all communication fail within Guzman's ranks that keeps him one step ahead of capture.
3.    That the Lord will shine His light on the whereabouts of Guzman, and on all those in the cartel's leadership.
4.    For supernatural wisdom, breakthrough and protection for all law enforcement that are working to take down Guzman.
5.    That the Lord would send His mighty heavenly army to arrest Guzman, bringing law enforcement to the right place at the right time for Guzman's capture.

PRAISES!
Seven members of Mexico's Zetas cartel were arrested Tuesday after a U.S. indictment accused a total of 14 cartel members of laundering drug money through the breeding and racing of American quarter horses in the United States, authorities said. Los Zetas leader Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, 38, and his two brothers were named in the federal indictment, and brother Jose Trevino Morales, 45, and his wife, 38-year-old Zulema Trevino, were among the seven arrested, federal authorities said. The 14 defendants were charged with a conspiracy using horse racing and breeding to launder the cartel's drug money, authorities said.

A member of Mexico's Los Zetas drug cartel suspected of running piracy operations for the criminal organization was arrested earlier this week, the Defense Secretariat said Thursday. Gregorio Villanueva Salas, known as "The Czar of Piracy," also faces charges in connection with several grenade attacks. Villanueva was arrested by army troops on Monday in Monterrey, the capital of the northern state of Nuevo Leon, along with three other members of the gang. Villanueva was "one of the principal operators" of Los Zetas, a drug cartel notorious for dismembering its victims, Defense Secretariat spokesman Col. Ricardo Trevilla said.