- This week on Christian World News,
hope for Pastor Andrew Brunson.
New reports say the American pastor
in prison for his faith in Turkey
could be one step closer to freedom.
We bring you the latest updatefrom experts on the ground.
Plus the United Statesannounces dramatic cuts
to the amount of refugeesallowed in the country.
See why some Christian leaderssay that's the wrong move.
And has the world's most populated country
declared war on Christianity?
We'll take a closer lookat what's fueling China's
severe crackdown on Christians
and how people of faith are responding
to the government's persecution.
Welcome to Christian World News, everyone.
I'm Wendy Griffith.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting
American pastor Andrew Brunson
could be released from Turkey
at his next court hearing on October 12th.
The nearly two-years-old saga
has led to an international crisis
between the two NATO allies.
As Chris Mitchell reports from Jerusalem,
there's much at stakethan just world politics.
- [Chris] The Turkish government
moved Pastor Brunson fromjail to house arrest in July.
Although the 50-year-old pastor
has ministered in the countryfor more than two decades,
the Turkish government charged Brunson
with conspiring againstPresident Erdogan's rule
during a 2016 attempted coup.
The Trump administrationcalls those charges bogus
and has made securing PastorBrunson's freedom a priority.
- I don't think there's everbeen any administration,
any President that has broughtup a prisoner of conscience,
a prisoner who's in prisonbecause of his faith,
more than any other one
than President Reagandid for Natan Sharansky.
So this is historic.
- [Chris] And the Trumpadministration went beyond talking,
leveling sanctions on Turkey
that put its currency into a freefall.
- All of the secularmedia, without exception,
are saying a pastor, whocares about a pastor.
The trade with Turkeyis much more important.
The money and the value of thelira is much more important.
But the Trump administration said no,
a pastor who's falselyaccused and is in prison
is important to us and we're willing
to really put our moneywhere are mouths are
and they're taking a strong stand.
- [Chris] Egyptian-bornMichael Youssef says
other nations are paying attention.
- Now the world is watching this.
They are not ignoring this.
They know that they're gonna be next
unless they stop persecuting Christians.
- [Chris] Franklin Grahamcalled Christians to pray
and for the US to be careful.
- First, I would ask everybodywho's watching right now,
the Christians, to prayfor Andrew Brunson.
He's been falsely accused.
This is just a sham.
Turkey, we have to rememberthat this is a country
that is fast becoming aradical Islamic state.
I think we need to get Brunson home
and we need to be very careful
with whatever we do asa country with Turkey
until they change leadership
and change the direction they're going.
- [Chris] Kerem saysthere's much more at stake
than an internationalcrisis between NATO allies.
- There's been manypeople, ourselves included,
that believe God was gonnado something in Izmir,
ancient Smyrna, Izmir, whereAndrew Brunson is today,
that was gonna impact not only Turkey,
but all the nations around it.
Because it's clear that Andrew Brunson
is in prison or underarrest for one reason,
and that's his hope andfaith in Jesus Christ
as the Messiah, not only of the West,
but of the entire world.
- And joining us allthe way from Jerusalem
is CBN Middle East BureauChief Chris Mitchell.
Chris, brother, it's great
to see you!- Great to be with you, Wendy.
- Here in--- Yeah, here
in Virginia Beach.
- Here in Virginia Beach.- Yeah.
- Well, gotta ask you, howlikely do you think it is
that Pastor Brunson will be released,
will be set free?- Well,
I think it is likely.
There was a good, that WallStreet Journal report says
perhaps, after this nexthearing, next month could be.
That's why it's soimportant to be praying,
praying for his release andpraying that his imprisonment
is really gonna spread thegospel around the Middle East.
- That's true 'cause we'vegotten our hopes up before.
- That's right, yeah.- And so,
yeah.- And there was a possibility
of a deal last summer,a couple of months ago.
It fell through and Ithink President Trump
was a little upset that hefelt like President Erdogan
may have backtracked onthat particular deal,
but we'll see what happens in a few days.
- Chris, how important is it
that leading members of the US government
are really pushing for his release?
- You know, as I said inthe story, it's historic.
I mean consider that, you have to go back
to Ronald Reagan and Natan Sharansky.
He was a refusenik many years ago
back in the early 1980s andReagan stood up for him.
And now President Trump,Vice President Pence,
are standing up for Pastor Brunson
and making, really, an international scene
between these two NATO allies.
It's really almost unprecedentedand really, I think,
really one way that theTrump administration
is standing up for religious freedom.
- How would you describethe relationship right now
between the two nations,Turkey and the US?
- Tense because he'sput sanctions on Turkey.
The Turkey lira has been falling.
So I think very tense and this is really
one of the main issuesbetween the two nations.
- Now Brunson's daughterrecently spoke out
about this whole ordealbeing part of God's plan.
I want your thoughts on that, but first,
let's take a look at this.
- I'll say there are timeswhen I'm not necessarily happy
with God's plan in this situation,
but I've really come to realize
that God is in completecontrol and he has a plan,
and this is all for his glory.
He is worth everything thatmy family has gone through.
And I've seen that message coming through
in letters from my dad as well,
as he has started to transformand really submit to God
and say God, my life is yours.
Whatever you do with me, let it honor you,
let it declare your nameand your goodness to people.
And I am--(audience applauds)
- Incredible.
- Yeah.- Chris,
what is your response to that,
and how can our viewers at home be praying
for Pastor Brunson?- Well, they can be praying
for his strength.
He's gone through such anordeal in the last two years.
Pray for his release, but also pray,
and I think what his daughter said there,
it's bigger than just Pastor Brunson.
It really has taken Christianity
to a whole new level inside Turkey,
one of the least evangelizedcountries in the world.
He's been ministering inIzmir, which is ancient Smyrna,
one of the churches outof the book of Revelation.
So really, it's really spreading
and taking the Christianityto a whole new level,
not only in Turkey, but inother nations around Turkey,
and making his case visiblein a much greater way
than ever before.- All right.
Thanks for covering thisand keeping us up-to-date
and we will certainly
be praying for Pastor Brunson- Amen.
- and his family.
Incredible testimony
from his daughter.- Exactly, yeah.
- Great to see you
here in the United States.- Great to be here too.
There you go.
- Well, coming up, whilethe US plans to cut back
on the number of refugeesallowed in the country,
hundreds of evangelical leaders
are standing up in their defense.
(dramatic music)
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He always wants to bless his people.
But how do you get that blessing
and what principleswill unlock that secret?
- [Announcer] In Miraculous Blessings,
Pat Robertson shows youhow to open the floodgates
of God's awesome blessings in your life.
- In order to have a blessing,you've got to be blessable.
- [Announcer] Discoverwhat the Bible has to say
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and what are the hindrancesto the blessings of God.
- The words of Jesus, they are as valid
as the law of gravity, andif we follow those laws,
we will be blessed.
- [Announcer] You willsee amazing true stories
of everyday peoplewhose lives were rescued
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- But even the doctors acknowledged
that this had to be a miracle.
- [Announcer] Call1-800-700-7000 or visit CBN.com
to become a CBN partner andget Miraculous Blessings today.
(dramatic music)
- Hello, I'm Terry Meeuwsem.
Did you know there are morethan 148 million orphans
in the world today?
148 million.
But it was three littlegirls that taught me
about the plight of orphans.
My husband and I spent nearly a month
immersed in the daily activitiesof a Ukrainian orphanage
as we waited to adopt three sisters.
I saw firsthand the utterloneliness, the pain of rejection,
and the overwhelming desire to be loved.
That experience changedme forever, and out of it
grew a ministry from my heartcalled Orphan's Promise.
Today, we're helping orphansand vulnerable children
in more than 50 countries worldwide.
Thousands of childrenare now in safe homes,
they're being educated, andthey're learning life skills.
I'm asking you to join with me
and become family to these children.
Will you call the numberon your screen right now?
Because every child deservesa chance to be happy.
- A group of evangelical leaders
is pressing the Trump administration
to increase the number ofrefugees the US admits.
This comes after the Secretary of State
announced dramatic cuts.
CBN's Heather Sells has details.
- Secretary of State MikePompeo released plans last week
to limit the number ofrefugees allowed into the US
by 15,000 next year.
That would cut thenumber to 30,000 overall,
the lowest since Congress first passed
the Refugee Act in 1980.
Leaders from the EvangelicalImmigration Table
are asking the administrationfor more, not less.
They want a cap of at least 75,000
in keeping with US traditionsince the early 2000s.
- Since 1980, we've seen both Republican
and Democratic administrations
receiving refugees at pretty high numbers.
- [Heather] These Christianleaders say the US
is not only breaking with tradition,
it's cutting numbers at a moment
when the help is most needed.
- The number of 30,000is really concerning
because, right now,we're facing the world's
worst refugee crisis since World War II.
- [Heather] Across the globe,some 25 million refugees,
many from Syria, aretrying to escape danger
in their homeland.
Advocates say they'resurprised at this recent move
to cut the number of refugees
because, in addition tothe Trump administration
touting international religious freedom,
the President himself has vowed
to help persecuted Christians.
- As it relates to persecuted Christians,
do you see them as kindof a priority here?
- Yes.- You do.
- Yes, they've been horribly treated.
- [Heather] But StateDepartment numbers show,
with the overall drop in the number
of refugees admitted the last two years,
the number of Christianrefugees admitted here
has also declined.
Still, the Trump administration says
admitting refugees to the US
is not the only way to help them.
Sometimes, it's better and more economical
to keep them in their region.
The President made that point Tuesday
in his speech at the UN.
- The most compassionate policy
is to place refugees as closeto their homes as possible,
to ease their eventual return
to be part of the rebuilding process.
- And joining me now is Heather Sells.
Heather, is there any wiggle room
in the cap on this number?
- Yeah, well a week or soago, we were hearing yes.
Now, we're hearing not so much,
and one of the reasons is
the President is supposed toconsult with Congress on this,
and in particular, theSenate Judiciary Committee
which, as you know, has a little
other few agenda items right now.
- What do you think theadministration's goal is
in reducing the number ofrefugees that can come in?
- Well their stated goal isthat a compassionate response
involves allowing refugeesto stay in the region
as opposed to bringing them over to the US
and it's also more economical,
but this, of course, is a pivot
because the President,just a year and a half ago,
sat down with our David Brody
and said I'm going to prioritize
bringing Christian refugees here.
So there's definitely an inner debate
within the administration right now
as to what's the best route to take.
- Is this, in any way, aboutscreening who's coming in?
'Cause the Muslimcountries, they've already
been targeted.- Yeah,
I think it's a combinationof there's a voice
in the administration,you know, this whole
America should be first, and so, yes,
we don't even want to worryabout who's coming into the US
so we're gonna lower the numbers.
But at the same time, theadministration has to develop
a response to those who are refugees,
who are fleeing for their faith.
What is our response gonna be?
So this is a change, lowering the number
to this historic level, this historic low,
when, for years, we'vewelcomed a lot of refugees.
- What about Christians whoare being persecuted overseas
that really need to be hereor could face possible death
or who knows what?
How will they be affected by this?
- They won't be able toget into the US as easily
with the number being set at 30,000.
So that really is a surprise,
that the administrationis taking this stance,
given that it really has promoted
international religious freedom as well.
- All right.
Thanks so much, Heather.
We appreciate that report.
Well coming up,
China launches anothercrackdown on Christians.
See why Chinese pastors say
they are ready to die for their faith.
(dramatic music)
- [Pat] When you give.
smiles grow bigger.
When you care,
homes are happier.
When you comfort,
the hurt goes away.
When we all come together to love,
miracles happen.
- Hello, I'm Terry Meeuwsem.
Did you know there are morethan 148 million orphans
in the world today?
148 million.
But it was three littlegirls that taught me
about the plight of orphans.
My husband and I spent nearly a month
immersed in the daily activitiesof a Ukrainian orphanage
as we waited to adopt three sisters.
I saw firsthand the utterloneliness, the pain of rejection,
and the overwhelming desire to be loved.
That experience changedme forever, and out of it
grew a ministry from my heartcalled Orphan's Promise.
Today, we're helping orphansand vulnerable children
in more than 50 countries worldwide.
Thousands of childrenare now in safe homes,
they're being educated, andthey're learning life skills.
I'm asking you to join with me
and become family to these children.
Will you call the numberon your screen right now?
Because every child deservesa chance to be happy.
- Hello.
Is this thing on?
Hey kids, do you love games?
And do you love discovering things?
Yeah! (claps)
Well, do you?
- [Kids] Yeah!
- [Announcer] Then you're gonna love this.
It's the new freeSuperbook Kid's Bible App.
You can play games, watch videos,
find answers to your questions,and a whole lot more.
The new Superbook Kid's Bible App.
Free downloads available oniTunes and Google Play now.
- And welcome back toChristian World News.
China has launched an all out war
against the country's Christians.
They're destroying crosses,targeting churches,
burning Bibles, and throwingpastors into prison.
CBN's George Thomas and Emily Jones
give you an inside look at what's behind
this latest crackdown inour new segment, Worldbeat.
Take a look.
- This is Worldbeat, theshow where we tell you
what's happening in the world.
- And also how you can pray about it.
Well today, George, we'retalking about a country
you've been to many times, China.
- That's right, Emily.
And the question today is
has the world's most populated country
declared war on Christianity?
In recent months, China haswaged an aggressive campaign
against Christians, targetingtheir houses of worship,
destroying crosses, burning Bibles,
and even arresting pastors.
Our next guest once predictedthat China could become
the world's largest Christian nation.
Does he still think that's possible
in this climate of persecution?
Joining me to discuss China'scampaign against Christians
is Fenggang Yang, Directorof the Center on Religion
and Chinese Society at Purdue University
and a leading expert on religion in China.
Thanks for coming on the show.
Mr. Yang, has China declaredwar on Christianity?
- Yes.
In recent months, therehave been a big campaign
going on in China.
- And who is behind thismassive anti-Christian campaign?
- Well, the campaignwas first experimented
in Zhejiang Province in 2014 to 2016.
Now it had become a nationwide campaign,
especially in central Chinasuch as Hunan Province
and the Jiangxi Province.
This means that the decision was not
by a local government official,
but must have come from thevery top of Chinese leadership,
the Chinese Communist Party's Politburo
and the Chairman Xi Jinping himself.
- And my understanding, Mr. Yang,
is that it's not just Christians.
Muslims, Buddhists, and other faith groups
are facing increased scrutinyin government attempts to,
what they call, sinicize religion, right?
- Yeah, that's right.
The current campaign is on all religions.
The campaign is called(speaking foreign language)
in Chinese.
I would not translate that assinicization or sanification,
but the Chinafication.
Sinicization or sanificationimplies cultural adaptation.
Christians have been doing that all along.
In fact, they have done probably too well
so that they haveconverted so many people.
But the Chinaficationis a political campaign
demanding for political loyalty
to the Chinese Communist Party
and the so-called socialist system.
The campaign also applies to Daoism.
Daoism is a religion originated in China,
and how can you becomemore Chinese than that?
It is certainly more Chinesethan the Communist Party,
which follows foreignleaders of Marx and Lenin.
But they require Daoism togo through Chinafication too.
It means that the Daoist leadersmust express their loyalty
to the Chinese Communist Party.
- Okay, Mr. Yang, these arevery serious times in China,
and I thank you for coming on the show
and providing some insight.
Mr. Yang from Purdue University.
Thanks for coming on the broadcast.
- Well every day it's becoming harder
to be a Christian in China.
But despite government persecution,
believers are not backing down.
In fact, more than 344Chinese Christian leaders
released a joint statement
declaring their faith in Jesus.
They write: For the sake of the gospel,
we are prepared to bear all losses,
even the loss of ourfreedom and our lives.
Powerful, powerful words.
Here to tell us more abouthow the church is responding
to this persecution is Todd Nettleton
from Voice of the Martyrs.
Todd, thank you so much for being here.
- Oh, it's my pleasure.
Thanks for having me.
- Todd, what is yourreaction to this declaration
from these Chinese leaders,
and what does it say about the resilience
of the Chinese church?
- Well, my first reaction is
just a little bit of awe, honestly,
at the courage that it takes
in the face of an onslaughtfrom a Communist government
to not only write this letter,
but then to sign your name to it,
to say publicly, no, I stand for Christ,
I don't care what the government does.
These pastors know verywell what they could face
for publicly criticizing the government,
for publicly signing this letter.
So my first thought is justwow, what courage they have.
The other thought that comes to my mind
is the famous Chinese housechurch pastor, Samuel Lam,
who I had the privilegeof meeting in Guangzhou.
Used to say morepersecution, more growing.
And he would talk abouthow the church grew
through persecution.
And so I think of that and I think of,
with excitement, about the growth
that we're going to seein the Chinese church,
even though it comesthrough stormy waters.
- Absolutely.
And Todd, you've been to China.
You've seen these house churches there.
Paint the picture.
What is it like to be a pastor
in such a hostile environment?
- Well the thing about being a pastor
in a house church in China
is that every single timeyou meet, it's illegal.
The police could come in at any time.
They could arrest you.
They could take you off to jail.
Now, that doesn't happen every week.
Every house church pastordoesn't get arrested.
But every single house church pastor
knows that they could get arrested.
- You talked about how theunderground church is growing.
How far and how widehas it grown in China?
- Well, the underground church
reaches every corner of China,
and that's the exciting thing,
is all across China,there are house churches,
there are what they call family churches.
The reason the Communistgovernment is so worried
is because there are farmore Christians in China
than there are membersof the Communist Party.
So if your power base, ifthe way you maintain control
is the Communist Party and youjust look at those numbers,
you get afraid, you get worried.
And so this crackdown, Ithink, is a direct response
to the fear of the Communist Party leaders
who see the church growingway faster than the party is.
- That's so powerful.
Well, Todd Nettleton fromVoice of the Martyrs,
thank you so much for your insights.
- It's been my pleasure.
Thanks for having me.
- If you'd like to share these stories
with your family and friends,
just go to our website, CBNNews.com.
(dramatic music)
- [Pat] When you give,
smiles grow bigger.
When you care,
homes are happier.
When you comfort,
the hurt goes away.
When we all come together to love,
miracles happen.
Hello, I'm Terry Meeuwsem.
Did you know there are morethan 148 million orphans
in the world today?
148 million.
But it was three littlegirls that taught me
about the plight of orphans.
My husband and I spent nearly a month
immersed in the daily activitiesof a Ukrainian orphanage
as we waited to adopt three sisters.
I saw firsthand the utterloneliness, the pain of rejection,
and the overwhelming desire to be loved.
That experience changedme forever, and out of it
grew a ministry from my heartcalled Orphan's Promise.
Today, we're helping orphansand vulnerable children
in more than 50 countries worldwide.
Thousands of childrenare now in safe homes,
they're being educated, andthey're learning life skills.
I'm asking you to join with me
and become family to these children.
Will you call the numberon your screen right now?
Because every child deservesa chance to be happy.
- Hello.
Is this thing on?
Hey kids, do you love games?
And do you love discovering things?
Yeah! (claps)
Well, do you?
- [Kids] Yeah!
- [Announcer] Then you're gonna love this.
It's the new freeSuperbook Kid's Bible App.
You can play games, watch videos,
find answers to your questions,and a whole lot more.
The new Superbook Kid's Bible App.
Free downloads available oniTunes and Google Play now.
- It was a popular book,
and now it's going to the big screen.
The Trump Prophecy, thestory of a firefighter
who says God told him DonaldTrump would become President
years before he evenannounced he would run.
It's now a movie, but it hasn'tbeen without controversy.
(sirens blare)
- [Mark] My job as afireman was to react calmly,
but what I saw lastnight scared me so much.
- The Trump Prophecy movie
is the story of formerfirefighter Mark Taylor,
who says he received a specialmessage from God in 2011,
that then businessman Donald Trump
was headed for the White House.
Producer Rick Eldridge says he wasn't sure
he wanted to do the film.
- I knew it was gonna be controversial.
I knew it was not gonnabe an easy movie to make.
But I also knew that we had a nation
that really needed to hear some messages
of God's intervention in our country.
- [Wendy] The movie relives the night
Mark Taylor received what he calls
the Commander in Chief prophecy.
- I didn't know a lot about Donald Trump.
I just knew he was a verypowerful businessman,
had built this empire.
So I'm listening to him on aninterview and all of a sudden,
I just heard the voice of the Lord say
you're hearing the voice of a President.
- [Wendy] Mark went into his office,
got out a pen and paper,and started to write
what he says the Holy Spirit told him.
- He was saying that, basically,
America was gonna prosperlike never before,
Israel and America, the tiesbetween the two countries,
would be stronger than ever before,
the dollar would be thestrongest it has ever been.
It was very detailed as faras what God was showing me.
- [Wendy] Chris Nelson, anactor and film professor
at Libery University,played the part of Taylor.
- People hear the title
and they think it's all about Trump.
It's really about a commonman hearing from the Lord
and being given wisdom and advice
from fellow believers to pray about that.
- [Wendy] One of thosebelievers was Mary Colbert,
wife of Dr. Don Colbert,who was treating Mark
for an illness.
After hearing Mark's prophecy,
she started a nationwide prayer movement
for the presidential election,
a movement that becamea key part of the movie.
- There's a mandate for us as believers
to pray for those in authority of use.
So that's a deeper message
that we really emphasize in the movie.
- [Director] Action!
- [Wendy] The film was made
with the help of LibertyUniversity film students
despite the fact thatthousands of students
signed a petition saying theydidn't want the movie made.
Facebook also was not a fan
and temporarily blockedall promotional ads,
claiming the movie was too political.
But Nelson says mostpeople were just reacting
to the T word.
- They get squirmy whenthey hear the words
Trump and God together becausethey think that, somehow,
it's lessening, I think, who God is
by even mentioning his name with Trump.
And I think, well goodness,aren't we all glad
that that's not how wefeel about ourselves.
- [Wendy] Despite the controversy,
Eldridge believes thismovie needed to be made.
- We have such a divided nation right now,
so I hope this film, in some way,
can be maybe a point toward healing.
- The Trump Prophecy movie is in theaters
for two nights only,October 2nd and October 4th.
Tickets are on sale now
and you can go toCBN.com for more details.
Well thanks so much forjoining us this week
on Christian World News.
Until next week, from all of us here,
goodbye and God bless you.
(dramatic music)
