MINDANAO, Philippines, August 6, 2019 (Morning Star News) – Following the killing of a pastor on the Island of Mindanao on Friday, church leaders in the Philippines decried an alleged increase in attacks on Christian human rights defenders since the start of the Rodrigo Duterte administration in 2016.

Pastor Ernesto Javier Estrella of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) in Antipas, Cotabato Province, was gunned down on Friday morning (Aug. 2). He was 51.

While the motive of the killing was not yet established, police are reportedly trying to determine if it was linked to Pastor Estrella’s alleged ties with left-leaning groups. His wife told local journalists her husband had no enemies.

Pastor Estrella was on his motorcycle heading towards Magsaysay at 7:15 a.m. when two gunmen, also on motorcycles, approached and shot him several times, according to local press reports. Local health authorities declared him dead at the site.

Following his death, the Ecumenical Bishops Forum (EBF) condemned the “ideology of death” that they said perpetrated harassment and killing of Christians.

“The number of violent attacks against Christian human rights defenders has alarmingly increased in the three years of President Rodrigo Duterte’s government,” the statement read. “His avowed contempt for human rights has provided the institutional…

Noble Prize-winning author Toni Morrison passed away on Monday at the age of 88. 

According to NBC News, Morrison died Monday night at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York. 

Born Chloe Wofford, in Lorain, Ohio, Morrison is known for her groundbreaking work detailing the African American experience in America. 

The mother of two famously wrote her debut novel – The Bluest Eyes (1970) – on a packed New York City subway car while commuting to work, the Atlantic reports.

Morrison attended Howard University where she received her undergraduate diploma in 1953. She graduated from Cornell University in 1955 with her master’s degree.

In 1965, Morrison became a fiction editor at Random House publishing house. She taught at numerous universities including Texas Southern University, State University of New York and Princeton University. Morrison joined the Princeton staff in 1984 and retired in 2006, Britannica reports. 

Morrison’s book Beloved (1987) won her a Pulitzer Prize in fiction. The book was based on a true story of a runaway slave who – after being recaptured – sacrificed her daughter so that she would not have to live a life of slavery too.

In 1993, Morrison became the first-ever African American woman to win a Nobel Prize for Literature. According to NBC News, the writer was exalted as one “who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic…

Andre and Jordan Anchondo dropped their 5-year-old daughter off at cheer practice as they did every Saturday, then, with their 2-month old, Paul Gilbert in tow, they headed to Walmart to buy their daughter school supplies.

When shots rang out at the hands of an alleged white supremacist, Jordan, 24, reportedly used her own body to shield her son, while Andre, 23, is believed to have jumped in front of his wife to protect her. The couple, which celebrated their first anniversary on July 30, did not survive. Baby Paul, named for Jordan’s father, broke several fingers when he and his mother fell but is recovering with relatives. In addition to his 5-year-old sister, Baby Paul also has a 2-year-old sister.

The account of what happened to the Anchondos during a murderous rampage in which 22 people were killed in an El Paso, Texas Walmart on Saturday was posted on a GoFundMe page started by Jordan’s aunt, Elizabeth Terry. At the time of this writing, more than $20,000 has already been raised. Andre’s relatives have also created a separate crowd-funding account, which – at the time of this writing – has topped $70,000.

On her GoFundMe page, Terry said texts began flying between family members when they could not reach the couple several hours after the shooting.

“After that our most dreaded fears came true,” Terry…

Vice President Mike Pence gathered with an interfaith group of religious freedom activists this week to talk about how the U.S. can challenge China as the country continues the persecution of various religions.

Pence met with about 15 advocates, including Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission president Russell Moore, as part of the International Religious Freedom Roundtable.

Other attendees included: Bob Fu, head of the Christian persecution watchdog organization China Aid; David Curry, head of the international Christian persecution advocacy group Open Doors USA; and Greg Mitchell, co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Roundtable and longtime lobbyist for the Church of Scientology.

“There were a handful of leaders from the world dealing with religious liberty who voiced concern about the shocking rise of religious liberty violations in China in the last six years,” Curry said.

“We had people from different faith backgrounds but we joined together to give an in-depth briefing on the series of issues that are happening against Christians, Muslims, the Falun Gong and other religions that are being persecuted in China right now.”

Fu tweeted that he was grateful the Trump administration took time for the meeting.

“The resolve and courage you & @realDonaldTrump have shown to tackle the [Communist Party of China]…

The family of a 5-year-old boy who was thrown off a balcony at the Mall of America in April is thanking God after he was moved out of intensive care and into a physical rehab program. 

The boy, known only by his first name, Landen, was nearly killed four months ago when a stranger picked him up and tossed him 40 feet from the third-floor balcony to the first floor below at the Minnesota mall. The stranger, Emmanuel D. Aranda, pled guilty to attempted first-degree murder and said he had gone to the mall “looking for someone to kill.” 

Noah Hanneman, a family friend, posted a statement last week from the family on their GoFundMe page. 

“The Lord is good, and we are thankful,” the statement read. “We are happy to report that our son is no longer in intensive care and has been moved to an inpatient, physical rehab program at another hospital to help him continue to heal and focus on the next phase of his recovery.

“There is hard work ahead! And, our beautiful boy has endured much already, but he is strong and his spirit remains vibrant,” the statement said. “We continue to be eternally grateful for every prayer, every act of kindness and the love this world has [shown] us throughout this journey. Thank You.”

The GoFundMe fundraiser netted just over $1 million from more than 29,000 donors for Landen’s medical bills and…

A Florida pastor is attempting to raise $100 million with the aim of setting up a media platform that he says will guide the public through the End Times. 

Rick Wiles, who pastors Flowing Streams Church in Vero Beach, Florida, said that God had given him a vision to launch the global broadcasting network.

“The vision He’s put in my heart, I need $100 million,” Wiles announced, having originally only asked for a tenth of that sum. “It is a global vision to build a platform for the body of Christ to get us through to the End when Christ comes back. It’s going to take an enormous amount of money. I don’t know where it’s going to come from. I don’t know who’s going to finance it. But I know that God has unlimited resources, and He is my source and my faith is in Him.”

Not everyone was impressed with the financial goal, however. “You don’t need that much money,” one person tweeted in response. “All you need is a bible and two feet. Get out there and spread the word.”

Pastor Wiles currently runs the TruNews channel, which currently has 180,000 subscribers on YouTube. A former marketing director for the Trinity Broadcasting Network, he has made occasional appearances on the Jim Bakker Show and is known for making bizarre and sometimes offensive remarks.

According to Relevant, last year, the pastor was convinced that America…