FAITH UNDER FIRE Christian witness to Muslims surges after ISIS executions

21 Coptic Christians were beheaded by ISIS terrorists in February, putting Christian persecution, which has been going on for decades in the Middle East, on the world media’s radar screen.

'Declarations of faith have created fertile soil for conversations'

A worldwide Christian organization says that the horrific executions of Christians by members of ISIS in Libya in February have sparked a surge in conversations between Christians and Muslims about faith.

Tami Yeager, a volunteer coordinator with the Voice of the Martyrs, reports the “vivid video footage” “did not spark division amongst Egypt’s 10 million Christians and 73 million Muslims.”
Quite the contrary, she said, “the declarations of faith uttered by the men only moments before their death have created fertile soil for conversation between Muslims and Christians.”

Her report appeared on the VOM blog site this week as a followup to a trip to the Middle East. The Christians killed by ISIS in February were mostly Egyptians who had gone to Libya for various jobs.
The ISIS video shows black-clad executioners leading a line of Christians down onto a beach then executing them.
Yeager reported: “Militants released video footage of the martyrdom of Coptic Christian men in Libya. The footage of their martyrdom included a caption that read – ‘The people of the cross, followers of the hostile Egyptian church.’ The 21 men who knelt before their persecutors were identified as ‘people of the cross,’ and asked to deny their faith or die. Many of the men are seen uttering their final words on this earth – ‘Lord Jesus Christ.’”
She said the statement of faith exhibited by the men “sparked the Bible Society of Egypt’s biggest campaign ever.”
“A Bible tract was created and sent to print within 36 hours following their public executions. Titled ‘Two Rows by the Sea,’ it carries a message of hope, comfort, and forgiveness for both Christians and Muslims alike. The Bible tract has been widely received in Egypt with 1.6 million copies distributed.”
She said one man who lost two brothers that day went on Egyptian television to thank ISIS for including their statements of faith in the video so that the world could see.
Yeager spotlighted another remarkable story:  It wasn’t discovered until later that one of the men wasn’t a Christian when he was led to his execution.
He was identified as Matthew Ayairga of Chad.
“He is believed to not have been a Christian before kneeling in the sand beside the ‘people of the cross,’” Yeager reported. “Witnessing the courage and faith of the Egyptian Christians, he also chose to follow Jesus. Mere moments before Matthew was executed, his executors are seen asking, “Do you reject Christ?’ His reply was, “Their God is my God.’”
Egypt responded to the executions with airstrikes against targets in Libya. Meanwhile, Tea Party Network News noted that President Obama was tweeting a message to sign up for Obamacare at the time of the executions.

Pope Francis denounced the slaughter.
“‘They only said ‘Jesus help me … ‘ The blood of our Christian brothers is testimony that cries out,” he said. “Be they Catholic, Orthodox, Copts, Lutherans, it doesn’t matter: They’re Christian!”
And Franklin Graham, CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, posted on Facebook that eventually ISIS will bow to Jesus.

He was lamenting the fact that when ISIS released a video of the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians in Libya, Muslim leaders were silent.

FAITH UNDER FIRE Obama blocks Iraqi nun from describing Christian persecution 'Critical voice to awaken Church in West' denied visa

Obama blocks Iraqi nun from describing Christian persecution
'Critical voice to awaken Church in West' denied visa

FAITH UNDER FIRE
Sister Diana Momeka is a Dominican Catholic nun who fled her home in Iraq last August along with 50,000 other Christians and religious minorities escaping ISIS.

A leading conservative is asking why the Obama State Department is barring a persecuted Iraqi nun from entry into the United States to share her message about the brutal treatment of Christians in her country.

Nina Shea of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, writes in a National Review op-ed that Sister Diana Momeka is “an internationally respected and leading representative of the Nineveh Christians who have been killed and deported by ISIS.”

Yet this nun is being “barred from coming to Washington to testify about this catastrophe?”

Sister Diana was the only Christian in the delegation and the only member blocked from the trip, the Washington Times reported, leading some of her American supporters to question why she was singled out.

Shea, in her op-ed titled “With Malice Toward Nun,” exposed the real reason why Obama denied the visa for Sister Diana.

    “Sister Diana Momeka of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Catherine of Siena was informed on Tuesday by the U.S. consulate in Erbil that her non-immigrant-visa application has been rejected.

    “The reason given in the denial letter, a copy of which I have obtained, is:
    ‘You were not able to demonstrate that your intended activities in the United States would be consistent with the classification of the visa.’”