Vatican Treaty Officially Recognizes Palestinian State; Israel ‘Disappointed’ But This Is Nothing New?

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Vatican Treaty Officially Recognizes Palestinian State; Israel ‘Disappointed’ But This Is Nothing New?

pope francis (Photo: Reuters/Mheisen Amareen)

Christian Post Report – Pope Francis touches the wall that divides Israel from the West Bank, on his way to celebrate a mass in Manger Square next to the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank city of Bethlehem May 25, 2014. Pope Francis made a surprise stop at the hulking wall Palestinians see as a symbol of Israeli oppression on Sunday, minutes after begging both sides to end a conflict that he said was no longer acceptable.

The Vatican officially recognized the Palestinian state in a new treaty Wednesday. Israel expressed “disappointment” and accused the Catholic Church of hurting peace prospects in the region.

“Yes, it’s a recognition that the state exists,” the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, told reporters, according to The Associated Press.

The treaty concerns the Catholic Church’s activities in that territory and both parties are expected to sign it soon.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry responded by saying it was “disappointed,” explaining that it would not “promote the peace process” but instead distance the Palestinian leadership “from returning to direct and bilateral negotiations.”

“Israel will study the agreement and will consider its steps accordingly,” it added, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to visit Pope Francis at the Vatican on Sunday.

Even after the U.N. General Assembly recognized a Palestinian state in 2012, the Vatican — under the leadership of Pope Francis’ predecessor — welcomed the decision, which was opposed by Israel and the United States. Since then, the Vatican has referred to the territory as “State of Palestine.”

There’s nothing new in it, writes John L. Allen Jr., associate editor of Crux, which covers the worldwide institution of the Catholic Church. And nor is it about statehood, he argues.

When the Vatican issued a news release in 2013 announcing the onset of negotiations with the Palestinians toward the agreement that’s now been finalized, it said the talks would be conducted with “representatives of the Foreign Ministry of the State of Palestine,” Allen says, and explains that since the onset of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, the Vatican has favored a two-state solution, with security guarantees for Israel and self-determination for the Palestinians.

The Vatican is also in favor of a special status for Jerusalem, including protection for the holy sites sacred to the three monotheistic faiths, he adds.

The treaty largely concerns the tax and legal status of Catholic facilities and personnel on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, building on a basic accord reached between the Vatican and the Palestinian Liberation Organization in 2000, Allen explains. “At most, it’s a confirmation that the Vatican under Francis is not backing away from a position it had already taken.”

During the fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip earlier this year, Pope Francis broke off from his scripted weekly Angelus address and said, “Please stop,” pleading for peace in the world.

“Brothers and sisters, never war, never war! I am thinking above all of children, who are deprived of the hope of a worthwhile life, of a future,” the pontiff said in Saint Peter’s Square in February, speaking of the centenary of the World War I.

“I think especially of the children whose hopes for a dignified future are taken from them, dead children, injured and mutilated children, orphans and children who have bits of weapons as toys, children who don’t know how to smile,” he said.

At a ceremony attended by Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Abbas in the Vatican Gardens at the Vatican last June, Francis said God alone can bring peace to the Holy Land and that it is the “evil one” who is blocking it.

“More than once we have been on the verge of peace, but the evil one, employing a variety of means, has succeeded in blocking it,” the pope said. “That is why we are here, because we know and we believe that we need the help of God.”

Source : Christian Post

Iraqi Nun Displaced by ISIS to Congress: Christians in Iraq Have ‘No Identity’ in the Midst of Jihadis’ Quest to ‘Wipe Earth Clean’ of Christian Existence

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Iraqi Nun Displaced by ISIS to Congress: Christians in Iraq Have ‘No Identity’ in the Midst of Jihadis’ Quest to ‘Wipe Earth Clean’ of Christian Existence

Sister Diana Momeka (Photo: The Christian Post/Samuel Smith)

Christian Post Report – Sister Diana Momeka (left), an Iraqi nun, testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on May 13, 2015 at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington D.C.

WASHINGTON – An Iraqi nun who has been displaced by the Islamic State terrorist organization told members of Congress on Wednesday that Christians in Iraq have lost everything, including their own dignity and history, as ISIS continues its quest to completely erase evidence of Christianity’s existence in the region.

Sister Diana Momeka, who was at the center of a recent State Department visa controversy, testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and said that although it has been nearly a year since ISIS took over most of the Nineveh Plains in northern Iraq, Christian Iraqi citizens are still in dire need of assistance in liberating their lands.

Momeka, who works with the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena, fled from Qaraqosh to the Kurdish-protected north last summer upon ISIS’ rapid takeover of the Mosul region.

Momeka explained in the hearing that she is just one of over 120,000 civilians who left their homes and property behind to flee to Kurdistan to escape from the atrocities committed by the terrorist group.

Although Momeka explained that Christians were the first people group to settle in the Nineveh Plains, she asserted that the only Christians that are left there are the ones that have already been caught by ISIS.

“Why should we leave our country? What have we done? The Christians of Iraq are the first people of the land,” Momeka said. “Uprooted and forcefully displaced, we have realized that ISIS’ plan is to evacuate the land of Christians and wipe the earth clean of any evidence that we existed. This is cultural and human genocide. The only Christians that remain in the Plain of Nineveh are those who are held hostage.”

Although Momeka admitted that Christians in the region have long been persecuted throughout their 2,000-year history, the persecution that Christians in the region are seeing now is the worst Christians have ever seen.

“While our ancestors experienced all kinds of persecution, they stayed in their land, building a culture that has served humanity for the ages,” Momeka stated. “But the current persecution that our community is facing is the most brutal in our history. Not only have we been robbed of our homes, property and land, but our heritage is being destroyed as well. ISIS has and continues to demolish and bomb our churches, cultural artifacts and sacred places like Mar Behnam and his Sister Sara, a fourth century monastery, and St. George’s Monastery in Mosul.”

Congress (Photo: The Christian Post/Samuel Smith)

Katharyn Hanson, a fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Museum’s Cultural Heritage Center, testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on May 13, 2015 in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C.

Also speaking at the hearing was Katharyn Hanson, a fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Museum’s Cultural Heritage Center who has expertise in ISIS’ destruction of Iraq’s cultural heritage.

Hanson listed a number of ancient religious and cultural sites and artifacts that have been destroyed by ISIS. She mentioned how last June ISIS destroyed the tomb of the Prophet Jonah. She also mentioned how ISIS has recently released videos showing the destruction of seventh-century sculptures that were highly regarded by today’s Assyrian Christians.

“While these statues represented the power of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in ancient times, today, they often serve as important symbols to the modern Assyrian Christian population,” Hanson said. “ISIS’ defacement of [the statues] is therefore intended to terrorize the present-day Christian community while simultaneously destroying an ancient artifact.”

When asked by the committee’s ranking member, Rep. Eliot Engel, D-New York, what impact ISIS’ destruction of Christian holy sites has had on internally displaced Assyrian Christians, Momeka asserted that it signifies that Christians in the region have “lost everything,” even their 2,000-year history.

“We lost everything and today, every Christian that is living in the region of Kurdistan, we don’t feel that dignity anymore,” Momeka explained. “When you lose your home, you lose everything you have, you lose your heritage and culture, you become with no identity. Today, that is how we see ourselves.”

“The most crucial part to us is when we saw on TV the two monasteries — where one was bombed and another was destroyed,” she continued. “This was the sign for us that [our] history is gone. [We] are nothing anymore. That’s how we feel right now — homeless.”

Source : Christian Post

The Newsboys Receive First Platinum Certification From Recording Industry Association of America

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The Newsboys Receive First Platinum Certification From Recording Industry Association of America

Newsboys (Photo: Newsboys)

Christian Post Report – (L-R) Jody Davis, Jeff Frankenstein, Duncan Phillips and Michael Tait are Newsboys.

The Newsboys may have formed almost three decades ago, but the Christian pop rock band is enjoying the fruits of their labor like never before with their first platinum record.

The group, consisting of Duncan Phillips, Jody Davis, Jeff Frankenstein and Michael Tait have officially received a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America for their song “God’s Not Dead (Like A Lion).” The song, released on the independent contemporary Christian music record label Inpop Records, is one of the first platinum certifications in Christian music this year, which means it has sold at least 1 million units.

Mark Lusk, president of Inpop Records, spoke about the importance of the Daniel Bashta written record “God’s Not Dead,” which was released in 2011.

“‘God’s Not Dead’ is among Christian music’s most significant songs of the decade,” Lusk said in a statement shared with The Christian Post. “Newsboys’ impassioned performance of Daniel’s powerfully-penned statement of truth is not only a defining song in Inpop’s history, but it continues to encourage people around the world to stand for Christ.”

Although Newsboys have sold over 8 million units, garnered eight gold certifications with 33 No. 1 radio hits with numerous Dove awards and Grammy nominations, the group’s first platinum track is a milestone in their career.

In an interview with CP earlier this year, the group’s drummer Duncan Phillips spoke about how meaningful each accomplishment is for the band.

“To be in it as long as we have and to kind of be riding the success level that we are, I don’t take it for granted. We’re all stoking so hard saying I can’t believe it,” he told CP. “People still want to come see us play. I’m the most excited about this band than I’ve ever been in my life.”

Source : Christian Post

UN Experts Say Paraguay Failed 10-Y-O Girl Impregnated by Stepfather by Denying Her Late-Term Abortion

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UN Experts Say Paraguay Failed 10-Y-O Girl Impregnated by Stepfather by Denying Her Late-Term Abortion

Paraguay (Photo: Reuters/Jorge Adorno)

Christian Post Report – Paraguay’s strict abortion laws only allow the procedure under life-threatening circumstances.

United Nations experts said Monday that a controversial decision by Paraguayan authorities to not perform an abortion on a 10-year-old girl who’s now six months pregnant after being repeatedly raped by her stepfather has placed the unidentified child in grave danger, but local officials contend that allowing the abortion could claim her life as well.

“The Paraguayan authorities’ decision results in grave violations of the rights to life, to health, and to physical and mental integrity of the girl as well as her right to education, jeopardizing her economic and social opportunities,” four U.N. Special Procedures’ experts of the Human Rights Council warned Monday.

“Despite requests made by the girl’s mother and medical experts to terminate this pregnancy which puts the girl’s life at risk, the State failed to take measures to protect the health as well as the physical and mental integrity and even the life of the 10-year-old girl,” they continued. “No proper interdisciplinary and independent expert assessment with the aim to insure the girl’s best interests was done before overturning life-saving treatments, including abortion.”

Lida Sosa, director of healthcare programs at Paraguay’s Ministry of Public health and Wellness said, however, that there is no indication right now that the young girl’s pregnancy is life-threatening.

“Right now, there is no reason to interrupt the pregnancy,” Sosa told The Guardian.

“In fact, given the stage of the pregnancy, it’s even more dangerous for the girl to undergo a procedure [to abort] without a well-considered medical, obstetrical evaluation,” she added.

The decision rendered by Paraguayan authorities has sparked an outcry from Amnesty International and abortion activists. The unidentified 10-year-old is one of three children who shared a rented room in the city of Luque with her mother and stepfather, according to reports.

The girl’s mother, who’s a cafeteria worker, reported in January 2014 that her husband was sexual abusing her daughter, but authorities allegedly offered no help.

Last month, the girl’s mother took her to the hospital thinking that she had a tumor after her stomach started to ache and swell. When doctors revealed that the girl was six month pregnant, her mother requested an abortion but the procedure is prohibited in Paraguay unless the pregnancy is life-threatening.

The girl is now in a shelter and her mother was imprisoned on April 27 on a charge of failing in her duty of care. Further charges are being considered and the stepfather, who was on the run, has since been arrested.

Contact: [email protected]; follow me on Twitter @leoblair

Source : Christian Post

‘Jesus Has Done the Work;’ Carl Lentz Urges Christians to ‘Occupy All Streets With the Light of the Gospel’

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‘Jesus Has Done the Work;’ Carl Lentz Urges Christians to ‘Occupy All Streets With the Light of the Gospel’

Carl Lentz (Photo: YouTube screengrab)

Christian Post Report – Carl Lentz presented at Passion Conference 2015.

Hillsong NYC Pastor Carl Lentz wants Christians to “occupy all streets” with the light of the gospel like Jesus did. “There should be no campus, there should be no prison, there should be no back alley, no ghetto, no village that has not heard the goodness of our God,” he says.

Speaking at the debut of Passion Conference 2015 “a gathering of 18-25 year olds and their leaders,” hosted by Passion City Church in January, Lentz urged the young believers of the Gospel to take the Word of God to the streets like Jesus did in a recording of the event released this week via Air1.

“Jesus has done the work, He saved our lives, and we have a pretty clear call, which is to shine,” said Lentz in the video. “I’ve called this message here this afternoon – occupy all streets.”

The 36-year-old pastor, who leads Hillsong NYC with Hillsong United frontman Joel Houston, went on to explain the directive to “occupy all streets,” comparing it to Jesus’ example of “ministering to everybody.”

“There were no streets that Jesus Christ did not impact,” Lentz continued. “If you were poor, Jesus was coming for you, if you were rich, Jesus was not afraid of you, if you were a leper, Jesus was laying down with you until you got well, if you were an outcast, Jesus spent his whole life reminding people that ‘I came for you.’ I believe in that same way, what is represented in this room is the ability for us to occupy all streets with the light of the gospel.”

Lentz further noted: “there should be no campus, there should be no prison, there should be no back alley, no ghetto, no village that has not heard the goodness of our God.”

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  • Carl Lentz
    (Photo: YouTube screengrab)
    Carl Lentz presented during Passion Conference 2015.
  • Carl Lentz
    (Photo: YouTube screengrab)
    Carl Lentz presented during Passion Conference 2015.

“If we can shine this light, we can see God do something in our lifetimes that we have yet to even imagine – occupy all streets,” he added.

Lentz was joined at Passion 2015 by other popular Christian leaders including Passion City Church Pastor Louie Giglio, Pastor Matt Chandler of The Village Church, and Grammy Award-wining Christian hip-hop artist, Lecrae. The series of conferences are aimed at helping “a generation leverage their lives for what matters most,” according to the website. Over 20,000 university students attended the first Passion 2015 Conference held in Atlanta, Georgia and tickets to next year’s Passion 2016 are available for $139 through September.

“To live in such a way that their journey on earth counts for what is most important in the end – for us at Passion, that’s the fame of the One who rescues and restores, and the privilege we have to amplify His name in everything we do,” reads the Passion website.

Watch Lentz’s Passion 2015 presentation on YouTube here.

Source : Christian Post

Tina Campbell’s Debut Album ‘It’s Personal’ Misses Launch Date and Gospel Singer Doesn’t Know Why

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Tina Campbell’s Debut Album ‘It’s Personal’ Misses Launch Date and Gospel Singer Doesn’t Know Why

Tina Campbel (Photo: AMC Networks)

Christian Post Report – Mary Mary’s Tina Campbell

Gospel star Tina Campbell has missed the launch date for her debut album “It’s Personal” by nearly a week and the inspiring songbird is now saying she has no idea when the album that should have been released on May 7 will be available to fans.

The 41-year-old singer who is one-half of the gospel music group Mary Mary, has been vocal about her range of emotions leading up to the release of her solo music. Now with the delayed release of the highly touted album, the singer says she’s watching and waiting to see what happens with the project like everyone else.

“I wish I had answers for exactly when my CD will be available but the truth is, I’m waiting and expecting just like all the fans. I suppose I’m learning about all the unexpected twists and turns of being independent, all while everyone, including me, watches and waits,” Campbell wrote on Twitter. “My plan didn’t go as planned for a May 7 album release. I sure didn’t intend to disappoint.”

The singer revealed that she was relying on God to handle the situation.

“When you’ve done all u can, u just rest in God’s plan. On that note, I’m resting my head,” she wrote. “Thanks for your patience. I pray the whole world feels it was worth the wait once it finally hits.”

Despite the delay of the album, Campbell’s book “I Need A Day To Pray” was released May 7. Some well-known family members such as her husband Teddy Campbell, sister Erica Campbell, brother-in-law Warryn Campbell, and mother Honey Atkins are expected to be featured on the album.

Earlier this month, Campbell took to Instagram to reveal some of the struggles she has been facing regarding her solo music.

“I’ve been fighting discouragement for three weeks because I’m doing something I’ve never done before with limited experience, expertise, resources, and help to do it. Setbacks have worked to distract and discourage me,” Campbell wrote on Instagram. “Sometimes I’ve fallen back but I wake up everyday and choose to move forward because God is with me and if God be for me, who can be against me-1 John 4:4.”

She however later explained why she chose to be encouraged.

“Today I am encouraged because THE ULTIMATE ENCOURAGER ‘THE HOLY SPIRIT’ LIVES INSIDE OF ME and I’m choosing to tap into that and ignore everything else that conflicts with it-Isaiah 41:10 Deuteronomy 31.8, Joshua 1:9,” Campbell wrote. “God is more than amazing, more than able, and more than willing to manifest His love, His grace, and His power in my life and yours. All of you who have already began to support this project have encouraged me more than I can explain.”

Source : Christian Post

Christianity Is Not Dying; Reports Pointing to Decline of Church Are Skewing Data, Says Baylor University Scholars

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Christianity Is Not Dying; Reports Pointing to Decline of Church Are Skewing Data, Says Baylor University Scholars

Sergio de la Mora (Photo: Cornerstone Church of San Diego)

Christian Post Report – Pastor Sergio de la Mora speaking to his congregation, Cornerstone Church of San Diego, during The Heart Revolution conference

Contrary to recent reports based on studies which emphasize the growth of non-religious people in the U.S. and the decline of church attendance, Christianity in America is not dying, according to a new survey that examines the nuances and complexities of how people self-identify with faith by Texas-based Baylor University.

Scholars from Baylor University’s Institute of Religion said during a recent conference that reports highlighting the departure of Millenials from the organized religion of their parents are being greatly exaggerated and writers are not reporting on what’s actually happening.

“There’s a story some people want to report – that religion is on life support – but it’s just not true,” said Byron Johnson, professor of the social sciences at Baylor and founding director of the Institute for Studies of Religion.

Johnson explains in The Baylor Religion Survey that surveys reporting a massive exodus of Millenials from religion are misinterpreting the data. Many of these young adults have only stopped attending church for a few years or identify with a non-denominational church rather than a mainline denomination and have not abandoned Christianity.

While mainline Protestant denominations have declined 49 percent from 1960 to 2000, evangelicals and other religious groups have grown at a faster rate, according to Johnson. Religious “switching,” or people moving from one tradition to another is not being considered by many researchers and reporters.

The Baylor Religion Survey explores the nuances and complexities of how people self-identify with faith and asks follow-up questions of people who indicated “no religion.” Many of these same people identified with specific congregations.

“When they do list a church, it’s often high-octane religion such as non-denominational evangelical congregations,” said Johnson.

A recent Pew Survey, pointed to the decline of the Christian population in the U.S. The drop in the number of Christians was most evident among young adults.

The data, which examined religious affiliation from 2007 to 2014 showed that the shrinking population of Christians in the U.S. was due to the decline of Catholics and mainline Protestants. The number of people identifying as evangelicals saw a very small decrease during those years dropping from 26.3 percent to 25.4 percent.

The unaffiliated category saw an increase from 12.1 to 15.8 percent and atheism grew from 1.6 percent in 2007 to 3.1 percent in 2014.

Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention recently addressed the Pew study and said the perceived increase of “nones” and decrease of Christians is “good news” for the church.

“Christianity isn’t normal anymore. It never should have been. The increasing strangeness of Christianity might be bad news for America, but it’s good news for the church,” said Moore. “The major newspapers are telling us today that Christianity is dying, according to this new study, but what is clear from this study is exactly the opposite: while mainline traditions plummet, evangelical churches are remaining remarkably steady.”

Moore also stated that the rise of honest atheists in America that can be seen in the Pew Study shows that people are rejecting “almost-Christianity,” or traditions that “jettison the historic teachings of the church as soon as they become unfashionable.”

“The churches that are thriving are vibrant, countercultural congregations that aren’t afraid to not be seen as normal to the surrounding culture,” he said. “This report actually leaves me hopeful.”

Contact: [email protected]; follow me on Twitter @vinfunaro

Source : Christian Post

‘They Have Lost Every Means of Dignity’ — Princess Modupe Ozolua Calls on International Community to Help in Project Rebuilding Lives for Thousands of Boko Haram Victims (Interview)

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‘They Have Lost Every Means of Dignity’ — Princess Modupe Ozolua Calls on International Community to Help in Project Rebuilding Lives for Thousands of Boko Haram Victims (Interview)

<b>Christian Post Report</b> – A beneficiary receiving items needed to start her own business making traditional caps in Gombe State, Nigeria.” title=”<b>Christian Post Report</b> – A beneficiary receiving items needed to start her own business making traditional caps in Gombe State, Nigeria.” name=”jpg” src=”http://images.christianpost.com/full/83669/a-beneficiary-receiving-items-needed-to-start-her-own-business-making-traditional-caps-in-gombe-state-nigeria.jpg” class=”imgPhoto” width=”550″ height=”450″ /> <small class=(Photo: http://www.b-efoundation.org)

Christian Post Report – A beneficiary receiving items needed to start her own business making traditional caps in Gombe State, Nigeria.

Princess Modupe Ozolua, an entrepreneur and philanthropist from the royal family of the Benin Kingdom in Edo State, Nigeria, has called on the international community to get involved in a project seeking to help the victims of Boko Haram rebuild their lives.

Ozolua said that campaigns such as BringBackOurGirls have been good for raising awareness on the issue, but argued that the thousands of women and children affected by Boko Haram also need help, not just the kidnapped Chibok girls.

“What is most important for people to understand is that this is a very serious issue. These are men, women and children. When we go to the camps, and see everyone crying, we think ‘Oh God, this is such a mess.’ But the truth is it can happen to anybody,” Ozolua told The Christian Post in a phone interview on Tuesday.

You have these people who have just lost everything, who have witnessed their families being killed before their eyes. They have lost every means of dignity, everything they knew.”

Ozolua serves as the CEO of the Body Enhancement Foundation, which helps restore lives of underprivileged people in Africa through modern medicine, education, self-empowerment, rehabilitation programs and food drives.

Her latest campaign is seeking to provide real means for victims of Boko Haram to get back on their feet and start rebuilding their lives, and as part of the cause has started a GoFundme page where people can donate money.

Nearly 700 hostages were rescued from Boko Haram in the past few weeks following raids by the Nigerian army in the Sambisa forest, while thousands of women and children have suffered due to the terror group.

The Islamic militants have been carrying out attacks in Nigeria since 2009, and have kidnapped large groups of women and children on a number of occasions.

The greatest international attention has fallen on a group of over 200 schoolgirls kidnapped from a school in Chibok in April 2014, which sparked the BringBackOurGirls social media campaign.

Ozolua told CP that although the campaign was good at raising awareness for the issue, often times international news coverage fails to reflect that the Chibok girls are only a small number of all the women and children that have been taken by Boko Haram in Nigeria.

“It’s great that the BringBackOurGirls campaign raised awareness for the Chibok girls, but the negative effect was that it drew attention away from every other person — and you have over 1.5 million people that have been displaced,” she said.

“That’s not the intention of the BringBackOurGirls campaign of course, but that’s what happened.”

Nearly 200 girls and 93 women were rescued in the Sambisa forest in April following a rescue raid, but media attention failed to point out that they are not the Chibok girls kidnapped last year.

“What about all the others who don’t end up in the papers? Even in the camps you have people from Chibok — you have people from all over the northeastern area of Nigeria that have lost everything,” Ozolua said.

The Body Enhancement Foundation CEO added that it’s unfortunate that some people are only interested in taking pictures or hearing stories about the victims of Boko Haram at the rescue camps, but are not willing to help out in a meaningful way.

She said that a major problem is that after the victims are rescued and checked out at hospitals, they are usually sent back to the camps, where there is little in the way of a future for them.

“We are the only ones talking about this in Nigeria. We’re giving them money, helping them acquire farmland, making sure they have all they need so they can start being able to fend for themselves,” Ozolua continued.

“We are focusing on the women, helping them get the machinery or whatever it is that they need to be able to start earning a living. The truth is, every woman is responsible for her kids, whether she is married or not. Those who don’t have any skills, we put them through an educational or a training program — and in turn they can also understand the importance of being self-reliant, and put their kids through school.”

Food and necessities distribution in Edo State, Nigeria. (Photo: http://www.b-efoundation.org)

Food and necessities distribution in Edo State, Nigeria.

She highlighted that it is crucial for children to go back to school, and for the schools to be rebuilt.

“Education for the children is very important, because when a child is educated and has a purpose and a goal in life, they are hopefully less likely to want to join a terrorist group and commit crimes. They are less likely to be brainwashed and find reasons to go kill the next person.”

Ozolua said that her organization has been active in Africa since 2003, and has been offering free reconstructive surgery to people in need.

“We started with a huge medical mission, pretty much anybody that showed up where we operated the missions was treated for free. Along the way we started doing food drives because of the great deal of poverty here,” she said.

“Early on this year, we became involved with the victims, with the survivors of Boko Haram, because it is a major issue. Personally, I think that everybody should be involved in helping the survivors.”

Ozolua highlighted that although government officials provide relief to the victims in terms of food and other necessities, a real plan for getting people back on their feet is needed.

“Of course they need [those supplies], but it’s beyond that. That is not going to re-integrate them into society. It’s not going to help them rebuild their lives. We should look at tackling the problem from the grassroots, and look at self-improvement. Which means helping these people regain some dignity through self-empowerment, and enable them to start earning income, so they can get themselves out of those camps.”

Boko Haram militants have been pushed back by the army from their previously held bases in the past several months, a trend which has coincided with the election of Nigeria’s next president, retired General Muhammadu Buhari.

Buhari has vowed to take a hard stand on Boko Haram and eradicate the terror group from the country, which is a hope most Nigerians share, Ozolua said.

“I think we all generally share the same feeling that General Buhari will sort things out. He is a disciplinarian, and he has a background in the army. His hope is that he will be able to hold the Nigerian army responsible and get to explain why this [war] got so far in the first place.”

She said she is skeptical about Boko Haram disappearing completely, however, especially in light of the militants pledging their allegiance to terror group ISIS, which is active in Iraq and Syria.

“Are they going to disappear completely? Personally, I think they are going to regroup, and so it will be a question of minimizing their activities. We are very hopeful, because too many lives have been lost, and too much has been compromised.”

Ozolua noted that the government is saying it’s winning the war and is encouraging people to go back to their villages, but the problem is the people have almost nothing to go back to, given the level of destruction Boko Haram has left behind.

“Everything is leveled to the ground, they don’t leave any animals behind, everything is destroyed. So the villagers go back to what, exactly?” she asked.

Ozolua noted that this is precisely why the Body Enhancement Foundation is working to support victims rebuild their lives, and is counting on people to join the cause and help in the mission.

“That’s what we’re trying to do, and we need the whole world to understand this, and help and support us to make this happen. It’s a humanity issue,” she concluded.

Source : Christian Post

A Preacher of Righteousness

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Christian Post Report – Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
— 1 Corinthians 3:5-6

  • Greg Laurie
    (Photo: rever Hoehne for Harvest Ministries)
    Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California and Harvest Orange County in Irvine, California, shares the Gospel with a sold-out crowd of 19,000 for Harvest America at the American Airlines Center and Victory Park in Dallas, Texas, Oct. 5, 2014.

George Smith thought his ministry was a failure. He felt called to Africa, but he was only there for a short time as a missionary when he was driven from the country. He left behind one convert, a woman. Not long after that, George Smith died on his knees, praying for Africa.

Some years later, a group of men stumbled onto the place in Africa where George Smith had ministered. They found a copy of the Scriptures he had left behind, and they met the one convert of his ministry, who led them to the Lord. Later a missions organization did a study and determined that 100 years after George Smith left Africa, 13,000 people had come to faith through his ministry as one person reached another, who reached another, and so on.

The Bible calls Noah “a preacher of righteousness” (see 2 Peter 2:5), yet he lived for 120 years without ever seeing a single convert. He stands as an example of all those faithful witnesses out there who don’t see a lot of results.

Are you one of those people? Maybe you have been talking to your family for years, and not one has come to believe in Jesus. Maybe you have shared your faith with your neighbors and coworkers but have never had anyone believe as a result of your testimony. You feel that you’re the worst evangelist of all time.

But it isn’t over until it’s over. Your job is to be faithful. Your job is to do your part and leave the results in the hands of God. When we stand before the Lord one day, it isn’t going to be about quantity; it is going to be about why and if you were faithful to do what the Lord set before you to do.

Copyright © 2015 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000

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Source : Christian Post

Mentally Ill Mother of 8 Killed During Islamic Exorcism in Morocco; Exorcist Tortured Woman to Drive Out Demons

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Mentally Ill Mother of 8 Killed During Islamic Exorcism in Morocco; Exorcist Tortured Woman to Drive Out Demons

Morocco (Photo: Reuters/Stringer)

Christian Post Report – Women shout slogans during an International Women’s Day rally in Rabat, Morocco, March 8, 2015.

A mentally ill Moroccan mother of eight was killed after being repeatedly beaten with a stick by an Islamic exorcist who had been asked by her relatives to perform the ceremony to cast out “demons” from her.

The woman, in her 40s, who was from Douar Beni Salah village in northern Morocco’s Tetouan region, had several sessions under the same exorcist, who tortured her each time as he sought to drive out demons, according to Morocco World News.

The Fqih, as the exorcists are called, would recite verses from the Quran, and hit her with a stick all over her body with the help of his four assistants.

Police have arrested the exorcist and his assistants and an investigation has been launched.

Exorcism, prevalent in some Islamic societies, is called Ruqyah, an Arabic word, and it includes specific verses from the Quran and incantations that the Muslim prophet Muhammad said in Hadith, according to islamicexorcism.com.

In 2012, a court in Brussels held a trial of six people charged with the murder of a young Muslim woman while performing an exorcism, according to Al Arabiya News.

The woman was told she couldn’t have children because she was possessed. She could not survive the severe punishment the exorcism entailed and subsequently died.

The accused included the exorcist, who was also from Morocco, his disciple, the victim’s husband, and three female members of a radical Muslim group.

The ceremony included exorcists putting their fingers down the woman’s throat, forcing her to bathe with hot water and beating her with a stick.

A popular shrine in Morocco, known as Bouya Omar, is known for its exorcism activities where patients are beaten, starved and chained, according to a report in Arabiya News.

Families are unable to object to the brutality the patients are subjected to because residents of the shrine usually display violent and aggressive behavior, a psychologist, Abdul-Majid Komi, was quoted as saying.

Source : Christian Post

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