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INT’L DIGEST: Muslims destroy church in Egypt, but Christians quickly rebuild


NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Fewer than 40 days after a mob of Muslim villagers destroyed a church’s building in Egypt, the congregation celebrated Easter in a reconstructed building at the same site. The Egyptian military rebuilt the Church of the Two Martyrs in Sool after rioters set fire to the facility March 4 and demolished a large part of what was left by hand and with sledgehammers, the Compass Direct news service reported.

The congregation’s pastor, Balamoun Youakeem, said the reconstruction was finished in “amazing time” and was carried out over the objections of villagers, Compass reported. The building was attacked after a Muslim imam told his followers to “Kill all the Christians” in response to a rumor of an affair between a Muslim man and a Christian woman, both married to other people.

EVANGELIST KILLED IN ETHIOPIA — A Christian evangelist was murdered and his pregnant wife assaulted April 21 in Worabe, Ethiopia. Abraham Abera was lured from his home at night by four Muslim men who told him a friend of the evangelist was ill, according to a report from International Christian Concern. The men beat Abera with rods and when his wife, Birtukan, tried to intervene, she was beaten as well. Abera’s wife, who sustained a severe head injury, was left unconscious in the street, where she was found and taken to a hospital in Butajira. She said the attackers told her and her husband, “You [Christians] are growing in number in our area. You are spreading your message. We will destroy you.”

‘ANIME’ OF JESUS’ DEATH TARGETS YOUTH — A new short film on Jesus’ crucifixion attempts to reach youth and young adults with the Gospel using the “anime” style popular in Asia, especially in quake-ravaged Japan.

The nine-minute film, “My Last Day,” was released in April by the JESUS Film Project, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ International, according to a report from Mission Network News. The story is told from the perspective of one of the thieves crucified alongside Jesus Christ.

Using some of the dialogue from the original “JESUS” film, the short film shows the thief grieving over his guilt as he realizes Christ’s innocence, MNN reported. “It’s perfect to provide opportunities to open doors to engage the ‘media generation’ and could be a prelude to effectively presenting the Gospel to tens of thousands of young people across the globe,” Jim Green, JESUS Film Project executive director, told MNN.

“My Last Day” can be viewed at http://www.globalshortfilmnetwork.com/my-last-day-p-344-c-8.html.

AUSSIE PANEL ADDS 19 ‘GENDERS’ — The Australian Human Rights Commission has produced a list of 19 “genders” it wants the government to protect with anti-discrimination laws, ranging from “cross dresser” to “neutrois.”

“In the beginning there was male and female. Soon there was homosexuality. Later there were lesbians, and much later gays, bisexuals, transgenders and queers. But anyone who thinks LGBTQ is the full count of contemporary sexualities is sadly out of date,” Babette Francis, national coordinator of the Endeavour Forum pro-life, pro-family organization told the MercatorNet news service. “For example, the transgendered have for some time been divided into those who are awaiting treatment, those have had hormone treatment, those who have had hormones and surgery, and those who have had hormones and surgery but are not happy and want it all reversed.”

The AHRC document, “Protection from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and sex and/or gender identity,” lists transgender, trans, transsexual, intersex, androgynous, agender, cross dresser, drag king, drag queen, genderfluid, genderqueer, intergender, neutrois, pansexual, pan-gendered, third gender, third sex, sistergirl and brotherboy. A proposed government “Gender Watch” bureau would monitor business compliance.

“Being Indian by birth and having married an Australian of Anglo-Celtic origin, I am all for diversity,” Francis said. “But I am not going to commit to ‘neutrois’ until someone tells me what it means.”
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Mark Kelly is an assistant editor and senior writer for Baptist Press.

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