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July 21, 2021
Each month, FRC's Center for Religious Liberty covers international religious freedom news -- exploring challenges that believers face abroad.
Here is FRC's top content on international religious freedom this month.
Did you catch FRC at the IRF Summit 2021?
Family Research Council was proud to participate in the first annual International Religious Freedom Summit this month. Religious freedom advocates from around the world gathered in Washington, D.C. for this event, which seeks to propel a movement in support of international religious freedom.
- At the summit, FRC was honored to host powerful advocates currently fighting for freedom. Read our Washington Update to learn how Joy Bishara, a speaker at FRC's breakout session, survived being kidnapped by Boko Haram.
- At an FRC-sponsored lunch during the summit, Grace Gao spoke about the Chinese government's imprisonment of her father, Gao Zhisheng, and its harassment of her entire family for her father's human rights work. Listen to Grace Gao share her story on Washington Watch.
The Chinese Communist Party celebrated its 100th anniversary. Many of those years included religious persecution.
Beijing used its centennial as an excuse to further oppress Christian churches, forcing them to celebrate the openly atheist Chinese Communist Party, which has sought to undermine Christian values. For an overview of what the past 100 years have meant for believers in China, see Bob Fu and Arielle Del Turco's piece in RealClearWorld..
In Hong Kong, Apple Daily, the largest pro-democracy newspaper in the city, was forced to close after the state froze its assets in June. The closure signals the communist regime's attempt to quash the city's freedoms once and for all and marked a devastating blow for the city's freedom-lovers. For more information, see Arielle Del Turco and Tyler Watt's piece in Providence.
As things get worse for Chinese believers, there are a few things the U.S. government can easily do to help the persecuted. One is to resettle a small Chinese house church as refugees in the United States. The members of the Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church are currently stranded after having fled to South Korea from China and are looking to America for help. For more about this congregation and how the United States can help, read Arielle Del Turco's piece in the Washington Examiner..
Mary Mohammedi in her own words.
Given the dangers, it's no surprise that the opinions of Iranian Christians are rarely published without anonymity. But one brave young Christian in Iran requested that we do exactly that. To catch a glimpse of what life is like for the faithful in Iran, read Lela Gilbert's interview with Mary in CBN News..
In His Name,
Lela Gilbert
Senior Fellow for International Religious Freedom
Arielle Del Turco
Assistant Director of the Center for Religious Liberty
"Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them..."
Hebrews 13:3
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