World

(RNS) — An increasingly vocal band of advocates and experts says the Trump administration’s policies have failed to address many of the challenges faced by Christians, Yazidis and other religious minorities abroad — especially those in the Middle East.

HUNGARY (BP) -- International Mission Board missionaries Gary and Carolyn Miller are tapping into a Hungarian love of nature to build bridges for gospel work through a program called "The Master's Gardeners."

KHARTOUM, Sudan (BP) -- A new power-sharing agreement to establish civilian rule in Sudan is potentially good news for persecuted Christians there, according to religious liberty watchdog International Christian Concern.

The number of countries with significant government restrictions on religious liberty declined slightly in 2017, yet levels remain well above those from a decade ago. And the number of nations with high levels of social hostility toward religion increased.

WASHINGTON (RNS) — China, Iran and other countries that the U.S. considers the most egregious religious liberty violators aren’t invited to the State Department’s second summit on religious freedom this week, said Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback.

NASSAU, THE BAHAMAS -- During the 2019 Annual Gathering of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), the General Council voted unanimously to approve the membership application of the Zomi Baptist Convention of Myanmar (ZBCM), making it the 240th member body within the 114-year-old organization.

EUROPE (BP) -- Brahim*, now living in a European refugee camp, left his North African country in search of a better life far from the war and desperation of his home. Only 22 years old, Brahim doesn't own much. But he does have a phone, and that is how he first encountered the Gospel.

An estimated 24.9 million persons are currently enslaved in sex or labor trafficking worldwide, and a majority of victims are exploited and trafficked within their nation’s borders, according to the U.S. State Department.

(RNS) — More than 14,000 Americans participating in the Ration Challenge for the first time this year — many, this week around World Refugee Day (June 20). The global challenge — organized in the United States by Church World Service — asks participants to live for a week on the same food rations people receive at refugee camps.

(RNS) KAMPALA, Uganda — Recently, a group of Muslims visited Christian widows and orphans in northwestern Nigeria and donated food, clothing and school items as part of efforts to enhance peaceful coexistence among different faiths.