Franklin Graham Persecution of Christians Isn't Rare

[TomSea]

Syndicated News
Persecution of Christians Isn't Rare
By Franklin Graham
USA Today
Posted 2017-05-08 17:23 GMT

It's shocking to our Western eyes.

As I walked through the burned-out shell of a church near Mosul, Iraq, just a few weeks ago, our translator told me that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria graffiti scrawled on the walls read, "You love life, we love death." Members of ISIS had painted their flag and written, "We have come to drink your blood."

It's one thing to destroy a building, but Christians are dying for their faith. And it's not just in Iraq.

On Palm Sunday, a week before my Iraq visit and nearly 1,000 miles to the west, bloodied pews, sobbing parishioners and crime-scene tape wrapped around churches in Egypt where bombs had exploded in the middle of Sunday services. What should have been a joyous time of worship as followers of Jesus prepared for Easter turned into a murder scene for families who were assaulted because of their Christian faith.

These heinous acts by ISIS captured headlines around the world, but if you think this kind of persecution is rare, perpetrated almost exclusively by extremists and terrorists -- and in few areas of the world -- 215 million Christian victims will tell you nothing could be further from the truth.

For years I have traveled in Sudan, where we rebuilt hundreds of churches destroyed by Muslims. We opened a Bible school there to train new pastors to carry on the work of those who were killed.

Continued: http://aina.org/news/20170508132342.htm