It’s Friday, March 5th, A.D. 2021. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus.
By Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
21 Christians released from prison in Eritrea
Twenty-one female Christian prisoners, all of whom are young mothers, were freed after spending four years in an Eritrean island prison, reports International Christian Concern.
Eritrea is located in East Africa and bordered by Ethiopia to the South and Sudan in the West.
Release International said, “They were arrested in 2017 after a series of raids on underground churches by the Eritrean authorities. Many of their husbands were [drafted into the army], leaving their children without anyone to care for them.”
A total of 171 Eritrean Christians have been freed from prison since last August.
However, Eritrea is hoping such news will shift international attention away from the slaughter of 800 people just last November. At that time, Eritrean soldiers burst into the Church of St. Mary of Zion and systematically killed 800 people who had sought safety in the confines of the church building, reported the Associated Press. This brutality was directed against the Tigrayan people on the Ethiopian-Eritrean border.
On the Open Doors World Watch List, Eritrea is the sixth worst nation in the world for the persecution of Christian.
279 Nigerian schoolgirls returned from kidnapping
Nearly 300 abducted Nigerian, African schoolgirls were safely returned Tuesday after they were kidnapped Friday morning by armed Muslim militants, reports the Christian Post.
After 1 a.m. on Friday, February 26th, Muslim gunmen kidnapped the girls from a boarding school in northwest Nigeria following a wave of mass abductions. The 279 kidnapped girls from Government Girls Science School in Jangebe are between 11 and 17 years old. This abduction is the third mass kidnapping experienced in recent months in northwest Nigeria, reports The Wall Street Journal.
While kidnappers typically ask for a ransom, that was not the case in this instance.
41% of Americans do not want COVID vaccine
Despite President Joe Biden’s relentless push to get Americans vaccinated for COVID-19, a Harvard CAPS-Harris poll shows that 41% of voters are not willing to get a coronavirus vaccine due largely to concerns about negative side effects, reports TheHill.com.
Among those who said they were unwilling to get the vaccine, 66% said they were concerned about side effects, while another 33% said they did not believe it was effective.
Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine is “morally compromised”
The Archdiocese of New Orleans, which serves more than 520,000 Catholics, issued a statement on February 26 explaining that the latest COVID vaccine from Johnson & Johnson is “morally compromised” because it was produced using cell lines from an aborted baby, reports CNSNews.com.
The archdiocese recommends the vaccines from Moderna or Pfizer for those Catholics who may choose to receive the vaccine.
Former aide to NY Gov. Cuomo goes on TV about sexual harassment
New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo has been getting pressure from the left and right to resign for both underreporting the number of COVID deaths in Empire State nursing homes as well as sexually harassing multiple women, reports the New York Post.
Last night, CBS News Anchor Norah O’Donnell featured an on-camera interview with a 25-year-old former aid to Cuomo named Charlotte Bennett.
After taking dictation in his office during the day at the height of the COVID pandemic, Bennett explained that the New York Governor asked her to turn off the recorder. It was within that context that Cuomo asked Bennett about the impact of having been previously sexually assaulted.
BENNETT: “And then he explains at that point that he is looking for a girlfriend. He’s lonely, he’s tired. He asked if I had trouble enjoying being with someone because of my trauma.”
O’DONNELL: “This seems highly inappropriate.”
BENNETT: “Yeah. The governor asked me if I was sensitive to intimacy.”
O’DONNELL: “In his office?”
BENNETT: “Yes. During the work day.”
O’DONNELL: “You have been quoted as saying that he also asked you about if you’d ever been with an older man.”
BENNETT: “Yeah. He asked me if age difference mattered. He also explained that he was fine with anyone over 22.”
O’DONNELL: “And how old are you?”
BENNETT: “25.”
O’DONNELL: “What were you thinking as he’s asking you these questions?”
BENNETT: “I thought the governor is trying to sleep with me. And I’m deeply uncomfortable, and I have to get out of this room as soon as possible.”
CBS verified texts which Charlotte Bennett sent to a friend at the time memorializing Cuomo’s sexual harassment.
1 Corinthians 6:18 says, “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.”
Evangelist Luis Palau Faces His Final Days
And finally, after a 3-year battle with lung cancer, world-renowned evangelist Luis Palau has sadly been moved to hospice, reports CBN.com.
In a Facebook post, his son, Andrew Palau, wrote, “At the beginning of the year … Dad took a turn for the worse. He spent two weeks in the hospital in January, dealing with heart and lung issues. Although the doctors thought they had stabilized his condition and were happy to send him home, he returned to the hospital on Friday, February 19th.
“After meeting with doctors, the decision was made to stop all treatment and start on hospice care. All the medications and treatments were proving to be too much for his body to handle. Last Tuesday, Dad returned home where he can rest, be more comfortable, and spend time with family.”
Andrew Palau concluded, “We don’t know exactly how much time we have left with Dad, but the end seems near. He is in good spirits and not in pain. … Dad is pushing hard to the finish line just to see each of the grandchildren as his final heart’s desire. … Dad keeps reminding us in these last few days, “As for God, His way is perfect.”
If you want to send a note of encouragement, email: info@palau.org.
Very soon, Evangelist Luis Palau will hear these words from Jesus, “’Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:23)
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Friday, March 5th, in the year of our Lord 2021. 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.