this week on Christian World News 10 years ago Isis murdered 21 Coptic Christians now these Martyrs are remembered in a new short film we'll speak with the families of the brave men who endured to the End plus As Leaders seek peace in Ukraine Russia's War enters its third year see how the Ukrainian Church has stayed strong in the face of attack and Jews getting threats and harassed in the streets this is is the scene in the United Kingdom see who's coming to their defense welcome everyone to Christian world news I'm Wendy Griffith well 10 years
ago Isis marched 21 Christian men out to their deaths on a beach in Libya and the reports of their executions quickly spread around the world their story of Faith sacrifice and eternal hope in the face of Terror is now being memorialized in a new animated film cbn's Chris Mitchell has the story February 2015 21 Men stood on the edge of Eternity on this beach dressed in Orange hands bound they were given one choice deny their faith or die die they chose death we heard about it as soon as it happened basically once the video was
broadcast it spread like wildfire it was a declaration by the Islamic State to put fear in the heart uh of the Coptic church and the Coptic people whom they considered their favorite prey while the world saw their deaths their families felt the loss of fathers brothers and Sons for the families it was devastating I don't think they even considered themselves Martyrs they just saw that their husbands had just been killed their fathers had just been killed their brothers had just been killed and so the families mourned greatly they were simple men 20 Egyptians and one
man from Ghana working in Libya to support their families then captured by ISIS I think for many people we remember the images at least the orange jumpsuits where the 21 were beheaded and we know that they did not recant their faith what we don't know is that that came only after weeks if not even months of torture and other efforts to get those 21 to recanter their faith six years ago on a trip to Egypt Mark Rogers learned about the 21 and decided to tell their story in the early 21st century Isis began a reign
of terror in attempts to cleanse North Africa of Christians one of their favorite prey Egyptian Coptic Christians bringing it to the screen proved to be a labor of faith and perseverance the result is the 21 an animated film unlike traditional documentaries the film uses sacred Coptic imagery turning the martyr's final moments into a visual prayer of faith The Producers chose traditional animation because of its unique ability to make challenging subjects approachable and use artwork Central to the Coptic Faith it's very Tastefully done it makes it very very interesting when these Isis terrorists occasionally think they
see Jesus or see Angels there's like spiritual warfare crackling in both directions how would you depict that in a documentary you you can't so there's something very very moving I'm still trying to catch my breath because it's because I was I was crying at the end Jonathan roomy who plays Jesus on the chosen is an executive producer I think I want people to be more aware of the sacrifices that so many Christians give especially in other parts of the world uh it's not martyrdom is not something that is common in the western world but in
the Middle East in the orient there are legitimate physical threats to people on a daily basis they caught one guard and he was the one that explained all the details of what happened to the men how they were tortured how they were caught how they rehearsed the video two times before they marched them on the beach they had the cameras rolling and they prepared their filming and then the third time was when they were beheaded tortures included being sprayed with cold water not letting them sleep in the cold of winter it included having them drag
wet sand through the desert until they collapsed it included uh burning them with irons uh emotional torture isolation so all kinds of different tortures physical and emotional as head of Coptic orphans Riad and her Ministry were already working in the village of the 21 and so now that there are new fatherless children we were able to embrace them and enroll them into our programs so that we could walk with them the Journey of healing the Journey of support both financial and emotional support she now knows them as family they are resilient you know you would
think that they were traumatized and still will be traumatized but yet they have a peace they have a joy that in all honesty contagious when you see how much they know that Christ is with them that Christ is the one who is giving them that peace and they are thankful I was sitting in the middle of all the widows when they were seeing it for the very first time and the comments of a mother almost reliving her sense with having lost her son but at the same time she says you have made it so we
can lift our heads high it was a very impactful film but God gave us comfort and we know that they testified to Christ and God gave them a lot of strength as well you have to remember these are young men and they're not very well off but look how strong they Faith was they didn't know how they were going to get back to Egypt they didn't know anything in front of them but all they knew was that God was with them I felt tearful and it really impacted me but nevertheless it was very beautiful do
you forgive the man of Isis yes of course because they're the reason that these Martyrs went to heaven in the first place the film poses a question that I think is worthy to each and every one of us that are followers of Christ how would we respond to that call what would we do in their shoes could we be as faithful and you know I find myself challenged by the question and I pray the answer is yes and in my heart it's yes and and I pray you know I will go to my grave with
the same confession of Jesus's name on my lips but the question remains like could you do it would you do it what if you were them oh I would love to see every single Christian around the world to watch this movie it's inspiration it gives us hope and it shows us the power of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ I'm praying that indeed it will spread like wildfire Chris Mitchell CBN News Mina Egypt incredible wow and uh to find out how you can watch the 21 movie in your home just go to cbnnews.com the producers
encourage people to host viewings at churches and bible studies and to share it with their friends well up next Church is targeted by Russian troops how Ukraine's Christians are enduring daily attacks and persecution stay with us welcome back to Christian world news the White House hosted several world leaders as it seeks to end Russia's war in Ukraine Friday Ukraine's president zalinski met with President Trump they agreed on an economic deal that would help Finance Ukraine's reconstruction which could bind the two countries together for Years seninsky also pressing for US security guarantees Trump has said no
to admitting Ukraine to Nato and he's called on Europe to step up for Ukraine's defense he also met with German Prime Minister starmer and French president Emanuel macron earlier in the week starmer says he's ready to put boots on the ground and planes in the air to support the peace deal the European leaders are also asking for a back stop of US troops if needed well the war is now in its third year Ukraine's Church though remains strong despite Russia's attempts to silence it recently the leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church visited the US
he spoke with cbn's Caitlyn Burke about the people's Faith under trial beginning with persecution they suffered in Soviet times any kind of religious life was uh suppressed our church was a biggest social and Rel opposition to the Communist Regime and uh we survived in the underground Church we will not allowed to pray to have our services to gather uh our people that's why for Christians now an independent Ukraine is synonymous with religious freedom Russian's project project of the President Putin is to restore the Soviet Union and for all of us Catholics Orthodox Protestants that means
to lose our freedom to go back to the catacombs in Russian occupied parts of the country the church is already under attack our church is again uh banned on that territory our priest uh were persecuted recently uh we were able to rescue two of our priest uh which spent 18th year 18 months in Russian captivity and they are revealing really heartbreaking uh stories while Ukraine is primarily Christian Orthodox it also o has thriving Protestant Roman Catholic Muslim and Jewish communities about 12% of the population is Greek Catholic his Beatitudes fat aslav says the war's Devastation
has brought the entire religious community together he recalls one specific moment at the site of a mass grave only nine miles from his home in ke in those first days after the liberation of that territory immediately I went there not only to to see those bodies but to pray and there in the edge of this Mass grave we were all together Orthodox Protestants Catholics Jews Muslim because in that mass grave all we were equal still out of the ashes of War he sees a growing church we are experiencing right now like a big boom of
the conversion to the church why because church is a space of protection mother who cares for its own children what would you say you want Christians in the US to know what's your message to Christians here be Christians not to be slaves of any kind of human ideology we pray that Holy Spirit will give to you this sense to discernment between lie and truth because big war always start with a big lie and pray pray for us in Ukraine because we rediscovered that prayer is a power still that power continues to be tested according to
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Russians have killed nearly 70 pastors destroyed more than 600 places of worship and at least a dozen religious leaders remain in captivity Caitlyn Burke CBN News Washington thanks Caitlyn coming up anti-semitic attacks in Great Britain how did this historical refuge for the Jewish people become so [Music] dangerous welcome back Great Britain has long been regarded as a safe haven for the Jewish people since the October 7th attacks on Israel however anti-semitic attacks have skyrocketed there a recent poll shows that most British Jews have considered leaving the country D herd reports
from London this is the United Kingdom that British Jews experience today Zionist they are filthy animals like a you obey Israel the whole condemning Hamas I'm not going to condemn them and Israel doesn't exist most British Jews now no longer believe they have a future here recent polling has also found that most Jews hide their jewishness in public and do not feel welcome in the United Kingdom Gideon falter is chief executive of campaign against anti-Semitism which commissioned the poll and has been documenting the rising Jew hatred a lot of people have talked about whether they
have a future in this country do I think the Jewish community in the UK is going to evaporate no but I do think there is a sizable conversation now happening within the community of people saying K is this the place that we' have got a future there were nearly 2,000 anti-semitic incidents reported in the first half of 2024 the highest number ever recorded for a 6-month period nine out of 10 British Jews say the government is not doing enough to stop the violence and discrimination I know some who have left I know some who are
actively seriously looking at leaving Jewish investigative journalist David Collier tells us he constantly feels the anti-jewish hate I get death threats every single day but I'm also being contacted by Jews either who are having trouble at work at home students what brings you both out here today um well just the like amount of anti-Semitism we've had in Oxford for the P year has been really awful we've had swers we've we've had Jews being accused of weaponizing antisemitism we've been told we're not welcome at the University um yeah and they just down the street it's been
escalating and this is the big message is it's about the escalation you know it's getting gradually worse this in a nation where the adopted national song is Jerusalem [Music] [Applause] in the song Jerusalem the British Sing We Will Not cease till we have built Jerusalem in England's green and pleasant land but this judeo-christian connection that goes back centuries has begun to fray surveys show British Jews consider islamist to be the most serious threat and in a close second is the farle falter ads the nation's young people are being indoctrinated against Jews they are becoming radicalized
on the internet they are they are em bibing bigotries that their parents themselves don't have and then they're teaching this from one kid to another kid we've got a generation which is extremely hateful and not just hateful they're extremists some non-jews have seen the danger and are publicly supporting Britain's Jews Mark burbeck began the group R fight after he witnessed the lack of public support for Jews in Israel following the October 7th Massacre shock uh the lack of empathy that people had for uh the Israeli people the Jewish people after October the 7th in that
period a few of us were going to these vigils that were being organized by the Israeli community and we sort of thought we need to do something another group supporting Britain's Jews is Christian action against anti-Semitism led by pastors Tim and Haley Goodman our heart was to do something publicly that showed the Jewish people we stand with them we love them we're with them in solidarity they're not alone especially amidst its Rising anti-Semitism David ker is afraid demographics have already decided the future course of Britain's Jews the most popular name for baby boys in Britain
today is Muhammad it's a completely different country the entire Dynamic has changed the entire atmosphere has changed both towards Israel and an extent towards the Jewish Community it it's completely different it's a different country with a different demographic a different Outlook everything about it is different you're talking to to these Jewish people and you know that things are only going to get worse for them not better there's no there's no way back for the United Kingdom from this point as far as I see it no way back fter has decided to stand and fight for
the future with the hope that more non-jews will join him I think a lot of people don't realize how anti-Semitism relates to them but they don't see it as something that's going to actually hit hit home hit them whatever happens with anti-Semitism in this country if extremism continues to Surge in the way that it is now this country is in for dark days and so is the West Dale herd CBN News London Dale and you can get Christian world news delivered straight to your inbox to sign up for our week email update just go to
cbnw worldnews.com we'll be back here in the US Texas A&M University hosted a global event to pray for college revivals worldwide organizers of the Collegiate Day of Prayer report the 2500 seat Rudder Auditorium was sold out as students came to seek Revival for 250 million students on thousands of college campuses across the globe the three hour event was live streamed so Believers around the world could take part more than 3,000 Ministries churches and people adopted in prayer individuals adopted in prayer 6,000 campuses worldwide well since the Asbury Revival in 2023 college campuses across the US
have been experiencing a move of God cbn's Paul petite [Music] reports I don't think I'd ever experienced that type of love from God [Applause] [Music] before it was awesome just having like just 10,000 people that all love Jesus and are worshiping God the term higher education is taking on new meeting as Revival sweeps through college campuses we started at Auburn University we had 5,000 students show up we had over 200 get baptized we next went to FSU Florida State second biggest paryan school in the nation we had 4,500 students come and I believe we had
about 350 students get baptized at that event Unitus is joined by other Campus Ministries seeing a surge in attendance and decisions for Christ One National Ministry in Varsity saw their salvations increased by 33% last year prayer got so contagious with us to where developed prayer circles right behind here right where we are we have prayer circles here almost every week Fellowship of Christian athletes reported the most salvations since the pandemic and crew surpassed the million Mark globally they're coming in with guilt and shame STDs unwanted pregnancies abortions and um they come here and we we're
showing them the one the only one who can really deal with their sin who is Jesus Christ and what's happening on campus is spilling onto the football field I just got to give my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ all the all the glory and all the praise man amen amen at Ohio State University football players use their National Championship Victory platform to spread a message of Faith all glory and praise to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for this moment the way he's been moving on this team has been incredible that movement has transcended the
locker room abuka and other players the thousands of students on campus for a time of testimonies which led to 50 [Music] baptisms two years after Asbury University's groundbreaking Revival students and staff are still feeling the impact our students continue to be hungry they continue to lead they've gone and they've shared we've had over 50 groups go to different Ministries and churches both in the United States and overseas Coast to Coast campus to campus the Revival many have been praying for is spreading I believe that America is set for the greatest Revival our nation has ever
seen I believe it's starting with college students and the hunger and the fire that we're seeing among college students and college campuses is just taking off it's a movement in fville Arkansas Paul petite CBN News thanks Paul love seeing that well thanks for joining us this week until next week from all of us here at Christian world news goodbye and God bless you [Music]
