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Mission Aviation Fellowship’s New VBS Program Takes Kids to the Skies

Church and Ministry

Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) is taking Vacation Bible School to the skies! Well, figuratively. MAF has created a brand new VBS program called SOAR!. Kids get a daily flight plan, learn about unique places around the world, and learn about God’s mission for their lives.

MAF’s Director of Learning and Development Mike Snodgrass says, “We feel like we have a really good story to tell about how MAF partners with other mission agencies to share the love of Jesus in really isolated areas around the world.

“We also know and feel that the SOAR! program that we’ve created is unique because of our focus on missions throughout the whole week, not just a part of the VBS. Currently, there’s really no VBS that’s focused entirely on missions and especially not mission aviation.”

MAF serves people in isolated and hard-to-reach areas with the love of Jesus through aviation. They often work with other ministries and non-profits to provide things like emergency aid and medical or teaching services.

Since they are in the heart of the missions world and work in so many different areas, it was natural for MAF to spearhead a VBS focused on the Great Commission.

With SOAR!, Snodgrass says, “Number one, it’s all about the kids because we know that that’s the focus of any VBS. We want kids to discover who Jesus is and ultimately accept Him as their Lord and Savior.

“We also want to let kids learn about the Great Commission. A lot of kids just don’t know about missions work in general.

SOURCE: Mission Network News, Lyndsey Koh

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Google, Target, Facebook Rank High for Commitment to Religious Inclusion, Report Show

Church and Ministry

Google, Target, Facebook Rank High for Commitment to Religious Inclusion, Report Show

Last month, the Religious Freedom and Business Foundation (RFBF) released a report showing that several large companies, including Google, Target and Facebook, are making great strides to promote religious freedom.

“When you look at the whole argument for an inclusive work environment, it is to make people feel that they are valued as human beings,” said Kent Johnson, senior corporate adviser with RFBR to Christianity Today. “The HR profession has come to realize that people matter, right where they are. The emphasis on creativity, teamwork, the need for new ideas has just taken off in the last decade. When people feel like they can bring their whole self to work, that’s the motivation for a lot of companies to look into this.”

These top-ranked companies, such as Google, offer “employee resource groups” (ERG) to their employees. They operate similarly to “clubs” where people of different faiths can gather to discuss their faith. Google’s Inter Belief Network was started by Barbara Phillips, who also leads the Christian Fellowship chapter, and includes chapters for Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and other faiths.

Tyson Foods ranked third on the list, in part because of its commitment to a chaplaincy program. Karen Diefendorf, lead chaplain at the food manufacturing company, does daily rounds through the production floor. Her employees know to give her a…

China Raids Churches for ‘Illegal’ Bibles, Threatens Fines up to $1,400

Church and Ministry

China Raids Churches for ‘Illegal’ Bibles, Threatens Fines up to $1,400

Government officials within China have confiscated Bibles from churches in recent months and threatened fines as part of an intensified crackdown on Christianity and an effort to eradicate “illegal publications,” according to a new report.

The campaign has targeted illegal underground churches as well as legal Three-Self churches, which are registered with the government.

“If our Bibles are taken away, we have no more,” a pastor of a Three-Self church in Jiangxi province told Bitter Winter, the watchdog behind the report. “We are thinking of asking our congregation members to hide them in the mountains.”

In December, around 10 government officials raided a different Three-Self church in Jiangxi in search of “pirated Bibles” either not printed in the country or printed at illegal printers, Bitter Winter reported. The pastor told them the church owned only legal Bibles printed within the country, but the officials nevertheless seized 30 Bibles.

According to the persecution watchdog, similar raids have taken place “all over the country” as part of a nationwide campaign to “eradicate pornography and illegal publications.”

Government officials raided an underground church in Jiangxi province and seized multiple boxes of Bibles, hymn books and other literature. They also wrote down the IDs of church members and threatened to arrest them if they met again, Bitter…

Dennis Balcombe on Missionary to China: How Christians Are Responding to Dangerous COVID-19

Church and Ministry

At the time of this writing, this coronavirus, now classified as COVID-19, has officially resulted in over 60,000 proven infections with more than 1,300 deaths. The true numbers are without a doubt much more, as many have died at home and no report was made to the authorities, and the numbers will probably exponentially increase before it is brought under control.

In Hong Kong, while there have been 50 proven infections with only one death to date, the whole city is on lockdown and probably over 99% are wearing face masks in public places including church meetings. The borders to China have been effectively closed and everyone coming from China, including HK citizens, must be quarantined for two weeks; all schools have been canceled; and all civil servants and many in other professions such as those working with banks work from home.

There has been panic buying and illegal price increases of face masks, which are in short supply, and other items such as toilet paper, sanitary items and even rice. These are not in short supply, but fake news and false rumors resulted in panic buying.

But for the church, this has been a blessing in disguise, and a great opportunity to pray and spread the gospel. There have been many citywide prayer meetings in which Christians from all groups and different denominations gather to pray and worship, thus resulting in more unity. Prayer meetings in most churches are much better attended than previously.

Many Christians and local churches are using this as an opportunity to help many in the panicking society, and to share Christ with others. Several weeks ago, when face masks were in short supply in Wuhan, many Christians were on the street freely distributing them to the people with a gospel message and prayers for the people.

Revival Christian Church has a ministry to provide free-of-charge small bottles of disinfectant alcohol, which are in short stock in the stores, and through this, share the gospel with the people in our district.

While many other churches canceled their services last Sunday, RCC had services as normal. But the temperature of everyone was checked at the door, and the whole congregation wore face masks. The attendance was actually higher than normal as many from churches that had closed the meetings came. There was a record of over 1,900 who watched on Facebook live. When the altar call was given, in both services, dozens came forward to rededicate their lives to the Lord, to accept Christ and receive healing.

This is an exact repeat of the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic in 2003, which killed 774 worldwide and 299 in Hong Kong. At that time SARS resulted in a massive economic depression to the Hong Kong economy, property and stock market crash, massive unemployment, yet revival in the church. Due to the fear of possible death resulting from infection by the virus, many came to church and became Christians. It is possible this will be repeated in this COVID-19 epidemic.

SOURCE: Charisma News

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1 Million Women Across America Are Gathering to Pray at the “She Loves Out Loud” Prayer Movement Event, Feb. 15 in Memphis, Tenn.

Church and Ministry

Last month, hundreds of thousands joined the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. Each year, women gather to protest abuse, misogyny and violence against women.

Diane Strack knows these are real and painful issues that need to be dealt with, but she doesn’t want to participate in angry marches. Instead, she’s responding to God’s call to gather His women across the United States for one goal: to pray.

Through She Loves Out Loud, Strack is calling thousands of women to join in prayer for the brokenness in our nation, and it’s happening Saturday, Feb. 15.

Strack explains on the Charisma News podcast how the She Loves Out Loud movement came from an encouragement from the late Vonette Bright, wife of Cru founder Bill Bright. Later on, the Lord reinforced Bright’s words with a word of His own.

SOURCE: Charisma News

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Colorado Democrats Strike Down Bill Protecting Babies Born following Failed Abortions

Church and Ministry

Colorado Democrats Strike Down Bill Protecting Babies Born following Failed Abortions

A legislative committee in Colorado headed by Democrats voted down two bills this week that would have prohibited late-term abortions and punished doctors for neglecting to care for babies born alive following an abortion procedure.

According to The Christian Post, the bills, which were sponsored by Republicans, were rejected after seven hours of testimony along party lines.

One of the bills, introduced by Republican Rep. Shan Sandridge of Colorado Springs, would have created a doctor-patient relationship with the abortion doctor and a child born alive after an abortion. It would require a doctor to “exercise the same degree of professional skill, care and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child.” Any doctor who ignored this care would be subject to a class 3 felony and a civil penalty up to $100,000.

The second bill would have punished doctors who performed abortions after 22 weeks of pregnancy to a class 1 misdemeanor charge.

Democrats feared that the bills would create a precedent for limiting abortion rights in the future.

“I do believe the effect of this bill to create a new felony for this kind of action would have the effect of limiting access to abortion in this state,” said Committee Democrat Chair Chris Kennedy. “I think that is a legitimate concern and a real problem.”

Meanwhile, Republicans argued that the “Kill” Committee didn’t…

WATCH: Virginia Democrats Walk Out of House Meeting and Speaker Cuts Black Pastor’s Prayer Short After He Condemned Same-Sex Marriage and Abortion

Church and Ministry

Democrats walked off the floor of the Virginia House of Delegates Tuesday after a pastor delivered an invocation urging them to protect the “unborn” and to uphold “biblical, traditional marriage.”

The six-minute prayer by Robert M. Grant Jr. of The Father’s Way Church in Warrenton, Va., eventually was cut off by House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, a Democrat, who gaveled the prayer to a close and began citing the Pledge of Allegiance.

“I pray that you may understand that all life is precious and worthy of a chance to be born, and God is a giver of life and people have no right or authority to take life,” Grant prayed. “The unborn has rights, and those rights need to be protected. They should never be denied the right to exist, the right to develop, or the right to have a family. The Word of God has given us a warning – woe to anyone who harms an innocent child. Every one of you sitting here today can guarantee these rights to these little innocent children of Virginia. … Please do not ignore their little voices. I pray for a heart change today.”

Grant further prayed that the chamber would uphold the “biblical, traditional marriage as God instructed the first man and the first woman in the Bible, that the two shall be one flesh, that a man and a woman shall be fruitful and multiply.”

“We should never rewrite what God has declared,” he prayed.

Grant, who is black, also touched on prison reform and questioned why “there so many abortion clinics near African American communities.”

“This is planned urban genocide – and you can change this,” he said.

On the incarceration rate, Grant prayed, “It is an embarrassment and causing public outrage that a Caucasian male and an African American male can both do the exact same crime but the African American male can get sentenced with more time behind bars.”

The Virginia Mercury reported that many Democrats walked off the floor during the sermon.

“It was totally disrespectful to all of us, all of us in this House,” said Del. Luke Torian, according to the Mercury.

One Democrat shouted, “Is this a prayer or a sermon?”

Del. Michael Webert, a Republican, invited Grant to pray.

“I think that the statehouse belongs to all the citizens. And all the citizens have a voice,” Grant told reporters after the prayer, according to the Mercury. “If it’s my turn to have a voice, and I am a pastor, what do you expect from me? If you don’t want to hear what a pastor has to say, then don’t invite one.”

Source: Christian Headlines

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Coronavirus COVID-19 Cases Spike With 15,000 New Infections, 250 New Deaths in One Day

Health

WASHINGTON – Thursday saw a drastic spike in coronavirus cases with China reporting nearly 15,000 new infections and more than 250 more deaths.

The increase is due to expanded diagnosis criteria, allowing doctors to more quickly diagnose patients and begin treatment.

Worldwide, about 60,000 people are infected with this novel coronavirus – now labeled COVID-19 – and more than 1,300 people have died because of it.

The latest spike raises questions about China’s testing methods and numbers, resulting in the firing of two-party officials in Hubei, the epicenter of the outbreak.

With the number of coronavirus cases on the rise, health officials are warning it could soon start spreading in the United States.

The newest case in the US was confirmed Thursday in San Diego at a quarantined military base.

Of the new cases confirmed outside China, nearly 50 were on board a Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined off the coast of Japan.

“As each day progresses, we are having additional people tested positive,” David Abel, a cruise ship passenger from the United Kingdom, said in a video recorded with his phone.

And a Holland America cruise ship has finally been cleared to dock in Cambodia after it was turned away from five different ports in Asia. No coronavirus cases have been confirmed on board, however.

“We’re all a bunch of humans that have lives outside of this cruise ship that need us,” said US passenger Angela Jones. “Families, children, pets, jobs.”

Now, help from Israel in the form of new technology could help curb the virus.

A facemask, made by Israeli company Argaman, has the ability to kill 99 percent of viruses, including the coronavirus.

“It kills all viruses, all bacteria, all fungus and will do it 100 percent of the time, all day, all night, seven days a week,” Argaman president Jeff Gabbay told CBN News. “You can wash it. You can bleach it. You can dye it. You can hit it with a baseball bat. It’s going to do its job.”

Israeli scientists use invisible soundwaves to inject copper particles, with antiviral properties, into cotton. These engineers then combine the ancient tradition of spinning cotton with today’s technology. The result is a mask far more effective than the standard N-95 mask used by millions.

The company is shipping these life-saving masks to Hong Kong.

Source CBN

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Klobuchar: Pro-Life Democrats Have a Place in the Party

Church and Ministry

Klobuchar: Pro-Life Democrats Have a Place in the Party

Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar has struck a different tone on abortion than her fellow presidential candidates, saying that pro-life Democrats are welcome.

On The View, Klobuchar told Megan McCain, “I am strongly pro-choice. I have always been pro-choice. But I believe we are a big tent party … we need to bring people in instead of shutting them out. That includes Independents right here in New Hampshire and moderate Republicans.”

Vocal pro-life supporter and Everybody Loves Raymond star Patricia Heaton responded to Klobuchar’s comments with confusion, according to Faithwire.

“I don’t understand why pro-life people want to know if they are ‘welcome’ to join the democrat party,” she said in a tweet. “Why would any civilized person want to support a barbaric platform that champions abortion for any reason through all nine months funded by taxpayers?” She also caveated her tweet with: “P.S. I didn’t vote in the last presidential cycle and will not be voting in this one. I am not a Trump supporter.”

As the Democratic candidates grapple for voters, views on abortion have become more divisive.

In a recent event, Bernie Sanders voiced his belief that being pro-choice is “absolutely essential” to being a Democrat, as previously reported by Christian Headlines. “In the Senate, probably 95 percent of the Democrats are pro-choice. You have a few who are not in…