Congregation and Family Mourns Death of Rev. Willie Boyd Jr in a Car Crash

CM Editor
-
0
Congregation and Family Mourns Death of Rev. Willie Boyd Jr in a Car Crash

MEMPHIS — A beloved Memphis pastor and youth advocate was killed in a car accident Saturday, said Bishop Emeritus Henry Williamson Sr. of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.

The Rev. Willie Boyd Jr., pastor of Greenwood CME Church, left behind three children and his wife, who were not in the car at the time of the accident, Williamson said.

“We miss him like a son or a brother,” Williamson said. “That’s how people thought about him. A son or a brother. He’s irreplaceable.”

Boyd, 44, was a native Memphian, attending White Station High School, LeMoyne-Owen College and Bethel College in McKenzie, according to an archived biography listed on his church’s website. He would later attend Grand Canyon University, receiving a Master of Education with a concentration in special education, and Memphis Theological Seminary.

Before his death Saturday, Boyd posted on his Facebook that it was his “birthday weekend.”

While a college student, Boyd served as youth pastor at his home church, Mt. Pisgah CME Church, and in 2003 was ordained a deacon and assigned to pastor Morris Chapel C.M.E. Church. In 2004, he was ordained an elder.

 

Boyd would later pastor the historic Martin Memorial Temple CME Church, also spending part of 2015-2016 assigned to a role in California.

Williamson named Boyd pastor of Greenwood CME about two years ago, Williamson said.

“We needed his skills and abilities to handle a major charge and a great congregation,” Williamson said. “And the people of his church both at Martin and at Greenwood loved him tremendously. He was a master pastor and administrator in the life of the church.”

Boyd “never met a stranger,” Williamson said, working well with people of all ages. He was “powerful in the pulpit,” a great singer and someone who “loved God and loved people.”

“Not only did he have a powerful influence as a pastor bringing people into the church and knowledge of Jesus Christ, but he worked with juveniles who had some criminal background and element, and he was able to reform them and help them to choose a better lifestyle,” Williamson said. Read more.

Source: Black Christian News

Evangelists Sustain Knife Wounds after Debates in Uganda

CM Editor
-
0
Evangelists Sustain Knife Wounds after Debates in Uganda

NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – Two evangelists on Sept. 24 sustained deep knife wounds after leading several Muslims to Christ at debates on Islam and Christianity in eastern Uganda, sources said.

Andrew Dikusooka, 35, and 26-year-old Ronald Musasizi had debated Islamic scholars in several areas around Iganga District, and some attacked them after a Sept. 20-24 series of such debates in the district’s predominantly Muslim Nampirika village, said a leader of their ministry, unnamed for security reasons.

“The two evangelists are nursing terrible wounds on their sick beds in Iganga town after being attacked and beaten by radical Muslims,” the leader told Morning Star News.

Dikusooka said that after the last day of the debate, well-known Muslims were among those who put their faith in Christ.

“Many people gave their lives to Christ, including Muslims, witchdoctors and street vendors,” Dikusooka told Morning Star News. “The conversion of these people angered Muslims who began shouting to disrupt the occasion. When the meeting ended, we took the new converts aside and had a few minutes explaining the meaning of the new life in Christ and the commitment to follow Jesus Christ.”

They were halfway home at about 7:30 p.m. when a group of Muslims blocked them near a railroad crossing shouting, “They are the ones – beat them, beat them,” he said.

“They then started beating us with blunt objects, and one named Shafiki Mugendawala from Nasuuti, in Iganga, hit me with a sharp knife right on my head,” Dikusooka told Morning Star News. “Another named Musiitwa Manisuuli from Kigulu Iganga, struck my friend in the belly and hands.”

He knew the assailants because they had debated them on several occasions, he said.

“Both of us fell down as a bright light flashed from a coming vehicle that appeared from the opposite direction,” he said. “From that time onwards, we did not know what happened. We only found ourselves in the hospital in Iganga town with deep wounds.”

The driver of the vehicle was the one who rescued them and drove them to the hospital, they later learned.

At this writing the two evangelists were still recovering in the hospital.

“Since we know the attackers, after our release from the hospital we shall by all means file a case against them,” Dikusooka said. “Please pray for us for quick healing.”

The attack was the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented.

Uganda’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another. Muslims make up no more than 12 percent of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.

Source : Morning Star New

Changes to British Royal Titles Since the Death of Queen Elizabeth II

CM Editor
-
0
Changes to British Royal Titles Since the Death of Queen Elizabeth II

Click on VIDEO to play it

A lot of people don’t understand the royal titles, who, and why the titles is formally given to each person in the royal family. Usefulcharts had to explain this in a more simpler form.

This is best told.

Someone said, ” I have the feeling that if and when Princess Anne passes away, her title The Princess Royal may be given to Charlotte since she will basically be in the same situation as Anne due to being the second born child but only daughter of the heir. The chances of Charlotte being Queen are very slim just like Anne’s were so giving charlotte that title in the future would make sense. ”

Changes to British Royal Titles Since the Death of Queen Elizabeth II - The Christian Mail
(Youtube/Usefulcharts)

Queen Elizabeth II laying in state at Great Westminster Hall

CM Editor
-
0
Queen Elizabeth II laying in state at Great Westminster Hall

From today, at 15:30, Queen Elizabeth II laying in state at Great Westminster Hall, London , United Kingdom

Preparation for her funeral slated for Monday, 19th of September 2022 is underway.

Queen Elizabeth II has Died

CM Editor
-
0
Queen Elizabeth II has Died

Queen Elizabeth II the Queen of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth realms has died this afternoon, the 8th of September, 2022.

King Charles III Statement - The Christian Mail
(Photo : Royal Family, Buckingham Place)

… this news is developing.

Christian woman in hiding after being threatened with death if she doesn’t convert to Islam

CM Editor
-
0
Christian woman in hiding after being threatened with death if she doesn’t convert to Islam

A Christian woman and her five children have been forced into hiding after she was threatened with death unless she agreed to convert to Islam.

Naseem Bibi is refusing to abandon her Christian faith even though it means she has had to flee her home with her children – four daughters aged 12, 14, 20 and 22, and one 8-year-old son.

She says an Islamic group has forced around a hundred people in her area – both Christians and non-Christians – to convert to Islam.

As part of a campaign to woo converts, she says her husband and his friend were both offered a house each and told that the group would cover the wedding expenses of their daughters.

Despite claims by the group that the conversions have happened voluntarily, Naseem says people like her have been put under pressure.

Tragically, she is being threatened by her own husband and his friend who are ready to accept the bribe for conversion, and says that they are now among those looking for her.

“We wanted to give an education to our children but due to our financial position, we could not send them to school,” she told the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS-UK), which is helping her.

“My eldest daughter is 22 and we don’t have money for her wedding but I cannot accept this offer of converting to Islam with my children and then marrying my daughters to a Muslim man.”

She fears that she and her children will be killed if her hiding place is uncovered and she again refuses to convert to Islam.

A local church has stepped in to provide Naseem and her children with temporary shelter but the pastor said that a few days ago, some people were asking about her.

“I am scared and trying to move to another safe place with my children,” she said.

“They are too powerful, and we have no resources to fight with them. We need urgent legal and financial support.”

She added, “I was born a Christian and will remain a Christian until my last breath and I’ll make every effort to make my children stronger Christians and make sure that they marry to Christian partners and not become Muslims.”

Nasir Saeed, Director of CLAAS-UK, said that while her case is a “tragedy”, sadly many Christians in Pakistan are being threatened like this.

“The national media isn’t paying any attention and is failing in its responsibility to highlight the ongoing suffering of non-Muslims,” he said.

“The reality is that the forced conversion of Christian and Hindu girls is happening in Pakistan and is one of the most serious concerns now for religious minorities in the country.

“Yet the government has failed to pass any legislation to stop it. At all levels – law enforcement, the courts, the government – young Christian and Hindu girls and their families are being failed by those in the position to help them.

“Religious minorities do not feel safe in their own country. Justice is not being done. Legislation must be drawn up to put a stop to the illegal and immoral forced conversion of young religious minority girls instead of targeting Christian organisations bravely speaking up about this issue.

“If the Pakistani government won’t do anything to stop it, then the international community must do more to put pressure on Pakistan’s leaders to protect human rights.”

To help support against Christian Persecution, contact CLAAS: [email protected]

T: + 42 2081506763  W: www.claas.org.uk

Liz Truss becomes UK’s 56th Prime Minister

CM Editor
-
0
Liz Truss becomes UK’s 56th Prime Minister

Liz Truss become the United Kingdom 56th Prime Minister, and the 3rd UK female Prime Minister.

Mary Elizabeth Truss, born 26 July 1975, always known as Liz Truss, is a British politician who is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. She has served as the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs since 2021 when appointed by Boris Johnson and Minister for Women and Equalities since 2019.

She is a member of the Conservative Party, and has been Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Norfolk since 2010. She has served in various Cabinet positions under former Prime Ministers David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson.

Liz Truss attended Merton College, Oxford. In 1996, she graduated and joined the Conservative Party. Truss was elected for South West Norfolk at the 2010 general election. As a backbencher, she called for reform in several policy areas including childcare, mathematics education and the economy.

Truss served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Childcare and Education from 2012 to 2014, before being appointed to the Cabinet by David Cameron as Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the 2014 cabinet reshuffle. Though she was a supporter of the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign for the UK to remain in the European Union in the 2016 referendum, she supported Brexit after the result.

After Cameron resigned in July 2016, Truss was appointed Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor by Theresa May.  After the 2017 general election, Truss was appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury. After May resigned in 2019, Truss supported Johnson’s bid to become Conservative leader. He appointed Truss as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade. She took on the additional role of Minister for Women and Equalities in September 2019. She was promoted to Foreign Secretary by Johnson in the 2021 cabinet reshuffle. She was appointed the Government’s chief negotiator with the European Union and UK chair of the EU–UK Partnership Council in December 2021.

Following Boris Johnson’s resignation, Liz Truss won the 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.

Holy Ghost Convention – by Sword of the Spirit Ministry

CM Editor
-
0
Holy Ghost Convention – by Sword of the Spirit Ministry

Holy Ghost Convention – by Sword of the Spirit Ministry , see more here – https://sotsm.org/etn/holy-ghost-convention-2022/

China ‘Liquidates’ House Church as Part of Crackdown

CM Editor
-
0
China ‘Liquidates’ House Church as Part of Crackdown

Authorities in China on Aug. 19 officially “liquidated” an historical house church in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, as part of a crackdown on churches that refuse to join the state-controlled Three-Self Church, rights advocates said.

The Church of Abundance, which began about 30 years ago, had been targeted as a “cult” that allegedly collected illegal donations, but officials closed it as an “illegal social organization” – that is, one that refused to join the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-controlled Three-Self Church, according to Italy-based religious rights organization Bitter Winter.

The closure appeared to be part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s call in December 2021 for action against “non-Sinicized” and “illegal” religious groups, Bitter Winter reported.

“Xi Jinping’s plan of compelling all Protestant Christians to join the government-controlled Three-Self Church or face arrest and ‘liquidation’ of their churches as xie jiao or “illegal” religious groups is being ruthlessly implemented,” the group stated.

The Church of Abundance was ordered to cease activities or its members and pastors would be subject to arrest and detention. Bitter Winter reported that Church of Abundance Pastor Lian Changnian and his son, Pastor Lian Xuliang, were placed under “residential surveillance at a designated place.”

The ban also targeted the China Gospel Association, part of the same house church network, the rights group stated.

Christian rights group China Aid reported that the Civil Affairs Bureau and the Religious Affairs Bureau announced the charges against the Church of Abundance personnel as illegal gathering, illegal fundraising and illegal venue registration.

The wife of one of the arrested pastors stated, according to China Aid, that Pastor Lian Xuliang had a large bruise from a beating on his forehead.

“His eyes were bloodshot, and there was dried blood in the corner of his eyes,” she stated. “His face-mask also had blood streaks. His arms and hands were bruised and swollen. There was undoubtedly physical abuse by these so-called law enforcement officers during their ‘law enforcement.’”

The pastors, their wives and other workers were arrested on Aug. 17, according to China Aid. The wives and most of the church workers were released, but not preacher Fu Juan, the group reported.

“The whereabouts of preacher Fu Juan is unknown, and her husband has not yet received any official written notice of detention,” one of the pastor’s wives reported.

Since President Xi’s call for a crackdown on unofficial religious organizations at the Dec. 3-4, 2021, CCP National Conference on Work Related to Religious Affairs, authorities have raided churches refusing to join the Three-Self Church in Beijing, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Jilin and Sichuan provinces, according to Bitter Winter.

On Aug. 19, about 100 armed police officers in Linfen, Shanxi Province, surrounded some 70 members of Covenant Home Church who were attending a parent-child camp, the group reported. Detaining the adults, police also searched the homes of church members Han Xiaodong, Li Jie and his wife Li Shanshan, and seized Christian books and documents.

On Sunday (Aug. 21) in Changchun city, Jilin Province, police raided a service of Changchun Sunshine Reformed Church, a house church, Bitter Winter reported.

“As demonstrated by videos circulated by the believers, those attending the service were beaten by the agents,” Bitter Winter stated. “Two women had heart attacks and had to be hospitalized.”

Officers detained nine Christians, including Pastor Guo Muyun, Elder Qu Hongliang, and Brother Zhang Liangliang, who were accused of running an illegal religious organization, the group reported.

On Aug. 14 in Beijing, the Mentougou branch of the Zion Church was raided.

“Computers were confiscated, and the pastor, Yang Jun, and nine devotees were detained, although they were later released,” Bitter Winter reported.

China ranked 17th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2022 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit https://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.  

Christian Youth Corps Member Killed in Adamawa State, Nigeria

CM Editor
-
0
Christian Youth Corps Member Killed in Adamawa State, Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – A Christian posted in Yola, northeast Nigeria, as part of his youth service corps duty was killed on Aug. 26 in what was suspected as a targeted attack, sources said.

Samaila Sabo Awudu was assaulted by at least five men with machetes at about 1:30 a.m. in his room at living quarters for members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) stationed in the capital of Adamawa state. He was 28.

University and polytechnic graduates in Nigeria are required to provide one year of national development service with the NYSC, and Awudu, a resident of Taraba state, was serving at the Elkanemi College of Islamic Theology in Yola, his brother said.

Members of the NYSC have been targeted in violent crimes in various parts of Nigeria, but in Awudu’s case the killers somehow reportedly locked the doors of the other corps members before assaulting him with machetes and leaving him for dead.

Awudu’s brother, Ephraim Haruna Sabo, told sympathizers at the funeral at the family compound in Gindin Dorowa, Wukari County, Taraba state this week that corps members had told family members about the attack, according to a text message Morning Star News received from area resident Benita John, who was present in their home for the service.

“We were told by some of his colleagues, corps members, that a group of five armed Muslims attacked him when they broke into his residence at the NYSC lodge in Yola and cut him with machetes,” Sabo told sympathizers, according to John. “He was taken by police officers who went there to the Federal Medical Centre, Yola, where he died.”

Awudu had graduated from the Federal University, Wukari, Taraba state, with a biochemistry degree, Sabo said.

The Rev. Philip Agbu, pastor of the Christian Reformed Church-Nigeria (CRC-N) congregation in Gindin Dorowa, told mourners Awudu was a committed member of the church and had “lived an exemplary life, worthy of emulation.”

Awudu’s brother, Sabo, said at his funeral that he was an easygoing person who would not harm anyone.

Awudu “had endured the rigors of growing up and schooling, only for his life to be cut short just when we his family members were beginning to look up to him for support,” Sabo said. “His death will no doubt negatively affect us his family and the Christian community here.”

Jingi Denis, Adamawa state director of the NYSC, addressed mourners at the funeral. Awudu’s death “is a loss to the whole country,” Denis said. “It’s very sad, and we do not know why he was attacked because investigation is still ongoing.”

Suleiman Ngoruje, superintendent of police of the Adamawa State Police Command, said in a statement on Monday (Aug. 29) that officers are searching for the killers.

Danjuma Usman Shiddi, a member of Nigeria’s parliament, the National Assembly, said in a statement on Sunday (Aug. 28), “We are engaging with the relevant security services and the criminal justice administration players to ensure justice for the deceased, his immediate family, our community and constituents.”

Nigeria led the world in Christians killed for their faith last year (Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021) at 4,650, up from 3,530 the previous year, according to Open Doors’ 2022 World Watch List report. The number of kidnapped Christians was also highest in Nigeria, at more than 2,500, up from 990 the previous year, according to the WWL report.

Nigeria trailed only China in the number of churches attacked, with 470 cases, according to the report.

In the 2022 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria jumped to seventh place, its highest ranking ever, from No. 9 the previous year.

If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit https://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.  

1234...3,893Page 3 of 3,893