(dramatic music)

- This week on "Christian World News,"

atrocities in Ethiopia.

A year long conflict pits two armies

against a civilian population,

including a brutal attackon this Christian village.

Plus the global church unites in prayer,

crying out on behalf of the persecuted,

but what's the biggest requestof suffering Christians.

The answer might surpriseyou and inspire you.

And the European nation,where marriage is up,

divorce is down andfamilies are flourishing.

What's the secret to Hungary's success?

(dramatic music)

Welcome everyone to"Christian World News."

I'm Wendy Griffith, George Thomas is off.

The civilian population inNorthern Ethiopia is devastated

by a year long war between rebel forces

and the Ethiopian and Eritrean militaries.

In the Tigray region,

more than 400,000 peopleare facing famine,

some 2.5 million forcedto flee their homes.

This week, the UnitedNations released a report

condemning Ethiopian and Eritrean forces

for those atrocities,

including torturing and killing civilians,

gang rape and arresting peoplebased on their ethnicity.

- Civilians in Tigray have been subject

to brutal violence and suffering.

The joint investigation team

uncovered numerous violations and abuses,

including unlawful killingsand executions, torture,

sexual and gender based violence,

violence against refugees

and forced displacement of civilians.

- And there are also reports

of Ethiopian and Eritrean forces

blocking internationalaid to suffering civilians

in the region.

Well, the city of Aksumin the Tigray region

is home to a large populationof Orthodox Christians

and a church whereaccording to local legend,

the Ark of Covenant is housed.

Earlier this year, EthiopianForces attacked the city,

as they held an annual Christian festival.

Chuck Holton, filed this report.

- [Chuck] For more than 2000 years,

Ethiopians have believed their country

holds one of the most sacredrelics in all Christianity,

the Ark of The Covenant.

Here in the city of Aksum

a special church known as theChurch of St. Mary of Zion

is where the Ark is said tohave rested for centuries.

Adventure and historian, Bob Cornuke

has explored the region extensively.

- The Ethiopians believethat the Ark of The Covenant

came to Aksum about 800 years ago.

And it's in a very special holy church,

one man guards it.

He's the guardian of the Ark,

he's the only one allowed to see it.

When he dies, there'llbe another guardian.

It is entrenched in their culture

and they believe it with all their heart.

- [Chuck] Heavy fightingbetween the regional militia

and the Ethiopian Army hasbeen raging in this area.

The city of Aksum has been atthe center of the conflict.

Tragedy, struck as Ethiopian Christians

gathered in oxen to celebrate,

one of the most important holidays

in Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity,

the annual festival of Tim Kat.

(singing in foreign language)

- Tim Kat is a celebration of the epiphany

with the Orthodox church in Ethiopia.

And it's really bring outthe tablet or the tablets

from the Ark of the covenant,

and they prayed it around

and it's a very holy event for them.

But this year, somethingwent horribly wrong.

- [Chuck] Up to a thousand worshipers

surrounded the ancient church,

said to house the Ark of the covenant

when Ethiopian troops approached,

and according to eyewitnesses, opened fire.

More than 700 Ethiopian Christians

were said to have been killed,

though confirmation of the attack

has been difficult

because the area is closed to journalists.

For CBN News, I'm Chuck Holton

- Thank you, Chuck.

Well, Christians worldwide

will observe theinternational day of prayer

for the persecuted church this Sunday.

As Charlene Aaron shows us,

global persecution is on the rise.

(effects whooshing)

- Each November, the callgoes out around the globe

for Christians to come together

and pray for the persecuted church.

Event organizers say this year,

intercession is needed more than ever.

As more than 300 million believers

are experiencing attackson an extreme level.

- Over 340 Million Christians

are persecuted or oppressedbecause of their faith in Jesus.

Now some of those places like North Korea

are exceptionally difficult.

If you're caught with a Bible or whatever,

you may spend the restof your life in prison,

or even lose your life.

- [Charlene] David Curry of Open Doors USA

told CBN's "The Prayer Link"

that due to the recentus military withdrawal,

Afghanistan is one ofthe most dangerous places

to be a Christian.

- And that country is nowcontrolled by the Taliban

and the Taliban that hasmorphed it's Taliban 2.0,

it has ISIS members andother kinds of extremists

latching onto it.

So we need to pray forpeople in Afghanistan

who are followers of Jesus,it's a secret church.

- I wanna share those stories with you.

- [Charlene] The group recently produced

a documentary series onthe persecuted church,

called "Unshakable Faith,"

including true stories of hopein the face of desperation.

- We go into these places

to stand with persecuted believers.

We have teams all over the world,

and our job is to advocatefor the persecuted

to help them get them resources.

We don't just airlifted in,

we're gonna deliverthings to them and prayer

and stand with them.

- [Charlene] The voice of the martyrs,

also encouraging churches tojoin in this special effort.

Author and radio host, Todd Nettleton

recently told CBS Gary Lane,

how Christians should prayfor the persecuted church.

- I think it's easy topray for it to stop,

but that's not their prayer.

Their prayer is "Lordhelp us to be faithful

"in spite of the suffering,in spite of the persecution."

So I think that's an important thing

for us to pray with them,

that God will encourage them

and allow them to remain faithful.

- [Charlene] VOM is setto premiere the film

"Sabina, Tortured forChrist, The Nazi Years."

- [Man] Who's this?

- She is my niece Sabina Oster.

- [Charlene] It details,the powerful true story

of how the organizations founders,

Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand,

became followers of Christ,

then experienced extreme suffering

as a result of their faith,

and the forgiveness they displayed.

- It is one of the mostamazing displays of the Gospel.

And we still see this today

in hostile and restricted nations,

where our persecuted brothers and sisters

are able to forgive their persecutors,

they're able to love their persecutors

and it is such a display,

it is such a proof of thereality of the Gospel,

that we often see persecutors impacted

and even come to follow Christ

through that testimony,and through that example.

- [Charlene] Meanwhile, Curry points out

a special benefit felt by those who pray

for these persecuted brothers and sisters.

- I think it's the way thatGod refreshes our heart.

It doesn't just burden us with a problem,

but it allows us toparticipate in the answer

'cause it's a spiritual battle.

- [Charlene] Charlene Aaron, CBN News.

- Thanks Charlene.

The International Day ofPrayer is Sunday, November 7th.

The film "Sabina Tortured for Christ,"

is in select theaters November 8th.

To find out where you cansee the film in your area,

just go to cbnnews.com.

Coming up as the global deathrate continues to climb,

meet the hidden victimsof the COVID crisis.

(dramatic music)

- [Gordon] You can experience

the kingdom of Heaven right now.

- [Announcer] CBN Presents"The Nearness of Heaven."

- We're going to be talking about

people who went to Heaven,

who had encounters withthe kingdom of God.

- He let me experience what it felt like,

and there's more lovethan you can imagine.

- [Announcer] In this brandnew teaching from CBN,

you'll discover what theBible has to say about Heaven

and our lives in eternity,

how to know for certain thatHeaven is your future home.

How seeking God's presence now

will satisfy your heart's desire

and prepare you for what's ahead.

Plus how to experience thereality of God's kingdom

right here, right now.

- And you're gonnaexperience peace and joy

and life to the fullest.

- [Announcer] Get this excitingnew teaching from CBN today.

Call 1-800-700-7000,

or go to cbn.com,

to become a CBN partner

and receive your copy of"The Nearness of Heaven."

- [Announcer] Nutrition,exercise, essential oils,

weight loss, and more.

It's "Healthy Living" with Lorie Johnson.

- Talk about what's in this.

- [Announcer] Join CBN healthreporter, Lorie Johnson,

to get the latest information

from today's top health experts.

- This is fantastic.

- [Announcer] Find outwhat you need to know

to live a healthier life.

Watch "Healthy Living"Tuesday night at 8:30

on the CBN News Channel.

- [Efrem] I'm Efrem Graham,

and this is "Studio 5."

Cruise with me,

as I discover the good things happening

in the world of music, sports,television, and movies.

- The fact Ryan Coogler, wasgonna be directing the film,

I knew that somethingspecial was gonna happen.

- [Efrem] We'll chat with artists

at the forefront of entertainment

and explore the connection

between popular culture and faith.

- I asked my Pastor, I said,

"Well, does that mean I'msupposed to be a preacher?"

He said "No, no, youalready have a pulpit."

- [Announcer] Wednesday night at 8:30,

on the CBN News Channel.

- Welcome back to "Christian World News."

A staggering new figure

in the fight against thecoronavirus pandemic.

Global COVID-19 relateddeaths, top 5 million,

that's according toJohn Hopkins University.

The US has the most reported COVID deaths,

with more than 750,000 people.

However many countriesdon't have the same level

of tracking and recording.

More people died in thefirst six months of 2021

than an all of 2020.

While the COVID pandemichas led to a surge

in the number of orphans worldwide,

this crisis is a huge challenge

for both social service agenciesand Christian ministries,

trying to help these children,

now suddenly on their own.

Take a look.

It's a hidden tragedycaused by the coronavirus.

A new study finds morethan 1.5 million children

have lost either aparent or a grandparent,

who helped care for them.

- Of course, we were notprepared as the society

to embrace this.

- [Wendy] Nataliya KhomyakWith CBN's Orphans Promise,

says the number of new orphans

combined with governmentrestrictions due to COVID

has been overwhelming.

- All of our human methods,all of our processes,

methodologies, everything was failing.

I mean, literally, whatwe had to do is sit down,

go back to the drawing board and just pray

and just say, "God, what do we do?

"How do we respond?"

- Khomyak says, the COVID orphan crisis

is unique from others caused by tragedies

like aids, famine or war,

because those tend to be morelocalized and predictable.

She says COVID is different.

- It's all over the world.

It's changing all the time,

and it's hitting all layers of population.

It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor,

it doesn't matter your hygiene skills.

We found, like nothing matters.

So really this is the timewhere we've seen that,

it made us all equal.

- [Wendy] In the Ukraine she says,

God helped them find new strategies,

such as taking fooddirectly to people's homes,

because the pandemic shutdown their training center.

For a single mom takingcare of her six children,

it was life-saving.

- She said, "Come here,

"I'm cooking my last potato on the stove."

And she said, literally,as I was lighting it up,

I was like,

"How am I going to dividethis between these kids

"and not even talking about myself?

"And I just cried out.

"I said, 'Okay, God,if you truly are real,

"'can you like do somethingright now, show up?'"

And she said,

"That's when you guys knocked on the door

"and came in with the food."

- [Wendy] The COVID orphancrisis also comes at a time

when international adoptions are down.

- I think families,

while they've had moretime to explore adoption,

there's just a hesitancy

to think about startingan international process

with vaccine requirementsand different requirements

to come and go across borders.

And so they're just somefamilies that are hesitant.

- Newell who leads the country's largest

evangelical Christian adoption agency

says, Christians need tostep up now more than ever.

And if you can't adopt,you can always pray.

- I have three children andwe pray over them every night

before they go to bed, ourparents are praying for them,

our family members are praying for them,

but who's praying for theorphaned around the world.

And so we may not know their name,

we may not know where they're located,

we may not know who they are,

but the Lord that we'repraying to knows them.

- He certainly does.

Well, you can learn moreabout these ministries

that are helping these suffering children.

Just go to our website @cbnnews.com.

Well, up next marriages are up,

divorces are down and abortionshave practically dropped.

What did this country doto put families, first?

- Orphans Promise is committed to loving

and serving at risk children,

to helping keep families together

and to creating opportunities

for strong and sustainablecommunities around the world.

We're working in over 60countries around the world,

and with your help, we can do even more.

There's an old Africanproverb I love that says,

"If you wanna run fast, run alone,

"but if you wanna run far, run together.

At orphans promise, we want to run far

so we can touch the lives

of as many orphaned andvulnerable children as possible.

But we don't wanna go alone.

We're out to change the world,

one child, one family,one community at a time,

will you join us?

(upbeat music)

- [Announcer] This is "CBN Newswatch."

- Thanks for joining us.

- [Announcer] Watch breaking news,

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exclusive stories and programs.

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Credible news reporting.

- We show you what'shappening in the world

and how you can pray about it.

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- [Announcer] This is "CBN Newswatch,"

because truth matters.

Weekdays at five on the CBN News Channel.

- What does Jesus mean,

"The kingdom of heaven is withinyou or within your midst?"

The kingdom of God is at hand.

That means you can literallyreach up and grab it.

His presence is right there with you.

If you're saved, if you're a Christian,

Jesus is dwelling in your heart,

the kingdom of God is in your midst.

The kingdom of God, is at hand.

- [Announcer] "The Nearnessof Heaven" available now.

- [Announcer] Your newschannel, your shows,

the stories you care about,

any time you want, anywhere you want.

Download the CBN News App today.

- Well, marriages are on the rise,

divorces are down andabortions dramatically dropped.

This is obviously not United States.

So where is this happening?

In a country where the government

is putting families first.

Jennifer Wishon brings us the story

from Budapest Hungary.

(effects whooshing)

- 10 Years ago, Hungaryrealized it had a major problem.

Abortions were up,

the birth rate was low andits population was dwindling.

So the government here inthe Capital City of Budapest

did something radical.

It made children and families,

its most important resource.

The cycle of family.

- Yeah, it begins here, andthen it goes all the way.

- [Jennifer] Katalin Novakis a rising star in Hungary.

She's a leader in the rulingpolitical party Fidesz

and serves as minister for families,

a cabinet level positionfocused on, get this,

increasing the nation's birth rate.

(speaking in foreign language)

(people clapping)

When her party took over in 2010,

leaders realized they had two options,

open the door to more immigrants

or entice Hungarian citizensto have more babies.

- The number of marriages were down,

the number of the divorces were up,

the number of abortions were high.

- [Jennifer] In the last 40 years,

Hungary's population dropped by 10%.

Pastor Nemeth Sandorremembers those times well,

when communist rule tookthe joy out of parenthood.

(speaking in foreign language)

- [Interpreter] So manypeople did not want children

because they were afraid of being poor.

- [Jennifer] In fact, there were years

when there were moreabortions than births.

So Novak got to work,

making it easier for young people

to get together and babies.

- To support the young adults,

to be able to have as manychildren as they wish to have

in the moment when theywish to have these children.

To give them the real freedom of choice,

the opportunity tochoose in favor of life,

as many times as they wish to.

- Among other things,

working Hungarian womenwho have four children,

pay no income taxes for life

and get three years off from work

to care for their babies.

Couples can get a $30,000interest free loan

to help buy a house.

Repayment goes down with each child

and after three kids,the debt is forgiven.

It's working as investmentsin family policies rise,

so too, does the birth rate.

- We also give services,not only financial support,

but for example, childcare facilities

or free child care training,

or summer camps for the children.

- [Jennifer] And Hungariansaren't just having babies,

marriages are up 83%,

divorces are at a 60 year low

and abortions are down dramatically.

- And for me personally,

this is one of the most important outcomes

of our 10 year family friendlyor family oriented policies,

that the abortions dropped by 41%.

And I think that

we still have work tobe done in this matter

because we have to pointout to the value of life.

- [Jennifer] Hungary's pro-family policies

are inscribed in its constitution.

This year, it was amended to clarify

a mother is a woman and a father is a man.

Leaders also passed a law,

placing the education of children,

including sexual educationsolely in the hands of parents,

a move that drove EuropeanUnion leaders in Brussels mad.

- Now that created such a great outrage

in the European Union.

It's politics

that now they are trying toimpose sanctions on Hungary.

- [Jennifer] The EU accuses Hungary

of discriminating against LGBT people.

- But we are heavily attacked

and criticized for the belief.

Our Christian beliefs,

and also because of Christiandemocratic political ideas.

- [Jennifer] ZoltanKovacs, secretary of state

for international communication,

says the EU has no business

meddling in Hungary's school policy.

- They don't like us becausewe wouldn't let the violence

and the overreaching, LGBTQpropaganda come to our schools,

come to the lives of our children.

- [Announcer] To thepeople running Hungary,

their policies are common sense.

- For me it was also verydifficult to understand

what is the controversial in saying that

the mother is a womanand the father is a man,

or that marriage is betweenone man and one woman

based upon their mutual consent.

I think it is the basis of our lives

and we just have it reflectedin our constitution.

So I think that wedon't have to explain it

because it is just theway it has always been,

and that's the way it still is in Hungary.

(crowd chattering)

(crowd clapping)

- [Jennifer] As Hungary looks ahead

to its elections next year,

the opposition is banding together

to take out Prime Minister, Victor Orban,

who's been returned to officeoverwhelmingly three times.

Christian leaders like Sandor

support his pro-family agenda.

(speaking in foreign language)

- [Interpreter] Of course,it's a fulfillment of a prayer

that the policy of the government

is aligning with us,

and may God make it permanent.

- What would you like people in the US

to understand about what you're doing.

- We have never had the intention

to have an internationalattention focusing on us

or teaching lessons to anybody,

but we don't want to betaught any lessons, either.

- Making the health and growth of families

a government priority isrevolutionary in today's world.

But officials here see them as a commodity

that enriches Hungarian society

and has no alternative.

Jennifer Wishon, CBN News,

reporting from Budapest Hungary.

- [Announcer] From Washington DC.

- [John] Good evening, andwelcome to "Faith Nation."

- [Announcer] Uncompromising stories,

interviews and analysisfrom veteran journalists,

David Brody, John Jessup,

Jenna Browder and Derek Phillips,

bringing you the politicalnews that matters.

(gun blasting)

- Regulation on the energy industry

are going to have dramatic ripple effects

throughout the economy.

- [Announcer] News you can trust.

- We are people who are committed

to protecting the most weakestand the most vulnerable.

- [Announcer] Watch "Faith Nation,"

weeknights at six.

- [Gordon] You can experience

the kingdom of Heaven right now.

- [Announcer] CBN presents"The Nearness of Heaven."

- We're going to be talkingabout people who went to Heaven,

who had encounters withthe kingdom of God.

- He let me experience what it felt like,

and there's more lovethan you can imagine.

- [Announcer] In this brandnew teaching from CBN,

you'll discover what theBible has to say about Heaven

and our lives in eternity.

How to know for certain thatHeaven is your future home.

How seeking God's presence now

will satisfy your heart's desire

and prepare you for what's ahead.

Plus how to experience thereality of God's kingdom

right here, right now.

- And you're gonnaexperience peace and joy

and life to the fullest.

- [Announcer] Get this excitingnew teaching from CBN today.

Call 1-800-700-7000 or go to cbn.com

to become a CBN partner,

and receive your copy of"The Nearness of Heaven."

- [Announcer] As the worldwatches from the outside.

- It's a big diplomatic tug ofwar here in the Middle East.

- [Announcer] Go inside thestory with "Jerusalem Dateline."

- Israeli archeologists aretalking about a discovery

that could change the thinkingabout the Temple Mount.

- [Announcer] Join CBNJerusalem bureau chief

Chris Mitchell,

and get the biblicalperspective on the event,

shaping the world.

- What starts in Israel thenends up going to other places.

- [Announcer] Watch "Jerusalem Dateline"

Friday night at 8:30 onthe CBN News Channel.

- [Announcer] Your newschannel, your shows,

the stories you care about,

anytime you want, anywhere you want.

Download the CBN News App today.

- Well, the friendly skies areopening back up over Israel.

The country reopening itsborders to individual tourists

provided they are fully vaccinated

with a recognized vaccine.

The move comes after the COVID-19 pandemic

shut down most of tourism to Israel

for more than a year and a half.

David Tucker chairman of theJerusalem Hotel Association

says he's optimistic about the future.

- I believe in 2022,

we'll start seeing more and more groups.

I do hope that 2023, we willbe back to what we saw in 2019,

depending on two things.

One thing is that peopleare vaccinated abroad,

and it depends where you come from.

Second thing is,

and we do hope that there won'tbe a new variant coming in.

- We all hope that.

Well, Israel set recordsfor tourism in 2019

with more than four anda half million tourists.

Well just North of the City of David,

archeologists believe they found

the first of its kindengraving on a precious gem,

As CBN Middle East correspondentJulie Stahl tells us,

the engraving is actuallya biblical plant,

known to many as the balm of Gilead.

- [Julie] Deep underground

in a 2000 year old drainage ditch,

next to Jerusalem's Western Wall,

archeologists say a rare artifact

from second temple times was uncovered.

- It's a stone seal made ofsemi-precious amethyst stone,

with an engraving of a dove

and a branch of a tree with fruit on it.

And what was surprising

was that it's a branch withfruits that are not recognized

with other seals from that period.

- [Julie] The seal wouldhave been mounted on a ring.

It was found whilearcheologists and volunteers

were sifting the remainsfrom the drainage ditch,

at the Emek Tzurim National Park

operated by the City of David.

(speaking in foreign language)

- [Interpreter] Once we found the seal

with the branch and the fruit,

we hypothesized that it was the biblical

persimmon fruit plant asmentioned in the Bible

and in the sources of the second temple

and the Byzantine periods.

- [Julie] The biblical persimmon plant

is not related to the orangepersimmon fruit of today,

instead it was known inancient times by several names,

Besem, Balsam, and the balm of Gilead.

(speaking in foreign language)

- [Interpreter] Jerusalem'sprimary drainage channel

was built under the pilgrimage road.

The pilgrimage road startedfrom the Siloam Pool

in the City of David,

and went up to the templeof the second temple period.

Apparently this ring with the seal

fell into the drainageditch, 2000 years ago.

- [Julie] For a thousand years,

ancient Hebrew farmers werethe only ones in the world

known to cultivate this exotic plant,

using it for medicinaland cosmetic purposes.

Guy Ehrlich has been working

to revive that biblical agriculture,

and is the only one in the country

growing that biblical persimmon.

That's why archeologist Eli Shukron,

took the stone to Ehrlich'sfarm for him to see.

(speaking in foreign language)

- [Interpreter] It's just amazing.

Someone took a branchof the balm of Gilead

and drew it on the stone.

It does not remind me ofany other plant I know.

- [Julie] Biblical and historical sources

also say it was used duringthe second temple period

as one of the more expensive ingredients

for producing the temple incense.

(speaking in foreign language)

- [Interpreter] This is the same persimmon

that is identified withthe biblical persimmon.

It is the persimmon that served

as the first of the incenseingredients of the temple,

and as the anointing oilof the Kings and priests.

- [Julie] Ehrlich has some10,000 balm of Gilead trees.

He market's perfume andessential oil from the trees,

he also grows frankincenseon his plantation.

(speaking in foreign language)

- [Interpreter] There wasa wall-to-wall agreement

that this is the plant,

but there's littlegraphic depiction of it.

And what you have brought me now

is really a greeting from history.

I felt like someone wrote me a note

with a drawing of thefruit of my persimmon plant

and sent it to me.

- [Julie] Julie Stahl,CBN News, Jerusalem.

- That's fascinating.

I didn't know it was real fruit,

but apparently it is.

Well, thanks for joining us for this week

from all of us here at"Christian World News,"

have a great week.

Goodbye, and as always, God bless you.

(dramatic music)