Soldier Baptized in the Euphrates River While on A Tour in Iraq

By Thomas Peterson, cp

This soldier was with his unit while in Iraq, when he got the opportunity to be baptized in front of all of them in the Euphrates river. Baptism is a powerful outward proclamation of our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
This brave soldier was not only able to baptized in front of his whole unit, he had the opportunity to do it in very special waters. He was washed in the waters of the Euphrates river, which is the only body of water mentioned in both the first and last book of the Bible. It is a powerful day in his life, and he wants to share it with the world. 

Message from Amy Grant

Refugee Crisis: Only take in Christians insists Nigel Farage

Italian Navy ship rescues people left stranded in the Mediterranean 


By Adam Bienkov
Europe should accept a small number of refugees fleeing across the Mediterranean in boats, but only if they're Christian, Nigel Farage insisted today.

Abandonment of Christian Victims of Genocide Today

President Obama is quick to condemn acts he considers to be demonstrations of Islamophobia. However, he remains on the sidelines while the genocide of Christians goes on unabated during our lifetime

By Joseph A. Klein -- Bio and Archives 

The world is witnessing the horrific genocide of Christians, reminiscent of the genocide of Armenian Christians that began this month one hundred years ago. The Vatican has estimated that “more than 100,000 Christians are violently killed because of some relation to their faith every year.” Three Christians a minute are being murdered. As many as 100-150 million Christians are being persecuted.

Muslim chooses to die alongside Christians

Jamal Rahman in the ISIS video (Photograph by  Missionline)

Among the Ethiopians killed in Libya by IS was Jamal Rahman: he offered to be taken hostage so as not to abandon a friend. The story is reported by PIME

Domenico Agasso jr Rome  
He was among the 28 Ethiopians killed (by decapitation) by Isis in Libya and shown in the latest terror video by Al Furqan, the caliphate’s propaganda machine. Jamal Rahman, a migrant, was not spared, despite belonging to a Muslim family. Why? He offered himself as a hostage because he would not leave his Christian friend to die alone.
The story is reported by Giorgio Bernardelli on MissionLine, the magazine of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME). To confirm the reports, “the unlikeliest of sources: a militant of the Shabab, the Islamic fundamentalists of Somalia”.
 
There are two different explanations for what happened: one reported by “an online newspaper of Somaliland”, maintains its “strangeness” saying that “he converted to Christianity on the road”; the alternative explanation, which PIME regards as “much more plausible, states that amidst the jihadists, the Muslim Jamal “foolishly” and willingly offered himself as a hostage to the jihadists, out of solidarity for a Christian friend he was travelling with. Perhaps he believed the presence of a Muslim in the group might even have saved the lives of the others”. This was not the case: Jamal was murdered alongside the Christians “as an apostate”.
 
The choice Jamaal Rahman made is reminiscent of the story of Mahmoud Al ‘Asali, the Muslim university lecturer who last summer in Mosul “stood up publicly against the persecution of Christians in the city”. He too paid for this gesture with his life.

Demos Shakarian's Armenia(Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship Founder) Marks Centenary of Mass Killings by Ottoman Turks.

Friday 24, April 2015

How The Tragedy was Prophesied in 1855 by a Russian "Boy Prophet"

 

 

 The ceremonies began at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial in Yerevan

BBC, Europe

 

Ceremonies are being held in Armenia to mark the centenary of the start of mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks.

The presidents of France and Russia joined other leaders at the memorial for the victims on the outskirts of the capital, Yerevan.
Armenia says up to 1.5 million people died, a figure disputed by Turkey.
Turkey strongly objects to the use of the term genocide to describe the killings and the issue has soured relations between the nations.
Turkey accepts that atrocities were committed but argues there was no systematic attempt to destroy the Christian Armenian people. Turkey says many innocent Muslim Turks also died in the turmoil of war.

A memorial service will also be held in Turkey on Friday and its prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, has said the country will "share the pain" of Armenians. But he reiterated Turkey's stance that the killings were not genocide

Turkey is on Friday also hosting ceremonies to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Gallipoli.
However, the actual fighting there began on 25 April, and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has accused Turkey of "trying to divert world attention" from the Yerevan commemorations.

Canonisation

After the flower-laying ceremony in Yerevan, Mr Sargsyan addressed the guests, saying: "I am grateful to all those who are here to once again confirm your commitment to human values, to say that nothing is forgotten, that after 100 years we remember."

At the scene: BBC's Rayhan Demytrie in Yerevan
The purple forget-me-not is the symbol of the centenary. It can be seen everywhere in Yerevan: from window shops and windscreen stickers, to lapel pins that many are proudly wearing.
There is also a centenary slogan which reads "I remember and demand".
But what is it that the Armenians are demanding? I asked some of the people in Yerevan's Mashtotz Avenue.
"We demand fairness from the world community, that's it," said Sergey Martirossyan, "but for me personally it won't make any difference. What we actually need in Armenia is for the government to take serious steps towards economic growth."

French President Francois Hollande said: "We will never forget the tragedies that your people have endured."
Friday marks the 100th anniversary of the day the Ottoman Turkey authorities arrested several hundred Armenian intellectuals in Constantinople, today's Istanbul, most of whom were later killed.
The BBC's Rayhan Demytrie in Yerevan says the Armenians regard this as the beginning of the Ottoman policy of mass extermination of Christian Armenians suspected of supporting Russia, the Ottoman Empire's World War One enemy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is also among those attending the ceremonies.
US President Barack Obama issued a carefully worded statement for the anniversary, referring to "one of the worst atrocities of the 20th Century", without using the term genocide.
 

France, represented by Francois Hollande, has been a strong advocate of recognising the killings as genocide 

 

The eternal flame at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial in Yerevan 

President Vladimir Putin also attended and addressed the guests 

 

Armenians around the world, like here in Jerusalem, insist the killings were genocide

During his 2008 presidential election campaign, then senator Obama had vowed to "recognise the Armenian genocide" and in his new statement said: "I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view has not changed."
However, his phrasing has angered Armenian Americans.
Bryan Ardouny, executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America, said in a statement: "President Obama's exercise in linguistic gymnastics on the Armenian genocide is unbecoming of the standard he himself set and that of a world leader today."
On Thursday the Armenian Church canonised the 1.5 million people it says were killed in the massacres and deportations.
It said it wanted to proclaim the martyrdom of those who died for their faith and homeland.
After the ceremony, bells tolled in Armenian churches around the world.
Also on Thursday, German President Joachim Gauck described the killings as genocide, on the eve of a debate in the German parliament on the issue.
Earlier this month, Turkey recalled its envoy to the Vatican after Pope Francis also used the word genocide in a reference at a Mass at St Peter's Basilica.
France has been a strong advocate of recognising the killings as genocide and President Hollande has pushed for a law to punish genocide denial. The issue has strained Franco-Turkish relations.

What happened in 1915?

Hundreds of thousands of Armenians died in 1915 at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, whose empire was disintegrating.
Many of the victims were civilians deported to barren desert regions where they died of starvation and thirst. Thousands also died in massacres.
Armenia says up to 1.5 million people were killed. Turkey says the number of deaths was much smaller.
Most non-Turkish scholars of the events regard them as genocide - as do more than 20 states, including France, Germany, Canada and Russia, and various international bodies including the European Parliament.
Turkey rejects the term genocide, maintaining that many of the dead were killed in clashes during World War One, and that many ethnic Turks also suffered in the conflict.

The Tragedy was Prophsied in 1855 by a Russian "Boy Prophet"

Israel's President Reaffirms the Nation's Commitment to Defend Christians

“And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, ‘Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.'” (Nehemiah:)

The Greek Patriarch presents Israeli President with silver menorah on Tuesday, April 14. (Photo: YouTube)

By Zach Spyzer, BCN

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin met on Tuesday morning with Christian leaders, including Patriarch Theophilos III, in the Old City of Jerusalem. The meeting was organized to mark the Easter holiday, and was the first held by a sitting Israeli President at the site in 30 years.
Rivlin used the opportunity to reaffirm his commitment to defend and promote equality and religious freedom: “For me, attacks on your holy places is as damaging as those onto our holy places, and it shouldn’t happen” he stated.
“The State of Israel is committed to protecting the freedom of each and every one of the different religions – we will not allow abuse because of religion, and if such harm does occur, law enforcement will take care of it immediately.”