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. […]

Luis Palau spent two weeks evangelizing in Scotland at more than 60 outreach events in a dozen towns throughout Scotland’s Highlands. Most of the sparsely populated towns impacted by the campaign have not witnessed such a large scale effort since Palau’s previous Scottish campaigns that ran from 1979–1981. “You can definitely sense the secularization and lack of church attendance,” said the Argentinean evangelist, who is the grandson of Scotsman Robert Balfour. “I have asked young people, ‘Do you go to church?’ and they look at me like I’m from another planet.” But just as he noted 30 years ago, Palau […]

Faith Comes By Hearing, the world’s foremost Audio Bible Life, is honoring America’s military through the Military BibleStick project. “We felt burdened to bring the Word of God in audio to our troops,” said Morgan Jackson, the Life ‘s international director. “So, we developed a special, portable Audio Bible for the military, loaded it with the entire New Testament and sent them to chaplains who contacted us and requested them.” Chaplains who requested them have now distributed more than 10,000 Audio Bibles to service members in Iraq, Kosovo and Afghanistan. “Audio Scriptures are perfect for military men and women to […]

Chinese authorities have closed a legal research center in Beijing and revoked the licenses of more than 50 attorneys in what some observers says is a bid to exert greater control over human rights activists. Officials from Beijing’s Civil Affairs Bureau arrived early Friday at the legal research center of the Open Constitution Initiative rights organization, according to the Radio Free Asia News service. The officials questioned employees about their work and confiscated computers from the center’s offices. The legal center researches public welfare issues and offers legal aid in cases such as the recent sickening of children who drank […]

Crossroad Bible Institute, a non-profit prison Life that focuses on biblically-based reentry education for those in prison around the world, has opened a new distribution center in Ghana. This will be CBI’s eighth international distribution center and the first on the continent of Africa. Reverend David Kwadwo Ofosuhene, a native of Ghana, is the director of the new center. As one of the world’s poorest countries, Ghana’s prisons lack appropriate sanitation, food production areas and medical care. In addition, the prisons hold almost double the number of people they were built to hold with many prisoners waiting years before a […]

Unborn children have memories, according to a new study from the Netherlands. Researchers at two medical centers found unborn babies at 30 weeks gestation show short-term memory, according to The Washington Times. By the time the unborn children reach 34 weeks of development, they “are able to store information and retrieve it four weeks later,” The Times reported. The results were based on a study conducted on 100 women and their unborn children. Scientists gave the women a series of buzzes on their stomachs for one second each with a “fetal vibroacoustic stimulator” at five points during the final eight […]