Charisma Staff

Human trafficking is out of control in Ukraine.

More Ukrainian men, women and children have been trafficked abroad and forced into indentured labor or prostitution than in any other Eastern European country since the Soviet collapse.

EFCA’s Reach Global missionary Amy Richey says traffickers target the most vulnerable: “The most vulnerable in Ukrainian society today are kids currently living on the streets, and/or kids that are just coming out of the orphanages. Fifty percent to 60 percent end up in some sort of a trafficked situation.”

Polish citizens are fighting back against abortion.

A bill that removes exceptions from the nation’s abortion laws and provides total protection for preborn children from the moment of conception is set for a parliamentary vote this week.

A citizen-led initiative drive worked to get the issue on the ballot. Sponsors were required to collect 100,000 signatures over the course of three months. The grassroots effort reportedly collected 600,000 signatures in just two weeks.

Throughout South Asia, many of Jesus’ followers—especially those who have recently committed their lives to Him—face persecution from their communities. Within the past year, the following Christians have experienced threats and abuse because they claim the name of Jesus.

Man’s New Infectious Faith Provokes Village Unrest
Kantimoy once devoutly followed the religion traditional to his people group. He, his wife and their three children got up early every day to worship their deity. Kantimoy was even in charge of maintaining the property of the temple in his village.

But the gods and goddesses he worshipped couldn’t heal his three children. His 10-year-old son, Jugnu, suffered from seizures, his 8-year-old daughter had a hole in her heart and his youngest daughter experienced night terrors that disrupted his entire household, robbing them of sleep.

A survey of 2,196 Protestant leaders from around the world highlighted the concerns shared by Christians in 166 countries and the divergent outlooks for the church in the Global North (Europe, North America, Japan, Australia and New Zealand) and the Global South (sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America and most of Asia).

On Wednesday, the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life released the results of a survey of those invited to attend the Third Lausanne Congress of World Evangelization, a 10-day gathering of ministers and lay leaders held in October in Cape Town, South Africa. The leaders surveyed expressed agreement on theological and social issues, such as abortion, homosexuality, the authority of Scripture and the uniqueness of Christ, but leaders from the Global North and the Global South expressed differing outlooks for the future of the church in their parts of the world.

Delta Air Lines is under fire for the company it keeps.

The American Center for Law and Justice is outright demanding that Delta Air Lines put the kibosh on its partnership with Saudi Arabian Airlines. Why? The ACLJ says the airlines has discriminatory policies targeting Jews, Christians and women.

Under the Delta-Saudi arrangement, American Jews and non-Jews with an Israel stamp in their passport may be prohibited from flying into the country, which embraces Shariah Law and open discrimination.

According to Joshua Project, approximately 1 percent of missions funding is given for outreach to unreached people groups. Less than 1 percent of that funding is given for Muslim evangelistic efforts. This staggering reminder comes at a time when outreach to those who claim Islam as their faith is pivotal.

Speaking from Lebanon, the president of the Crescent Project Fouad Masri spoke to Greg Yoder. He says this point in the history of outreach to Muslims is second to none: “The openness has never been this way. It’s unprecedented that people are interested in knowing about Christ. God is on the move. We’ve never seen them open for the Good News, not only in the U.S., but here.”

It was the largest outreach of its kind since Billy Graham visited the area in 1959 and 1969—and nearly 3,000 people got saved during the weekend event.

Some 200 churches throughout the Auckland, New Zealand, area watched and prayed expectantly on Saturday and Sunday as they hosted the Greg Laurie: Auckland Harvest at Vector Arena.

The prayers of many were answered as Vector Arena filled to overflowing both nights of the outreach. More than 21,000 people flooded the arena, and another 2,000 watched from an overflow area. By the end of the outreach, 2,777 people made decisions to put their faith in Christ. Another 170 accepted Christ via an online broadcast.

Enraged Muslims burned down several Christian-owned homes, surrounded a church and threatened to kill a priest last week in two unrelated incidents in Upper Egypt.

On Saturday in Awlad Khalaf village, just outside Sohag, 240 miles (386 kilometers) south of Cairo, local Muslims attacked Coptic Christian Wahib Halim Atteyah, robbed him of 32,000 Saudi Riyals ($8,530), and bulldozed his home along with the other structures on his property, according to local media. The group then raided six other Coptic-owned homes and burned them to the ground. Most of the stolen items were returned because of efforts of other Muslims in the area, according to Egyptian newspaper Watani.

Firefighters put out a fire at a church surrounded by angry Muslims in the Imbaba neighborhood in Cairo on May 7. (AP Photo)

Enraged Muslims burned down several Christian-owned homes, surrounded a church and threatened to kill a priest last week in two unrelated incidents in Upper Egypt.

On Saturday in Awlad Khalaf village, just outside Sohag, 240 miles (386 kilometers) south of Cairo, local Muslims attacked Coptic Christian Wahib Halim Atteyah, robbed him of 32,000 Saudi Riyals ($8,530), and bulldozed his home along with the other structures on his property, according to local media. The group then raided six other Coptic-owned homes and burned them to the ground. Most of the stolen items were returned because of efforts of other Muslims in the area, according to Egyptian newspaper Watani.