by Gabe Elliott | Aug 13, 2015 | Children, Education, Evangelism
Adriele is 12 years old in the 7th grade and has been with Channel to Brazil for Christ (CBC) for a couple of months. However, her connection with CBC is not new. Like many children suffering with daily poverty, learning is a hugely difficult task. CBC students are often tired because they haven’t slept well in the noisy slums, and almost always distracted in the classroom for reasons such as hunger and worry.
Three years ago, Adriele was a student at CBC, but despite the emotional support & daily nutrition that CBC offered, for a period of time she was unable to stay motivated enough to come. Recently, a friend of Adriele’s, who was a new student at the project, invited her again to CBC. Adriele admitted that she had dearly missed CBC but had been required to watch her younger siblings & to help her mother at home.
Today, because of your support, Adriele is a beautiful young lady with the chance to change her life through education & the good news of Christ. Now she wants to make the most of all the opportunities offered to her at CBC. She has been particularly inspired by Micael, CBC’s alumnus sports teacher, and when she grows up she wants to be a PE teacher herself.
Her story of breaking the poverty cycle, & seeing the possibility of a new life afforded to her through donations like yours, has helped her to regain her determination. Rather than living in the same cycle of poverty that she had seen in the slums around her everyday, she’s made a life changing decision to stay in school & now believes that God has a plan for her life because of your giving.
Thank you,
Channel to Brazil for Christ (CBC) & Adriele
by Gabe Elliott | May 28, 2015 | Children, Domestic Abuse, Education, Evangelism
Dear Friends,
I have to warn you that what you’re about to read may seem unthinkable, and it is. But it also reaffirms why our work is so important and why we must continue embracing children worldwide. I was in Ethiopia visiting some missionaries when someone told us that….
a little girl was chained to a tree out in the bush.
Without hesitation we got in a truck and set out to find her. There she was …..a helpless child, all alone in the wild, chained to a tree like a dog. We found out that when Fethee* was born, her parents had hoped for a boy instead. They raised the little girl for a couple of years before finally deciding they just didn’t want her anymore. So they took her out to the bush, chained her to a tree and left her to die — either from starvation, dehydration, or at the mercy of wild animals that roam the plain.
I’ve been doing this for a long time. I’ve seen the worst of the worst happen to children and it never gets easier. But it does fuel my fire to do more and reach more children. That’s why, this summer 2015, for the very first time, Metro World Child is embracing children like Fethee by holding summer day camp in countries across the globe. It’s a chance for kids to get away from their dismal surroundings & be a part of an exciting, caring environment filled with Bible teaching, worship, food, action-packed activities, music, games, and more.
But to send as many children as possible we need your help.
-
Every $85.00 you give will send one child to day camp this summer!
It’s so important because for a child like Fethee, camp can replace the hurt with the healing love of Jesus Christ. Trust me, I know…When my mother abandoned me, a Christian man stopped and rescued me…. but it was the camp that he sent me to (where I was first introduced to God) that SAVED ME. That one moment was it for me. Just like that one day was it for Fethee. I personally cut the chain to release her from that tree. Then we brought her to safety and found her Won-By-One sponsor.
Several months later I saw pictures of Fethee and the transformation was unbelievable. There was life in her big brown eyes. There was a smile on her face. It reinforced the concept of the power of one and how when someone cares enough to act they can, and will, make a difference.
-Pastor Bill Wilson-
Founder & Senior Pastor, Metro World Child
by Gabe Elliott | May 20, 2015 | Children, Education, Evangelism, Uncategorized
Thanks for Helping me realize my dreams….
I am 11 years old & in the 5th grade at Channel to Brazil for Christ. (CBC) I live with my mother, grandmother & sister (also a student at CBC.) Our family lives in the slums & my mother works as a waitress in a local restaurant. She earns approximately $75.00 a month.
When I grow up, I would like to be a Veterinarian because I love animals. After 3 months with CBC, I told CBC that I love it because it’s very different compared to any other school that I’ve attended. I have real friends here, &
I love learning about the Word God. I had never heard the story of Jesus,
before I came to CBC & I am very happy for the opportunity to learn about Him each day. I told my teacher, I am learning to forgive and to love in this place. I feel good here.
Thank you for your help,
-Beatriz-
by Gabe Elliott | Apr 17, 2015 | Christian Persecution
Today, the United Nations in New York City will host an event regarding the worsening persecution of Christians in the Middle East.
The event is called, “Not Peace but a Sword: The Persecution of Christians in the Middle East as a Threat to International Peace and Security.” I’ve been asked to speak on a panel at an event on how the media has often not covered this story. I will report on this important meeting.
The event, featuring the voices of ambassadors, Christian and Jewish leaders, businessmen and high-ranking military officials, is being held to raise awareness of the persecution of Christians throughout the globe. To watch the live stream of the event click http://webtv.un.org/. My speech will begin at 5:28 pm EST.
Each year, 100 million Christians suffer persecution, imprisonment and even death for their sacred religious beliefs. According to The Voice of the Martyrs, a ministry dedicated to assisting the persecuted church worldwide, “more people have died for their faith in Christ in the last 100 years” than in the previous 19 centuries combined.
A century ago, Middle Eastern Christians represented about 20 percent of the population. Now they represent about 4 percent. In Iraq in 1990, before the Gulf War, there were about 1.4 million Christians. Now there are about 200,000 and the head of the Catholic Chaldean Church in Kurdistan says Iraqi Christians have “little time left.” We are literally watching the genocide of Jesus’ followers in the Middle East.
Recently at an invitation-only international meeting of Christian leaders, I interviewed leaders from three different Muslim nations. They told shocking stories of atrocities they knew personally had happened. Those of us who attended were shocked and heartbroken. Later, I approached them and asked to interview them so I could report here what they said.
For their security I’m giving no names and not listing nations. But these leaders are well-known to me. I believe these reports are true.
Later I plan to report more specifics from these interviews. They explain that moderate Muslims are also targets of radical Muslims. They also say many moderate Muslims are friends to Christians. However, the persecution is increasing on many fronts, including things such as churches having more difficulty finding places to rent in big cities for services or not being allowed to find land to build churches. In spite of this the church is growing in many places.
Here are a few bullet points on actual persecution these leaders told me is happening. I recorded the interviews so these are slightly edited versions of the transcripts in their own words:
- It is dangerous. Christians have been treated as second-class citizens in the Middle East for years. But with the rise of Islamization and fanatic Islam, they face a terrible time being displaced from homes, kidnapped—their homes being destroyed, their churches, their hospitals and their schools.
- In one week in (my country) we had 85 churches burned—also hospitals, schools and orphanages.
- Many Christians were kicked out of their villages if they were a minority and had to immigrate to another city or bigger village where there’s a majority of Christians. We have seen people being killed, slain, shocked—everything.
- The Christians were being smashed—especially when they are located under the region of ISIS. All the Christians immediately had to flee and escape. So, in general, the Christians are paying a very high price.
- The radical Muslims are systematically trying to wipe out the Christian community. The terrorists keep attacking. One day, the radical Muslims attacked a village that was mostly Christian. They attacked the Christians, burned their houses, killed them and came with 500 soldiers with all the weapons.
- Some Christians were cornered into a church building—hundreds of them inside. The Muslims outside surrounded them. They threw grenades and they shot people when they would come out. They killed 211 of them in one day and injured another 140 people.
- To find safety, some Christians ran away (from the attack above) in a boat with hundreds of Christians on board. The radicals chased the boat and I think they sank it, so the Christians died—all of them.
As you can see, the persecution is serious. These reports are not from journalists. They are from Christian leaders who know what is happening and agreed to tell me if I would guard their identities.
But there’s another side to this story that is not being reported in secular or Christian media: The persecution is resulting in many Muslims coming to Christ in these countries partly because the Christians are responding with love and forgiveness.
That is the subject of another Strang Report. So stayed tuned.
– Steve Strang-
by Gabe Elliott | Apr 3, 2015 | Uncategorized
