On Tuesday morning, an American missionary pilot perished in a plane crash.

According to The Christian Post, Joyce Lin, 40, was en route to deliver supplies to remote Indonesian villages battling the novel coronavirus when her plane went down.

Lin worked as a pilot for The Mission Aviation Fellowship delivering humanitarian aid, Bible translators and missionaries to some of the world’s most remote areas. She also worked as an IT specialist for the ministry.

“The Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) family is deeply saddened by the loss of their colleague and friend, Joyce Lin”, MAF said in a statement Tuesday.

Reportedly, Lin had taken off from the Sentani, Papua, Indonesia airport Tuesday morning to deliver goods to “the village of Mamit in the Papua highlands.” The plane was carrying “COVID-19 rapid test kits for the local clinic.”

Despite travel restrictions in Indonesia due to COVID-19, MAF was granted permission in flying cargo and helping people with medical emergencies.

According to the statement from MAF, “within minutes of takeoff, [Lin] reported an emergency and the aircraft descended into Lake Sentani. Joyce was the only person on the airplane.”

According to police spokesman Ahmad Musthofa Kamal Papua, Lin reported having technical issues two minutes after takeoff, NBC 4 reports.

The pilot had requested to return to the airport, but the control tower had…

Roughly half of weekly churchgoers in the United States believe President Trump was “anointed by God,” according to a new survey that also shows many weekly churchgoers also believe “all presidents” are anointed by God.

The survey by Paul A. Djupe of Denison University and Ryan P. Burge of Eastern Illinois University shows an increase from 2019 among white Protestant churchgoers who believe Trump was “anointed by God to become president of the United States.”

Last year, 29.6 percent of white Protestants who attend church weekly affirmed the statement, while this year, 49.5 percent of the same group said they believe Trump was anointed by God.

But this belief isn’t confined to white Protestants. A total of 49.1 percent of weekly churchgoers who are not white Protestants in this year’s survey said they believe Trump was anointed by God. The survey was conducted in March.

“White Protestants are NOT distinctive in their beliefs in Trump’s anointing,” Djupe and Burge wrote in a May 11 blog. “… The religious significance of the presidency is swelling across the board for the religious, indicating further polarization along religious and partisan lines is continuing.”

Still, many churchgoers apply this belief to all presidents – not just Trump. Although 49.5 percent of white Protestants who attend church weekly believe Trump was anointed by God, 34…

Evangelist Franklin Graham says he supports Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO, for his decision to reopen a manufacturing plant in California regardless of local shelter-in-place rules.

“I don’t know Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, but I like that he’s standing up for his rights, which are your rights too,” wrote Graham.

“He’s been trying to get his car manufacturing plant in California opened back up and get his employees back to work, but the bureaucrats want to keep him shut down even when his competitors in other parts of the country are able to go back to work.”

Musk announced this week that he would reopen his Fremont, California plant despite a local shelter-in-place order.

“Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules,” Musk tweeted. “I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.”

Graham, who leads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, posted his message on Facebook earlier this week, saying it’s time for the country to reopen albeit carefully.

“I like his stand!” Graham said. “I think the majority of Americans agree that it’s time to get the country opened back up, as long as it’s done with caution — don’t you?”

Alameda County says Musk’s plant has reopened beyond the “Minimum Basic Operations” allowed by the order.

“We…

(RNS) — The Poor People’s Campaign, a grassroots group with branches in more than 40 states, is urging resistance to or noncooperation with state plans calling for the reopening of the economy just weeks after the coronavirus put most of the country on lockdown. 

In its new slogan, the campaign, co-chaired by two Christian ministers, is asking its followers to “Stay in Place, Stay Alive, Organize, and Don’t Believe the Lies.”

The campaign urges Congress, the president and state governors to follow the recommendations of public health experts and not risk a resurgence of the virus, which is disproportionately affecting poor, uninsured, low-wage laborers, many of them “essential workers” who have no alternative but to go to risky jobs that make them vulnerable to the virus. 

“These plans to reopen show no regard for human life,” said the Rev. Liz Theoharis, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, during an online news conference on Wednesday (May 13). “They’re prioritizing the profit of the few over the needs of the majority.”

The Poor People’s Campaign has long demanded that the government provide health care and paid sick leave for all. Theoharis also called for a universal guaranteed adequate income for all.

The campaign is planning a day of action on May 21 that will include a call-in to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch…

(RNS) — As houses of worship remain closed due to shelter-in-place orders across most of the United States, and significant numbers of them stream their worship services online, clergy and others are no doubt asking how well virtual delivery is feeding the faith of their members. 

Some answers can be had from a Pew Research Center (via the Roper Center) survey conducted April 20-26, in which Americans were asked about their religious faith and how their houses of worship have reacted to the changes brought about by  COVID-19.

The first bit of good news is how many people said their houses of worship were able to go online. Of those affiliated with a religious tradition, 81.2% indicated that their house of worship had shifted to broadcasting services over the internet.

Even better from the clergy’s point of view is that their members who have gone online report a larger growth in faith than those whose services have not moved to online streaming. Of those who had moved online, 42.4% said that their faith had grown stronger. For those without an online service to watch, the share of those who said that their faith had grown was a more modest 30.9%. Only very small shares of either group said that their faith had gotten weaker because of COVID-19.

It’s perhaps little surprise that the beneficial effect of online worship is especially true for those who attended services most frequently before the…