It’s Friday, March 1st, A.D. 2024. This is The Worldview heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Adam McManus
Afghan refugees find Christ amidst uncertainty
In the aftermath of the Islamic Taliban’s resurgence in Afghanistan, Afghan Christians seeking refuge in neighboring Pakistan have few choices, reports International Christian Concern.
Many Afghans fled to Pakistan without visas, passports, or other identification.
Sardar and his Christian family initially had difficulty getting into Pakistan after the Taliban takeover. He was abducted by the Taliban en route to the border and held until his family could pay a ransom. They managed to scrape the money together, devastating them financially.
Once in Pakistan, Sardar and his family were not well received. Like the thousands of other Afghan refugees, they faced hunger and poor living conditions. With no means of work, they were at the mercy of Pakistan’s refugee system.
More than two years later, International Christian Concern has been caring for more 30 Christian families that fled Afghanistan for Pakistan.
Plus, they’ve also been sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with Islamic Afghan refugees in Pakistan who are spiritually open.
One Christian leader said, “I started talking about the generosity of God and His sacrifice for all of humanity. These families were surprised that even God sacrificed His son for us. … I taught them about the unconditional love of Lord Jesus. They were all fascinated by this idea and His story.”
In Romans 10:14-15, the Apostle Paul asked, “How, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News!’”
Within the last year, this Christian leader has baptized 22 Afghan refugees who recently professed faith in Christ.
Christian school counselor, opposed to perversion, gets right to appeal
A British school employee, fired for social media posts opposing homosexual and transgender materials in class, has won the right to take her dismissal to the United Kingdom Court of Appeal, reports Christian Daily International.
Kristie Higgs, a 47-year-old Christian mother of two, won the right in a ruling late last month by Judge Elisabeth Laing of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. Higgs’ attorneys had argued that her case should not be sent back to the same employment tribunal that had made serious errors.
Higgs worked for seven years as a student counseling assistant at Farmor’s School in Fairford, Gloucestershire, before her dismissal in 2019.
In a video interview with the Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting her defense, she said, “It’s shocking to think I’ve lost my job because of one parent who complained to the school because they didn’t agree with what I shared on my Facebook page, and for the school to take sides with that parent is hard to believe.”
HIGGS: “I was discriminated for my Christian beliefs. I was just sharing my concerns of what’s coming into the schools and what was coming into my son’s school.”
Higgs shared and posted the disputed messages on her personal Facebook page after receiving an invitation on October 5, 2018, from the Church of England primary school that her younger son attended.
Entitled “Teaching the Equality Act in Schools,” the invitation read, “This year, we are using several story books to help our school community promote diversity and celebrate difference.”
The letter invited parents to see the books and lesson plans at a school event. Higgs said only she, another parent, and a grandparent attended the viewing.
She saw books such as Jacob’s New Dress by Sarah Hoffman, about a boy who likes to wear dresses.
She said, “To me, it didn’t seem to be that it was just about anti-bullying. There seemed to be something more underlying, with the Jacob’s New Dress, how children could choose their own gender. I thought it was very confusing for my child because of our Christian beliefs.”
That’s why Higgs uploaded the Citizens Go petition link on October 24, 2018, which was headlined, “Uphold the right of parents to have children educated in line with their religious beliefs. Stop supporting LGBT indoctrination.” The petition was directed to then-U.K. Education Secretary Damian Hinds.
In Psalm 56:3-4, David wrote, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, Whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?”
HIGGS: “As parents, who are also standing up, especially [in] America, they’re reading what’s actually in the books. It’s very concerning, very alarming, very harmful and it’s got to stop!”
When she was sent home, she said her school superiors “thought the posts I was sharing were homophobic and very negative, [saying], ‘Did you realize other parents would see these?’”
First, she was suspended, then she endured a disciplinary hearing for six hours on December 19, 2018, and finally fired by letter on January 7, 2019, without warning, for “gross misconduct.”
Kristie Higgs explained that not too long ago the Church of England school taught “my child God’s way, and now they are changing it.”
Democrats upset with Biden to vote “uncommitted” in primaries
Organizers are pushing for Democratic voters to select or write in “uncommitted” on their ballots in upcoming primaries, spurred on by the success of a campaign in Michigan protesting President Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, reports TheHill.com.
More than 100,000 Michiganders cast a protest vote against Biden for an “uncommitted” ballot option in Tuesday’s primary, underscoring the frustration many Americans feel toward the administration amid growing calls for a cease-fire.
Now, activists are pushing for similar protest votes in states including Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Washington as they seek to dial up pressure on Biden to heed their calls or risk losing their votes.
Wildfire in Texas Panhandle largest in state history
On Thursday, a dusting of snow covered a desolate landscape of scorched prairie, dead cattle, and burned out homes in the Texas Panhandle, giving firefighters brief relief in their desperate efforts to corral a blaze that has grown into the largest in state history, reports the Associated Press.
The Smokehouse Creek fire grew to nearly 1,700 square miles. It merged with another fire and is just 3% contained, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.
Gray skies loomed over huge scars of blackened earth in a rural area dotted with scrub brush, ranchland, rocky canyons, and oil rigs. In Stinnett, a town of about 1,600, Dylan Phillips, age 24, said he hardly recognized his neighborhood, which was littered with melted street signs and the charred frames of cars and trucks. While his family’s home survived, at least a half a dozen others were smoking rubble.
Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties and plans to visit the Panhandle today.
Close
And that’s The Worldview on this Friday, March 1st in the year of our Lord 2024. 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.