Franklin Graham: Christians Around The World in Grave Danger

The Muslim Brotherhood, with the complicity of the Obama administration, has infiltrated the U.S. government at the highest levels and is influencing American policy that leaves the world's Christians in grave danger, warns internationally known evangelist Franklin Graham"The Muslim Brotherhood is very strong and active here in our country," Graham tells Newsmax. "We have these people advising our military and State Department. We've brought in Muslims to tell us how to make policy toward Muslim countries.
"It's like a farmer asking a fox, 'How do I protect my hen house?'"
That same Muslim Brotherhood is fomenting much of the rebellion and the deteriorating social order roiling the Middle East, forcing millions of Christians to flee for their lives, says Graham, son of beloved evangelist Dr. Billy Graham, and founder of The Samaritan's Purse international charity.
"Under [Egypt's Hosni] Mubarek and [Jordan's] King Hussein and other moderate leaders, Christians had been protected," Graham says. 11 million Christians live in Egypt and I ear for them, because if the Muslim Brotherhood comes to power, you're going to see a great exodus of Christians. Same thing in Tunisia and Lebanon. I fear for the church because the Muslim Brotherhood is going to be a very terrible thing."
Story continues below.
The Rev. Franklin Graham predicts an exodus of Christians from the Mideast and North Africa if the Muslim Brotherhood rises to power there. The radical group is shaping U.S. policy, the evangelist says in a Newsmax.TV video.
A new report from the Roman Catholic aid agency Aid to the Church in Need supports Graham's contention that the persecution of Christians world­wide has worsened exponentially in the past few years.
According to the report, Christians face increased suffering in 22 countries around the world, with Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Nigeria being among the worst countries to be a Christian in today.
The persecution has gotten markedly worse over the past two years according to the organization.
"The proportion of countries with a worsening track-record of anti-Christian violence and intimidation would be higher were it not for the fact that in many cases the situation could scarce­ly have been worse in the first place" the report's authors wrote.
More than 75 percent of religious persecution in the world is currently being carried out against Christians, the report concludes.
The Vatican formed a special committee late last year to address the flight of Christians and the rise of militant Islam in the Middle East. In his New Year's message, Pope Benedict XVI said Christians suffer more than any other religious group because of their faith
Asked if President Barack Obama was doing enough to protect Christians at home and abroad, Graham says, "No. If anything it's the opposite."
"Muslims are protected more in this country than Christians," he says. "The president has made many statements but he doesn't back them up. We have to do more to protect the Christians in the Muslim world. Their lives are in danger."
In recent weeks, Obama administration officials have stepped up the defense of their inclusive stance toward Muslims in their ranks. Deputy national security advisor, Denis McDonough, said last week that President Obama is actually trying to prevent terrorism by "dispelling the myths that have developed over the years, including misperceptions about our fellow Americans who are Muslim."
"When it comes to preventing violent extremism and terrorism in the United States, Muslim Americans are not part of the problem, you're part of the solution," McDonough said at an interfaith forum in Sterling, Va.
Graham, however says what Obama is really doing is "giving Islam a pass" rather than speaking openly about the "horrific" treatment women and minorities receive.
"We certainly love the Muslim people," Graham said in an earlier interview with Newsmax. "But that is not the faith of this country. And that is not the religion that built this nation. The people of the Christian faith and the Jewish faith are the ones who built America, and it is not Islam.

Eritrea imprisons more Christians

Screen grab from Google Maps
(Adi-Nefase military camp, Eritrea)

Eritrea (MNN) ― Open Doors says Eritrean military officials have rounded up another group of evangelical Christians this week.

Authorities arrested 35 believers on July 3 on suspicion of gathering for worship in Assab, a port city. The group, which included 17 women, was taken to the Adi-Nefase military camp near Assab, a notoriously harsh detention center. 

  

Open Doors also reports that 25 Christian students from Mai-Nefhi Educational Institution (roughly 12 miles southwest of Asmara) have been released on bail in order to sit for their final exams. They may have been part of a group of students arrested at the beginning of June for "unpatriotic behavior." Sources in the country expect the students to be taken back into custody as soon as their exams have been completed.

Meanwhile, government pressures continue on the sanctioned Orthodox, Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran and Islamic groups to enroll their religious workers under the age of 30 for compulsory military training. All but the Catholic Church have complied, protesting that in the past, church workers were exempted from military service because of their religious duties.

Despite these stories and others about open persecution, the government continues to support its statement issued in May 2003 that "no groups or persons are persecuted in Eritrea for their beliefs or religion."

Eritrea ranks 12^th on the Open Doors 2011 World Watch List, a compilation of the top 50 countries where persecution of Christians is the worst.

That said, believers in Eritrea ask for prayer for their country, where at least 1,000 religious prisoners endure harrowing incarceration conditions country-wide. According to Voice of the Martyrs Canada,of the Christians in detention, "not one has yet been charged with a crime or faced trial."

Pray that the government will stop the campaign against evangelicals and will allow freedom of religion for all.

Burma (Myanmar): Kachin flee terror

-- a call to pray for the Kachin Church

By Elizabeth Kendal
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) 115 
Special to ASSIST News Service

Elizabeth Kendal

AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- Kachin State, which borders China in Burma's far north, is home to Burma's ethnic Kachin minority. Most Kachin are devout Christians and the state is defined by its Christian culture. Like other ethnic-religious minorities in Burma, the Kachin are politically marginalised and persecuted on racial and religious grounds. When the junta wants to impose its will, it usually does so through extreme brutality fuelled by racial and religious hatred -- a manifestation of militant Burman-Buddhist supremacy. Because the Kachin have resisted the junta's demand that they disarm, the junta has labelled them 'separatist'.

Burma Rivers Network reports: 'Large dams are being constructed on all of Burma's major rivers and tributaries by Chinese, Thai and Indian companies. The dams are causing displacement, militarisation, human rights abuses, and irreversible environmental damage, threatening the livelihoods and food security of millions. [. . .] Neighbouring countries benefit from this situation by gaining electricity without bearing the social and environmental costs.' This is one reason why the junta has a renewed interest in controlling Kachin lands. As reported in RLPB 114 (June Update) China wants to build nine hydro-power mega-dams in Kachin State, even though the Kachin have warned China that the dams could trigger civil war in Burma.

Fighting erupted in the second week in June and reports of extreme brutality, ethnic cleansing and humanitarian crises are now emerging. The Kachin Indepen dence Organization (KIO), the political wing of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), reports that some 16,000 Kachin refugees are living in five camps in and around Laiza, a town still under KIA control. KIO adds, 'So far no international humanitarian agency has offered any help to them.' In Myitkyina, 220 displaced people have taken refuge in the Catholic Church of St Joseph and 330 in the Baptist Church. Another 4,000 Kachin refugees are reportedly fleeing through the jungle, trying to avoid Burmese soldiers. A further 10,000 -- possibly as many as 20,000 -- are languishing at the Chinese border; Beijing will not accept them and no international agency is able to get aid to them. Meanwhile, the Burmese Army is sending up reinforcements, mostly in small groups dressed in civilian clothes. The Kachin Women's Association Thailand (KWAT) recently reported that at least 18 women and girls from age 15 to 50 were gang-raped in the war-zone by Burmese soldiers between 10 & 18 June. Four of th e women were killed after being gang-raped (one in front of her husband) while another died from her injuries. KWAT believes gang-rape is being systematically employed as a weapon of war and means of terror.

A local priest confirmed to Fides news agency that Burmese soldiers are killing old people and children, raping women, burning homes and confiscating properties. 'They use ruthless methods [for] ethnic cleansing,' he said, adding that 'almost all [the victims] are Christians'. KIA Vice Chief of Staff, Gen. Gun Maw, believes the junta has broader military goals than just protecting the dam sites. Indeed, the junta is doubtless exploiting the dams issues as a pretext to launch a concerted campaign of ethnic cleansing. According to the KIA military commander in neighbouring Shan State, Col. Zau Raw, 'We are in for a major war.' The Bishop of Myitkyina, Mgr Francis Daw Tang, has been < a href="http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=29354&lan=eng">speaking through Radio Veritas, encouraging the people -- most of whom are Protestant -- to 'stay united' and remember, 'The Lord is near you. Have faith in him,' and '. . . continue to pray for peace.'

Open your mouth for the speechless, 
   In the cause of all who are appointed to die.
     Open your mouth, judge righteously,
   And plead the cause of the poor and needy.
Proverbs 31:8,9 NKJV

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT --

• God will intervene (in this rainy season) to bring humanitarian aid to the Kachin people: food, medicines and shelter.
  
• God will intervene to bring pe ace: may China be held as accountable as the Burmese junta, and may God turn their hearts towards achieving peace.
  
• all God's Kachin people will know and experience the love, presence and provision of their faithful LORD. (Isaiah 40:27-31)

~~~~

SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
----------------------------------------------------------------------
KACHIN FLEE TERROR IN BURMA (MYANMAR)

Civil war has erupted in Burma's Kachin State, a state defined by its Christian culture and home to a predominately devout Christian people. The trigger has been China's building hydro-power mega-dams that will displace hundreds of thousands and threaten the food security of millions of Kachin. Reports of massive displacements, brutal killings of civilians, gang-rapes and property confiscations have led some to conclude that the junta is actually engaged in a campaign of systematic ethnic cleansing, fuelled by ethnic and religious hatred and greed. About 16,000 Kachin refugees are in five camps in and around Laiza and 4,000 in the jungle. Some 20,000 are massed on the Chinese border, but China denies them entry. No humanitarian assistance is getting through. Please pray for our Kachin brethren.

---

Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. This prayer bulletin was initially written for the Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (AEA RLC). Elizabeth Kendal's blogs: Religious Liberty Monitoring and Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin

Orphans forced to live in tents wait for new orphanage

Haiti (MNN) ― Since the earthquake struck Haiti last year, Pastor Edmond Senelon, his family and thirty-seven orphans have been living in makeshift tents on the countryside. Pastor Senelon was director of an orphanage located in the Port-au-Prince area of Haiti when the earthquake devastated both the orphanage and his church where he led a congregation.

For over a year now, the orphans along with Pastor Senelon's family have lived as hundreds of Haitians with no home: in tent cities. These "cities" are composed of "homes" made of pieces of plastic, fabric, and any other type of scrap that can be found in junkyards.

These orphans in Haiti live in tents while
 waiting for a new orphanage to be built.
 (Photo courtesy of Orphan's Heart)

Orphan's Heart has seen this desperate need and is coming alongside Pastor Senelon and the orphans to give them back the life they had. Just last week, they purchased property in the Bon Repos area, about 15 miles north of Port-au-Prince. With this property, Orphan's Heart hopes to begin construction on a new orphanage.

Orphan's Heart has regular volunteers down in Haiti who will be working on the basic construction, but a team will be sent down in September to begin the major push toward building the orphanage. Another team will also be sent in November.

Charlie Cox with Orphan's Heart states, "We're hoping probably within at least a year, maybe less, to have the first main building constructed so that the children would be able to move out of those makeshift tents and into a more secure and better environment."

There is much pressure to get these children into more secure living conditions. With this being hurricane season down in Haiti, extreme weather and dangerous storms could be a threat to Pastor Senelon's family and the thirty-seven orphans in their care.

Orphan's Heart has discussed the question of safety with Pastor Senelon, and there is a plan to move the children in case of another disaster. A plan is good, but a building for safety would be much better.

Cox says, "The concern is that there are so many people; families and children living in those makeshift tents and those ‘tent cities', that if a hurricane was to come through that area, it would be devastating because there's just not enough places for people to go to get into safety."

As Orphan's Heart ministers to Pastor Senelon and the Haitian children by seeing to their physical needs, they have also been encouraging them spiritually. Teams have gone down to be with the kids and teach Bible lessons. Also, Pastor Senelon and his church staff have received training so that they can continue their ministry to the people and orphans in Haiti.

"Sharing Christ is the reason we're there, it really is," states Cox. "As we're providing all the other services and the basic needs and things that we can do to help them get back on their feet, sharing the love of Christ and sharing our faith with them is vital."

Please pray for the safety and health of Pastor Senelon, his family, and the orphans as they continue living in tents. Pray that construction of the new orphanage would continue without any hindrance or delay so the orphans can be moved into a secure space.

God is certainly doing a work in Haiti despite everything the people have been through. If you would like to join Orphan's Heart to minister in the name of Christ, 

Iran: Doubts Cast On Reports That Nadarkhani Death Sentence Has Been Annulled

He may have to renounce his faith, or face execution

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

TEHRAN, IRAN (ANS) -- Christians in Iran have challenged news reports that the death penalty for Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has been annulled, pointing out that in reality the Supreme Court appears to have added a precondition requiring him to renounce his faith, or face execution.

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani (Photo: http://presenttruthmn.com)

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), there has still been no written confirmation of the court's decision on Pastor Nadarkhani's appeal against a death sentence for apostasy, despite efforts to source this."Pastor Nadarkhani's lawyer, the prominent human rights defender Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, is meant to receive written notification of the verdict next week. However Mr. Dadkhah, who along with Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi is a founding member of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre, an Iranian organization, is also now facing legal difficulties," said a CSW spokesperson.

On Sunday July 3, 2011, a court in Tehran sentenced Mr. Dadkhah to nine years in jail and a 10-year ban on practicing law or teaching at university for "actions and propaganda against the Islamic regime". He has 20 days to appeal; however, sources indicated that he may be imprisoned within a week.

CSW says that when deciding on an appeal, the Supreme Court has three legal options; it can either decide on a retrial, on the withdrawal of initial charges and filing of fresh ones, or on the release of the accused. In this instance, since apostasy is not codified in civil law, the judges may have made use of Article 167 of the Iranian Constitution, which states that while they have a duty to find a basis for their rulings within the legal code, "if such a basis doesn't exist, they must cite reliable Islamic sources or a valid fatwa from which they have drawn a judgment in order to issue a verdict. Judges may not refuse to hear cases or issue rulings only because the case before them is not covered in the legal code, or there may be shortcomings or conflicts in the law."

It adds that the Supreme Court decision in the Nadarkhani case, which has been variously described as "flawed", "contradictory" and "extra-judicial", may indicate that the judges were under political pressure not to release Pastor Nadarkhani. There are also unconfirmed reports of a split decision, with one of the judges allegedly stating that the ruling made little sense. A church source informed CSW, "This is not good news. It merely gives more time to re-examine the case, but in the end the judges will be told what to do".

CSW's Advocacy Director Andrew Johnston said, "Our thoughts and prayers are with Pastor Nadarkhani, Mr Dadkhah and their families at this uncertain time. CSW is gravely concerned about the judicial process in Pastor Nadarkhani's case and the precondition to recant his faith. We once again urge the Iranian regime to respect the stipulations of international treaties to which it is party, including the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights (ICPPR), which guarantees freedom of religion and freedom to change one's religion or belief. In addition, the alleged conduct of both cases may amount to a violation of Article 14:1 of the ICCPR, which stipulates the right to a fair hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal. Pastor Nadarkhani's life and Mr. Dadkhah's future both hang in the balance. The international community must act urgently to press Iran to ensure due process in both cases, and that Pastor Nadarkhani in particular is acquitted of a charge that is not in fact recognized under Iranian civil law."

For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Kiri Kankhwende, Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20 8329 0045 / +44 (0) 78 2332 9663, email kiri@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a Christian organization working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.

Notes to Editors supplied by CSW:

1. Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani of the Church of Iran denomination was arrested in his home city of Rasht on 13 October 2009 while attempting to register his church. His arrest is believed to have been due to his questioning of the Muslim monopoly on the religious instruction of children in Iran. He was initially charged with protesting, however the charges against him were later changed to apostasy and evangelizing Muslims. 

2. A similar delay occurred when Pastor Nadarkhani was tried and found guilty of apostasy on 21 and 22 September 2010. The verdict was delivered verbally in court before written confirmation of the death sentence was delivered on 13 November 2010 by the 1st Court of the Revolutionary Tribunal. 

3. The last known judicial execution of a Christian for apostasy was that of Reverend Hossein Soodmand, an Assemblies of God pastor, who was hanged on December 3, 1990 after refusing to renounce his faith. His family only learned of his death two weeks after he had been arrested, and were not allowed to see his body.

---

Dan Wooding, 70, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 47 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He now hosts the weekly "Front Page Radio" show on KWVE in Southern California which is also carried on the Calvary Radio Network throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 200 countries. You can follow Dan on Facebook under his name there or at ASSIST News Service. He is the author of some 44 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, "From Tabloid to Truth", which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel "Red Dagger" which is available this link.

Water Withheld From Believers

Gospel for Asia
For Immediate Release

Believers in South Asia often face the dilemma of being denied access to wells in their villages, so they are forced to walk long distances to fetch water from other places.

SOUTH ASIA (ANS) -- Bandhu Pillai and his family are scorned in their community. They are the only believers in their extended family, and now they are facing intense opposition from the other residents of the village.

Several days ago, the villagers started forbidding Bandhu's family from using the common well, so the family is forced to walk to another village to draw water. Even worse, the villagers are threatening to kick the family out of their village. This is a serious problem for these new Asian believers as their society is rooted in family and tradition. 

Leaving their village in shame would mean they might never see their family again. They would also lose their home and any inheritance associated with their land or business in the village they've lived in since birth.

Bandhu's pastor, Gospel for Asia-supported missionary Satya Naidu, requests prayers for the family. Please pray God will help them to hold firmly to their faith during this difficult time, and that He will change the hearts of the villagers who are oppressing the family.

---

• Read about another community where people have prevented believers from drawing water.
• Learn about Jesus Wells, which provide clean water to all people, regardless of religion or caste.

---

Gospel for Asia is an evangelical mission organization based in Carrollton, Texas, involved in sharing the love of Jesus across South Asia.