The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-04/19/2016 DISCLAIMER: Baptist Press should be credited for any reprinted stories that originate with BP. Suggested credit line: Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention. Please note that Baptist Press periodically carries stories from other sources by permission. Individuals interested in reprinting non-BP stories should contact the entity where the story originated to seek reprint permission. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Medical missions patient safety is nonprofit's aim by Laura Campbell Date: April 19, 2016 - Tuesday TAYLORS, S.C. (BP) -- While medical missions typically brings to mind images of impoverished people receiving medical treatment, a doctor and pharmacist are aiming to take it to the next level by bringing patient safety more clearly into the picture. Francis Nuthalapathy, a maternal-fetal medicine physician who is president of the nonprofit organization Omer Medical Logistics, said the idea originated with Roger Blackwell, a pharmacist and vice president of operations for the ministry. Blackwell met someone who wanted to donate medications left over from a mission trip to another group. The problem was that the drugs were unlabeled, with no expiration dates or patient-advisory information. That awoke a concern about patient safety: How does one give 30 pills to someone who speaks another language and explain how to take the medication and understand the possible side effects? "We need to really focus on patient safety," Nuthalapathy said of the idea that hasn't yet penetrated medical missions. The Omer cofounders are members of Brushy Creek Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C. Pastor Ralph Carter describes Nuthalapathy and Blackwell as having "a real heart for medical missions." In its first phase, Omer Logistics began offering a vitamin repackaging service last summer. Patient-dose packages are labeled in the native language with pictographs for non-readers. Volunteers gather once a month at the group's repackaging room in Greenville, S.C., to put together the packets. Since August 2015, they have sent out about half a million vitamins to 10 countries with instructions in six languages. Nuthalapathy said they are able to purchase the vitamins at a discount, and, even after adding a small surcharge to help fund the organization, they are still able to offer the vitamins for far less than retail. The next goal is to offer over-the-counter medications. The startup was funded in 2013 when the National Christian Foundation provided a $125,000 grant to match the $125,000 the two men had raised for the first phase of the initiative. "We plan to make it a self-sustaining organization," Nuthalapathy said. In the future, Omer Logistics plans to offer additional services, such as putting together medic packs and purchasing expensive equipment that medical missions teams can use. Nuthalapathy and Blackwell also want to put technology and database systems in place so that missions volunteers will have access to critical information about the areas they will be visiting. "The main goal is that we want to make it easier for evangelical outreach to occur," Nuthalapathy said. According to the organization's website, the name for the group comes from Exodus 16, where God provided manna and taught the people how to be good stewards of the gift by each taking a share, an omer, of the manna. "This example of stewardship is at the heart of Omer Medical Logistics," the website states. "We fulfill our purpose by helping medical missions teams gather and use exactly what is needed for each medical outreach." Nuthalapathy said an "unbelievable" amount of red tape was involved in launching Omer because of the FDA documentation and paperwork required. "If we knew how much work it would be, I don't know if we would have done it. Sometimes our naiveté works in God's favor," he said. Jeff Palmer, executive director of the Baptist Global Response humanitarian organization, said, "It is exciting to see the launch of grassroots organizations like this one with a heart for helping people and sharing the love of Christ. It is especially encouraging to see the emerging of medical and health care mission organizations with a growing sense of awareness of the good and potential bad that can happen with improper medical processes and practices overseas. "Medical, dental and health care missions is a growing interest in our churches. There are acceptable medical and health care practices here in the U.S. and those same standards should be held when we send out our teams to work cross-culturally. I'm happy to see an organization like this one forming and hopefully leading others to good, sound medical health care mission strategies and practices." For more information about Omer Medical Logistics, visit www.omerlogistics.org. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST-PERSON: Training for the souls of men by Paige Patterson Date: April 19, 2016 - Tuesday FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- "Training? You will not need any training! You just need a passion for the USA, for democracy, and a love for the fight. Watch a few videos about war, and you will be as good as any Special Ops operator in the Marines. Don't waste your youth. Volunteer now." "Whatever you do, avoid pre-med and medical schools and steer clear of all hospitals. Watch some videos on delicate cardiac surgery and attend a few lectures, and you will be as ready as anyone. And people will flock to you to perform this surgery on them." Young man, you have been called to do the most delicate, life-saving surgery in the entire world. You must deal every day with the souls of men, which will never die. They will become consummate evil in hell or perpetual good as a result of Christ's work. And you must take strongholds and attack them, often alone. You have to understand all that can be known about this and how Jesus provides a solution. May I offer you 10 reasons why you should attend Bible college and/or seminary? People who propose the opposite either did not attend an intensely missionary, soul-winning seminary or else paid little attention while they were there. So consider my suggestions before God. 1) There is a biblical prohibition against placing a novice in a lead ministry position. 1 Timothy 3:6 specifically states this position. A novice does not specifically reflect age. A 50-year-old could be a new Christian. But it is certain that while there is much that a 22-year-old can and should do for God, he is vulnerable to misunderstandings and misapplications and even heresy just because of insufficient guidance and training. He needs the seasoning of several years of seminary. 2) The critical exposure to sound doctrine, to clear biblical truth and to the Bible in its linguistic format of Hebrew and Greek are strategically important. If these factors are unimportant, even unnecessary, then Christians have wasted their time and energy for 2,000 years. 3) Learning to walk carefully with God can be done in relative isolation, but it seldom is. A good seminary will teach that through the lives of its professors. How many times have I heard of one of our late evangelism professors, "I walked out of Roy Fish's class and was never again the same." 4) The situations that you will face in ministry are a thousand times more complicated than you can imagine. Facing those situations in class and learning the value of biblical counseling is essential to effective ministry. 5) In seminary, you make lifelong friendships that uphold you in hours of need and that establish a sense of cooperative effort and prayer, which is irreplaceable. 6) Mission trips and other guided experiences under the watchful eye of wise and experienced personnel provide correction and guidance often otherwise missed. 7) Being an effective preacher or teacher does not arise naturally. God's gifts are indispensable, but as one begins to employ the gifts God has given, the guidance of others is also from the Lord. There is no place more important for receiving this mentoring than in seminary. 8) If one is to serve as a Baptist minister or missionary, he must comprehend the unique contribution of Baptists and Anabaptists to the world. I have met few without seminary training who had any idea about these things. It takes a while to do enough reading and have sufficient discussions in the coffee shop to begin to see the wisdom of these great men of God. 9) Learning how to study is a skill with which few are born. Studying with a cadre of godly professors will teach something much more valuable than subject matter. You actually learn how to discover truth and distinguish truth from error. 10) The birth of a baby is an exciting moment. But it is no longer exciting if that baby never matures. And to mature takes time. Spiritual maturity does not happen immediately. Some progress more quickly than others, but this is always a process -- sometimes a painful process. Seminary provides the environment for this development. The apostle Paul was clearly well-taught in Hellenistic philosophy. Further, he held an equivalent of an M.Div. from Gamaliel in the Jerusalem seminary. When he was saved, he did not unleash himself on the world immediately but retired to the desert for several years to rethink his theology in the light of Christ. That example is worth imitation. Please hear my heart. I would not want to be part of a denomination or church that had an educational requirement for the ministry. I believe with all my heart that in every generation God calls and uses men who do not have the benefit of formal education. But the history of doctrine is replete with examples of what has often happened to people who educated the mind but not the soul and of those who nourished the soul but neglected the mind. Both leave their heritage of burnout and of heresy. Prepare yourself for the ministry to which God has called you through the sacrifice of study in a seminary that emphasizes doctrine, leading men to the Savior, the world mission endeavor and the discipline of carefully walking with God. Do yourself a favor. Do the world to which you will minister a favor. If there is any way possible to make it to a Christ-honoring seminary or Bible school, do that. Relatively few move from high school baseball directly to the Major Leagues. Fewer still from high school to the NFL. And heart surgeons untrained are non-existent, and Special Ops that proceed untrained are soon dead. How can men and women engaged in the most complicated, demanding work in the world with more at stake than all other professions think that it is best to avoid the most intense preparation? -------------------------------------------------------------------- T4G speakers esteem Reformation heritage by Andrew J.W. Smith Date: April 19, 2016 - Tuesday LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) -- The legacy of the Protestant Reformation must endure in the doctrine and ministry of the church, speakers said at the 2016 Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville, Ky., April 12-14. Nearly 500 years after Martin Luther ignited the Reformation in 1517, 10,000 attendees from 43 different countries and 20 denominations filled most of the KFC Yum! Center to hear preaching from Christian leaders typically identified with Reformed evangelicalism. More than 4,000 attendees self-identified as members of Southern Baptist churches. Of the 10 plenary session speakers listed on the T4G website, at least five were Southern Baptists, including Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president R. Albert Mohler Jr. and International Mission Board President David Platt. Other Southern Baptist plenary speakers included Thabiti Anyabwile, Matt Chandler and Mark Dever. Seven SBC entities exhibited at the conference: Southern Seminary, IMB, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, LifeWay Christian Resources, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Mohler Mohler, co-founder of the T4G conference, said in his plenary address that the Protestant Reformation radically transformed the nature of pastoral ministry, starting with Luther himself. The German monk rejected the selling of indulgences by Johann Tetzel and eventually criticized the priesthood and papacy -- key elements of the Roman Catholic Church. "Justification by faith alone is not one doctrine among others," Mohler said of Luther's famous declaration that justification is the doctrine by which the church "stands or falls." The five "Solas" -- central Reformation principles each beginning in Latin with the word "sola" (alone) -- "were not just slogans," Mohler said. "They were a matter of life and death. Without those Solas, there is no Gospel." The five Solas, translated into English, are: by Scripture alone, by faith alone, by grace alone, through Christ alone and glory to God alone. Preaching from Colossians 1, Mohler noted that the fundamental issue of the Reformation was the nature of the Gospel, and that has not changed in 500 years. "The key question that drove Luther to his knees," Mohler said, "... the key issue that led him to flee the altar in what was supposed to be his first mass, the key issue that was behind his nailing of the 95 Theses to the door is this: How are sins forgiven? And Colossians 1 declares these sins are forgiven in Christ." Platt Platt preached on the martyrdom of English Reformers, including William Tyndale and John Rogers, who were persecuted for translating the Bible into the common language. They were able to endure death at the burning stake, Platt said, because they knew the greatness of their forgiveness from God. "Your perspective of earthly embers changes when you've been saved from an eternal inferno," Platt said. With thousands of unreached people groups around the world, many of them without a Bible translated into their native language, Platt urged believers to consider what price they are called to pay for the spread of the Gospel. Following the example of Tyndale and Rogers, Christians should boldly speak the Gospel despite opposition, he said. "The martyrs didn't die because they believed this Gospel; they died because they were proclaiming this Gospel," Platt said. Chandler Chandler, pastor of The Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas, and president of the Acts 29 Network, said a healthy awe of God fuels a believer's endurance through personal trials and public opposition. "Thin, flat pictures of God will not sustain with the courageous force of a big, deep, beautiful, borderline-frightening, glorious God," Chandler said. "If you preach Him flat, if you preach Him small, if you preach Him worried ... your people will not be bold." Preaching from Romans 11:33-36, Chandler said Christians can have absolute confidence in God's wisdom and provision. "Christian courage, inflamed and informed by the glory of God, will be the undoing of every empire but the Kingdom of God," Chandler said. "Brothers, be fearless to preach the fullness of the character of God." Dever Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., and president of 9Marks, said pastors are tempted to place too much value upon worldly achievements like large worship attendance. Instead, he challenged attendees to value the slow, lasting joys of pastoral ministry over the fleeting joys of the spotlight. "Things that may first appear to be the kind of nourishing joys that we need to live on may in fact not be," Dever said. "In fact, they can deprive us of the discipline we need to find our joys where we should." Anyabwile Anyabwile, pastor of Anacostia River Church in Washington, D.C., walked through Romans 3:21-26, noting that the glory of saving grace shines brighter when perceived out of the darkness of the fallen human condition. "If we can comprehend something of the ugliness of sin, then we can, against that dark backdrop, see something of the beauty of justification," Anyabwile said. Because of God's saving love, Anyabwile said, Christians can have absolute confidence in their final deliverance. "Before time began, God decided that He would save us, not because of anything we did, but because of what His Son did," Anyabwile said. "Because His Son did it, it can never be controverted, it can never be subverted, it can never be taken away for those who trust in Christ." The conference also featured plenary messages from Ligon Duncan, chancellor of Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Miss.; C.J. Mahaney, pastor of Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville; John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, Calif.; John Piper, founder of Desiring God; and Kevin DeYoung, pastor of University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Mich. Mohler presented a breakout session, "Nowhere to Hide? Facing the Reality of the Secular Movement" and was on a panel with Duncan and MacArthur on the need for seminary education. James M. Hamilton, professor of biblical theology at Southern Seminary, spoke at a breakout session about the role of biblical theology in a pastor's study of Scripture. The 2016 Together for the Gospel conference was the sixth iteration of the biennial event, which started in 2006 under the leadership of Mohler, Mahaney, Duncan and Dever. Audio and video from the conference will be available soon at t4g.org. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE STATES: La., Okla., Tenn. evangelism/missions news; 'When we engage God and go out there to the people, the devil is nervous' by Staff Date: April 19, 2016 - Tuesday Today's From the States features items from: The Baptist Message (Louisiana) The Baptist Messenger (Oklahoma) Baptist and Reflector (Tennessee) La. church sees 'baptism movement' By Brian Blackwell IOTA, La. (The Baptist Message) -- A baptism movement has taken over at Miller French Baptist Church -- and it doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon. When Kevin Colson became pastor of Miller French Baptist in August 2015, the congregation was averaging around 50 people on a good Sunday and had not baptized a single person in a while. Colson encouraged the church to set a goal of baptizing at least four people each month -- a goal they wholeheartedly embraced. Since October, Colson has baptized 20 people, from as young as eight to as old as 60. An additional 10 people have accepted Christ and are awaiting baptism. Colson said the congregation did not set the goal as a quota to meet but rather as a way to give them focus moving forward. "The idea wasn't on one particular number but an idea that we can do this," Colson said. "My congregation saw that if we can reach four, it's doable and something that is possible to do again. "We want to reach as many people as we can," Colson said. "It's been exciting to see God honor and bless that." Corrine Deshotel is one of those whose life has changed since her baptism on Oct. 18, 2015. She doesn't know where she would be if it hadn't been for the love of Christ shown through the people of the Miller French congregation. "I've met loving, kind, understanding people and because of that a lot of my family is in church now," Deshotel said. "When I was baptized, I felt renewed and free but most of all so loved." Excitement like that of Deshotel is the norm at his church, now, Colson said. The congregation has placed an increased emphasis on reaching out to the community, through the new welcome center inside the worship center and starting a new children's church service on Sundays to reaching out to those in their community. "As we have moved forward, they have shown very positive attitudes," Colson said. "When I came and shared my vision, their response was let's get to work. "If we want to meet God, we have to go outside the camp," Colson said. "We've come to that place where we've met Christ at that deserted place. We have no great programs but know that God can meet us anywhere." Alan Knuckles, director of missions for Acadia Baptist Association which includes Miller French, said the church revitalization has taken place at the church because the church took the time to evaluate their willingness to reach outside their walls and into the community. "Out of that came a desire to learn how to personally share Christ through their testimonies and giving new people an opportunity to pray to receive Christ one on one," said Knuckles, interim pastor prior to Colson's arrival. "That involved training sessions about witnessing. The new leadership developed that which would allow new ideas and a new vision to reach people outside the walls of the church." For the church that is struggling and thinking of closing its doors, Colson encourages a season of prayer. "Get on your knees and start in prayer," he said. "When we engage God and go out there to the people, the devil is nervous." He said a church that averages as few as 10 people can double their attendance in a week by having each member bring one person to a worship service. "There are people in a community that need to know the Lord," Colson said. "Give your people a vision. Wherever you are, be faithful. Take what God's given you and he'll bless it if your agenda is on Kingdom work. "If a church told me they were wanting to follow Jesus, know He's out there," he continued. "You'd be surprised how many people are hurting and wanting to be loved. Think about how God had to come into our lives. He didn't call those who had their stuff together. He called anyone who wanted to come." --30-- This article appeared in the Baptist Message (baptistmessage.com), newsjournal of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. Brian Blackwell is a staff writer for the Baptist Message. ********** Okla.'s Mission Ignition offers fun, informative time for kids By Chris Doyle OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (The Baptist Messenger) -- Mission Ignition has grown to three locations in Oklahoma, as 75 churches participated with approximately 1,300 children and sponsors meeting in Lawton, Oklahoma City and Tulsa this year. On Feb. 6, Lawton, Cameron hosted Mission Ignition for the first time. Oklahoma City, Portland Avenue and Tulsa, First hosted on March 2. Alyson Walker, childhood education specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma (BGCO), said the turnout for this year's mission-emphasis event was "incredible." "Mission Ignition is a hands-on missions experience, where children will learn about different ways they can be directly involved in missions," Walker said. "They will also be challenged to do missions projects when they return home. It is also an awesome time for children to come and hear from several different missionaries who have served or are serving all over the world in many different types of ministry." Mission Ignition featured missionaries from countries including Indonesia, North Africa, Poland, Thailand and West Africa. There also were missionaries involved with urban missions and Baptist Collegiate Ministries. Opening assemblies at each site had times of singing and awards recognition, as church mission groups were awarded for their involvement in community missions. "We were excited to have many new churches participate this year," said Walker. "One children's minister told me that when her kids saw other churches receiving their awards for completing mission projects, they quickly began to plan mission projects that they can do this year in their own church." Along with learning about international and community missions, children were involved in team projects that encouraged learning the books of the Bible and Bible verses. They did team relays and outdoor recreation. Walter Mullican, pastor of Oklahoma City, Portland Avenue, said he appreciates his church hosting Mission Ignition every year. "Hosting Mission Ignition each year is a blessing to Portland Avenue because we feel we are a part of what God is doing to raise up the next generation of missionaries in this culture," Mullican said. Walker hopes Mission Ignition will continue to be a growing event that will encourage more churches have their children's ministries attend. "Mission Ignition is one of my favorite events that we host for children," said Walker. "Mission education is so very important for churches to be involved in. If your church is not currently participating in mission projects, please consider ways to add mission projects; please consider ways to add mission education to what you are already doing." For more information on mission education, contact Walker in the BGCO Childhood Ministry Office at 405/942-3000, Ext. 4662, or awalker@bgco.org. --30-- Chris Doyle is associate editor of the Baptist Messenger (www.baptistmessenger.com), newsjournal of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. ********** Tenn. Baptist Convention launches "The Reaching App" By Lonnie Wilkey BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (Baptist and Reflector) -- Wake up in the morning, turn on the television or pick up your morning newspaper and you're immediately reminded of the sin that is rampant in today's society. The Tennessee Baptist Convention has launched a new phone application designed to provide an encouraging word to help Tennessee Baptists and other Great Commission Christians to start each day. "The Reaching App" is available for both iPhones and Android phones, according to David Evans, TBC evangelism specialist. "The purpose of this new app is to encourage and inspire you to be a Great Commission Christian every day," Evans said. The app features a devotional each day written by Tennessee pastors and ministers, Evans said. "It is the only app of its kind written by Tennessee people for Tennessee missions," he observed. Evans noted that there are numerous books and teaching helps written by people from all over the nation that can be effective in reaching the lost. "But who knows Tennessee best? It is those men and women living and ministering in our state," he stressed. The app is an important tool in helping Tennessee Baptists to achieve the first of its Five Objectives (long-range goals adopted by messengers to the Tennessee Baptist Convention two years ago) in "seeing at least 50,000 Tennesseans annually saved, baptized, and set on the road to discipleship by 2024," Evans continued. In order to see that goal accomplished there has to be a daily reminder and inspiration, he said. "We need all of us as Tennessee Baptists to link arms, pull tight, and to live out the Great Commission. The best way to do that is through a daily reminder and encouragement from pastors and others who have a strong conviction and heart to follow Jesus," he stressed. In addition to the daily devotional the app also has videos with interviews with Tennessee Baptists on how they are engaging their communities, living with purpose, making decisions, sharing their faith, and explaining what the gospel is. An additional feature of the phone app is an audio and video feed of breakout sessions from TBC-related meetings. For instance, sessions from the recent West Tennessee Evangelism Rally held last month at Union University are now available on the site, Evans noted. The site also provides tools or links to other sites that will "enable you to live out your Great Commission life," Evans said. Among those is a link to a daily Bible reading that you can read for yourself or listen to from your phone, he added. To download the app, go to Apple App Store and type in "The Reaching App"; the Windows Phone Marketplace and type in "The Reaching App;" or Android and Google Play Store, and type "The Reaching App Tennessee Baptist Convention" for Android systems. --30-- This article appeared in the Baptist & Reflector (tnbaptist.org/BRNews.asp), newsjournal of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. Lonnie Wilkey is editor of the Baptist & Reflector. ********** EDITOR'S NOTE: From the States, published each Tuesday by Baptist Press, relays news and feature stories from state Baptist papers and other publications on initiatives by Baptist churches, associations and state conventions in evangelism, church planting and Great Commission outreach, including partnership missions. Reports about churches, associations and state conventions responding to the International Mission Board's call to embrace the world's unengaged, unreached people groups also are included in From the States, along with reports about church, associational and state convention initiatives in conjunction with the North American Mission Board's call to Southern Baptist churches to broaden their efforts in starting new churches and satellite campuses. The items appear in Baptist Press as originally published. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Bulldozer death in China draws Tiananmen comparison by Art Toalston Date: April 19, 2016 - Tuesday NASHVILLE (BP) -- The bulldozer death of a Chinese house church member is being likened to the Tiananmen Square protester, still unidentified, who stood in front of a row of tanks during the 1989 uprising. Ding Cuimei was killed April 14 when she and her husband Li Jiangong stood in front of a bulldozer poised to destroy their home, where they had been hosting a house church in China's Henan Province. "Bulldozing and burying alive Ding Cuimei, a peaceful and devout Christian woman, was a cruel, murderous act," said Bob Fu, president of China Aid, a key advocate for religious rights in China. Cuimei was killed by a two-man government-backed demolition crew, China Aid reported April 18. Fu, in an interview with Baptist Press, said the incident reflects the ever-escalating persecution of Christians in China, which has been among the U.S. State Department's "Countries of Particular Concern" since 1999. North Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia are among other CPCs. "Last year, according to our own documentation, we have seen a worsening of the persecution against the churches, and in some areas it is the worst since the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s," Fu told BP in the April 19 interview. Cumei's death came on the same day of a hearing on "China's Pervasive Use of Torture" by the 22-member Congressional-Executive Commission on China in Washington, D.C. Recounting Cuimei's death in the central Chinese city of Zhumadian, China Aid reported that the bulldozer "shoved Li and Ding into a pit and covered their bodies with soil. Crying for help, Li was able to dig his way free, but Ding suffocated before she could be rescued." The two-man bulldozer crew was being detained while a criminal investigation was being conducted, according to an officer's statements to a China Aid reporter. “According to local Christians, the various government departments managing the area did not show up to oversee the demolition” stemming from a local developer’s plans for the property, China Aid reported. “Li himself reported that police took an uncommonly long time to arrive at the scene after a report of the murder was filed.” Li has been pressured by the local Domestic Protection Security Squad, "trying to silence him, trying to even pressure him to change the story," Fu told Baptist Press, likening the security organization, also known as "No. 1 Department," to the former Soviet KGB. "We need to really pray for this family, for Brother Li, [who experienced] quite a tragic murderous act," Fu said. Travis Wussow, director of international justice and religious freedom for Southern Baptists' Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said in a statement to Baptist Press, "We grieve the loss of Ding Cuimei and pray for Li Jiangong and his family during this difficult time. We call upon the global church to pray for those persecuted for their faith, and we urge the Chinese government to protect the religious liberty of all its citizens." Nina Shea, director of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute in Washington, said in a statement to Baptist Press, "This brutal murder of a woman peacefully protesting the destruction of her church is the Christian parallel to the young demonstrator standing against the tank in Tiananmen Square, whose photo became the icon of the Chinese democracy movement. "This anti-religious atrocity by Chinese authorities warrants the same level of world concern as that political atrocity did 27 years ago," said Shea, a former member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Jeff King, president of International Christian Concern, another religious freedom advocacy organization, said the death of Ding Cuimei "has added to the storyline of how the Chinese government does not hold life to be precious. Rather than stopping, they decided to literally bulldoze human beings as they stood their ground to protect a house of worship." "While it does not hold the same historical weight as Tiananmen Square, it serves as a reminder of Chinese citizens standing in front of mammoth machines to stop what is clearly an injustice," King said in an ICC news release April 19. ICC stands with China Aid and other religious freedom allies in calling on the Chinese government "to bring those responsible to justice and to stop its oppressive pursuit of whitewashing Christianity from its shores," King said. The Congressional-Executive Commission on China, online at www.ccc.gov, heard from four witnesses during its April 14 session, including Sophie Richardson, China director for Human Rights Watch, and two torture survivors, Tibetan Buddhist monk Golog Jigme and Falun Gong practitioner Yin Liping. The commission's chairman, Rep. Chris Smith, R.-N.J., said in his opening statement, "We are here today to shine a light on the brutal, illegal, and dehumanizing use of torture in China.... [T]here are some very dark places in China where torture is used regularly to punish and intimidate political and religious prisoners and their lawyers. "We are also here to urge the U.S. government to make ending torture a higher priority in bilateral relations and to urge the Chinese government to fully enforce and implement its own laws," Smith said. "A country with China's global leadership aspirations should not engage in horrific practices so thoroughly condemned by the international community." The spectrum of torture victims in China, Smith noted, encompasses "human rights advocates and lawyers, union activists, members of non-state-controlled Christian churches, Falun Gong practitioners, and members of ethnic minority groups, like the Tibetans and Uyghurs." The U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom's latest report, in 2015 summarizing abuses during 2014, noted that "the Chinese government took steps to consolidate further its authoritarian monopoly of power over all aspects of its citizens' lives. For religious freedom, this has meant unprecedented violations against Uighur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants, and Falun Gong practitioners. People of faith continue to face arrests, fines, denials of justice, lengthy prison sentences, and in some cases, the closing or bulldozing of places of worship." Fu told Baptist Press, "In Zhejiang Province alone [in southeast China last year], according to our records, over 2,000 churches were either demolished or their crosses, most of them, were forcibly destroyed, and a number of church leaders were arrested and sentenced to imprisonment up to 14 years for voicing their peaceful opposition to the forced demolition campaign [of house churches]." -------------------------------------------------------------------- She found healing & now directs pregnancy center by Chris Doyle/Oklahoma Baptist Messenger Date: April 19, 2016 - Tuesday OKLAHOMA CITY (BP) -- She left that meeting in 1993 discouraged. Carolyn Anson was told she was not ready to be a volunteer at the Crisis Pregnancy Center (now known as the Hope Pregnancy Center) because she needed healing from her past abortion experience. But, after reading an advertisement in the Baptist Messenger of Oklahoma, Anson would be on her way to not only find healing, but also help other post-abortive women. This eventually led to her new position as the director of Hope Pregnancy Center (HPC) North in Oklahoma City. Twenty-three years ago, Anson felt God's calling on her life was to be a volunteer at the Crisis Pregnancy Center. She received the proper referrals through her church, which led to her meeting with the center's director. "We laughed and cried together," Anson said, "and at the end of that meeting, she said she would love to have me be a part of Crisis Pregnancy Center, but she felt healing was necessary before I could start. I asked her how do I get the healing. She said she really didn't know, but she said she would be praying for me that I find the healing I needed." Anson went home discouraged and found her copy of the Baptist Messenger in the mail that day. "I opened it up, and I always check the back page because that was my own church information," she said. "And most often, I would flip through it to say that I reviewed it. But on this particular day I opened it up, and there it was -- 'Abortion Recovery.' And that's exactly what I needed before I could become a volunteer at the Crisis Pregnancy Center." Anson responded to the advertisement for an abortion recovery seminar and found out they had room for one more. This was the beginning of the change in her life. "After I went through my own abortion recovery, it was then in December 1993 that I called the director, and it was a funny experience," Anson recalled. "She said she had pulled my file and was getting ready to call me to see if I was able to find my healing. I became a volunteer in January 1994." Helping others find freedom In 2000, when Crisis Pregnancy Center changed its name to Hope Pregnancy Center, it also was a change for Anson. She became involved in abortion recovery ministry. She met with women one-on-one, helping them, encouraging them, praying with them as they went through the process of being "forgiven and set free" from the guilt of having an abortion. Anson went through training of the national curriculum called Facilitating Biblical Healing. She then helped organize HPC's program "Forgiven and Set Free," which is now a 12-week course that meets twice a year. When asked how many women she had helped through the years, she said "A LOT." She remembers one of her first clients who experienced multiple abortions. Many years later, the client experienced a stroke and died. Anson attended her funeral where her son shared with Anson that his mom had never been happier, knowing she had found forgiveness. Anson is all too aware of the number of women who struggle post-abortion. "One of less than four women sitting in our church pews, who are 45 and under, are post-abortive and still afraid to tell their secret to the church," she said. "They are still afraid that people would look down on them." In 2008, HPC started to offer abortion recovery in group sessions. At first, Anson was cautious with the format. "I did it one-on-one for years," she said. "This was a new concept to me, and I didn't know how groups would work. I wondered how women would be able to sit at a table with other women and share the secret they have carried for many, many years." Anson warmed up to the group format and has seen many clients come through the HPC doors, helping them experience the healing she experienced. "What they discover is (having an abortion) has affected every area of their lives," she said. "Their motherhood, being a good wife, their entire womanhood has been affected by this. They had no idea it would affect so many areas of their lives and how they carry these burdens in their life and don't even realize it. "We talk to them, help them and encourage them to lay these burdens down," she noted. "We encourage them to take them to the foot of the cross and lay them down and leave them there for good." A new adventure Anson has seen great success as an HPC volunteer, helping women who were facing unwanted pregnancies and those who needed to be forgiven of their past abortions. She had been working in human resource management for many years and could have continued her life content in that field, at least from the world's perspective. However, God had a different plan for her. "I could tell God was moving me from my secular job in human resources where I have worked for a very long time," Carolyn said. "I was very secure in the position that I had. But the reality was God had something different for me." In 2012, Anson was approached by a group wanting to open a pregnancy center, near N.W. 23rd St. and Classen Blvd. in Oklahoma City. She accepted the director position for the new center, and at first, it ran successfully. However, circumstances developed that caused the center to close. "It wasn't meant to be," Anson said about this experience. She had left a secure job to embark on what she believed God wanted her to do, but the center closed and left her unemployed. But Anson wasn't discouraged. She knew God was working in her life, and He had given her contentment. For a few years, she worked as a personal assistant for a godly woman, who Anson said was a great encouragement for her and would pray with her. "We had built a wonderful relationship," Anson said. Also, she said the pregnancy center near 23rd and Classen has reopened and is operated through a partnering group with HPC. Then, it finally worked out. In January this year, Anson began her new role at HPC North, and she is excited to see what God will do next. Hopeful at Hope Anson, who replaced Gayla White, the new state director for Hope Pregnancy Ministries, has found a new passion at HPC North. "Because of my intense role in abortion recovery, I wasn't as familiar with some of the other programs like Empowered Parenting, shop keeping and those kinds of things," Anson said. "The really neat thing is the Lord has given me a passion for Empowered Parenting classes and other programs. Through that, what I believe the Lord is showing me is the foundation of Hope Pregnancy Center is solid. And I believe, because of this solid foundation, we are going to take these programs to a different level." Anson said HPC has plans to do more parenting classes that will be more accessible for both men and women to attend. HPC will continue to offer its fatherhood program and will provide parenting class sessions where mothers and fathers meet separately and will be expanding and modifying to help new parents. "There are things I am still learning. I want to learn more," Anson said. "Mostly we are staying focused on making sure everything that is already in place remains as it was, slowly build on that foundation, as the Lord leads us. "I believe God is going to make a difference because He is equipping me for what He has called me to do," she said. "I trust that God has put me here for a reason. It will take many men and women to help the many men and women who come to Hope Pregnancy Center." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Boko Haram: After 2 years, Chibok girls 'all well' by Diana Chandler Date: April 19, 2016 - Tuesday CHIBOK, Nigeria (BP) -- Esther Yakubu has not seen her daughter Dorcas since Boko Haram kidnapped the girl with 275 classmates from the Chibok boarding school in Nigeria two years ago, but Yakubu professes faith that the Lord is with her child. "I know that the angel of the Lord Almighty is with you, and He will continue to be with you wherever you are," Yakubu told the international Pathfinders Justice Initiative for women. "But I would like to advise you, wherever you are, please be strong in the Lord and He will see you through.... The Lord is your strength, and I have that hope in me that I will see you again and I will rejoice in the Lord Almighty." With Yakubu's daughter among the 219 girls still missing two years after the April 15, 2014 kidnapping and raid in the mostly Christian town of Chibok, a Boko Haram video has surfaced that was reportedly given to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's administration as a "show of good faith" that the girls are alive. "We are all well," one of the girls on the video says, in what CNN translators described in a news report as a "scripted plea" for Nigeria to cooperate with Boko Haram in securing the girls' release. The video, believed to have been made in December 2015, only showed 15 of the missing girls but indicated the safety of "all" those missing. Yakubu told Reuters that the girls in the video were indeed Chibok students, but her daughter did not appear to be among those shown. "I saw all the girls and they are Chibok girls," Reuters quoted Yakubu. "I recognize some of them because we are in the same area with them." Yakubu marched on the anniversary with about 30 other parents and activists to Buhari's presidential villa in a cry for the girls' rescue. In a previous video released a month after the kidnapping, Boko Haram showed about 50 girls quoting the Quran while in Muslim attire, and had threatened to enslave them as Muslim brides. At least one of the girls may have been killed as a forced suicide bomber, the Jubilee Campaign for religious freedom said months after the kidnapping. On the occasion of the anniversary, Buhari told parents and activists working for the girls' release that he believed they could still be freed. The government is working "diligently to ensure that the girls are returned home unharmed," Buhari was quoted in This Day, a Lagos, Nigeria, newspaper. But the girls likely have been divided into groups and dispersed among various Boko Haram cells that are negotiating separately for the girls' release, This Day reported April 15. "One senior intelligence source said that in the course of negotiations for the girls' release, one cell asked for $50 million in exchange for the 15 girls shown in the video," This Day reported. "Then yet another group offered another 10 girls for over 1 million euros ($1.14 million) reinforcing intelligence reports that they had been broken up and dispersed to different cells." The source, whom This Day did not name, also confirmed that Boko Haram is deadly, "cannot be trusted and is led by maniacal leaders," but said the large ransoms indicate the terrorist group has been weakened. Months after Buhari claimed a "technical defeat" of Boko Haram, a regional multinational military force of 8,700 fighters from Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger continues to report successes against the jihadists. The military has rescued thousands of Boko Haram captives, including 1,275 rescued just days before the anniversary of the Chibok kidnapping; but none of the 219 girls had been recovered. In the attack along the Nigerian Cameroon border, troops killed 22 suspected Boko Haram fighters and arrested three suspected Boko Haram commanders, a Nigerian Army spokesman said April 12 on the army's website. "The unprecedented clearance operation swept through over 10 suspected Boko Haram terrorists [sic] hideouts along the border in which they killed 22 terrorists, arrested 3 Ameers (commanders) and rescued abducted persons," the statement reads. "During the operation the troops cleared Nbaga, Bula, Dabube, Ybiri, Greya and Suduwa towns and other adjoining settlements. The towns and settlements were occupied by suspected fleeing Boko Haram terrorists who escaped from villages previously cleared by troops of the Nigerian Army." At least 800 hungry and emaciated Boko Haram militants have surrendered to the military, according to Nigerian government officials planning to open rehabilitation camps for Boko Haram militants who repent of jihad and agree to become productive citizens. Working to establish strict Sharia law across Nigeria, Boko Haram has been most active in northeastern Nigeria where many of the 20,000 deaths occurred that the terrorists are blamed for since 2009. Boko Haram originally targeted Christians, but has also killed moderate Muslims. Killings of Nigerian Christians increased 62 percent in the past year, according to the February report "Crushed But Not Defeated," from the Open Doors religious freedom ministry and the Christian Association of Nigeria. Northern Nigeria Christian communities suffered at least 4,028 murders and 198 church attacks in 2015 from Boko Haram, Muslim Fulani herdsmen and others in 2015, compared to 2,484 killings and 108 church attacks the previous year, the report said. Between 2006 and 2014, the report estimates, 11,500 Christians were killed in northern Nigeria; and at least 13,000 churches have been attacked, destroyed or abandoned since 2000. The report ranks Nigeria as 12th on the Open Doors 2016 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to live as a Christian, and estimates 30 million Christians live in the region. "This report shows that extent and impact of the persistent violence on the church in northern Nigeria is much more serious than previously expected. Once Boko Haram is defeated, the problem will not be solved," a West African Open Doors representative, whose name was not released to protect his identity, said in an Open Doors press release. "Christians living under Sharia law are facing discrimination and marginalization and have limited to no access to federal rights," the representative said. "We hope that this report will prompt the Nigerian government and international community to take the real suffering of persecuted Christians seriously and act on their behalf." Open Doors marked the two-year anniversary of the Chibok kidnapping by launching an advocacy campaign asking U.S. President Obama to take a strong stance against the ongoing persecution of Christians and other victims of violence in Nigeria, and to urge Buhari to do everything possible to protect those facing terrorism there, the Open Doors press release said. More than 2.3 million people have been displaced by Boko Haram violence in the Lake Chad region since May, 2013, according to UNICEF, including at least 1.3 million children.