A New Perspective on Constantine

by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A Christian Pakistani girl was kidnapped and raped by five Muslims before being returned to her father a day later in a traumatized condition, ucanews.com reports.

Maria, the 15-year-old daughter of Jalal Masih, a local Christian laborer in Sheikhupura city of Pakistan’s Pubjab Province, was taken by five gun-toting Muslim men in a car on June 9th led by businessman Muhammad Sajid, then dropped on her family’s doorstep the next night after having endured severe abuse.

“The locals saw them abducting her at gunpoint in a vehicle. I reached his [Sajid’s] office but he was absent. We made contact the next day and he threatened to return her dead body if we informed the police,” Masih’s First Incident Report (FIR) at the local police station read.

“She was extremely scared.”

Legal Evangelical Association Development (LEAD), which is monitoring the trend of Christian girls abused by Muslim men in Pakistan, said 28 Christian girls were victims of kidnapping and rape between November 2018 and June 2019.

Most believe the isolated incidents of abuse are part of a wider assault on Pakistan’s minority religious communities, which are mostly made up of Hindus and Christians, with forced marriage and conversion of young girls the chosen method for assimilating them into the majority Muslim culture.

“Only Christian and Hindu girls are victims in such cases. Crimes against religious minorities are increasing at a high scale in Pakistan,” LEAD national director Sardar Mushtaq Gill told ucanews.com.

As an indicator, the Pakistani province of southern Sidh alone saw over 1,000 such cases last year, according to estimates in the annual report of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

The 96% Muslim nation holds the infamous position of number 5 on Open Doors USA’s World Watch List 2019.

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by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – An evangelical Protestant Church in Ethiopia received an eviction letter on May 15th citing noise complaints from local residents after operating peaceably for 10 years, according to World Watch Monitor.

Mekane Yesus Evangelical Church, in Robe, Ethiopia, was ordered to vacate its building by Oromia Regional State Authorities within 30 days, and petitions by local members to officials have since been fruitless.

“Noise from mosques and Ethiopian Orthodox churches can be heard throughout the day and even at night,” an anonymous source told World Watch Monitor. “This decision is nothing other than a display of animosity towards Protestant churches in the region.”

Despite its status as a majority Christian nation, most Ethiopians belong to the Ethiopian Orthodox church (EOC), who, along with its significant Muslim minority, have often expressed deep antipathy toward the country’s small but burgeoning evangelical population.

Last year an Ethiopian Protestant was charged with insulting the religious feelings of members of the EOC when he questioned the use of the tabot, or Ark of the Covenant replica, in OId Testament-style Orthodox worship services, a crime for which he became the object of violence from Orthodox Ethiopians during his trial.

Open Doors USA lists Ethiopia 28th on its World Watch List of places where it’s most difficult to be a Christian, with the spread of Islam cited as the main reason.

The post Ethiopian Evangelical Church Faces Closure Due To Inexplicable Noise Pollution Complaint appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A 21-year-old Syrian refugee from Pittsburgh was arrested on a federal complaint Wednesday, after discussions with undercover FBI officials uncovered a plot to bomb a North Pittsburgh church in the name of ISIS.

Mustafa Mousab Alowemer was charged with one count of lending material support to ISIS, and two counts of distributing explosive-related information with an eye to bombing a Christian church.

Details of the plot were fleshed out by undercover investigators who said Alowemer wanted to hide two backpacks, one in the church with a bomb large enough to send shockwaves throughout the surrounding neighborhood, and one carefully designed to detonate as police arrived.

If they survived, Alowemer’s plot slated police to discover a planted ISIS flag with a note that read “We’ve arrived.”

“I am grateful nothing did happen and I’m grateful that we are able to show that God covered us,” said Pastor Michael Day of Legacy International Worship Center, the targeted church.

The discovery of the plot and the suspect’s arrest were announced by FBI counterterrorism officials and U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady for the Western District of Pennsylvania, who lauded the work of FBI Undercover Employees (UCEs) in the case.

“While the public does not always see the results of the hard work of these dedicated men and women, this case is a visible demonstration of our commitment to rooting out terrorists and bringing them to justice,” said Brady.

Alowemer was admitted as a refugee to the United States on August 1st, 2016, and awaits a detention hearing on Friday.

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(Worthy News) – The Republican-led Senate voted Thursday to block $8.1 billion in US arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies, as legislators outraged with the kingdom delivered a symbolic rebuke to President Donald Trump.

At least seven Republicans joined Democrats in supporting each of three resolutions that would prevent the controversial sales announced earlier this year by Trump. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

The post Defying Trump, GOP-led Senate votes to block Saudi arms sales appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

(Worthy News) – Mexico has become the first country to ratify the new trilateral trade deal pushed by U.S. President Donald Trump as a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The Mexican Senate gave the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement overwhelming approval with a 114-4 vote Wednesday. All three North American leaders have signaled approval for the pact, which must be ratified by the nations’ respective legislatures. [ Source: UPI (Read More…) ]

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