Gospel Acts: Juanita Bynum, Kurt Carr Speak On Fradulent Charity Solicitation on Social Media

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Gospel Acts: Juanita Bynum, Kurt Carr Speak On Fradulent Charity Solicitation on Social Media

Dr. Juanita Bynum and Kurt Carr have more in common than releasing Gospel music to the masses as both singers are speaking out after being the victims of cyber hoaxes that falsely solicited money in their names.

Bynum, the 55-year-old preacher and Gospel singer, took to her Facebook and Twitter accounts recently to speak out about being the victim of various cyber hoaxes throughout the past year. The minister said she was hurt to learn that some people were tricked into sending money to fake orphanages, because they believed they were supporting her.

“Local media family, over the last 12 months my legal team and I have removed over 52 false profiles from Facebook, Twitter and IG that have been used to scam people and ask them for money in my name,” Bynum wrote on her social media accounts. “I hurt with you in this and I am saddened that some of you have sent money to fake orphanages in Africa or other parts of the world through social media channels.”

She asked her social media “family” to help stop fake accounts in her name and made it clear that she would never use it as a medium to solicit money.

“I/Juanita Bynum Ministries have and will never solicit funds in direct messages via social media. I am asking that everyone who encounters this to report it to Facebook and my office immediately,” she wrote. “Together we will stop this criminal activity perpetrated in my name. I will not cease to repost this until those fake pages cease to take advantage of those of you who have been led to support my ministry!!”

Bynum is not the only person suffering with this problem. Carr, the 50-year-old Gospel singer took to his own social media pages to speak about a cyber hoax using fake social media pages, email addresses and a Google voice number to contact other musicians, preachers and his fans in the attempt to solicit funds.

“It is unbelievable to think that someone would attempt to use my identity to contact people in an effort to scam them,” Carr said in an AlwaysAList.com report earlier this month. “I am working with authorities to ensure that the scam artist is uncovered and faces the necessary consequences.”

Source and Original Content by Christian Post

Pastor Arrested After Shooting At Mining Protesters

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Pastor Arrested After Shooting At Mining Protesters

An Australian pastor and activist has been arrested after allegedly firing a gun at a mining protest.

Geoffrey Stokes, 52, was protesting against uranium mining in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, when he was approached by a member of security staff.

Police report that Stokes fired a shot in the air, and made several threats against mine staff before leaving. He was arrested a short time later, and charged on several counts including discharging a firearm to cause fear.

Stokes – a figurehead in the local Mount Margaret Aboriginal Community – was protesting against the mining activity, which he and other activists claim was undertaken without proper consultation with them.

His friend and fellow activist Kado Muir told ABC news that while he didn’t condone Mr Stokes’ behaviour, he agreed that a stand needs to be taken. “This is about Aboriginal people being marginalised, being disempowered and acting out of frustration to have their voices heard to protect sacred spaces on our land,” he said.

“[Stokes] was taking a stand to protect his land. We hope that message is not lost and government and industry come back in engage directly with Aboriginal people.”

Stokes will appear before magistrates in the nearby town of Laverton next month.

Source and Original Content By Christian Today

Bishops Criticise Government’s Migrants Policy

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Bishops Criticise Government’s Migrants Policy

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference for England and Wales has issued a statement criticising the Government’s decision not to support migrant rescue services in the Mediterranean.

Baroness Anelay, who is a foreign office minister, said that supporting future search and rescue operations can encourage more people to attempt the dangerous crossing in order to enter Europe.

Bishop Patrick Lynch, chair of the Office for Migration Policy at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference Department of International Affairs issued the following statement: “Last summer at Lampedusa Pope Francis challenged us to take responsibility for our brothers and sisters. He warned us against losing our bearings in a culture of comfort and becoming insensitive to the cries of other people. Since the tragedies of last October, the Italian navy has led efforts to save many thousands of lives but now this is a time for all European governments to recognise that others’ suffering is our business.

“While efforts are being made to find lasting solutions to these challenges, we have a duty to heed with compassion the cries of our wounded brothers and sisters, and not to pass by on the other side. Britain is still Europe’s leading naval power, and to refuse to join in Mediterranean search and rescue operations would be a misguided abdication of responsibility to those thousands of men, women, and children who have been driven from their homes by persecution and war and forced to risk death at sea.”

Source and Original Content by Catholic Herald

Nigerian Priest Calls Government Negotiations With Boko Haram A Farce

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Nigerian Priest Calls Government Negotiations With Boko Haram A Farce

While the Nigerian government negotiates with the Islamic militant group Boko Haram for the release of 200 abducted schoolgirls, some church leaders in the country’s conflict-ridden north are expressing doubts about any impending resolution.

Nearly two weeks ago, the government announced a cease-fire with the militants. It set Oct. 24 as the date for the girls’ release, but that failed to happen.

The Rev. John Bakeni, secretary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Maiduguri, which includes the conflict regions of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, said Boko Haram never acknowledged it was negotiating with anyone.

“This is a farce and a grand deceit,” said Bakeni. “Boko Haram has become more vicious, killing anything that moves — male, female, children, elderly …

“I think the talks are a tactic for them to regroup, recruit, rearm and strategize,” added the priest.

The group, which announced it was setting up a caliphate, or an Islamic state, in late August, has targeted churches, government installations and public buildings, while stepping up assassinations and abductions.

The schoolgirls’ abduction sparked global outrage, and their continued captivity has led to criticism of the Nigerian government’s efforts to secure their release… Read More

Source and Original Content by BCNN1

Little Girl With A Big Voice

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Little Girl With A Big Voice

Celine Tam is only 5-years-old, but already has a talent that has everyone in the audience standing up and cheering for her. Singing “You Raise Me Up,” this tiny little girl has a big voice that astounds everyone who hears it. She has been singing since the age of three and has a bright future ahead of her!

Source and Original Content by Faithtap

Christians Convey The Good News to Guerilla Fighters

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Christians Convey The Good News to Guerilla Fighters

Colombia may be slowly emerging from five decades of Guerilla warfare. The country’s voters recently re-elected its sitting president on his promise to end the violence.

But even as the fighting raged, a few brave Christians are going to the heart of the violence, introducing combatants to the Prince of Peace.

For five decades, Colombia has been at war with Marxist insurgents. Fighting can erupt at any time throughout scattered war zones, but that doesn’t stop one intrepid messenger of peace.

Actors portray missionary Russell Stendal on one of his missions in the film “La Montana,” or “The Mountain.”

For years, Stendal has taken Christian literature to all sides in the conflict: guerillas, paramilitary and government soldiers.

He has forged friendships with all sides, and his radio stations and solar powered receivers pave the way.

“…To reach areas where it’s not possible to have church buildings or scheduled church services, where it’s not possible to do normal missionary or evangelistic work. And so we drop these radios on guerrilla camps, by parachute. We distribute them to soldiers; we distribute them to paramilitary forces,” Stendal, director of Colombia Para Cristo, said.

Stendal has given out over 120,000 solar-powered radios… Read More


Source and Original Content by cbnnews.com

Head of Zambia’s Evangelical Fellowship Reacts Over President’s Death

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Head of Zambia’s Evangelical Fellowship Reacts Over President’s Death

The church and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have expressed sadness over President Sata’s death and appealed to Zambians to give him a befitting send off.

Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia president Pukuta Mwanza said in an interview yesterday that the church is “heart-broken” to learn of Mr Sata’s death.

“It is shocking that President Sata has died. President Sata played a critical role in the transition of jubilee into the next 50 years,” Reverend Mwanza said

He appealed to Zambians to unite irrespective of political parties they belong to.

“Give President Sata an honourable send off. He was our hero,” Rev Mwanza said… Read More

Source and Original Content by BCNN1

Israel Is Blessed With Life-Saving Ambulances By John Hagee Ministries

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Israel Is Blessed With Life-Saving Ambulances By John Hagee Ministries

At the 33rd annual ‘Night To Honor Israel’ event, held Sunday at the Cornerstone Church, in San Antonio, Texas, John Hagee Ministries demonstrated its continued devotion to Israel by sponsoring their seventh and eighth ambulances in seven years.
The first six John Hagee Ministries ambulances have treated over 30,000 patients in the six first years that they have been operational. The newest ambulances will join a fleet of the more than 1,000 Magen David Adom (MDA) ambulances currently in operation in Israel.

John Hagee Ministries support of MDA, Israel’s national EMS, ambulance and blood service, is part of a partnership with Heart to Heart, a program devoted to saving lives in Israel through support of MDA’s services.

“We are gathered to stand up and speak for Israel at a time of great crisis. [These] two state-of-the-art ambulances will help the injured, both military or civilian, who need to be transported to a hospital,” said Hagee.

Pastor Hagee presented a gift of $250,000 to Heart to Heart director Jonathan Feldstein. Out of a total sum of close to $3 million distributed Sunday night, Heart to Heart received the second largest donation out of 26 Israeli organizations. In 2013, John Hagee Ministries also gave a similar sum to various Israeli organizations.

Heart to Heart’s mission is to ensure that the Israeli people have the emergency medical response equipment that they need to enable them to face the numerous dangers currently threatening the country… Read More

Source and Original Content by BCN

South Sudanese Bishops Call For Peace Through Dialogue

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South Sudanese Bishops Call For Peace Through Dialogue

The bishops in South Sudan are calling for an immediate end to violence in their country, saying it should be replaced with “dialogue and compromise.”

As chair of the U.S. bishops’ international justice and peace committee, Bishop Richard Pates of Des Moines wrote to Donald Booth, U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, on behalf of the South Sudanese bishops on Oct. 22.

The South Sudanese bishops “call on their political leaders to stop the fighting immediately and replace it with dialogue and compromise, and urge their leaders to trust their people and give them the chance to determine their own future with the help of traditional leaders, faith communities and civil society actors,” Bishop Pates said.

Bishop Pates also thanked Booth for meeting with him in person last month to discuss these issues, calling their session “informative and productive” and urged him to continue putting pressure on both the South Sudanese government and the opposition to end the fighting.

He noted that the South Sudanese bishops “do not offer specific political solutions to the national crisis, but they do offer guidance” as well-respected citizens of their country.

Continued support from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development – a group of African nations assisting in peace negotiation – and emergency aid from the international community continue to be necessary to “prevent a backward slide into greater poverty” especially as the country enters the dry season when fighting is likely to ramp up.

“The bishops are forthright in their condemnation of all parties and individuals who persist in prosecuting the war at the cost of thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of people forced from their homes,” Bishop Pates wrote.

South Sudan became an independent country in 2011, breaking from the Republic of Sudan eight years after the 2005 conclusion of a 20-year-long civil war. Violence in the new country broke out in mid-December 2013, intensifying a power struggle between forces loyal to president Salva Kiir and those allied behind former vice president Riek Machar.

Violence has continued in the country despite a peace accord signed May 9, 2014.

Thousands of people have been killed and 1.4 million have been displaced by the violence. Almost 5 million people are in severe need of humanitarian assistance, The Independent reports.

The UN estimates that there are some 11,000 child soldiers serving in both the government and rebel armies.

Last March, Pope Francis wrote to Archbishop Paulino Lukudu Loro of Juba, encouraging him and all parties involved in the conflict to “tirelessly seek peaceful solutions, enabling the common good to prevail over personal interests.”

Source and Original Content by CNA

Priest Commits Suicide Following Abuse Confession

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Priest Commits Suicide Following Abuse Confession

The Diocese of Trieste has announced “with a spirit full of sorrow and dismay” that one of its priests, who had recently admitted to sexual abuse of a minor female, committed suicide on Tuesday.

Archbishop Giampaolo Crepaldi of Trieste learned Oct. 23 “of a grave matter many years ago that involved a 13 year old girl” and Fr. Maks Suard, according to an Oct. 28 statement from the diocese.

Fr. Suard, 48, was a priest of the Slovenian community of the Trieste diocese, and was parish priest of the small church of Santa Croce, in the territory of the Carso Triestino. He had served as a parish priest in several parishes of the San Dorligo area since his ordination in 1995; he was involved in the Boy Scout movement, and also worked as a teacher of religion in local schools.

On Oct. 25, Archbishop Crepaldi met with Fr. Suard, and on that occasion “the priest had admitted his responsibilities” and consented to the canonical procedure which would have to be taken.

In accord with St. John Paul II’s 2001 motu proprio Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela, abuse cases – which are among the “delicta graviora”, or “more grave crimes” – must be forwarded to and investigated by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The policy sped up and made more effective the Vatican’s handling of such cases, which had been previously been handled by the Congregation for Clergy.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith can choose either to take over the case or authorize a diocesan trial, in which case the outcome must be forwarded to the congregation.

After Archbishop Crepaldi had explained to Fr. Suard that he had to undergo the procedure, the priest “with humility and serenity of spirit, asked for two days during which he could prepare a resignation letter and a written statement in order to ask forgiveness from God, the Church, and the girl for the evil committed,” the diocese stated.

The archbishop agreed, and arranged to meet with Fr. Suard the afternoon of Oct. 28, at which time he would officially notify the priest of his suspension and of the beginning of the canonical procedure.

Archbishop Crepaldi “had informed Fr. Suard that he was going to arrive at around 4 pm,” and he got to the parish priest’s house around 4.30 pm. He found the rectory door locked, and received no answer to his repeated phone calls to Fr. Suard… Read More

Source and Original Content by CNA

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