The World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission officially launched the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church in 1996 and designated the first Sunday in November for the church calendar (subsequently the second Sunday was added). Many USA organizations (including the National Association of Evangelicals and the Institute on Religion and Democracy), also began a large promotion, though there were …
ChinaAid’s Bob Fu to receive 21Wilberforce 2022 Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Award
21Wilberforce Founder and President, Dr. Randel Everett, announced that the 2022 honoree is Bob Fu, Founder and President of ChinaAid. The 2022 laureate will be recognized at a dinner to be held in Dallas on October 17, 2022. Register to attend here.“Bob Fu is courageous and relentless in his support of those persecuted for their faith. He instills fear in …
Why Defend the Persecuted?
On Monday, October 17th, 21Wilberforce will honor Dr. Bob Fu with the 2022 Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Award at a dinner in the Great Hall at Dallas Baptist University. After Bob and Heidi escaped from China to the U.S., they founded ChinaAid, now celebrating its 20th anniversary. Bob and ChinaAid have become a respected global religious freedom organization, rescuing Chinese who are being …
Genocide’s Lingering Tragedy: The Eighth Anniversary of Yazidi Sorrow
A lot can happen in eight years. Children learn to walk and talk, tie shoes, and read. Young people come of age, fall in love, get married. Old people turn gray, grow a little wiser, move a little slower. Eight years is enough time to master a skill, build a career, fulfill a dream. On the other hand, eight years …
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Now in Effect
Last month the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) went into effect in the United States. The Coalition to End Forced Labor in the Uyghur Region urged US importers not to dump goods linked to the Uyghur Region into other markets and to not re-export tainted goods. Hundreds of companies have been publicly identified as having links to Uyghur forced labor. Numerous reports have revealed how sourcing …
Deborah Yakubu’s Murder Created An International Uproar
Deborah Yakubu was a Christian student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto state, Nigeria. She was beaten, stoned and her body burned May 12 by students who accused her of making blasphemous comments against the Prophet Mohammed in an online classroom group. Yakubu had allegedly cautioned her Muslim counterparts to stop making religious posts on the WhatsApp …
Stand with Ukraine: Defend Religious Freedom & Support Victims of Violence
On top of the horrific humanitarian crisis caused by the brutality and devastation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in areas occupied by the Russians and their supporters, non-Russian Orthodox Christians suffer “…slander, harassment, deportations, raids on worship services, robberies, forced closures of church-based orphanages, rehabilitation centers, charities, and seminaries, interrogations utilizing psychological and physical torture, and murder.” 21Wilberforce has …
The Little-known Connection Between Religious Freedom and Putin’s War
March 7 (DeseretNews) – Russia’s aggression in Ukraine is deplorable. Many factors contribute to this war, as to any war, including economic or territorial gain, nationalism, revenge, civil discord and religion, to name a few. But another factor, one that is usually overlooked, is a government’s restrictions on religious freedom. And in the current conflict, the quest of the Ukrainian …
Sentenced to Death for Her Beliefs, Mariam Ibraheem Publishes a New Book
Mariam Ibraheem was born in a refugee camp in Sudan. Her Muslim father died when she was six, and her mother raised her in the Christian faith. After a traumatic childhood, Mariam became a successful businessperson, married the man she loved, and had a beautiful baby boy. But one day in 2013, her world was shattered when Sudan authorities insisted, …
Afghanistan Becomes No. 1 Most Dangerous Place on Earth to be Christian According to 2022 World Watch List Ranking
For the first time ever, Afghanistan is the most dangerous place on the planet to be a Christian, according to Open Doors’ 2022 World Watch List, which was released today. The World Watch List is a definitive, comprehensive research-based report that ranks the top 50 countries where it is most dangerous to be a Christian. Afghanistan has supplanted North Korea, which now ranks #2 on the …