WASHINGTON (RNS)—American evangelical leaders remain at odds over whether the best response to the bloody terrorist attacks in Paris is a war on terrorism and militant Islamic ideology or Christian reconciliation and pacifism.

Franklin GrahamFrench President Francois Hollande’s description of the Nov. 13 attacks that killed 129 people and injured 415 as “an act of war” resonated among some evangelicals.

“We are in a war. An unconventional war, of course, but a war nonetheless,” Trevin Wax of The Gospel Project wrote in an online commentary. “When future generations look back in time, let us hope they will see that we met these challenges with courage, not fear.”

Franklin Graham, head of Samaritan’s Purse and son of the famed preacher Billy Graham, wrote on Twitter: “Islam is at war with us—we’ve witnessed its evil face firsthand over and over.”

But some evangelicals rejected the “war against Islam” paradigm.

“I want to see Muslims come to Christ (as, yes, they want to win me to Islam). And, we can’t do that by going to war with a billion people,” Ed Stetzer of LifeWay Research wrote in Christianity Today.

Some evangelicals engaged in ministry in the Middle East called for a different emphasis.

Trevin Wax“We need to be more radical than ever fighting for peace,” said Andrew White, author of The Vicar of Baghdad and president of the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East. His goddaughter was in Paris for the weekend, staying not far from one of the attack sites. She was not injured.

White, meeting with evangelical leaders on the West Coast, said the Paris attacks should not distract attention from the tragedy occurring in the Middle East. White was pastor of St. George’s, Baghdad, a post he left in November 2014 due to security concerns. His foundation is based in the United Kingdom.

“We obviously heard about the terrible attacks in Lebanon and Paris, but the huge attack on Baghdad never even got mentioned, and over 20 people were killed,” he said.

Chris Seiple of the Institute for Global Engagement, who has been in northern Iraq multiple times this year, said thousands of American military personnel should be part of a Sunni-led rapid reaction force that would help to establish a safe haven in the Nineveh Plains in northwestern Iraq for Christians and other beleaguered religious groups.

“Such a safe haven would not only protect minorities (among which are Sunni), stemming the refugee flow, the safe haven would (also) delegitimize the (theological) identity of ISIS, which attracts global wannabes through its military success pursuant a territory-based caliphate,” he said.

Bombing militant strongholds is not a solution in itself, Seiple said.

Ed Stetzer“The role for Christians is pray for and insist on shrewd and judicial and discreet use of military force, whose action must lead toward a post-conflict situation where the mutually reinforcing elements of soft power—return of refugees, internally displaced people, trauma care and education—can take place.”

Other evangelicals oppose military action in favor of reconciliation.

“The allied bombing campaigns have had devastating effects on civilian populations, who are viewed as collateral damage, while only further motivating ISIS and terrorist recruitment,” said Mae Elise Cannon, an author and former Willow Creek Church staff member who recently completed a Pilgrimage to Peace with Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.

Christians should offer support by investing in local refugee aid organizations, “rather than further exasperating the great needs by a militaristic response that is ineffectively addressing the problem,” Cannon said.

It is important to seek out moderate Muslims in the United States and the Middle East for mutual reconciliation, she added.

“As Christ-followers, we absolutely should be bold and courageous in our speaking of truth, but we also should pursue a sacrificial love that will compel others to want to follow the Lord of the universe,” she said.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Secretary of State John Kerry released the annual International Religious Freedom Report and called terror groups the world’s greatest threat to religious freedom.

The report, considered the most comprehensive accounting of religious freedom violations worldwide, covers nearly 200 countries and territories. But nonstate actors—terrorist groups—are now “the principal persecutors and preventers of religious tolerance and practice,” Kerry said at a State Department press conference.

Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at the rollout of the 2014 Report on International Religious Freedom. (State Department Image)He called out these groups by name, topping the list with the Islamic State but referring to it as “Daesh,” a term with derogatory undertones used by other governments and many Arabs. Kerry continued by listing similarly violent groups—al-Qaida, al-Shabab and Boko Haram.

“All have been guilty of vicious acts of unprovoked violence,” Kerry said, describing the groups’ murder and enslavement of the innocent. “Children have been among the victims.”

Kerry released the report alongside David Saperstein, ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, who has been on the job for 10 months and highlighted other worrisome trends.

Blasphemy and apostasy laws

Saperstein decried blasphemy laws and apostasy laws in countries including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Sudan.

“The United States uniformly opposes such laws, which are used to oppress those whose religious beliefs happen to offend the majority,” Saperstein said. “Such laws are inconsistent with international human rights and fundamental freedoms, and we will continue to call for their universal repeal.”

He also pointed to governments that abuse their citizens “for simply exercising their faith or identifying with a religious community.”

Prisoners of conscience

“We see this dramatized by the plight of countless numbers of prisoners of conscience,” he said, and spoke of his travels to Vietnam, where he “saw firsthand how religious groups are forced to undergo onerous and arbitrary registration process to legally operate.”

The report this year did not include the listing of Countries of Particular Concern, but that list will be released soon, a State Department spokesman announced. The countries currently on the list are Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

Lawmakers in Nepal rejected an effort to declare the Himalayan nation a Hindu state, adopting a new constitution Sept. 14 defining Nepal as a secular republic but retaining a controversial anti-conversion clause. 

Elijah BrownElijah Brown, chief of staff with the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative, had spearheaded an international coalition—with significant Baptist involvement—calling on Nepal’s 601-member Constituent Assembly to reject language in the constitution that criminalizes “any act to convert another person from one religion to another.”

“The 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative is grateful that over two-thirds of the lawmakers in the Constituent Assembly of Nepal resisted significant efforts to constitutionally enshrine Hinduism as a defining national identity,” said Brown, a former professor at East Texas Baptist University. 

However, he expressed disappointment the constitution retained Section 31(3), which says: “No one shall behave, act or undertake activities that breach public order or break public peace/peace in the community; and no one shall attempt to change or convert someone from one religion to another, or disturb/jeopardize the religion of others, and such acts/activities shall be punishable by law.”

Brown expressed concern “that this section contains the groundwork for future restrictions and discrimination.” 

Even so, other sections of the constitution include religious liberty protections for citizens, and he voiced hope those sections will take precedence in constitutional interpretation.

“We remain hopeful that the courts in Nepal will read Section 31(3) in a limited fashion and choose instead to focus on Section 31(1) and Section 31(2), as well as to the introduction to the constitution, all of which promote the right to religious freedom for all citizens,” he said. “We call upon the people of Nepal, in particular the courts, to continue to build a country that allows for people of all faiths to live in peace and well-being.”

At least in the short term, Nepal remains far from peaceful. Hindu activists protested the vote to declare Nepal a secular state, and some evidence reportedly linked explosions outside churches to Hindu extremist groups.

“Our ongoing prayers and support for the country of Nepal remain essential, as earlier this week, Hindu radicals are suspected of detonating four bombs outside three churches in the capital Kathmandu in seeming opposition to the declaration that Nepal is to be a secularly defined nation,” Brown said.

About 80 percent of the people in Nepal are Hindu. The 5.6 million non-Hindus in Nepal include about 17,000 Baptists in 167 established churches—with more than 20 members—and 250 fellowships—congregations with fewer than 20 members.

Both the international coalition organized by the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative and a group of 25 members of the U.S. Congress who wrote protesting the anti-conversion clause in Nepal’s constitution insist it violates Articles 18 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Three days before the Constituent Assembly of Nepal voted, two Texas Congressmen joined 23 of their colleagues in urging Secretary of State John Kerry to call on Nepal to strike the ban on conversion from its constitution. 

Bill Flores, R-Bryan, and Jeb Hensarling, R-Athens, signed a letter urging Kerry “to work through diplomatic channels and to coordinate with regional allies and the United Nations to call upon the government of Nepal to ensure that its new constitution protects the rights of religious minorities.”

Congressman Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, spearheaded the effort to enlist congressional opposition to a constitutional provision that seemed to “endorse discrimination against historically marginalized communities and would make illegal an individual’s choice to change religions or to explain one’s religion publically—all violations of Nepal’s international agreements,” as the letter stated.

“During his visit to India, President Obama spoke about the need to protect the right of all people to freely ‘profess, practice and propogate’ their religion and warned against national divisions based on religious faith,” the letter said. “We ask you to deliver a similar message to the government and political parties of Nepal.”

Several weeks ago, the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative sent a letter signed by 350 individuals from a dozen countries to Nepal President Rambaran Yadav, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and members of the nation’s Constituent Assembly. 

The letter urged Nepal’s elected officials to reject language in a draft of the constitution that “nullifies and criminalizes the freedom to share, change and choose one’s religion.” 

“We seek to stand in solidarity with the diverse religious and ethnic minorities which represent the fullness of the country of Nepal and who want to be assured that their concerns and interests as citizens are properly represented in the draft constitution currently under consideration,” the letter stated.

Members of the BREAD—Baptist Relief and Development—Network, including representatives of Texas Baptists’ Christian Life Commission and BMS World Mission in England—worked closely with the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative in drafting the letter and enlisting people to sign it.

The 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative is a human rights organization based in Falls Church, Va., led by former Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Director Randel Everett.

PARIS (RNS)—Europe’s refugee crisis has inspired faith communities across the continent to open their doors to the newcomers and advocate for more state and private help, but the urgency of their calls and the depth of responses to them vary from country to country.

Variety of responses

Germany has been the most generous with the refugees, many of them Syrian Muslims fleeing war and jihadist threats in their homeland. The leaders of its Roman Catholic and Protestant churches welcomed refugees arriving by train in Munich, and churches around the country joined local officials in feeding and housing them.


Slovakia would prefer to accept Christian refugees under a European plan to resettle people who have fled from wars and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, the Interior Ministry said. (Photo by REUTERS/Osman Orsal)Hungary, where the government has built a fence along its southern border to keep refugees out, wants select Christian refugees only. Catholic Bishop Laszlo Kiss-Rigo was quoted as saying his country faced a Muslim invasion: “They come here with cries of ‘Allahu Akbar.’ They want to take over.”

In-between is a wide range of conflicting views ranging from selfless willingness, to help, to extreme wariness about immigrants from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.

Prosperous and peaceful Europe long has been a magnet for Middle Easterners and Africans fleeing oppression and poverty in their unstable homelands. That most newcomers are Muslims and violent Islamism is on the rise complicates the picture, especially in countries where elections loom and far-right parties are gaining support.

Test of openness and tolerance

Many mainstream politicians worry whether the European Union can maintain its openness and tolerance amid all these tensions. Religious leaders also are concerned.

“This is a test of our human values and Christian legacy,” said Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the Geneva-based World Council of Churches.

About 380,000 people reached Europe by sea this year, according to the International Organization for Migration. More than 250,000 arrived in Greece from Turkey, a short route that has claimed about 100 lives so far, while the rest took the more dangerous route from Libya to Italy, where about 2,600 drowned. Nearly 4 million Syrian refugees stayed behind in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.

Welcome the asylum seekers

The leading voices in Europe welcoming the asylum seekers are Pope Francis, who on Sept. 6 urged all Catholic parishes in Europe to take in at least one refugee family, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor, who has opened his country’s borders to all refugees fleeing civil war in Syria.

“Mercy is the second name of love,” the pope reminded the crowd in St. Peter’s Square as he announced the Vatican would take in two families.

‘Doing what is morally and legally necessary’

“Germany is doing what is morally and legally necessary—no more and no less,” Merkel declared in defending an open-door policy that should quadruple arrivals of asylum seekers to about 800,000 this year.

Germany’s Catholic and Protestant churches have cared for refugees for years, and their leaders began calling this spring for extra efforts due to the boatloads arriving in Italy and Greece on their way north.

Catholic Cardinal Reinhard Marx and Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm of the Evangelical Church in Germany ended a lunch appointment in Munich with a spontaneous stop at the train station to greet refugees after seeing on their cellphones a trainload was about to arrive from Hungary.

“Nothing moves us more than the fate of the refugees who have made it this far after a long and dangerous journey,” Bedford-Strohm said.

German faith communities step up

With their solid budgets, German churches long have been able to donate millions of euros to finance special relief projects. Even before Pope Francis’ appeal, Cologne’s Catholic archdiocese was housing refugees in more than 130 of its buildings and launched the “New Neighbor Network” to coordinate donations from parishioners.

Tens of thousands of volunteers help the newcomers with language courses, baby-sitting and dealing with the local bureaucracy. In Bavaria, where many refugees first enter Germany by train, the Lutheran church has more than 3,000 volunteers. Munich’s Catholic archdiocese has more than 3,600.

As Muslim refugees have begun appearing in their mosques, German Muslims also stepped up to help.

“We show them they can be Muslim and German,” said Aiman Mazyek, chairman of the Central Council of Muslims.

Public opinion mobilized

In neighboring Austria, the shocking discovery of 71 refugees who suffocated in a locked truck last month has mobilized public opinion. Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn said Austrians no longer could ignore the drama spilling over into their country and hoped it could shelter about 70,000 refugees.

Sweden has taken in more asylum seekers per capita than any other European country, although the growing influence of nationalist groups has made immigration a controversial issue.

Different in Eastern Europe

The atmosphere is quite different in Eastern Europe, where four decades of isolation during the communist period left societies less open to outsiders and less guarded about expressing disdain for them.

Poland said it only wanted to take in Christian refugees.


Czech Catholic bishops offered to welcome persecuted Christians, but the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, faulted politicians for not helping all refugees more.


Hungary’s Christians have provided food, clothes and blankets to refugees blocked for days at Budapest’s Keleti train station, but their churches have taken a low profile. Catholic Cardinal Peter Erdo has refrained from criticizing Hungary’s anti-immigrant stand and has said the church cannot house refugees because that would amount to people smuggling.

British and French

The British and French governments, both concerned about the cost and potential political backlash of letting in so many refugees, pledged to receive more migrants in recent days after a rising swell of calls from faith leaders to show more compassion.

Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain said in June that London would take in only “a few hundred more” Syrians than usual. That prompted Lord George Weidenfeld, 95, an Austrian Jew who fled his Nazi-occupied homeland for Britain in 1938, to say: “This mood of indifference is reminiscent of the worst phases of appeasement.”

With pressure mounting, Cameron announced Britain would take in 20,000 Syrian refugees over five years—more than before, but still a relatively small number.

President Francois Hollande announced France would accept 24,000 refugees in a European Union plan to take in more than 100,000 in the next two years.

He and Merkel wanted the EU to back a “permanent, mandatory system” under which each country would have to accept its fair share of a total of 120,000 migrants.

“Europe,” he said, “must protect those for whom it is the last hope.”

FALLS CHURCH, Va.—An international coalition spearheaded by the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative, with significant Baptist involvement, urged government officials in Nepal to remove from the nation’s proposed constitution language criminalizing “any act to convert another person from one religion to another.”

Elijah BrownMore than 350 individuals from a dozen countries—including 291 Americans from 26 states—signed a letter dated Aug. 18 to Nepal President Rambaran Yadav, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and members of the nation’s Constituent Assembly. 

The letter urges Nepal’s elected officials to reject language in a draft proposal of the constitution that letter signers believe “nullifies and criminalizes the freedom to share, change and choose one’s religion.” Nepal’s Constituent Assembly expects to vote on the constitution later this month.

“We seek to stand in solidarity with the diverse religious and ethnic minorities which represent the fullness of the country of Nepal and who want to be assured that their concerns and interests as citizens are properly represented in the draft constitution currently under consideration,” says the letter, written by Elijah Brown, chief of staff with the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative and former professor at East Texas Baptist University.

The 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative is a human rights organization based in Falls Church, Va., led by former Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Director Randel Everett.

About 80 percent of the people in Nepal are Hindu. The 5.6 million non-Hindus in Nepal include about 17,000 Baptists in 167 established churches—with more than 20 members—and 250 fellowships—congregations with fewer than 20 members.

The letter commends Nepal for including in its proposed constitution language recognizing the country’s multireligious character and calling for an end to discrimination “relating to class, caste, region, language, religion and gender.”

However, the letter cites concern about Section 31(3) of the constitution’s draft, which says: “No one shall behave, act or undertake activities that breach public order or break public peace/peace in the community; and no one shall attempt to change or convert someone from one religion to another, or disturb/jeopardize the religion of others, and such acts/activities shall be punishable by law.”

Potential to violate human rights treaties

That provision possesses “potential to violate multiple international agreements ratified by the government of Nepal, as well as the intrinsic human rights of millions of Nepali citizens,” the letter states.

It also violates Articles 18 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the letter adds.

“The freedom to share, choose and change one’s religion are among the fundamental rights of man necessary for a just society and the flourishing of its citizens, and since these freedoms always involve ‘acts to convert a person from one religion to another,’ the current draft of Section 31(3) contravenes the ICCPR, the UDHR and the numerous other international human rights agreements,” the letter states.

“There is also ample evidence to suggest that heavy restrictions imposed upon freedom of religion and expression encourages social and political instability by empowering radical elements of dominant religious groups to marginalize and prosecute members of religious minorities. The instability caused by this marginalization results in a long list of repercussions, from religiously motivated violence and negative international press to painful economic implications, such as reduced foreign investment and tourism.”

Members of the BREAD—Baptist Relief and Development—Network, including representatives of Texas Baptists’ Christian Life Commission and BMS World Mission in England—worked closely with the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative in drafting the letter and enlisting people to sign it.

Signers of the letter

Individuals who signed the letter include Suzii Paynter, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship executive coordinator; Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee on Religious Liberty; Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics; and former Congressman Frank Wolf, the Jerry and Susie Wilson Chair in Religious Freedom at Baylor University.

Educators included Ken Starr, Baylor’s president and chancellor; Gary Cook, chancellor of Dallas Baptist University; Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver, president of Union University; Jerry Cain, chancellor of Judson University; and Gene Wilkes, president of the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute, along with professors and students from multiple schools.

The 163 individuals from Texas who signed the letter include David Hardage, BGCT executive director; Kathy Hillman, BGCT president and director of the Keston Center for Religion, Politics and Society at Baylor University; Gus Reyes, CLC executive director; Joel Allison, chief executive officer of Baylor Scott & White Health; Albert Reyes, president of Buckner International; Jeff Smith, president of the Baptist Foundation of Texas; Marv Knox, editor of the Baptist Standard; and Jim Denison, founding president of the Denison Forum on Truth and Culture.

WASHINGTON (BNG)—A Liberian Baptist leader celebrated the World Health Organization’s declaration the country is Ebola-free, making it the first of the three hardest-hit West African nations to bring the epidemic to a formal end.

Olu MenjayOlu Menjay, president of the Liberia Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention, attended a May 11 WHO ceremony in Monrovia alongside dignitaries including the presidents of Liberia and Togo.

Menjay, president of Ricks Institute, a K-12 boarding school with informal ties to Baptists in the United States who identify with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, thanked partners, friends and individuals who helped with numerous challenges during the last year.

“You particularly reminded us during the raging storm of Ebola that you care,” Menjay said in an email May 12. “We say thank you!”

While “grateful and joyful” the worst of the crisis is past, Menjay acknowledged challenges still linger. 

Challenges still confront Liberians

“The challenges of poor health care services, poor hygienic conditions, increased orphan crisis and deplorable economic conditions continue to confront us,” he said. “We are resolved to remain prisoners of hope to work on these challenges.”

The Ebola virus is not totally eradicated in West Africa, especially Guinea and Sierra Leone, Menjay noted.

“We stand in solidarity and prayers with our sisters and brothers in Guinea and Sierra Leone,” he said. “Even though significant progress has been made in Guinea and Sierra Leone in fighting the deadly disease, we stand in prayers with our neighbors and partners as we all together work diligently in eventually eliminating the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa.”

The Ebola outbreak in Liberia was the largest since the disease first emerged in 1976. When transmission peaked last August and September, the country was reporting 300 to 400 news cases each week.

Tragic scenes

“During those two months, the capital city Monrovia was the setting for some of the most tragic scenes from West Africa’s outbreak,” according to the WHO report—“gates locked at overflowing treatment centers, patients dying on the hospital grounds and bodies that were sometimes not collected for days.”

“Flights were cancelled. Fuel and food ran low. Schools, businesses, borders, markets, and most health facilities were closed. Fear and uncertainty about the future, for families, communities, and the country and its economy, dominated the national mood.”

Although Monrovia was hardest hit, the WHO reported, every one of Liberia’s 15 counties eventually reported cases, and at one point some expressed concern the virus might become endemic in Liberia.

“It is a tribute to the government and people of Liberia that determination to defeat Ebola never wavered, courage never faltered,” the WHO said. “Doctors and nurses continued to treat patients, even when supplies of personal protective equipment and training in its safe use were inadequate. Altogether, 375 health workers were infected, and 189 lost their lives.”

“Local volunteers, who worked in treatment centers, on burial teams, or as ambulance drivers, were driven by a sense of community responsibility and patriotic duty to end Ebola and bring hope back to the country’s people. As the number of cases grew exponentially, international assistance began to pour in. All these efforts helped push the number of cases down to zero.”

Last victim

Liberia’s last Ebola victim was a woman in the Monrovia area who developed symptoms on March 20 and died a week later. A total of 332 people were identified as being exposed to the patient, but none developed symptoms.

Health officials have continued to search for new cases. During April five laboratories dedicated to Ebola tested about 300 samples every week, and all test results were negative.

KATHMANDU, Nepal—Baptists in Nepal and their global missions partners joined in urging prayer and disaster relief for a nation devastated by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that claimed more than 5,800 lives and left thousands of others injured or displaced.

The quake hit April 25 about 50 miles outside the capital city of Kathmandu and reached as far as India, Bangladesh and Tibet. 

At least seven Christian church buildings were destroyed or severely damaged, including two Baptist churches, and Baptists were among the fatalities, the Baptist World Alliance reported. 

Location of the April 25 earthquake in Nepal. (Image: Wikipedia)Jirman Rai, general secretary of the Nepal Baptist Church Council, noted many severely affected areas. 

“Gorkha, Lunjung, Tanahun, Kapre, Sindhupalchowak, Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts are badly hit,” Rai reported to the Baptist World Alliance. “Many houses, temples and one old tower of Kathmandu were broken totally by the earthquake.”

Aftershocks—some severe—continued to rock the country, he said.

“While writing this email, another earthquake has struck,” Rai said. “I think this earthquake may bring more disaster to Nepal.”

Travel and communication in the country remain difficult, since roads and communication systems were damaged badly, he noted. Government officials estimate 80 percent of the houses in some inaccessible rural areas may have been destroyed.

Baptists a small but growing presence in Nepal

The Nepal Baptist Church Council is one of the fastest-growing Christian groups in the predominantly Hindu country, with about 20,000 members in more than 150 churches. The council—affiliated with the regional Asia Pacific Baptist Federation and the global Baptist World Alliance—is seeking to assist anyone in need, regardless of religious affiliation. 

Baptist World Aid, the relief and development arm of the BWA, is coordinating the response for Nepal. Texas Baptists’ Disaster Recovery has been in contact with partner entities worldwide, working particularly with Bonny Resu, general secretary of the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation, and Rothangliani Chhangte, director of Baptist World Aid. The Nepal Baptist Church Council is slated to receive $15,000 this year from the Texas Baptist Hunger Offering.

A survivor surveys damage from the April 25 earthquake that shook Nepal. Baptists there asked for prayer and relief aid. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Krish Dulal – Own work) Baptist Global Response, the Southern Baptist humanitarian organization, sent a team to assess and work with a local coalition of churches to meet the needs of victims in Nepal. Terry Henderson, state disaster relief director for Texas Baptist Men, said TBM volunteers stand ready to respond if requested by Baptist Global Response.

Working with local Christians

Francis Horton, Baptist Global Response area director for Central and South Asia, met with a disaster relief committee formed from congregations in the Kathmandu area. Several members received humanitarian crisis training from Baptist Global Response and were eager to work with the agency and with other national and international organizations to conduct response work.

Quake survivors salvage material from the rubble. (Photo: Baptist Global Response)Coalition members planned to travel with an assessment team as they examined heavily affected areas outside Kathmandu. As locals, the members were helping the team navigate the area.

Horton and other relief workers expected to spend several days in areas near the earthquake’s epicenter. Members of a disaster assessment and response team plan to make contacts with local officials and leaders, determining the major needs that other organizations haven’t targeted, as well as focus on building local relationships.

“The DART team is going to be a key part of getting a good assessment … [and will determine] how the church in the U.S. might be involved in meeting some of those needs, partnering with local folks here in Nepal,” Horton said. “That partnership is a key element—really essential in trying to meet the needs in appropriate ways.

The assessment team will dispense some aid, as needed, before delivering an assessment report that will guide future BGR efforts. Horton also believes that as they travel, team members might be able to instill confidence and hope in local people.

“It’s an overwhelming task, but it’s doable,” he said. “It’s an opportunity that God has laid before us.”

Need for food, water, shelter

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship deployed Eddy Ruble, one of its field personnel serving in Southeast Asia, to Nepal. Ruble, who has experience in disaster response, will assess needs and collaborate with the global Baptist network to supply them.

“Initial needs will be for food, water and shelter, but this will transition quickly to the longer-term needs of the victims in the poorest communities that are served by local churches within our partnership,” said David Harding, the CBF’s international disaster response coordinator.

North Carolina Baptist Men will partner with Hungarian Baptist Aid to send an assessment and medical team to Nepal. 

Baylor University students, alumni and Waco community members held a candlelight vigil on campus April 29 in support of the victims of the April 25 earthquake in Nepal, which killed more than 5,000 people. Ten of Baylor’s students are from Nepal, and some have received news of friends who died, are missing or are homeless. (PHOTO / Jeff Brown/ Baylor Marketing & Communications)Other Baptist groups, meanwhile, are encouraging prayer and donations from members in the United States and preparing to funnel aid to Nepal.

The American Baptist Churches USA posted an appeal for prayer online.

“In tragedies such as this, our faith calls us to compassion and solidarity with those who have suffered loss,” said Roy Medley, the denomination’s general secretary. 

Local Christians responding

A Christian worker in Nepal said local churches and believers are responding as the “hub” for the communities by providing access to shelter, clean water and food. People constructed tents from poles and tarps or anything that would provide protection from the cold night and possible rains. Even a group of volunteers from a North Carolina Baptist church joined the ranks of those sleeping outside their hotels. The volunteer team is reported to be “shaken up, but fine” and helping with immediate needs around them.

Rescuers scramble to find victims in the ruble in Kathmandu. (BNG / United Nations photo)“Some pastors and discipleship trainers’ homes were damaged and even destroyed yesterday, yet they are taking care of their community,” the worker said. About 30 people are staying in the field near the area where their team pitched tents. “Each time there is a tremor, everyone screams. We had earthquakes all night and much of the day.”

The worker and her husband were at church when the earthquake hit at 11:56 a.m. local time. The power went out, followed by a long and violent tremor. Panic ensued, and people in the church began to pray and cry out to God for their protection and safety. The congregation ran to exit the building.

‘Lord, please let us get out of this building’

“We stood up and had time to hang onto each other but were then thrown to the ground,” she said. “I would describe trying to get out like being on a trampoline with people carrying it and you’re trying to walk from one side of it to the other—completely off-centered and unsettling, nearly impossible. We both prayed, ‘Lord, please let us get out of this building.’”

Another Christian worker compared her exit from the building to surfing on waves instead of walking on solid ground.

In a rural church miles away, the same thing happened. The quake hit in the middle of the closing prayer. In addition to massive damage, injuries and fatalities were reported.

“I just got an update that 17 dead bodies have been found in this church, which we have trained and supported,” a local discipleship trainer said via Facebook. “We appreciate your prayers for this church. … Pray for the pastor, his family and the whole church family. The pastor lost three of his own family members.”

How to help

Baptist groups receiving donations for Nepal include:

• Baptist World Aid 

• Baptist Global Response 

• Texas Baptists’ Disaster Recovery 

Compiled from reports by the Baptist World Alliance, the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Baptist Press and Baptist News Global. This article originally was posted April 28. It was updated on April 29 and again on May 1.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Sunni and Shiite Muslims, two main sects of Islam, have been in conflict more than a millennium. And that ancient division continues to influence politics, foreign policy and even wars today. 

Most recently, militants from the Sunni-led Islamic State group have waged a bloody war of conquest across parts of Iraq and Syria and have spread to parts of Jordan, Egypt and Libya. Boko Haram, an al-Qaida affiliate waging war across parts of Africa, also is Sunni.

Here’s a primer:

Q: Who are the Sunnis and who are the Shiites?

A: Both are sects of Islam, and the adherents of both are Muslims—all bound by the same Quran, the same Five Pillars of Islam, which include belief in one God, daily prayer, fasting, charity and hajj, or pilgrimage. Both revere the Prophet Muhammad, who founded Islam in 620.

An admittedly imperfect analogy is the Protestant/Catholic/Orthodox divide within Christianity. All three groups are Christian, but they have diverging views on leadership, theology, worship rites and even sacred shrines. Some Catholics and Protestants view the other as apostates, but the bloody conflicts between the two camps are mostly consigned to history.

Q: What is at the root of their conflict?

A: Basically, Sunnis and Shiites differ on who should have succeeded Muhammad after his death in 632. Sunnis supported Abu Bakr, the prophet’s friend; Shiite Muslims felt the rightful successor was the prophet’s son-in-law and cousin, Ali ibn Abi Talib. 

Ali became the fourth caliph, or spiritual leader of Muslims, but he was murdered, and his son was killed in battle, effectively ending the direct line from Muhammad. Today’s Shiites consider all caliphs after Ali to be false. 

Sunnis, meanwhile, believe Muslim leaders can be elected, or picked, from qualified teachers. So Sunni and Shiite Muslims do not recognize the same line of authority.

That’s why the declaration by the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, last summer that it was establishing a “new caliphate” through its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi caused such a global stir. 

The Islamic State is a Sunni group, and its stated goals are to create a territory run by a caliph and Shariah, or Islamic law. In a video announcing the caliphate last June, the group described al-Baghdadi as a “descendant from the family of the Prophet, the slave of God”—perhaps an attempt to legitimate him in the eyes of Shiites. If they—or any other Muslims—fail to recognize the new caliphate, they will be considered apostates and can be killed under Shariah.

Q: Where do Sunnis and Shiites live?

A: In lots of hotbed places. Syria is a majority-Sunni country, but the regime of President Bashar Assad is a close ally of Shiite-dominated Iran (Assad’s Alawite sect is a whole other story). 

Iraq is majority Shiite, but northern Iraq has a lot of Sunnis, and the Islamic State group has made increasing inroads into the country. 

Neighboring Iran is majority Shiite, while next-door Saudi Arabia is majority Sunni. Yemen, Bahrain, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Lebanon have significant Shiite minorities. 

Sunnis make up about 85 percent of the world’s Muslims (including the vast majority of U.S. Muslims). See the problem?

Q: So, if all this happened 1,400 years ago, what are they fighting about now?

A: It’s a complicated question that can’t be reduced to a few sentences, but here goes:

Where once the conflict between Sunni and Shiite was religious, now it is more political. In Iraq, the Shiite-dominated army has been seen as a strong-arm of former Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and an oppressive force by majority Sunnis in the north. That’s why many were happy to have the Sunni-dominated Islamic State make gains across the north. 

And as the Islamic State grows in strength and numbers—experts say would-be jihadis have flocked to its forces in northern Syria since the declaration of the caliphate—the Sunni-Shiite conflict will intensify and spread.

Q: All this is taking place on the other side of the world. Why should I care?

A: Because Islam is a global religion, and America has significant strategic and military interests in the region. The number of Muslims is expected to rise by 35 percent in the next 20 years, according to the Pew Research Center, to reach 2.2 billion people.

FALLS CHURCH, Va.—The international community has ignored terrorist violence and attacks in Nigeria, insisted Samson Ayokunle, president of the Nigerian Baptist Convention.

The Nigerian convention is the largest Baptist World Alliance organization in Africa, with about 3.5 million members in 10,000 churches.

Samson Ayokunle (at podium), president of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, accused the world community of devaluing Nigerian lives in its lack of response to attacks by Boko Haram, a jihadist group that seeks to establish Sharia law in the West African nation.“My consternation is in the attitude of the international community toward the huge destruction going on in Nigeria,” Ayokunle said. “The earnestness with which they intervened in the ISIL attacks in Syria and Iraq, or the Taliban problem in Afghanistan, etc., is not shown in the case of Nigeria.”

He accused the world community for devaluing Nigerian lives.

“Does it not matter to the rest of the world if Boko Haram continues to kill hundreds of people every week? Are these people less human than those being killed in other places where they have gone to directly intervene? My people are being killed like animals, and the whole world is just watching.”

Ayokunle was responding to the latest spurt of attacks by Boko Haram, a jihadist group that seeks to establish Sharia law in the West African nation.

Thousands killed

Boko Haram conducted the Baga massacre in northeastern Nigerian in early January, causing an unknown number of deaths. Estimates range from dozens to more than 2,000. In April 2013, more than 185 people were killed and more than 2,000 homes were destroyed as a result of fighting between the Nigerian military and Boko Haram.

Up to 2014, the group killed more than 5,000 civilians in Nigeria. Since 2009, Boko Haram has abducted more than 500 people, including 276 schoolgirls in April 2014. An estimated 1.5 million Nigerians have fled their homes because of threats and attacks.

“The situation is pathetic,” Ayokunle declared. “The main targets in all these attacks are the Christians first and any other person that opposes them. Any town they enter, after killing the Christians there, they go ahead to bring down all the churches there, sparing the mosques.

“Major Christian cities such as Gwoza and Mubi, among others, have fallen to them. Christians in cities such as Michika and Baga are also on the run.”

Church ‘under siege’

“The church is under siege of severe persecution,” he said.

Baptists have been directly affected, he added “No Christian church is standing anymore in Mubi, where more than 2,000 Baptists fled the city through Cameroon when Boko Haram attacked.”

These Baptist Christians returned to Nigeria through another town, Yola, but never reached their homes.

“They have become displaced and are now living in displaced people’s camps scampering for food, without decent accommodation and naked,” Ayokunle said.

Baptist buildings were burned, and Baptist homes were vandalized, he reported.

The conference president and Baptist pastors have fled Plateau state, another region attacked by Boko Haram, he said. “Our Baptist high school in Mubi has been closed, while our Baptist pastors’ school in another neighboring town, Gombi, was indefinitely shut down.”

Ayokunle expressed appreciation for the prayerful support of Baptists and other Christians and requested financial support to assist those who have been displaced by the terrorist attacks.

“Continue to join us in prayer so that the gates of hell might not prevail against the church of Christ in Nigeria,” he urged.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—From imprisonment to torture to beheadings, more Christians worldwide live in fear for their lives than at any time in the modern era.

That’s the message from Open Doors USA, which released its annual World Watch List. Christian persecution reached historic levels in 2014, with about 100 million Christians around the world facing possible dire consequences for practicing their religion, the report said. If current trends persist, many believe 2015 could be even worse.

Click here to access Open Doors’ interactive map of worldwide persecution.“In regions where Christians are being persecuted as central targets, the trends and issues we track are expanding,” said David Curry, president of Open Doors, a nonprofit that aids persecuted Christians in the most oppressive countries and ranks nations based on the severity of persecution.

North Korea tops Open Doors’ list as the worst oppressor of Christians for the 13th consecutive year, but the list is dominated by African and Middle Eastern nations. Iraq—which experienced the mass displacement of Christians from its northern region—ranked third. Syria was listed fourth, due to the reign of ISIS in that war-torn region. Nigeria ranked 10th, due in part to the more than 1,000 Christians murdered or kidnapped by terrorist groups such as Boko Haram. Also included in the top 10 are Somalia, Afghanistan, Sudan, Iran, Pakistan and Eritrea.

David Curry, president of Open DoorsEven though some Christian-majority nations are experiencing unprecedented levels of discrimination and oppression, Curry said, Muslim extremists are the primary drivers of Christian persecution worldwide. This is the case in 40 of the 50 nations on this year’s list.

Todd Nettleton, a spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs, a global ministry serving persecuted Christians in oppressed nations, agreed with Curry that Muslim extremism is the main source of Christian oppression.

“Wherever there is growing Islamic radicalism, there is growing persecution of Christians,” he said. “Even where moderate Islamic states offer peace—and that is rare—they almost never have freedom to practice their faith and are often marked for death.”

Nina Shea, director of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute, said Islamic extremism is not just rampant in rogue terror groups, but also in the governments of nations such as Saudi Arabia (No. 12 on the list) and Egypt (No. 23). This has foreign policy implications, which Shea said has contributed to a failure on the part of the Obama administration to address the calamity adequately.

Alumijiang Yimit, a Christian church leader and former Muslim, is imprisoned in China for evangelizing his fellow Uygurs. His image – made from lego blocks – is among many of jailed human rights activists featured in an exhibit by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei at Alcatraz Island in San Francisco, through April 26. (Photo: John Rutledge)Curry and Nettleton also expressed disappointment in the administration’s response but said they hope the appointment of David Saperstein as the State Department’s ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom might signal a more aggressive approach. Conservatives criticized Obama for not filling the position sooner, and Saperstein’s critics say the rabbi’s liberal background may not bode well for his willingness to address global persecution aggressively.

Regardless, Open Doors leaders say something must be done to address mounting persecution. The situation is reaching crisis levels: Christianity faces possible extinction in the Middle East, and persecution is growing at alarming rates in Asia and Africa.

“The 2015 Watch List is a wake-up call to Western countries to protect religious freedoms around the world,” Curry said.

JERUSALEM (RNS)—The site where Jesus may have been tried, prior to his crucifixion, now is open to the public for the first time.

Located in the Old City of Jerusalem, the spot is within easy walking distance of the Christian Quarter and Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where tradition holds Jesus was buried.

Discovered under an abandoned prison building that is part of the Tower of David Museum grounds, the trial site is one piece of a vast excavation undertaken by archaeologists from 1999 to 2000 but sealed off for the past 14 years largely due to lack of funding.

The excavations include what may be the foundations of the palace of King Herod. It was here, many scholars and archaeologists believe, the Roman governor Pontius Pilate put Jesus on trial.

Archaeologist Amit Re’em of the Israel Antiquities Authority said the palace was built at the end of the first century B.C., according to Josephus, the Jewish historian and Roman citizen of the era.

“It was enormous, with a lot of gold and silver and running water and guest quarters,” he said.

The ruins uncovered by the Antiquities Authority were discovered in the area described by Josephus and included a complex sewage system.

While there is as yet no concrete evidence the trial took place in the palace, Re’em noted that “from early Christianity until Crusader times the Via Dolorosa”—the route Jesus took on the way to his crucifixion—“passed by Herod’s palace. Only since medieval times did the route change.”

RICHMOND, Va. (BNG)—When Liberian Baptist leader Emile Sam-Peal traveled to the United States in July to touch base with American mission partners, he expected to stay six weeks. Instead, as flights to the Ebola-ravaged country were cancelled, Sam-Peal and his family found themselves stranded five months.

They finally are returning home, having secured tickets on one of the few carriers still flying to the West African nation.

Emile Sam-Peal“I’m thankful that we have been safe while here, and it is now time to return home and back to ministering, providing leadership, assistance and hope to folks who are going through a very, very difficult experience resulting from this Ebola crisis,” said Sam-Peal, superintendent and principal of the Lott Carey Mission School in Monrovia, the country’s capital.

Sam-Peal, his wife and two daughters were scheduled to return in August. But as concerns about the spread of the deadly disease grew, airlines from the United States and Europe suspended service to affected counties, including Liberia. Sam-Peal’s airline told him it could not extend a refund for at least three months because of a heavy backlog of stranded passengers.

Since then, the family lived in Richmond, Va., a city familiar to Sam-Peal, who graduated from Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond in 2000. He also maintains ties with churches of the Baptist General Association of Virginia, which works closely with Baptists in Liberia.

Although he remained in Richmond as the disease spread in Liberia, Sam-Peal wasn’t unscathed by the crisis. A pastor and close friend of Sam-Peal’s died, along with the pastor’s daughter, who was caring for him, and the pastor’s physician. In addition, one Lott Carey student and one graduate also died from Ebola.

What’s more, Sam-Peal’s 17-year-old son remained in Liberia—something never far from the father’s mind. The two spoke almost every day.

Liberia facing long recovery

Liberia faces a long haul in recovering from the impact of Ebola, Sam-Peal warned.

“The Ebola outbreak initially started as a health crisis but quickly escalated into a social and economic crisis with some political fallouts,” he said. “Many families have lost jobs and income over the last six months. Many businesses have been closed or drastically scaled back operations. Some of these businesses that have closed down will not be able to start up again.”

Schools, including Lott Carey, also suspended classes, he said.

“All schools in Liberia are closed, and students have been home now for about four months, creating an academic vacuum in the country. Students are yearning for schools to reopen soon.”

Sam-Peal cited a recent U.N. report that up to 50 percent of people employed before the outbreak now are out of work.

“The economic impact will be felt for a long time. Families have been devastated, children losing their parents and caregivers, and thus a new generation of orphans has been left to fend for themselves.

“There is much recovery work to be done to help families back on their feet, work on upgrading our health care delivery system, getting the educational sector back up and running.”

Raising awareness of Liberia’s plight

Sam-Peal put his time in the United States to good use, visiting classes at BTSR and speaking at churches, both to raise awareness of his country’s plight and to generate financial support.

He also worked closely with the Washington-based Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention, which founded his school in 1908. Today, the school educates about 700 children from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade.

Recently, the Lott Carey convention joined other Baptist denominations in the United States to raise funds to combat the Ebola outbreak. The African-American Baptist Mission Collaboration—which also includes the National Baptist Convention, USA, the National Baptist Convention of America, the National Missionary Baptist Convention of America and the Progressive National Baptist Convention—announced in November it will launch a series of financial and spiritual initiatives to battle the deadly virus in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.