I joined @IRF_Ambassador Hussain to launch the International Religious Freedom Report: a key part of our efforts to advance freedom of religion or belief, a core American value and a fundamental freedom enshrined in international law,” Secretary Blinken on Twitter. Access 2022 report here. Background The Department of State submits an annual Report to Congress on International Religious Freedom in compliance …
A Global Call for Prayer on May 14 – Leah Sharibu’s 20th Birthday
February 19, 2023, marked the 5th year of Leah Sharibu’s captivity with Boko Haram terrorists. May 14, 2023 is Leah’s 20th birthday. Leah’s family, friends and advocates are asking people of faith around the world to pray for her release on that day. Watch a video about Leah’s story here. Learn more about how you can get involved through the …
When Faith Spurs Violence: The Dangerous Dogma of Religious Uniformity
By Merritt Johnston/Reprinted with permission from FoRBwomen.org Watching or reading the news today is a sobering experience. Yet, even amid a steady stream of tragic events, there are still moments that stop you in your tracks – news that grips your heart, consumes your mind, unsteadies your step. Just days before Christmas, I received word that a Baptist woman in …
Religious freedom violations in Cuba spike in one year
This article written by Ken Camp is reprinted from Baptiststandard.com Documented violations of religious freedom in Cuba more than doubled from 2021 to 2022, a new report revealed. Christian Solidarity Worldwide—a human rights organization based in the United Kingdom—reported 657 documented violations of freedom of religion or belief in 2022, compared to 272 the previous year. Actual numbers of violations …
Iranian Woman Testifies Before European Parliament about Christian Persecution
The following story is excerpted from an article published online January 26, 2023 by The European Times. Link to the article here. Ms. Dabrina Bet-Tamraz, a Protestant from the Assyrian ethnic minority in Iran, who is now living in Switzerland, had been invited to testify about the persecution of Christians in Iran, through the example of her own family. “When I …
Meet Dr. Dawari George: 21Wilberforce’s Africa Ambassador
21Wilberforce seeks to mobilize and equip global faith communities and networks to engage in protecting religious freedom and defending the persecuted. In 2020, 21Wilberforce entered into a strategic partnership with a global denominational network to test and develop a mobilization and support program that can be replicated for other denominations and faith groups. Central to this program are regional representative …
World Watch List 2023 Just Released
Open Doors’ mission is to ensure that persecuted Christians do not suffer alone – but are connected to the worldwide church for support and encouragement. Since 1993, the World Watch List has revealed the scale and severity of the persecution of Christians. In the last 30 years, the number of countries where Christians suffer high and extreme levels of persecution has …
Meet André Simão: 21Wilberforce’s Latin America Ambassador and Senior Fellow
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 …
Multi-Faith Team Urges Repeal of Blasphemy Laws – in the Name of Religious Freedom
By Dr. Christine M. Sequenzia and Soraya Marikar Deen In nations lacking certain religious freedoms, the bold multi-faith membership of the International Religious Freedom Roundtable’s Campaign to Eliminate Apostasy and Blasphemy Laws, would be forbidden. This archaic, and at times, violent fact is driving a biblical justice authority, an international activist and a team of culturally and religiously diverse advocates …
William Wilberforce: Leader of the British Abolition Campaign
William Wilberforce, (born August 24, 1759, Hull, Yorkshire, England—died July 29, 1833, London), British politician and philanthropist who from 1787 was prominent in the struggle to abolish the slave trade and then to abolish slavery itself in British overseas possessions. He studied at St. John’s College at the University of Cambridge, where he became a close friend of the future prime minister William Pitt the Younger and was known as an amiable companion …