It’s Thursday, August 29th, A.D. 2019. This is The World View in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus.
By Jonathan Clark
Deaf Christian girl in India attacked for her faith
A 12-year-old deaf girl in India was recently attacked for her faith in Jesus Christ and estranged from her family, but she won’t deny her Lord.
In an interview with the Christian Post from Open Doors USA, Saree, the little girl said that her mother told her, “We are not going to believe in your God. People in your church die too. So we won’t go to that church.”
Psalm 27:10 says, “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take care of me.”
The Worldview spoke to William Stark of International Christian Concern about how Hindu nationalism is affecting Christians in India.
STARK: “Now if we look at India as an example of this; the BJP party was re-elected for a second term in India, as part of their political platform, has Hindu nationalism as an important part of their overall ideology. And an unfortunate consequence of this is the rise of religious intolerance throughout the community of Hindus within India. So, Christians and Muslims who are both minorities in this sub-continent, have been reporting year after year after year greater levels of persecution there.”
Stay tuned for a more in-depth special report on the general state of persecution around the world and how we can support our suffering brothers and sisters.
Queen Elizabeth suspends Parliament ahead of Brexit
Yesterday, Queen Elizabeth II approved a plan by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to suspend parliament until mid-October, just a few weeks before the deadline Johnson set for leaving the European Union.
Although suspending Parliament before a new session is common, the length and timing of the suspension has drawn ire from Johnson’s opposition who say the move may make it hard for Parliament to block a no-deal Brexit.
U.S.-China trade tensions rise further
As we reported on Monday, China responded to an upcoming 10% tariff on $300 billion of Chinese goods by the U.S. with their own new tariff on $75 billion of American products.
President Trump immediately called on American companies operating in China to cut ties with Beijing.
However, on Monday, Trump announced China wanted to resume trade talks and “make a deal.”
Vermont hospital forced nurse to perform an abortion
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights announced this week that the University of Vermont Medical Center violated federal law by forcing a nurse to participate in an abortion against her conscience-based objections.
HHS began investigating the case last year after the nurse filed a religious discrimination complaint against the University which has since refused to cooperate or change its policies.
The Office for Civil Rights said this could lead to the University losing $1.6 million of federal funds.
Christian T-shirt maker says no to celebrating sexual perversion
The Kentucky Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week in a case involving a Christian businessman who declined to make T-shirts for a 2012 festival celebrating sexual perversions, reports the Baptist Press.
A County Human Rights Commission originally found Blaine Adamson, owner of Hands-On Originals, in violation of the fairness ordinance. After appealing the case, a Circuit Court and the State Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Adamson. Now, the case stands before the State Supreme Court.
Adamson said, “I tell them I will work with any person, no matter who they are and no matter what their belief systems are. But when I’m presented with a message that conflicts with my faith, that’s just something I cannot print.”
Hurricane Dorian headed between Miami and Savannah
The fourth storm of this hurricane season, Dorian, strengthened into a hurricane on Wednesday near the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas.
The storm appears to be heading for areas between Miami, Florida and Savannah, Georgia, reports the Gainsville Sun.
Job 26:12 says, “He stirs up the sea with His power, and by His understanding He breaks up the storm.”
Bible-believing Methodist churches join Wesleyan Covenant
Over the past several years, hundreds of churches in the United Methodist Church have reportedly joined the theologically conservative Wesleyan Covenant Association.
This comes as the UMC faces internal debate over the issue of Biblical marriage. Keith Boyette, the president of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, told The Christian Post that he hopes they can provide a landing place for churches committed to historic Christian values.
Indonesian girl without fingers and toes says: “I’m beautiful”
And finally, Compassion Australia reports that an Indonesian girl, bullied for her appearance due to a rare condition, finds her joy in Jesus, reports Fox News.
Karunia was born without fingers or toes, a rare congenital condition called Apert Syndrome, which makes her look different. The Compassion Survival Program has helped her with specialized medical care.
Karunia said, “I am beautiful like my mother. When my friends mocked me because I don’t have normal fingers, my mom taught me to say back to them that this is what Jesus gave me.”
Psalm 139:24 says, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Thursday, August 29th in the year of our Lord 2019. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I’m Adam McManus (adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.
Special Report: Persecuted Christians want to be known
Time now for a Worldview Special Report by Emily Swanson. I’m Adam McManus.
Pop quiz time. The North Korea of Africa. Do you know which country that is? The answer in just a moment.
The Worldview spoke with William Stark of International Christian Concern who has been talking to persecuted brothers and sisters around the world for seven years.
The rise of nationalism, in particular, has lent to more persecution against Christians.
STARK: “Christian persecution in a global sense has been increasing year to year. A lot of the reason for this, and this is kind of trending along with other global trends, is the rise of nationalistic or more nationalistic governments. We can talk about Turkey being an example of this. India is another great example of this. And traditionally nationalistic countries such as China are continuing to push these national identities.”
Stark said to keep an eye on Turkey as more Christians are facing ostracizing from their communities for not being Muslim.
STARK: “Similar issues are happening in places like Turkey. Well, Turkey is kind of creating this national identity where to be Turk is to be Muslim and if you don’t necessarily fit into that mold you face persecution or discrimination. So, we’ve seen a number of arrests and attacks and more. Hate speech is a big thing in a place like Turkey where Christians are being maligned in a lot of ways or being thought of as distrustful evil people that you shouldn’t associate with.”
He said that we need to shed light on countries which violently persecute Christians.
STARK: “Going back to India, not that people haven’t heard of India, but the fact or the idea that there are significant levels of persecution in India, I think is surprising for most people. Open Doors, just this past year, actually ranked Open Doors as the 10th worst country for Christians in the entire world. When you actually talk to someone who’s not a persecution expert or keeping up with the news because we all kind of have this idea that India is the land of Gandhi, peace and love and all this stuff. But the fact of the matter is this Hindu nationalism or religious nationalism is really taking over and pushing violence against Christians quite heavily there.”
Romans 8:35-37 comforts our brothers and sisters with these words.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
Stark said that the little country of Nepal is following in the footsteps of India in persecuting Christians there as well.
STARK: “Another country that is off the beaten path, perhaps just a little bit more, but close to India, is Nepal. Nepal is also a Hindu-majority nation, and in South Asia, the saying is, ‘Where India goes, Nepal follows.” Two years ago, Nepal actually passed a law that made it illegal for you to convert someone from one religion to another. That law was specifically targeted at Nepal’s Christian community because it was one of the fastest growing Christian communities in the world.
“So in the past year, just in 2019, 17 Christians have been arrested just under that particular law for supposedly converting people from one religion to another. And this actually includes two Americans that have been arrested under this law and have been deported because of it.”
He said the North Korea of Africa is one of the countries that doesn’t get noticed, but needs to be remembered in prayer.
STARK: “Another country that doesn’t get a lot of press, but probably is among one of the worst persecutors of Christians in the world is Eritrea. Eritrea is a country in East Africa, and its nickname is the ‘North Korea of Africa.’ It has a dictatorial state, in which all forms of non state-sanctioned religion are clamped down on severely. Now, just recently, there was a report out there that 150 Christians were caught and imprisoned just because they were caught practicing a non state-sanctioned faith which evangelical Christianity is non state-sanctioned. So that’s another country to be in prayer for.”
Stark told The Worldview that the most important thing you could do for the persecuted Christians is to just “know them.”
STARK: “One of the first things I always say to people when they ask me this particular question is just knowing the persecuted, is a good starting point. I’ve been traveling for ICC for about seven years now and it’s quite often that I’ll go to a very distant place like the interior of rural India or Nepal; anywhere I’ve been in the world.
“And the persecuted Christians that I end up meeting with will ask me the question, ‘ Why do American Christians not care?’ And being a representative of the American Christian community, to them at least, it’s hard for me to answer the question. And most of the time what I end up telling them is that honestly the church in America on the issue of persecution at least, is asleep and really doesn’t know who you are, what you’re going through.”
He said that for these brothers and sisters to know that they are known and loved by their family in Christ in America is invaluable.
STARK: “People here can start supporting the persecuted, knowing and understand who the persecuted are, and what they’re going through because I can’t honestly think of anything worse than suffering without being known. I think that’s a challenge in and of itself because if you’re conscious of the fact that, one, that you’re suffering, but, two, no one knows that you’re suffering or the people that should care don’t know who you are and don’t know why or how or what they can do to help you out, there’s really not a lot of prospects for change in that situation. It’s just like you have to endure this situation that will never change.”
Stark said that International Christian Concern is on the cusp of providing an extensive amount of resources for supporting the persecuted church.
STARK: “We’re about to roll out a lot of resources that particularly speak to this point, ‘How do we pray for the persecuted church?’ So each year in November, the first Sunday in November, which this year will be November 3, is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.
“This is a time when churches come together particularly to remember the persecuted church and to pray for them. Now, in preparation for this, what International Christian Concern does is prepare something we call the ‘IDOP kit.’ Now, this is a kit that you can download from our website that includes an overview of persecution around the world. We have prepared prayer cards in there that kind of select some of the most hit countries around the world and have specific prayer points for people to follow.”
Mark 10:29-30 says, “Jesus replied, No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.”
To find more resources on praying for, petitioning, and reminding our brothers and sisters in other countries that they are not forgotten, go to www.persecution.org.
This has been a Worldview Special Report. I’m Adam McManus.