Christian Man Beaten Nearly to Death, Body Burned on His Muslim Mother's Orders for Choosing Jesus

By Stoyan Zaimov
Christian Post

A Muslim woman in a Middle Eastern country ordered that her son be beaten nearly to death because he converted to Christianity.

Christian Aid Mission, which supports ministries around the world that are helping believers in dangerous places, recently reported that Abdel, as the young man is called (not his real name), has remained committed to his faith despite the attacks on his life.

Abdel's mother was distraught when she learned that he had decided to leave Islam and convert to Christianity, even though he knew he would be shunned by his family.

He had been unable to find work in his home country (also not named) and had been relying on his parents to pay for his apartment and other living expenses. Following his conversion, his mother came to him with a checkbook in one hand, and a burial linen shroud in the other.

"You must choose between the two," his mother told him.

Despite knowing that his mother was capable of anything, the young Christian replied: "I want to live for Christ and die for Him, no matter what the price will be."

His mother left, warning that he will "pay the price" for his decision. Abdel was kidnapped by a Muslim gang two months later and beaten nearly to the point of death, with cigarettes burned to his body.

Though Abdel survived, he has been subjected to further financial difficulties from his mother, who has sent people to collect money from him that he says he doesn't owe.

Still, Abdel has maintained his Christian faith, and has been encouraging others to turn to Jesus.

Christians in different parts of the world have faced intense attacks from within their own families for their decision to convert, and not only in Muslim-majority nations.

In 2017, Open Doors USA shared the story of a 20-something-year-old Christian by the name of Cheu in the Buddhist-majority nation of Laos who was severely beaten by members of his own family.

Christian Post continues here

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Pastor Brunson's Daughter: Turkey's Charge of 'Christianization' Equates Christianity with 'Terrorism'

By Benjamin Gill
CBN News

Turkish leaders are hinting American Pastor Andrew Brunson could be released next month at his next hearing on October 12th, but only if the US stops putting pressure on the country.

Brunson is currently under house arrest after spending almost two years in a Turkish prison accused of crimes related to his Christian faith.

His daughter spoke at this year's Values Voter summit in Washington and says it's been difficult for her dad and their family.

Jacqueline Furnari, Pastor Brunson's daughter, said, 

"There have been times I have not been happy with God's plan in this situation. I've really come to realize God is in complete control and He has a plan and this is all for his glory. He is worth everything that my family has gone through."

She continued, "I've seen that message come through in my dad's letters as well as he started to transform and submit to God and say, 'God, my life is yours. Whatever you do with me let it honor you, let it declare your name and your goodness to people.'"

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also spoke at the event and says the United States is "sparing no effort" to see Brunson returned home safely.

Meanwhile, Furnari is also revealing that Turkey's official charge against her father is that he was involved in "Christianization." In other words, Turkey has decided that sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ is equal to "terrorism," making Christianity a "threat to national security."

She says her father was held with 22 people in a cell designed for 8 people. And over the past two years, he developed anxiety and depression as he wondered why a NATO ally could possibly be holding him for an entire year-and-a-half without any charges based on the accusations of secret witnesses.

Eventually, he was charged with "Christianization" by the Turkish regime, which has increasingly shown signs of radical Islamic tendencies. And Turkey's leader Recep Erdogan even dreams of being the new caliph of an Islamic empire. More about that HERE.

Website: CBN News

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Egypt's Persecuted Coptic Christians Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

"Coptic Christians have consistently refused to retaliate and continue to practice peaceful coexistence."

Mourners at St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral for
funeral of four slain Christians. (Photo Morning Star News)

By Michael Gryboski
Christian Post

Egypt's persecuted Coptic Christian minority has been nominated for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, reportedly the first ethno-religious group given such an honor.

While the Norwegian Nobel Committee doesn't release the names of nominees, the charity Coptic Orphans announced the nomination on their Facebook page in a post from Tuesday, noting that they were nominated for their refusal to retaliate against recent acts of anti-Christian violence.

There are 331 nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize this year, which includes 216 individuals and 115 groups, making it the second highest number of candidates since 2016, when there were 376.

The recipient of the Peace Prize will be announced on Friday, Oct. 5, with the official award acceptance ceremony being held in December.

In a statement released in response to the news, Coptic Orphans noted the persecution that the Church has endured in Egypt since 2011, when the "Arab Spring" protests led to the overthrow of long-serving dictator Hosni Mubarak.

"According to a 2018 report by the Christian charity Open Doors, Christians in Egypt face 'unprecedented levels of persecution.' Last year, according to the report, 128 Egyptian Christians were killed for their faith and more than 200 were driven out of their homes," the organization said.

"Despite this, Coptic Christians have consistently refused to retaliate and continue to practice peaceful coexistence."

Over the last few years, Coptic Christians have been subjected to numerous brutal attacks and church bombings carried by Islamic extremists.

For example, in May 2017 Islamic extremists attacked a group of Coptic Christians on their way to a monastery south of Cairo, killing around 30.

In October 2011, over 20 Copts were killed and around 200 injured in violent clashes after the Christian minority was protesting increased persecution of churches.

Earlier this year, a female Coptic journalist named Engy Magdy wrote an op-ed published by the Brooklyn-based Catholic news website The Tablet documenting how life for Christian women in Egypt was "hell."

"To be a woman in a country where most of her people see women as a disgrace, and at best look at her from a sexual point of view, it is a heavy burden, but even worse when you are a Christian woman," wrote Magdy.

"Most Muslim women in Egypt wear a hijab and therefore, the others who do not wear it are most likely Coptic. ... This means that the Egyptian man thinks he has the right to harass her, simply because he sees her as a whore and a disbeliever."

Chinese Officials Burn Bibles, Close Churches, Force Christian to Denounce Faith Amid 'Escalating' Crackdown

The suppression of religious freedoms is part of an official 

government campaign to “Sinicize” religion by demanding 

loyalty to the atheist Communist party. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

By Lukas Mikelionis 

Fox News

The Chinese government is destroying crosses, burning bibles, closing churches and forcing Christian believers to sign papers renouncing their faith as the crackdown on religious congregations in Beijing and several provinces intensifies.

The suppression of religious freedoms is part of an official campaign to “Sinicize” religion by demanding loyalty to the atheist Communist party and removing any potential challenge to the party’s power in the country.

“The international community should be alarmed and outraged for this blatant violation of freedom of religion and belief,” Bob Fu of China Aid, said.

Bob Fu傅希秋@BobFu4China

#China CCP starts burning the Bible and crosses in Henan. Last time burning Bibles campaign happened in late 1960s by dictator Chairman Mao’s wife Jiang Qing in Shanghai. She was arrested in 1976 but Christians grew to millions. Will Never be successful河南文革重现，烧圣经十字架

7:31 PM - Sep 5, 2018

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“The situation for Chinese #Christians becomes more dire by the day. We are working tirelessly to put maximum pressure on China stop the persecution,” Jay Sekulow, President Trump attorney and Chief Counsel at the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ), wrote in a tweet.

The persecution of Christians in China is nothing new. A report by the watchdog group Freedom House found that Christians and other religious groups in China have been persecuted since 2012, Fox News reported.

A third of all religious believers in China who belong to a faith group were also found to face “high” to “very high” levels of persecution, which ranges from bureaucratic harassment and economic exploitation to harsh prison terms and even violence, the report said.

View image on Twitter

Jay Sekulow

✔@JaySekulow

The situation for Chinese #Christians becomes more dire by the day. We are working tirelessly to put maximum pressure on China stop the persecution: https://aclj.us/2wLOU90 

6:05 PM - Sep 5, 2018

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But experts and activists say the Chinese government is now waging the most severe suppression of Christianity in the country since religious freedoms were granted by the Chinese constitution in 1982. The escalating anti-Christian campaign coincides with President Xi Jinping recent consolidation of power that made him the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, the notorious communist leader responsible for millions of deaths.

Activists reportedly filmed footage of what appeared to be piles of burning bibles and forms declaring that the signatories had rejected their faith. The authorities allegedly forced the believers to sign the forms or risk being expelled from school or loosing welfare benefits.

A Christian Pastor in the Henan city of Nanyang, whose name was not identified out of fear of retaliation by the authorities, reportedly confirmed that crosses, bibles and furniture were burned during a raid on his church on Sept. 5.

He added that local authorities were in discussions with the church about reforming it, but no agreement had been reached. According to Chinese laws, religious believers are allowed to worship only in government-sanctioned congregations. 

But many millions of Christians belong to underground or house churches that ignore government regulations.

Officials reportedly disputed the allegations raised by Christians, saying authorities respect religious freedom.

The anti-religion campaign affected not only Christian denominations. Around 1 million Uighurs and other members of Muslim minority groups in the country's northwest have been detained in indoctrination camps where they are forced to denounce Islam and profess loyalty to the Communist Party.

The Chinese government denied setting up the camps for indoctrination, but stressed the importance to tackle extremism.

China has an around 38 million Protestants, and some have predicted that the country will have the world's largest Christian population in a few decades.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Website: Fox New

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Trump Admin. Reopens Asylum Cases of Indonesian Christians Facing Deportation

Ethnic Chinese Christians who fled Indonesia after wide scale rioting
decades ago and overstayed their visas in the U.S. arrive for a family meeting
with ICE in Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S., October 13, 2017.

By Samuel Smith

Christian Post

The Trump administration has reopened the asylum cases of nearly three dozen Indonesian Christian immigrants who face the possibility of deportation back to a country where they could be persecuted.

New Hampshire Public Radio reports that 44 of the 51 Indonesian Christians named in a class action lawsuit over their deportation orders last year received notice on Wednesday that their asylum requests are now being reconsidered by the U.S. government.

The decision came from the Justice Department's Board of Immigration Appeals and comes after a judge had previously ruled that the government could not deport the Christians while they seek to have their cases reheard.

"The kind of abrupt nature in which the government sought to deport these people really was an issue," attorney Nathan Warecki told NHNPR. "We're happy that the Department of Justice agrees and is reopening their cases."

The ethnic Chinese Christians in the case have lived illegally in New Hampshire for decades after they fled persecution and violence in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country which ranks as the 38th-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution.

"I'm very relieved for New Hampshire's Indonesian community. This is the right decision," U.S. Sen Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said in a statement Thursday. "I hope further progress can be made to grant permanent asylum to these families and will do all that I can to provide assistance towards this goal."

Sandra Pontoh, pastor of the Madbury Maranatha Indonesian United Church of Christ who has been an outspoken advocate for the group, also praised the Justice Department's decision.

"I told them, 'this is good news, congratulations to everyone, but you know, you cannot stop working hard,'" Pontoh said, referring to the fact that the group of asylum seekers still need to do their part to ensure that their applications are accepted.

According to SeacostOnline.com, an order from the Board of Immigration Appeals shows that at least one of the Christians in the group appealed the previous dismissal of his case on grounds of "changed country conditions for Christians in Indonesia."

William Hahn, an attorney who represents 10 of the Indonesians who faced with deportation, told SeacostOnline.com that one of his clients argued that his application should be reevaluated "on the basis of escalating violence and intolerance directed toward Indonesian Christians." His client fears radical Muslim groups will persecute him if he's sent back to Indonesia.

In her statement, Shaheen warned that deporting these Christian immigrants back home where they could be persecuted is "not consistent with American values."

"These individuals learned our language, found employment and became contributing members of our community and shouldn't have to live under constant threat of removal to a hostile land," she said.

Shaheen has been vocal in her advocacy for the Indonesian Christians and has questioned Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on the issue.

Website: Christian Post

Egyptian Teen Embraces Christianity After Muslims Murder Father Who Refused to Convert

By Leah Marie Ann Klett
Christian Post

An Egyptian teen embraced Christianity after witnessing the faith of his father, who was brutally murdered by Muslim extremists for refusing to convert to Islam.

Seventeen-year-old Marqos told persecution watchdog Open Doors USA that just a few years ago, his family lived at peace with their Muslim neighbors in El-Arish, a small city on Egypt's Mediterranean coast. Marquos' father, Baghat, was a veterinarian who had good relations with his Muslim colleagues and friends.

However, everything changed when Palestinian immigrants with a very strict view on Islam moved to the village. Marqos' mother, Fawziya, recounted how the Muslims began threatening believers by spreading leaflets warning Christians to leave the city or die. In the beginning of 2017, they began to carry out their threats.

One Sunday morning, Baghat woke up early to go to church, and then went to work at the veterinarian clinic of one of his Muslim friends. While Marqos and Fawziya weren't present at the tragedy that followed, Marqos spoke with a Muslim friend of his father who witnessed the event.

"He told me that two young masked men entered the pharmacy and dragged my father outside," Marqos said. "They told him to kneel in the street. They put two guns at my father's head and told him to convert to Islam. But he shook his head. Then they shot him. When I heard he'd died, I couldn't walk to the morgue."

Prior to his father's death, Marquos cared little about Christianity. But Baghat's unflinching faith in the face of death made him want to know more about Jesus Christ.

"I was proud of my father, for standing by his faith until the last moment," he said. "It made me curious. When my father was still alive, he woke up every morning at 5 am to study the Bible and pray. Apparently, that helped him become a strong believer. My father's death for Christ has made me search for Jesus."

Fawziya said she's seen a noticeable change in her son's heart and habits since embracing Christianity.

"You know, Marqos used to be a difficult teenager," she said. "But after the murder, all of the sudden, I found him reading his Bible and praying. He started going to church often, studied harder. He really changed as a person. If he doesn't understand a verse, he asks me about it. And we pray together.

"This is what my husband and I have always prayed for together: that the Lord would touch our son's heart and pull him closer to Him," she added.

Egypt is No. 17 on Open Doors' World Watch List and continues to be a country that poses extreme danger and violence for Christians, according to the persecution watchdog. In 2017 alone, 128 Christians were killed for their faith and more than 200 were driven out of their homes.

Egyp's Coptic Christians in particular, who account for around 10 percent of the population, have experienced a wave of attacks at the hands of Muslim extremists. Last year, the Islamic State group vowed to "wipe" Christians "out."

Despite the persecution they face, followers of Christ are winning new converts in the Muslim-majority country.

Christian Post story continues here

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Erdogan Says Turkey Won't Grant 'Unlawful Requests' to Release Pastor Andrew Brunson

U.S President Donald Trump (L) welcomes Turkey's President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan in White House in Washington, DC
May 16, 2017. (Photo: Reuters/Joshua Roberts)

By Samuel Smith
Christian Post

Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that the Turkish government will not accept requests to release detained American pastor Andrew Brunson.

Citing the pro-government Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, Reuters reports that Erdogan told reporters that the Turkish government would not fulfill "unlawful requests" pertaining to Brunson, who has been detained since October 2016 and charged with what the U.S. government says are baseless terrorism crimes.

Erdogan's remark comes as President Donald Trump and his administration have been steadfast in their pressuring of the Turkish government to release the 50-year-old pastor from North Carolina, who has served as a church leader in Izmir for the past two decades.

"It's not nice for them to demand 'you will send him, hand him over to us,'" Erdogan said, according to Bloomberg. "Such threats won't produce results."

Erdogan's spokesperson, Ibrahim Kalin, told Reuters last week that the U.S. should respect Turkey's judicial independence.

"There is rule of law in Turkey and the Andrew Brunson case is a legal issue," Kalin was quoted as saying. "There is an ongoing legal process related to this individual."

Yet, that legal process has been questioned by U.S. officials and human rights advocates.

Brunson was not only held for 17 months before being charged with affiliation with Kurdish militants and an Islamic group blamed for the 2016 coup attempt, but he also faced a court process that critics say has lacked due process.

Advocates for Brunson say that the prosecution's case has consisted of secret witnesses lacking firsthand accounts. So far, Brunson has faced three hearings. Days after the third hearing in July, Brunson was removed from prison and ordered to home confinement.

Christian Post continues here

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Indian Christians Refuse to Deny Christ Despite Persecution From Hindu Radicals

"Doors are often closed to the Gospel, but God has a way of working through, and around, and over closed doors....." 

School children listen to a speech by a Christian leader during 

a protest rally in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata August 29, 2008.

By Leah Marie Ann Klett

Christian Post

Christian families in India who were forced to stop attending church after Hindu radicals threatened to beat and kill them have vowed to continue worshiping Christ in secret.

Pastor Singh, who leads a congregation in India's Madhya Pradesh State, told International Christian Concern that 15 families have stopped going to his church in recent months after facing persecution at the hands of Hindu radicals.

"The reason for this drop in the attendance is the threats from Hindu radicals," Pastor Singh told the nonprofit persecution watchdog. "The radicals say they will beat and kill my church members if they continue to attend the services."

"Prior to May this year, around 200 people used to worship regularly in my church," he continued. "But now only 50 to 60 people attend my church on Sunday. They are under tremendous pressure from Hindu radicals."

Shankar Damor, a 37-year-old from Kardubadi village near Jhabua, told ICC his family stopped attending church because they were under serious threat of physical attack.

"In a meeting last May in the village of Kardubadi, the Christians were told that we should not attend any church and should not even pray in our homes," Shankar explained. "When we complained to the village diktat, the entire village stopped associating with us. No one attended our weddings and we were totally cut off from the people of the village."

"In that same month, when my family was praying in our house, someone from the village called the police and I was taken to the police station on false charges of forced conversions," Shankar said. "The police beat me brutally and harassed me while in custody."

Despite such persecution, Shankar said his family will continue to worship Christ — in secret.

"We are on shaky ground as a family," he said. "However, we might stop attending the church, but we will not leave Jesus."

Babu Singh Damor, another Christian from Kardubadi village, told ICC that after completing his Bachelor of Theology, he wanted to serve as a pastor. However, he's forced to practice his faith in private.

"We Christians are closely monitored as to where we are going and whom are we meeting," Babu explained. "It's quite a pathetic life we are living. However, we are not going to leave Jesus, no one is going snatch Jesus from our hearts."

Pansingh Bhuriah, a 23-year-old Christian by birth and former member of Pastor Singh's church, decided to distance himself from the church and Christian activities after his sister was sent to jail on false charges of forced conversion.

"We are attacked from all corners," he said. "It affects our livelihood as we are denied work in the village. It affects our social life as nobody from the entire region attends any of our social gatherings. We have been forced to not identify with Christians and churches and live like Hindus in the village."

India ranks as the 11th worst nation in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA's 2018 World Watch List. While religious freedom is supposed to be a constitutional right in the country, several Indian states have implemented anti-conversion laws, making it illegal for anyone to use force or allurement to convert others to another religion. Such laws are often abused by Hindu radicals to file false complaints against pastors and pressure Christians not to share their faith.

Christian Post article continues here

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'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

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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

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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

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