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SEPTEMBER 2016
PERSECU ION Off With Their
Heads The Orlando shooting released a river of hatred directed at Christians by a coalition of haters. Unpacking this insanity gives shocking insight into the persecution we see growing in American culture.
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SEPTEMBER 2016
The Bridge 2016
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Feature Article
Revive-Build-Connect
The Bridge The Annual Conference on the Persecuted Church By Jeff King, ICC President
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The Bridge attendees gather in the main lobby between keynote addresses. In its inaugural year, 300+ people attended The Bridge.
his summer, an Arab who used to be a terrorist linked arms with an American pastor, a three-star US general, a Middle Eastern evangelist, a Muslim surgeon, and a Jewish politician to cross a bridge together. This sounds like an impossibility in this time of racial dissension, religious animosity, and radical terrorism…but it is exactly what happened on July 7, 8, and 9 at ICC’s “The Bridge”
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conference. We brought together politicians, government leaders, pastors, laypeople, and numerous organizations that serve the persecuted to revive, build, and connect the worldwide Church.
To Build A Bridge
We brought them all together to build a bridge to cross the massive gulf dividing the Western Church from the persecuted Church. Separated from the persecuted by time, powerful governments, distance, money, church apathy, and spiritual authorities, we feel it is vital to wake the Western Church to properly serve the persecuted. In light of the historic threat facing Christians in the SEPTEMBER 2016
THE BRIDGE
THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON THE PERSECUTED CHURCH
Congressmen, analysts, and nongovernmental organization leaders prepare to present to a room full of government officials and staff members in the US Capitol Building during The Bridge’s advocacy day.
“It was extremely powerful, I will ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON THE PERSECUTED CHURCH never be the same. I CONNECTING PASTORS WITH THE PERSECUTED CHURCH was aware of many of the issues, but this drove them home for me.” Middle East and here in North America, we must take down the organizational and societal barriers that separate the Body and work together to fight the historic threat facing the Church in the Middle East and the growing threat within the West.
Not The Smartest?
Brother Rachid, the world’s leading evangelist to Muslims presents a keynote address.
Amnesty International, Hudson Institute, Georgetown’s Religious Freedom Project and ICC at The Bridge’s Capitol Hill day.
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In normal times, the strategy of spending a lot of money to gather new and existing donors and expose them to other organizations would seem unorthodox at best. What Christians are facing though in Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, and Kenya, is deadly. We are also under a lesser siege at home. Desperate times call for desperate measures so we as an organization will not operate normally. We will take down the barriers that keep different organizations, churches, and political operatives, and government leaders separate. We will do our part to come before the Lord in unity and give our resources to the Body to further the cause of relieving persecution. I have found that when we operate in unity and give away rather than guard and hoard, that the Lord commands a blessing: “Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to” (Deuteronomy 15:10 NIV). For years, I served under the leadership of Paul Eshelman in The JESUS Film. I consistently saw this principle lived out as he gave away resources to serve the cause of advancing Christ around the world. His example moved the whole ship of Campus Crusade for Christ into this same role.
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THE BRIDGE
THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON THE PERSECUTED CHURCH
ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON THE PERSECUTED CHURCH
CONNECTING PASTORS WITH THE PERSECUTED CHURCH
Three Star General Boykin (ret.) spoke to The Bridge with an amazing call to wake up the Church in the US.
Interested in Bridge 2017? Go to www.thepersecutionconference.org to get on the list for more information! This impulse to give away either personally or as an organization is counterintuitive as we are all wired to advance our own cause and steward our resources first. Giving away our resources to help other organizations involved in persecution is the same principle you operate on when you tithe. It is an act of faith and trust, but when you practice it you see the Lord bless you in many unexpected ways. I discussed this principle and Paul Eshelman’s personal example to me with Erick Schenkel, the current leader of The JESUS Film, at The Bridge and he simply
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stated, “You cannot out-give God.”
Life Changing
The result of our work was something truly special. I’ve done persecution work for a long time, especially overseas where the presence of God is a present and palpable reality. Our whole staff felt the same thing as the Body (organizations, politicians, and churches of every stripe) came together in unity to serve the persecuted. His presence was deeply felt. Those attending felt the same and were deeply touched. Many of those attending used
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“It made me realize that no one can ever change without love.” the phrase “life-changing.” One woman whose brothers were killed in the attack on the World Trade Center came to me with tears in her eyes. She told me that she came to The Bridge hating Muslims but the conference deeply changed her - it brought her to a place of forgiveness and gave her a heart to reach Muslims for Christ. We asked other attendees what would keep them away from the conference next year and their response is a fitting ending. “The rapture or my death!”
SEPTEMBER 2016
THE BRIDGE
THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON THE PERSECUTED CHURCH
ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON THE PERSECUTED CHURCH
CONNECTING PASTORS WITH THE PERSECUTED CHURCH
The Bridge’s Social Media campaign
Jason Upton and band led worship all three days of the conference.
“Deeply affected me to pray even more. Gave me a burden to evangelize to Muslims.” Congressman Gus Bilirakis
Attendees wrote messages of prayer and praise between sessions.
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Dr. Ghafouri, a Kurdish doctor who works with ISIS victims, is interviewed.
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Remembering Garissa through Parents’
Eyes
During the funeral of Risper
Risper’s grave marker
Parents of slain Christian students share their pain, suffering and ultimate hope.
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By Troy Augustine and James Kake
parent’s worst nightmare is to lose their child. No parent can be prepared for this most catastrophic emotional trauma. Tragically, 148 Kenyan families today are still grieving the death of their children, most of them college students cut down in the prime of their lives on April 2, 2015. That’s when five gunmen from Somalibased radical Muslim terror group al-Shabaab stormed Garissa University in northeast Kenya murdering 148 college kids, most of them Christians.
Gut-wrenching Grief
Militants ruthlessly separated followers of Christ from Muslim students. They slaughtered Christians, execution style, when they boldly stood for Christ, or were unable to recite verses from the Quran. “[It was] a shock that will linger around for a long time,” Munoyoki told International Christian Concern (ICC) as he recalled the murder of his daughter, Philomena Kasyoka. “I received a call from my wife in Kenya about the terror attack, [and] that Philomena’s number [was] going unanswered,” he explained. “Grief covered our family and our hopes of finding Philomena alive when we were called to go to Chiromo mortuary.”
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Mary, Risper’s Mother
There, Munoyoki had to identify his daughter’s body. “The emotional turmoil was not helped by how disfigured the body had become,” Philomena’s mother, Beatrice, told ICC. “Philomena was shot at a close range, lying face-down on the ground. She had been shot multiple times in the head and her eyes gouged out. I fainted at the sight of her body.” Munoyoki’s and Beatrice’s heart-rending experience is sadly shared with the other 147 families in Garissa. Mary Mutua lost her daughter, Risper, in the attack. “[It is] a memory that lives forever. [She was] an obedient, hardworking child who loved God and people. Risper was the pride of our family, full of life and with a promising future.”
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SEPTEMBER 2016
“It’s one year after we buried Risper here in this tomb, but she will live in our hearts forever.” – MARY, RISPER’S MOTHER
Philomena’s grave marker
Mwendwa ‘s grave
Risper was killed when an assailant stormed her dorm room. She was one of six students murdered there. “We were woken up by relatives who got the news early enough,” Mary recalled to ICC. “Risper’s number was not going through. Parents were not allowed to travel to the university and so we waited for confirmation from the school. The whole day we were crying to the Lord to keep her safe. Little did we know that she was killed.” Like Munoyoki and Beatrice, Mary relives her worst nightmare as she remembers her lost daughter. Mwendwa Mwandikwa was another of the slain students. His mother still suffers from the trauma so deeply that she could not even speak to ICC when we visited her home in June 2016. Instead, Mwendwa’s twin brother, Julius, spoke for the family. “We grew together as brothers and life has since changed. Tears were flowing down my cheeks while I was carrying his picture, right ahead of his coffin, towards the grave,” Julius said. Tragically, these parents suffer each day as they remember their sons and daughters. It is impossible to make sense of the murder of innocent lives. This is the difficult reality of persecution.
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Beatrice, Philomena’s mother
Hope in the Midst of Despair One year after the attack, Philomena’s family struggles to understand why their daughter was killed in such cold blood. “Losing a child, it’s a heavy thing,” Beatrice told ICC. “But glory is to God for His sufficient grace. It has happened and we cannot change it.” Somehow, in God’s sovereignty, he allows such suffering to occur. God is glorified when his people look to him in their most vulnerable weakness, through darkened days, with faith and hope in Christ. As Beatrice alluded, God promises: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV). While grieving parents relive the trauma of their child’s murder every day, they also carry fond memories of those they lost. ICC visited Risper’s grave with her mother, Mary. “It’s one year after we buried Risper here in this tomb,” she said, “but she will live in our hearts forever.” Even though these martyrs’ lives were sadly cut too short, they will ever be remembered and honored for their ultimate sacrifice for the name of Christ.
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The Gospel Unhindered by Human Chains ICC interviews Sudanese pastors who faced the death penalty for their faith in Christ.
P By Troy Augustine
astors Peter Yein Reith and Yat Michael Ruot intimately know the sufferings of Christ. They were threatened with a death sentence in Sudan for bearing His Name and were locked up in a Khartoum prison for nine months on trumped-up charges coming from one of Africa’s most notorious persecutors, the Sudanese government. “Nine months in jail for preaching the Word of God was not only humiliating to us, but also to our families and the church. Imagine sleeping ten people in a small room meant for four people,” Peter told ICC. In February 2014, the same Sudanese government arrested and detained Meriam Ibrahim, a 27-year-old pregnant Christian mother, with her 20-month-old son. She was sentenced to death for apostasy and adultery for marrying a Christian man. Sudan released Meriam in June 2014. Since the 2011 secession of South Sudan, the Sharia-governed north has ramped up pressure on Christians, churches, and pastors in their systematic crusade to fully Islamize Sudan. Security officials regularly arrest pastors arbitrarily, holding them incommunicado, with limited access to family and legal counsel before trying them for capital offenses. Since December 2014, ICC counts at least four pastors, including Peter and Michael, whom the state has persecuted in this way.
Isolated and Alone
Intelligence officials held Peter and Michael for four months before charging them in
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March 2015 with a number of crimes including conspiracy, espionage, and various crimes against the state that could have resulted in their execution. For the first two months, Peter and Michael were not allowed to see their families. “My heart was extremely heavy because my daughter was very sick and I could not take her to the hospital,” Peter said. After their initial two months in captivity, they were blocked from the outside world, except for a couple of brief visits with family. To add to their isolation, they were separated from each other in prison. The only time they could meet was during the designated shower time. Their families were only permitted to see them for fifteen minutes during the night. “Our wives, who always showed up during our case hearings, would cry whenever the judge confirmed that our fate would be the death penalty,” Peter said, “We even distributed our clothes to fellow prisoners because
“We agreed to spend most of our time [praying] for the prisoners facing death sentences.” PERSECU ION.org
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we knew we were going to be executed.” “I wondered how we could be released by a Sharia court, but we…prayed to God to change the heart of the judge so that we could be released to go back home and reunite with our families and other Christians,” Michael added. In the end, the two pastors gave up any hope of release.
Redeeming the Time
However, just as the book of Acts tells us that persecution grew the first-century Church, so it does in present-day Sudan. Just like Jesus’ apostles, Peter and Michael remained joyful for being counted worthy to suffer for Christ. Their joy was evident to wardens and prisoners alike. “Some wardens were also abusive and they asked us to deny Jesus Christ so that we could be released. We confidently affirmed that we cannot deny Christ or Christianity,” Peter said. “Fellow prisoners asked me why I was happy and peaceful [when] I was facing a death sentence. I told them that I have a second home in heaven where I will dwell eternally,” Michael told ICC. “We agreed to spend most of our time [praying] for the prisoners facing death sentences and sharing with them the hope we have in Christ Jesus,” Peter said. Peter and Michael prayed fervently and obeyed Jesus’ Great Commission, empowered by the hope that was set before them. “While in jail, we did not stop sharing the Gospel with fellow prisoners, although this was not allowed,” Peter and Michael told ICC. “We could read our Bibles during the day and then share the Gospel at night while the wardens were asleep.” SEPTEMBER 2016
Pastors Peter Yein Reith and Yat Michael Ruot
Incredibly, even while these ministers sat in shackles, the Gospel went forth unchained as it bore fruit inside the prison. “I led one person to Christ who was a Muslim [facing] charges of theft. Samani became a follower of Jesus Christ in jail, but after two weeks, he was executed,” Peter said. “He went to appear for his hearing and never returned. I was shocked, but thanked God that he had accepted Christ in his heart.” Peter and Michael thought themselves on the same path but they used their time in jail to introduce others to Jesus who sets captives free from their chains of sin.
Unexpected Joyful News
Peter and Michael’s court case became the focus of international furor during the summer of 2015. Thanks to global public outcry for justice, Sudan responded to the immense international pressure from religious freedom
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advocacy groups like ICC and on August 5, 2015, a Sudanese high court released them from prison after nine months of jail time. Peter and Michael could hardly believe the news. “We were like people who were dreaming. I remember Michael asking me, ‘Peter, are we released, are we really released?’” Peter exclaimed. “It was a joyful experience when we were released in August 2015, after going through an extremely hard time for nine months and appearing 11 times in court,” Michael said. “Tears of joy covered our eyes when we reunited with our families once again.” “God had answered the prayers that we made and the prayers of the Christian Body all over the world,” Peter added.
Power of Prayer
Peter and Michael’s release speaks loudly to the power of prayer and how God uses
Christ’s Body around the world effectively to accomplish His purposes of justice for the sake of the persecuted Church. However, the need for prayer for Sudan is urgent. Christians around the globe continue to rejoice with Peter and Michael for being set free. As long as God’s faithful ministers continue to preach His Word, they will continue to face opposition. Jesus commands us as Christians to rejoice with those who are rejoicing, but we must also remember to weep with those who weep. As Christ promised, His followers will be hated as He was. Peter and Michael’s story reminds us that the problem with persecution is not mostly from Sudan’s government, or from radical Islam, but from forces of evil who hate Jesus and despise the Gospel. We have confidence, however, that in the end, Christ will make all things new and His Word will not fail.
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