'How Could It Ever Be Harmful to Tell Someone About Jesus?' Nurse Wins Two-Year Fight for Her Job

By Donna Russell
CBN News

A nurse in Great Britain who was dismissed from her nursing job for talking to patients about Jesus now has her full rights to practice nursing restored.

It all started two years ago after Sarah Kuteh was fired for alleged "gross misconduct" after her supervisor received complaints that she was talking to patients about her faith.

Kuteh says there was a pre-op assessment questionnaire she had to go over with patients and asking about their faith was part of it. She says from time-to-time this would lead her to conversations about faith with her patients. In one case, she even gave a patient her Bible.

She was surprised to learn about the initial complaints but once she did, she said she decided she would only share her faith in Jesus if a patient asked her about it.

However, the 15-year veteran nurse received additional complaints against her, was suspended and later fired.

"I was walked out of that hospital after all I had done during all my years as a nurse and I was told I couldn't even speak to any of my colleagues," she said in a Christian Concern interview.

"All I had done was to nurse and care for patients. How could it ever be harmful to tell someone about Jesus?" she asked.

The Christian Legal Centre represented Sarah in her appeal to be reinstated to full nursing rights and privileges.

Their chief executive, Andrea Williams, said if it weren't for the pre-op question about faith, these conversations with patients would not have happened.

"Without proper investigation, she was fired and her long career as a nurse put under threat," Williams said.

Kuteh was able to find work at a nursing home but was under certain restrictions imposed by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and could work only under the supervision of a senior nurse.

Watch Sarah Kuteh tell her story in this video produced by Christian Concern

When the NMC reviewed Sarah's case and request to return to full rights as a nurse she had many character witnesses.

Christian Concern reports Sarah's supervisor had lots of good things to say about her. She was described as "a kind, caring, honest, friendly nurse" and was also considered a "valuable member of the team. A co-worker told the NMC panel that she was "respectful" and "always acts professionally while on duty."

At her hearing, Sarah said she should have given a Bible from the hospital chaplaincy to a patient instead of one of her own.

The panel eventually ruled: 

"It is in the public interest to return an otherwise experienced and competent nurse into practice."

 Website: CBN News

'Another Page of the Book of Acts Is Being Written': Christians Surviving Mideast Persecution

Yvette Isaac, Photo, CBN News, Jonathan Goff

By Chris Mitchell

CBN News

The Church in the Middle East has gone through some dark days in recent years. Some say the lives of believers today reflect the heroes and heroines of the past in the place where Christianity was born.

Across the Middle East, Christians and the Church have suffered terrible persecution. Yet there is tremendous optimism there.

"I see the church is standing and standing strong, with all of the difficulties and with all of the atrocities and all of the persecution," Yvette Isaac with Roads of Success told CBN News. "But they are all standing strong; they know why they are standing."

Egyptian-born Yvette Isaac believes that's because Christians in the Middle East are continuing the testimony of the early believers.

"I really believe, every day in this part of the world another page of the Book of Acts is being written," she said. "Every day, a new page of the Book of the Acts is being written, added."

Photo, CBN News, Jonathan Goff

Isaac wants the Church in the West to know what's happening there.

"There are brothers and sisters – Christian brothers and sisters – who are living there," she continued. "And if it wasn't for them, first, we would not hear about Christianity in the West. Because of the Church in the Middle East, Christianity spread all over the world."

Yet Isaac says the pressure on Christians has been enormous.

"That is where it all started, and the enemy's focus is to destroy it. The enemy's focus is to empty the Middle East of Christianity. So, he is putting all this pressure, and we have seen all kind[s] of pressure under the people," she said.

Isaac hosts a television program to the Middle East, and she believes Christian media can play a role in helping Christians living there.

"The Church needs to know the truth. The media – the Christian media – needs to air and show the world from there," she said. "If we just depend on the secular media, we will get what their agenda [is] for the world to hear. But awareness is very important. That is why we have many clips of Christians – that they suffer, and we tell their stories."

One of the stories Isaac tells is about Christians who suffered under ISIS, the Islamic terror group also known as the Islamic State.

CBN News report continues here

Persecution Unveiled has been called to prick the consciences of this nation and all free people to pray for, speak up and act on behalf of those who are persecuted for their faith. Follow us on Pinterest, and Google and like us on Facebook.

Rwanda Closes More Than 8,000 Churches In Major Crackdown

By Michael Foust
Christian Headlines

More than 8,000 churches throughout Rwanda have been closed by the government as part of an alleged crackdown on unsafe structures, although religious liberty advocates say the government is closing congregations that should be considered acceptable.

Christians in the country fear the movement is a cover for the government’s drive toward secularism.

Pastors are now required by the government to have degrees from accredited institutions. Bible schools are mandated to teach science and technology in order to teach theology. Among the other rules, access roads to churches must be paved and inside walls and ceilings must be plastered and painted, according to World Watch Monitor.

“On checking which churches were included, we learned that all churches are suffering the same fate, and that even churches considered luxurious for local standards have had to close,” one local source told World Watch Monitor.

One church was closed during a wedding, with the guests “told to leave the church during the service,” World Watch Monitor reported.

Churches have only 15 days to make the required changes upon being reported by the government. The Rwandan source said in some instances, even house meetings are banned.

“It seems that the local authorities in the different districts initially had some freedom about the degree to which they could enforce the new requirements,” the source told World Watch Monitor.

“However, it now seems that those who were more lenient have been rebuked and have become stricter. In one district authorities banned all meetings of a closed church, and congregants are not even allowed to meet in home groups.”

Website: Christian Headlines

Persecution Unveiled has been called to prick the consciences of this nation and all free people to pray for, speak up and act on behalf of those who are persecuted for their faith. Follow us on Pinterest, and Google and like us on Facebook.

Elderly, Poor Indonesian Woman Turned Away by Her Muslim Children Because of Faith in Jesus

"They realize there has to be a better way, and then they find Christ."

Indonesian Christians sing during a Christmas mass prayer session at 

Gelora Bung Karno stadium in Jakarta, December 13, 2014

By Stoyan Zaimov

Christian Post

An elderly Christian woman in Indonesia remains joyful despite her poverty and being abandoned by her Muslim children due to her faith in Jesus Christ.

Christian Aid Mission, which assists indigenous ministries across the world, shared on Thursday the story of Nurul, 68, who has been left with little but her faith following the recent death of her husband, and her adult children refusing to give her a permanent home.

The woman, now living at a home for widows and orphans run by native missionaries, was first inspired to join the faith by another widow, Amelia, who seemed happy despite not having any children or relatives to care for her.

"I am very happy because Someone cares for me, even though I have no kids to take care of me," Amelia told Nurul, referring to Christ. "I am happy because I don't care about the body, I just care that my soul will be saved."

Nurul began wondering about Jesus, and asked a native ministry director, who wasn't named, to give her information.

"After telling her about Him and discussing her life, how she suffered and caused suffering, Nurul decided to follow Jesus," the director explained.

Nurul later received news that one of her children decided to take her in their home. At first she was happy to be reunited with her family members, but then her Muslim relatives found out about her Christian faith, and allowed her to stay with them for only three months.

"Because she became a Christian, no one cared for her and she had to go out from the community," the director said. "So, she stays with us in the house for old people.'"

CAM noted that despite being abandoned again, Nurul "has found joy" because this time, she is "wedded to Christ."

Some pastors have said that the Christian faith is growing in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, despite the challenges that believers face.

A man by the name of Kongkin, a Baptist pastor from Jakarta, told The Christian Post in an interview in May 2017 that those struggles include attacks by radical Islamists, and also the adoption of restrictive bylaws in parts of the country.

The pastor told CP that he keeps hearing stories in the field of former Muslims who have decided to come to Jesus.

"The numbers are getting bigger and bigger in many parts of Indonesia. There is steady growth," he said.

"Yes, the number is growing. I think a lot of Muslims are realizing that Islam is false; they see the bombings and terrorist attacks done in the name of Islam, and they wonder 'Is this it? Is this what I want?'" the pastor added.

"They realize there has to be a better way, and then they find Christ."

Christian Post article continues here

Persecution Unveiled has been called to prick the consciences of this nation and all free people to pray for, speak up and act on behalf of those who are persecuted for their faith. Follow us on Pinterest, and Google and like us on Facebook.

U.S. Announces Sanctions on Turkey Officials Over Detention of American Pastor

By Michael C. Bender and Dion Nissenbaum
Wall Street Journal

The Trump administration imposed sanctions against two top Turkish officials on Wednesday over the country’s refusal to free an American pastor held for nearly two years, stepping up U.S. pressure on Ankara to resolve a dispute that has created fissures between the two nations.

The Treasury Department moved to prevent Americans from doing business with Turkey’s ministers of justice and interior, both of whom the U.S. accused of “serious human rights abuses” for their roles in detaining Pastor Andrew Brunson, a 50-year-old North Carolina native who was arrested three months after a failed July 2016 military coup.

Turkish officials have accused Mr. Brunson of aiding the group accused of orchestrating the coup and another Kurdish separatist movement, charges that the American pastor and U.S. officials have denied. Mr. Brunson’s allies accused Turkey of holding the pastor as a political bargaining chip, and his case has become a cause célèbre among evangelical Christian groups.

The Turkish government assailed the American move as an assault on their legal system. In a tweet, Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu warned that Turkey would respond in kind if Washington didn’t reverse the decision.

“We strongly protest the sanction decision announced by the U.S. Treasury Department,” Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement late Wednesday. “We call on U.S. administration to reverse this wrong decision.”

Wednesday’s punitive action deepened strains between Turkey and the U.S., two North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies who often are at odds. Like President Trump, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is loath to back down under pressure, and some analysts predicted that the Turkish leader would be less likely to relent now.

Mr. Brunson’s detention has emerged as the biggest obstacle between the two countries. The U.S. counts on Turkey’s help to fight Islamic State in Syria, but American special forces there work alongside Kurdish fighters that Turkey considers terrorists. That U.S. support for the Kurds remains a sore point for Turkey.

Turkey and the U.S. also are at odds over the conviction of a Turkish banker sentenced to 32 months in an American prison for violating U.S. economic sanctions on Iran, and over Washington’s refusal to deport Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in Pennsylvania who has accused by Ankara of plotting the 2016 coup. Mr. Gulen has denied the allegations.

Mr. Trump and top administration officials have made Mr. Brunson’s release a priority, and U.S. officials thought they had a deal last month that would secure the pastor’s return to the U.S., people familiar with the talks have said.

But the deal fell apart amid disagreements over the terms, according to people familiar with the negotiations. Mr. Brunson was released from jail last week and placed under house arrest at his home on the Turkish coast, where he has operated a church in recent years.

The Trump administration and Mr. Brunson’s legal team, which includes Jay Sekulow, one of Mr. Trump’s lawyers, fully expected Turkey to send Mr. Brunson home, according to the people familiar with the negotiations.

When it became clear that Turkey wouldn’t do so, Mr. Trump decided to impose sanctions on the two Turkish officials, the first salvo in what could be an escalating campaign to punish Turkish officials and businessmen over the case, these people said. Congress is also moving to impose penalties on Turkey over Mr. Brunson’s case.

Wall Street Journal report continues here