When religious conflict flared in Maluku, Indonesia from 1999 to 2002, thousands of Christians were slaughtered by Muslims, and multiplied thousands of children were left parentless and alone. Many of these orphans were severely traumatized after seeing their parents murdered, often brutally. Varinia Lewerissa, a Christian in Maluku, heard stories of children who had witnessed their parents’ gruesome deaths, and decided to start a counseling Life to help them deal with their emotional scars. “I soon learned, however, that monthly counseling sessions were inadequate to help them recover,” said Varinia. In 2003, two years after starting her counseling Life, Varinia […]

Millions of Christians from dozens of denominations are preparing to unite this October for the sixth annual Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem (DPPJ), a highly regarded prayer effort gaining momentum in recent years – amid the threats, terrorist attacks and international pressure rising against Jerusalem from many sides. Driven by more than 1,000 major global church leaders, organizers say that the day of prayer, which this year falls on Sunday, Oct. 4, is happening in local churches all around the world, joined spiritually through simultaneous prayer in more than 175 nations. “As the Bible declared it would, […]

The United Nations’ refugee agency for Palestinians does not intend to include the Holocaust in the curriculum at schools it runs in the Gaza Strip, a U.N. spokesman said following criticism by Hamas about the purported plan. While Hamas’ objections to including information on the Holocaust in school lesson plans was not particularly surprising, some Jewish organizations have taken issue with the U.N. for apparently backtracking in the face of the criticism from the terrorist group that rules Gaza. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), operates more than 600 schools in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Syria, Jordan […]

Produced by Michael W. Smith, ‘Kabul 24’ is a film about eight Western aid workers  who were held hostage by the Taliban in 2001 – and escaped. Weeks before their attack on the World Trade Center, the Taliban and Osama bin Laden captured eight Western aid workers in an attempt to hold back a military response to what soon would come to be known as 9/11. Pawns of a brutal regime, the well meaning aid workers from Shelter Now were subjected to punishing interrogations, a mock trial before the Taliban Supreme Court and the eventual bombing of Kabul, where they […]

Two Iranian converts to Christianity are standing strong in their faith, according to a report from Iran by the Farsi Christian News Network. The two converts, Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30, and Maryam Rustampoor, 27, were summoned to appear in what FCNN described as “the revolutionary court” in Tehran on Aug. 9. The women have been detained since their arrest on March 5 and have been held in Iran’s notorious Evin prison since a March 18 court hearing. The Farsi Christian News Network, describing the women’s five-month ordeal, said they have “suffered greatly while in prison, suffering ill health, solitary confinement and […]

The widow of a Christian who was martyred by Muslims in the Gaza Strip prays for revenge, but not the usual kind, her friend Hanna Massad told participants at the New Baptist Covenant regional meeting in Oklahoma. Rami Ayyad, manager of Gaza’s only Christian bookstore, was abducted and executed Oct. 7, 2007, as he closed his shop, explained Massad, pastor of Gaza Evangelical Church. Massad described what it’s like for Christians living in Gaza, a narrow slice of land between Israel and the Mediterranean Sea – 30 miles long by 7 miles wide – that is home to 1.5 million […]

Four more Christians have been beheaded in Somalia, according to the Washington-based human rights organization International Christian Concern (ICC). The four Christians had been working for a non-governmental organization that aids orphans in southern Somalia. The Islamic extremist group al Shabaab, which has ties to al-Qaida, “kidnapped and eventually beheaded the Christians after they refused to renounce their faith,” ICC reported Aug. 11. According to the ICC report: “On Aug. 4, a junior [al Shabaab] militant notified all the families of the victims that the four Christians had been beheaded for apostasy. He described the Christians as promoters of ‘fitna,’ […]

In findings that directly contradict mainstream academic thought, 53 percent of subjects in a new seven-year study reported successfully leaving homosexuality and living happily as heterosexual or celibate persons. The study by psychologists Stanton L. Jones of Wheaton College and Mark A. Yarhouse of Regent University is a follow-up to one released two years ago in the form of a book, “Ex-Gays?” That study was called groundbreaking, and the latest set of data is no less significant, the researchers say. The men followed 61 subjects over a span of six to seven years, recording their failures and successes in their […]

Campus Crusade for Christ International reaches students, as well as spouses, athletes and remote villages Most of us have heard of the organization Campus Crusade for Christ International (CCCI), yet few are aware that the Life reaches out to more than just college students. With more than 27,000 missionaries around the world and 225,000 volunteer staff members in 191 different countries, Campus Crusade reaches 99.5 percent of the world’s population. In addition to reaching college students, Campus Crusade reaches sports enthusiasts through Athletes in Action, families and spouses through FamilyLife and thousands around the globe through the “JESUS” film project. […]