Russia’s Revenge | Christian World News - August 30, 2024

this week on Christian world news Russia's Fury rockets and missiles and drones rain down on Ukraine as Putin retaliates for a daring Invasion Plus in Sudan half the nation faces crisis levels of hunger the small persecuted Christian Community is the last to receive help if at all learn about the push to save hundreds of Christian families there and Oscar winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr talks about his latest film the true story of three men on Death Row who find Hope in Jesus and how the role helped him find hope during a dark time in his own life hello everyone welcome to this week's edition of Christian world news I'm George Thomas and I'm Wendy Griffith in recent days Russia launched hundreds of missiles and drones in one of its largest attacks since the start of the war yeah it seems like it gets worse every time it comes as Ukraine launches multiple crossb incursions into Russian territory a strategic move to protect a major city in the East take a look Ukraine's president said for the first time that his country's Air Force used americanmade F-16 fighter jets to intercept a barrage of Russian missiles and drones in recent days on Tuesday Russia launched a massive strike on Ukraine's energy grid the Russians continue to try to destroy uh Ukrainian critical infrastructure and since March they focused especially on Ukrainian electricity production capacity and have really devastated um that capacity it's two days of Relentless bombing saw Russia deploy more than 100 missiles and a similar number of drones across Ukraine killing seven and injuring more than a dozen it was one of moscow's biggest attacks since War started 30 months ago president zilinski continuing to push the Biden Administration to give his forces the military capability to strike Russia back each of these strikes repeatedly brings us back to the task of long-range capabilities the need to provide our Defense Forces with enough longrange weapons that we can destroy terrorists exactly in the areas of their strikes the pounding coming at a key moment in the war as Ukraine now holds nearly 500 miles of territory in Russia's Western KK region following a daring crossborder assault a month ago the unexpected move rocked the Kremlin it's the first time Russia has faced an invasion of its territory since World War II ke says it has captured nearly 600 Russian soldiers and more than 100 settlements in the military incursion they initially made significant gains although in the past few days it's sort of stabilized as Russia has flown has has flowed forces uh from other parts of Ukraine uh to that area a top Ukrainian Commander claiming Moscow has diverted nearly 30,000 troops from its operations in the East to try and defend K meanwhile 150 Mi south of krk Ukrainian forces are also reportedly attempting to break through Russian lines in belgrad Ukraine has targeted the Border region with multiple air strikes forcing Russians to evacuate in the east fighting continues to rage around the Strategic city of poov which serves as Ukraine's main defensive stronghold and key Logistics Hub in the donet region residents there have been packing up and leaving as fears grow of a major Russian assault on the city Russia continues to attack in parts of eastern Ukraine most notably the area around prros and are making uh really faster gains than than they had in past few months um so the situation there for Ukraine is looking quite dire George I want to ask you about this Ukraine's parliament passed a law last week that bans religious organizations from having any ties with Moscow it's getting a lot of attention what's sure is so it's the Ukrainian Orthodox church it's a little confusing but the name is the Ukrainian Orthodox church and they have historically been tied to the Kremlin to the Russian Orthodox Church there's never been any problems obviously that changed dramatically through years years ago when the Russians decided to launch their war against Ukraine and in essence they the Ukrainian Orthodox church again linked to the Kremlin has called what Russia is doing a holy war against the ukrainians and the zalinsky government with the parliament last week passing this law in essence any organization Wendy that has ties to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in essence ties to the Kremlin uh is banned all of the activities in essence they're trying to Snuff out any kind of influence and the ongoing workings within uh the Ukrainian um civil you know civil um population and in essence trying to get them to crack down on this on this church George you've been several times to Ukraine since the War Began you met with many Christians done incredible interviews what's life like for the Christians in the occupied territories the Russian occupied territories and this is the this is the sort of narrative that the Ukrainian government zalinski is trying to share with the rest of the world says listen when when Ukraine decides when Russia decides to invade our country look at what life is like from a religious freedom standpoint so for example in the donet region in Maro in melitopol all these places that I've been to for many many years reporting on the ongoing War it's hor horrible there is no religious freedom in these territories the Russian Orthodox Church in essence cracks down severely on Evangelical churches and pastors locks them up in some cases kill them arrests them so the the life in these places is not good at all and the Ukrainian government has been trying to talk about this to the rest of the world all right how can we continue to pray for these Christians you know we're they're entering a winter time it's going to be really really hard you the Russians are pummeling the energy Grid in Ukraine like this last week devastating attack so we need to continue to pray the Church of Jesus Christ continues to be the hands and feet of Jesus and continues to bring hope in the midst of all this challenges they amazing resilience thank youge you're welcome well moving to Asia now where Civil War has ravaged Myanmar for decades since the 2021 coup more than 3 million people have been forced from their homes most of them children many cross the border into Thailand where a Christian Church is ministering to them and their families cbn's Lucille tusen has more after escaping War thorn Myanmar children find Refuge attending the Sunday School in this Burmese Christian Church these children are singing about Noah's Ark that all the animals in Noah's Ark love each other the cat and the mouse don't hate each other it is a strong message to be heard across Myanmar for the fighting to stop and for the people to love one another just like the animals in Noah's Art American Jeffrey McConnell volunteers is here on weekends to teach the Bible English and social skills during the week he teaches in a Christian School where most students are refugees McConnell tells CBN News how they share heartbreaking stories about myanmar's military the tat mados brutality against their families she was Karen and uh uh her father a worker for the resistance you know the the fact that he had defended his family and his people against the tadal against their atrocities that he was wanted for murder and so when the tmod came into the village you know they they said this man is is guilty of murder and we will execute him and when they asked for a final final request he said I would like to see my daughter and so they brought the daughter to him and she held his hand and he was executed filled with compassion towards these suffering children McConnell regularly treats them to fun activities on this particular holiday he took them to a nearby stream for a swim they feel good about themselves and this in contrast as as so many people tend to see them as oh they are the poor little Refugee children you know I I want the world to know no these are children and they have the same hopes and dreams that all children have and in that sense we want to fulfill those hopes and dreams McConnell also helped enroll Ruth one of the refugees in the school where he teaches she's got so many leadership qualities if she finishes our program then there's a very good opportunity she could possibly be scholarship to a Bible College in in Australia or in the United States in Myanmar we were very poor we struggled to be able to eat one meal each day day we did not get good education here the pastor shared about Jesus and after we received Jesus Ruth was born I believe God will give Ruth an excellent life I thank Jesus I study Bay to translator when I see these children in eternity we will rejoice together I'm always a little bit surprised when people say teacher Jeff you know you're doing how much for them they're doing just as much for me their their Precious Little Smiles their hugs their friendship [Music] is lucil tusen CBN News mesot Thailand thank you Lucille coming up in Sudan the race to help 600 Christian families who desperately need food see how the Civil War is making it even harder on the country's tiny Christian [Music] Community welcome back to Christian world news a natural disaster is adding to the misery in the African nation of Sudan heavy rains brought severe flooding causing a dam to burst near Port Sudan at least 60 people died when torrents of water swept through their neighborhoods this comes as millions of people are at risk of starvation due to the ongoing Civil War Danger from the fighting and damage to the nation's infrastructure is making it difficult for foreign aid to get to those in need that includes members of the nation's tiny Christian Community joining us now for more is Dr David Curry of global Christian relief David great to have you back on the broadcast why are Christians marginalized in sudanes society and how does that affect their ability to get Aid well the backdrop is the 16 months of Civil War where these factions are fighting each other there are only about 5% of the population are Christian and whenever these kind of events happen that group is either caught in the crossfire or in in the case of food food sources and these kind of thing they're the last to get it if they get it at all so you have a population that is starving generally they expect as many as 2 A5 million people could die during this famine and these Christian communities are the last to get it so we're targeting how we can help specifically these Christian communities which are marginalized in this uh Islamic culture in Sudan and it's not just if you're a Christian that's one strike against you but if you are a woman who has converted to Christianity that's even more challenging tell us why oh well the the stories are absolutely heartbreaking the the women are doubly persecuted they're considered less than with in that culture and they are also Christian which makes them infidels in the mind of extremists so it's very difficult I was talking with one of our team members today about what's happening there they told a story of a woman whose husband had been murdered in the fighting and then her her kids were uh were sexually assaulted her daughters this is the kind of thing that's going on it's absolutely just rips your heart out so we need to find a way we can help support these Christian to be Salt and Light in just the darkest of places what are you guys at Global Christian relief doing to help specifically these Christians who are in need well for $100 we can get them the food stuff they need it's flour salt uh this the basics to put together meals that's for a family of six to eight people and it'll last them a month and so we're trying to we've targeted these 600 families which we can help right now it's difficult even the world food program is having a hard time getting food into this region of darur and we're able to do it we know how to do it and we're able to support these 600 families if people will step up and help us that would be a huge huge Aid to these families who are Christians in a very difficult situation you have these famine kits that you're Distributing what's what's in these famine kits the the things that you would need to make a meal you got flour oil salt sugar uh tea uh corn rice beans these kinds of basic elements that they can do many things with yeah uh The Economist magazine calling describing what's happening today in Sudan a catastrophic War the coverage uh they're not getting much coverage at all um what what is going on and what can the global Community do to help step in and stop this what's happening there in Sudan yeah that that's part of the story is that the global Community has exacerbated the situation the UN has hesitated to call this famine uh for what it is because they're looking for the official government to say it's a famine but they're fighting amongst themselves These two factions so and then you have the UAE and other people funding the rebel forces it is a big mess what we need to do is to have stability in that region we need to make sure that people don't starve we don't want two million people this is certainly going to be the biggest famine in the last 50 years uh but we can do a lot if we could just get organized and cut out the corruption around the food and how how it's getting to the people yeah okay David we'll have to leave it there David Curry of global Christian relief doing fantastic work not just in Sudan but around the world appreciate your time have have a great weekend Wendy thank you George up next Academy awardwinning actor Kuba Gooding Jr Kuba talks with cbn's efim graham about his faith and his latest film the firing squad welcome back the firing squad is a new movie that tells the true story of three men on Death Row who find Hope in Jesus Oscar winning actor Kuba Gooding Jr plays a convicted murderer in this film he says the role helped him to find hope during a very dark time in his real life eam Graham has a story [Music] from his breakout performance in the boys in the hood show me the money to his Academy award-winning role in Jerry Maguire CUA Gooding Jr's acting resume grows more impressive with each new film more than 50 and Counting God is good all right God is good you've been at this for a while how would you describe this time of your life and career you know it's funny because you get to a a certain age and you start to reflect obviously you know I hit 56 years ago right so 56 and you look back and you you you you learn from all of the good and the bad the bad this week new accusations coming to light against Cuba Gooding Jr the allegations come from a former producer for Combs a series of accusations arrests lawsuits plea deals and settlements over the last few years what's kept you through adversity when the headlines come and the accusations come what's kep I wake up every morning and I I say thine will be done along with several other prayers but I know that God put me here with the instrument he gave me to to show truth through emotion the favorite movies that I do are always the real life characters from Master Chief Carl Basher MH to um um Dory Miller and pro haror to um Ben Carson and gifted hands but he's also given me the ability to tell the truth in the darker characters like um uh OJ Simpson and the people versus OJ Simpson Nikki Barnes and American Gangster so I have to um know that I'm here to express truth and you see headlines you see things that aren't truthful in it it hurts but I know that God has a plan for me as long as I stay on his journey and I pray his will is done then I'm fine I can't worry about the other stuff Cuba latest film helps him to focus on the good in his journey the firing squad is based on the true stories of three Americans on death row in a foreign prison hey my brother hey I heard you found Christ in solitary that I did amazing brother well guess what I found Christ too you play Samuel Wilson what happens when you first read the script Tim Shay wrote produc and director did this movie Tim Shay also produced a movie I did called freedom and we shot that movie and at the end of it Tim and I had a connection he said I'm doing this new movie and it's going to be a bit but when I get it I'm going to send it to you I said send me anything 13 years later he sends me this he said uh it's a true story of these three uh uh Americans who find each other in an Indonesian prison have been sentenced to death by firing squad and I want you to play one of these prisoners so I said all right send it to me I read it and I wept and wept and wept at the end of it and I called him and I said you got to understand something you're asking me to sing Amazing Grace at the end of this movie like you did in Freedom he said yes I said I said my father passed away in 2017 dad there's no guarantee that the one you love is going to love you CA Gooding senior was the lead singer in the 1970s R&B group The Main Ingredient and my dad always said you're the actor I'm the singer you can't sing you act and I sing then when he passed away literally they called me to star in on the London stage of production Chicago the musical wow to play Billy Flynn and first thing I said I can't sing I said oh it's more talking but we get you a a vocal coach and then I stepped on that stage and my father's voice came on of me and um and I thought it was for that production and then Tim calls and I'm telling you when I read when I read that end scene it just open emotion in me Amazing Grace how sweet the did this film change you in any way it unlocked again a renowned faith I have in God and the walk that I have with him and it announced to the world don't forget who this kid is and where he's from it's it's one thing to say that you believe in God and say that you walk in faith but it's another thing to remind people exactly where my joy comes from my mom said to me in darkest times she said Son never let them take your joy and that's the one thing that I insist on is that you know as crazy as things get I you know I just got to keep smiling and you know cuz this is who I am that [Music] save like me God's grace is indeed amazing EFM Graham CBN News what an interview never let them take your joy that's so good well you can get Christian world news delivered straight to your inbox to sign up for our weekly email update just go to cbnw worldnews.com we'll be right back finally this week we turn to the European nation of Portugal an a beach Church where members Surf and then Worship in the northern city of Porto a Brazilian Surfer and ordained Baptist preacher founded surf Church in less than 10 years it's grown from a few members to dozens of people from countries all over the world on Sunday mornings the pastor gathers his flock hit the waves afterwards they gather for worship the church's motto we loves we love waves and we love Jesus that's so awesome and you're going to go there maybe hopefully yeah and I'll try to Surf and you know look at that that's pretty cool I I think we definitely need to see George on a surf I think I can make that happen yeah folks that is it for this week's edition of Christian world news bye fast until next week from all of us here goodbye and God bless you [Music]