Since Myanmar’s latest military coup in February 2021, ethnic Chin, Kachin and Karen Christians in the U.S have advocated for democracy. Last week those efforts paid off, with the historic passage of the BURMA Act, an American Congressional act that will authorize sanctions against senior officials in Myanmar’s military and state-owned commercial enterprises, support democracy efforts and provide humanitarian relief.
Read MoreSince “The Chosen” initially premiered in spring 2019 as an app-based, crowdfunded project, many churches have viewed it in their Bible classes, during their small groups and at their weekday services. And several bought blocks of tickets to the show’s Christmas special released in theaters a year ago.
Read More’Tis the season when Santa Claus is nearly everywhere. Most people know that jolly old St. Nick hails from the North Pole. But many might not realize that the real St. Nicholas, a fourth century Christian bishop, lived and worked in what is now the country of Turkey.
Read MoreBridging the generational and racial divide was Josh Kasinger’s goal when he formed United Voice Worship, which has produced the Agape Conference since 2017. This year’s conference drew over 435 participants ranging from high schoolers to senior citizens of various ethnicities to worship and study together.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Hanukkah, the Jewish “festival of lights,” commemorates a story of a miracle, when oil meant to last for one day lasted for eight. Today, Jews light the menorah, a candelabra with eight candles – and one “helper” candle, called a shamas – to remember the Hanukkah oil, which kept the Jerusalem temple’s everlasting lamp burning brightly.
Read MoreThe soccer star, a practicing Catholic, didn’t hide his feelings after Argentina’s World Cup victory on Sunday at the 89,000-seat Lusail Stadium outside Qatar’s capital Doha. It was a final loaded with ups and downs. Argentina twice squandered a lead — but triumphed in the end on penalties after the game ended 3-3.
Read MoreThe team, nicknamed the Atlas Lions, became the first African nation to reach a World Cup semifinals in the tournament’s 92-year history. Not only did Morocco represent the African continent, but over the past four weeks was a team that galvanized the Arab world behind it.
Read MoreThe Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, a limestone building in the style of old Arab structures, houses many masterpieces connected to Islam. From ceramics to manuscripts, the museum is the Arab world’s artistic jewel and a repository like no other. It is the only one of its kind to highlight art and culture from the Arab world.
Read MoreThe tradition of a man bringing gifts to children is traced to stories about the early Greek bishop, St. Nicholas of Myra, a small city in modern day Turkey. Santa Claus today goes by different names around the world and is linked to various folktales and cultural practices. Here are the lesser-known variations of Santa, from the beaches of Aruba to the snow-capped mountains of Finland.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Where did Iran’s morality police come from? The earliest evidence of a muhtasib, interestingly, was a woman selected in Medina by the prophet himself.
Read MoreAn American missionary pilot serving with Mission Aviation Fellowship is being held in a maximum-security prison in Mozambique on charges he supported insurgents in the country. Ryan Koher, 31, was detained Nov. 4 along with two South African volunteers. He had been scheduled to fly supplies, including vitamins, to church-run orphanages.
Read MoreThe Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization seeking to preserve and promote “the family in Virginia as God’s foundation upon which all free and thriving societies are built,” was denied service at Metzger Bar and Butchery, a restaurant in Richmond, this month on the basis of their stances regarding abortion and same-sex marriage.
Read MoreDr. Anne Merriman, 87, recalls a time in Uganda when people were “dying all over the place” in 1993, the height of the AIDS epidemic. Though she initially arrived in Africa with only three months’ funding, Merriman managed to set up a successful continent-wide palliative care program now present in 37 countries. Over nearly three decades, it has let thousands of patients die a dignified death at home and provided palliative care training to nurses and others.
Read MoreIn 1999, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled its Town Tuition program could not fund tuition to religious schools because “it forced taxpayer support of religious worship.” But in the wake of Carson v. Makin, the state will now apply its tuition benefit program to families who choose to send their children to religious schools.
Read MoreHow much does it cost to send a missionary overseas? How much revenue do missions-oriented nonprofits raise to this end? These are the questions MinistryWatch sought to answer when we asked more than 60 of the largest missions, Bible translation, and fellowship evangelism organizations how many full-time missionaries they have in the field.
Read MoreThe Come and See Foundation — a nonprofit founded in October by veterans of Christian publishing, retailing and Bible translation — seeks to reach one billion people with free versions of the mega-popular series “The Chosen” in hundreds of different languages.
Read MoreAttorneys representing an Atlanta megachurch have filed a lawsuit alleging the bank and investors group that financed its property engaged in predatory behavior, taking millions of dollars from the church as part of a widespread conspiracy that also targeted other African American churches.
Read MoreThis week U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced a list of countries that the U.S. government considers “countries of particular concern” for religious freedom violations. Nigeria is notably absent, despite attacks so frequent that many Christian ministries have stopped serving some rural communities.
Read MoreRussia’s National Guard seized two priests in Russian-occupied Berdyansk on Nov. 16. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Donetsk Exarchate denies Russian claims that Father Ivan Levytsky and Father Bohdan Heleta stored explosives in the church and had “extremist” literature.
Read MoreMembers of Bethel — the 11,000-member northern California megachurch famous for elaborate healing services, Bethel Music and musician Sean Feucht’s nationwide worship protests against COVID restrictions — now hold the majority on the Redding City Council after November’s elections, according to nearly complete vote counts.
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