WASHINGTON – Nearly 215 million Christians expertise extreme persecution worldwide, in accordance with the Institute on Religion and Democracy. The plight of the oppressed has lengthy been advocated by fellow believers. But now they're discovering a brand new crop of supporters past the partitions of the church.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are starting to advocate extra for these dealing with violent oppression internationally.
In an effort to lift consciousness, the Institute on Religion and Democracy hosted the Global Christian Persecution Summit in the coronary heart of the US Senate workplaces Thursday. The IRD is a Washington-based assume tank with the objective of instilling Christian values in public coverage.
Chelsen Vicari, IRD's director for evangelical motion, informed CBN News she hopes the info supplied at the summit will quickly flip to motion.
"The function of our Global Christian Persecution Summit is to inject concern and advocacy for persecuted Christians abroad into the very DNA of American Christians and our native church buildings," she mentioned.
Vicari defined how Christians can bridge the hole between consciousness and motion. She described a marketing campaign to coach others on the plight of Christians in the Middle East, North Africa, and past with "storytelling of Christian moms whose infants have been killed, younger women who've been raped, husbands who've been imprisoned and worse -- all for merely accepting Jesus as their savior."
"After storytelling comes motion," she continued. "As Christians, we are able to help the world persecuted Church with our prayers, our work to affect American international coverage on behalf of worldwide spiritual freedom, easy social media advocacy, and our monetary assist."
US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback informed CBN News that the Trump White House is proactively advocating for the persecuted Church overseas.
"The Trump administration has been very supportive of the work that we do," he mentioned. "Oftentimes, the Trump administration are the ones who elevate the subject when international leaders come to go to. They did so when the president of Nigeria got here. They've been excellent."
Ambassador Brownback is not the just one who believes the president is a champion for spiritual liberty.
"President Trump needs to save lots of persecuted Christians simply as a lot as anyone else," mentioned Frank Gaffney, founder and president of the Center for Security Policy, a non-profit international coverage assume tank primarily based in Washington, DC.
Retired Virginia congressman Frank Wolf, and a longtime defender for spiritual liberty, mentioned he agrees.
"Thanks to the Trump-Pence Administration, assist is being proven in direction of these persecuted in the Middle East," the the former Republican lawmaker added.
Wolf spoke at the summit, invoking William Wilberforce, an English anti-slavery abolitionist: "We can select to look away, however we are able to by no means once more say we didn't know."
Showing broad generational enchantment for the subject, a panel at the summit included the perspective of highschool senior, Alex Inman, to offer Generation Z's take together with seasoned defenders of spiritual freedom.
"It's like the 'March for our Lives' earlier this yr. They protest gun violence in colleges, however nothing's occurred," Inman mentioned. "People are conscious of points, however they do not know what to do."
Inman believes folks ought to pursue options incrementally as an alternative of suddenly.
"If we set an objective, after which search for methods to attain that objective, then we are able to say not solely are we conscious of this downside, however now we've got a course of motion to go along with."