Christian World News: August 26, 2011

Today on Christian World News – A fragile freedom. As the world watches Libya's rebels liberate the capital, the country's Christians wonder what it means for the church. Plus – Bringing dark secrets to light. How children growing up on the mission field suffer terrible abuse. Now they have hope for justice, freedom and healing. And – Singing for supper. How Hillsong is meeting the needs of hungry people across the world with a unique outreach. Welcome to Christian World News. I'm Efrem Graham. The battle for Libya continues. Rebel forces are claiming to control the vast majority of Tripoli, but they continue to battle Moammar Gadhafi's loyalists near his former compound. A Gadhafi spokesman has said he is safely in hiding and leading the battle against the rebels. Rebel leadership has offered a two million dollar bounty for Gadhafi's capture. Meanwhile, British warplanes struck a large bunker Friday in Gadhafi's hometown, his largest remaining stronghold. And NATO has turned its attention to loyalist forces battling Libyan rebels in that area. As the end comes to the Libyan regime, many wonder what the future holds for this North African country. Libya's small Christian community is one of the most vulnerable; evangelism in Libya is prohibited. Christian literature must be smuggled in and churches are limited to one denomination for a large city. Todd Nettleton of the Voice of the Martyrs ministry thinks freedom for Libya's Christians may be little more than a dream. But remember, 97 percent of the people in Libya are Muslims. So even a government that's elected by the people, could be a heavily Islamic government that wouldn't necessarily be friendly to Christians and wouldn't be friendly towards religious freedom. So, again, it's very early in the process. What we hope for is more religious freedom but it's hard to say that that will happen. CBN international correspondent Gary Lane joins us now. He was in Libya earlier this summer filing many reports for us. Gary, what can you tell us about Christians in Libya? Is there a Libyan church? There is a very small Libyan church, indigenous church, maybe no more than about 200 Libyans. No one knows for certain because, Efrem, they must keep their Christianity secret. These are former Muslims, maybe two or three members in a household, family members only, they can't trust outsiders, even family members at times. And so they're secret Christians. Being secret Christians, what happens to them if they're discovered? If they are discovered, let me give you an example, it's very dangerous for them. Just about two-three years ago there were three Libyan Christians who were arrested, former Muslims, and you'd think they would be charged with apostasy for leaving the Islamic faith. Instead, they were charged with treason because in Libya it's more of a political act. They view it as treasonous against their country. No one would possibly leave Islam. No one would end up being a Libyan. How could you stop that? What's life like for non-Libyan Christians living there? Well there are probably 150- to 200,000 foreign workers, ex-pats, who also worship in Libya. And there are churches in Tripoli, also in some of the larger cities, mostly Roman Catholic, Coptic Christians. Now we met with some Egyptian Coptic Christians. They gave us exclusive access to their service. This type of footage is not seen anywhere, but they allowed us in and showed us how they are worshiping. So they are allowed to worship. They're free to worship in their churches as long as they don't go out and evangelize. Real quickly, what can be done to help them? Efrem, what we need to do for Libyan Christians and for the ex-pats there is pray for them. Pray that God will give them strength in the midst of persecution, in the midst of this struggle that's going on in Libya right now. And also that they will eventually have freedom there in that country. All right. Gary Lane, thank you so much for your time, always appreciated. American broadcaster Glenn Beck held his Restoring Courage event in Jerusalem Wednesday. And he announced plans for a global movement to defend Israel. Chris Mitchell has that story now from Jerusalem. Nearly two thousand supporters gathered under the shadow of Jerusalem's Temple Mount to attend Glenn Beck's Restoring Courage rally. While his rally drew criticism from some, other Israelis supported the event, especially in light of the immediate dangers facing Israel. We see how many enemies Israel has. In this coming September there will be a vote in the U.N. against Israel for the creation of a Palestinian state. And for that matter what we are doing here, we are saying we will not abandon the Jewish people. I've been advancing the cause of Christian-Jewish relationship for 30 years but it's good to see other voices pick up the message and spread it to the nations of the world. Beck warned of dangerous times ahead. Threats are mounting and evil is growing. Darkness is falling. He said Israel and Israelis exemplify courage but he said in light of nearly universal and constant condemnation, Israel should not lose heart. My friends, do not lose hope. You must not lose confidence in yourself. You must have courage. You must draw courage from the knowledge that you were led to this land by God. Beck criticized the United Nations and international human rights groups that routinely condemn Israel, and announced plans to begin a global movement to defend the Jewish state. And I will ask them to join me in standing in defense of Israel, the Jewish people, responsibility, and the truth. Beck will address other rallies in South Africa, South America and then Texas on Sunday about this new initiative. Chris Mitchell, CBN News, Jerusalem. Breaking through barriers and transforming lives. How one incredible pastor went places even the police were afraid to go. When a neighborhood is so dangerous that not even the police will go in, what can the people do? That's the challenge one man faced when he moved into a dangerous slum in Costa Rica. The solution he came up with not only transformed the neighborhood, it has changed the destiny of hundreds of people. Stan Jeter has the story. Los Guido was a slum like many others in Latin America, only worse. (Voice of Interpreter). Not even the police could get in, or the Red Cross, nor could they do any kind of work, not even medical work. It was dangerous to go into that community. Los Guido appeared out of nowhere 25 years ago, when squatters began building shacks on public land. Before long there were 50,000 people, and plenty of headaches for municipal authorities. (Voice of Interpreter). It didn't have any kind of infrastructure. No roads, no sewage system. In fact, its people are a population that requires special attention from a social perspective. Los Guido's social problems were serious enough to catch the attention of National Congressman Carlos Avendano. (Voice of Interpreter). It's a community with a great number of negative elements: poverty, delinquency, abandoned children, and all the ills that come from the social issue of disintegrated homes, of the violence. But in the 1990s Los Guido took an unexpected turn for the better. The city and national government began paving streets and building better homes. Young people started returning to school instead of running with gangs. So what brought about this dramatic turnaround? The church that meets in this building here has been a key factor in the transformation of the Los Guido community. And the changes here over the past ten years have been substantial. The change started with the church. In 2000, Pastor Jorge Fernandez took over this struggling evangelical congregation and gave it a new focus. (Voice of Interpreter). I have always been convinced that the person who comes to Christ not only should become a faithful and official member of a church, but he should also become a source of benefit for the community. Fernandez helped his people leave the safety of the church sanctuary and begin reaching out to the slum's troubled youth. (Voice of Interpreter). We began a project to go and rescue young people in the homes, going to their hangouts, to find the youth there who were taking drugs. Going wherever we could go, where they let us, to go talk about the gospel. That started producing a change, so much so that the growth, the explosion of conversion—I've always said this—ran us over. Most of the converts were youth. (Voice of Interpreter). I grew up in this neighborhood. I was in gangs, I took drugs, alcohol. I was someone they often criticized and pointed out because of the way I was. Many times instead of making friends I was making enemies. Then when I met the Lord I can tell you that it was a complete transformation in my life. As Michael and others like him turned from gangs to church, the community began to change. (Voice of Interpreter). One more youth in the congregation is one less youth who's delinquent, or on drugs, or prostitution. Today, instead of gangs controlling Los Guido, Christian youth groups meet all over the community. And the church has grown to 1,000 members who are leaving old attitudes behind. (Voice of Interpreter). They are people who were born and grew up 20, 30 years, believing the whole world owes them something. But they don't owe anyone anything. To change that attitude takes time. To tell a person, "Look, don't think about what they can give you, think of what you can contribute." They are shocking concepts. But Fernandez keeps working to change the old mindset, mobilizing his congregation for evangelism and community improvement projects. It's a partnership highly valued by city hall. (Voice of Interpreter). Because the same goals bring us together. We work with the same people, and when we combine our resources we maximize the work we can do in that place. The Costa Rican government recently surprised Los Guido residents with a major investment in new facilities, including a police station, a clinic, and better schools. (Voice of Interpreter). In all this government investment, I emphasize that it's part of the miracle that community is experiencing. Fernandez and his congregation are now hoping to repeat their success in other needy communities. (Voice of Interpreter). We've gone from this community to other communities, many of them similar to this one, to take this same work model and raise up new churches. We're already doing that, we're working on that. The transformation of Los Guido is still underway. But for some church and national leaders the lesson is already clear. (Voice of Interpreter). When the church goes out to the community, impressive things happen. (Voice of Interpreter). That we not wait, as we generally do, for people to come to the church, but that the church goes out to the people, that there is a change in the gospel [proclmation]. And I believe this Los Guido community is an example. In Los Guido, Costa Rica, Stan Jeter, CBN News. Children who grew up on the mission field a generation ago share their secrets for the first time. Next – their incredible stories of abuse and what ministries are doing to keep it from happening again. American missionaries have spread the gospel for centuries. Now there's word of serious problems among some of them. Grown children of some missionaries are saying that they were abused while they were in the field. They represent more than 20 different denominations. And now some of those reports are being investigated. Heather Sells has more. Kari Mikitson was just a little girl in the mid '80s when the missionaries assigned to protect her began to abuse her. From roughly six to eight years old my dorm father sexually abused me. The physical abuse was most of the teachers there and dorm parents. In the 1960s, Wess Stafford also suffered at his school, seen here in this documentary, where staff would beat the students daily for minor infractions. Silly little things, like a wrinkle in your bedspread when you're six years old, was good enough for a beating. Sexual abuse was common as well. The very people who were reading us our Bible stories, just minutes later after the generator went out, were molesting us. Susannah Baker's abuse took place in the '60s and '70s while she was living with her family on a missionary compound in Bangladesh. She says her attacker was her neighbor and doctor on the compound. Her abuser reportedly told a mission investigator later on of his sexual abuse of another teenage girl there. He is currently the focus of a wide-ranging investigation by the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism. He's a very intelligent and sly man. He knew how to hide what he was doing. Mikitson, Stafford and Baker followed a common pattern among abuse survivors, keeping their nightmare quiet until years later. The reason? For Mikitson and Stafford, their abusers leveraged their loyalty to God and their parents. We were told as children never to tell our parents anything negative about the school or we would be hindering God's work on the field. Here were the words: "There will be Africans in hell because of you, if you tell." No one knows exactly how prevalent the abuse problem is on the international mission field. But what many believe is this: Conditions overseas are often ripe for it. Abusers can flourish because missionaries are isolated. Also, missionaries tend to be trusting. And, historically, abusers have not faced any legal charges. Former prosecutor Boz Tchvidjian now investigates abuse overseas as part of the non-profit group G.R.A.C.E. He led the investigation for New Tribes Mission and is currently investigating for the ABWE. You have a tremendous unchecked environment where abuse can go on and at the very worst an offender will get sent home. Mikitson, Stafford and Baker eventually reported the abuse to their mission agencies. And all met with great resistance. Stafford, who had risen to chief executive of Compassion International, finally met face to face with leaders at the Christian and Missionary Alliance, his former mission. And I said, "I'm one of your kids so don't deny this. It did happen. And don't blame the victims." This is the headquarters here of the Christian and Missionary Alliance which in 1996 became the first Protestant mission organization to investigate and acknowledge widespread abuse at one of its missionary boarding schools. Today, that investigation is considered a catalyst in prompting other mission organizations to launch their own investigations. In 2009, the United Methodist Church issued its report, followed by the Presbyterian Church USA and New Tribes Mission. Investigations still underway include the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism and a second one for New Tribes. In each case, it's taken years for survivors to convince their missions a problem existed. If we had it all to do over again, certainly we would want to do it differently in that regard, that we would want to take the stories very seriously right from the start. What's empowering victims today, the pulpit provided by the Internet. Both Mikitson and Baker say their survivor blogs exploded overnight. It went from hundreds of people reading it daily to thousands. They come together now, instead of one voice it's dozens, or sometimes hundreds, tragically. But this platform can devastate victims all over again as they face hostility for speaking out. Trauma therapist Beth Parker says the best response is to affirm a survivor when they tell their story. Whenever outside sources don't believe it adds to the view that maybe I'm wrong and the world is right. So, the biggest desires for victims are validation and an "I'm sorry." It's not about money. Abuse victims do not come forward to find a cash cow. It's never about money. It is, says Tchvidjian, about repentance from not only the abusers, but those who oversaw them, and that can help both survivors and mission agencies move forward. You should want to know all the details of where you failed, not only so you can repent, but also so you never repeat the same mistakes. Today, mission attitudes are changing and many organizations have created new child protection policies, explained in videos like this one produced by the Alliance. The policies now which are very clear are absolute zero tolerance for the abuse and mistreatment of children. Also, 40 mission agencies and Christian organization have created a child safety network that's developed best practice standards. The ABWE now says its former doctor under investigation is a pedophile, and publicly regrets that it did not report him years ago to the law or any state medical boards. In March, it finally reported him to the Michigan Bureau of Health Professions. The question for mission organizations today, how will they go forward? How much will they encourage the reporting of abuse, and how aggressively will they work to protect children from known missionary offenders? Had this happened on American soil, had we not been silenced so long, there's a bunch of them who would have ended up in prison. How many are out there right now as we speak during this interview, who are abusing children? This is a 9-1-1 for the Christian world and how we respond to this has eternal implications. Heather Sells, CBN News. And you can find more Christian World News throughout the week at our website, cwnews.org. We'll be right back. The international group Hillside United has found a unique way to spread the love of God. They released a musical documentary that highlights the needs of people around the world and how the church can minister the love of Christ in practical ways. We recently caught up with the band on tour. "We're all in this together." That's the theme of Hillsong United's  feature-length documentary. They say their mission is to not only preach the good news, but to "be" the good news. Our walk with god is one that starts when we wake up and runs all the way through, and I think each and every single one of our guys is solid. One thing I know is I'm always endeavoring to spend more time with Jesus. I think you can never spend enough time with him. Over the past two years, Hillsong United traveled across six continents and 42 nations. They filmed their cross-cultural journey, hoping to show the impact of God's love. The name of Jesus, there's no name above that. I think that we can trust in that name and not have to trust in our name or any other name. Hillsong United just wrapped up the U.S. leg of their tour, which is where we caught up with them backstage. They told CBN News that God is the one who is using their music to touch the hearts of people, and they're just honored to be a part of it. The Spirit of God is in each and every one of us. And I think we don't have to do the work ourselves and we can rely on the presence of God to do the work. And our job is actually simple, it's just to get people's attention off themselves and off us and onto Him. While on tour, Hillsong United is also partnering with local churches to coordinate food drives in each city. They said this is just one way Christians can help to meet some of life's most practical needs. It's great, we lift up our voice and we praise God but I think we all know that's fantastic as long as we understand that we've got a call to action to make a difference. In the meantime, Hillsong United will continue on with their world tour, hoping to touch the lives of millions of people, one heart at a time. The truth is every single one is someone, every single one is a real life with real hopes and real fears. Everyone is unique and everyone is alive at this moment in history. For more information on tour dates or how you can get a copy of the DVD, "We're all in this together," just log on to cwnews.org. Thanks so much for joining us this week. Until next week, good-bye and God bless you.