21Wilberforce Welcomes Two New Board Members and a Director of Church Engagement

21Wilberforce is pleased to announce the appointments of  Knox Thames and Curtis L. Brown, Treasurer, to the Board of Directors. With these changes, the 21Wilberforce board will be comprised of  14 Directors. Other Board members include James Carr, Ross Chandler, J. Nixon Daniel III (Chairman), Darrell Dunton, Simon “Trey” Hendershot III, Amanda Howard (Board Secretary), Suzii Paynter March, David Nelson (Vice Chair), Dr. Raúl Scialabba, Keith Skaar, Michelle Smith and John Upton. The Board provides insight and strategic direction as 21Wilberforce addresses ongoing challenges to and opportunities for defending the persecuted and advancing religious freedom for all.

In addition, Dr. Randy Dale has been hired to serve as 21Wilberforce Director of Church Engagement. Read more here.

“For Me” documentary about Afghan families who found refuge in Brazil

After the United States military forces left Afghanistan in August 2021, a refugee crisis began as people tried to escape the Taliban. More than 1 million Afghans took refuge in 98 countries, including Brazil.

André Simão  21Wilberforce Senior Fellow and Latin America Ambassador, collaborated with film maker, J.R Bonavita, to chronicle the story of over 400 Afghans who found refuge in Brazil, escaping the Taliban. The documentary, “For Me” (59 minutes, Portuguese and English) tells a little of the history of the rescue and welcoming of Afghan Islamic families by the Brazilian Baptists.

A team of 10 judges have nominated “For Me” in the Best Documentary category for the International Christian Film and Music Festival 2023. Winners will be announced the first week in May at an event held in Orlando, Florida. Read more here.

Meet Dr. Raúl Scialabba, 21Wilberforce Latin America Ambassador

Two years ago, 21Wilberforce entered into a strategic partnership with the Baptist World Alliance and one of the key goals was to develop a mobilization and support program to equip faith communities to engage in protecting religious freedom and defending the persecuted. Central to this program are regional representative 21Wilberforce Ambassadors that work with churches, organizations and individuals to help identify and meet needs of churches and members facing religious restrictions or persecution.

Meet Latin America Ambassador Dr. Raúl Scialabba. He is an Argentine lawyer and businessman who for the past 40 years has held a number of key leadership positions with Baptist and other Christian organizations. Read more here.

FoRB Women’s Alliance Releases “Women At the Table: Accelerating FoRB Capacity

THE FIRST GLOBAL, MUTI-FAITH STUDY ON THE STATE OF WOMEN AND FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF

Women and girls worldwide face compound persecution and discrimination due to their religion or belief.  Yet, until today there has been no global landscape analysis of the state of women and freedom of religion or belief (FoRB). FoRB Women’s Alliance’s Women At the Table: Accelerating FoRB Capacity is the first such global exploration and analysis of the conditions under which these violations take place, the role of gender and the creative solutions that would help address these conditions. Read more here.

 

 

 

 

OTHER LINKS

Thailand Arrests 63 Chinese Christians Seeking Asylum. Read more here.

 UHRP Welcomes Survivors to the US to Give First-Hand Testimony on Atrocity Crimes Against Women Inside and Outside China’s Concentration Camps. Read more here.