SUDAN
Persecuted Christians Released
A group of 13 Christians in Sudan was released after being taken, without clear charges, from a home in the city of Nyala, in southwest Darfur, by officials in the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS). While in detention they were beaten, pressured for their faith and threatened with charges of illegitimate crimes. Sudan is fourth-worst on the 2018 Open Doors World Watch List, which tracks the 50 countries where Christians face the greatest persecution.
NORTH CAROLINA
Franklin Graham Signs Book on Father’s Birthday
Hundreds came to the Billy Graham Library Nov. 7 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Billy Graham’s birth and to have Franklin Graham sign copies of his book “Through My Father’s Eyes.”
“It’s lessons that I’ve learned, not only from my father but from my Heavenly Father,” Franklin said.
Ken Poindexter, from nearby Iredell County, N.C, had just been elected to his local school board the previous day. He said Franklin’s 2016 Decision America Tour convinced him to run.
NIGERIA
Boko Haram Enslaves Christian Schoolgirl and a Nurse
A faction of the radical Muslim group Boko Haram announced in October that it will keep a 15-year-old schoolgirl and a nurse as slaves for life.
Leah Sharibu was one of 110 girls abducted in February from the Government Girls Science and Technical College in Daphchi, Yobe State. All of the girls except Sharibu were released in March. Sharibu, the lone Christian among the girls, was kept because she refused to convert to Islam.
The nurse, Alice Ngaddah, works with UNICEF and is a mother of two. The extremists claim the right to either kill non-Muslims or keep them as slaves. “Based on our doctrines,” the group said, “it is now lawful for us to do whatever we want to do with them.”
NORTHERN IRELAND
UK Presses Abortion Cause on Northern Ireland
In May, the Republic of Ireland voted to legalize abortion and remove the eighth amendment from its constitution, which was the country’s last remaining protection for the unborn. Now, its neighbor Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, is in the sights of U.K. lawmakers, who are pushing abortion on demand. Right now, Northern Ireland only allows abortion when the mother’s life or health is at risk.
The 1967 Abortion Act, which legalized the procedure in the rest of the U.K. (England, Scotland and Wales), was never applied in Northern Ireland, where an 1861 law still stands. In an effort to remove the 157-year-old law that makes abortion illegal, members of Parliament voted 208-123 in favor of a bill that would legalize abortion.
As of press time, the bill was listed for a second reading but was considered unlikely to become law.
PENNSYLVANIA
Billy Graham Rapid Response Team Offers Support to Pittsburgh Community
As the American Jewish community mourned those killed at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, seven crisis-trained chaplains from the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (RRT) deployed to the Squirrel Hill neighborhood to offer emotional and spiritual care.
Eleven congregants were killed and six others were injured on the morning of Oct. 27 when a gunman entered the synagogue and opened fire. The dead included four law enforcement officers.
The shooting was the deadliest attack on Jews in the history of the United States.
“We’re there to offer prayers, condolences and support to those impacted by the tragic shooting at the synagogue in Pittsburgh,” said Josh Holland, assistant director of the RRT. “We are fervently praying for those who are grieving from this senseless act of violence.”
ALABAMA
Life and Liberty Measures Approved During Midterms
On Nov. 6, the state of Alabama approved an amendment, supported by more than 70 percent of voters, that allows displays of the Ten Commandments on state property.
In addition, looking forward to a potential overturn of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court, some 60 percent of voters approved an amendment to eliminate taxpayer-funded abortions. The amendment states that “it is the public policy of this state to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children.” Similar to Alabama, the state of West Virginia passed a pro-life amendment that says “nothing in this [state] Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of abortion.”