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"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Abedini prayer vigils set globally September 26

By Diana Chandler, Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) - The wife of imprisoned American pastor Saeed Abedini is on a 21-day "Daniel" fast and is organizing prayer vigils internationally Sept. 26, the third anniversary of her husband's imprisonment in Iran for his Christian faith. Naghmeh Abedini, in asking Christians to pray for her husband and the persecuted church, also is promoting a letter-writing campaign to ask United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to advocate for Abedini's release when Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks Sept. 28 at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Naghmeh Abedini will attend a prayer rally for her husband and other persecuted Christians at 7 p.m. Sept. 28 at Calvary Chapel in Old Bridge, N.J. In advance of the U.N. sessions that began Sept. 15, she addressed over 100 members of parliaments from 50 nations who held a meeting on international religious freedom in New York, urging the lawmakers to take action in their home countries to encourage her husband's release. Imprisonment is taking its toll on 35-year-old pastor, his wife said on Facebook today (Sept. 16), but he was encouraged to learn of the prayer vigils today from a family member, the first visitor Iran has allowed him in … [Read more...]

The Syrian refugee crisis and you

By Travis Wussow, Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Commission EDITOR'S NOTE: A FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) about the Syrian refugee crisis follows this article.</i> NASHVILLE (BP) - Turkey's shores received the body of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi minutes after a small boat capsized while carrying him into the Mediterranean in early September with his father, mother and 4-year-old brother and other refugees from the Syrian Civil War. They left with hope of finding safety and security. Instead, Aylan and his brother became two of more than 11,000 children -- at least 230 of whom were also 3 years old -- killed as a result of the war, as recounted in a Washington Post report on Sept. 5. Aylan's mother also died. But Aylan will never be forgotten, because a nearby photographer made him an international symbol of the Syrian refugees' plight. Also not to be forgotten: the reports of systemic rape and sexual slavery of women across Syria and Iraq. The so-called Islamic State continues to wreak havoc in the region, its campaign of terror emanating from Raqqa, Syria, its de facto capital. The world is presented with the worst refugee crisis since World War II. Nearly 8 million Syrians have been internally … [Read more...]

Hamas leader calls for unified operation to free Temple Mount, Jerusalem from Jews

ERUSALEM (Christian Examiner) – A spokesman for the Palestinian terror group Hamas, which claims in its charter its desire to annihilate Israel, said Hamas militants are ready to commit "martyrdom" operations to defend the Al Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount, the Iranian News Agency has reported. Hamas spokesman Mushir al­-Masri said the mosque needed to be defended from the "occupiers," or the Jews, after Israeli police and soldiers raided the Temple Mount Sunday, Sept. 13, while Muslim worshippers were inside the mosque. “Any more provocation in Jerusalem will affect the relationship between Jordan and Israel.” - King Abdullah II of Jordan The police took action after Palestinian youths tried to disrupt the visit to the Temple Mount of both Jews and foreign tourists on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, which began at sunset. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year.] To read more, go to the Christian Examiner website. … [Read more...]

Carson, not Trump leading among highly and moderately religious

By Gregory Tomlin, Christian Examiner NEW YORK (Christian Examiner) – Polling giant Gallup is debunking the myth of high levels of evangelical support for presidential candidate Donald Trump. In fact, more in-depth analysis of evangelicals suggests Trump's favorability among extremely religious Republican campaign watchers is significantly lower than has been reported. Gallup's Frank Newport reports "assumptions about Trump's level of support among evangelicals appear to be based on trial heat polls wherein Republicans are forced to choose one and only one candidate for whom they would, in theory, vote." "A better view of Trump's image among this group comes from our Gallup data in which Republicans are asked about their views of each candidate individually. This provides a more comprehensive view of the candidates," Newport writes. To read more, visit the Christian Examiner website. … [Read more...]

9/11 Survivor: ‘Ground Zero is now my community’

  By Kelly Ledbetter, Christian Examiner NEW YORK CITY (Christian Examiner) – When Sujo John went to work on the 81st floor of Tower 1 that Tuesday, he could never have imagined his life would be spared from an inconceivable tragedy—and that telling his story would take him into international ministry. He and his wife Mary, pregnant at the time, had lived in New York less than a year when terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Centers. "When we looked back toward the towers," John said, "we saw only a pile of smoking ash and rubble. God, in his mercy, had spared our lives." To this day, John doesn't know why he and Mary lived when others died, but he knows he is called to share the gospel because this life is fragile but eternity is real. To read more, go to the Christian Examiner website. … [Read more...]

Out of 9/11 ashes came Billy Graham Rapid Response Teams to mobilize volunteers to offer comfort, hope

By Kelly Ledbetter, Christian Examiner CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Christian Examiner) – Chad Hammond, a director at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), had only recently become an employee when he was deployed to Ground Zero just a few days after Sept. 11 to minister to those affected by the national tragedy. When he reached the ruined towers, the destruction was more extensive than he imagined, and people's bodies were still being recovered. "It was very humbling," Hammond said. "I remember not wanting to disturb or touch anything. You treated that place as a kind of holy site." In what would form the foundation of the BGEA's Rapid Response Team, Hammond worked with local churches to help pastors, to establish a crisis phone center, to offer grief counseling for walk-ins, and mobilize volunteers to come and serve in the area. "As Christians, we felt that we had a mission to bring the hope of Christ to the people of New York City," Hammond said in a BGEA article on the ministry's history. To read more, go to the Christian Examiner website. … [Read more...]

IMB announces voluntary retirement incentive details

By Anne Harman, International Mission Board RICHMOND, Va. — In the first phase of the International Mission Board’s plan to address revenue shortfalls, leadership announced details of a voluntary retirement incentive (VRI) during town hall meetings with personnel Sept. 10. The goal of the plan, IMB leaders shared, is to offer as generous a voluntary retirement incentive as possible, while honoring the years of service of those eligible and providing a smooth transition from personnel’s current role. IMB will offer the voluntary retirement incentive to all eligible staff and active, career missionaries age 50 and older with five or more years of service (as of Dec. 31, 2015). For a missionary couple to be eligible for the VRI, only one spouse is required to meet the qualifications. “Our desire in all of this is to be as generous as possible to as many people as possible,” IMB President David Platt said. “Since we are asking everyone in the organization to pray and discern if the Lord is leading them to a new place of involvement in mission, we know that 50-year-olds, for example, are going to be doing exactly that. And if the Lord leads them to make a transition, we want to provide for them as generously as … [Read more...]

Twitter tantrum: Iran’s supreme leader says Israel has 25 years to exist

By Gregory Tomlin, Christian Examiner NEW YORK (Christian Examiner) – Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued another dire warning for Israel – the clock is winding down on the Jewish state. The religious leader said via his Twitter feed Sept. 9 that Israel "will not see the next 25 years," even after nuclear negotiations with the world powers are supposed to have curtailed Iran's ambition for nuclear weapons. "God willing, there will be no such thing as a Zionist regime in 25 years," Khamenei wrote on the social media site. According to Khamenei, until Iran is able to complete its goal of the complete annihilation of Israel, "the struggling, heroic and jihadi morale will leave no moment of security for Zionists." The quote, according to the Times of Israel, was taken from a speech the Ayatollah had given earlier in the day. The speech was also reported in Iranian media. In the speech, Khamenei blasted the United States, which he said had been "hypocritical" in its approach toward Iran as U.S. negotiators smiled while Congress sought to derail the plan. He also claimed the U.S. – still "the Great Satan" – was using the negotiations as a means to influence and "infiltrate" Iran. To read more, visit the Christian … [Read more...]

September 11: Al Qaeda makes overture to black community in America, stokes racial strife

NEW YORK (Christian Examiner) – Al Qaeda's newest edition of Inspire, a jihadist magazine aimed at recruiting terrorists from among the English-speaking world, encourages black Americans to rise up against their own government, the Middle East Media Research Institute has reported. In the Inspire article titled, "The Blacks in America," a writer calling himself Abu Abdiliah Al-Moravid claims the recent killings of blacks such as Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Md., and nine black parishioners at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., are unlike anything found in Islam. Islam, Al-Moravid writes, "does not allow even the smallest kind of injustice, be it by words or having contempt for a particular race. We the Mujahedeen are a portion of the Muslim Ummah (nation), we do not accept any type of oppression against our Muslim brothers among the Afro-Americans, or even the non-Muslims. And the opposite of oppression is Justice, and this was we have been commanded by our religion." Al-Moravid also claims the American media is helping white power structures in the country conceal the truth of what happened to Brown, Gray and others. In particular, he targets FOX News, the tool of the "Anglo-Saxon … [Read more...]

Pioneer missionary doctor Wana Ann Fort dies at 91

By Staff, Baptist Press RICHMOND, Va. (BP) –Missionary doctor Wana Ann Gibson Fort, 91, died Aug. 31 in Baton Rouge. Fort and her husband, the late Milton “Giles” Fort Jr., served with the then-called Foreign Mission Board as pioneer missionary doctors at Sanyati Baptist Hospital in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). At this hospital, Fort and her husband helped launch a spiritual awakening through medical missions. The Forts, appointed as missionaries in 1952, led countless patients to Christ. “We were committed to being God’s hands of mercy and healing to souls and bodies,” she once said. She and her husband raised five sons in Zimbabwe. Three have served or continue to serve as missionaries with the International Mission Board. Two of the Forts’ sons are medical doctors. “Mom lived out the reality of her faith,” said Gordon Fort, one of Wana Ann’s sons and IMB senior ambassador. “As wife, momma, teacher, doctor, women’s worker, and serving missions support functions, she demonstrated what it means to live a life of obedience to the Master. It has been our incredible privilege to have been a part of her life’s journey.” During the Forts’ missionary service in Africa, the Shona people named Fort “Mai … [Read more...]