The third annual Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Award celebrates an outstanding leader who is working to advance freedom of religion or belief by standing up to oppression in the pursuit of freedom of religion, belief, or conscience. 21Wilberforce Founder and President, Randel Everett, announced that the award will be presented to Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback. Ambassador …
Long Road to Freedom: from war torn Afghanistan to refugee youth advocate in Kansas City
Mariya Goodbrake, Founder and Director of Global FC, recalls her family’s personal journey from war torn Afghanistan, displaced in Iran then India, finally to secure a better future in Canada through the resettlement system. Caught up in the web of conflicting cultures, beliefs and expectations between her Afghan Muslim heritage and the West, her sense of identity and belonging faced …
Freedom Matters
Freedom matters to members of the house church movement, the Falun Gong, the Tibetan Buddhists and Uyghur Muslims in China that are persecuted by the China Communist Party. Freedom matters to Baha’is, Christians, Sunni and Sufi Muslims, and reformers among the Shiite Muslim majority suffering persecution in Iran. Freedom matters to historic Yezidi, Christian and other communities in Iraq and …
Elderly Chinese Believers Forced to Choose Between Faith or Survival
Even though China’s economy has been severely affected by the coronavirus, and many residents suffer financial difficulties, the CCP threatens to take away the last means of survival from elderly believers—government-issued subsidies. To keep them, they must stop believing in God. A Catholic from Fuzhou city in the southeastern province of Jiangxi has been receiving monthly 250 RMB (about $ …
Alarming Global Religious Freedom Trends & Developments
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recently released 2020 Annual Report is intended to focus the attention of U.S. government policymakers on the most severe violations of religious freedom globally. The report identifies countries that USCIRF finds meet the statutory criteria for the State Department to designate as “countries of particular concern” (CPCs) or include on its …
The Chinese Communist Party has Persecuted Falun Gong for 21 Years
On the 21st anniversary of the start of persecution by the CCP against citizens who practice Falun Gong, we share the story of a model Chinese citizen who was repeatedly jailed and tortured. I am Yu Ming and this is my story. With no formal education or funds from family or investors, I had become a successful businessman in the …
The Persecuted are Suffering in Magnitudes We Cannot Imagine
Today, the threat to international religious freedom is greater than ever as the virus pandemic is being used by governments and hate groups to justify and institutionalize repression. There is a vast number of ‘invisible’ people suffering for their religious identity, their faith, and or acts of conscience. The Coronavirus has not slowed religious persecution, but neither has it destroyed …
Coronavirus Does Not Slow Religious Persecution
The past three months have jolted the world out of complacency with regard to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s long record of poor governance and lack of consideration for humanity. Religious persecution has continued amidst the coronavirus outbreak, and the CCP has even gone so far as to brag about its misdeeds—though it surely hoped readers would fail to read between the …
Perilous Times for Muslims in India
This week Hindus in India (and around the world) celebrated the Hindu festival of Holi, also known as the “Festival of Colors.” Jubilant crowds threw colored water and powders at one another during festivities. This ancient holiday commemorates the arrival of spring and it is meant to symbolize, among other things, good triumphing over evil. In contrast, over the past …
Egyptian Coptic Christian Ramy Kamel Arrested Again Under False Charges
Three months ago around 1:30am on a Saturday morning, seven plain clothes policemen arrested Ramy Kamel in his home under false charges brought by Egyptian authorities. Kamel’s house was stormed by security forces who confiscated his phone, camera, and laptop and then took him away. Several hours later Kamel, a Coptic Christian advocate, founded the Maspero Youth Union in 2011 …