The persecuted are suffering in magnitudes that we cannot imagine

The persecuted are suffering in magnitudes that 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 the faith of many who are infected and remain persecuted.

Last evening we launched the 21Wilberforce Global Freedom Center with an inaugural virtual event: INVISIBLE PEOPLE: The Coronavirus Impact on Millions Persecuted for Their Faith and Beliefs. President and founder, Randel Everett, hosted conversations with survivor activists Archbishop Ben Kwashi and Mariam Ibraheem along with thought leaders Judge Ken Starr and USCIRF Vice Chair Gayle Manchin. If you missed the event, we invite you to watch the webcast.

The 21Wilberforce Global Freedom Center was launched to expand the sphere of those who can listen to the persecuted around the world and respond with prayer, training and advocacy. This is made possible through results-based programs, our digital training platform, and a new partnership with the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), a network of believers residing in 125 nations. The BWA will tap into 21Wilberforce resources, translated into more than 100 languages, to defend, inform, equip and mobilize a global grassroots network. In addition to training, this platform offers BWA, and faith groups around the world, a digital home for sharing concerns and resources that will empower a global religious freedom movement.

21Wilberforce and the BWA are two worldwide organizations that share a commitment to global religious liberty for all persons believing in the God given gift of conscience, belief, and freedom. The vision of both organizations is to empower and support those whose communities are persecuted and oppressed, challenge those who repress, speak truth to power alongside those most impacted, and to work for transformative peace.

Our namesake, William Wilberforce, confronted England about the atrocities of slavery and said, “You may choose to look the other way, but you can no longer say I did not know.” Perhaps you will become an advocate for the persecuted. The Church and the world needs to know that believers and people of all faiths are standing with them; they are suffering in magnitudes that we cannot imagine. We ask for your prayers and your support of this vital work.

International Religious Freedom Headlines

Iran is the world’s chief trafficker in antisemitism and that antisemitism isn’t ancillary to the ideology of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

India, a long-running U.S. ally, has been added to a list of nations with poor records of protecting freedom of religion or belief. The country’s new citizenship law has sparked broad worries concerning the disenfranchisement of Muslims.

In addition to calling for a boycott on the Olympics, the report recommended that the United States sanction communist party leaders in the Xinjiang, an autonomous region of China where the majority of Uighur prisoners are held in concentration camps.

What We Are Reading

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom just released their 2020 Annual Report.

Christianitytoday.com reports that following 11 commission field visits, 5 hearings, and 19 other published reports, USCIRF’S 2020 annual report calls attention to religious freedom violations against all faiths, including:

• 1.8 million Muslims in Chinese concentration camps
• 171 Eritrean Christians arrested while gathering for worship
• 50,000 Christians held in North Korean prison camps
• 260 incidents of religious freedom violations in Cuba
• 489 raids conducted against homes of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia
• 910,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh
• 1 million Muslim residents excluded from the National Register of Citizens in India
• 37 Shi’a Muslim protesters executed in Saudi Arabia
• 5,000 Baptist calendars burned by authorities in Turkmenistan